Spinach Cannelloni, Lime Chicken

I've always been interested in cooking, but since becoming a full-time housewife and at-home mom, it's more or less my vocation, as well as my avocation. I try to get a tasty, nutritious meal on the table most nights, but that can be a challenge as I'm a vegetarian, my husband wants meat and lots of it, and my seven-year-old daughter takes the concept of pickiness to whole new levels. Here in the Gravy Train column, you'll find a selection of my more successful recipes, both meat-based and vegetarian and you'll have the opportunity to submit your own recipes and/or cooking ideas. Smaklig måltid, as we say in my neck of the woods!

Spinach Cannelloni

One of my favorite dishes to make is Spinach Cannelloni. It's one of the few vegetarian dishes I make that my husband eats without complaining about the lack of meat!

12 cannelloni tubes

8 oz. chopped spinach (if you use frozen spinach, make sure it's extremely well-drained)

1 yellow onion, peeled and chopped

1 cup cottage cheese

1 large jar of pasta sauce

1 Tablespoon butter

2 Tablespoons flour

1 3/4 cups milk

1 cup grated cheese

salt and pepper

Sauté the onion and well-drained spinach until the onion is tender. Let cool, then add salt, pepper, and cottage cheese. Fill the cannelloni tubes and set them aside. Heat the oven to 425F (200C).

Pour the pasta sauce into a baking pan and lay the filled cannelloni tubes on top of the sauce.

Melt the butter in a small saucepan. Remove from heat and stir in the flour. Add the milk, stirring briskly. Return to stovetop and let simmer for five minutes. Stir in cheese until it melts, add salt and pepper to taste.

Pour the cheese sauce over the cannelloni and bake for 20 minutes. Serve immediately.

Serves four.

Lime Chicken

On those days when my husband can't stand another vegetarian meal (or if I need something to bribe him with!), I'll often treat him to my Lime Chicken. I've never tasted it, but according to him it's one of the best chicken recipes he's ever eaten.

2 chicken breasts

2 teaspoons cooking oil

2 Tablespoons soy sauce

2 Tablespoons lime juice

2 teaspoons corn starch

3/4 cup water

Fry chicken in oil in a skillet until the meat is white all the way through. While it's cooking, mix together soy sauce, lime juice, cornstarch, and water. Pour the mixture over the chicken (after it's done or nearly done) and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for ten minutes. Serve with rice and vegetables.

Serves two.