Side dish: spinach and artichokes

I've made this a couple of times recently and its fairly easy and really good. Plus leafy greens are supposed to be good for you ....

Take a large pan and heat a bit of oil, lard or bacon grease (a tablespoon or two, though I never measure). Meanwhile rinse about a pound of fresh spinach. Throw the spinach in the pan and stir occasionally while it wilts. Season with a bit of onion powder and a bit of garlic (I used one frozen cube of crushed garlic, but garlic powder or fresh garlic will work as well). Add some squeezed lemon juice and sprinkle with salt. Add one can of drained artichoke hearts, preferably the small ones.

Serve warm with dinner!

Doctored Soups: Corn and Roasted Pepper Soup; Tortellini and Spinach Soup

I love a good soup, made from scratch. With a homemade long brewed stock. But during the winter, especially when our lives are very busy and/or we're fighting illness, I want to eat soup more often than I have bones to make homemade stock.

So instead, frequently I doctor prepared soups:

Trader Joes Corn & Pepper soup:

+ frozen corn

+ some type of already cooked protein (in this case, Langostino Tails, which I've been dying to try. Ok, but I wouldn't buy them again) Canned chicken, frozen shrimp, leftover poultry or sausage would all work.

Heat and serve!

Another soup - tortellini & spinach soup.

Chicken broth:

Add some flavors:

frozen tortellini:

+ some frozen spinach

Eagles Green: Spinach Artichoke Dip

1/2 C (1 stick) butter
1 large onion, chopped
20 oz. bag spinach, thawed & drained
1 can artichoke hearts, drained & chopped
8 oz. cream cheese
2 C shredded hard cheese (perhaps half cheddar, half parmesan)
2 T tabasco
Crackers, Tostitos Scoops, Celery and/or pita chips for dipping

melt butter in saucepan, sautee onion until soft.
Add spinach, artichoke hearts, cream cheese, 1 1/2 cup shredded cheese, tabasco. Stir until blended and heated through. Pour into casserole dish, sprinkle w/ remaining shredded cheese. Bake at 350 about 10 minutes until cheese starts to brown.

Chicken w/ creamed spinach, artichoke and peppers

Last night's dinner (this is a rather inprecise recipe, but I don't think the exact quanitities will matter much):

~ 1.5 pounds boneless chicken breasts
~ 12 oz fresh spinach
~ one slightly mushy green pepper, bad bits removed (if you only have a fresh one, I suppose it will do)
~ 1.5 cups chopped artichoke (frozen, fresh or from a jar)
~ one large onion, chopped
~ garlic - fresh minced, from a jar, or frozen minced cubes from Trader Joes
~ 8oz. block cream cheese
~ a few tablespoons of pesto, homemade or from a jar
~ olive oil
~ salt & pepper
~ romano, parmesan or a similar flavorful hard cheese

Sautee spinach in a bit of olive oil until fully wilted - turn a few times while cooking:


















Set aside the surprisingly small quantity of spinach which results. In the same pan, sautee the onion, and when that is almost cooked (translucent) add the chopped pepper and garlic. Once the vegetables are soft, turn the heat down to medium, and add the cream cheese. WATCH THIS CAREFULLY, stirring frequently until completely melted. Add a few tablespoons of pesto, and some romano cheese. Stir the wilted spinach back in, as well as the artichoke hearts. Turn to low, stirring occasionally.

















Meanwhile, cut the boneless chicken breast into quarter size pieces. Cook in a separate pan in a bit of olive oil. Add salt and pepper.

Once the chicken is cooked, pour the contents of the pan into the vegetable mixture, including the (cooked) juice from the chicken.

Serve with french bread to be able to eat all the yummy sauce!

The Southern Resident specifically told me to tell all of you that this was VERY good - that's a first!

Tasty Salad: Spinach and Cherry Salad w/ warm almond crusted goat cheese medallions in a light dijon vinaigrette

You can do so many things with a salad. This one turned out pretty well, so I thought I would share it.

What I had on hand that needed to be used:

• 1 log of goat cheese (chevre), which was about to expire
• about a half pound of cherries
• 2 chuck steaks

So what I made:

Baked Goat Cheese Medallions: I cut the Chevre into 8 equal slices. I dipped each into an egg wash (one beaten egg with a splash of water), and then placed the cheese into a bowl of toasted almond slices. I used my fingers to make sure each piece was fully topped with almonds. I then placed these in a baking pan (which I lined with parchment paper for easy clean-up). These I baked for about ten minutes at 400 degrees.

I washed and pitted the cherries. A little trick I've found is to use the cherry pitter right down in the colander. The pits stay put for easy disposal, and MOST of the juice shoots into the colader. But don't wear your favorite white shirt for this task anyway.

Meanwhile, I started the grill and seasoned the steaks. I grilled them on high heat, about 2.5 minutes per side.

To make a simple vinaigrette I used whole grain mustard, walnut oil (happened to have it on hand), and rice wine vinegar. I mixed this into washed spinach leaves, and sprinkled in salt and pepper. Then I mixed in the cherries.

Assembly: scoop spinach/cherry mixture into a bowl. Top with two medallions of warm goat cheese and bite sized pieces of steak!