The Big Red Biotech Blog

Hit 75,000th View Today

I like to record page view milestones here for reference.  Today is 75,000th view.  I'm surprised to have ever made it this far.  I guess you never know.

 

Posted by Bruce Lehr May 5th 2011.

Page View Milestone

Another first for me! 

This is the first time that I've exceeded 10,000 page views in a 30 day period.  Traffic seems to be building slowly but surely -- with a fairly predictable upward trend with seasonality - : )

Keep those cards and letters coming.

 
 

Posted by Bruce Lehr April 13th 2011

My Ego Unchecked - View mirror.me | Bruce M. Lehr

Here's a new application (that I got wind of from the Pharma Strategy blog) called mirror.me that analyzes your Tweets and assembles a word cloud describing your Tweet contents/interests. 

mirror.me | Bruce M. Lehr.

I can't resist such arcane features and especially if I can focus this on myself.  So my Cloud is on the above link.  If you click on individual words, you can see users in my community with similar interests. 

You can create your own cloud when you get to the site and have some fun.

 
Posted by Bruce Lehr March 29th 2011.

No Joy in Jupiter

The Mighty Cardinals have struck out.  

 
Looking too it seems. See here and here.  I don't know how they will recover with FANS in short-term.

Posted by Bruce Lehr Feb 16th 2011.

Punxsutawney Phil - Early Spring but Mum on Steelers-Packers

Punxsutawney Phil is no Psychic Octopus. 

All he could do today was predict that Spring is only 6 short weeks away (probably missed that one!).

 

But on the really important question - Who will win the Superbowl this weekend?  Punxsutawney Phil is staying mum. “Two years ago, Phil’s forecast also acknowledged the Steelers’ Super Bowl XLIII win the night before. This year, Sunday’s game was mentioned in the forecast but no winner was predicted between the Steelers and the Green Bay Packers,” writes AP.

Too bad. Phil had the chance to grab fame and glory by correctly predicting a 28-24 win by Steelers.

 
 

Posted by Bruce Lehr Feb 2nd 2011.

Recipe of Month - Bonus - December 2010

I ask readers all the time what they want to see in new recipes.  As predicted, I'm just overwhelmed with requests for a good catfish recipe!  So here's one to try during the holidays.

Sweet-and-Sour Catfish

• 2 to 3 lbs catfish fillets
• 1 tablespoon light soy sauce
• 1/2 cup white wine
• 2 teaspoons hot sauce
• 2 teaspoons minced fresh ginger
• 1 (8-oz) can pineapple chunks packed in juice
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 table spoon plus 1 cup cornstarch, divided
• 1/2 cup cornmeal
• 1 teaspoon seasoned salt
• 1 teaspoon onion powder
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/4 teaspoon ground red (cayenne) pepper
• 2 1/2 cups of peanut oil, divided
• 6 to 8 carrots, cut diagonally into bite-sized pieces
• 1 rib celery, cut diagonally into bite size pieces
• 1 medium onion cut into 8 wedges
• 1 medium red bell pepper, cut into bite size pieces
• 1 cup purchased sweet-and-sour sauce
• Hot cooked white rice
• 4 green onions, green portion chopped for garnish


Preparation

1. Cut catfish on the diagonal into 1-inch pieces. Place in self-sealing plastic bag
2. For marinade, stir together soy sauce, wine, hot sauce and ginger.  Drain pineapple reserving juice.  Cover and refrigerate pineapple chunks.  Add 1/2 cup pineapple juice to marinade.  Stir together water and 1 tablespoon cornstarch; add to marinade.  Pour over the catfish.  Refrigerate for 1 hour.
3. Make the coating in paper bag.  Add 1 cup cornstarch, cornmeal, seasoned salt, onion powder, garlic powder and cayenne pepper.
4. Remove fish from marinade, let liquid drip off.  Put about half the fish into the bag and shake to coat.  Shake off excess coating.  Repeat with other half of fish. Discard marinade and residual coating.
5. Heat 2 cups of peanut oil in a wok or large skillet to 360 degrees or until oil begins to ripple slightly (i.e. it is hot).  Fry fish in small batches until golden brown. Drain on paper towels.
6. When all fish is cooked, drain wok and wipe it out with paper towels.  Return wok to heat.
7. Add 3 tablespoons of peanut oil.  Add stir-fry vegetables - carrots first, then celery, then bell pepper and lastly the onion.  Cook until tender (7-8 min) and remove vegetables to plate.
8. Pour 1 tablespoon peanut oil into the wok.  Stir in sweet-and-sour sauce.  Return fish and vegetables to wok and coat in sauce.  Finally, add reserved pineapple chunks.
9. Serve with white rice, garnished with green onions. 

