Creamy Oyster Parmesan-Spinach Sauce

Ingredients:
2 cups shucked oysters in their liquor
2 garlic cloves, minced
juice and zest of � lemon
� cups heavy cream
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
� teaspoon white pepper
� teaspoon salt
� teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 cup defrosted chopped frozen spinach
1/4 cup Parmigiana Reggiano

To serve: hot, cooked 8 oz mafaldine or linguine

Directions:
Stir the lemon juice and the zest into the oysters. Set aside. Heat the olive oil in a large skillet. Saut� the garlic in the oil until fragrant. Add the cream, 1 tablespoon butter, salt, pepper and nutmeg. Bring to a boil and cook for just a minute or so, until the cream starts to thicken. Add the oysters and spinach to the pan and reduce the heat. Continue to cook just until the oysters are warmed through and look set. Remove from heat and stir in the Parmigiana Reggiano. Toss with the hot pasta and serve.

My thoughts:

When we think about buying food in season fruits and vegetables are the first things that come to mind. However, there is another favorite food that many people consider to have a season: Chesapeake Bay oysters. Many people still follow the rule that states that oysters should only be consumed during months that contain the letter �R�.

The reasoning behind the rule was simple. Before modern refrigeration, it was risky to ship oysters any distance during the steamy Summer months. On very hot days, oysters often spoiled during transit. By restricting the season from Autumn to early Spring, diners were less likely to get food poisoning from improperly refrigerated oysters.

While oysters are now safe to eat and available for purchase all year, many people still stick to the traditional season. Because of this, fresh, local oysters are often easier to find during the colder months than they are the rest of the year. Luckily I was able to find these lovely examples and turn them in to a wonderful, creamy but not too heavy sauce.

Roasted Bay Scallops with Spinach

Ingredients:
1 lb bay scallops
1/2 cup defrosted, drained frozen chopped spinach
1/3 cup dry vermouth
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 clove garlic, minced
1 shallot, minced
zest of 1 lemon

for the breadcrumbs
3/4 cup freshly made bread crumbs
1 teaspoon parsley
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon salt


Directions:
Preheat oven to 325. In a medium bowl, combine the scallop ingredients. Pour into an oiled baking dish. In a small bowl, whisk together the breadcrumb ingredients. Bake for 30 minutes or until the scallops are just cooked through and the breadcrumbs are toasty.

My thoughts:

These are dark days, food wise. We are in the dead of winter and there is not much growing out there. The perfect time to make the best use of frozen spinach possible. In this case, I paired them with bay scallops. Tinier and sweeter than regular scallops, they are also really affordable. Which, makes me far more likely to experiment with them than I normally would with seafood. I like to bake bay scallops at a lower temperature than a lot of recipes I've seen. Since they are small and vary in size (and occasionally are broken up) they cook somewhat unevenly. I find that if I cook them at a higher temperature, a few will be perfect but a larger number will be rubbery and overcooked.

My husband had these with rice but I had these on their own. Between the breadcrumbs, scallop, and spinach it isn't a bad, light complete meal.

Smoked Salmon Spinach Labne Dip

Ingredients:
1 1/2 lb labne (Kefir cheese)
1/2 lb smoked salmon (not lox), flaked
3/4 cup squeezed dry, defrosted frozen chopped spinach
1 shallot, minced
2 tablespoons herbs de Provence
1 1/2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon pepper sherry
1 tablespoon minced chives
1 teaspoon dry mustard
zest of one lemon
sea salt
freshly ground black pepper


Directions:
Mix all ingredients together in a large bowl until well combined and distributed.

My thoughts:

I'd never really had labne, a type of yogurt cheese, much but the tub I had recently made me a instant convert. I had heard it was a great sub for cream cheese or sour cream which I thought was just hyperbole but it really was. It was kind of tart fresh from the tub but once mixed with the other dip ingredients it really tasted like and had the consistency of cream cheese. So good but much less fat. Awesome. For this dip I combined elements of several of my favorite dips into one. It was so good!

Lasagna with Homemade Basil Noodles and Sausage-Tomato Sauce

Ingredients:

for the sauce:
2 lb bulk Italian sausage (casing removed if necessary)
1 large onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 cubanelle pepper, minced
56 oz canned coarse ground tomatoes
14 oz canned diced tomatoes
6 oz tomato paste
1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
red wine (optional)
10 basil leaves
salt
pepper

for the pasta:
1 1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup finely minced basil
3 eggs

for the filling:
1 lb ricotta
1/2 lb frozen chopped spinach, defrosted and squeezed dry
1 1/2 cup mixed Italian cheese*
1 egg
salt
pepper

extra shredded cheese for sprinkling

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350. Start the sauce first. Brown the sausage in a large, heavy pot (I used this dutch oven) breaking up any large pieces. When nearly fully cooked, drain off as much fat as possible. Add the onion, garlic and pepper. Cook until the onion is translucent. Add the tomatoes, tomato paste, balsamic, salt and pepper. Simmer as you make the pasta. It should reduce by about an inch and half or so. Add wine if desired periodically. Stir occasionally. When the sauce is cooked, stir in the basil leaves.


