Spinach Quiche

I had a friend over for lunch today so I wanted to make something that was easy to make that could be done somewhat ahead of time.  I decided to have quiche with a small side of Caesar salad.  Also had a pitcher of water with mint and wedges of lemon.  Fresh mint in water is very refreshing.

Spinach Quiche

1 tablespoon butter

1 onion, chopped

1 - 10 ounce package frozen chopped spinach, thawed, well drained

1 - 9 inch refrigerated pre-made pie crust (makes it quick this way)

1/2 cup monterey jack cheese, grated

1/2 cup parmesan cheese, grated

5 eggs

1/2 cup cottage cheese

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon ground pepper

1/8 teaspoon nutmeg

1/8 teaspoon dill weed

Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.  

Melt butter in skillet over medium heat, add onion and cook until soft.  Add spinach and stir until spinach is dry, about 3 minutes.  Cool slightly.  

Sprinkle both cheeses over bottom of pie crust.   Top with spinach mixture.  Beat eggs, cottage cheese, salt, pepper, nutmeg and dill weed in a large bowl to blend.  Pour over spinach.  Bake until filling is set, about 50 minutes.   Cool slightly, cut into wedges and serve.

Broiled Ahi Tuna Provencal

Ahi tuna is a great dish for dinner.  It is packed with 133 mg of Omega 3 and only 61 calories.  Of course this just cooked with no sauce etc.  This recipe came from one of my seafood cookbooks.  Sometimes it is really hard to figure out just what you want to do with an ingredient, so this is when I rely on a cookbook for inspiration.

Broiled Tuna
2 tuna steaks, about 1 inch thick
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
salt
freshly ground black pepper
Prepare Provencal Sauce and keep warm.  Combine olive oil and lemon juice.  Place steaks on a greased broiler rack and brush them with oil mixture.  Lightly salt and pepper.
Place steaks about 6 inches from heat source and broil until top side is tender about 8 minutes.  Turn and repeat until done, about 6 minutes.  Serve with sauce.
**NOTE:  I found that cooking the fish under the broiler for this amount of time cooks the tuna on a more well done side.  If you are like us we like our tuna cooked on the rare side.  My suggestion would be to reduce the amount of time the fish is cooked on both sides.

Provencal Sauce 
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon pressed garlic
1 large tomato, cut up
1 teaspoon fresh basil
1 teaspoon fresh parsley
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
In a small saucepan, heat oil.  Add garlic and saute until tender.  Add tomatoes and basil.  Cover and simmer for 10-15 minutes.  Add parsley.  Spoon over hot fish.

The meal was served with couscous and a small Caesar salad.

Ravioli with Homemade Sauce

I didn't pull a thing out of the freezer for dinner tonight, I thought about it but never got around to doing it.  So I whipped up a quick dinner.  We bought some ravioli from our local food co-op that we were keeping in the refrigerator.  They are a Porcini Mushroom and Truffle made by Bertagni (product of Italy).  Just cook those according to the package.

For the Sauce:
1 can of tomato sauce
1 can of diced tomatoes, drained
1 tablespoon oregano
1 tablespoon parsley
1 teaspoon basil
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
fresh ground pepper
salt
You can add more or less of the spices to suit your taste.  The measurements above are approximate.  Cook on stove until heated thoroughly.  Serve sauce over cooked pasta.  Top with shaved Parmesan cheese.

Serve meal with a Caesar salad with homemade Caesar dressing.
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon coarse black pepper
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 to 2 teaspoons sugar
2 pressed garlic cloves
1/4 cup Romano or Parmesan cheese
1 cup vegetable oil or extra virgin olive oil
Mix together. 
Add just enough dressing to coat romaine lettuce but not too much.  Sprinkle each salad with fresh grated Parmesan cheese and fresh ground pepper.

Homemade Sloppy Joe's

I remember having Sloppy Joe's as a kid and thought this would be a really great thing to have for tonight's dinner.  My husband wanted a meat loaf, I really wasn't in the mood for something so heavy so I changed his mind with what I concocted.  In this recipe you will find that I didn't use green peppers, which is what you find in most recipes, so in its place I used carrots.  This is a great way to get vegetables into your diet and adds nice color and texture.  The meal was served with sweet potato fries that we actually had pre-made from the freezer.  This dinner will not take very long to make and you will have dinner on the table in no time.

