protein biscuits

 I am for sure making these "protein biscuits" as they seem like a satisfying breakfast option.  From here.  Seems like I can make a lot of substitutions in them.   

Ingredients

• 3 tsp baking powder + flour to 250 g (2 cups total)
• 1 cup (240g) yogurt (they call for dairy free but I'll use dairy) 
• 1 cup (190 g) red lentils, rinsed 
• 1 1/3 cup (320 mL) vegetable stock  
• 1/3 cup (80 ml) olive oil
• 1 tsp onion powder
• 1 tsp Italian herbs
• 1 1/2 cup (45 g) spinach, finely chopped (I'll replace with zucchini and other vegetables) 
• 1/2 cup (55 g) sundried tomatoes (not stored in oil ... so perhaps reduce oil if using from oil) 
• 3/4 cup (100 g) sunflower seeds
• 1/3 cup (15 g) nutritional yeast  

Instructions Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. Lightly oil paper with olive oil. Set aside. Place the rinsed red lentils in a saucepan with vegetable stock. Cover the pan, bring it to high heat until the liquid boils, reduce to medium heat, and cook covered for 10-12 minutes until the lentils are mushy and the liquid is absorbed. Remove the lid and let it steam out for 10 minutes. Preheat the oven to 400 °F (200 °C). In a large mixing bowl, add flour, onion powder, Italian herbs, yogurt, olive oil, cooked red lentils, chopped spinach, chopped sundried tomatoes, seeds, and nutritional yeast. Combine everything together until it forms a sticky dough. Divide the dough into 8 portions and place them on the prepared baking sheet. Bake the biscuits for 20-25 minutes at 400 °F (200 °C) until golden brown. Let them cool down for a few minutes before serving.

winter squash and greens bake

 Looking around the kitchen, not wanting to go to the store ... this sounded good with a lot of substitutions.  I followed both the post I found for winter squash and spinach bake and their source pasta and butternut squash cake.

Ingredients

• 8 oz broken up lasagna noodles 
• 400 g winter squash, peeled and sliced very thinly
• 3+ cloves garlic, sliced very thinly
• 1 egg
• 100 g ricotta (I substituted a mix of sour cream/yogurt/cottage cheese; recipe called for 200-250 g)
• 50-100 g parmesan, grated (divided)
• 200 g feta, crumbled small (divided)
• 1 cup grated fontina cheese (I used mozzarella) 
• 5 oz/150 g baby greens chopped 
• salt, pepper
• basil, thyme, parsley  
• red pepper flakes (<1/2 tsp)
• 2 T olive oil 
• 1 cup water

Mix together in a big bowl, sprinkling top with feta and parmesan left.  Put into 9" round or square pan lined with parchment paper.  Cover tightly with foil.  

Bake at 350 degrees for 90 minutes.  REmove foil, drizzle 1 T olive oil, and let bake another 30 minutes. 

 

white bean & spinach enchiladas

 I plan to make some white bean and spinach enchiladas today and I keep forgetting my plan, so writing it down and will update as necessary.  I picked up some green Hatch chili sauce from Costco and need to use it up, so this will be tasty as the enchilada sauce.  

They key for my goals is using white beans and a green (chard this time because I had half a bunch).  Various other vegetables would be great to add in to empty the refrigerator. :)

• tortillas (I'm in a hunt now for fresh tortillas and am thrilled to learn there's a tortilleria not too far)
  
• 1 can white beans, drained
  
• 1/2 pound spinach (frozen/thawed/squeezed dry or fresh/wilted), chopped
  
• 4 oz shredded pepperjack cheese
• tomatoes (a can of drained tomatoes would be good, thawed frozen, or fresh) 
  
• green onions, chopped
• poblano, optional
  
• cilantro, chopped
  
• cumin
• garlic powder, onion powder
  
• taco seasoning is also good 
• lime juice
  
• enchilada sauce
  

Mix together the beans, spinach, cheese, green onions, cilantro, spices, lime juice, cheese.  Heat the tortillas and fill. Cover with enchilada sauce.  Note: this time I was using chard and poblano, so I sauteed them with some fresh tomatoes until reduced, then added green onions, spices, and beans. 