for the pasta:
While the sauce is bubbling away, pour the flour onto a clean counter top. Create a well on top and add the eggs. Knead together until a ball forms then work in the basil. Knead until a flexible dough forms. Divide into 9 equal balls. Roll through a pasta machine according to the package instructions. We rolled ours out through #5, rolling at each level twice on this machine. Hang until you are ready to use them.

for the filling:
Mix all ingredients in a large bowl. Set aside until ready to use.

assembly:
Ladle a even layer of sauce over the bottom of a standard 9x13 inch pan, covering it thoroughly. Arrange three noodles in a single layer. Top with 1/2 of the cheese mixture then ladle more sauce on top. Repeat. Top for the remaining three noodles and cover with sauce.

Sprinkle with cheese. Cover in foil and bake for 30 minutes. Remove the foil and continue to bake an additional 30 minutes or until heated through. Allow to sit for a couple of minutes before slicing.



*I used a shredded six cheese blend that included Mozzarella, Provolone, Parmesan, Fontina, Romano and aged Asiago.

My thoughts:

This was a fun weekend food project. We planned out what we wanted to do and was on sauce and filling duty while Matt rolled the pasta out. It was surprisingly easy! Why has it taken so long for us to make fresh pasta for the first time. It didn't take as long as I would have thought and I think with practice we will get every faster. I think lasagna was a good first homemade pasta experiment because it was not only delicious (I loved the hint of basil) but we didn't have to bother boiling the noodles before using them because they were going to be baked buried in sauce. It sounds silly but eliminating that one step was great, I went right from finishing the noodles to layering to popping it in the oven with no lag time. Let me tell you, it was a spectacular lasagna. The sauce was complexly flavored, the noodles were awesome and well, we liked it so much, we had it for dinner twice vs. our usual leftovers for lunch/frozen for later new food for dinner routine. Yum. I already want to make it again.

Note: while it looks like a lot of sauce, I promise you will end up using all of it!


If you use sausage in your pasta dishes, enter this Johnsonville contest.

Shrimp & Spinach Dip

Ingredients:
5 oz cooked shrimp, divided use
4 oz cream cheese, at room temperature (reduced fat okay)
1/4 cup packed, defrosted chopped spinach
1/2 cup 0% or 2% Greek yogurt
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1 shallots, sliced
1 1/2 tablespoons horseradish
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
salt
pepper


Directions:
In a food processor, blend together the yogurt, horseradish, half of the shrimp, spices, shallot, mayo and cream cheese until very smooth. Chop the the remaining shrimp. Stir in the spinach and chopped shrimp until just combined. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour before serving.

My thoughts:

In the warm weather, sometimes I cheat and instead of making a side dish, I make a batch of dip and serve it with fresh vegetables or chips and pretzels. It keeps for a few days in the fridge and is perfect to have on hand, especially for days when we are grilling. I've even stored cut up carrots and celery in water filled containers in the refrigerator so all I have to do is fish them out and they are ready to go. This dip is perfect for using up a bit of leftover shrimp (or make extra the next time shrimp is on the menu) and the spinach makes it seem at least a little healthy. The horseradish and Worcestershire sauce is in there to keep it zippy without having to add aged cheese. I hate a bland dip!

Broccoli with Chipotle Cheddar Sauce

Ingredients:
1 shallot, minced
4 cups broccoli florets
1 cup shredded extra sharp cheddar
12 oz evaporated milk
2 tablespoons flour
2 tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon chipotle powder
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon salt

Directions:
Melt the butter in a small saucepan. Whisk in the shallot and flour. Cook until thick and the shallots are softened. Add the milk and simmer until it starts to bubble around the sides. Meanwhile, steam the broccoli. Add the spices and cheese to the milk mixture and cook until thickened, about 10 minutes, whisking frequently. Drizzle over hot, well-drained broccoli.

My thoughts:

As long time readers know, I always have a problem with side dishes. We are only a two person household and we cook a lot and making side dishes always seems to result in too many dishes and too many leftovers. Instead, I just add a lot of vegetables to our main dish or make one side dish that incorporates vegetables and starches like mashed potatoes with spinach and/or other smashable vegetables or something like pasta salad.

