Spinach and Egg Breakfast Sandwich

The Spinach and Egg Breakfast Sandwich was born out the desire to eat spinach quiche, but have it cooked in less than 15 minutes.  It wasn't hard making the filling creamy and cheesy.  It's the bread that makes the sandwich.  In the photo above, I used a leftover French bread roll.  Honestly, that was too hearty for such a creamy tasting filling.  I recommend you try a croissant with yours.

SPINACH AND EGG FILLING
Serves 1

• 1 teaspoon butter
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 2 tablespoons half-n-half or whole milk
• 3 tablespoons blanched spinach, chopped
• 2 tablespoons grated Harvarti or Parmesan, any white cheese you prefer
• salt and pepper to taste

In a small fry pan over medium heat, melt butter. Add eggs, half-n-half and spinach. Scramble until eggs are solid, remove from heat.  Top with cheese and season to taste.  Warm a sliced croissant and fill'er up!

This breakfast sandwich will keep you going until lunch.

Smoked Gouda and Cheddar Mac with Spinach

This recipe has been sponsored by the cool folks over at One2One Network in partnership with Nestle Carnation The Cooking Milk. This is my own twist on the Pepper Jack Cheesy Mac recipe from the free CARNATION - Holiday Guide.pdf I received from Carnation Cooking Milk.

I'm a big, BIG fan of spinach.  Anytime I can get away with mixing it into a dish, I do it!  This particular dish had my interest because it I knew it would work for both my cheesy-noodle-lovin-kids, my not-so-crazy-about-spinach-husband and me. ;D  It had the thick, creamy texture we want from a baked macaroni dish.  And the iron rich spinach made it guilt-free when I went back for seconds.  This recipe goes into the monthly rotation under the comfort food category for sure!

HERE'S ALL IT TAKES

• 1 bunch fresh spinach, washed and stems removed
• 2 cups dry elbow macaroni
• 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
• 2 cups shredded smoked Gouda cheese
• 1 can (12 oz.) CARNATION Evaporated Milk
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon fresh ground pepper
• 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (optional)

Fill a large saucepan 3/4 full of water and bring to a boil.  Blanch spinach in boiling water for 3 to 4 minutes.  Drain spinach in a strainer set inside a bowl.  Set aside.  When cool enough to touch, roughly chop the spinach.

Preheat oven to 350ºF. Lightly grease 2 1/2 quart casserole dish.

In the same boiling water with heat set to medium, pour in dry macaroni and cook until tender to the tooth, 7 to 9 minutes. Drain well.  Return to saucepan.

Toss in the chopped, blanched spinach. Add the cheddar cheese and Gouda cheese, evaporated milk, salt and pepper.  Stir until combined.  Pour into prepared casserole dish.  Cover tightly with foil.

BAKE for 20 minutes.  Uncover and bake for an additional 10 minutes or until lightly brown.

Download your own free copy of the CARNATION-Holiday Guide
for more savory dishes like this one.
Click here: CARNATION - Holiday Guide.pdf

Tomato, Chickpea and Spinach Soup

This simple soup recipe made for a nice addition to our weekly dinner menu.  The kiddos didn't like it, but four grown ups chowed down until they could eat no more.  So colorful, so fresh tasting, light on the calories, and loaded with filling ingredients.  I served this soup with a side of hot baked French bread and leftover Sour Cream Chocolate Chip Cookies for dessert.

HERE'S ALL IT TAKES

• 1 tablespoon oil
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, minced

• 1 can (28 oz.) diced tomatoes
• 2 cups vegetable broth
• 1 can (15 oz.) garbanzo beans, drained or rinsed or 2 cups homecooked
• 1 teaspoon dried sage

• 1/2 cup uncooked macaroni
• 1 cup blanched spinach, or frozen spinach thawed, then chopped
• salt & pepper to taste

In a large saucepan or dutch-oven, cook onion and garlic over medium low heat until onion is transparent.  Add tomatoes and simmer for 15 minutes or so, until tomatoes start to break down.  Add broth, beans, sage.

