Hide the Salmon

I found this recipe on the The Lean Green Bean.  It is one of those recipes that you immediately know was put there, just for you.  No ego here….

It has so much of what I like, salmon, spinach, eggs, tomato and feta cheese.  How could I not think, it was just for me?  It is perfect and actually, after making some changes that meet my family’s needs, it was perfect.  If you have a moment go over there and see the original recipe.  I do want to make it that way but I took a shorter route which is what I mean by my family’s needs.

I presented my husband with the plate which is a colorful presentation and he happily was eating.  I wondered out loud, if I should have put the salmon on the bottom or the spinach.  His head popped up and he said, “Did you say salmon?  Is there salmon in this?”  He prodded the vegetables and sure enough, he found the salmon.  He asked, “Why did you hide the salmon?”

Hide the Salmon  (adapted)

Ingredients

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 red pepper, chopped

1/2 an onion, chopped

1 cup frozen spinach

1/2 teaspoon oregano

1 piece of salmon, cooked

3 – 4 eggs

4 slices tomato

1/2 cup Feta cheese

Heat  the olive oil in a large skillet over medium hear. Saute the pepper and onion  for  8 minutes.  Add the spinach (Defrosted) and cook for an additional 3 minutes.

Push the vegetables aside and drop the eggs in the free side of the pan and let them cook to your liking.  I turned ours over but either way is going to be delicious.

I, also put the cooked salmon slice in the pan to heat up.  Yes, I used a very  large skillet.

Now is the creative part but I am not creative so do as follows:

I used a square soup bowl which may work better than a round one.  These are the layers.

Salmon on the bottom

Spinach, onions and bell pepper on top of salmon

Cooked eggs on top of spinach layer

Sliced tomatoes with feta on the very top.

This is a delicious combination.  My husband commented on the many flavors.

Thanks to the Lean Green Bean.

This is linked to Hearth and Soul Hop     Slightly Indulgent Tuesday      Fat Tuesday         Naptime Creations Tasty Tuesday Link Party    The Gathering Spot            All My Bloggy Friends    Trick or Treat Tuesdays

Spaghetti Pie

Years ago (15 ish) the school, I worked for then, bought all the administration, planners.  We got the Franklin Covey planner,  which is quite comprehensive in how you use it and what is included.  We were “requested” to do it their way and someone came to speak to us about how to do that.  My organizations skills went to work and I did it “their” way and it was the best year, for me, organizationally speaking.  I, even, recommend it to someone who wants to organize his/her life and is willing to commit.

I love the school year, when I am pretty sure, what I will be doing at most times of the day.  I know what I can get done before and after school.  My day is organized without my planner, simply because I am employed.  I am comfortable with having a schedule.  I get more accomplished with those guideposts standing straight and tall.

This brings me to the summer, when I don’t live by regular commitments.  Sure, I may have an appointment or lunch with a friend but that does not routinize the day and certainly not the week.  In the mornings, I basically know what I want to do and I do it when it is convenient, rather than when it has to be done.  It is nice for a while but I doubt, I would be happy, doing this throughout the year.

This leads into cooking.  When my children were young, I could not have cooked, as I do today.  I have no idea how the young bloggers with children manage to make some of the fancy dishes, they present on their blogs.  I admire them for being able to accomplish so much.

Chopping and sauteing is time consuming and for me, the me with young kids, I wanted something that took little time, with few steps that was edible.  It did not have to be pretty and it did have to taste good……good not great.  Spaghetti with canned sauce (I am not sure they had bottles of sauce then), no spices, maybe some browned chopped beef was a good meal.  Shepherd’s Pie was another but it was a lot plainer than the one, I make now.  You get the idea.

You may ask, what am I talking about?  I am thinking about tonight’s dinner, Spaghetti Pie.  I made that years ago.  The recipe, I made today is from another blogger’s site.  It is probably different than the one I made years ago.  I remember using cottage cheese, not even knowing what Ricotta was.  For this pie, I did use Ricotta.  Things have changed.

Spaghetti Pie  Adapted from REC(ession)IPES

• 8 ounces gluten-free spaghetti
• 2 large eggs
• ½ cup parmesan cheese
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 teaspoon olive oil
• 1 14.5 oz can diced tomatoes with roasted onion
• 1 small onion , chopped
• 1 teaspoon oregano
•  10 ounce  package frozen spinach
• 12 ounce container part skim ricotta
• ½ cup shredded mozzarella
• Black pepper to taste

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Put water on to boil. Lightly grease a 10 inch pie plate with olive oil or cooking spray and set aside.

