Green Goddess Dressing July 16, 2009

This is a dressing I have been making for the Yoga Center Saturday buffets for a while now…  And a new resurgence of retro recipes has made it popular and chic once again…

I make several different version of this dressing, with the pale green color being the common denominator.

 

 

GREEN GODDESS DRESSING

½ cup buttermilk

½ cup plain yogurt

3 tbs of white wine vinegar

2 tsp honey

¼ cup fresh spinach leaves

¼ cup fresh basil leaves

2 scallions, chopped

A handful of fresh parsley, chopped a bit

2 tsp mustard – Dijon or grain mustard will do

¼ tsp salt

A few grinds of black pepper

1 cup canola or olive oil

 

1. In a blender, mix all the ingredients except the oil.  Blend well and add the oil thru the blender cap while the blender is still running in a thin stream.

 

Use it to dress your salad or as a dip for crudités…  if you’re using specifically for crudités, I may blend also 4oz of cream cheese to make it thicker.

Provençal Sandwich June 13, 2009

This is a sandwich inspired by the ingredients left-over from the Cheesy Lasagna I made with Natalia the other day…

I discovered Provençal Mushrooms during my trip to Montevideo, Uruguay.   I visited for work to shoot a TV commercial there and let me tell you… Uruguay is not a place too welcoming of vegetarians.  Just like Argentina, Uruguayan cuisine is filled with “parrilladas” and meat, meat and meat everywhere… what’s a vegetarian girl to do??

These provençal mushrooms were  in the menu of El Palenque, one of the most famous restaurants in Viejo Montevideo, next to the Mercado del Puerto.  I had them with French fries and the combination of the garlic sauce, parsley, lemon juice was exquisite.  I like it so much I went again to the same restaurant to eat the same thing a few times… not out of necessity, but out of gluttony.

When I saw the left-over spinach and sliced mushrooms I decided to combine them into a neat little sandwich inspired by those awesome mushrooms in Uruguay… perfect for a Sunday lunch at the beach.

 

 

 PROVENCAL SANDWICH

¼ cup of defrosted spinach, squeezed dry

2 button mushrooms, sliced

1 scallion

1 small garlic clove, made into a paste with some salt

¼ cubannelle pepper, cut into strips

2 tbs fresh parsley, chopped medium

The juice of 1 lemon

Salt and pepper to taste

2 oz of goat cheese

Handful of organic arugula leaves, washed and dried

Olive oil

1 whole-wheat demi baguette

 

1.  In a small skillet over medium heat, pour about 1 tbs of olive oil and sauté the scallion and the peppers.  Add the garlic paste and stir to combine to avoid the garlic to burn.
2. After a few minutes when the peppers have softened, add the mushrooms.  Move them around a few times to make sure they cook on both sides and absorb the seasoning.  Add a little drizzle of more oil if you find the pan is too dry.
3. When the mushrooms have acquired some color, add the spinach and parsley to the pan.  Season with salt and pepper and add the lemon juice.  Cook for just a few minutes and turn off the stove.  Let the residual heat of the pan finish cooking the filling.
4. Now, cut the demi baguette into two halves and scoop out some of the soft dough inside to make some room for the filling.  Drizzle with some olive oil and toast in a toaster oven to your desired crispiness.
5. Spread both sides with goat cheese.  Transfer the filling to the bottom bread.  Drizzle with a bit extra olive oil.  Place the arugula leaves and then cover with the top bread.

 

 

All you need now are the French fries…

Cook with your Kids… June 8, 2009

I have 2 “nieces” I have told you about… Mariana and Natalia.  “Nieces” is in quotations because they’re actually the daughters of my best friends – but to them I am their Titi Madelyn.

Fortunately and very grateful, they’re two very lucky girls whose parents can provide anything and everything to them.  So it became a challenge for me to choose a birthday gift for them every year.  Since last year, Titi Madelyn decided she would only provide experiences as gifts.  They do not need one more toy or one more t-shirt…  really.

Natalia turned 7 last month and as a birthday gift she got a cooking class by yours truly…  She had the choice of learning to make a cheesy lasagna, “pastelillitos de Shrek” or Italian Quesadillas.  She chose the cheesy lasagna, because I think in another life we were both mice…

I truly believe that when you get kids involved in preparing what they’ll eat, they’ll be more inclined to try new things and to eat whatever is on their plate.  I always tell Natalia and Mariana that if it wasn’t good tasting or good for them I would not even offer it.  They get it…

Natalia had to make several decisions to make her Cheesy Lasagna.  She had to choose between:

1. Small or Large pyrex mold – she chose the larger one
2. What ingredients to include in it – her choices were spinach, oven roasted tomatoes, fresh tomatoes, almonds and button mushrooms

She finally chose spinach, fresh tomatoes, mushrooms and skinned almonds.  She wanted it all…   She squeezed dry the spinach and I explained to her how all that green water would not be helpful for a cheesy lasagna.  She skinned almonds with me.  She arranged the almonds on a sheet to toast in the toaster oven.  She cleaned and sliced very carefully the button mushrooms and the organic heirloom tomatoes and placed it in separate dishes for the upcoming assembly.  She loved that the mushrooms looked like little trees.

                                 

I explained to her we would make a cheese sauce to pour in between the layers we were going to assemble.  The cheese sauce was a mixture of every cheese I had in the fridge at the moment… I assure you I did not buy one cheese for this project.  We used cream cheese, ricotta, parmesan, shredded mozzarella, fresh mozzarella and goat cheese.  She tasted each cheese individually before adding them to the milk seasoned with sofrito, salt and pepper.  She already knew the cream cheese, parmesan and shredded mozzarella from making pita pizzas with me.   But she tasted ricotta and goat cheese for the first time. She LOVED the goat cheese… and ate 2 goat cheese toasts while we were making dinner.  Titi Madelyn tasted goat cheese for the first time about 7 yrs ago… figure that one out.