Increase heat to medium high to bring broth to a boil.  Add macaroni then REDUCE HEAT to simmer 7 minutes.  Add spinach and simmer 5 more minutes, until spinach is heated through and pasta is cooked.  Add salt and pepper to taste.  Serves 5 to 6 folks.

COOK'S NOTES

• I pressure cooked a bag of garbanzo beans in 30 minutes, then used the extra bean broth for the vegetable broth. I was still left them 2 1/2 cups of garbanzo beans with broth for reserve.  I'm ready for another chickpea recipe.
• I keep frozen blanched spinach in 2 cup portions in the freezer for recipes like this.  So all I had to do was thaw the spinach and chop it up.
• Even though this was a light tasting soup, I wanted it to have a thicker tomato consistency. It's probably just a mood I'm in right now.  I'm thinking of pureeing the tomatoes, next time, before adding them to the pot.

Spinach Feta Bread

Yes, it's ANOTHER tasty bread recipe from Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day.  *Dreamy Sigh*

Spinach Feta Bread is scrumptious served with a light soup, such as Roasted Red Pepper and White Bean Soup.  It's also very good toasted with roasted garlic butter, on the side of pasta.  Or just tear off a hunk and start snacking on it.  It's pretty good no matter which way you go!

HERE'S ALL IT TAKES
Makes four 1-pound loaves. You can easily double or half this recipe.

• 1 cup packed cooked spinach (I used blanched spinach, squeezed dry)
• 3 cups luke warm water
• 1 1/2 tablespoon granulated yeast (or 2 packets)
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 2/3 cup crumbled feta cheese
• 1 1/2 tablespoons sugar
• 6 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• cornmeal for pizza peel

1. Mix the yeast, salt, spinach, cheese, and sugar with the water in a 5-quart bowl, or a lidded (not airtight) food container.
2. Mix in the remaining dry ingredients without kneading, using a spoon, a 14-cup capacity food processor (with dough attachment), or a heavy duty stand mixer (with dough hook).  If you're not using a machine, you may need to use wet hands to incorporate the last bit of flour.
3. Cover (not airtight), and allow to rest at room temperature until the dough rises and collapses (or flattens on top), approximately 2 hours.
4. The dough can be used immediately after the initial rise, though it is easier to handle when cold.  Refrigerate in a lidded (not airtight) container and use over the next 7 days.
5. On baking day, dust the surface of the refrigerated dough with flour and cut off a 1-pound (grapefruit-size) piece. Dust the piece with more flour and quickly shape it into a ball by stretching the surface of the dough around to the bottom on a ll four side, rotating the ball in a quarter-turn as you go.  Then form a oval-shaped loaf. Allow to rest and rise on a cornmeal-covered pizza peel for 20 minutes to an hour, or 40 minutes if you're using fresh, unrefrigerated dough.
6. Twenty minutes before baking time, preheat the oven to 450ºF, with a baking stone placed on the middle rack.  Place an empty broiler tray on any other shelf that won't interfere with the rising bread.
7. Sprinkle the loaf liberally with flour and slash parallel cuts across the loaf, using a serrated bread knife.  Leave the flour in place for baking; tap some of it off before eating.
8. Slide the loaf directly onto the hot baking stone. Pour 1 cup of hot tap water into the broiler tray, and quickly close the oven door.  Bake for about 30 to 35 minutes, until deeply browned and firm.  Smaller or larger loaves will require adjustments in baking time.
9. Allow to cool before slicing or eating.

Baked Spinach and Rice

This delicious recipe works as a side dish or as a main meal.  The creamy spinach and rice tastes so good with the crumbly cracker crust.  It's really hard to stop eating, even after you're full.

HERE'S HOW TO PUT IT TOGETHER

• 1/2 cup parboiled rice
• 1 1/3 cup chicken broth
• 1 garlic clove, minced

Place rice, broth and garlic in small pan, bring to a boil.  REDUCE HEAT to low and simmer for 20 minutes, until rice has absorbed all the water.  Remove from heat.