Yield: 6-8 servings

Posted by Bruce Lehr December 29th 2010.

 

 

 

Recipe of the Month - December 2010

Today. we have a recipe for good luck in the New Year -- black-eyed peas.  This one comes from Lucy Buffet's (yes, Jimmy's sister) restaurant called Lulu's in Homeport Marina in Gulf Shores, Alabama. It is rather whimsically called - LA (lower Alabama) Caviar.

LA Caviar

• 3/4 cup balsamic vinegar
• 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 4 (15-ounce) cans black-eyed peas, rinsed and drained
• 1 1/2 cups cherry tomatoes, quartered
• 1 cup each - chopped green bell pepper, yellow bell pepper and red bell pepper
• 1 cup chopped red onion
• 1 cup finely chopped fresh parsley
• Saltine crackers or tortila chips, optional

Instructions

1. Make dressing by combining vinegar, oil, sugar, salt and pepper in a jar.  Close and shake vigorously to dissolve sugar.
2. Place balck-eyed peas in a large glass bowl.  Add tomatoes, bell peppers, onion and parsley.
3. Pour dressing over pea mixture; toss well to combine.  Cover and refrigerate 2 hours to overnight.
4. Serve as side dish or with crackers or tortilla chips as an appetizer

Yield: 20 to 25 appetizer or 8 side-dish servings.  Cut down recipe if you want less. 

Happy New Year - remember eating this will bring you luck!

 

Posted by Bruce Lehr December 29th 2010.

 

Big Pharma's 9 levels of scientific hell

Another funny post from PharmaGossip.  What more needs to be said?  Except that it rings too true perhaps.

 

PharmaGossip: Big Pharma's 9 levels of scientific hell.

The NINE?

• Limbo
• Overselling
• Post-Hoc Storytelling
• P Value Fishing
• Creative Outliers
• Plagiarism
• Non-publication
• Partial publication
• Falsification

 

 

Posted by Bruce Lehr December 12th 2010.  

Big Red Hits 35 - 35,000 Page Views

Another month and another milestone -- of course I pick what is a milestone so it's not that hard to achieve.  As always I'm appreciative of anyone who ever checks out the site and am particularly grateful to any of you who may choose to visit regularly.  We'll see if we can make 40 K before the end of the month.

 

Posted by Bruce Lehr December 5th 2010.
 

Recipe of the Month - November

These two come to me via the NY Times.

Maple Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Toasted Hazelnuts

• 1 1/2 pounds of brussel sprouts
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 3/4 teaspoon sea salt
• 1/4 teaspoon (or 10 grinds) black pepper
• 2 tablespoons maple syrup
• 1/2 cup toasted hazelnuts coarsely chopped

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Cut brussel sprouts in half and remove yellow or brown outer leaves.  In large bowl, toss brussel sprouts with olive oil, salt and pepper.  After sprouts are coated, spread evenly in 9 x 13 inch or larger baking dish or sheet tray.  If you choose a tray, you may want to cover with foil for easier clean up.

Place in oven.  After 15 minutes, stir sprouts with spatula or large spoon to even out browning. After 30 minutes, stir in maple syrup.  (You can store here overnight if you wish).  Bake 15 more minutes or until sprouts are fork tender (about 45 minutes total roasting time).  Toss sprouts in toasted hazel nuts and serve.

Raw Butternut Squash Salad with Cranberry Dressing

•  1/2 cup fresh or frozen cranberries, picked over and rinsed
• 3/4 cup orange juice
• 1 tablespoon minced ginger
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 tablespoon honey
• Salt
• Black pepper
• 1 butternut squash (about 1 1/2 pounds) peeled and seeded

Combine the cranberries, orange juice and ginger in a small saucepan over medium-low heat. Cover and cook (about 10 min) until berries have begun to break. Remove from heat and add olive oil, honey and salt and pepper. Stir well to combine.

Grate the butternut squash by hand or in a food processor. Add squash to a large bowl, add the warm cranberry dressing and toss to combine.  Serve warm or at room temperature. 

Posted by Bruce Lehr December 5th 2010.