Natalia added each cheese to the cheese sauce pot and stirred it carefully to help the cheeses combine and melt together.  I was in charge of boiling the water for the Jerusalem artichoke pasta.  I just set some water to boil, turned the stove off and let the noodles soften in that water.  The cheese sauce would continue to cook the pasta perfectly when the lasagna is assembled and in the oven.

This is more a method of making lasagna more than a recipe per se… but if you would like to replicate what Natalia and I did, here’s the ingredient list:

NATALIA’S CHEESY SPINACH, ALMOND, MUSHROOM AND TOMATO LASAGNA

½ package of DeBoles Jerusalem artichoke lasagna noodles

½ cup defrosted cut leaf spinach

6-7 button mushrooms, cleaned and sliced

3 small organic tomatoes, washed and sliced

a handful of almonds, peeled and toasted

1 tbs olive oil

1 tsp of sofrito

About 1 ½ cups of milk – I really used what was left in the carton so I didn’t measure it

½ brick of cream cheese

¼ tub of ricotta cheese

1 cup shredded mozzarella – the one you use for pizzas…

½ log of goat cheese

About ¼ cup grated parmesan cheese – but you could also use pecorino romano, asiago, grana padano, etc.

Salt and Pepper to taste

3 slices of fresh mozzarella – to top the lasagna only

 

Natalia then assembled the lasagna.  She decided in which order she would add the filling components:

1. We started with a layer of sauce, then noodles, then more sauce. 
2. Now goes the filling layer – spinach, mushrooms, tomatoes and almonds. 
3. Add a sprinkling of more parmesan cheese before adding the next layer of sauce, pasta and more sauce. 
4. Repeat until you create 3 layers of filling. 
5. Then finish off of with the fourth and last layer of pasta covered with the remaining sauce you have and topped with pieces of fresh mozzarella. 
6. I helped out with the hot noodles and the hot sauce, but Natalia did all the rest. 
7. I baked the lasagna at 400F for about 25 minutes in my toaster oven.   We basically waited until the top got a nice brown color.  

Natalia was super hungry by the time the lasagna was in the oven and I was in a hurry to feed her…We served her a nice piece with a side salad dressed with my Left-Over Dressing.  She ate so much; I had to give her a few papaya enzyme chewables to help her with her digestion and overfull tummy.  Her mom loved it too and took a great big piece home with her so daddy would also get a chance to try it.

The moral of the story…   Cook with your kids OFTEN.  Allow them to make decisions into what they’ll have for dinner, as long as they’re within what you believe is good for them.  Let them feel they’re part of the process and they will in turn reward you with the satisfaction of enjoying what they eat, enjoying foods good for them, raving all about it and asking you for more.  Natalia already wants us to schedule another “cooking class” when her Summer Camp ends.

Spinach Pinwheels June 2, 2009

Originally this was going to be one of the dishes I was going to prepare for my goddaughter and our little experiment.  However, I forgot completely to defrost the puffed pastry and, by the time I remembered, it was too late… and I did not want the kids to arrive and see evidence of spinach before they had to actually taste them.

So, I made them a week later in a get-together I hosted for my bunch from college.  It had been almost a year since our last get-together and we needed to get up to speed with all our lives.  So my friend Aniette and I decided, democratically we needed to get-together NOW!

I liked these because they were easy to make, you can prepare them ahead of time before your guests arrive and bake while people are talking so you have something hot to pass out.   Kind of felt like a short order cook because I would make them, put a plate on a table and by the time I turned around the plate was empty.  So I went back and did some more… and I went back and did some more… and some more… maybe the plate was too little??

 

 

 

SPINACH PINWHEELS

2 sheets of puffed pastry, defrosted in the refrigerator overnight – I just buy it and place it in the fridge…

1 heaping cup of frozen spinach, it will become about ½ cup defrosted and squeeze it dry

1 tbs butter, melted

About 1/3 cup parmesan cheese, grated

About ½ cup gruyere cheese, grated

A little whole-wheat flour so the pastry doesn’t stick when we roll it

 

1. Open the puffed pastry (which comes folded in three).  Place some flour onto a clean surface and flour the rolling pin too.  Roll out the pastry so that it loses the creases where the folds were.
2. Cut the pastry in half.  Set one half aside and work with the first one.
3. Spread some melted butter on top of the pastry, sprinkle some parmesan cheese, spread an even layer of spinach leaving a border on one edge and sprinkle the grated gruyere on top of the spinach.
4. Start rolling from the farthest edge from the border you left without spinach.  Roll the pastry onto itself until you create a log. 
5. Repeat steps 3 and 4 with the second half of pastry.  Place both logs in the fridge covered with a moist paper towel for about 10-15 minutes or until you’re ready to bake them.  This is important for the pastry to harden a bit again.  It’ll be easier to cut if the pastry is cold than if it is at room temp.
6. Slice the logs into ½ inch pieces. Place onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and bake in a 425F oven for about 10-12 minutes, until the cheeses smell great and the pastry is puffed and golden delicious.

Transfer them to a cool plate and serve them immediately.

Spinach Puffed Empanada May 9, 2009

I visit the Serious Eats website almost daily… I love it as a source of news and inspiration in regards to food. 

They just recently launched this series of Weekend Cook and Tell where they scour the various food sections of national newspapers to find an article or recipe to inspire a weekend cooking project.  This weekend’s project is to make a great weekend meal by cleaning out your pantry.  They were inspired by an article in the Chicago Sun-Times  about making meals out of whatever you have on hand.