While the rice is cooking...

• 1/3 cup yellow onion, finely chopped
• 2 carrots, finely chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 1/2 (10oz) bag of frozen spinach, thawed
• canola oil
• chicken broth

Cook the onion, carrots, and garlic in 1 tablespoon of oil over medium heat, until they begin to soften.  Add in the thawed spinach and enough chicken broth to cover the bottom of the pan, cover with lid.  Stirring occasionally, cook until rice has finished cooking. Remove both pans away from heat.

Heat oven to 375ºF.

Combine in a one cup food processor,

• 15 Ritz crackers
• 1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil

until you have the texture of fine bread crumbs.

Beat together

• 1 egg
• 1/2 teaspoon Wursterchestershire Worstersheer Worcestershire sauce

Cut enough Gouda or Cheddar cheese

• into cubes to make 3/4 cup

Spray oven proof pie plate with non-stick cooking spray. Combine the spinach and vegetables with the rice, then pour into pie plate.

Top with cubed cheese and press into veggie mix.  Don't allow the cheese to touch the pie plate or press down so far that the cheese touches the bottom.  It makes clean up easier. Now, evenly pour beaten egg all over this mixture.

Last layer, cover the top with the Ritz cracker crumbs.  Be Generous Here, it's worth it in the end.

Reduce oven temperature to 350º and bake for 20 minutes.  Allow to cool slightly, like you do when you've pulled a pizza out of the oven.

It's Time to Eat!

Simple and Hearty Tuna Wraps

I forget how delicious, healthy and filling tuna salad can be for us.  I skipped toasting whole wheat bread slices this time and filled a few large spinach leaves instead.  YUMMO!  I was completely satisfied.

"Now I'm strong to the finish, cuz I eats my spinach.
I'm Popeye the sailor man!  TOOT TOOT!"

I don't know where that came from? Let's move on.

HERE'S MY FAVORITE COMBINATION

• 1 (12 ounce) can Solid White Albacore Tuna
• 1/4 cup chopped celery
• 1/4 cup chopped broccoli
• 1/4 cup golden raisins
• 1/2 cup chopped apple
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• 1/2 cup mayonnaise
• salt & pepper to taste

• fresh spinach leaves, rinsed clean

Drain tuna well.  Mix all ingredients in a medium size bowl.  Spoon enough tuna to fill a spinach leaf.

You're ready to chow down!

I grabbed an extra handful of spinach leaves and put them on the side, like chips and enjoyed the extra dark leafy goodness they offered.  I don't think anyone has ever gone wrong eating extra spinach.

Simple Chickpea Salad

This chickpea salad is super fast to throw together and tastes AWESOME! It's very filling and makes a perfect light meal.

I've made it a habit to cook up a bag of chickpeas in the pressure cooker, so I can have them on hand when the craving hits. Yesterday, I made Charlie a batch of Italian Soup to take to lunch. Of course, I had plenty of chickpeas leftover to make hummus AND something else, but what?

I started flipping through my favorite Italian cookbook and came across this recipe. It turned out to be very satisfying for a light dinner. The original recipe did not call for a bed of fresh spinach, however, I had it on hand and I can never get enough greens in my diet. I was worried about Charlie enjoying a 'light salad' for his dinner, but he really liked it. I noticed he went back for seconds.

Now the recipe says to let it stand for an hour before serving. I didn't have the extra hour and it tasted very good. I could guess that it would be better the longer it sat. There's just enough leftover for my lunch today, so I'll report back in the comments section as to the difference.