 

 

 

Stan the Man to Receive Presidential Medal of Freedom

One of my real passions in my private life is baseball.  I attend many major and minor league games all over the country each year.  Given that is the case, it is especially lucky for me that my professional career has taken me to St. Louis.  Baseball is a three generation family affair here in Cardinal Nation and is as close as sporting gets to a religion. 

One of the benefits of being a Cardinal's fan is that we have a great tradition stretching back to the turn of the Century - having in fact won more World Series than any other team than the Yankees(a distant second).  We have a history of Great players.  And those players, are very visible members of the Cardinals family.  They actively take part in spring training and are visible at the ballpark many times during the long baseball campaign - especially so on Opening Day and throughout the playoffs (when the Cards are there and they usually are). 

It is common enough to see players & managers like Red Schoendienst, Bob Gibson, Lou Brock, Tim McCarver, Bob Forsch, Jack Clark, Whitey Herzog, etc. But the Greatest Cardinal of them all is Stanislaus Francis "Stashu" Musial or as we all know him - STAN THE MAN.

In a 22-season Major League career, Stan established himself as one of the greatest hitters of all time. He batted .331 lifetime with a .417 on-base percentage and a .559 slugging percentage. Musial hit 475 home runs, amassed 3,630 hits, 1,951 RBIs and scored 1,949 runs, and was a three-time National League Most Valuable Player. He appeared in 24 All-Star games.   He won seven batting titles and led the NL in doubles eight times, runs five times, hits six times, triples five times, RBIs twice and total bases six times. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in his first season of eligibility, receiving more than 93 percent of the vote to enter the Hall in 1969.

But, he is an even better person and is recognized as such by all of St. Louis.  A ardent group of supporters has been lobbying to get him the Presidential Medal of Freedom while he's still with us.  Stan is 90 years old next week.  And, they've done it! Stan will be presented with the Medal and St. Louis couldn't be happier.

See here for link to story on St. Louis Cardinals site.  Meet me at Stan's Statue to attend the ceremony.

 
Posted by Bruce Lehr November 17th 2010.

Big Red Tops 30,000 Views!

 

 

The hits just keep on coming with more than 5000 page views in just over 3 weeks to drive the Big Red Biotech blog over the 30,000 mark.  We plan to just keep blogging away.

Posted by Bruce Lehr November 16th 2010.

 

 

Happy Halloween

For those of you who like to watch scary movies in the Dark.  A few of my favorites.

 

 

 

 

Directed by Brian DePalma and starring Sissy Spacek supported by her really scary Mother - Piper Laurie. With the Greatest Amercian Hero, William Katt, John Travolta and Nancy Allen (DePalma's eventual wife), and the sweet Amy Irving.  

 

 

 

 

It still gives me the willies - even just hearing tubular bells theme song. I've seen this the fewest times as a result.                 

 

 

 

 

 

My favorite one from Alfred Hitchcock.  And still tough to top today for suspense and creepiness - just think Tony Perkins.  And who could ever believe Janet Leigh would go in the first reel?

Like Mother, like daughter.  Both iconic figures of horror genre - likely not something they aimed for at the time.  Janet Leigh and Jamie Lee Curtiss.

 

Finally, another couple stars cross over into the horror game later in their careers - Gregory Peck and Lee Remick - and both meet their demise.  I still jump during grave yard scene with the dogs.

 
Posted by Bruce Lehr October 31st.

Recipe of the Month - October

I picked this one up out of the NY Times a few weeks ago and gave it a try.  It was easy to prepare and I thought turned out quite well - even my son liked it!

Spaghetti Squash Gratin with Basil

• 1 spaghetti squash, about 3 lbs
• 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
• 1 medium onion, finely chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• Salt and freshly ground pepper
• 3 large eggs
• 1/2 cup low-fat milk
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil (1/4 cup of leaves)
• 2 ounces Gruyere cheese, grated (1/2 cup)
• 2 tablespoons freshly grated Parmesan

Here we go - we're off. 

