April 30, 2014

Food Porn: Artichoke Spinach Dip in Skillet Bread


Get the recipe here from Seasons and Suppers!

Follow @SeasonsSuppers on Twitter + Facebook

Photo courtesy of seasonsandsuppers.com

Tell us how it goes.

-A+D

April 29, 2014

Tip Tuesday: Apple Cider Vinegar Veggie Rinse


Meet Apple Cider Vinegar.

A spinach lover's best friend.

Use apple cider vinegar as a makeshift veggie rinse. Soak your spinach (or whatever greens and other colorful veggies you want to eat) in a bowl with a tablespoon of ACV for 5 minutes before rinsing with water. Germs be gone!

Happy cooking,

A+D

April 28, 2014

What To Do with Leftover Ham: Omelette with Spinach and Feta

Yup. It's been a week since Easter and we're still going through leftovers. It had to get eaten. So, naturally, yesterday morning I made a ham, feta and spinach omelette. 

Somebody (a.k.a. "A") didn't appreciate the garlic powder I added, insisting that omelettes "are not usually" made with garlic. 

Who is with me? Omelettes can have whatever you want in them. And garlic is not anywhere near the most obsence food item to enter an omelette. I think it's quite common. I've even seen it on menus before. 

If you're with me about garlic in omelettes, you'll like this. If you're with A on this one, leave out the garlic powder. That's just more garlic for us garlic fans.

This makes for a BIG omelette. So grab a breakfast buddy to share it with.
You will need:
3 medium/large eggs
1-2 tbs. crumbled feta
1/3 c. frozen chopped spinach -- thawed
1 large slice of honey baked ham -- cut up into small peices
Tbs. chopped onion
dash of milk
dash of garlic powder
salt and pepper to taste
Prep the ingredients -- combine spinach, feta, chopped up ham, chopped onion, garlic powder and salt and pepper in bowl. 
Whip eggs with a dash of milk in separate bowl. Add salt and pepper. 
Coat frying pan lightly with frying oil. Heat on medium. When hot, pour in egg. I like fluffy (ok, chubby) omelettes so I use the spatula to bring the cooked edges inward and then tilt the pan to bring the raw egg outwards. This helps cook the egg faster and layer it up to be hefty. 
When egg is about 75 or 80 percent cooked, add in the spinach feta mixture. 
This is difficult. But use a big spatula and flip omelette in half. Cook for a minute or two and let the bottom brown slightly before flipping. Like this:
Tadaa. Cook for about 30 seconds to a minute longer -- depending on how cooked you like your omelettes.
Serve with bread and sliced pears (or whatever you want) and enjoy! It takes two to eat this. 

-A+D

April 24, 2014

Easter Leftover Save: Leg of Lamb Ziti in a Pesto Feta Spinach Cream Sauce

Gathering with my huge family over the holidays every year is a blessing for many reasons. One of those reasons is leftovers.

This time, when Easter dinner was over, they packed me with two big gobs of roasted leg of lamb. So naturally, my first wonder is how to introduce my leg of lamb to my spinach collection. So I figured pasta would be a good mediator. And I was right.

Use whatever leftover protein you may have from Easter in this recipe. Ham...lamb...tofu? I think they would all be good here. 

You will need:
2 c. mini ziti
about 4 tbs feta
about 1/2 c. sharp white cheddar cheese
1 tbs. cream cheese
2 c. milk
2-3 tbs basil pesto
1/4-1/2 lb. baked lamb leftovers from Easter dinner
1/2 c. frozen cut leaf spinach
1/3 c. sunflower seeds
dash of flour
salt & pepper to taste
Prep all of your ingredients. This helps avoid burning things. Which I may or may not do often. Slice then cut the lamb into bite size slivers. If you're using blocks of cheddar and feta instead of shreds or crumbles, chop those up. Put half of the feta aside to save for topping.
Using a medium/large pan, sizzle a generous splash of light frying oil (I used veggie) into a pan and brown the garlic. Then add in the lamb -- stir around a bit to sear. Then add in the spinach and toss around until lamb is seared and spinach is cooked. Add salt/pepper to taste. I added a tiny bit of garlic powder as well. Now's a good time to start boiling the ziti.
Before pouring in the milk, sprinkle about a teaspoon or two of flour over the lamb and fold in until integrated. Then pour over the milk. Add in pesto and cheeses (saving half of the feta for a crumble topping to sprinkle on later).
Stir around on low-medium heat and let simmer until the milk reduces and it starts to become creamy. Careful not to burn. 
Brown the sunflower seeds in a pan. Medium heat for a few minutes should do. Stir around. Remove from heat once toasty.
When the mini ziti is done boiling, and when the cream sauce looks saucy, drain the mini ziti and pour over the sauce. Fold all together until uniform.
In the serving dish, sprinkle over the toasted sunflower seeds and extra crumbled feta. For added flavor,  sprinkle on some salt and pepper and drizzle on a bit of extra virgin olive oil. 
Then, sit back and enjoy! Just realized the sunflower arrangement + sunflower seed topping...it was meant to be.
-A+D

April 23, 2014

Beautiful Tasty Strawberry Spinach from HirtsGardens

Today I discovered an all new spinach! 

Have you ever heard of strawberry spinach before? It's an edible plant whose berries and leaves are both known to be tasty. Especially in your next spring/summer salad. 

I found these strawberry spinach plants from HirtsGardens on Etsy! Check them out here if you're as intrigued by this new spinach rendition as I am...

Definitely an option for the adventurous herb gardener. 

And besides...even if it's not the same as plain old spinach, who can actually resist anything with the word spinach in it? 

Photo courtesy of hirtsgardens.etsy.com

-A+D

April 22, 2014

Tip Tuesday: Fresh Spinach Seeds for the Garden


Happy Earth Day!

