Posts Tagged spinach
Ham, Spinach, and Gruyere Bread Pudding with Kale and Potato Hash
Posted by Eileen Devlin in Breakfast, Low Calorie, Main Course, Side Dishes, Vegetables, Vegetarian Entree on March 4th, 2010
It was time to do brunch again and I really wanted to do something different. ZenChef inspired me as he has used Gruyere in tarts before. If you like to branch out in your cheeses Gruyere is also wonderful as a dessert cheese and melts well for sauces and fondues (just a side note if you didn’t know this already!). So here you are. . .
For the Bread Pudding:
4 large egg whites
4 large eggs
1 c skim milk
2 tbsp dijon mustard
1/4 tsp ground pepper
1 tsp fresh minced rosemary
4 c whole grain bread (I left the crusts on) cut up in 1 in cubes
5 c chopped spinach wilted
1/2 c chopped jarred roasted red peppers
1 c diced ham steak (5 oz)
3/4 c shredded Gruyere
1. Preheat oven to 375 and prep your 2-2.5 qt baking dish. Whisk eggs, egg whites and milk and then add your seasonings; whisk.
2. Toss your bread, spinach, peppers, and ham in a large bowl. Add your egg mixture and toss well to coat. Transfer to baking dish and press down to compact. Cover with foil.
3. Bake for 40-45 mins; uncover and top with cheese. Bake for 20 minutes more. Cool on wire rack. Makes 8 servings.
For Kale and Potato Hash:
8 c torn kale
2 tbsp horseradish
1 med shallot, minced
1/2 tsp freshly ground pepper
1/4 tsp salt
2 c cooked shredded potato
3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1. Place kale in large microwave safe bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Wilt – about 3 mins. Drain and finely chop.
2. Mix the rest of the seasoning ingredients and add potato and kale.
3. Heat oil in a pan over medium heat. Evenly layer your hash and cook until potato is crisp and golden brown, about 12-15 minutes. (The ingredients above yield 4 servings so I doubled the recipe.)
Sunday brunch!
To offset the two dishes we whipped up some buttery pancakes and made homemade whipped cream topped with strawberries (sigh). This was delicious!
Nutritional Information:
Bread Pudding:
Calories: 276
Carbohydrates: 25 g
Protein: 21 g
Fat: 10 g
Cholesterol: 169 mg
Fiber: 3 g
Sodium: 746 mg
For Kale and Potato Hash:
Calories: 240
Carbohydrates: 30 g
Protein: 6 g
Fat: 12 g
Cholesterol: 0
Fiber: 5 g
Sodium: 244 mg
Seared Tilapia with Lemon-Tarragon Sauce and Spinach Orzo
Posted by Eileen Devlin in Low Calorie, Main Course, Pasta, Seafood, Vegetables on January 24th, 2010
Although I much prefer “meatier” fish like salmon or mahi-mahi, this was very, very good. The tilapia is seasoned very well here and so it doesn’t have that “fish” smell and taste to it. And I love it when I find recipes that have an accompaniment included!
For Tilapia:
1.5 lbs fresh/frozen tilapia or other lean whitefish
1 tsp seasoned salt ( I used more though)
1 tbsp olive oil
1/4 c dry white wine
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp dijon mustard
1 tsp snipped fresh tarragon or 1/4 tsp dried tarragon, crushed
1. Rinse fish, pat dry and sprinkle with seasoned salt. Prep your skillet with oil and cook fish until it flakes easily (approx 4-5 mins total). Set aside in dish and keep warm.
2. For sauce, add wine and lemon juice to skillet making sure to scrape up any crusty bits from the fish. Whisk in mustard and tarragon and heat through. Serve over fillets. I yielded 6 servings. Enjoy!
For Spinach Orzo:
Prep 8 oz dried whole wheat orzo, drain. Immediately toss orzo with 5-6 oz package of baby spinach, 1 tbsp olive oil, 2 tsp finely shredded lemon peel and 1/4 tsp salt. Season to taste with fresh ground pepper.
Mmmm. . .good!
Nutritional Information (for both together):
Calories: 294
Total Fat: 7 g
Cholesterol: 57 mg
Protein: 28 g
Carbohydrate: 28 g
Fiber: 7 g
Sodium: 448 mg
Spinach and Tofu Stuffed Shells
Posted by Eileen Devlin in Italian, Low Calorie, Main Course, Pasta, Vegetarian Entree on January 12th, 2010
Unless you tell, no one will ever be able to tell that the tofu provides the creaminess in this dish!
You will need:
18 dried jumbo shells
8 0z frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dried
2 tbsp green onion (green and white parts)
1 tsp bottled minced garlic
14 oz soft silken reduced fat tofu, drained
1 c loosely packed fresh basil, stems removed and chopped
whites of 2 large eggs or egg substitute equal to one egg or 1 large egg
2 tbsp shredded parmesan cheese
1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
pepper to taste
1.5 c tomato based meatless pasta sauce
12 oz no salt added tomato sauce
2 more tbsp parmesan cheese
1. Cook shells according to package directions and carefully rinse in cool water. Heat a large skillet over med heat, remove from heat and then spray down. Cook spinach, green onion and garlic until all liquid has evaporated and spinach is heated through. Put in a large bowl. Crumble tofu into spinach and mash/combine well. Stir in basil.
