You’ve had your tart, and your panini, so now it is time for a big helping of roasted veggie lasagna.

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Not much to say here, except these are pretty fabulous sandwiches!

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We’re going to use the first portion of the roasted vegetables from yesterday’s post in this recipe. You will need to estimate and set aside 1/4 of the yield from each vegetable, keeping them separated. Then make a tart crust (or you could just use 1 sheet of puff pastry).  I link you to a tart dough recipe here on the blog. You’ll only need half of it, but go ahead and make the full amount. You will love this tart and you’ll want to make it again, I promise! So make the full amount and freeze the other half of the dough and it’ll be even easier to make the next time.

I served the tart at a dinner party atop baby greens that were lightly coated with this vinaigrette,  but straight up is great too.

P.S. I’m just sorry that I served it on this bright peppermint stripe platter (hey, it was still the Christmas season) because it totally distracts from how bright and colorful the tart is. Go back up and see the top photo for proof of that!

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Today, we’re going to roast some vegetables and then use them for three different meals for healthy, meatless… and most importantly, delightful dishes. This one batch of roasted veggies will yield enough to make a Roasted Vegetable-Goat Cheese Tart, Veggie Lasagna, and Roasted Vegetable-Mozzarella Panini Sandwiches.  Be certain to keep all of the vegetables separate when you refrigerate them, you will need it that one for at least one of the recipes.  You can store them all in the same container, just do mix them up with one another.

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I found this recipe in an issue of Bon Appétit three or four years ago and tucked it away. When I stumbled upon it right after Thanksgiving, I knew it would be a perfect side for the pork roast I planned to serve on Christmas Eve. Not only because the flavors would compliment the pork so well, but also because I had a kabocha squash and a butternut squash laying around that I had used in my Thanksgiving table decor. I’d also used several pie pumpkins in the decor that I’d already roasted and frozen for use in a pumpkin soup I planned to serve. It is so gratifying when you can use such gorgeous vegetables twice… first to decorate and then to eat!

Just as with yesterday’s post, this dish my also be prepared a full day in advance. Assemble completely in the baking dish, cover and refrigerate, then bring to room temperature before baking.

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It is officially Christmas time in the Hopkins’ home. Connor drove home from Flagstaff on Wednesday afternoon, Marissa flew in from San Francisco yesterday afternoon, and Dave’s mom, Pat, flew in from Illinois last night. The gang’s all here, time to celebrate! Nothing like a nice hot bowl of soup to get the party started, well that and a glass of wine…

When you taste this creamy, thick, and rich soup you will swear that is it loaded with cream and fat… but no, the only fat comes from 2 tablespoons olive oil and that is divided by 12 servings, so nearly fat-free!

And the color, oh it is lovely – thanks to the last second addition of a bunch of spinach leaves. Check out this photo of the soup with and without the addition of spinach, just to show you the lovely transformation the spinach makes to the end result.

Healthy? Oh this soup is plenty healthy… cauliflower, broccoli, potatoes, and spinach – on my! Plus it uses the usually discarded broccoli stalks. I almost never discard broccoli stalks, they are flavor-packed and delicious! For instance, when I stir-fry, I use a vegetable peeler on the tough outer part of the stalk and then slice them up and throw them in the wok. No need to peel the stalks for the soup, they will get plenty tender during the simmering stage.

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This is the recipe using smoked salmon that I told you about a couple days ago, the one I found in an old Gourmet Magazine and wanted to try for my smoked salmon-loving husband.  It is a winner!!! Perfect for picnics, tailgating, or lunch brown-bagging.

If you made the Brussels sprout salad from yesterday’s post, then you have extra mustard vinaigrette leftover… use 1/4 cup of that and just stir in the shallot listed here… then skip making the vinaigrette in this recipe, and you are ready to rock and roll.

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If you have ever eaten at Chelsea’s Kitchen, here in Phoenix, then you have most likely enjoyed or watched someone else enjoy the out-of-this-world Brussels sprout salad.  The only thing I can’t get over is the price… $14 for a salad seems a tad pricey. Luckily this delicious salad is easy to make at home for just pennies on the restaurant dollar.

And this mustard vinaigrette… one of the best and most versatile vinaigrettes you will ever make. So although you don’t use even half of it for this salad, you are going to want to use it on salads from here on out!

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Watch out, these Asian-French-inspired fries are addicting! You can thank me, but please don’t blame me if you end up making them and then craving them again within hours of devouring the plateful! They were an amazing side to the duck I shared with you yesterday. (Un)fortunately, I was so busy taking photos of the duck that I forgot to take any of the potatoes while in progress… so I had to make them again today, darn it! If YOU make them, please leave a comment afterward and let me know how much you love them  what you think. (Oh, obviously the Chinese five-spice and Sriracha is what makes them Asian inspired… it’s the mayo -instead of ketchup- that makes them oh so Frenchy.) And, yes, the Sriracha mayo is just as delicious and versatile as the chipotle mayo… good on just about any and every thing!

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For far too long, I have been discarding fennel fronds.  You know, those pretty dill-like leaves attached to the stalks of a funnel bulb.  Sure, I’d pick off a few fronds and use to garnish a dish, but then I’d toss out the remaining fronds still attached to the tough and inedible stalks. What a shame! I decided to see if the fronds could be made into a pesto, and sure enough, delicious! Use this vibrant pesto in a pasta, as a dip with crudités, or drizzled on a fennel salad.  Salad recipe to follow tomorrow. If the fennel you purchase does not have a full 2 cups of fronds, cut the recipe in half and use only 1 cup of fronds.

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