Bake about 40 minutes at 350.  

I think I'll enjoy it with some spicy roasted sweet potatoes and maybe some curtido or sauerkraut.

white bean spinach parmesan soup

 This white beans spinach parmesan soup was a really big hit with guests.  It makes a lot but it uses up the 5# of white beans in my cupboard.

If using dried beans, set them to soak the night before (or two nights before if you're party prepping) and cook, then and save some of their cooking liquid and reduce the stock to 4 cups. 

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 yellow onion diced
• 6-8 cloves garlic minced
• 6 cups vegetable broth/stock (or less with bean liquid)
• 15 ounces (420 g) can diced tomatoes (or a few fresh tomatoes)
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1 tablespoon Italian dried herbs (I used rosemary, thyme, oregano, and basil)
  
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• ½ teaspoon black pepper
• 4 (15 ounce) cans white beans (cannellini beans), drained and rinsed
• 4 cups chopped baby spinach (about 6 ounces)
• 3/4 cup fresh grated Parmesan cheese (for serving)
• 3 tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley (for serving)
  

Instructions

• In a large pot or saucepan, heat olive over medium high heat. Add onion and garlic; cook until onions are translucent and garlic is fragrant (about 2-3 minutes), while stirring occasionally. Add in the broth, tomatoes, sugar, Italian herbs, salt and pepper.
• Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes to combine all of the flavours together.
• Stir in the beans and heat up.  (Note: I let it simmer about 30 minutes for the dried herbs to come to life and everything to really come together) Then add spinach and ontinue to simmer gently until the spinach has wilted (about 2 minutes). 
• Take off heat. . Taste test, adjust salt and pepper if needed.Serve immediately, with side of parmesan and fresh parsley to add to taste.
  

sweet potato hash

I'm in a refrigerator-clearing phase and landed on sweet potato hash for breakfast (and leftovers for most of the rest of this week).

I looked at this for some guidance but mostly went off script.

Preheat oven to 400.

Saute for about 10 minutes:
-1 onion (I used 1/2 onion that's been in fridge a long time)
-3-5 sweet potatoes (I shredded but next time I think I'll chop into small cubes)

Add in and cook about another 8-10 minutes:
-sausage (I had some spinach/feta sausage from a sale in the freezer; any kind is good)

 Put on top and let it steam for about 5 minutes
-some greens (I used the mizuna that was starting to bolt in my garden, a leftover spinach salad from earlier in the week, and the last of the refrigerator spinach)

Mix it together, then make indentations and add:
-eggs (duck eggs from friend are perfect!)

Bake for 10-15 minutes.  I did just over 15 minutes and the yolks weren't runny at all. 

potato-sausage-spinach-okra soup

In a quest to empty my fridge and eat something light, this soup came on my menu evening.

Potato sausage spinach okra soup

Brown sausage (I had 2 links of chicken sausage in my freezer to use up)
with 1 chopped onion and 3 cloves of garlic

When the sausage is brown, add in
2 potatoes
4 c. stock (I used chicken stock I'd made)

Add salt and pepper
 Toss in about 20 pods of okra*

When the potatoes are tender, add in
3 c. chopped fresh spinach and cook for a few minutes more



*Fresh is best, and it needs to be dry.  I slice off the cap and then into 2" pieces or so and toss them in.  

chicken spinach enchiladas

Based on this.

Chicken spinach enchiladas

• 2 chicken breasts (about 8 oz. of cooked chicken meat)
• 1 small yellow onion (diced)
• juice of 1 lime
• 1 can diced tomatoes with jalapenos (partially drained)
• 1 can white beans (drained)
• 1 package taco seasoning
• 1 tsp garlic salt
• ½ cup light Greek yogurt
• 1 (6 oz) bag baby spinach
• 1 jar green salsa
• 8 corn tortillas

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 375F.
2. Heat 1 tbsp oil in a large saucepan and sautee the onion until slightly soft (about 3 minutes).
3. Add the can of tomatoes (with juices), lime juice, yogurt, and taco seasoning. Stir well to combine.
4. Bring mixture to a boil, stir in the chicken, spinach and drained white beans, then reduce heat to low and let simmer (about 20 minutes).
5. Place the tortillas between two damp paper towels and steam in the microwave until soft (about 15 second).
6. Fill each tortilla with 1/8 of mixture, wrap and place in a greased casserole dish.
7. Top enchiladas with verde sauce.
8. Bake covered for 20 minutes. Then remove cover and bake an additional 5 to 10 minutes to finish.

feta burger

Got this recipe at a weekly Weight Watchers meeting and love it.