Dice onion. Cook in 1 tablespoon olive oil until onions are just translucent, approx. 5-8 minutes. Add diced tomatoes with their juice, along with oregano.

Thaw spinach, then drain in colander. Place ricotta in bowl and combine with spinach by removing small clump of spinach from colander, squeezing vigorously to remove remaining moisture, and then adding to ricotta. Add a few grinds black pepper and stir to combine.

Cook spaghetti until just al dente, drain and toss in large bowl with one teaspoon olive oil. Whisk eggs with a fork in a small bowl with 1/3 cup shredded parmesan. Toss with spaghetti.

Add spaghetti to prepared pie plate. Shape into crust shape by using fingers to flatten center  and press up the sides of the plate. Add spinach-ricotta mixture to middle of crust. Top with tomato sauce and bake, uncovered, 25 minutes.

Top with shredded mozzarella and remaining shredded parmesan. Bake an additional 5 minutes, until cheese is melted. Remove from oven, let cool 10 minutes, then slice into 8 wedges and serve.

This is l inked to

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Real Food Wednesdays

Mini Veggie Pizza Toppings

There is a pizza crust to go under the toppings but the fun is in the topping.  I keep, mini pizza crusts, in my freezer, for the times, we want pizza for dinner.  The two of us eat two each with a heaping bowl of salad.  What I started doing, was making two pizzas with one type of topping and a the other two with something different.  It makes the meal more interesting and enjoyable.

Tonight, we had a more traditional pizza with tomato sauce,broccoli, onions, Parmesan and mozzarella cheese.   The other pizza had carrots, radish, spinach with ricotta, Parmesan and Cheddar.  This is a nice change from pizza as we knew it, a few years ago.

For two mini pizzas……

Pizza 1

1/4 cup Marinara sauce for each of the two pizzas

1 teaspoon chopped onion for each

sprinkle of Parmesan for each

1/4 cup chopped broccoli for each

1/2 cup shredded mozzarella

Lay out the mini crusts.  Pour marinara sauce on two of the crusts.  Cover with vegetables and cheese.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees and bake completed pizza for 10 – 12 minutes or until cheese is browned.

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Pizza 2

1/3 cup Ricotta cheese for each of the two

1/4 cup thin sliced carrots for each

1/4 cup spinach

1/8 cup yellow tomato

few thin sliced pieces of radish

1 teaspoon of Parmesan

1/4 cup of cheddar cheese

Cover crust with Ricotta leaving a small space at the edge that is plain crust.

Spoon spinach on Ricotta.  Top with carrots, tomato and radish.

Sprinkle Parmesan and grated cheddar cheese.  I grate right onto the pizza.

Bake in the same manner as above.

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This is linked to

Hearth and Soul Hop     Slightly Indulgent Tuesday      Fat Tuesday         Naptime Creations Tasty Tuesday Link Party    The Gathering Spot      Delicious Dishes      All My Bloggy Friends      Trick or Treat Tuesdays      Kids in the Kitchen       You’re Gonna Love it Tuesdays   Keep it Real Thursdays

Yellow Pear and Cherry Tomato Salad

This is the salad, I served with yesterday’s rice and sausage dish.  It was the first time, I used the yellow pear tomato and we found it went well, in the salad.

Yellow Pear and Cherry Tomato Salad (adapted from Food.com)

2 tablespoons wine vinegar (sherry, red)

1 tablespoon shallot (minced)

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon black pepper 

1 1/2 cups pear tomatoes (yellow, halved)

1 1/2 cups cherry tomatoes (orange, halved)

1/2 cups cherry tomatoes (halved)

1 1/2 cups baby spinach, torn

To make the vinaigrette, in a small bowl, combine the vinegar and shallot and let stand for 15 minutes.

Add the olive oil, salt and pepper and whisk until well blended.

In a large serving or salad bowl, toss together all the tomatoes.

Pour the vinaigrette over the tomatoes and toss gently to mix well and coat evenly.  Add the spinach and mix a little more.

This is linked to

See Ya in the Gumbo    Mop it Up Mondays        Made From Scratch Monday      Inspire Me Monday         Veggie Mama’s Meatless Monday     Mealtime Monday    My Meatless Monday    Marvelous Mondays      Summer Salad Sunday

Three Cheese White Pizza with Spinach

Although, we are on summer vacation, I decided to go into work today, to go through some new books, for my class.  I spent a few hours there, went shopping and came home exhausted.  I am not used to putting in the work time, I guess.