Meanwhile, HERE'S ALL IT TAKES

• 2 (14 oz) cans chickpeas, or 2 cups cooked chickpeas
• 6 green onions, chopped
• 2 medium tomatoes, cut into cubes
• 1 small red onion, finely chopped
• 1 tablespoon capers, drained
• 2 tablespoons finely chopped parsley or cilantro
• 4 hard boiled eggs, cut into quarters

For the dressing

• 5 tablespoons olive oil
• 4 tablespoons white wine vinegar
• salt and freshly ground black pepper

If using canned chickpeas, be sure to drain off the liquid. Place them in a serving bowl. Mix in the other ingredients, EXCEPT THE EGGS. Mix the dressing ingredients together in a small bowl. Toss the salad with the mixed herbs. Pour the dressing over the salad and mix well. Taste for seasoning. Allow to stand for at least one hour. Just before serving decorate the salad with the egg wedges.

The original recipe called for 12 black olives, pitted and cut in half. I didn't have them on hand. When you make this and you use black olives, let me know how you liked it.

One more thing, I didn't think the one tablespoon of capers made that much of a difference. I did enjoy the flavor when I came across them in a bite, but one tablespoon was really not enough to cover the amount of salad here. If you don't have capers, don't sweat it. Just keep going.

I do wonder how a roughly chopped ripe avocado would taste in the mix. Hmmm.

Vegetable Medley

Ok, I know I've already done a recipe with chick peas this week. But come ON! Who eats something different every night of the week? that lives on a reasonable budget? that hates to throw out good food?

I'm calling this recipe "vegetable medley", because it's better than "leftover vegetables from the frig that need to be cooked before they go bad."

There wasn't really enough of it to make into a dinner for two, but it made a robust lunch for one.

HERE'S WHAT I DID FOR LUNCH

• 1/2 onion, roughly chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, quartered
• 1/3 red bell pepper, roughly chopped
• 4 large white mushrooms, slices
• 1 tablespoon oil
• 1 1/2 cups frozen spinach, thawed
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon dried parsley
• salt & pepper
• 1 cup chickpeas, cooked
• Parmesan cheese, shredded

Cook onion, garlic, bell pepper, and mushrooms, pinch of salt & pepper, in oil over medium heat until softened. Lay spinach on top, sprinkle with a pinch of salt & pepper, add oregano and parsley. Cook for 5 minutes. Stir in chickpeas and cook until warmed through. Remove from heat.

Top with Parmesan cheese and CHOW DOWN!

Chick Peas and Vegetables

You want healthy? THIS vegetable plate is HEALTHY!

My husband and I are not vegetarians but we love our vegetables. We have our moments when we're completely burned out on eating meat and just want fruits and vegetables to eat. Do you get that way, too?

HERE'S ALL IT TAKES TO GET THIS DINNER GOING

RICE PILAF

• 1 cup uncooked parboiled rice
• 2 teaspoons oil
• 2 1/4 cup chicken or vegetable broth
• 5 to 7 button mushrooms, quartered
• 1/4 cup red bell pepper, finely chopped

Lightly brown rice in oil over medium heat. Add broth, mushrooms and bell pepper, and bring broth to a boil. REDUCE HEAT to medium-low, cover with lid and simmer for 20 minutes. Remove from heat. Let stand covered for 5 minutes or until water is absorbed. Fluff with fork right before serving.

NOW FOR THE OTHER VEGETABLES & LEGUMES

• 1 1/2 cups cooked garbanzo beans
• 1 bunch of fresh spinach, roughly chopped
• 1 to 2 crowns of fresh broccoli, chopped into bite size pieces

For the chick peas or garbanzo beans, I happen to have had some frozen from cooking a batch last week. See the recipe, Home Cooked Garbanzo Beans or Chick Peas for cooking directions. Using canned garbanzo beans will work fine, too. Whatever you have on hand. Just heat them up and set aside.

Let's blanch our veggies.

Fill a 5 quart cooking pot 2/3 way up with water and bring to a boil over medium high heat.
TIME SAVER: You should start this water while you're cooking the rice pilaf.