However, there are times when even I must make a straight up vegetable side dish. We had an enormous amount of broccoli. More broccoli than I've seen outside of a farmers market or field. Few vegetables look good this time of year but broccoli has been crisp and cheap lately so we keep buying it and then forgetting to use it. Since the broccoli had hit a critical mass, I had to do something with it. Although I've used broccoli in a surprising number of ways, I had never really made it as a side dish before. A quick Google search told me that broccoli and cheese sauce is an insanely popular side dish, at least here in the US. I don't remember having it before but it didn't sound like a bad idea. Doesn't cheese make everything better? It seems like people either just heat up a prefab frozen box or melted Velveeta over broccoli. Now, that was an unappetizing prospect. I figured I'd try to make my own sauce from scratch.

I quickly made my own seriously sharp cheddar cheese sauce (taking a note from my own macaroni and cheese recipes and using evaporated milk for creaminess without using cream) and added a healthy dose of chipotle. The sauce was the perfect mix of spicy, smoky and cheesy. It came together very quickly and the sauce was thick enough to coat the broccoli without being gloppy. A tasty alternative to the usual roasted or steamed vegetables in some sort of vinaigrette I normally fall back on.

I still had a bit of leftover the next day but it heated up amazingly well, the sauce didn't separate at all and the broccoli stayed crisp.

Turkey with Escarole, Acorn Squash and Cannelloni Beans over Pasta

Ingredients:
1 lb white acorn squash, peeled and cubed
1 lb escarole, chopped
15 oz canned cannelloni beans, drained
2 cups cubed cooked turkey (or chicken)
1/2 cup chicken or turkey stock
2 shallots, minced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
salt
pepper

10 oz small shaped pasta (I used radiatori)

Directions:
Cook the pasta according to package instructions. Heat butter and oil in a large skillet. Saute the squash and shallot until softened. Add the escarole, turkey, garlic, salt, pepper and beans. Add the broth. Saute until cooked through. Toss with hot pasta.

My thoughts:

This is one of those recipes that really looks like nothing but is actually really, really good. I haven't cooked much with escarole before as I've rarely seen it at the store and when I looked up recipes that called for it I found a bunch of soup. Soup is well and good but frankly isn't something I generally get too excited about. I decided to just treat it as I would spinach or rapini and came up with this pasta dish using up some other ingredients I had on hand. Luckily, all of the disparate ingredients come together and create this perfect, homey, flavorful dish. The bitter greens are tempered by the sweet squash and mild turkey and the mixture forms its own sauce after a bit of broth is added. I love dinners that need little effort but yield great results!

Deconstructed Pizza Pasta Salad

Ingredients:
8 oz small pasta (I used radiatore)
8 oz fresh mozzarella, diced
4 oz sliced mushrooms
2 1/2 oz turkey pepperoni, halved
2 1/2 oz baby spinach
3 cups diced tomatoes
1 large cubanelle pepper, diced
1/2 red onion, diced

for the dressing:
2 oz olive oil
2 oz red wine vinegar
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons minced basil
1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard

Directions:
Prepare pasta according to package instructions. Drain and allow to cool. Place the pasta and the remaining salad ingredients in a large bowl and toss. In a small bowl or dressing shaker, mix together the dressing ingredients until emulsification occurs. Drizzle over the salad and toss again. Serve at room temperature for best flavor.

My thoughts:

Since the unofficial end of summer is this weekend, I thought I'd share one last summer salad recipe. This one is perfect for taking to party as it appeals to even picky eaters and the pasta salad adverse. It is basically all of the ingredients that make up a typical pizza tossed with pasta. Who doesn't like pizza? The dressing is light and garlicy, not creamy or overpowering and just really pulls all of the flavors together. I used some heirloom tomatoes I picked up at the farmers market (my tomatoes have been slow to ripen this year) but I think halved cherry or grape tomatoes would work well.

Strawberry-Asparagus Salad with Strawberry-Balsamic Vinaigrette

Ingredients:
1 bunch spring lettuce
1 bunch baby spinach
2 strips crisp bacon
3/4 lb fresh asparagus
1 pint strawberries, sliced
1/3 cup bee pollen dusted hazelnuts
2 oz ch�vre

for the vinaigrette
2 oz avocado oil
2 oz pomegranate infused balsamic vinegar*
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 strawberry, mashed**

Directions:
Place the vinaigrette ingredients in a jar or salad dressing mixer. Shake until a smooth, emulsified dressing forms.

Place the lettuce in a large bowl. Top with the spinach. Cut the bacon into bite sized pieces. Bring a small saucepan of water to a boil. Add the asparagus and cook for about 2 minutes. Drain and cut into manageable sized pieces. Arrange on the salad. Add the sliced strawberries. Dot with goat cheese. Toss in the hazelnuts and bacon. Drizzle with vinaigrette.

*I used locally bottled Pompeian vinegar.
**I just put it on a cutting board and mashed with with a potato masher until pretty smooth.