1. Preheat oven to 375 F.  Pierce squash in several places with sharp knife - be careful please.  Cover baking sheet with foil and place squash on top. Bake for 1 hour, turning squash every 20 minutes until it is soft and easy to cut. Remove from heat and allow it to cool.  Cut in half lengthwise and allow further cooling. Don't burn yourself!  Remove seeds (with spoon) and discard.  Scoop out flesh into large bowl.  I scrape with fork to separate into strands as I remove flesh. Chop strands of squash coarsely.  Measure out 4 cups for recipe.  You can retain and left over for another dish if desired (or freeze).
2. Oil/grease 2-quart gratin or baking dish.  Heat olive oil in large, heavy skillet at medium and add onion. Cook until tender for about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and a generous pinch of salt.  Cook, stirring for about 30 seconds.  Add the squash. Cook about five minutes until squash is a bit more tender. Season to taste with salt & pepper.
3. Beat eggs in large bowl with milk, salt, pepper and basil. Stir in squash mixture and grated Gruyere cheese. Mix well. Scrape contents of bowl into the greased baking dish.  Sprinkle the Parmesan cheese over the top.
4. Bake 40-45 minutes until nicely browned.  Remove from oven and allow to cool for 10 to 15 minutes.  Serve hot, warm or at room temperature.  I think it was best when served hot.

Yield: Serves 6 as main dish (pushing it in my view), eight as a side.

Nutritional info (six servings): 172 calories, 9 grams fat, 3 grams saturated fat, 119 milligrams cholesterol, 16 grams carbohydrates, 3 grams dietary fiber, 139 milligrams sodium; 9 grams protein.  

I served with mixed greens and glass of Ruffino Chianti Classico. It was just Gourd-geous!

Posted by Bruce Lehr October 30th 2010.

 

They're Hiring at Xconomy San Francisco

 

 

 

I enjoy reading Xconomy as one of the best on-line publications for information on the business side of Life Sciences and Technology. It seems they are hiring for their Bay Area beat.

We're Hiring at Xconomy San Francisco.

I thought I'd give them a shout out.

 

 

 

 

Posted by Bruce Lehr October 25th 2010.

 

Sam the Sham sings "Little Red Riding Hood"

Here you go - one of Sam the Sham and the Pharoahs best known hits

 

Posted by Bruce Lehr October 25th 2010.

Another Day Another Milestone for Big Red

The Big Red Biotech Blog is happy to recognize its 25,000th page view this morning! It's a beautiful Sunday morning here in Saint Louis and nothing goes better with Sunday Brunch than popping open some champagne.

So here's to my readership! Celebrate with me.  Not only do we hit another pageview milestone but the Rangers and Giants pull upsets to reach World Series.  And Mizzou wallops OU for a change. It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood.

 
Posted by Bruce Lehr October 24th 2010.

Recipe Month - Late September

Typical.  Late again with this post.  This recipe is adapted from the Creole Gumbo and All That Jazz cookbook by Howard Mitchum.

 This is Baked Flounder a la Creole II (page 190).  I've subsituted flounder for Red Snapper.

• 3-4 8-oz flounder fillets
• 1 16-oz can of tomatoes
• 1 6-oz can of tomato paste
• 2 scallions with 3" of their green leaves, chopped
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1/2 green pepper, chopped
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 2 tbsp fresh chopped parsley
• 1 rib celery, chopped
• 2 bay leaves
• 2 lemon slices
• 1 tsp chili powder
• 1 stick butter
• 2 tbsp flour
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Here we go, let's start with the sauce.  Melt butter in deep pan, add the flour and stir until blended.  Add the tomatoes, tomato paste, scallions, onion, green pepper, garlic, parsley, and celery.  Add the bay leaves, lemon slices, chili powder, salt, and black pepper.  Basically, add all the damn ingredients to the butter/flour roux.  Cook and stir until vegetables are soft  - if you can see them through the tomato ingredients - and translucent.  Add enough hot water to make the sauce semi-fluid, and let it boil gently for 20 minutes. Remove the bay leaves and lemon slices.

In the meantime, preheat the oven to 350 F.  Place the fish fillets in a greased oven pan, cover with the sauce (you can reserve extra sauce), and bake for 20-25 minutes or until the fish flakes easily when tested with a fork. Lift the fish out with a spatula (treat gently!) and place on preheated (or not) serving plates and cover with sauce. Decorate with lemon slices, sliced olives and parsley sprigs. Serve at once.

I accompanied dish with brown rice, broccoli florets, and fresh baked bread sticks. Serve with hearty red wine - I paired with Dona Paula Estate Malbec, Mendoza, Argentina. 

Posted by Bruce Lehr Ocotober 10th 2010.

