Italian Nachos

Rose lives above a little place called Anchovie's.  It's our favorite Friday night spot because:

1. It's basically an extension of her living room
2. Food and drinks are yummy
3. By the end of the night, we've participated in or overheard a few good stories from our bar stool neighbors.

After a long week of various challenges on both our ends, I told Rose we had to go out and get a little drunk on Saturday night. I said she could pick the place which I knew meant Anchovie's or her couch. I was really ok with either.

We arrived at the bar which was packed and got a spot in the little bar to the side. We ordered our drinks (gin and tonics and vodka and sodas) and grabbed our bar stools. We decided that tonight we would go all out and get the nachos - the large plate.

Finally after stalking some people for their stools at the main bar, we got our new seats just in time for our nachos to arrive.

So what's make them "italian nachos?" The nachos are tortilla chips with bolognese sauce, jalapenos, mozzarella and ricotta cheese. They are freakin' amazing. The bolognese is oddly yummy on the chips and then you toss in a little ricotta and these are way better than any regular cheddar and bean nachos. You really need enough sauce though and enough ricotta. This particular night there must have been some god like man in the kitchen becuase he put a spoonful of ricotta on the side of the dish - perfect for dipping!

After a few more cocktails, two guys breaking up next to us, picking on the snobby girls with weird side ponytails, getting one free round from the bartender, we gathered up our tipsy selves and headed home.  Rose upstairs to her house and me the four blocks home.

I'd like to note we were out until Midnight ON A SATURDAY!

Not only did we eat amazing italian nachos with extra ricotta, we were out on the town and not home by 930pm. It was a big night, indeed!

I'm cooking. Crazier things have happened.

So I'm cooking. I know  - it's crazy. But last week this girl ate out almost every stinking meal and my waist line and my wallet can't handle much more. Tonight I'm going with a basically easy recipe - veggie lasagna. The plan is make it today on this lovely Monday Holiday and eat it for the rest of the week.
 
I tried to make it Weight Watchers friendly but that includes no cheese and that's BS. I also tried to make it with whole wheat no bake noodles but there were no no-bake noodles. So I lost on that front and the fat free cheese front too. I chose low fat ricotta and mozzarella - sorry WW it's the best Whole Foods and Julie McCoy could do.  Me and Zip Car were not making additional trips to suit the appropriate caloric intake.

So we got spinach, mushrooms and zucchini in the mix for the veggies. The lasagna is in the oven right now. I'm worried the spinach was too watery. I cooked frozen chopped spinach and don't think I did enough to drain it and remove the excess water. Basically, I was lazy. I am anxious to see what it looks like once the tin foil comes off the top.

I sauteed the spinach, zucchini and mushrooms all together with some garlic, olive oil, oregano, basil and a little salt and pepper. That made me feel almost Martha Stewart-esque. I combined it with the ricotta, a dash of mozz and then started assembling.

Along with the lasagna I will serve a mixed green salad. I'm debating what to put in the salad but it will have a balsamic dressing because that's all I have. In addition, I will heat up a little whole wheat baguette.

So readers (all five of you) that's it from windy and chilly Boston. I'll let you know how it turns out.