Ingredients

	1 pound(s) uncooked lean ground beef
	1/2 tsp dried oregano, crushed
	1/4 tsp table salt
	1/4 tsp black pepper
	1 clove(s) (medium) garlic clove(s), minced
	1/2 cup(s) uncooked onion(s), minced
	2 spray(s) cooking spray
	4 item(s) light hamburger roll(s) or bun(s)
	5 tsp crumbled feta cheese
	3/4 cup(s) fresh spinach, baby leaves

Instructions

• In a medium bowl, combine beef, oregano, salt, pepper, garlic and onion. Gently form into four 3/4-inch-thick patties.
  
• Coat a nonstick ridged grill pan with cooking spray; heat over medium-high heat for 30 seconds. Place burgers in pan; grill for 4 minutes. Flip burgers and grill until cooked through to center, about 3 to 4 minutes more.
  
• Place burgers on buns; top each with 1 1/4 teaspoons of cheese and some spinach. Serve immediately. Yields 1 burger per serving.

phyllo with greens & cheese

I have some ingredients to use up, and what brings things together better than (organic) phyllo dough? Me = very excited. I used to make a chard phyllo thing when my garden was overabundant. I remember a roommate coming home and sniffing, "I don't eat anything green," and I remember they were very tasty - but beyond that, not so much.

****

• kale - I have quite a bit left, so I will boil it down and chop it up finely.
• spinach - frozen, thawed. Note, other greens such as chard and beet greens would be phenomenal.
  
• fennel greens, chopped up
• onion (1)
  
• garlic (2 cloves)
  
• ricotta - leftover from bruschette adventures, I was wondering what to do with it (4-6 oz)
  
• feta - picked up today, I'll use some for a good flavor (4 oz)
  
• 1 egg
  
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg - really, just a little bit
• salt and pepper (other things as desired such as lemon juice, mint, other spices, etc.)
  
• phyllo
  

Sweat onion and garlic to soften. Either cook the greens with that or boil greens separately & then drain/chop and then add in. Add fennel greens. Do drain the greens well or it'll be too soupy.

Add the rest of the ingredients (except phyllo) and mix it up. Taste it and see if anything is missing, adjust, etc.

Let it cool (or prepare the day before). The phyllo should thaw in the refrigerator overnight.

There are many tutorials on-line about how to use phyllo dough; I don't remember it ever being a hassle so I just follow the directions on the box. Lay it out, brush some olive oil, cut it in strips, make it triangles. I like a lot of filling and not much phyllo - probably because I've never had the pleasure of fresh phyllo.

Bake at about 350 degrees for about 25 minutes. Also freeze well to be baked later!

***

Phyllo is fun, and if I have any left over I will do some little things with apple, thyme, and pecorino cheese. Yum! You can stuff anything in it and enjoy.

citrus spinach salad

This is always a hit - I love the different tastes and how healthy, yet satisfying and tasty it is!

Citrus Spinach Salad

2 cups fresh spinach leaves
OR
2 cups torn Romaine Lettuce
1/2 small red onion, thinly sliced (go light)
1 fresh navel orange, peeled and separated into sections
OR
2 blood oranges, peeled and separated into sections
OR
1/2 small can mandarin oranges
2 T toasted pine nuts

Dressing
2 T orange juice
2 T white wine vinegar
3 T olive oil (usually I use less)
2 tsp. honey (or save the juice from the can of mandarins for sweetener)
1 T chopped fresh cilantro
2 tsp. dijon mustard
salt & pepper to taste

Serves 2

Toss spinach, onion, oranges and pine nuts together. Whisk together all dressing ingredients. Pour over salad and serve.