My thoughts:

A while back I was invited to do a cooking demonstration at the Maryland Heartland Sustainable Living Fair which is going on today. Of course I agreed to do it. The major challenge was designing a recipe that made the most of what is in season in the end of May in Maryland. Which, unfortunately, isn't terribly much as May is pretty much the beginning of the growing season here. I had thought of doing some sort of stir fry but when I looked at the list of what was in season I realized that a big salad might be a better choice. I used locally grown strawberries, lettuce, spinach and asparagus along with some local fresh goat cheese. I tossed in some bacon because it just smells so good and thought it might draw some people in to watch the demo. It also adds a smoky note to the salad. I used some hazelnuts from a family owned farm (in Oregon) that were dusted in local bee pollen for some crunch. The dressing was simple but extremely tasty and added an additional fruity note to the salad. Unfortunately some of the dressing ingredients were not quite local but there is a drawback to living in the mid-Atlantic; no avocado or olive trees for oil.

All of these seemingly disconnected ingredients came together to from a very satisfying salad that felt light and fresh. I loved the asparagus and the strawberries, they made the salad feel hearty despite the near absence of meat. The perfect springtime meal salad.

Chicken-Spinach Meatball Pasta Bake

Ingredients:
1 lb shells, cooked to package instructions
10-12 oz ricotta
4 oz sliced fresh mozzarella

sauce:
1 small onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
28 oz canned ground tomatoes
1 1/2 tablespoons dried oregano or Italian herb mix
2 tablespoons olive oil


meatballs:
1 lb ground chicken
1/2 cup frozen spinach, defrosted
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 1/2 tablespoons dried oregano or Italian herb mix
1 egg or 2 egg yolks
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 cup matzo meal or bread crumbs
salt
pepper

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350. In a medium bowl, mix together the cheese mixture ingredients. Set aside. In a large skillet, heat the olive oil. Saute the onion and garlic until softened and fragrant. Add the tomatoes and spices and simmer on low. In a bowl, knead together all of the meatball ingredients. Form into small meatballs. Place on a broiler pan and broil, turning once, until pretty much cooked through. Place the meatballs in the sauce and continue to simmer about 5 minutes. Toss the cooked pasta and the sauce together. Pour half of the mixture in a 13x9 baking dish. Dot with ricotta. Top with remaining sauce. Bake, covered in foil, for about 10 minutes, then remove the foil and cook an additional 10 minutes or until bubbly.

My thoughts:

This a meal that was sprung from the need to use up some ingredients. I picked up some ground chicken for 99 cents that on its sell-by date and had bit of ricotta and mozzarella leftover from other recipes that needed to be used up. I also had a bag of herbs that a friend of the family brought back from Italy that I hadn't tried yet. I don't know much Italian but I am fairly confident that the mix includes oregano, basil, summer savory, and thyme. I was really happy with the end result. The meatballs and sauce had a ton of flavor and the leftovers were just was tasty as the meal was fresh. Perfect for a cozy evening at home.

Spinach Pasta with Roasted Garlic & Sun-dried Tomato Sauce

There's nothing like a plate of spinach pasta served as dinner on a weeknight, especially when its smelling of garlic and looks as pretty as this one! Improvising on my previous recipe, I made these again last night, albeit with a few delicious changes. Cherry Tomatoes, of course were the star ingredients, but I went ahead and added a paste of roasted garlic, pine-nuts and some sun-dried tomatoes to the sauce, which gave it a wonderful flavor! This time, I also went for lightly roasted tomatoes instead of plain ones, which makes such a huge difference. So here's the edited and improved version of Spinach Fettuccine with Roasted Garlic and Tomato Sauce, that is simple and tasty to serve as weeknight dinner!

Ingredients
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1/2 medium onion - finely chopped
2 large garlic cloves - minced
1 tspn fresh lemon juice
freshly ground pepper - to taste
salt - to taste
2 tbsp white wine (optional)
1 cup cherry tomatoes
1 tsp thyme leaves
1/2 cup parmesan cheese - freshly grated
1/2 pound fresh spinach fettuccine

Ground Paste (optional)
3 cloves of roasted garlic
2 tbsp sun-dried tomatoes
1 tsp pine nuts
1 tbsp olive oil
Roast the garlic cloves and pine-nuts separately, then grind it all together with olive oil to make a fine paste.

Method
Cook the spinach fettucini in boiling water with 1 tbsp olive oil until tender. make the Ground paste and keep it aside.

Gently grease the tomatoes with olive oil and line them in a baking tray. Now roast at 250 deg F for about 7-8 mins, until lightly smoked and skin appears a little roasted.

Saute the onion in oil until tender and glossy. Add the minced garlic, lemon juice, salt, and pepper and wine. Let it simmer for 5 more minutes. Now add the roasted garlic and sun-dried tomato paste to this and mix well.

