I am very excited about this recipe! Several years ago, Andrew and I went to North, an Italian restaurant in Tucson and ordered their Not Your Typical Chicken Lasagna. We instantly fell in love with it. The light, brothy consistency is different from the usually thick, saucy, baked, cheesy lasagna recipes.When we returned to North, they had redone their entire menu and removed it! Since then, we have dreamed of this lasagna and Googled it numerous times, hoping to find a semblance of it, with no such luck! A couple of weeks ago, while battling a desperate craving for this lasagna, Andrew remembered the name of the dish and Googled: Not Your Typical Chicken Lasagna, North (something we should have done before, right?!). To our surprise, we found a video of North's Executive, Chef Peter Lindquist, sharing the lasagna recipe! This little video is a gem! We used it as a guide, but we added a couple things that were omitted in the video, like how to cook the chicken. We are so excited about this recipe and hope you enjoy it too.

Ingredients:
2 cups mushroom
1 cup leaks
2 cups spinach
parsley to taste
cherry tomatoes to taste
1 tsp garlic
4-5 chicken breasts
chicken broth to taste
white wine to taste
1 tbsp oil
2 tbsp butter
sliced Parmesan cheese to taste
1 box lasagna pasta sheets (recipe works best with smaller pasta sheets, rather than the traditional rectangular sheets)
salt to taste
pepper to taste

Getting Started! 




Directions:

1. Boil chicken with salt and pepper. Once chicken is fully cooked, string and set aside. Option to cook chicken in small cubes and sear until slightly golden.

2. Boil pasta and set aside.

3. In a small skillet, cook leaks in 1 table spoon of butter and set aside.

4. Cook mushrooms and garlic in oil until golden. Add parsley and leaks to mix and sprinkle salt and pepper. Add 1-2 cup vegetable stock, 1 tablespoon of butter and wine. Lastly, add chicken and spinach and mix.

5. Heat vegetable broth in microwave.

6. For each serving plate, do the following:

• In a bowl, place 1-2 sheets of pasta. 
• Add a couple scoops of chicken/vegetable medley on top of pasta. 
• Cover with a 1-2 sheets of pasta.
• Pour hot vegetable broth over serving until it covers 1 inch of the meal. 
• Sprinkle fresh Parmesan cheese and tomatoes to your liking and serve! 

Ingredients:
2 cans 15oz low sodium garbanzo beans
1/2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
2 tablespoons crushed garlic
2 tablespoons olive oil (add more for softer consistency)
2 red bell peppers
1/2 cup lemon juice

Optional:
1 roasted Serrano pepper, diced and blended or red pepper sprinkled to taste. For a supremely spicy recipe, add both!

Directions:
1. Remove seeds from bell peppers and slice into 3-4 large slices. Place peppers on a cooking sheet and broil about 5 inches away from broiler. Broil for 5 to 10 minutes or until the outer skin on the red peppers is charred.

 
2. Once skin is charred, remove and let cool for 10 minutes.

3. Meanwhile, drain garbanzo beans and slowly add to food processor. Begin adding olive oil and crushed garlic to food processor. Add salt, pepper, cumin and lemon juice to mixture.

4. Peel the charred skin off the peppers, slice and add all but two slices of the roasted pepper to blender and blend for 1 minute.







5. Remove hummus mixture from blender . Finely dice the two remaining pieces of red pepper and place on the center of the hummus. Serve with fresh veggies or whole wheat crackers!

Have a Thanksgiving potluck, Holiday party, or school bake sale coming up? Give these muffins a try! I make these muffins every year during the holiday season. You can check out my previous post--Whole Wheat Pumpkin muffins--for the batter recipe, and a healthier option, of course:).  However, if you have a sweet tooth, or you simply want to impress your guests, this sugar coating recipe is a great option.

I made these muffins last week for a Thanksgiving potluck and they were a success. The best part about these muffins, is that even though they are sweet, they are whole wheat! So after carving into that juicy turkey, and tasting all the great Thanksgiving sides, your guests won't feel too guilty about indulging in a tasty desert!


Ingredients:
1/2 cup white whole wheat flour (King Arthur)

I love pizza. My only problem with ordering pizza is how little control I  have over the variety and quantity of the toppings. If you are a picky eater, a health nut, or just enjoy the smell of homemade pizza, you MUST try this easy recipe.

This is a great activity to do for a dinner party; each guest can create their own pizza and pair it with a red or white wine. It can also be a fun birthday party idea for kids; kids can create faces and fun designs with their toppings. Lastly, this is a great romantic date idea; it's interactive, sensual, and fun!


Ingredients:
1 pack Trader Joe's whole wheat pizza dough (they also sell regular pizza dough)
marinara sauce to taste
buffalo mozzarella cheese or regular skim mozzarella Cheese
Optional toppings: turkey, pineapple, basil, tomato

*Add any additional toppings of your choice.