Baby Spinach and Potato Pastelón

20 May

I am a single gal who shops at Costco…   you might find it hard to believe, but here in Puerto Rico some of the best produce you can find at Costco.  The catch is the size of the packages, which are huge for only one person.  I usually buy fresh strawberries, asparagus, grape or vine-ripened tomatoes, mesclun greens, oranges and baby spinach at Costco, among other non perishables.  When I can, I share with my mom, but most often times, I find myself with the challenge of cooking the same ingredients over and over in different presentations to avoid any spoilage.

That was the case a few days back with a large batch of baby spinach and grape tomatoes.  How many ways can a girl make the same two ingredients and not bore herself??

Here is an exercise in how versatile these two ingredients are…

 

 

BABY SPINACH AND POTATO PASTELÓN

2 large russet or red-skinned potatoes, washed and cubed
2 handfuls of fresh baby spinach, washed and dried
About 10 grape or cherry tomatoes , halved – if you have regular tomatoes, they work fine too, just chop them
½ onion, chopped
1 clove of garlic, grated or finely minced
1 tbs olive oil
2 tbs butter or soy margarine
2 oz cream cheese
2 tbs  Parmesan Cheese, grated or shredded
Salt and Pepper to taste
Canola Spray

 

  1. In a medium pot, boil the potatoes in salted water.
  2. While the potatoes are boiling, prepare the filling of the pastelón.  In a medium sized skillet, heat olive oil and sauté onion and garlic until softened.  Add the tomatoes and sauté until softened.  Add the baby spinach to the skillet.  Sprinkle some salt and pepper and toss to combine, until it wilts.

  3. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.
  4. When the potatoes are cooked, drain the water and return to the pot to mash them with the butter/margarine, cream cheese and 1 tbs of the Parmesan.  Season with some salt and pepper to taste.  I like using garlic salt here…
  5. In a casserole dish sprayed with some canola oil spray, spread ½ of the mashed potatoes.  Top with the spinach and tomato mixture. Add all the remaining potato and smooth out the top.  Sprinkle with the remaining Parmesan cheese.
  6. Bake in the oven for about 20 minutes or until the cheese on top melts and creates a golden crust.  Because all of the components are already cooked…

 

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Mexican Salsa

17 May

I told you I was in an international mode these days, no?  Well, around the 5 de Mayo days, with all the TV ads about Mexican treats, I wanted some of my own.

I found a  recipe for Home-Made Mexican Salsa.  Please forgive me, but I did not save the address of where I got it from.  It seemed simple enough and I had all the ingredients at hand.  Let’s make some salsa.  I should say that I omitted the canned green chiles and the cilantro… they just do not agree with me.

 

MEXICAN SALSA

1 cup chopped tomatoes – I used Viter brand that comes in a jar, but you can use 2 fresh tomatoes too, finely chopped
½ onion, finely chopped
½ green bell pepper, finely chopped
3 garlic cloves, grated
The juice of 1 ½ limes
1 tsp of kosher salt, or more to taste
1 tsp garlic salt
Freshly cracked black pepper

 

  1. In a medium sized bowl with a lid, mix together the chopped tomatoes, onions, bell pepper and garlic cloves.   Add the lime juice, salt, garlic salt and pepper.
  2. Mix well and refrigerate overnight.
  3. Serve with corn chips or tortillas.

 

I’ll be honest.  It’s good, but I still need to tweak this recipe to make it taste more like a salsa and less like a gazpacho.  And I am not fond of gazpachos because to me, they taste like a sofrito.

So you might be asking yourselves, why in the world did Madelyn is giving us this recipe if she doesn’t really like it??????  Because it served as a great starter for these Stewed Sweet Peas.   I served the sweet peas over rice mixed with some toasted almonds and as the filling for a Potato and Sweet Pea Pastelon.

This was a tasty exercise in recycling…   try it, and let me know if you have any other “recycling” stories in your cooking repertoire. 

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Rosemary Almonds

16 May

I love almonds.  They’re one of my favorite nuts, next to cashews, pistachios and hazelnuts.  I love almonds, not only for their flavor and crunchy texture, but also because they’re a great source of protein.  I read somewhere that eating 5-10 almonds a day gives you all the protein you need for that day.  Great news for me… because I rather eat almonds than beans any day of the week.

I wanted to treat the mothers in my life with something I made… instead of something bought.  I read this recipe in the Barefoot in Paris Cookbook where Ina uses cashews to re-create these bar nuts she ate at Union Square Café in New York.   I decided to go with almonds instead of cashews because I needed to make a large batch and almonds tend to be less expensive than cashews. 