(Note: I would double or treble the salad fixins for that amount of dressing)

tandoori chicken, Indian okra & tomatoes, spinach raita

Tandoori chicken from here

Ingredients

• 1 (4 to 4 1/2 pound) chicken, cut into 8 pieces, skin removed (I used chicken thighs)
  
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1/2 cup chopped white onion
• 2 tablespoons chopped garlic
• 2 tablespoons chopped ginger
• 1 teaspoon finely chopped serrano or jalapeno pepper, stem and seeds removed
• 1 tablespoon paprika
• 11/2 teaspoons salt
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon turmeric
• 1 teaspoon ground coriander
• 1 teaspoon garam masala
• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne
• 1/2 cup plain yogurt
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

Directions

With a fork, prick holes in the chicken pieces. Using a knife, cut diagonal slices 1-inch apart, and 1/2-inch deep into the larger pieces. Place the chicken in a baking dish. (I kept the skin on to keep it all moist, and then it burned & I could take it off. So I cut/poked through the skin into the flesh.)

In a blender, combine the oil, onion, garlic, ginger, pepper, and process on high speed to a paste. Add the paprika, salt, cumin, turmeric, coriander, garam masala, and cayenne, and process until well blended. Add the yogurt and lemon juice, and process to a smooth sauce, scraping down the sides to combine all the ingredients. Pour the marinade over the chicken. Turn to coat evenly, rubbing the marinade into the holes and slits. Cover tightly with plastic wrap, refrigerate for at least 4 hours, and up to 24 hours, turning occasionally.

Preheat a grill.

Remove the chicken from the marinade. Place on the grill and cook for 8 to 10 minutes on the first side. Turn, baste as needed, and cook on the second side for 8 to 10 minutes. Turn and continue cooking, as necessary until the chicken is cooked through, but still tender, about 25 to 30 minutes. (Alternately, bake in a preheated 425 degrees F oven on a baking sheet for 35 minutes.)

(I cooked 10 min on first side, about 5 minutes on the other, then basted and cooked each side 2 minutes. I could have cooked a little longer - slightly pink inside but fine.)

Truth: this didn't really taste like tandoori chicken. But it was darned good!

*****

Indian okra & tomatoes from here. (But I'm changing the directions.) (Note: While this was fine the day it was cooked, warmed up the next day on some rice it was FAB-U-LOUS. A real taste treat. This will definitely stay in the okrepetoire.)

Combine & set aside:

2 teaspoon cumin ground
2 teaspoon coriander ground
1/2 teaspoon fennel seed ground (or take these as seeds and then grind)
1/2 teaspoon ground cayenne
1/4 teaspoon turmeric

3 tablespoon vegetable oil (or less)
1/2 lb okra; trimmed and left whole (or frozen) - about 20 pods - (I'm not sure the value of keeping the pods whole - I might try them sliced next time)

Heat oil. When oil is hot, add okra in a single layer & fry without stirring for 1 minute. Cook for a few more minutes, turning until lightly browned. Remove w/slotted spoon & set aside.

2 cup finely chopped onion
Saute until light golden (about 5 minutes), stirring frequently.

Then add & cook until caramel brown (8-10 minutes:
2 cloves pressed garlic
1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger

Add spice mixture & stir a few seconds, then add:
1 1/2 cup finely chopped peeled fresh tomatoes; or 1 small can whole tomatoes
salt to taste
water or the juice from the canned tomatoes (recipe says 1 cup but that was way too much)

Cook for a bit until mixture thickens (about 3 minutes). Then add the okra back in and cook a bit (recipe says 20 minutes, but no way - just a few would have been way better).

Stir in a little & garnish with:
3 tablespoon chopped cilantro

*****

From The Spice Box:

Spinach yogurt salad (Palak Ka Raita)
2 c yogurt
1 c boiled, chopped spinach
salt to taste
1 tsp oil
1tsp mustard seeds

Beat the yogurt with a fork in a bowl until smooth. Add the spinach and stir.

In a little pan heat the oil and add mustard seeds and fry until they pop. Pour over salad. Stir & refrigerate until chilled.

(This was pretty good but either the seeds or oil was rancid - blech.)