I am pretty anal-retentive about having a tidy fridge and lately I have not been able to keep it as organized and tidy as I would like.  So I am on a rampage of using up everything in my fridge and to liberate it as much as possible.  So you would think why I was so drawn to this project…  I actually went to the market today and I did not use up anything that entered the house today… all of the ingredients have been in the house for at least a week.

I actually used a bunch of stuff I had mostly in my fridge and freezer… and not new things I had; I used up stuff I had bit and pieces, like:

• ¼ bag of frozen cut-leaf spinach – I don’t know how long this was in there because I was using another bag and moving thing around this morning I found this other bag…
• 1 2-inch piece of leftover gruyere cheese – left over from making Popeye Pita Pizzas and the Cauliflower and Cheese Mac
• 1 sheet of puff pastry – left over from a get-together I had last Saturday where I made Spinach Pinwheels that got too soft and fused together and re-froze because I did not know what to do with it at the time…
• ½ onion – left over from making a batch of my Veggie Dip
• 1 scallion – left from making a Green Goddess dressing for a friend
• toasted pepitas – leftover from my Mexican Lasagna recipe
• breadcrumbs I made a few months ago from bread that got too hard for a sandwich

 The results were spectacular…  I was inspired by a recipe from Ina Garten in her Barefoot in Paris book.  When I read the recipe I realized I had all the most important ingredients in my pantry to recreate it. 

 

 

SPINACH PUFFED EMPANADA

1 sheet of puff pastry, defrosted for only 30 minutes or overnight in the fridge

About 1 ½ cups of frozen cut-leaf spinach, thawed and as much water squeezed our as possible

About ½ cup gruyere cheese, grated

About ¼ cup Parmesan cheese

½ medium onion, chopped

2 garlic cloves

2 tbs olive oil

1 scallion, sliced thin

About ¼ cup pepitas (pumpkin seeds), toasted

About 2 tbs whole-wheat breadcrumbs

Salt and pepper to taste

1 tbs butter, melted

Whole-wheat flour – to work with the puff pastry

 

My apologies in regards to the amount of ingredients in this recipe… because my intention was to CLEAN THE FRIDGE, I really didn’t measure them when I was putting it together.  I just took what was left of the spinach, what was left of the gruyere, a few finger-fulls of breadcrumbs… and “played it by ear”/improvised.  I include a few photos so you can see how the mixture looked when put together…

 

1. Pre-heat oven to 375 F.
2. In a small skillet over medium heat, add olive oil, onions and garlic.  Sauté for a few minutes until the onions start to soften and become a bit translucent.
3. In a medium sized bowl, mix together the spinach, scallions, onion mixture, gruyere and parmesan cheeses, breadcrumbs, pepitas.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.

The puffed pastry usually comes folded in thirds, but I defrosted it at room temperature for over 40 minutes and it basically fused together and I was not able to open it up as you usually can.  So what I did was to dust it with a little bit of whole-wheat flour, cut it into two pieces and roll it out.  What’s puff pastry than layers and layers of pastry rolled together… so ours will have 3 extra layers than what the manufacturers intended… 

1. I rolled the two halves of puff pastry one a bit larger than the other… you’ll see why later on.  I rolled it enough to fit the baking tray of my toaster oven.  I cover the baking sheet using a layer of aluminum foil and then parchment to ease up on the cleaning.
2. Place the larger pastry half onto the baking sheet lined with parchment. 
3. Transfer the spinach mixture carefully onto the puff pastry leaving about a ½ inch border all the way around.  Try to flatten the mixture a bit to make it an even layer. 
4. 
5. Place the smaller layer on top of the spinach.  Bring the edges of the puff pastry together folding one onto the other and securing by pinching with the tines of a fork.
6. 
7. Brush the top layer of pastry with the melted butter.  Make 3 slits on the top for the steam to escape.
8. Bake in the oven for about 30 minutes, until the pastry is golden brown and smells delicious.
9. Take it out of the oven carefully and out of the baking sheet to cool off a bit into a cutting board.

 

I was so thrilled to make a large spinach “pastelillo”… served with a nice Salade des Haricots Verts, this made for a great light dinner. 

And thanks to it… my freezer and fridge have a few less clutter than before.  This challenge came in with great timing…  I created a delicious meal I have never done before with ingredients I already had in my fridge.

I am sure I can come-up with a few extra of these; I’ll definitely keep you posted…

Smoked Gouda and Spinach Risotto January 22, 2009

I love this dish… to me, this dish is comfort food at its finest and easiest.

You know me, I make risotto from a box, but I never eat it straight as is… I always embellish the risotto from Archer Farms with lots of flavor and ingredients.  I actually started making this risotto a looooooooooong time ago, more or less 10 years.  But I used to make it with a Lipton’s Creamy Garlic and Parmesan Risotto mix.  Unfortunately, that product was discontinued… but now I can continue the legacy buying rice at Target every time I travel.

I first learned the basics of flavors for this recipe from something I had read in Cooking Light magazine…  I saw the recipe but I said to myself I would never stand in front of a stove stirring rice for 20-25 minutes.  I love how this tastes… and no one who has had it has ever asked or noticed that the base is from a box, because the flavors are so restaurant like.

I do have to warn you, this recipe is addictive… and with the amount of cheese, it is a bit fattening.  But for special occasions, to celebrate others or yourself, this recipe is easy, reliable and most importantly, delicious.