 

 

 

Fierce 2010 Biotech Graveyard - Bring Out Your Dead

This may be a bit mean, but I couldn't resist the temptation.  Fierce Biotech published its second annual Biotech Graveyard list.  The bad news, 8 companies went out of business without a buyer or money to forge onward.  The good news, that represents a 50% decrease from the 16 companies who went under in 2009.  Here is the 2010 Biotech Graveyard:

• Anesiva - South San Francisco - Feels no pain
• AutoImmune - Pasadena, CA - Self-liquidating!
• ConjuChem - Montreal, Canada  - Au revoir mon ami!
• Hawaii Biotech - Alea, HI - Aloha
• Middlebrook Pharmaceuticals - Westlake, TX - No more middleman
• Neuropharm - United Kingdom - Keep stiff upper lip, Chaps!
• Vio Pharmaceuticals - New Haven, CT - Shoulda' had more insurance
• VitalMedix - Hudson, WI - Vital signs are very weak!

 

Posted by Bruce Lehr October 5th 2010

Celebrate! Celebrate! Celebrate!

More self-congratulatory ecstasy, I've received my 20,000th page view today --  since I began this blog on January 1st.  My annualized run rate is now up to 55,000 page views - yeah! While I know for certain there are bloggers out there, who greatly exceed this rate of traffic -- allow me to pat myself on the back.  Ouch! I wrenched my arm again. 

Don't burst my bubble for now.  And for those of you who contributed views, thanks!

 
Posted by Bruce Lehr September 30th 2010

Random Fun Websites

I don't know why anyone really would need to see or use any of these websites - but I do find I pop in from time to time.  I'm highlighting 4 today:

• The Invisible Gorilla
• Dead or Alive?
• Whodatedwho
• Follower Wonk

The week end is coming.  You might as well have some fun.

Posted by Bruce Lehr September 17th 2010.

 

Recipe of the Month - August. Yes August!

OK. I'm calendar challenged and I admit it. That's the first step toward a cure. It's a somewhat overcast Saturday in St. Louis and the Cards lost again.  Not much going on - so I decided to retreat to the kitchen this afternoon while simultaneously watching Michigan-Notre Dame - which was a good game.

I made two variations of the same recipe out of the Pink Adobe Cookbook by Rosalea Murphy, owner of the restaurant of the same name in Santa Fe. Today's dishes were Poulet Marengo and Cotelletes de Porc Napolean. 

Roselea explains in her cook book that Poulet Marengo was a tribute to Napoleon's victory over the Austrians at Marengo in 1800 concocted by Napoleon's personal chef, Dunand, to celebrate the victory. As with all things Pink Adobe, this recipe has Rosalea's flair added with modern ingredients.

Don't worry.  It's easy or I wouldn't be able to attempt it.

Poulet Marengo

• 1 cup flour plus another 2 tablespoons
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• 1 1/2-2 lbs boneless chicken breasts
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 cup Madeira
• 1 clove garlic, chopped fine
• 4-5 large mushrooms, sliced
• 12 pitted black olives (or more)
• 1 small bag pearl onions (you figure it out)
• 1 16-oz can of tomatoes
• 1 4-oz can of tomato juice
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 cup chicken broth


Cotelletes de Porc Napolean

• 4-6 center cut loin pork chops, 1 inch thick


Preparation

OK. The meat portions that I listed above have all been cut in half because I wanted to make both chicken and pork from the same recipe.  All other ingredients under Poulet are intact and I split them between the two meats in separate baking dishes. Capice.

Preheat oven to 325 F. Put 1 cup flour, plus salt and paprika into a coating bag.  Add one or two pieces of meat at a time and shake until coated.  In skillet, heat butter and olive oil.  Brown chicken and pork, one or two pieces at a time.  You do not have to cook through.  Pork can be browned less than chicken.  Add more oil as needed, but the meat should not be greasy.

Place browned chicken or pork fillets in baking dish.  Cover with 1/2 portions of ingredients above.  Add Madeira wine.  Add garlic on each piece. Then add olives, mushrooms, onions and tomatoes.  Last add the tomato juice and a bay leaf.

Cover baking dishes and bake for 2 hours.  At end of cooking time, remove chicken and pork to serving platter and keep warm. Meat will be fork tender so treat it gently.

Sauce

With wire whisk, mix remaining 2 tablespoons of flour with the 1 cup of chicken broth.  Combine the juice from baking dishes and bring to a boil. Beat in broth until it thickens.  If it becomes too thick, then add some Madeira to thin.

Serve

Plate chicken or pork.  Serve sauce separately.  This meal goes well with green noodles or other colorful pasta.  Serve with Chassagne Montrachet (or whatever wine you prefer).  Bon Appetit!