2. In a small bowl which egg whites and add parmesan cheese, nutmeg, pepper and stir this into spinach mixture.
3. Mix tomato sauces together and place half this mixture in a 13 x 9 x 2 baking dish. Fill pasta shells with spinach mixture and top with remaining sauce and parmesan cheese. Bake for 30 mins at 350. Makes approx 6 servings. Enjoy!
Assembling the shells. . .
Your end product!
***I would have put in a tad bit more garlic and if you wanted something “heavier” you can use a meat based sauce as well. Regardless, this was perfect paired with salad and don’t forget garlic bread if you want the whole “complete” Italian deal (refer to Van’s Truly Kick-Ass garlic bread!).
Nutritional Information (per serving – 3 shells):
Calories: 195 (Yup, that’s right!)
Total Fat: 2 g
Cholesterol: 2 mg
Sodium: 374 mg
Carbohydrate: 31 g
Fiber: 4 g
Protein: 12 g
Spinach and Tomato Eggplant Steak with Dill Rice
Posted by Van Santos in Main Course, Vegetarian Entree on December 15th, 2009
With some leftover Feta cheese sitting in the Fridge I thought I would do a Mediterranean-esque dish. Here is something I have to admit – I’ve never consumed eggplant in my 32 years on this planet.
Scary, huh?
That said, I truly had no clue as to what I was doing, I just went with what seemed right.
I used:
1 package of frozen spinach
2 small vine ripened tomatoes
1 tablespoon minced garlic
½ cup bread crumbs
¼ cup feta cheese
fresh parsley
fresh oregano
1 nice sized eggplant
olive oil
1) Pre-heat your oven to 350 degrees
2) Cut your eggplant into four steak, roughly one inch thick. At olive oil to a frying pan and brown the egg plant on each side for one to two minutes. Set aside eggplant steaks
3) Defrost your spinach, chop your tomatoes. Using the same frying pan add additional olive oil, sauté the spinach, tomatoes, minced garlic, parsley and oregano. Use the amount of parsley and oregano you see fit. Also, salt and pepper to your taste
4) Place your eggplant onto a foiled cookie sheet, spoon on your spinach mixture.
5) Mix the Feta cheese and bread crumbs together, sprinkle over the spinach mix on the eggplant and bake for 25 minutes
While the eggplant was in the oven I quickly whipped up some dill rice.
2 cups of white rice
2 cups of chicken broth
1 cup of freshly cut dill
1 tablespoon of lemon juice
This is quite easy to do, just…
1) Bring the chicken broth to a boil
2) Add rice and lemon juice, stir
3) Add dill, stir
4) Cover and cook over low heat until rice is at your desired tenderness
Eggplant steak goodness!
OH WOW. This is the second vegetarian dish in two weeks that has really, really impressed me. The eggplant didn’t have the flavor or texture I expected, and the “stuff” complimented the aftertaste of the fruit. And the dill rice tied everything together… I mean, come on, it’s dill rice!
Also, the spinach/tomato mix could be used for so many things…Actually, it could seem some variant of this being for a pita or chip “dip”… maybe even for stuffed mushrooms.
In the end I capped the entire meal off with a slice of the Cinnamon and Brown Sugar cake and I was in heaven.
All and all a good turnout for a “let’s throw something together” dish.
Tomato florentine soup
Posted by monicajane in Food, Side Dishes, soup on August 26th, 2009
This soup was inspired by my local Earth Fare super-market which serves something akin to this with the same name in it’s hot bar. This is my version of what is clearly tomato and spinach soup. Beyond that I chose all the ingredients. It’s very good, but different than the soup at Earth Fare. They are both very good. I like that I can go to Earth Fare and get something delicious and different that I don’t have to cook!
Ingredients:
1 lb frozen chopped spinach
28 oz can whole tomatoes with juice (smooshed by hand one at a time into the pot)
14 oz can of tomato sauce
2 large onions diced into very small pieces
6 cloves of garlic diced
40 oz vegetable stock
2 cups heavy cream
2 tsp dried dill
3 tbls pesto or a bunch of fresh basil
1 tsp red pepper flakes
Salt to taste
I have been taking short cuts to make these soups and not cooking anything before putting everything into the stock. I just throw everything into the stock and boil. They’re turning out really great so if that is all you have time for don’t hesitate to do that.
If you want to take more time, then by all means, saute the onions and garlic. It can only improve an already damn good soup.
Cook everything except the cream until very soft.
Add the cream once the soup is off the fire. Do not reheat to boiling once the cream has been added.
Enjoy!! It’s delightfully rich and light at the same time.