 

SMOKED GOUDA AND SPINACH RISOTTO

1 box of Archer Farms 4-Cheese Risotto mix

1 ¼ cup cut-leaf spinach, defrosted and squeezed, but not too much

8-10 button mushrooms, cleaned well and sliced

½ a round of smoked Gouda cheese

3 oz of cream cheese

1/2 cup Fontina cheese, grated

½ cup Pecorino Romano cheese, grated

¼ cup sun dried tomatoes, sliced (optional, but highly recommended)

 

1. In a large pot, bring 2 ½ cup of water to a boil… we’re basically preparing the risotto according to packaging directions… when the water boils, dump in the rice packet and the seasonings packet.  It might seem the pot is too large, but the mixture will bulk up with the cheeses and mushrooms, specially.
2. While that cooks a bit, you have some time to slice mushrooms, slice the sun-dried tomatoes and grate the cheeses.  Even though the spinach I buy is cut-leaf spinach, I usually run my kitchen scissors through it to make sure the pieces of spinach are manageable when eating.
3. When the rice is partly done, add the spinach to the pot.  Mix well and cover partially so the rice comes again to temperature quickly.  After the rice has come to temperature, add the cheeses one by one… I usually start with the cream cheese, then the Gouda, then the Fontina and then the Pecorino.  Mix well to help the cheeses melt into the rice/spinach mixture.
4. When the cheeses have melted well, but the sauce is still runny, add the mushroom slices and the sun-dried tomatoes, if using.  Mix everything well and let the mushrooms cook a bit.  
5. When you feel the rice is done, cover the pot and let it stand there for about 10-15 minutes. 

 

While you’re waiting, you can make a side salad or some baked plantains…  the sauce will thicken a bit after waiting a little while and it will be at a nicer temperature where you can really enjoy the cheese and spinach flavors.  If it’s too hot, you won’t taste anything…

This recipe reheats very well.  All I do for the sauce to return to its creamy consistency is to heat it any leftovers up with a bit of cream, half and half or even milk.  I reheat it on the stove top and in a few minutes it’s creamy as it was the night before.

Sweet Plantain and Spinach Pastelón July 17, 2008

This is one of my favorite pastelones ever!!!  It’s sweet and savory all at the same time.

I learned that my grandma has a plantain tree in her backyard.  I am super happy because now we have all these awesome and delicious plantains, at a time when plantains are close to $1 each.  Ludicrous!!!

This pastelón is made with very ripe plantains… if you take a look at this picture, the plantain need to be like the one in the bottom or even with more spots than that.  This will ensure the plantain is ripe indeed.  The one on the middle is not fully ripe, even when it looks pretty and yellow.

 

SWEET PLANTAIN AND SPINACH PASTELON

1 sweet ripe plantain

1 cup frozen spinach

4 oz of cream cheese, at room temperature preferably

½ cup Parmesan Cheese, divided

1 tbs butter

Dash of milk, optional

Salt and freshly cracked black pepper

1. First off, we need to boil the plantain.  So we cut off the ends, make a slit from one end to the other of the plantain and then cut into 4 pieces.  Do not remove the skin.  Drop them into a pot with salted water and let it boil covered for about 20 minutes.
2. In the meantime, defrost the spinach and squeeze out as much water as possible.  Mix in with the cream cheese and season with salt and pepper.
3. When the plantain is cooked, drain and remove skin, placing the skinless pieces of cooked plantains in a bowl.  Mash the plantains with the butter and ½ of the parmesan cheese.  Add the milk to the plantain mash now, if using.

1. Pre-heat oven to 350° F.
2. In a glass baking dish sprayed with canola oil, spread ½ the plantain mixture in the bottom.  Layer the spinach/cream cheese mixture and finish off with the remainder of the plantain mash.  Top the pastelón with the rest of the parmesan cheese to form a nice crust.
3. Bake in the oven for about 20-30 minutes, until the cheese on top creates a crust and the flavors meld together.
4. Leave in the oven for 15 minutes more to allow setting.

Roasted Potato and Pumpkin Salad July 3, 2008

Tell me honestly… what did you think when you read this is a recipe for a roasted potato and pumpkin salad?  Something like the traditional potato salads drenched in mayo and seasonings?

Don’t get me wrong, I love the traditional potato salad, but this week I was in the mood for something fresher.  To add the roasted potatoes and pumpkins to a fresh green salad and dress with a light vinaigrette…  that’s something more summery!!!  I added the pumpkins because I wanted a little variety and that sweet flavor.  Plus, I had a big piece in the fridge and I didn’t want it to spoil on me. 

This might work perfect for your 4^th of July picnic or backyard BBQ.

 

 

ROASTED POTATO AND PUMPKIN SALAD

4-5 baby red skin potatoes, washed well and quartered

1 cup of pumpkin, peeled and cubed

1 tbs olive oil

Kosher salt and cracked black pepper

1 tsp Herbamare seasoning

Fresh Baby Spinach  - or a mesclun greens mix

Tomatoes, sliced

Sweet Bell Peppers – red, orange and yellow ones, cut into thin strips

Mustard Vinaigrette Dressing

 

1. Pre-heat oven to 400° F.
2. In a roasting pan, toss together the potatoes and pumpkin pieces with the olive oil, salt, pepper and Herbamare seasoning.  Toss together until well coated.  Roast for about 30 minutes, turning the potatoes/pumpkins once, until the skins are golden brown.  Turn off the oven and leave them there for a few minutes. 
3. In a salad bowl, combine your fresh salad components – spinach, tomatoes and bell peppers.  You can add ANYTHING you want here in your salad.  I’m just giving you what I ate and shows in the picture.  Add the potato and pumpkin pieces and toss with the vinaigrette.

 

 I guess this idea would also work with roasted sweet potatoes, carrots, sweet plantains or parsnips too.  A nice twist on the typical salad or potato salad…

No Boil-Ahead Pasta – Spinach and Tomato Version July 3, 2008

This idea started a few months ago, when going thru my daily fix of Serious Eats I found a Talk Thread about mac and cheese recipes where you didn’t need to boil the pasta ahead of time.  Based on that thread, that same day I made my Easiest Baked Pasta Ever!!!! Recipe post.

