Creamed spinach in the crockpot

Truth be told, I'm usually more fond of the Thanksgiving side dishes than the actual bird itself.  I am all about the stuffing, the mashed potatoes, the vegetables. 

Yesterday, my mom made an incredible creamed spinach dish that I just had to share, especially since I've been woefully delinquent on posting any recipes here.   (I don't have a photo of it, unfortunately.  It disappeared too fast, and my family doesn't understand the rationale or importance of photographing one's food.)

Even better, this creamed spinach is a side dish that can be made in the crockpot, making it an easy addition to your holiday table.  And even though Thanksgiving has come and gone, there's still post-Thanksgiving meals and Christmas for those who celebrate such, and New Years festivities.  This side dish would be a great addition to any of these holidays or your regular everyday meals.

Mom says she got it from one of her friends in the active-adult community in which she lives, so I apologize for not being able to give any more attribution than that.

2 packages of 10 oz. frozen chopped spinach, thawed, drained and squeezed dry
2 cups of cream style cottage cheese (Mom used small curd)
1/2 cup of butter, cut up
1 1/2 cup of American cheese, cubed (Mom used only approximately a cup)
3 eggs, beaten
1/4 cup flour (Mom used slightly less)
1 tsp. salt

Grease crock pot and combine all ingredients.  Cook on low 4-5 hrs. Stir occasionally, put in attractive bowl and serve warn.

Mom says she added a little whole milk and a little piece (about a quarter) of onion, and removed the onion before serving.

There were 6 adults and 3 children at our table and this was enough for all.

Crustless spinach quiche

I was in the mood for quiche, but as these things go, I didn't have any crust - nor was I in the mood to make any. So, a quick search on allrecipes.com led me to this recipe for Crustless Spinach Quiche, which turned out pretty tasty.  It was also incredibly simple to make.

Chances are you have most (if not all) of the ingredients on hand.

1 tbsp. vegetable oil

1 onion, chopped

1 10 oz. box frozen spinach, thawed and drained

5 eggs, beaten

3 cups muenster cheese (I used mozzarella)

 1/4 tsp. salt

1/8 tsp. pepper

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease pan.  Add oil to skillet, then onions. Stir in spinach.

You'll recall that the directions specified that the spinach be thawed and drained.  Mine obviously wasn't, but you'll want to make sure yours is, because otherwise this takes a lot of time in the skillet for it to defrost.

In a bowl, combine eggs, cheese, salt, and pepper.  Add spinach mixture from skillet and stir to blend. Scoop mixture into pan. 

Bake until eggs are set or 30 minutes.  Let cool 10 minutes.

My kids weren't too pleased with this, but that was to be expected.  The Husband and I thought it was delicious and a dish that might make it into the regular rotation.  There were leftovers, which were pretty good heated up the next day for lunch, which I had with some chopped tomatoes.  

Next time I might try this with reduced fat cheese (not sure how that will work) and perhaps some vegetarian bacon.

Savory spring salad

It's spring break. I haven't cooked in days because we were on break and traveling or having guests. When that happens, we eat out a lot, or we eat other people's food. But, a few days ago, I made one of my favorite salads.

I know. Salads aren't exciting, and probably most people reading this know how to make a damned salad. But this salad is for people who are sensory seekers, who want flavor to savor with their greens, people who can handle the almost overwhelming combination I'm about to present to you. And, like I noted, it's spring. A great time for salads.

Regardless of your salad attitude, I can tell you that this little baby will load you up with all the green leafy things, colorful crunchy things, fiber, flavor, and sabor you'd need for a good lunch or a "light"-ish dinner. This is good (green) stuff.

That means, of course, that you're gonna need some greens. I use an organic spring mix with baby spinach added in. Top this with shredded carrots and shredded broccoli slaw. I buy these in bags at the store...if you can't find that, then I guess you'd need to shred these yourself or add in larger chopped pieces of these items.

Get the tartest apple you can find. Small, brightly green Granny Smiths, nicely chilled, are my favorites for this. Slice it thin, as thinly as you can. I use an entire apple for this salad. Keeps the doctor away, I hear, and I could use that.

Green olives--saltilicious!--go great on this (to my sensory and salt-seeking palate, anyway). I used the sliced kind with pimentos. Adds a nice color and yet another flavor to the mix.

I'm a sucker for blue-veined cheeses. For this salad, I go for gorgonzola, but bleu cheese would do, as well. I lay out for really good cheese, and the flavor a truly tasty blue adds to something like this cannot be beat.

Finally, there's meat. My preferred addition here is smoked turkey breast, sliced (we get the nitrate-free variety). Bacon, microwaved to crisp, is also good if you don't have turkey. This salad has so much flavor and substance, though, that you can dispense with the additional animal protein altogether if that's not your thing.

For the dressing, I prefer balsamic vinaigrette (I go with Newman's Own) or Marie's Greek Vinaigrette. Adds even more zing to this already zingy combination. Like I said, I'm a flavor seeker. I often make my own dressings, but for this salad, either of these is a wonderful finish.

