Dinner at Highlands Grill

We continuted the Bup's birthday celebration on Monday night. He got a coupon from Hershey's SweetMail for a free entree at any of the Hershey restaurants. When Highlands Grill first opened, I was still a concierge, so we got the chance to go to the pre-opening & experience it. We both really enjoyed it & have been wanting to go back ever since. The restaurant is set on the grounds of the Hershey Links golf course, so the dining overlooks the golf course & in the distance you can see The Hotel Hershey. We ate outside since it was such a nice evening.

To start, we had beer! I got the Sam Adams seasonal, which is the Fall variety already. Time's flying! The birthday boy got Yuengling Porter (on tap - he was happy).

I was so excited to see that they had a Strawberry Spinach salad on their menu! It came with a light vinaigrette, thinly sliced almonds, & blue cheese crumbles. I thought it was a little pricey, but they did give me a decent sized portion.

The Bup had his usual favorite - Caesar Salad. It had thinly sliced parmesan cheese & brioche croutons on it.

My main dish was the Vegetable Flatbread, with roasted tomatoes, broccoli, caramelized onions, baby spinach, red sauce & fresh mozerella. The crust was nicely crisped & I loved the broccoli on top. Plus, I had enough that I brought some home for lunch the next day.

For his dinner, the Bup had the Grilled Portabella Mushroom sandwich. It was a brioche roll stuffed with roasted veggies, provolone cheese, herb aioli, & the mushroom cap. I had a taste & it was delicious!

I was hesitant about getting dessert because every time I order chocolate cake at a restaurant, I'm disappointed. We decided to go for it anyway & split an order of the Flourless Chocolate Cake with layers of cake & chocolate buttercream, topped with dark chocolate ganache. It sounded so good, but just wasn't chocolatey! I wasn't impressed. I need to always remember this & not get the chocolate cake when we're out.

Overall, it was a great evening & we enjoyed being there. I got a text from my mom part way through dinner that their van was making weird noises, so they might need us to pick them up. Thankfully, they made it home safely! We walked up later to drop off some things & say hi, which made for a nice end to a relaxing evening.

Tasty Tidbits

Happy weekend! I'm so excited because my college roomie is visiting us for the weekend. We have plans to make homemade pizzas, go biking, laugh a lot, visit the farmer's market, maybe go shopping & do lots of catching up!

What are your plans for the weekend?

Here's what we've been eating in the last week:

Breakfasts

• Yogurt with Cherry Granola
• Cereal: Puffed Millet, Puffed rice & Kashi Cinnamon Harvest Whole Wheat Biscuits - This makes a HUGE, filling bowl. I use vanilla almond milk on it.
• Fresh fruit: peaches, blueberries, canteloupe, bananas

Lunches

• Leftovers
• Sandwiches
• Sweet potatoes
• Apples, pears, canteloupe

Dinners

Sunday:

• Veggie Summer Rolls
• Green Salad

Monday:

• Grilled Zucchini & Eggplant Lasagna
• Green Salad

Tuesday:

• Double Bean Burgers on Whole Wheat Martin's Potato Rolls (the best!)
• Grilled green beans, green pepper, & jalapeno peppers - We stuffed the jalapenos after grilling with a cashew cream. I thought that would make it okay to pop an entire pepper into my mouth at once. It was SO hot!!!! Don't do that.
• Green Salad

Wednesday:

• Corn on the cob
• Guacamole with Trader Joe's Veggie & Flax chips
• Green Salad (Are you noticing a recurring theme here? I bought 3 heads of lettuce at market on Sat. & we were craving salads like crazy. It's all gone now.)

Thursday:

• Dinner at Mom & Pops' house:
• Whole wheat spaghetti with fresh tomato sauce
• Green Salad & Kale Salad

Friday:

• Still undecided, except that we're having broiled new potatoes - we harvested our potato crop last week & have lots of baby potatoes to eat up.

Desserts

• Raw Vegan Carrot Cake
• Banana Soft Serve with Protein Peanut Butter blended in - So creamy!
• 1 scoop vanilla bean ice cream with diced plum sauce & granola

Zucchini & Eggplant Lasagna

We've made this twice in the last 8 days. It's that good. Both times required a trip to the grocery store for tofu. It was totally worth it.

I almost didn't share it with you because we were running super late & I didn't have much time for photos, but since we've had it twice, I had to snap a few quick ones. To note: lasagna is ugly in pictures, especially rushed ones. Don't let that put you off. It tastes 1000% better than it looks here!

Let me tell you about the second trip to the grocery store. It was on Sunday afternoon & I decided to bike. So I headed out, & started seeing some dark clouds coming in. I hurried through the store & got frustrated immediately. I thought I'd buy a couple boxes of tofu so this wouldn't happen again, only to find that they only had 3 containers & they all expired on Aug. 8. Strike 1. I paid for my items & headed out to my bike. It was really dark & blustery, but I decided to head home anyway. I took the shortest route, but it wasn't enough. As I exited the parking lot & turned at the light, it started to downpour. I was drenched within seconds, so I figured I might as well keep going...I'm pretty sure at one point it was hailing. Strike 2. I made it home safely, though. Next time I need tofu for a recipe, I'm taking the car & buying several boxes!

This recipe is perfect to make ahead of time. We assembled the lasagna on Sunday afternoon & then put it in the refrigerator, covered, overnight. When I got home from work on Monday, I took off the lid & put it in the oven while it preheated. Once the oven was at 400, I set my timer & dinner was ready 45 minutes later! It's great for nights when you have other chores to do before dinner because there's no prep involved that day. I would assume that it could be frozen & then baked in a similar fashion, though baking time would increase.

Grilling the veggies adds so much flavor to this lasagna! I do not recommend skipping that step. It also helps keep the lasagna from getting overly wet as it bakes. I hope you try this & enjoy it! It's light, yet filling - perfect for a late summer evening.

Zucchini & Eggplant Lasagna - Vegan
Filling adapted from PBS Food Fresh Tastes Blog
Serves 6

2 medium zucchinis
1 large eggplant
3 c thick tomato sauce
1 16 oz. block extra firm tofu
1 T nutritional yeast
1 T olive oil
1 1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp oregano
2-3 cloves garlic
4 c swiss chard (or spinach), coarsely chopped
garlic powder
Italian seasoning

Cut tofu into 4 pieces & press for at least 20 minutes.

Slice zucchinis & eggplant lengthwise into long strips, about 1/4" thick. Grill slices on a well-oiled grill at med-high for about 5 minutes per side or until browned.

In a blender, combine pressed tofu, nutritional yeast, olive oil, salt, oregano, & garlic. Blend until smooth. Add swiss chard & blend until only small pieces of swiss chard remain.

Preheat oven to 400*F. Spray a 9"x13" baking pan with cooking spray. Spread about 1/2 c sauce on the bottom of the pan. Lay a single layer of zucchini (about 1 of them) on the bottom. Cover with half of the tofu filling mixture. Sprinkle with garlic powder & Italian seasoning. Cover with sauce, about 1/2 to 1 cup. Layer with the eggplant slices. Top with remaining tofu filling & 1/2 to 1 cup of sauce. Sprinkle with more garlic powder & Italian seasoning, if desired. Place the remaining zucchini on top and cover with remaining sauce. Bake for 45 minutes or until bubbly.*

*Baking time is fairly flexible. I've increased the heat to 450 & baked for 45 minutes, so if you have something else to go in the oven also, it should bake nicely at 350 also, just bake it for an hour instead. All of the ingredients are cooked already, so baking it helps meld the flavors and heat everything evenly.