Add the roasted cherry tomatoes to this mixture. Lower the flame and cover with a lid. Let the tomatoes soak in the wine and garlic, but do not let them become mushy and overcooked. Season with thyme and sprinkle more roasted pine nuts on the top if you like.

Spread the cooked pasta on a plate. Top it with a generous helping of the sauce. Season with some more salt and pepper if needed; then top with some freshly grated Parmesan cheese!

This pasta recipe is my current favorite, as it has half the calories of a Fettucini Alfredo, and is very easy to make. Smelling of fresh roasted garlic, its hard to resist a plate of this Spinach Fettucini, don't you think!

Related Recipes:
Stuffed Ravioli in Saffron & Tomato Cream Sauce
Baked Rigatoni with Garlic & Basil Marinara Sauce
Fettucini in Almond Pesto Sauce

Swedish-ish Meatballs

Ingredients:
2 lb ground pork
2 slices white sandwich bread
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup breadcrumbs
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 eggs
1/4 teaspoon allspice
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
salt
white pepper


for the sauce:
3 cups pork or chicken stock
1 cup milk
1/3 cup flour
1/2 cup defrosted frozen spinach
3 tablespoons butter
1/4 teaspoon allspice
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
salt
white pepper


to serve:
lingonberry preserves
1 lb egg noodles, cooked to package instructions or boiled small red potatoes


Directions:
Tear the bread into small pieces place in a small pan and top with milk. Allow to soak 2 minutes over low heat or until the milk is full absorbed by the bread. Combine the milk-soaked bread with the rest of the meatball ingredients in a large bowl. Then follow these directions to make mini meatballs or simply roll 1 tablespoon's worth of the meat mixture into balls and broil, turning once until they are cooked through.

Meanwhile, in a heavy saucepan, melt the butter. Whisk in the flour and spices then the milk and broth. Bring to boil then add spinach and reduce heat and simmer until slightly thickened, about 3-5 minutes. Add the meatballs and cook for an additional 5 minutes.

Serve over noodles or with boiled red potatoes for a meal or with toothpicks as an appetizer.


Yield: 6-8 meal sized servings or 10-15 appetizer sized servings

Spring this recipe!

My thoughts:

Swedish meatballs are a somewhat retro party food. Great as appetizers or a snack they also make a wonderfully comforting dinner. Who doesn't, if even secretly, love meatballs? They are easy to make and can be kept warm for a long time over a slow simmer on the stove or in the slow cooker.

I call these Swedish-ish meatballs because there are a few differences between how I like to make them and what is strictly traditional. I like to use ground pork instead of beef or a pork-beef combination; they end up much less greasy and I think the flavor is better. Since I am using pork I like to use pork or chicken broth instead of beef stock. I also like to add spinach to the recipe to eliminate the need for a side dish when I am serving them as a meal and a splash of color when they are on appetizer duty. I also like to use milk instead of heavy cream in the sauce. The sauce is still quite rich and creamy but not nearly as heavy.

Saag Paneer

Ingredients:
1 cup paneer, cubed
16 oz frozen, defrosted spinach (or 8 oz each spinach and mustard greens)
1 medium onion, thinly sliced
4 cloves garlic
1 green chile, diced
2 inch knob ginger, sliced into matchsticks
1/3 cup water
3 tablespoons plain yogurt
2 teaspoons garam masala
1 teaspoon black mustard seeds
1/2 teaspoon tumeric
1/2 teaspoon amchur powder
1/2 teaspoon asofoetida
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
juice of 1/2 lemon

canola oil


Directions:
In a large skillet, saute the onion, ginger, chile and garlic until fragrant and soft in a small amount of canola oil. Add the mustard seeds and cook until they begin to pop. Add the rest of the spices, spinach, water, lemon juice cover and simmer for about 20 minutes. Add the paneer and yogurt and cook until the paneer is warmed through.

My thoughts:

There are as many ways to make saag paneer (or its cousin, palak paneer, which is made with just spinach) as there are Indian restaurants but the beautiful thing about making it at home is that you can tweak the spices to your liking. You can chop the onions, garlic and ginger or make a paste with them or slice them as I did here. You can leave out the mustard seeds or not. You can add some yogurt or even cream to bring out the creaminess in the greens or leave it out entirely. Every time I have it out, it is slightly different. For this recipe, I combined the elements and textures I've enjoyed the most. I made this for my husband's birthday (as per his request) and it was pretty quick and simple to make, especially since I thought ahead and made the paneer the day before. Of course, you can use store-bought paneer or even tofu (and if you also leave out the yogurt it would be vegan) instead and it would fine.