Sloppy Joe
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 cup minced carrots (I used about 3 small carrots which ended up being slightly over 1/2 cup)
1 medium onion, chopped
2 cloves of garlic, pressed
1 pound grass fed ground beef
1/2 cup organic ketchup (organic ketchup doesn't have HFCS or MSG added)
1 - 15-1/2 ounce can tomato sauce
1 tablespoon Worcestershire Sauce
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
2 tablespoon brown sugar
pinch of dried thyme
fresh ground pepper
salt
steak seasoning, like McCormick

Heat olive oil in a heavy skillet, add carrots and onion.  Cook until onion is translucent and tender.  Add ground beef and brown.  Add garlic as the beef is cooking.  Once beef has been browned add ketchup, Worcestershire sauce, red wine vinegar, brown sugar, and thyme.  Reduce heat to a simmer and simmer for about 10 to 15 minutes.  Add salt, pepper and seasoning to taste.  Serve on hamburger buns.

A trick that we do in this house is to keep a package of hamburger buns in the freezer and only take out what you need.  This is a great way to have them on hand and that they won't go to waste if you buy a whole package and only use a couple.  Just make sure that the buns are doubled in freezer bags so that you don't end up with freezer burns.

We also had a Caesar Salad to go along with tonight's dinner.  You can catch the recipe for Caesar dressing from a previous post here.

This post was shared on the Healthy Home Economist Monday Mania 3/19/2012

Smoked Salmon with Cream Sauce and Pasta

Well as I promised from my Alaska post that I would be getting ideas from the foods I ate.  Tonight was no exception.  On our trip we went to a place north west of Fairbanks called Chena Hot Springs.  On their menu was a recipe very similar to what I made tonight.

Here is what you will need:
6 ounce package of smoked salmon, drained of any juices and chopped with a fork until you no longer have huge chunks of salmon (you want to be able to see that you have salmon in the pasta)
1/2 of a 16 ounce bag of pasta (I used a Fusilli pasta), cooked
1 red pepper, sliced thin and cooked but slightly crispy, drain of any water and pat dry
Parmesan Cheese, grated
Smoked Gouda, sliced into thin strips
Bechamel Sauce (recipe below)

Bechamel Sauce
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
3 tablespoons flour
2 cups hot milk
salt and freshly ground pepper
Melt the butter in a heavy saucepan, blend in flour with a wooden spoon, and cook over moderate heat, stirring, until butter and flour foam together for 2 minutes without turning more than a buttery yellow color.  Remove from heat, and when bubbling stops, vigorously whisk in all the hot milk at once.  Place back on heat and bring to a boil, whisking until thick.  Simmer, stirring for 2 minutes.  Season to taste.

Once the Bechamel Sauce is done, add a little bit of the sliced smoked gouda and some parmesan cheese. Stir until slightly melted.  Stir in smoked salmon.  Add sauce mixture to the pasta and toss until pasta is coated.  Stir in red peppers.   To serve top pasta with slices of smoked gouda and grated parmesan.

Suggestion:  When you go to make this cook your pasta first, drain, place in a bowl and toss with some olive oil (this will prevent the pasta from sticking together).  Slice and cook the peppers.  Have salmon and cheese ready to go.  It will not take very long at all to make the Bechamel Sauce.

The meal was served with romaine lettuce and Caesar dressing.
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon coarse black pepper
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 to 2 teaspoons sugar
2 pressed garlic cloves
1/4 cup Romano or Parmesan cheese
1 cup vegetable oil or extra virgin olive oil
Mix together. 
Add just enough dressing to coat romaine lettuce but not too much.  Sprinkle each salad with fresh grated Parmesan cheese and fresh ground pepper.

Spiced Chicken Breasts with Algerian Wedding Rice

Wanted to try something different for dinner tonight and needed to figure out something for chicken breasts.

Spiced Chicken Breasts
6 chicken breasts
4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon turmeric
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon curry powder
1/2 teaspoon dried red pepper flakes
3 cloves of garlic, peeled and mashed
1/2 teaspoon sea salt

Trim chicken breasts and pound lightly.  Mix spices and garlic with oil and brush onto chicken pieces.  Marinate chicken breasts in refrigerator several hours or overnight.  Brush a heavy skillet with olive oil and allow to heat up.  Add chicken and cook over medium high heat.  About 7 minutes per side until done.