Thoroughly rinse spinach and broccoli before blanching. Toss in 1 tablespoon of salt in the boiling water, then start with the spinach. Submerge spinach in boiling water and cook up to 2 minutes. Use a slotted spoon to scoop out spinach and set aside in a warm bowl.

Next, carefully add broccoli to the same cooking water, cook 1 to 1 1/2 minutes. Broccoli doesn't take long at all! Scoop out with slotted spoon into the same bowl with the spinach.

Season the spinach and broccoli with salt and pepper to taste. For an extra kick, add a little ground red pepper flakes.

Pile the vegetables and chick peas on top of a bed rice pilaf, drizzle very lightly with garlic seasoned olive oil if you have any on hand. Simple extra virgin olive oil is nice, too.

YOU'RE READY TO EAT!

Spinach and Ham Pizza

Start the week out easy and healthy with this quick and simple pizza recipe.

The kiddos still love a simple ham and cheese pizza. Thankfully, my favorite pizza crust brand comes with two crusts.

HERE'S ALL YOU NEED TONIGHT

• 1 package MamaMary's Gourmet Pizza Crusts, Brick Oven Style, (there's 2 crusts in one package)
• extra virgin olive oil
• 1 cup of your favorite spaghetti sauce
• 1 cup frozen spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
• 1 cup smoked ham, chopped
• 3 full slices of a small onion
• 1 package (2 cups) shredded Mozzarella cheese
• 1 small package Feta cheese with black peppercorns (mmm)
• 1 tablespoon red bell pepper, finely chopped
• salt and fresh ground pepper

Place pizza stone in cold oven then heat it to 425F degrees. If you don't have a pizza stone, a cookie sheet will work alright. But as soon as you can, go buy yourself a pizza stone; they're worth having around.

Let's build the kid's pizza first
Prep pizza crust by brushing on the extra virgin olive oil. Spread 1/2 cup of spaghetti sauce over crust, right up to the edges. Top with half of the chopped ham and half of the mozzarella cheese. Bake on pizza stone for 7 to 8 minutes.

Now for the BIG KIDS with the mature taste
Prep pizza crust by brushing on the extra virgin olive oil. Spread 1/2 cup of spaghetti sauce over crust, right up to the edges. Pull apart the thawed spinach and spread evenly over pizza. Layer on the onions and ham, then season with salt and pepper. Try to just hit the spinach with the salt, and really season the edges of the crust with the pepper.

Next comes the cheese, my favorite layer. I used about 1/4 to 1/3 cup of Feta over my pizza, then filled in the gaps with mozzarella. I try to be more about the veggies and less about a cheese. The feta works well because it's very flavorful and it doesn't take much to be pleasing. The mozzarella just adds that familiar creamy layer that we all love. Finally, top off the whole pizza with the red bell pepper. It's prettier on top.

By the time you're finished topping this one, the kid's pizza will be done. Remove it and allow to cool a couple of minutes before slicing. Bake the BIG KID's pizza for the same amount of time 7 to 8 minutes.

Before I started making the pizzas, I prepped a dark green leafy salad with purple cabbage, grated carrots, grape tomatoes, and sprinkled with Feta cheese. The whole meal was delicious and filling. We were full without feeling stuffed. Do you know what I mean?

Also, be sure to try the Chicken Spinach Pizza recipe.

Creamy Spinach and Ravioli Dinner

This simple dinner recipe was a BIG HIT with my 10 year old son!  My 6 year old daughter loved it too, only without the spinach.  And, AND,  it may have taken me 20- 25 minutes to get this dinner on the table.  Not bad at all.

THIS IS ALL IT TAKES

• 1 (10 ounce) bag of frozen spinach, thawed
• 2 tablespoons oil
• 1 small yellow onion, finely chopped, reserve 1/4 cup
• 4 tablespoons butter
• 4 tablespoons flour
• 2 cups vegetable broth or chicken broth
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• salt and fresh ground pepper to taste
• 1 family size package of fresh, ready to cook, four cheese ravioli
• shredded Parmesan cheese for topping
• 1 loaf of frozen heat and eat garlic bread

Preheat oven according to directions on garlic bread package.

