Feta – Simply Delicious: The Cookbook Project

13-15: Vegetarian Lasagna

Jamie Martin Group 13: Vegetarian Dishes, Section 2: Main Courses September 22, 2020September 22, 2020basil, black olives, blender, canola oil, cheese, chili sauce, chopped, cottage cheese, dinner, dried herbs, Feta, food processor, frozen, herbs and spices, lasagna, layers, lunch, meal prep, melted, Mozzarella, olive oil, pasta/noodles, peeled, Ricotta, sautéed, shredded, spinach, tomatoes, twice-baked, untested, vegetable bouillon, vegetable broth, vegetable oil, vegetables, vegetarian, yellow onions

We’ve covered lasagna dishes on this site before, and 13-15: Vegetarian Lasagna introduces yet another variation of the traditional dish by eschewing tomatoes completely. This version is similar to the Stouffer’s Vegetable Lasagna that my aunt used to bring to dinners all the time as a “homemade dish”. This has no tomato sauce, instead going for cheese and spinach layered between lasagna noodles.

There’s also onions and olives in there as well (I LOVE olives), as well as…chili sauce? I’m not sure why they thought chili sauce was a good addition to this recipe, but at least you can adjust it based on preference.

2-18: Luncheon Salad

Jamie Martin Group 02: Salads, Section 1: Appetizers & Starters March 19, 2020October 28, 20211980s, blue cheese, boiled, butter, cheese, cottage cheese, croutons, dressing, easy, emulsion, Feta, gluten-free, granulated sugar, grapes, healthy, inexpensive, lemon juice, lemons, lettuce, lunch, melted, nuts, olive oil, Romaine lettuce, salads, salt, sautéed, tarragon, untested, vegetarian, Waldorf, walnuts, white wine vinegar

Reporting LIVE (to print), from an undisclosed location in Northern California, USA, currently sheltering-in-place and teleworking due to COVID-19/coronavirus/the apocalypse. It’s getting crazy out there, y’all–stay safe and healthy. And wash your hands.

Since we’re all stuck inside for a while, and I’ve got a big backlog of these to get through (over 50), here’s one more thing to pass the time. 2-18: Luncheon Salad is pure 1980s–turn up the vaporwave (for A E S T H E T I C), find your best matching sweatsuit, and crack open a Tab.

I don’t remember feeling like this salad was a treat–more like a punishment. If you can find some cottage cheese in the store right now, go for it–just don’t invite your friends. #socialdistancing

10-17: Lamb Chops with Mozzarella

Jamie Martin Group 10: Lamb & Veal, Section 2: Main Courses July 27, 2016July 6, 2020basil, black pepper, broiled, butter, cast-iron, cheese, chiffonade, dinner, easy, egg-free, fairly expensive, Feta, garlic, gluten-free, Greek, green olives, grilled, herbs and spices, lamb, lamb chops, lemons, Mediterranean, melted, Mozzarella, olive oil, pan-fried, pimento, restaurant-style, salt, scored, slit, untested

I definitely did NOT eat a lot of lamb or veal growing up, but cooking through these recipes has given me the opportunity to try out some different dishes these days. On a recent Costco trip we found lamb chops on sale, so I decided to use them for 10-17: Lamb Chops with Mozzarella.

This seems like a strange trend that Simply Delicious is perpetuating–7-2: Pork Chops with Tomatoes is essentially the same idea except with pork, Cheddar cheese, tomatoes, and green beans. Take meat, stack a slice of cheese and random fridge/pantry items on it, call it a recipe. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

19-13: Cooking with Cheese

Jamie Martin Group 19: Basic Ingredients, Section 4: Cooking School March 5, 2016October 18, 2020blue cheese, Brie, cheese, cooking school, cottage cheese, Feta, French, goat cheese, Gorgonzola, Greek, how-to, Italian, Jarlsberg, Parmesan, Swiss

There’s a lot of recipes in Simply Delicious that use cheese–all different types. While by no means an exhaustive list, 19-13: Cooking with Cheese goes over a few different types that you’ll probably encounter in your own culinary adventures. This is part of the last section of the book, a Cooking School compendium of basic culinary reference material.

Cheese might not be a big part of your diet, but it’s always been a big part of mine (for better or worse–what can I say, my maternal grandparents were Swedish and French and lived in the Midwest USA). After the jump, read more about some common types of cooking cheese.

2-6: Greek Salad

Jamie Martin Group 02: Salads, Section 1: Appetizers & Starters August 2, 2014February 18, 2020black olives, black pepper, cucumbers, dinner, easy, egg-free, Feta, gluten-free, goat cheese, Greek, green bell peppers, inexpensive, lunch, olive oil, red onions, salads, salt, side dish, summer, tossed, untested, vegetables, vegetarian, vinegar, white beans, yellow onions

My options for cooking have been limited lately, so I’ve been gravitating towards simpler recipes in order to keep it manageable, yet active. You really can’t get much simpler than 2-6: Greek Salad.

This is a great recipe for summer–most of the ingredients are in season and it’s super light. We made it for dinner instead of lunch as suggested, but I’m sure the folks at Simply Delicious won’t mind.

6-4: Easy Stuffed Chicken Breasts

Jamie Martin Group 06: Poultry & Game, Section 2: Main Courses June 19, 2014June 17, 2020all-purpose flour, basted, boiled, boneless, breasts, butter, cheese, chicken, chicken bouillon, chicken broth, dinner, fairly easy, fairly inexpensive, Feta, filling, frozen, garlic, goat cheese, gravy, Hutton house, lemon juice, lemons, lunch, melted, miso, mushrooms, revisited, rice, sautéed, simmered, skinless, slit, spinach, stuffed, white wine

In 3-13: Velvety Carrot Soup, I talked about how I love old cookbooks for their colorful attempts at trying to make boring recipes sound exciting. Another cookbook “trope” is putting words like easy, simple or quick in the title of a recipe that would otherwise sound…well, not those things.

Sometimes they live up to their titles, and sometimes not. A prime example of the former would be 6-4: Easy Stuffed Chicken Breasts. To be honest, stuffing chicken breasts doesn’t even sound that hard to begin with, so I suppose it didn’t even need that qualifier.

Unless it sounded hard to you–if that’s the case, ignore that last sentence. 🙂 It’s really not that hard, is what I’m saying.