Baked Pasta Casserole

Baked Pasta Casserole

Ingredients:

extra-virgin olive oil

3/4 pound whole wheat pasta shells

sea salt

1 large yellow onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, chopped

4 cups well-chopped fresh spinach

1 1/2 cups sliced almonds, lightly toasted

zest of 2 lemons

8 ounces mozzarella, shredded or torn into small pieces


Directions:

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Butter/oil a large casserole dish or baking pan - something roughly equivalent to 13x9-inch pan.

Boil the pasta in salted water per package instructions. Drain pasta, toss with a glug of olive oil. Set aside.

In the meantime, heat a bit of olive oil in a skillet over medium-high. Saute the onions with a couple pinches of salt for a few minutes . Stir in garlic. Stir in spinach. Cook for just about 20 seconds, until the spinach collapses a bit. Remove from heat and stir in 1 cup of the almonds and 1/2 of the zest. Add to pasta and stir and stir - mixing extremely well, a minute or so.

Now sprinkle the bottom of baking dish with the rest of the zest. Add a layer of the pasta to the bottom of the baking pan, now sprinkle with some of the cheese, add more pasta, then more cheese. Finish with a layer of cheese. Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes or until cheese on top is bubbly and melty. Serve sprinkled with the remaining almonds.

Avocado Egg Rolls

Avocado Egg Rolls

Ingredients:

1 cup vegetable oil

3 avocados, halved, peeled and seeded

1 roma tomato, diced

1/4 cup diced red onion

2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro leaves

Juice of 1 lime

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

8 egg roll wrappers

Cilantro Dipping Sauce:

3/4 cup fresh cilantro leaves, loosely packed

1/3 cup sour cream

1 jalapeno, seeded and deveined, optional

2 tablespoons mayonnaise

1 clove garlic

Juice of 1 lime

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste


Directions:

Cilantro dipping sauce; combine cilantro, sour cream, jalapeno, mayonnaise, garlic and lime juice in the bowl of a food processor; season with salt and pepper to taste. Set aside.
Heat vegetable oil in a large skillet or Dutch oven over medium high heat.

In a medium bowl, gently mash avocados using a potato masher. Add tomato, red onion, cilantro, lime juice, salt and pepper, to taste, and gently toss to combine.

Working one at a time, place avocado mixture in the center of each wrapper. Bring the bottom edge of the wrapper tightly over the filling, folding in the sides. Continue rolling until the top of the wrapper is reached. Using your finger, rub the edges of the wrapper with water, pressing to seal. Repeat with remaining wrappers and avocado mixture.

Working in batches, add egg rolls to the Dutch oven and fry until evenly golden brown and crispy, about 2-3 minutes. Transfer to a paper towel-lined plate.