I really didn’t want to cook and checked out the refrigerator.  I found some leftovers which I planned to let hubby have.  The light went on and I remembered the mini gluten-free pizza crusts, I had gotten, last week.  Why have leftovers when we can have Three Cheese White Pizza with Spinach?  How foolish would that be?  Nothing much easier than pizza when the crust is already made……

I had printed up a recipe from Brenda’s Canadian Kitchen which she just posted, yesterday.  You should go over there and see her photo of a whole pizza opposed to my minis.  She has a lot of good recipes to check out, as well.  The original recipe came from Cooking Light, June 2012.

I almost always have fresh baby spinach, in the house, but today, I didn’t so I used frozen.  It probably, is not as good, but the frozen did a great job of subbing for the fresh vegetable  and was delicious.

Three-Cheese White Pizza with Spinach  (adapted)

4 mini gluten-free pizza rounds

1 tablespoon olive oil

2 large shallots, sliced

2 cups baby spinach or 4 cups frozen spinach

1 cup part-skim ricotta cheese 

2 ounces shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese (about 1/2 cup)

2 ounces Parmesan cheese, grated (about 1/2 cup)

On a baking sheet, lay out mini pizzas.

Place shallots in olive oil in a large skillet.  Heat over medium-high heat 1 1/2 minutes. Add 4 cups spinach; saute 2 minutes. Set aside.

Combine cheeses in a bowl.

 Spread cheese mixture over dough, leaving a 1/2-inch border. Bake at 500° for 10 minutes or until crust is golden and cheese is lightly browned.

Top with spinach; bake an additional 2 minutes or until thoroughly heated. Remove from oven and take a big bite.

This is linked to Gluten Free Recipe Linky   What’s Cooking Wednesday @ The Kings Court IV;  Lil’ Luna Link Party @ Lil’ Luna   Recipe Box Linky @ Bizzy Bakes; Whatcha Whipped Up @ DJ’s Sugar Shack;  Real Food Wednesday          Beyond the Peel  Gluten Free Wednesday       Cast Party Wednesdays  Works For Me Wednesday;  Good Recipes Online

Spinach, Mango and Strawberry Salad

Spinach, Mango and Strawberry Salad

Ingredients

1/4 cup blanched slivered almonds

1/8 cup white wine vinegar

1 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

1 tablespoons olive oil

1 teaspoons dry mustard

1 teaspoon brown sugar

1/8 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

1/2 teaspoon tarragon

2 cups baby spinach, rinsed, dried and torn into small pieces

3 strawberries sliced

1/2 mango – peeled, seeded and cubed                                                                                              

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Arrange almonds in a single layer on a baking sheet. Bake 5 to 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until fragrant and lightly toasted.

In a small bowl, mix white wine vinegar,  balsamic vinegar, brown sugar, olive oil, dry mustard, tarragon, salt, and pepper.

In a medium bowl, toss the  vinegar mixture with the spinach, strawberries and mangos. Top with the toasted almonds.

This is linked to Allergy Free Wednesday      Real Food Wednesday    Cast Party Wednesdays           Pennywise Platter                     Made from Scratch Mondays        Scrumptious Sunday            Passionately Artistic               Hearth and Soul

 See Ya in the Gumbo

Full Plate Thursday 

Fit and Fabulous Friday

Cheesy Vegetable Casserole

I made a yummy soup for dinner and needed something for us, to eat, after the soup.   I would normally go to potatoes or pasta or possibly fish.  I was looking to use up some of my frozen vegetables so I did take a potato dish but altered it to share the starring role with spinach, corn and red pepper. 

It is interesting that the corn seemed to be the vegetable that stood out.  It added the most flavor to the mixture which surprised and pleased me.  I like corn more than spinach.  The spinach was more of the background.  The potatoes had onion mixed in them which added to the flavor.

Ingredients

Spray cooking oil

2 Idaho potatoes, peeled and chopped (You could use frozen hash browns.)

1 medium onion, chopped

1  1/2 cups frozen spinach

1 1/2 cups frozen corn

1/2 cup chopped red bell pepper

1 cup Egg Beaters or 4 eggs

1 cup shredded Cheddar Cheese

Preheat oven to 375° F. Spray bottom and sides of 1 1/2 quart casserole.

Press chopped potatoes and onions on bottom of casserole. Bake 10 minutes.

While potatoes are cooking, mix the remaining ingredients (except cheese) in a large bowl.  Pour on top of potatoes.

Return to oven and bake 30 to 35 minutes or until center is set.

Sprinkle with cheese. Bake 1 to 2 minutes or until cheese is melted.

