spinach | KarmaFree Cooking

Tag Archives: spinach

Artichoke and Spinach Casserole

I’ve been cooking a lot at the Yoga Center I attend. Last week, I helped my friend Rosani fix dinner for about 25 people. Sometimes when we do these menus, we buy what’s on sale and use our creativity to develop dishes we have not tried before… this Artichoke and Spinach Casserole is one of them. Luckily, most of the time, the inventions turn out fine… we think this one did… I’ll let you be the judge.

Please bear with me and my adjustments on the quantities… I did a huge tray as the photo shows.

ARTICHOKE AND SPINACH CASSEROLE

2 jars of marinated artichoke hearts, rinsed (because Rosani asked me to) and quartered

1 10oz. pack of frozen chopped spinach, thawed and water squeezed out a bit

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 small onion, sliced

2 cloves of garlic, minced

Salt and Pepper to taste

1 jar of chopped tomatoes or 1/2 carton of POMI chopped tomatoes

2 cups of shredded Parmesan cheese

In a large saute pan, heat olive oil over medium heat. Saute onion for a few minutes and later on add the garlic.
Add the spinach to the onions and garlic. Saute together to give some flavor to the spinach. Salt and pepper to taste.
In a casserole dish, place the rinsed and quartered artichoke hearts, mix together the spinach mixture.
Add in the chopped tomatoes.
Mix in one cup of the Parmesan cheese.
Sprinkle remaining cheese on top of casserole.
Bake in a 350 degree oven for 30 minutes, until cheese is melted and a nice crust has developed on top.

It looks like this before putting it in the oven.

Tags: artichokes, spinach, tomato

Comments 8 Comments
Categories main courses, side dishes

Madelyn’s Spinach Crepes

11 Nov

Every Saturday, I take French classes at the Alliance Française in Condado. Every Saturday, I wake up with a craving for french crepes.

Didier, a french crepe chef visits the Alliance every morning and fixes us with THE BEST crepes I have tasted. I have indeed had crepes in Paris, but lets face it, it was 20 years ago, so I can’t really remember well.

Because I am such a fan of these crepes, I decided to create my own version. I usually have a Spinach crepe with cheese, walnuts drizzled with honey. This is my lunch every Saturday, however, Didier’s most popular recipes are the crepes filled with strawberries and Nutella drizzled with chocolate syrup and dusted with powdered sugar. Here’e a few pictures, please wipe your drool…

Here’s my humble attempt to replicating Didier’s recipe… I only include the recipe for the filling. I used store-bought crepes from the refrigerated section of the supermarket. But I will be trying a whole-wheat version of the crepe recipe and will include it shortly.

This is basically the mix of ingredients and flavors. Adjust the quantities according to the amount of crepes you’re doing. Something about my recipes, I go by eye and feel, and rarely remember exact quantities… hope it’s not too much of a hassle for you.

Spinach Crepes

leeks – sliced finely
Green bell peppers – diced
Frozen Spinach
a bit of half and half
a bit of Cream of Mushroom Condensed Soup – you can omit this part if you’d like, but i thought it would help the mixture cream better
Chopped garlic
Season to taste with Salt, pepper
Sharp cheddar cheese slices or swiss cheese would work fine too
Chopped walnuts
Honey or agave nectar

For the Filling

Sautee the leeks or onions together with the bell pepper in olive oil until soft.
Add the garlic.
Add the frozen spinach right form the bag… no bother to defrost or to drain
When the mixture seems to be thoroughly cooked, add the half and half and the mushroom soup.
Season with salt and pepper and anything else you’d like filling is done

Putting it Together

Take the crepe and warm it up in a skillet, just like you would a tortilla.
Put a bit of the mixture in the center, place some cheese slices and walnuts.
fold edges inside, just like you would do to a burrito
flip the crepe on the other side so the folds are underneath… if you leave it in the original side, the crepe will soften and desintegrate leaving you with a hole and the mixture in the skillet. Flipping the crepe will help seal the folds. you can flip it again a bit to warm up both sides and to melt the cheese inside, but be careful not leaving it too long on the side with the filling more exposed.
move it on to a place and drizzle with a bit of honey or agave nectar. it tastes delicious. it’s a nice sweet coiunterpoint to the savory filling

Believe it or not, this is the recipe that got my fire started about writing a blog… a friend of mine, Kathleen writes a blog Kathleen’s Kitchen and she tried my recipe and liked it.

Hope you enjoy it too.