Posted by Bruce Lehr September 12th 2010.

 

 

Innovation Tip: Avoid Putting "Stars upon Thars"

I love Dr. Seuss!  I hope everyone else loves Dr. Seuss too.  So I cannot resist passing this post on from Scott Anthony on the Harvard Business Review blog. It deals with innovation and what not to do when setting up an innovation group.

For this lesson, Scott refers us to the Dr. Seuss parable about the Sneetches - some with and some without "stars upon thars".  Many companies make the mistake of confering innovation groups with "stars upon thars" which naturally leads to resentment from those without stars.  Unfortunately, those without stars reside in the base business and must play a key support role if the innovation group is to succeed.

If you create a sense of have and have not with regard to the confirmation of "stars upon thars" for some, you make a big mistake at the beginning that will likely doom the innovation effort.

Posted by Bruce Lehr August 31st 2010.

Wow Man! Look at All the Colors.

I'm feeling less depressed and anxious already, Man! 

An old idea is resurfacing as new. Dr. Franz Vollenweider, Zurich's University Hospital is advocating the use of psychedelics like LSD, ketamine and psilocybin (Magic Mushrooms) for the treatment of depression, repressed memories or bipolar disease in some patients.

PharmTech Talk » Journey to the Center of the Mind.

Vollenweider emphasizes the treatments should be short term and under a Dr's supervision.  These therapies may help patients where SSRI's are not effective.

And you thought Timothy Leary was dead!

Posted by Bruce Lehr August 23rd 2010.

Recipe(s) of Month July

Wow. I really fell down on the job with my recipe posts - missing June and July completely.  Ooops!  I did make something this weekend though that I enjoyed quite a bit and thought I would share.  These two recipes come from the Pink Adobe cookbook by Rosalea Murphy.  The Pink Adobe is a famous restaurant in Santa Fe -- one that I highly recommend that you visit if you are ever n that beautiful community.  It's an institution and well worth the visit.

Without further fanfare, here are Lasagne Monte and Many Bean Salad.

Lasagna Monte

• 1 lb lasagna noodles
• 2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breasts, poached
• 3 cups fresh green chiles roasted or 1 27-oz can of chiles (I used chopped & worked fine).
• 1 1/2 cups ricotta cheese
• 1 1/2 cups sour cream
• 1 8-oz package of sliced mozarella cheese
• 1/2 cup of sliced black olives

To poach chicken, place in 4 qt sauce plan with 3 cups of water. Bring to boil.  Add 1 carrot, 1 celery stalk, 1/4 onion, salt & pepper. Bring to boil and reduce heat to simmer for 45 minutes.  Let cool in chicken broth.  Broth may be strained and retained (frozen) to serve as chicken stock in future.

Cook noodles according to package instructions.  In 9 x 15 dish, place first layer of noodles.  Slice poached chicken into strips. Cover noodles with 1/2 the chicken. Cover chicken with 1/2 the green chiles. Mix ricotta cheese and sour cream.  Cover chicken and chiles with 1/2 the cheese mixture.  Cover with next layer of noodles and repeat the process.  Place final layer of noodles on top.  Cover top layer with the sliced mozarella cheese and then the chopped black olives. Pre-heat oven to 325 F and bake, uncovered for 30-40 minutes until heated through.  I made dish the night before and refrigerated before baking which seemed to work fine.

Many Bean Salad

Dressing

• 2 tablespoons mild cider vinegar
• 1/2 teaspoon sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
• 5 tablespoons olive oil

Salad

• 1 cup each canned, drained beans - I used kidney, black, pinto, navy, garbanzo & green beans. The mix of colors is impressive.
• 1/4 cup chopped green pepper
• 1/4 cup chopped red pepper (my addition)
• 1 cup chopped red onion
• 1 medium tomato chopped
• 1/2 cup of mayonnaise (I omitted)

Prepare dressing by mixing all ingredients except the oil. Mix in olive oil and shake well (can use screw top jar).  In large bowl, combine all the salad ingredients - except tomatoes & mayonnaise.  Use rubber spatula to mix to protect integrity of beans.  Pour dressing over salad and mix gently.  Refrigerate if desired.  Just before serving mix in tomatoes & mayonnaise.

I served the lasagna and salad with warm crusty bread.  I would normally drink with a hearty red wine, but chose to have an amber pale ale instead - which I enjoyed.  Bon Apetit!

Posted by Bruce Lehr August 8th 2010.