Oh, some yummy inspiration on here! This is one of my favorite comfort food pasta dishes. It's even better reheated. Baked Pasta Shells with Eggplant from Simple Vegetarian Pleasures by Jeanne Lemlin (highly recommended!) 4 Tbsp olive oil 1 medium (1 1/4 lbs) eggplant, peeled and diced (3/4 inch dice) 1/2 lb small pasta shells (I actually prefer to use Barilla Plus penne) 6 garlic cloves, minced 1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes 1 1/2 cups canned crushed tomatoes or tomato puree 2 Tbsp dry red wine 1/2 tsp salt 1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley 1/4 cup chopped fresh basil, or 1 tsp dried basil 1/2 cup diced roasted red peppers, store-bought or freshly roasted 4 Tbsp grated Parmesan cheese 1 1/2 cups grated part-skim mozzarella cheese Bring a large stockpot of water to a boil. Heat 1 Tbsp of the oil in a large non-stick skillet over medium high heat. Fry half the eggplant, tossing often, until it begins to brown and appears somewhat translucent or shiny. Initially, the eggplant will absorb the oil and look dry; don't add any more oil, just keep frying and tossing until its juices are released. When done, the eggplant should be still somewhat firm because it will bake further in the oven. Don't overcook it. Remove the eggplant and place it in a shallow, 2 1/2 quart baking dish. Using 1 Tbsp of the oil, fry the 2nd batch of eggplant the same way. When the pasta water is boiling, drop in the shells (or penne). Cook until al dente, not mushy. Drain and return to pot. Place the remaining 2 Tbsp of oil in the skillet. Add the garlic and hot pepper flakes and cook 1-2 minutes, just until fragrant but not colored. Stir in the tomatoes, wine, salt, parsley, basil and red peppers. Cook 2 minutes, and remove from heat. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Stir the eggplant, sauce, and 2 Tbsp of the Parmesan cheese into the pasta shells. Place half the mixture in the casserole dish that held the eggplant (to avoid dirtying an extra dish). Top with the mozzarella cheese. Spread the remaining pasta mixture on top, then sprinkle with the remaining 2 Tbsp of Parmesan. Cover the dish with foil. If needed, refrigerate at this stage up to 24 hours in advance. Bake 30 minutes or until hot and bubbly. Remove foil and bake 5 more minutes. And this one I haven't tried yet but would like to: http://www.thekitchn.com/recipe-chard-mushroom-lasagna-137482 Vegetable Lasagna with Butternut B�chamel serves 6 to 8 1 pound (about 16) lasagna noodles 2 to 2 1/2 pound butternut squash (or 2 pounds chopped squash) Olive oil Salt and pepper to taste 1 large bunch (about 5 large leaves) chard, well-washed 1 pound cremini mushrooms, washed and sliced 3 cloves garlic, finely minced 1/4 cup water or white wine 1 cup milk, plus additional if needed 1 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg 1 lemon, zested 1 teaspoon minced fresh thyme leaves, plus extra for the top of the lasagna 1 1/2 cup shredded Parmesan and mozzarella cheese mix Heat the oven to 375�F. Lightly grease a 9x13-inch baking dish with olive oil. Bring a large pot of salted water to boil over high heat. Add the lasagna noodles and cook as directed on the package. When cooked, drain and lay out on clean kitchen towels to dry. While the pasta is cooking, peel and seed the squash. Cut into 1-inch cubes and toss with 1 tablespoon olive oil and a generous amount of salt and pepper. Spread on a baking sheet and roast for 40 minutes or until extremely soft. Remove the stems and ribs from the chard leaves by folding each leaf in half lengthwise and using the tip of a chef's knife to slit away the main rib. Chop each rib and stem into 1/2-inch pieces. Roll each leaf up into a cigar shape, cut it in half lengthwise, and then crossways into thin ribbons. Heat a thin drizzle of oil oil in a 10-inch saut� pan. Turn the heat to medium-high and add the mushrooms. Cook without stirring until quite brown � about 5 to 7 minutes. Flip them over and cook for an additional 3 minutes. Turn the heat down to medium, and add the garlic and chard stems to the pan. Cook, stirring frequently, until the garlic is fragrant � about 3 minutes. Add the chopped chard leaves and 1/4 cup water or white wine and cook until the leaves are tender and wilted. Turn off the heat and season the vegetables lightly with salt and pepper. At this point the butternut squash should be quite soft. Remove from the oven and let cool slightly. Scrape all the squash into a bowl and add 1/2 cup milk, the nutmeg, lemon zest and thyme. Use an immersion blender to puree the mixture, adding the remaining milk as you go (this can also be done in a traditional blender). Add extra milk if necessary to make the sauce smooth and creamy, but not too thin. (Think thin fruit smoothie.) Add salt and pepper to taste. To assemble the lasagna, spoon about 1/4 of the butternut sauce into the bottom of the prepared baking pan and spread to thinly coat the bottom. Place 1/4 of the noodles on top (four noodles) and then spread 1/3 of remaining sauce on noodles. Top with 1/2 of the cooked vegetables, and 1/2 cup of cheese. Add another layer of noodles, then sauce, then the rest of the vegetables, and 1/2 cup of cheese. Place the final layer of noodles over the vegetables and spread the last 1/3 of the sauce over top. Sprinkle evenly with the remaining 1/2 cup of cheese and a pinch of thyme leaves. Cover the lasagna with foil and bake at 375�F for 30 minutes. Remove the foil and continue to bake for 10 to 15 minutes or until the top is golden and the cheese is gooey. Remove from the oven and let stand uncovered for 5 to 10 minutes before slicing. Serve with a good green salad and some bread.