I loved the results…  and as Ina says in her book, these taste best when they’re still warm.

 

ROSEMARY ALMONDS

3 cups peeled raw almonds
2 tbs minced fresh rosemary
½ teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper
2 tsp brown sugar
1 tbs kosher salt
1 tbs unsalted butter, melted

 

  1. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.  Spread thee almonds on a baking sheet and toast for about 10-15 minutes, particularly if you soaked the almonds to peel them.  If you prefer to keep the almonds with their skin, toast them for a shorter time to avoid burning them.
  2. While the almonds are in the oven, combine the rosemary, salt, pepper, sugar, and butter in a large bowl.
  3. Add the toasted almonds to the large bowl with the salt/sugar/rosemary mixture.  Toss well to combine.
  4. Serve warm if possible.

 

These are great as a snack, as a hostess gift… you name it.  They’re super delicious.

 

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Creamy Tamari Dressing

13 May

In keeping with the international flavor of these last posts, I want to share with you a salad dressing that uses up any leftover tamari or soy sauce you use to marinate – in my case, it was tofu.

I am a firm believer in not wasting.  So, if the recipe calls for ¼ cup of something and that would leave a tiny bit left in the jar… dump it all in.  You should not either save a tiny bit that probably is not enough for something else in the future, nor throw it in the garbage either.  So when I marinated some tofu pieces the other day and was left with about a good 1-2 tbs of tamari left on the little dish, I decided to use it to make a dressing.

Many people come to me asking me for simple salad dressed ideas… salad dressings is even one of the offerings I have in my try-out culinary business, believe it or not.  People want something healthier than the bottled, preservatives filled options in the market these days.  But apparently, they are stumped when it comes to mixing it up.

Hey, oil and vinegar with some salt and pepper is the ultimate dressing…  mixing ip different kinds of oils and vinegars will give you different results.  But what if you’re into creamy dressings?  The solution is Mayonnaise.  Veggie Mayonnaise in our case.   Pay attention kids, because this will happen really quick…

 

 

CREAMY TAMARI DRESSING

¼ cup Veggie Mayo
A good squirt of ketchup
1-2 tbs tamari sauce
A squirt of honey
1 tbs lemon juice
A pinch of garlic salt or garlic powder

 

  1. Mix everything up in a small bowl and spoon it over your favorite salad.

 

My salad was a simple lettuce, tomato and cucumber salad. The dressing is creamy and a bit salty and tangy.  Great partner for any stir fry or Asian rice dish.

 

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Vegetable Lo Mein for one

13 May

I am in a real international vibe these days…  now I am on an Asian kick.  My mom started it because she’s been craving a tofu stir-fry I make with snow peas and bean sprouts.  The thing is that we have not been able to get together to actually make it. You know how it is with busy schedules…

So, in the meantime, I made for lunch this clean-out-the-fridge stir fry.  It was a completely impromptu dish…  not even planning to share it with you just yet.  But the results were soooo good, I had to take a picture of it. 

This is really a method…  you can change it up as you prefer.  This is what I used this time…

 

 

VEGETABLE LO-MEIN for one

1/8 packet of dry whole grain pasta – spaghetti or bucatini would work well
½ onion, sliced
½ red bell pepper, sliced
1 garlic clove, grated
3-4 leaves of romaine lettuce, washed, dried and cut into thin strips and tough stems removed
Handful of bean sprouts, washed and dried
3 tbs teriyaki sauce
1 tbs olive oil
Squirt of honey
Freshly cracked pepper to taste
1 tbs toasted sesame seeds – for garnish

 

  1. Bring a large pot of water to boil.  Once water is boiling, add plenty of salt and add the pasta.  Cook according to package directions, approximately 10 minutes.
  2. While the pasta is cooking, heat a large skillet with olive oil over medium high heat.  Add the onions and peppers.  Stir to coat all the pieces with the olive oil.  Add the grated garlic over the onions and peppers.  Sauté for a few minutes.
  3. When the onions start to get a cooked look, but are still crunchy, add the bean sprouts.  Sauté for a minute.  Add most of the lettuce pieces.  Sauté a few minutes more until the lettuce starts to wilt a bit.
  4. Add the cooked noodles to the skillet and toss to combine thoroughly.  Add the teriyaki sauce and toss again.  Add any remaining lettuce.  The noodles will absorb some of the sauce.
  5. Transfer to serving dish and garnish with a sprinkle of sesame seeds.

 

This was a very nice lunch indeed.  Filled with veggies, light, yet very satisfying.  You can definitely serve this for any weekday meal. 

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