Chill it until you eat it. Then, sit down with your fork and dig in to the cold, crunchy, salty sabor that is this salad. Mmmmmm.

Guest post: Roast leg of lamb and spinach salad

I am Armenian. And you can't be Armenian without learning how to make a lamb roast. Of course, I suffer from the "I cannot cook as good as my mother" syndrome. No daughter of an Armenian mother ever feels that she measures up, however, I think I have come very close. When I first started cooking, I deliberately made dinners that wouldn't compete with my mother, such as chicken curry and tuna casserole. It was a cop out, but a start.

With that in mind, it's hard to believe that I ever had the courage to tackle a roast leg of lamb. Believe me, I have had my share of mishaps here—under cooked, over cooked and just plain tasteless. But I kept at it until I found the perfect formula. Dare I say, it's even better than my mother's?  

Roasting requires a bit of trial and error. You may have to make a dish several times, before hitting on the exact seasoning and cooking time. But if you follow my advice, I promise you a shortcut to success.

Ask your butcher to roll and tie a 4 pound leg of lamb. 

Then marinate it for four hours in: 

1/2 cup of olive oil

1 tablespoon ground coriander

1/2 tablespoon of paprika

1 teaspoon of salt

1/2 teaspoon of pepper

Here's an important tip: Do not ever use citrus in the marinade. It makes the meat tough. 

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Roast the lamb for 25 minutes, uncovered. Then lower the heat to 300 degrees and continue roasting for approximately an hour and a half (two hours total roasting time) or until a meat thermometer registers 155 degrees.

Let the meat rest for about 15 minutes before slicing. Ideally, lamb should be served on the rare side, but if you prefer your meat less pink, you can increase the cooking time. 

I served the lamb with a wonderful spinach salad. The recipe for the salad comes from my cousin's restaurant Charentsi 28 in the capital city of Yerevan, Armenia. I visited my family in Armenia last year, and loved the beautifully updated traditional dishes served at the restaurant.

To make the salad, you need:

1 bag of baby spinach (buy the pre-washed stuff)

1 bunch of beets (do not discard the leaves as they are going into the salad)

Portobello mushrooms (again, buy pre-sliced but rinse them)

1 cucumber, peeled and sliced 

1 red onion, sliced thin

Cut and wash the beet tops and mix with the spinach greens in a large bowl.

Boil the beets, until the skins come off easily (I then roast the beets until tender, but you could just boil them till they are tender.) Set aside to cool.

While the beets are cooking, saute the mushrooms in butter for about 4 minutes (add water to avoid burning if necessary). Drain most of the liquid. And set the mushrooms aside.

For the dressing (the most important part) you need:

1/3 cup olive oil

1/4 cup lemon juice

1 large clove garlic, crushed

about 1/2 tsp salt and a 1/4 tsp pepper (to taste)

Using a wire whisk, mix the dressing ingredients well and set aside until just before serving.

To assemble the salad, add the sliced onions and cucumbers to the bowl with the spinach and beet tops. Slice the cooled beets and add, along with the mushrooms to the greens. Pour the dressing on and mix well. Using lemon instead of vinegar in the dressing makes all the difference here. Enjoy!

*****

Now that Virginia has expanded her repertoire beyond chicken curry and tuna casserole, she is pursuing a wide range of culinary adventures both at home and abroad. She blogs at In The Heart of a Former Hippie and can be found studying cookbooks and travel brochures in her spare time.

Chicken spinach tomato cappellini

It started the way it often does. I had a couple of thawed chicken breasts. I had a lot of organic baby spinach wilting away in the fridge. And then there were the luscious red ripe tomatoes calling to me, saying "Don't let us go to waste, either!" Food speaks to me, you see.

And as I often do, I made something up. Ingredients drive what limited creativity I have as I mentally group various potential additions, trying to find one that seems exactly the right fit for what I want to achieve for dinner that night.

This night, I felt the mood should be light. Something vegetably yet savory. Something with a bit of zing that would cling softly to a nice, lean pasta, like cappellini. So, that's what I went for.

When I cook, I don't measure, so the following is my best guess at what I did.

First, I put water on to boil for the whole-wheat cappellini I was using, and then...reader, I boiled it.

As Jamie Oliver would say, I started the sauce with a couple of lugs of olive oil, heated to a fine warmth, along with a couple of tablespoons of butter. It's all bettah with buttah.

Then, I added the chicken breasts, sliced into about half-inch pieces, and knocked in a few good dashes of oregano. After letting that sizzle up until the chicken was cooked completely, I tossed in tomatoes, letting them get to sizzle. Then came the spinach, lid on top to give it a good wilt, then stirred. With a nice wilt on, I added in the juice of a single lemon, some ground sea salt and ground pepper. For the finale, I sprinkled freshly grated Parmesan over the entire thing and heated it all through.

Pop this on top of the steaming toothy cappellini, add more Parmesan as needed and a good, crusty hunk of ciabatta, and you're good to go with a light, savory, satisfying bowl of food that won't make you feel terribly guilty. This was a fast, easy, and absolutely beautifully colored dinner to make, and it received The Viking seal of approval, high praise indeed.