Inspired by the concept, I decided to give it a twist.  My friend Ana asked me to bring something to her daughter’s graduation family get-together a few weeks ago, because I would not be able to enjoy most of what she had ordered thru a caterer.  Wanting to show-off my skills with the audience, I created this recipe.  I am bold (sorry for all the modesty) because I had the guts to make a recipe for the first time for 12 people.

Thanks to all my prayers after the thought came to my mind of how scary it would be to screw this up… the recipe turned out great.  I actually learned a few cool tricks that I may incorporate into new recipe creations.   This pasta is super easy… just throw all the ingredients together in a casserole dish and voila!  The pasta is ready.  No need to even stir the pasta at all… what could be simpler???

 

 

NO BOIL-AHEAD PASTA – SPINACH AND TOMATO VERSION

2 cups whole wheat pasta – macaroni, penne or rigatoni would all work well

3 tbs melted butter or olive oil

2 cups white cheddar cheese, shredded – I used a whole bar Cabot’s Hunter’s Dangerously Sharp variety

4 oz Fontina cheese, shredded

4 oz cream cheese

3 ¾ to a 4 cups of milk

1 tsp mustard

1 cup spinach – you can use fresh or frozen

½ cup chopped tomatoes

Salt and Pepper to taste

 

1. Pre-heat oven to 350° F.
2. In a large casserole dish, about 9″ x 13″, toss the pasta and the melted butter or olive oil, whichever you’re using.  Spread the pasta as evenly as possible to allow for even cooking.
3. Now, without stirring anything sprinkle the cheddar and Fontina cheeses on top of the pasta.  Add the spinach and the chopped tomatoes as evenly as possible over the cheese.  Add the cream cheese in small pieces on top of the spinach and tomatoes.
4. Mix together the milk and mustard and pour carefully over the whole thing.  Try not to displace the pasta a lot.  The idea is that now the pasta is all enveloped in the milk and this makes the cheese kind of mix a bit with the pasta.
5. Place in oven for about 45-55 minutes until golden brown on top.
6. Allow the pasta to cool off a bit before serving it.

 

People loved the mini pieces of cream cheese… because we placed them kind of last, the cream cheese melts a bit, but does not disappear within the sauce.  Instead, they stay on to like soft pillows of cheesy goodness.  Everybody had something to say about the cream cheese bits… specially my mom and Ana.

I hope this inspires you to be brave and to try new dishes on people even if you’ve never done them before.  My advice… start small and this pasta is easy enough to be a sure hit.

ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Some of you noticed the aluminum tray the pasta is in. So, just for clarity and transparency purposes…

I cooked the actual pasta in a glass Pyrex casserole 9″ x 13″ dish.  Because this pasta was to be consumed in the home of my friend Ana, whom I love dearly as if she were my own sister but who is undoubtedly a meat eater, and I didn’t want my Pyrex dish, that has never ever been touched by a non-vegetarian utensil to be forever ruined by someone, that even though, very well intentioned, might try to serve themselves with the same serving spoon as the other meat dishes there or wash it with the same rag as the other meat-including trays.  For that reason, I transferred the pasta when it was cooled off, into this disposable aluminum tray.  Aluminum is not my favorite, but is what’s most accessible at the grocery store and I am sure the majority of the people who consumed it didn’t even care.  I must say I was EXTREMELY LUCKY I was able to transfer it in one piece preserving the look and appetite appeal of the dish.   The photo was taken by friend Ana at her home, with her camera, as I forgot completely to take a picture while at home in the original glass dish.

I hope this clears out any confusion…

Stealth Shake June 26, 2008

I’ve been reading a lot about Green Shakes on the media lately… shakes that include a special, very nutritious ingredient to boost the nutritional value of the shake you’re drinking.

I was intrigued to know how this concoction would taste and I decided to give it a try…  I added all the ingredients I saw in a TV segment, but I was hesitant.  So before I turned on the blender, I added some berries to make sure the taste would be appealing to me.

The result…  The Stealth Shake.  All the nutrition of the green ingredient and all the fruity taste.  A very successful experiment indeed.

 

 

STEALTH SHAKE

1 banana, peeled and sliced

1 handful of fresh baby spinach

1 handful of blueberries, washed

2 strawberries, hulled and quartered

1 cup of pineapple juice

A squirt of agave nectar

2-3 ice cubes

 

1. Mix everything in a blender for a few minutes and enjoy!!!

 

Can you see the spinach??  And believe me – you’ll not be able to taste it either!!!!  It tasted super fruity and delicious.  A shake filled with antioxidants, this is a great way to include spinach into someone’s diet without them even know it… 

Mediterranean Eggplant Stacks April 28, 2008

Has it ever happened to you…  that  when you wish on something hard enough, the answer to your request will come to you automatically.  I am a firm believer in that…

Well, the other day I was feeling so-so, because my fridge was full of little somethings.  To the OCD part of me, that just drives me crazy.  I like order in my universe and that includes a clean, organized fridge.  I had some hummus left, I had eggplants that would start to spoil soon, I had an opened jar of roasted peppers, among others…  so, I sat down to watch my afternoon fix of Food Network and here comes Rachael with this 30-minute recipe for Mediterranean Eggplant Steaks – a vegetarian recipe good enough for meat-eating company…  my kind of recipe!!!

I tried the recipe that same night I learned, in fact, that I missed the olives in the original recipe…  and it turned out great.  I shared it with my neighbors and they were impressed.  They asked me to make this at an upcoming neighborly get-together…  nice, huh?   And if the Israeli neighbor liked it… it must be good, if not authentic.