 Makin’ You Crave Mondays       Pennywise Platter Thursday     Friday Food   Gallery of Favorites

 It’s A Blog Party

Mexican Egg Cups

I love egg dishes made in separate serving pieces.  I spend time, experimenting with different combinations.  One of my favorites is with potatoes and a white cheese.  I have made these with other than eggs such as mac and cheese.  Everything seems to taste better in small packages.

Today I decided to use spinach in my ‘concoction’.  Only a few ingredients are necessary.  I called this Mexican because I used a combination of cheese that is titled Mexican.

Ingredients

Spray olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

3/4 cup frozen spinach, drained and squeezed to get out water

4 eggs 

1/2 cup sour cream minus 1 tablespoon or plain yogurt

1/2 cup Mexican cheese.

Procedure

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Spray 4 ramekins.

In a medium bowl, ( used a 4 cup measuring cup), whisk eggs and sour cream.

Stir in cheese and spinach.

Season.

Pour egg mixture into greased ramekins. and Bake for 30 minutes.  Mine doubled in size but that didn’t last long.

Related articles

• Baked Eggy Broccoli Cuties (bookcasefoodie.wordpress.com)
• Cheese Puffs (bookcasefoodie.wordpress.com)
• Mashed Potato Timbales (bookcasefoodie.wordpress.com)
• “pint-size” spinach souffles (cooking-spree.com)

Creamy Spinach and Sweet Pea Soup

This is a soup, I found in the Hadassah Cookbook.  I could not imagine how spinach and peas would work together.  I knew spinach would be dominant but had a feeling, flavor was not going to be big.  I was right.  For someone who likes “close to bland”, this is good.  fortunately, the soup can be fixed with little effort and few additional ingredients.  I would add Cheddar Cheese, about 1 cup and maybe, 1/2 cup of sour cream.  If that is not the answer, I would select a blend of spices and use it moderately.  I like a mid-Eastern blend, I have, in my kitchen.

This is an easy recipe.  It went together easily and I made it, in the crock pot.   Before I left for work, I put in the onions and a little oil and let  it cook, on high for 35 minutes.  I added the rest of the ingredients and let it cook for three hours.  I lowered it to low, when I got home and let it stand, until dinner.

Creamy Spinach and Sweet Pea Soup

Ingredients:

1 cup spinach leaves

1 cup peas (can use frozen)

a tablespoon olive oil

1 medium onion, chopped

2 cups vegetable broth

another 1 tablespoon of olive oil

2 tablespoons gluten-free flour or all-purpose flour

salt and pepper to taste

1 cup Rice Milk

Procedure

Heat oil in crock pot, about 30 minutes, on high.  Turn down to medium and add onion and saute.

Add broth, vegetables.

Bring to a boil and add vegetables and seasoning, lowering to medium.

Using an immersion blender or a regular blender, working in batches, puree the soup until creamy.

In pan, mix oil and flour and stir until a thick roux forums (3 minutes).  Add milk and salt and pepper to taste.   Whisk these  into puree and serve warm.

Linked to Sunday Night Soup Nights

A New Combo

Blending colors, textures and ingredients is what cooking is about.  Of course, the best part is the actual eating of the food.  I, almost, did not want to blend these three together.  Look how nice they are side by side.  They would have tasted great like this, as well.  Although, where have you been where you have been served a dish with these three, pumpkin, spinach and mashed potatoes?

I find that the more, I cook without meat, the more creative I become, in choosing a main part of the dish to work around.  If you choose, three vegetables, like this, how could you choose any to be the one to determine the side dishes?

In this case, it was resolved by combining them.

Thanks to Kerstin at Cake, Batter and Bowl for the following recipe.  I made it with chicken and it was a great dinner.  The recipe is adapted from the original which you will find on Kerstin’s blog.

A New Combo

Ingredients:

3 medium potatoes

1 medium onion chopped

1 15-ounce cans pure pumpkin puree

1 10-ounce package frozen spinach, thawed and well-drained

1/4 cup Rice milk

1 teaspoon salt

Method:

Peel and cut potatoes into chunks (about one inch in size).

Bring water to a boil over high heat in a four quart pot and boil potatoes for 18 to 22 minutes or until tender.

Drain and place in a  large bowl.                                   

Meanwhile, heat olive oil over medium high heat in a medium skillet and saute onions until lightly browned.

Mash potato chunks in the large bowl with a fork. Mix in onions,  pumpkin puree, spinach, milk, and salt.

4 servings

This makes a tasty side dish.

This is linked to GCC Recipe Swap   Mom’s Crazy Cooking