Tag Archives: spinach

Spinach Artichoke Dip

3 Nov

The other day I went to Olive Garden and I wanted to order an appetizer sooooo badly.  But I knew that…

1) I would not be able to eat a salad, soup, entrée and an appetizer in one sitting

2) the appetizers in these restaurants are not necessarily the healthiest ones.

So now that my sister has given birth and many friends and family are visiting her to see the new baby, Titi Madelyn is taking care of the kitchen.  People in this house are not-vegetarian, but they have been the last few days because I will cook, but only things I am able to eat too.

The weekend is when people are mostly visiting and I am making dips left and right to at least have something for people to nibble on while they visit.  Last Sunday it was my Veggie Dip – something I can make without even thinking, if I have all the ingredients.  Last night I made my Tomato Basil Bruschetta mix. 

Today…  my version of a Spinach Artichoke Dip.  I do not count calories…  that’s not my thing.  I am not really sure if it’s a “healthier” version of what they serve at Olive Garden.  But at least I do know all the ingredients it went into making it.  Super easy too… great to make ahead and just pop in the oven when guests and visitors arrive.

 

SPINACH ARTICHOKE DIP

1 package frozen spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
1 package of frozen artichokes, thawed and chopped
1 small yellow onion, diced
1 ½ cup Pecorino Romano cheese, grated
1 package cream cheese, room temperature
1 cup plain yogurt
¾ cup eggless mayonnaise
About ¼ cup of Olive Oil
Salt and Pepper to taste
Garlic Powder to taste
 
  1. In a large bowl combine all ingredients.  Mix well.
  2. Transfer to an oven safe dish and bake at 375F for about 30 minutes.

 

Serve warm with tortilla chips, crackers or toasted bread.

Tags: , , ,

Arroz Kristina

26 Aug

My friends from French class and I used to meet at Chez Kristina every Tuesday to practice our French grammar and practice our vocabulary and speaking fluidity.  Since last Summer we took an indefinite break from our weekly get-togethers and I truly miss them. 

Kristina was gracious enough to open up the doors to her house each week and also usually made us dinner.  Many times we offered to help and these reunions were the reason or excuse for many recipes shared here – Mushroom Goat Cheese spread, Cranberry Trifle, “Shrimp” Creole, and the Pita Pizzas made with Spinach and Tomato Sauce.  But many times, Kristina surprised us with a creation all her own. 

One of these creations was what I lovingly call Arroz Kristina – a rice Kristina made in the oven so little tending in necessary.  The flavor is spectacular and it’s great to make for yourself or for company, just like Kristina made it for us.   I tried a few times before this recipe with little success.  It was mostly my fault for screwing up the liquid measurements to accommodate for whole-grain rice.  But recently I discovered Texmati rice, whole grain basmati-style rice apparently grown in Texas that cooks almost exactly was white long-grain rice – similar in texture, liquids to use, time to cook.  This rice is FAST!!!

After discovering Texmati rice and having a pint of mushrooms in my fridge about to spoil, I decided to give Arroz Kristina another serious try…  and the results were as good as the original.

ARROZ KRISTINA

¾ cup of Texmati whole-grain brown rice
1 pint button mushrooms, cleaned and sliced
½ red onion, diced
½ green bell pepper, diced
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 tbs ume plum vinegar
½ cup frozen spinach or  2 cups fresh baby spinach
¼ cup walnuts, chopped – you can use any nut you wish…  I’ve used pecans also
1 cup water or vegetable broth
About 2 tbs olive oil
Salt and Pepper to taste
¼ cup of shredded mozzarella cheese
 

 