Prep the garlic bread loaf on the cookie sheet. Prep spinach and onions, measure out the butter, flour, water and sour cream.  Fill a large pot with hot water for cooking the pasta and set on high heat. Use a medium sauce pan for making the cream sauce and a small fry pan to saute the onions and spinach.

Start by heating 2 tablespoons of oil in the small fry pan and adding all BUT the reserved 1/4 cup of onion, cook until softened. Add spinach, stir together and cook until heated through. Cover with a lid and remove from heat.

Is the pasta water boiling yet? Yes? Good. Add the ravioli to the boiling water and lower the heat to medium on the pasta pot, and give the raviolis a gentle stir occasionally to keep them from sticking together.  Pop the garlic loaf in the oven and set timer for 9 minutes.

Next, we make the cream sauce.  In the medium saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter. Add the 1/ 4 cup chopped onion and cook until softened.

Add the flour. Stirring continuously, cook the flour up to two minutes. Slowly stir in the 2 cups of broth until sauce is smooth and thickens a bit, 2-3 minutes. Turn off heat, gently whisk in sour cream until well blended. Remove saucepan completely from the heat source.  If everyone in your family loves spinach then add the cooked spinach mixture to the cream sauce now.  Otherwise, serve the spinach mixture on top of spinach lover's ravioli.

When the 9-minute buzzer goes off, the ravioli and the garlic bread are ready.  Drain off the water from the ravioli and set aside.  Remove the garlic bread from the oven and carefully divide hot bread into servings.

After the ravioli is drained, pour the cream sauce over the pasta and allow it to set. The sauce will thicken up and stick to the pasta...yummm.  Serve with or without spinach mixture and top with shredded Parmesan cheese.

Spinach and Roasted Garlic Salad

The roasted garlic is sweet and mild in this salad. And no, you don't the papery skin, eww!

The original recipe for Spinach & Roast Garlic Salad came from the Italian cookbook I keep mentioning. It called for toasted pine nuts. Unfortunately, they were burned in the toasting process and we had to get out the slivered almonds and make do. (Or is it 'make due'?) ANYHOO.

HERE'S ALL YOU NEED

• 12 garlic cloves (1 garlic bulb) , UNpeeled
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1 pound baby spinach leaves
• 1/2 cup pine nuts or slivered almonds, lightly toasted
• juice of 1/2 large lemon
• salt & freshly ground black pepper

Preheat the oven to 375F degrees. Place garlic in a small baking pan, toss in 2 tablespoons of oil and bake for about 15 minutes, until the cloves are slightly charred around the edges.

Meanwhile, rinse spinach leaves and dry them with a salad spinner. Move leaves to a large serving bowl. Quickly and lightly toast nuts. Allow to cool slightly and sprinkle on top of spinach.

While still warm, pour the garlic in with the spinach, add lemon juice, remaining olive oil and a little salt. Toss well and add black pepper to taste.

Serve immediately, inviting everyone to squeeze the softened garlic puree out of the skin to eat.
___________________________________________

My Two Cents: PINE NUTS

TOTALLY OVERRATED NUT

First of all, I paid $3.33 for 1/2 cup. That was my first feeling of being taken for a ride.
I've never eaten them in my whole life. I've watched my favorite TV cooks talk about them as if rare treats. "So fun to toast up and always keep on hand." Up until this recipe, I thought I was really missing out on something.

Even though we (Anna & I) had over toasted the nuts, we were able to salvage a few for tasting. They are the most mild tasting nut. So mild, they border flavorless. This was when I felt the second wave of being taken for a ride. "THAT'S IT? What are all those TV cooks going on about?"

Almonds, pecans, walnuts, sunflower seeds, they have so much more to offer in a salad than pine nuts.

If you LOVE pine nuts, I'm sorry that I've hurt your feelings. I felt robbed after trying them and I just had to let it out.

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