Algerian Wedding Rice
1 cup long grain brown rice
1 tablespoon butter
2 cups of water
Add water, butter and rice to pan, bring to a boil, cover and cook rice for 50 minutes.  Remove from heat and let stand 10 minutes.  Fluff with fork when done.
1 cup dried apricots, cut into bits, soaked in water for 1 hour and drained
1/2 cup almond slivers
1/2 cup pine nuts
2 bunches green onions, chopped
4 tablespoons butter, softened
sea salt and pepper
Toss cooked rice with remaining ingredients.  Season to taste.  Place in a buttered casserole dish and bake at 250 degrees Fahrenheit for about 30 minutes.

Now I have no idea how the rice got its name nor do I know if there is any significance to Alergia.  If anyone knows please comment so that we can all learn about it.

The meal was served with a caesar salad.

Caesar Salad
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon coarse black pepper
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 to 2 teaspoons sugar
2 pressed garlic cloves
1/4 cup Romano or Parmesan cheese
1 cup vegetable oil or extra virgin olive oil
Mix together. 
Add just enough dressing to coat romaine lettuce but not too much.  Sprinkle each salad with fresh grated Parmesan cheese and fresh ground pepper.

Here are some notes about the spices that were used on the Chicken.  
Turmeric:  One compound in turmeric (curcumin) inhibits the synthesis of substances called prostaglandins in the body that are involved with pain.  In addition to good amounts of vitamins C and E and carotenoids, turmeric contains many other antioxidants.  Also turmeric has been used as an anti-inflammatory as well as many other things.
Cinnamon: Cinnamon contains an antibacterial action when combined with other herbs.  Cinnamon has a reputation to help with fevers. 
Cumin: Contains anti-inflammatory properties.
Paprika: Contains Vitamin C and high in antioxidants.
Curry Powder: Curry is a mixture of spices.  Which can contain: coriander, turmeric, cumin, fenugreek, and red pepper.  Other spices in curry can also contain: ginger, garlic, fennel seed, clove, cardamom and nutmeg.
Information about these spices were found in the book The Green Pharmacy by James A. Duke, Ph.D.

This post was shared on the Healthy Home Economist Monday Mania for 2/20/2012

Slow Roasted Black Cod

We bought fish from a company called Sea Bear.  They ship directly to your house (or where ever).  So we thought we would try Black Cod.  I have never cooked black cod but have had it out at a restaurant some time or another.  I found this recipe on the Internet (Wrightfood) and thought I would give it a try.  In the original recipe it calls for capers, I usually have them in my kitchen as a staple but for some reason my disappeared and was not replaced.  So instead of running to the store just for capers I decided to make the sauce a lemon butter sauce with a splash of white wine.

Here is the recipe:
Black Cod with Lemon Butter Wine Sauce
Black Cod filets, skin on cut into 2 pieces
olive oil
sea salt
pinch of finely chopped thyme
juice of half a lemon
splash of wine (I am using a Viognier, which we are also drinking with dinner from King Family Vineyards)
3 tablespoons of butter
Take the fish out of the refrigerator, pour some olive oil over the fish and let sit for 15 minutes or so until the fish reaches room temperature (or it no longer feels cold).  Preheat oven to 275 degrees Fahrenheit.  Take the fish and place on a parchment paper lined baking dish.  Sprinkle with a little sea salt, place in oven and bake for 20 minutes (depends on how thick the pieces area) or until fish flakes with a fork.
For the Sauce: Melt about 2 tablespoons butter in a small saucepan.  When the butter has melted add the lemon juice and then whisk in a splash of wine, off the heat add 1 more tablespoon of butter and thyme, whisk until smooth.  Serve over fish.

Glazed Carrots
1 tablespoon butter
1 teaspoon honey
water
chopped parsley
Peel carrots, cut off top and bottom of carrot.  Slice in half and in half again.  You want the carrots to all be roughly the same size when cut so that they take about the same amount of time to cook.  Add the carrots to a skillet along with the butter and honey.  Add enough water to just cover the carrots.  Boil over high heat and then reduce to a strong simmer.  Stir carrots from time to time.  When the liquid begins to thicken and reduce, remove from heat.  Add parsley and toss.

Caesar Salad
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon coarse black pepper
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 to 2 teaspoons sugar
2 pressed garlic cloves
1/4 cup Romano or Parmesan cheese
1 cup vegetable oil or extra virgin olive oil
Mix together.
Add just enough dressing to coat romaine lettuce but not too much.  Sprinkle each salad with fresh grated Parmesan cheese and fresh ground pepper.