Try it tonight…

 

 

 

 

MEDITERRANEAN EGGPLANT STACKS

1 medium eggplant, cut into 4 steaks lengthwise, about 1-inch thick
1 (10-ounce) box frozen spinach, defrosted
1 roasted red pepper, chopped
1 or 2 cloves garlic, grated
1 cup of hummus, home-made or store-bought
1 cup whole-wheat or spelt bread crumbs
2 tbs fresh flat-leaf parsley
Extra-virgin olive oil

Salt and Pepper to taste

 

1. Defrost spinach.    Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees F.
2. Heat a non-stick skillet to medium-high with about 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive in it.  Add roasted peppers and garlic to skillet.
3. Squeeze the spinach dry and separate as you add it to the skillet. Season the spinach with salt and pepper and heat through.   Set aside.
4. Brush the eggplant steaks lightly with extra-virgin olive oil and season liberally on both sides with salt and pepper.  
5. In the same skillet you made the spinach and peppers, pan roast the eggplants 3 to 4 minutes for small eggplant, turning occasionally, until the steaks begin to become tender but are not fully cooked.
6. Place the eggplants on baking sheets. Top each steak with a few forkfuls of spinach mixture.
7. 
8. Spread a few rounded spoonfuls of hummus evenly across the steaks on top of the spinach, covering it completely in a thin layer.
9. Toss the bread crumbs with 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil and parsley. Divide the bread crumbs and scatter them over the steaks on top of the hummus.
10. Bake for about 5 minutes or so,  to brown bread crumbs.

 

A note about eggplants:

I learned once from Martha Stewart and a guest on her show, Eleonora Scarpeta, that you should always buy the lightest eggplants you can find.  They should be light for their size – kind of like the opposite you would think, no?  The reason being that the lighter the eggplant, the less seeds it has and therefore the less bitterness it will have.  This fact is particularly important in this recipe where we cut the eggplants and cook it straight.   

Spinach, Tomato and 5 Cheese Rissotto April 8, 2008

I have to confess here…  I do not necessarily enjoy watching Sandra Lee’s cooking at the Food Network, but I do identify a lot with her philosophy of Semi-Homemade.  I love the idea to make everything from scratch, but if there are products that fit my dietary requirements and at the same time can help me along time-wise – hey why not use them?

I’ve had a box of Arborio rice in my pantry for the longest time.  I am fortunate this rice comes vaccum-packed, because if it was not, I am sure it would have spoiled by now.  Why would I leave a perfectly nice box of rice unused in the cupboard for so long???  Because there are pretty nice packaged risottos varieties that allow me to make this wonderful rice dish, without the need to dirty at least 2 pots (one for the stock and another one for the rice) or to stand in front of the stove stirring.  I know I will indeed try it someday; however, that day has not come yet.  

I used to buy the Lipton bag of Creamy Garlic Parmesan Risotto – it was superb.  When the nice parent company started tweaking with the brand and flavors, for some reason the perfect risotto bag disappeared from the supermarket aisle.   I used to have 2 bags of this at hand ALWAYS…

Enter our good ol’ friends at Target – they make the nicest boxed risotto mixes now.  They have risotto mixes with asparagus, with red pepper, with butternut squash.  But my favorite is the 4 cheese blend.  It’s a nice clean canvas for us to embellish with the flavors we’re in the mood for, making this the perfect semi-homemade meal, in my humble opinion.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This time I’ll show you my version using fresh baby spinach and fresh tomatoes… 

 

SPINACH, TOMATOES AND 5 CHEESE RISOTTO

1 box Archer Farms’ 4 Cheese Risotto

2 handfuls of fresh baby spinach leaves, washed and spun dry

15-20 grape or cherry tomatoes, washed and halved

About 2 oz of cream cheese

¼ cup grated Parmesan or Pecorino Romano cheese

A tiny bit of garlic salt to taste – optional

 

1. Prepare Risotto mixture according to package directions in a medium heavy bottomed pot.
2. When the risotto is about 10 minutes to be done…  add the cream cheese in little pieces to help it melt in the sauce.  Mix it together well.
3. When the cheese is mostly integrated into the sauce, add the spinach and the tomatoes.    Mix it well so the spinach wilts and the tomatoes integrate into the rice and sauce.
4. Wait a few minutes , by this time, the rice should be done according to the package direction timing.  Turn the stove off.  Add the grated parmesan or pecorino.  Cover the pot and let the rice stand for at least 10 minutes so the sauce thickens a bit.

In my opinion…  if you wait about 30 minutes after the stove is turned off, the rice will be perfectly cooked, the sauce would have thickened and it will be warm enough to be able to eat without burning your tongue and enjoy the flavors of the risotto.

I love to have this with my Cinnamon Baked Plantains or with a simple salad on the side. 

To me this is a very simple dinner I can make in a jiffy, even when I am busy doing other stuff.  Taking something store-bought and adding fresh ingredients to make it your own is my interpretation of the semi-homemade meal. 

I have a full line-up of other flavors we can play with in the future… just wait and see.

 

 

Vegetable Noodle Soup March 23, 2008

I just came back from a spiritual retreat… the ones I spend in silence, meditating about 10 hours a day and fasting.  Yes… fasting.  No solid food – only water, lemon juice and honey…  We drink that “watered down lemonade” about 5 times a day, which helps our body use up all the energy it usually uses up digesting food to actually eliminate a lot of toxins that accumulate over time…

After these retreats, you feel light and energized, but you also you need to ease your body into taking solid foods again… We usually start with a huge fruit salad – today’s salad had a lot of papaya and bananas with a little bit of mangoes and other “sweet” fruits.  But after that, your body starts getting hungry… and what better way to welcome your system to solid food again than with a hearty vegetable soup.

