Spinach Quiche

So, yeah, I got an iPad.  I suppose I'll blog about that sometime on my regular blog.  Maybe not.  Anyways, I've been very much enjoying the ease and convenience of my new Epicurious app.  We've still got this breakfast for dinner tradition going on Sundays, and one thing I haven't been enjoying about it is that it seems most breakfast foods take little prep.  I can't take the leisure time available to me on Sundays to do something I truly enjoy:  cooking.  I love a good long cooking prep session as long as the product is a healthy meal that I can really be proud of (and if I get help tending Jaime, which is also available to me on Sundays).  But, I decided the problem is only for lack of effort on my part.  There are plenty of breakfast foods that involve the kind of prep that makes me feel good and proud of my cooking - chopping lots and lots of produce.

On this particular occasion I had spinach to use up and began my search for a spinach quiche.  I found a a great recipe that I then altered to include even more produce and was very proud of the result.  I've always had the feeling quiche was pretty unhealthy but I'm really happy with this quiche recipe.  I basically filled up the homemade pie shell with sauteed produce and then poured a mixture of eggs and cottage cheese to fill in the holes.



Spinach Quiche

• 1 TB olive oil
• 1 onion
• 1 red bell pepper
• 1 bunch of spinach (or a 10 oz package frozen chopped spinach)
• 1 pie crust
• 1 tsp flour
• 1/2 cup monterey jack cheese
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan
• 4 eggs
• 1/2 cup lowfat cottage cheese
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp pepper
• 1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
• 1/8 tsp dillweed

Saute onion and pepper over med-high heat in olive oil until onion is translucent, about 8 minutes.  Add spinach and stir until spinach is dry, about 3 minutes.  Cool slightly.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Sprinkle both cheeses over bottom of crust.  Top with spinach mixture.  Beat eggs, cottage cheese, and spices in large bowl to blend.  Pour over spinach mixture and bake until filling is set, about 50 minutes.  Cool slightly, cut into wedges and serve.

Beet Greens

We got some beats from the ward garden.  We are still experimenting with the actual beats, but in the meantime we've discovered a salad we like to use up beat greens.  It's delicious and healthy.  Enjoy!





Beat Green Salad

• 2 bunches beat greens
• salt and pepper to taste
• 3 TB olive oil
• 1 clove garlic, finely chopped
• 2 TB lemon juice
• 1/4 red onion, chopped
• 1 ripe tomato, chopped
• 1/4 cup almonds, toasted until golden

Rinse the greens thoroughly.  Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.  Add the greens and remove after 1 minute (blanching).  Drain and rinse with cold water.  Squeeze out the excess liquid and chop coarsely.  In a large skillet, heat 2 TB olive oil then add greens, garlic, salt and pepper.  Stir constantly for 2 minutes until the greens are tender but still brightly colored.  Transfer to a bowl.  Whisk lemon juice, salt, pepper and 1 TB olive oil together separately, pour over the greens and toss.  Add onion, tomato and almonds.  Toss again.  

Garlic Roasted Summer Squash

I found this recipe through a google search (go figure) the other day when I wanted a side dish for some yummy whole wheat pasta.  It turned out better than I thought it would, maybe because of all the oil?  I think my cooking standards dip lower than normal during pregnancy, so sue me.  We all loved it and couldn't get enough.  I didn't measure any of the ingredients, just used the recipe as a guideline and eye-balled it all, making some substitutions.  Try it out with what you have in your kitchen.

Garlic Roasted Summer Squash

• 2 summer squash
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tsp herbes de Provence [substituted with rosemary, thyme, marjoram and fresh mint from the front yard, diced]
• salt
• pepper

Trim ends of squash and cut into thin wedges, lengthwise.  Toss the squash in a bag or bowl with the rest of the ingredients.  Spread on baking sheet and roast 5-10 minutes at 450 degrees.