Over here at Spinach Blog, new (spinach) leaves are sprouting. So from now onward, Tuesday will be Tip Tuesday. Because cooking, kitchen, and spinach tips are important. And will make your life easier. Also, because I like the alliteration. 

So enjoy Earth Day by giving the ground the gift of more spinach! Start a spinach garden this spring--and remember to start with this one easy tip for growing the heartiest of spinach leaves:


Always start your spinach garden with a fresh bag of spinach leaves each year. Spinach seeds have a shorter shelf life than most! In moderate, cool weather, germination will take 5-10 days. 

Hope you'll spend the rest of the day basking in (what's left) of the sun, eating your favorite spinach dish, and enjoying Earth!

-A+D

April 21, 2014

Cheddar Chicken Spinach Quiche

There's probably an infinite number of quiche recipes in the world. When you think deep, they're like big glorified omelette cakes. And we all know the list of possible omelette fillings is endless. So quiche's list must be endless, too.

There's fancy quiches, less fancy quiches, and the thrifty quiches--the ones that are simply thrown together with whatever veggies and cheeses are lying in the fridge. I know what veggie is always lying in my fridge...

So, when I made this quiche, it was the third kind. The creative (ish) thrifty quiche. Where I tossed a bunch of ingredients together that I knew I liked...or that I at least knew were palatable...because if I didn't like them, why would they be in my fridge? But I didn't write the ingredients down. So I honestly don't remember everything that went into this quiche. Or exactly how much of anything.

But I'll tell you what I know (ok, am pretty sure...) IS in this quiche. And if you're feeling up for the adventure of tossing together a thrifty quiche, you can feel free to add whatever morsels of good stuff (or any stuff) you may find in your fridge. Quiche has no rules.
You will need:
4 eggs
A dash of cream or milk
About a half cup frozen spinach
Quarter onion -- chopped
Pinch of garlic
About a half cup of cheese (I used sharp cheddar)
2-3 chicken strips (admittedly, I used microwave chicken. You can bump this ingredient up a notch using grilled chicken. I like to cook it a bit before to be safe.)
Stalk of celery -- chopped
Third cup corn
Salt and pepper to taste
Whip the eggs in a bowl with a dash of cream. In a pan, heat the onion and garlic with a bit of frying oil. Add in the spinach and corn and celery. Stir around until everything is cooked. If you need, cook your chicken with the veggies.
Lightly grease an oven save dish and pour in the veggie mix. After pouring in the veggie mix, pour the whipped eggs over. Wait a few minutes for the eggs to integrate with the veggies. You don't have to mix it around. You can poke some holes with a fork.
Bake at 350 degreen F for about 25 minutes, checking occasionally. After the first 20-25 minutes, you can sprinkle a bit more cheese over the top to brown. 
And there you have it. A big fluffy veggie stuffed cheesy quiche. This is no Martha Stewart quiche to show off to your Ina Garten neighbor friend. This is the quiche that simply tastes good that you can eat in the middle of the week when you feel like eating a tasteful dinner without a slew of effort. 
Save the rest for leftovers!

-A+D 

April 20, 2014

Easter Fail: Spinach Dyed Easter Eggs

I've stated before, this blog is an archive of spinach experimentation. That does not always amount to success. 

This is one of those times. 

I can't really tell you how to dye Easter Eggs with all natural homemade spinach dye. But I can tell you how not to. That will give the almost-but-not-quite light green Easter eggs above.

It's something like this:


Oh well! There are lots of green natural dye experts out there who do spinach dying more justice. 

Like this successful spinach dyed Easter Egg job by Boulder Locavore
Or this gorgeous spinach dyed yarn from Lake Salt Knit:
Or this lovely green fabric dyed by Julia over at Free People's blog:

Go green...be inspired (by the successful spinach dye jobs...) and have a happy Easter!

-A+D

April 15, 2014

Broccoli Cheddar Spinach Soup to Warm Up Your Soul


Can someone tell me why, here in Michigan, we had a beautiful spring weekend that felt like summer with a high of nearly 80 degrees F...but then Monday night it all frosted over, and now today we're having blizzards off and on? And why this morning I had to scrape ice off of my car windows? #TheStruggle

For those of you who are enjoying warm spring days (as we all should be at this point) -- I am jealous. For those of you like me, in climates like Michigan...where the weather is deceptive and it is now freezing cold, try this deliciously hot broccoli cheddar soup to warm up your soul. The recipe, as always, is forgiving. So add whatever favorite veggies you would like :)

You will need:

3 tbs. butter
about a quarter of a medium/large red onion
1 c. coconut milk (dairy milk is fine, too)
2 tbs. flour
one 10 oz. can of chicken broth
1/2 c. chopped frozen spinach
2 c. broccoli -- bite sized pieces (about 1.5 heads)
pinch of nutmeg
1/2 cup cheddar cheese
1/2 cup sharp white cheddar cheese
salt and pepper to taste
Using shredded cheese is easiest. If you're using a block of cheese, cut up into small pieces so that it integrates into the soup quicker and easier.
Chop up the onions and simmer in a pot with the butter until softened. Then add in the flour. Stir.
Once the flour dissolves and cooks for about a minute, add in the chicken broth, coconut milk, cheeses, nutmeg, and salt & pepper. Stir around on medium heat until cheeses integrate with soup.
Add in the spinach and broccoli bites. Stir. Cover pan and let simmer on low until spinach and broccoli are cooked, stirring occasionally. I like soup to be chunky, but if you prefer, you can blend this a bit before adding back to the pot for a more consistent/uniform soup.

Serve hot with shaved sharp cheddar and pair with your favorite loaf of bread. For portion control (ok, and for cuteness) I like to serve it in little tea cups. 

Enjoy! Stay warm.

-A+D
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