Quick note: I find that using frozen spinach and mustard greens (when available) is not only cheaper, but just as tasty as using fresh, as you will be cooking the greens for a long time and don't need a crisp texture.

Chipotle Spinach Artichoke Dip

Ingredients:
4 oz cream cheese, at room temperature
4 oz defrosted frozen artichoke hearts, chopped
3/4 cup frozen chopped spinach, defrosted and drained*
1/2 cup sour cream
1/4 cup mayonnaise
2 shallots, sliced
2 chipotle chiles in adobo with 1 teaspoon of the adobe sauce
1 tablespoon key lime juice
1/2 teaspoon salt




Directions:
In a food processor, blend together the cream cheese, sour cream, mayo, shallots, lime juice, chipotle, and adobo sauce until very smooth. Stir in spinach, artichokes until just combined. Serve chilled.

*This should yield a packed 1/4 cup of defrosted chopped spinach.

My thoughts:

I think this might be my new favorite dip. The chipotle adds just the right amount of smoky spice and it is so packed with spinach and artichokes, it's like getting in an extra serving of vegetables. It's a perfect accompaniment for all the fresh veggies just making their appearance at the farmers' market. I also enjoyed it with sesame and pumpernickel pretzel sticks and as a topping on a baked potato.

Quick note: For this recipe, good quality reduced fat sour cream and cream cheese would work just fine.

Gluten-Free Spinach-Onion Dosa (Pancake)

Spinach Dosas also famous as "Chana na Pudla" in Gujarat, is a healthy meal option. So this weekend, when I had an urge to make something gluten-free, more as a challenge and a change than anything else, I decided to make some savoury gluten-free pancakes with gram flour; we actually call them "dosa" or "puda" in local dialect. Its a great way to toss up your favourite veggies into the flour mixture and cook up something special without much effort or planning. I opted for spinach and sauteed onions as my main ingredients, while a blend of spices add to the flavor and fluff! These spinach dosas are a great way to eat something healthy yet tasty, and you can enjoy these with any dipping sauce of your choice!

I really wanted to send something to Srivalli for her Dosa Mela, but instead of using regular dosa-flour or all-purpose flour, I decided to go gluten-free by opting for the gram flour (besan). It not only adds a unique flavor, but also a nice color and texture to the pancakes. You can choose to add your favorite veggies like grated carrots, bell-peppers, peas or even shredded cheese!

Ingredients
Yields 3-4 pancake-sized dosas

2-1/2 cups gram flour (chickpea-flour or besan)
1 cup spinach leaves - washed and chopped
1 small onion - finely chopped
4 tbsp fresh coriander - chopped
1 tsp turmeric powder
2 tsp salt
1 pinch of asafoetida(optional)
2 tsp ginger-garlic paste
1 tsp fruit salt(baking soda)
1 tsp red chilli powder
2-3 cups water (or less, to make the batter)
oil - for saute

Note: It is believed that hing(asafoetida) is generaly ground with wheat-flour, so in that case it would be better for people to omit it from this recipe to make it a strictly gluten-free recipe.

Method
Saute the onions in 1 tbsp of oil till they are lightly brown in color. Don't burn them too much, just make them soft and glazed.

Wash and chop the spinach and cilantro leaves. Add these to the gram flour. Add the ginger-garlic paste and all the spices except fruit salt, then slowly add water, half cup at a time and stir to form a loose batter. Make sure you do not have any lumps in the batter. Form a thick pancake-like batter; but it will be a little thick as gram flour has more consistency than all-purpose flour.

Now add the sauteed onions and fruit salt(soda) to the batter.

Take a non-stick pancake-pan, drop one ladleful of batter into the pan and swirl to form a circular dosa or pancake. This batter is a little thick, so it may not spread as readily as pancake; so just tilt the pan to let the batter spread around. You can even spread and shape it using your wooden spoon or spatula.

Now drizzle a teeny bit of oil on the sides, then cover the pan with a lid and let it cook on medium flame, for about 3-4 mins. Then flip it on the other side and cook again. it will not rise as much as a pancake, but you should see goledn brown spots on both sides. Flip it again till both sides are evenly cooked.

Repeat for the remaining batter and make dosas out of them.

Serve these gluten-free spinach and onion dosas with your favorite dipping sauce. We enjoyed it with corn-cilantro pesto along with a second round of Indian Chai! Serve them hot as they are best enjoyed crisp and fresh right off the stove! For more inspiration, check out these delicious Spinach Recipes

More Savoury Recipes:
Achari Paneer Tikka Wraps
Savoury Muffins with Sun-dried Tomato and Cheese
Fluffy Spanish Tortilla Omelettes

Stone-Ground Grits with Spinach and Parmesan

Ingredients:
4 cups chicken stock
1 cup stone-ground grits (not instant)
1/2 cup defrosted frozen spinach
1/3 cup grated Parmesan
salt
pepper

Directions:
In a medium pot, bring the broth to a boil. Add the grits and stir continually for about 10 minutes or until all the broth is absorbed. Remove from the heat and stir in the cheese, salt, pepper and spinach. Keep covered until ready to serve.