Literally, it took me 25 minutes to make this soup.  It hit the spot…

VEGETABLE NOODLE SOUP

4 baby red-skinned potatoes, quartered

1 carrot, sliced

1/2 onion, sliced

1 tbs sofrito

1 tbs olive oil

1 vegetable broth bullion cube

1 bunch of noodles – whole wheat vermicelli

Salt and Pepper to taste

about 2 cups of water

5-6 grape tomatoes, quartered – optional

2 handfuls of fresh spinach leaves - optional

1. In a medium pot over medium heat, pour olive oil.  When the oil has heat up a bit, add sofrito and the vegetable bullion cube.  Smash the cube a bit so that it dissolves better.
2. Add the onions.  Saute for a little while.
3. Add the cut potatoes and the carrots.  Saute for a little while to give it a head start.
4. Add the tomatoes.
5. Add enough water to cover the vegetables.  Cover and let it boil at a medium roll for about 20 minutes.
6. After 20 minutes, the potatoes and the carrots should be done.
7. Add the noodles and stir so the noodles separate and they don’t stick together.  Cover again.
8. After the noodles have cooked, about 5 minutes, add the spinach leaves.  They will wilt into the broth almost immediately.  Cover and turn off the heat.  Let the soup finish cooking with the residual heat.
9.  After about 10 minutes… serve and enjoy.

This is the foundation recipe – to this you can add anything else you might have on your fridge – mushrooms, peppers, celery, etc.  Your imagination is the limit… 

 This is also the same soup recipe I make when I am feeling “under-the-weather”…  so you can say this is my “vegetable soup for my soul”.  From my soul to yours… buen provecho.

White Lasagna with Spinach and Almonds – VEGAN version February 3, 2008

When I did this recipe for the Yoga Center, I adapted it using non-dairy cheeses.  This way, you can crave this lasagna without concern if you eat cheese or not…  I am sure you’ll not be dissapointed.

WHITE LASAGNA with SPINACH AND ALMONDS – Vegan Version

 4-6 lasagna noodles – I use DeBoles NoBoil Rice lasagna noodles

1 tbs olive oil

2 tbs sofrito

3-4oz Toffutti Better -Than-Cream cheese cheese

1 cup soy milk

1 ¼ cup shredded Soya Kaas mozzarella style cheese, divided

1 ½  tbs cornstarch, dissolved in ½ cup of water

Sprinkle of Salt, Garlic Powder and freshly cracked black pepper

1 cup frozen spinach measured frozen, defrosted and squeeze out of most the water but still wet

1/3 cup marcona salted almonds – but any almonds will work

1/2 cup Veggie Parmesan cheese

1. Pre-heat over to 325 degrees F.
2. In a medium saucepan over medium-high heat, heat olive oil. Add sofrito and cook for a few minutes.
3. Add in the Tofutti cream cheese and whisk in together until the sofrito and cream cheese are incorporated.
4. Whisk in soy milk. Add in 1 cup of the Soya Kaas cheese and whisk every few minutes to make sure the cheese melts well and does not stick to the bottom of the pan. Reserve the rest for the lasagna topping. Season sauce with the garlic powder, salt and pepper. Add in the diluted cornstarch. Make sure you the cornstarch is diluted well and is not settled in the bottom of whatever container you’re using to mix it.
5. The sauce should have a light creamy consistency. Is important the sauce be more on the liquidy side because we’re using no-boil rice pasta and the “liquidy” consistency will help the pasta cook. So you might want to err on the side of a liquidier cream sauce rather than a tight creamy sauce.

 

Now we assemble the lasagna…

1. In the bottom of a small casserole dish, spoon a few ladles of the cream sauce. Layer lasagna noodles. Spoon more sauce, so the noodles are always touched by sauce on the top and the bottom.
2. Distribute evenly the thawed spinach in a layer. Sprinkle a bit of garlic salt and pepper. Sprinkle a light layer of the Veggie Parmesan cheese. Sprinkle a 1/3 of the almonds. Spoon a few ladles of the sauce.
3. Place another layer of noodles and spoon some sauce over them.
4. Repeat step #2.
5. Repeat step #3. This will be your last layer of noodles. Pour the remaining sauce all over the last layer of noodles. Sprinkle with veggie parmesan cheese and the remaining ¼ cup shredded Soya Kaas mozzarella cheese. Sprinkle the last bit of almonds you have left.
6. Cover the casserole dish and bake in oven for 30 minutes.
7. Uncover and bake for 15 more minutes until cheese on top is golden brown.
8. Turn oven off and leave in there for a few minutes until lasagna cool a bit and sets. 

White Lasagna with Spinach and Almonds February 3, 2008

I am a craving girl…

It’s hard for me to go grocery shopping having a few menus in mind for the week.  Why?  Because, I go to the store and see stuff that inspires me, what looks delicious that day, but that isn’t necessarily what I will be craving to eat another day.   It’s always been like that…  ever since I was a little girl, my mom never made a fixed dinner – it was all a la carte.  Whatever you craved, that’s what you ate.  Mind you, my mom did not have junk food at home, so all the alternatives were, for the most part, healthy.  That’s how we learned to make our own food.

So this past week, I was browsing thru some fellow blogs and there I saw it… the Cooking Light Veggie Lasagna…  I have that recipe clipped, but the photos this fellow blogger posted were amazing!!! That’s how I knew what I wanted to have for dinner that night – a spinach lasagna using white sauce.  Yumo!!!! (like Rachael Ray would say).

I improvised with the ingredients I had on hand… remember, I do not go out and but any specific ingredients for any specific recipe.  And even less when I got a craving at 7PM at night…  I was craving some serious comfort food. 