Shepherd's Nachos

Just dropping in to share a unique idea Justin came up with and I brought to fruition for lunch today.  Mashed potatoes topped with beef, red bell pepper, onions and black beans (cooked and seasoned with taco seasoning), sprinkled with cheese and dolloped with sour cream and salsa.  We ate it with corn tortilla chips.

Enjoy!

Breakfast for Dinner

We're trying out a new tradition of having breakfast for dinner on Sundays.  At first it was really hard to stick to because I could only think of the same handful of things to make, but lately we've gotten more creative.

Breakfast Pizza


Make a regular pizza "breakfast themed" by adding breakfast sausage and a good amount of drizzled egg.  This one had tomatoes, bell peppers, onions, sausage, eggs and cheese.  Delicious and incredibly filling.

Homemade English Muffins


Got the recipe here.  Make the dough, roll it out, cut 'em out, let 'em rise, and cook 'em in a skillet.



We made ours into breakfast sandwiches by splitting them and adding egg, summer sausage and cheese.



So delicious!

2 New Treats

Remember how delicious my lemon cheesecake is?  Yeah.  You'll love this.  We had an extra package of cream cheese and an extra container of cool whip left over from the holiday yesterday.  I put them to use in a new creation - my lemon cheesecake recipe turned into a lighter, firmer creamy lemon mousse.  It is delicious and everyone loved it!



Lemon Cheesecake Mousse

• 1 graham cracker crust
• 8oz cream cheese
• 1 can sweetened condensed milk
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1/3 cup lemon juice
• 8oz cool whip

Use a hand mixer to smooth the cream cheese; add milk and vanilla and beat until smooth.  Add lemon juice and beat until smooth.  Add cool whip and beat just until combined (do not over beat or the cool whip will get runny).  Pour into graham cracker crust and let set in the refrigerator for at least 3 hours.

I created this next tantalizing treat a couple of weeks ago.  Again we had two items that needed to be used up...is that how all of my new creations are made?  It could be.  This time the two items were a devil's food cake mix that was past its expiration date and a can of coconut milk that Jaime ripped the label off of.  The result was a succulent better-than-whatever style chocolate coconut cupcake with Nutella frosting.  If I could change one thing about what I did, it would be to make it in cake form instead of cupcakes.  There are other issues, such as it's overly intense richness and the stiffness of the frosting...but I'll leave that up to you to experiment with.

Coconut Nutella Cupcakes

• 1 box Devil's Food cake mix
• 1 can sweetened condensed milk
• 1 can coconut milk
• butter
• powdered sugar
• Nutella
• strawberries, or other garnish

Make cake mix according to package directions and add 1/2 can of coconut milk to batter before baking.  Let cake cool and then poke holes in it as you do when making 'better-than-whatever' cake (for cupcakes I used a chopstick for smaller holes).  Combine the rest of the coconut milk with sweetened condensed milk and pour into holes.  Make Nutella frosting by creaming butter, adding powdered sugar and then adding Nutella.  Enjoy!

Tell me what you think, what you'd do differently, or if you do make them, how they turn out!

Sausage and Pepper Penne Salad

We've been busy on the salads this week. This won't be the last one. This was a meaty, grilled winner, and could easily be modified using Italian or any other sausage or skipping the meat entirely. Go with what makes you happy. Also, this is a biggie—it served 7 of us as a main dish, so scale down as needed, or invite someone over to help.

Grilled Sausage and Pepper Penne Salad

2 pounds fresh kielbasa, grilled to perfection

3 bell peppers, various colors, roasted or grilled, then diced

1 pound penne, cooked and drained

2 cups fresh spinach, chopped

2 large, ripe tomatoes, chopped

1 cup shredded cheese

Dressing:

1/2 cup [light] mayonnaise

2 Tbsp red wine vinegar, or to taste

salt and pepper

Combine salad ingredients in a large bowl and toss together. Combine dressing ingredients and pour over, then mix well. Want more mayo? Add it. Need a little more vinegar tang like I did? pour it in! This is a great salad for using up leftovers.