Lemon Lasagna

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Sausage, Swiss chard and slivers of lemon make this lasagna unforgettable.

Can you stand just one more lemon recipe?

After all, you know your friends are still foisting their backyard lemons on you or you’re still picking ripe ones off your own tree.

So, dedicate one of those lemons to this fabulous dish: “Sausage, Chard and Lemon Lasagna.” It’s from the March 2011 issue of Martha Stewart Living magazine.

It’s a very rich dish. I won’t kid you about that, what with the creamy, cheesy white sauce made with full-fat milk that binds everything together. The lemon gets sliced very thin. As you layer the no-bake lasagna noodles, sausage, and Swiss chard-white sauce mixture, you also add a layer of lemon slices, which have been blanched ahead of time to remove some of their bitterness.

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Healthful Pizza, Ruth Reichl Visit, Chef Demo & More

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The Mexican pizza at ZPizza in San Francisco. (Photo courtesy of the restaurant)

Organic Wheat Flour Pizzas in San Francisco

Laguna Beach, Calif.-based ZPizza, which has more than 90 locations nationwide, now has a locale in San Francisco at 833 Mission St., Suite C (at Fourth Street).

The pizza dough is made from certified organic wheat flour, the sauces are prepared fresh daily, and the cheese is part-skim, rBGH-free mozzarella from grass-fed cows. Gluten-free crust and vegan cheese also are offered. Gourmet ingredients include cremini and shiitake mushrooms, as well as truffle oil and the African hot sauce known as pili pili. For delivery, the pizzas are ferried via bicycles to reduce carbon emissions. Gourmet salads, pastas and sandwiches round out the menu.

Pizza choices include the Thai, with peanut sauce, mozzarella, spicy chicken, cilantro, bean sprouts and serranos; the Mexican with housemade salsa, mozzarella, spicy lime chicken, green onions, avocado, sour cream and cilantro; and the Casablanca, with roasted garlic sauce, mozzarella, ricotta, mushrooms, artichoke hearts and parmesan. Pizzas are $10.95 for a small, $19.95 for a large, and $24.94 for an extra-large.

The one and only Ruth Reichl. (Photo by Fiona Aboud)

Ruth Reichl at Stanford University

Join former Gourmet magazine Editor-in-Chief Ruth Reichl at a free event at the Cubberley Auditorium on the Stanford University Campus in Palo Alto at 6 p.m. March 29.

Reichl, now an editor and author at Random House, will be speaking on “The Intersection of Food, Culture and History.”

A Different Look at Vanilla, Saffron and Chocolate

Sure, they taste good. But did you know all three of those ingredients are rife with politics?

Learn all about the intrigue in getting these three ingredients from harvest to plate at “Politics of the Plate — What’s Behind the Silky Sexiness of Vanilla, Saffron and Chocolate,” 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. March 16 at the Unitarian Universalist Church of San Francisco (Starr King room), 1187 Franklin St. at Geary Street.

Experts Patricia Rain (vanilla), Juan San Mames (saffron) and Mark Magers (chocolate) will be on the panel with moderator Janet Fletcher, a San Francisco Chronicle food writer.

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Food Gal Giveaway — Luxe Ferrari-Red Espresso/Beverage Maker

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One lucky Food Gal reader will win this snazzy Kaldi beverage system.

I like to call this the Ferrari of coffee makers because of the sleek, 125-mph metallic color. Can’t you imagine yourself test-driving this baby in your own kitchen?

One of you will get the chance to do just that because Food Gal is giving one lucky person the gift of a new Kaldi single-beverage system by the Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf. It’s valued at $149. How’s that for a contest to perk you up on a Monday morning?

You can make espresso, brewed coffee, tea and other specialty beverages just by inserting a Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf capsule in the machine. The Kaldi has a twin pressure system, so that you get high pressure to create the crema on an espresso, and lower pressure for brewed coffee and tea. The machine, which can accommodate a variety of mug sizes, comes with a sampler pack of 12 capsules containing coffee, tea and espresso.

Contest: Entries, limited to those in the continental United States, will be accepted through midnight March 19. Winner will be announced March 21.

How to win?

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Decadent Baked Brownie Mixes

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Brown sugar blondies made from the new Baked bakery's mix.

Brooklyn’s Baked bakery makes irresistible modern-day, home-spun desserts. These aren’t dainty, precious, overly fancy sweets. They’re the type of treats that you grew up with — only way better.

Now, you can make the Baked brownie and two other variations easily in your own home kitchen, thanks to Williams-Sonoma, which is now selling Baked brownie and blondie mixes.

Choose from: Deep Dark Chocolate Brownie, Peanut Butter Brownie, and Brown Sugar Blondie. I had a chance to try samples of each.

The mixes are packed with premium ingredients, including Guittard Cocoa Rouge,  and Callebaut semi-sweet chocolate and milk chocolate.

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A Fish Story in Napa

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Ahi tartare with lovely pine nuts.

This is not about the one that got away. It’s about the lunch that hooked me.

Fish Story, which opened late last year in downtown Napa along the Napa River, is all about sustainable seafood. The restaurant is part of the Lark Creek Restaurant Group, which has partnered with the Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Seafood Watch Program. Seafood Watch pocket cards are available for the taking at the hostess stand. The menu is printed daily because it adheres to what’s fresh, available and eco-friendly.

Last month, I was invited to dine as a guest of the restaurant, which evokes the spirit of the ocean in its decor. There are fish tanks, and fish murals that are reminiscent of aquariums. Fish lures dangle from the ceiling. And a raw bar behind glass is on view with crab, oysters and clams all arrayed on ice. It sounds kitschy, but it’s actually appealingly modern with large windows overlooking the river.

Lightly battered and fried calamari.

We started with fried Monterey Bay calamari ($10.50), the rings and tentacles hot, crisp and just a little spicy. A nice touch were the slivers of pepper and thin lemon slices that also had been fried and heaped on top of the calamari. A creamy roasted tomato aioli came alongside for dipping pleasure.

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