  1. Pre-heat oven to 400F
  2. In a medium-sized skillet over medium heat, pour about 1 tbs of olive oil and sauté the diced onions and peppers.    After a few minutes, add the garlic cloves.  Stir to combine.   Add the mushrooms and stir so the olive oil in the pan coats them and so the garlic doesn’t stay all together in the bottom to potentially burn.
  3. After a few minutes of cooking and the mushrooms browning a bit, add the vinegar and season with salt and pepper.    Cook for a few minutes for the mushrooms to absorb the flavors and cook completely.  After a few minutes, set aside to cool a bit.
  5. In a glass casserole dish, add the rice, frozen spinach (no need to defrost at all) or chopped fresh baby spinach leaves, walnuts or pecans, cooked mushroom mixture and water or vegetable broth.  Mix together to blend and season with a bit of salt and pepper and a drizzle of olive oil.  Be careful here and try to avoid over salting… remember you seasoned the mushrooms so keep that in mind.   Cover with foil paper.
  6. Place in oven for about 1 hour and 15 minutes.  At about the 1 hour mark, check the rice and fluff and move a bit if necessary.  Keep covered and leave in oven the additional 15 minutes.
  7. After time has elapsed, uncover, add the cheese, cover again and turn off oven.  Let the cheese melt with the residual heat in the oven.

 

The color of the dish might be a monotone brown, but the flavors are really good.    You could also use fresh spinach and the color would be greener…  but using frozen spinach is just as good and super easy to have always at hand in the freezer.

I want to thank Kristina for always opening up the doors to her house for our French extra-curricular rendez-vous.  I am extremely grateful for her hospitality, but most of all for her friendship.  Hope that we can retake these weekly meetings, if not in her house, possibly in mine.  And possibly start sharing once again new recipes we can all share with you…

Tags: , , , ,

Spinach Crepes Revisited

11 Aug

I love spinach crepes… they’re my favorite savory combination of crepes. 

I used to eat a spinach crepe every Saturday as lunch at the Alliance Française…  I had a spinach crepe too for lunch when we visited Versailles last year.   When given the choice, a spinach filling usually wins for me.

p1010690.jpg

Crepe epinard 1

When I did the Gateau des Crepes for the Fête de la Bastille celebration, the recipe yielded more spinach filling and more crepes than we actually need for the crepe stack.   And if it’s just me eating, the same components can be assembled differently in a more single dish friendly format.

 

SPINACH CREPES REVISITED

2 spelt crepes
About 2 tbs of spinach béchamel filling
2 tbs grated gruyere cheese
1 small handful of toasted walnuts, chopped

 

  1. Pre-heat toaster oven to 350F.
  2. If crepes have been refrigerated, we’ll need to reheat them slightly.  In a small non-stick skillet over medium heat, place crepe individually for a few minutes until they’re warm and pliable.
  3. Take each crepe and spread about 1 tbs of filling into each one.  Sprikle with half the walnuts into each crepe.  Roll crepe onto itself and place in a buttered dish.
  4. Spread some extra spinach filling over the crepes and sprinkle with a bit more walnuts.  Add the grated gruyere on top to finish.
  5. Place in oven for about 10-15 minutes until the filling heats up and the cheese on top melts well.

 

Two crepes is, to me, the perfect serving for one person.  You can drizzle a bit of honey or agave nectar on top if you’d like a different sweet touch to the crepe…  I highly recommend it.

Tags: , , ,

Eggplant Gratin

5 Aug

The other day I did a whole batch of fried eggplants and even though I loooove to have them with just a squirt of lemon on top, sometimes I want to change it up.

It had been a while since I had eggplant parmesan and by having these fried eggplants, making one would be half the time.  This recipe is actually a mixture of two recipes I had seen before – one from Ina Garten the Barefoot Contessa and another one from Tyler Florence I had seen years ago.

This is the result of the combination…

 

EGGPLANT GRATIN – serves 2 people

About 6-8 slices of fried eggplant
1/3 cup ricotta cheese
¼ cup of spinach, defrosted and squeezed dry
½ cup of petite diced tomatoes
1tbs balsamic vinegar
1 tbs extra virgin olive oil
1tsp Italian Seasonings
Kosher salt and Pepper to taste
½ cup grated Parmesan cheese
½ cup Italian shredded cheese blend

 

  1. Pre-heat oven to 350F.
  2. In a medium sized bowl mix together the ricotta cheese and squeezed-dry spinach.  Season with salt and pepper.  Set aside.
  4. In another bowl, mix together the petite tomatoes, vinegar, oil, Italian Seasonings, salt and pepper.  Mix well and set aside.
  6. In a shallow gratin dish, place a little of the tomato juice on the bottom.  Now place a layer of fried eggplant on the bottom.  Place a few tablespoons of the tomato mixture and sprinkle with parmesan cheese.  Now place the ricotta/spinach mixture in an even layer.  Place a few more tomatoes.  Cover with another layer of fried eggplants.  Place the rest of the tomatoes you have left.  Sprinkle with parmesan cheese and the Italian shredded cheeses.
  7. Place in oven for about 20-30 minutes for the tomatoes to cook a bit and the eggplant to reheat well.