My thoughts:

If you've been reading this blog for a while you know of my penchant for making side dishes do double duty. Macaroni and cheese with rapini, mashed potatoes with extra veggies etc. While we cook nearly every meal we eat and I generally don't have any problem coming up with the main dish, side dishes always stymie me. Since we are only two people (and I generally spend a lot of time on the main dish, taking notes and whatnot) it seems superfluous to make two or more separate side dishes. So I either like to stuff vegetables in the main dish or make one all-encompassing side. These grits have your starch/bread covered, the spinach takes care of the vegetable and the Parmesan (besides making it a little creamy without adding butter, cream or even milk) is an excellent source of calcium.

Baked Penne with Four Cheeses

Ingredients:

12 oz short tubular pasta like penne or ziti

for the sauce:
3/4 lb ground beef
32 oz can tomatoes in puree, chopped*
1 onion, chopped
1 carrot, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
3 tablespoons tomato paste
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon red pepper flakes
1 teaspoon oregano
pepper


for the cheese mixture:
15 ounce ricotta cheese
5 oz frozen chopped spinach
1 egg
4 oz grated Parmesan cheese
4 oz asiago, grated
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg


for sprinkling
mozzarella cheese, finely shredded



Directions:
Preheat oven to 350. Grease a 9x13-inch baking dish. Cook pasta until almost al dente. Set aside. In a large bowl, mix together all of the ingredients of the cheese mixture. Set aside. Heat oil in large saucepan. Add onion, garlic and carrot, red pepper flakes and saut� until the onion is translucent, about 5 minutes. And the ground beef and saut� until almost cooked through. Drain off any rendered fat if needed. Mix in tomato paste, tomato chunks in puree and oregano. Simmer until mixture thickens slightly, stirring occasionally, covered, about 10 minutes. Stir in 1/4 cup Parmesan. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Spread a small amount of tomato sauce over bottom of the dish. Top with some pasta. Dot with cheese mixture. Top with more sauce. Repeat until all of the pasta, cheese and sauce is gone, ending with sauce. Sprinkle with mozzarella. Cover with foil and bake until heated through, about 35-40 minutes. Remove the foil and cook about 2-3 minutes to brown the cheese on top. Allow to sit a few minutes before serving.

*I just stick a long knife into the center of the can and slice towards the can to cut the tomatoes into manageable chunks. Much less messy than using a cutting board.

My thoughts:

Matt really likes baked ziti so I created this recipe to be sort of an �ber ziti using all of his favorite ingredients. I did use penne because we had it on hand, but any sort of short pasta would work. It is actually just as good in a vegetarian version, just omit the ground beef and follow the rest of the directions as is. I just added the beef because that's how Matt likes it, it is great either way. It can also be made the day ahead, all the way up to the actially baking, just cover and refrigerate it until you are ready to cook. I'd let it warm up a bit on the counter while you preheat the oven.

Palak (Spinach) and Corn Pulao

After baking lots of cookies, I have this strong urge to cook a little healthy and low-calorie diet. And when I think healthy, spinach is always at the top of my list. So, rather than the traditional Palak Paneer, I thought I'd use spinach puree in my Rice to make this delcious and pretty-looking Palak and Corn Pulao. It's basically similar to fried rice, but just with indian flavors instead of asian spices. Vegetable Pulao is traditionally cooked with long-grain basmati rice and you can add your choice of vegetables to it. And to get that balance of crunch with a bit of sweetness, I added the corn kernels. It was very wholesome, and you could add a whole lot of other veggies like brocolli or potatoes, carrots or beet to this pulao. The color is very inviting and fresh-looking, and decked up with tomatoes and fresh coriander, you'll actually feel like you are "eating green"!!

Ingredients
3 cups long grain Basmati rice
1 packet of spinach leaves
1/2 medium sized onion - chopped finely
2 green chillies - diced
1 cup kernel corns - frozen or fresh
3 bay leaves
2 tsp cumin seeds
salt - to taste
2 tbsp lemon juice
3 tbsp ghee
3 tsp garam masala or biryani masala
2 tsp turmeric powder
chopped coriander - for garnish
thin tomato wedges - for garnish

Method
Wash the basmati rice under running water for a couple of times to remove the starchy content. Take a rice cooker and cook the rice as you normally would. Just make sure you keep stirring them occasionally. If you are using a stove, take a large crockpot, add 1 tbsp ghee, then add the rice and water and cover it with a lid just partly open to allow the steam to escape; stir in between and cook on medium flame or heat.