Ann H., traditional Chanuka foods vary with the community. Jews of Eastern European descent eat latkes (but never agree on how to make them). Israelis eat fried filled doughnuts. As you see in the string, and can find on many web sites, everywhere in the world, Jews come up with something different for Chanuka. The one constant is that it should be something cooked in oil; that's the point. The idea is to commemorate the story about the oil for the menorah. lpinkmountain, if you use a mix for matzo balls, you will go to hell. JUST KIDDING! But really, I have never understood what the point is of that mix. I mean, matzo balls contain matzo meal, salt, egg, water or broth, and fat (chicken fat best if you are not a vegetarian and your cardiologist isn't looking). So what's in that mix? I think it's just matzo meal, salt, and some bouillon powder (which I don't like anyway); you still have to add the rest -- doesn't really save any time and just costs a lot more and uses more packaging. Lakeguy, here is how I (a genuine Jewish mother) make chicken soup and matzo balls. It's a very simple recipe, without even any dill or garlic, but it really doesn't need it, because the strongly developed chicken flavor holds its own, so try it this way first. Really, you can make any kind of chicken soup your family likes, but make sure to follow the two essentials about the type of chicken and the length of cooking. Try to find a kosher chicken -- the bigger, fatter, and older, the better. The taste is just much, much better. It's not that the kosher slaughtering makes a difference. But they grow them bigger, and they don't feed them chemicals (not for kosher purposes, just to broaden their market to foodies), and the soaking and salting of kashering is like brining it. If you can't find a kosher chicken in your town, then go for an organic one, I guess. Lindac taught me the money-saving tip of using a package of wings instead of a whole chicken (kosher chickens are not cheap). Gellchom's Jewish Chicken Soup (eat! eat!) 1 cut up kosher chicken, or a large package of wings, necks, etc. 2 stalks celery, NO LEAVES, scraped and cut into sticks 2 large carrots, scraped and cut into sticks one whole onion, peeled Salt and pepper Rinse the chicken and put it in your soup pot. Cover with water to about 3/4 inch from top. Bring to a good hard boil, reduce the heat, and skim. Then add the vegetables, 1-2 T salt, and some pepper. Cover and simmer a LONG time -- absolute minimum 1 1/2 hours, but I like to let it go to much longer, even to 6. If it cooks too far down, then just add some water; the taste will still be plenty rich, I promise. Remove chicken and use for something that can have seriously overcooked chicken! Discard onion (and celery, if you want, but I like it in the soup). Remove carrots and set aside. Strain soup and return carrots, celery, and maybe some of the chicken. Chill and remove some but not all of the fat before reheating. Serve with matzo balls, kreplach, noodles, or rice. Matzo balls (this is just the old recipe off the back of the Manischewitz matzo meal box, before they changed it from schmaltz to oil) 2 T schmaltz (rendered chicken fat; buy frozen in kosher market or make your own) or oil (if you must!) 2 lg eggs, slightly beaten ½ c matzo meal 1 t salt, optional 2 T water or broth (use broth if no schmaltz) Mix schmaltz and eggs. Mix matzo meal with salt and blend. Add water and mix. Cover and chill at least 15 minutes. Boil slightly salted water. Reduce heat to low, form balls (with wet hands, and note that they will enlarge as they cook), and add to soup. Cover and cook 30-40 minutes.

Same here, thank you Ann for the great recipe. Plan on planting Florence Fennel asap, gotten seeds in a trade. You're right, it can be fine with less butter ( may be 1-2 T unsalted butter and 1-2 T olive oil?) also no salt necessary with prosciutto and parmesan ( which I'll use about 1/2 c). Wondering about adding some shredded mozzarella or provolone? thanks again, Bea

Our holiday ham is NewYears day so very easy as a brunch menu...black-eyed peas, biscuits, horseradish cream sauce, collards. DH makes omelets to order. I usually make potato/onion/apple fritters similar to a latke. Very casual. If for a more formal event as a sit down meal i would make roasted root veggies. From the past couple weeks and Thanksgiving. I even left the skin on the winter squash. My family loves to try new things or just chose what they want. Pleases everyone. Makes a pretty centerpiece platter. This one i found i've bookmarked for DH's family. In muffin tins i can make some savory ones for us and then add some brown sugar and a marshmallow half for the kids that want that sort of thing. 375 for half hour covered with foil, uncover and add more cheese (or sweet topping) then toast the tops.