 

This is a great combination between an eggplant lasagna and eggplant parmesan. .. It tastes great and it’s easy to do once the eggplants are already fried.  You can certainly assemble this any night of the week.  The breading on the eggplant will get soggy due to the tomato sauce… but the taste is so delicious you will not mind at all.

Tags: , ,

Gateau des Crepes

14 Jul

I got this recipe idea from a Martha Stewart’s magazine… since I saw it, I have been meaning to make it myself.

We got together a few friends from my French group to celebrate la Fête de la Bastille – France’s  National Holiday – and it seemed only fitting to make one of this gateau to celebrate.

I modified the recipe a bit to make it more vegetarian – particularly made spelt crepes without any eggs.  The results are fabulous and extremely delicious.  The filling is basically the same exact filling as the mixture we made for our Spinach Croquetas, but added some gruyere cheese to make it more French and decadent.

GATEAU DES CREPES

½ medium onion, finely diced
2 garlic cloves, smashed lightly
2 tbs butter
1 tbs olive oil
2 tbs spelt flour
2 cups plain soy milk
2 ounces of cream cheese (optional)
1 ½ cups Gruyere cheese, grated and reserving ¼ cup for garnish
Salt and Pepper to taste
2 cups frozen spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
12 egg-free Spelt Crepes
 
  1. In a medium saucepan over medium heat, add the butter and olive oil.  When the butter has melted, add the chopped onion and the 2 smashed garlic cloves.  Season with salt and pepper.  Cook until the onions cook and look translucent.
  2. Take out the garlic clove pieces.  Add the spelt flour to the onion mixture and stir to become a paste.  Cook the paste moving it around for a few minutes to make sure there will not be raw flour taste later on.
  3. Slowly add the soymilk to the flour/onion paste and whisk it all while adding the milk.  The sauce will thicken once the mixture boils a few minutes. 
  4. After the sauce has thickened, take off from the heat and add the cream cheese, gruyere cheese.   Mix well together to make sure the cheeses melt.  Take out about ¼ cup of white sauce and place it aside.  Add the dried spinach.  Mix well to incorporate the spinach well into the sauce.  Set aside.  The sauce will thicken while standing, and this is a good thing.
  5. After the spinach sauce has cooled, we’ll assemble the crepe stack…
  6. Pre-heat oven to 450F.
  7. On a rimmed buttered baking sheet, place one crepe.  Slather with about 1 tbs of spinach sauce until almost the edges.  Place another crepe on top, slather again with spinach sauce.  Repeat this same thing 11 times and finish off the gateau with the 12th crepe. 
  9. Top the last crepe with about 2tbs of the reserved white sauce.  Place the reserved gruyere cheese on top.
  10.        
  11. Place gateau on the oven for 10-15 minutes until the cheeses melt and create a golden lovely top.

 

Allow the gateau des crepes to cool off a bit before slicing into wedges, just like any other cake.  I served this alongside a green salad with a mustard vinaigrette.

 

 

When I made this, the oven was not fully at 450F and the gateau slid out of place and the filling spilled a bit out into the baking sheet.  I have asked if someone else had this same issue, but no replies so far.  I think the oven was too cool still and instead of just heating the filling and making the top golden, it just melted the cheese all over again.  Maybe using the broiler would be a better alternative.

The next few times I have used my leftover crepes, I have rolled them up and served them individual style.  This makes more sense to eat alone or for just two people… and it’s just as delicious.

Tags: , , ,

← Older Entries
Newer Entries →