While the rice cooks, take a large fryikng pan, add 3 tbsp ghee, cumin seeds and the bay leaves. When they start spluttering, add the green chillies and the chopped onions. Saute till they turn a light golden in color.

Meanwhile, wash the spinach leaves and blend them to make a fine puree. Thaw the kernel corns if you are using the frozen ones by microwaving for 10 seconds.

Now add the puree to the onions and mix well. Add the salt, garam masala powder, turmeric and lemon juice. Cover with a lid and cook for 7-10 mins until it starts bubbling a little. finally add the corn kernels and reduce to low-flame.

Once the rice is almost cooked, add it to the gravy mixture and mix well gently with a spatula. Taste for salt and spices and make necessary additions per your choice. Remove from flame and let the spices and spinach blend with the rice.

Transfer the Spinach and Corn Pulao to a serving dish. Take a firm tomato, cut it into thin wedges, removing the pulp. Chop some fresh cilantro and garnish the pulao with these . Serve hot with Gujarati Kaddhi or Gravies (Malai Kofta Curry )

Similar Recipes:
Lemon and Coconut Rice with Sambhar
Vegetable Fried Rice

Simple Chickpea and Mung Salad - A bowl full of Protein

There are days when you feel like eating the most simple and nutritious things in life, and naturally, the first thing that comes to your mind is a Salad. There are loads of salad dressings available in the market these days, but if you closely look at the labels on them, you'll find they are not always less in calories. It's best to stick to simple and traditional home-dressings when you are trying to fill yourself up with something nutritious. Here's my favorite salad, which I call a bowlful of protein, as it's made of lentils, spinach and peppers, no fancy dressing, no additional pizzazz, just plain old simple Indian salad!

Ingredients
2 cups of washed fresh spinach leaves
2 cans of boiled chickpeas (garbanzo beans)
2 cups of boiled green mung beans
1 green or yellow bell pepper
1 small onion - chopped finely
1 green cucumber - diced
1/2 cup of lemon juice
1 firm tomato - chopped finely
salt and pepper - to taste
chaat masala - to sprinkle on the top
a handful of coriander leaves - chopped

Method
Mix all the ingredents except the spinach leaves in a large bowl and add the lemon juice to it. Let it refrigerate covered for at least half an hour, allowing the lentils to soak the lemon juice. Before serving, add the spinach leaves, salt, black pepper powder and chaat masala and toss well so it is evenly combined. Add finely chopped coriander leaves and serve immediately!

This Chickpea and Mung salad is a healthy and highly nutritive salad, and can keep you full for quite some time, thanks to all the protein and fiber content that it has!

Winterized BLT Chicken Pasta Salad

Ingredients:
4 strips thick cut bacon
1/2 medium red onion, chopped
1 lb pasta (I used gemelli)
2 cooked, boneless skinless chicken breast, cubed
3/4 cup frozen spinach
1/2 cup sliced sun-dried tomatoes*
1/4 cup mayonnaise
2 tablespoons capers
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar


Directions:
Bring a large pot of salted water to boil. Boil the noodles until al dente, adding the frozen spinach in at the last minute or so. Drain. Meanwhile, in a hot pan, fry the bacon until crispy. Drain on a paper towel lined plate and cut into bite-sized pieces. Place all ingredients in a large bowl. Stir to evenly distribute the mayonnaise, balsamic vinegar. Serve at room temperature. Refrigerate leftovers.

*I used dry (i.e. not oil packed) sun-dried tomatoes so I just tossed them in with the pasta during the last minute or so of cooking, just to plump them up a bit. If you are using oil packed tomatoes, blot them before use.

Yield: approximately 6-8 main course servings.

Note: The whole salad can be prepared the day before serving with great success.

My thoughts:

Winterizing isn't just for summer homes and vehicles anymore. I had my mother and grandfather over for lunch today and I wasn't sure of what to make until the last minute. I wanted to make something that would be substantial enough to stand alone (no side dishes!) and that hopefully result some leftovers for tomorrow's lunch. Last night my husband sauteed a chicken breast (with some shallots and a basic marinade) for his lunch today so I had him to saute me some extra in case I wanted to use it in something today. This morning I was looking through some recipes and found one for BLT chicken salad sandwiches. The recipe sounded good if a bit mayo-heavy. The problem was that we only had 4 slices of bread in the house, I wouldn't eat a fresh tomato in December if you paid me and I don't buy lettuce in the winter. So that was out. But I liked the concept so I started from scratch and made a winterized pasta salad using some of the flavors of a good BLT but using high quality frozen and shelf stable ingredients instead of a bunch of out of season vegetables. Which isn't to say the pasta isn't fresh tasting, the flavors are clear and bright, only that you don't have to wait until Summer for a good pasta salad.