 The results were really nice – so nice in fact that I decided to make this recipe for our upcoming Yoga Center Menu.  I made a version at home that serves 2 and I also did a version that served 20.  I’ll use the proportions for the smaller version, which is probably closer to what you’ll make at home.  Here is the play-by-play (I’m into Super Bowl mode here I guess):

WHITE LASAGNA with SPINACH AND ALMONDS

 4-6 lasagna noodles – I use DeBoles NoBoil Rice lasagna noodles

1 tbs olive oil

2 tbs sofrito

3-4oz cream cheese

1 cup milk

1 cup shredded Italian Cheese mix

1/4 cup Parmesan cheese – you can use Pecorino Romano also if you prefer

Sprinkle of Garlic Salt

Freshly cracked black pepper

1 cup frozen spinach measured frozen, defrosted and squeeze out of most the water but still wet

1/3 cup marcona salted almonds – but any almonds will work

4oz fresh mozarella cheese

1. Pre-heat over to 325 degrees F.  I do this in my toaster oven for just 2 people.
2. In a medium saucepan over medium-high heat, heat olive oil.  Add sofrito and cook for a few minutes.
3. Add in cream cheese and whisk in together until the sofrito and cream cheese are incorporated.
4. Whisk in milk. Add in the Italian cheese mix and Parmesan. Season with the garlic salt and pepper.  The sauce should have a light creamy consistency.  Is important the sauce be more on the liquidy side because we’re using no-boil rice pasta and the “liquidy” consistency will help the pasta cook. So you might want to err on the side of a more liquidy cream sauce rather than a tight creamy sauce.

 

Now we assemble the lasagna…

1. In the bottom of a small casserole dish, spoon a few ladles of the cream sauce.  Layer lasagna noodles. Spoon more sauce. so the noodles are always touched by sauce on the top and the bottom.
2. Distribute evenly the thawed spinach in a layer.  Sprinkle a bit of garlic salt and pepper.  Sprinkle Parmesan cheese if you like. Sprinkle a 1/3 of the almonds. Shred with your hands 2-3 thin slices of the fresh mozzarella. Spoon a few ladles of the sauce.
3. Place another layer of noodles and spoon some sauce over them.
4. Repeat step #2.
5. Repeat step #3.  This will be your last layer of noodles.  Place a few slices of fresh mozzarella on top.  Sprinkle the last bit of almonds you have left.

6. Cover the casserole dish and bake in oven for 30 minutes.

7. Uncover and bake for 15 minutes more until cheese on top is golden brown.

8. Turn oven off and leave in there for a few minutes until lasagna cool a bit and sets. 

It seems like a lot of steps… but not really.  You know how to make a lasagna… I just wanted to show you how I layered the ingredients.  You don’t need to cook the spinach, just make the sauce and assemble.  I had it all put together and in the oven in 20 minutes. 

Believe me… this lasagna hit the spot.  My cravings were curbed… until next time.

Egg-less Frittatas December 25, 2007

 This recipe has many ingredients, but it’s easy to assemble and TASTY!!!!

I took them as an addition to a non-vegetarian party and they were all gone in about 10 minutes… my best friend and her mom almost did not get a chance to try them.  If non-vegetarians were devouring them at a Christmas party, image how good they taste.

EGG-LESS FRITTATAS

1 package of firm silken tofu, drained of water

1/2 cup of soy milk

4 tablespoons of cornstarch

2 oz goat cheese - I used half of a small log

1/2 cup sour cream

squirt of Dijon mustard – about 1 teaspoon

1/4 teaspoon turmeric

1 cup of frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained of as much water as possible

1/2 cup sun-dried tomatoes, without sulphur dioxide

1/2 cup of chopped grape tomatoes

4 green onion stalks, chopped

2 garlic cloves, minced

2 tablespoons flat leaf parsley, chopped

1/4 teaspoon garlic and herb seasoning

Salt and Pepper to taste

Canola oil spray

1. Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees F. 
2. Place the first 7 ingredients in a blender.  Process until completely smooth and silky.
3. Place tofu mixture in a large bowl and add the spinach, sun-dried tomatoes, grape tomatoes, garlic, parsley, seasoning, green onions, salt and pepper.
4. Lightly spray 2 muffin tins with canola oil spray.  Spoon mixture into muffin pans using a 1/4 cup measure.
5. Bake in oven for about 30 minutes until they’re set and a bit golden on top.  Check that a knife or wooden skewer comes out cleanly before removing from oven.
6. When they’re done, remove from oven and let cool for about 20 minutes.  When they’re cooler, they’ll come out from the pan neater and nicer.

They’re light…  you can serve them as a party appetizer, you can also serve them as a nice brunch entree with a nice green salad.  I guess you could also bake it in a baking dish and cut it into pieces instead of doing individual servings… I just have not tried it like that yet… so I am not sure if we’ll need to make adjustments to to baking time.

This recipe yielded me 20 individual fritattas.

  

 ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

 This is my last post of the year.  I will take a few days off from cooking and blogging.  This has been a wonderful few months… I promise to come back in the new year with new added inspiration to cook and share with you all.

May the New Year 2008 bring only the best…  until then.

Madelyn.

Artichoke and Spinach Casserole December 16, 2007

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

1. In a large saute pan, heat olive oil over medium heat.  Saute onion for a few minutes and later on add the garlic.
2. Add the spinach to the onions and garlic.  Saute together to give some flavor to the spinach.  Salt and pepper to taste.
3. In a casserole dish, place the rinsed and quartered artichoke hearts, mix together the spinach mixture.
4. Add in the chopped tomatoes.
5. Mix in one cup of the Parmesan cheese.
6. Sprinkle remaining cheese on top of casserole.
7. 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.

 

Madelyn’s Spinach Crepes November 11, 2007

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

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

Putting it Together

1. Take the crepe and warm it up in a skillet, just like you would a tortilla.
2. Put a bit of the mixture in the center, place some cheese slices and walnuts.
3. fold edges inside, just like you would do to a burrito
4. 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.
5. 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.