Spinach Spread w Mushroom and Tomato

Cheese and Spinach Spread with Mushrooms and Tomatoes

1 1/4 cups sour cream
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon minced garlic (4-5 cloves)
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
Salt and white or black pepper to taste
2 cups (8 oz.) Shredded Mozzarella & Provolone Cheese
1 package (10 oz.) frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry*
1 can (14 1/2 oz.) diced tomatoes with garlic, drained
1 (8 oz.) package sliced fresh mushrooms
1/2 cup (2 oz.) Shredded Parmesan Cheese, divided

Preheat oven to 350°F. Combine sour cream, olive oil, garlic, nutmeg,
salt, pepper and Mozzarella cheese in blender or food processor. Blend
until smooth.

Fold in spinach, tomatoes, mushrooms and 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese.
Transfer to 10-inch baking dish and top with remaining cheese. Bake
30-40 minutes until cheese is melted. Serve warm with toasted pita bread
triangles, chips or breadsticks.

Do-Ahead Tip:
Conveniently, this tastes even better when made
one day ahead and reheated.

*Cooking Tip if using fresh spinach instead of frozen:
Use 10 oz. baby spinach leaves and cook spinach for
3 minutes in 2 tablespoons water in saucepan over low
to medium heat. Stir gently until wilted. Rinse in cold
water, drain well and squeeze dry.

Quesadilla Triangles

Cheese, Chorizo and Bean Quesadilla Triangles

3rd Quarter
1 1/2 lbs. spicy breakfast sausage
1/2 teaspoon chili flakes
1 can (30 oz.) refried beans
2 cups (8 oz.) Shredded Authentic Mexican Cheese, divided
1 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1 cup chopped fresh green onions
10 (7-inch) flour tortillas
3 tablespoons vegetable oil, divided
Guacamole and salsa for toppings

Do-Ahead Tip: The chorizo, bean and cheese mixture can be
made a day ahead of time.

Crumble chorizo and brown with chili flakes in skillet until crisp, about 8
minutes, and drain on paper towels. In a bowl, mix chorizo with refried beans and
1 cup cheese.

Preheat oven to 450°F. Brush 1-1/2 Tbsp. oil over one side of 5 tortillas. Place
oiled sides down on foil-lined baking sheet. Set remaining 5 tortillas aside.
Spoon 3-4 generous tablespoons chorizo mixture on each of the five tortillas on
the baking sheet and evenly flatten and spread to edges with back of spoon. Top
each tortilla with 3 generous tablespoons each, of chopped cilantro and green
onion. Sprinkle each with 3 generous tablespoons cheese. Place remaining
5 tortillas on top of the others, pressing down to secure filling. Brush each tortilla
top with remaining oil.

Bake until golden brown on one side, about 5 minutes. Turn over with big
spatula to brown other side and until cheese is melted. Cut into 6 triangles per
tortilla round, platter and serve with guacamole and salsa.

Polenta Pesto

Polenta Pesto Crescents

1 tube (16 oz.) pre-cooked polenta, cut into 1/2-inch slices and cut into halves
Olive oil cooking spray
1 cup (4 oz.) Shredded Mozzarella
& Provolone Cheese
1/2 cup (4 oz.) finely chopped pitted black olives
4 tablespoons finely chopped fresh basil
Fresh black pepper to taste
1/2 cup (4 oz.) pesto sauce, drained

Do-Ahead Tip: You can prepare the polenta base a
few days ahead. Polenta should be stored in an
airtight container in the refrigerator.

Preheat oven to 400°F.
Spray each side of sliced polenta with cooking spray and place on foil-lined
baking sheet. Bake 8-10 minutes; turn and bake 8 - 10 minutes more.
In a bowl, mix cheese, olives, basil and pepper. Spread each polenta crescent
with a teaspoon pesto sauce. Top each with 1 Tbsp. cheese mixture. Broil 2-3
minutes until cheese is melted, bubbly and golden. Platter and serve immediately.

Site of the Day

I have so much to do today, but I'm giddily distracted by this:
http://www.vegcooking.com/cookbooks.asp

Maybe if I behave and be responsible today, then I can reward myself at Barnes and Noble next week. You think?

Lemon Supreme

I just realized I forgot Bonnie's birthday! Last year I gave her something fudgy and decadent. This year, something light and refreshing I think.

Lemon Supreme Pound Cake

4 eggs
1 pkg lemon cake mix
1 pkg vanilla instant pudding mix
3/4 c water
1/2 c oil
1 T lemon juice

2 c confectioner's sugar
1/3 c orange juice

Beat eggs until thick and lemon colored. Add cake, dry pudding,
lemon juice, water and oil. Mix well. Pour into ungreased 10 in.
tube pan w removable bottom. Bake at 350 for 50 minutes or
until done. Remove cake from oven and prick hot cake w fork.
Drizzle glaze over top and sides.

Glaze:
Combine confectioner's sugar and orange juice and gently heat
to boiling.

Note: I'm going to use this in a 9x13 instead and adjust the cooking time accordingly. Also going to add about 3 handfuls of blueberries for fun :)

Potato Indulgence

Gleaned from Serious Eats.

Loaded Baked Potato Potato Chip Nachos

- serves 4 to 8 -

Ingredients

1 seven-ounce bag of kettle-cooked potato chips
1 medium russet potato, peeled, and cut into 1-inch cubes
1/2 cup whole milk
1 tablespoon butter
Salt and pepper
4 strips thick-cut bacon -- (veggie bacon for the rest of us)
1 cup grated extra sharp cheddar cheese
2 to 3 scallions, sliced
1/4 cup sour cream

Procedure

1. Preheat the oven to 400°F.

2. Place the peeled and cubed potato in a small sauce pan, and just cover it with cold water and a pinch of salt. Place the lid on the pot, crank the heat up to high, and cook the potatoes until they are fork tender.

3. To make the mashed potato topping, drain the potatoes and put them back in their hot pot (but not on a lit burner), just so a bit of the excess moisture will evaporate. Then pass the potatoes through a ricer, and add the butter and milk to the potatoes and mix to combine. Season with salt and pepper. If you do not have a ricer, don't despair. Just add the butter and milk to the chunks of potatoes and mash with a potato masher.

4. For the bacon bits, slice each thick-cut strip of bacon in half lengthwise, and then cut the thin strips about every quarter inch to create little squares. Put the bacon pieces into a small sauté pan over medium to medium-high heat, and cook until crisp, but not crisp all the way through, because they will continue to crisp slightly when you melt the cheese in the oven, and you don't want them to burn. Drain on a paper towel.

5. Fill an oven-safe wide plate with the chips. You don't need to use all of each topping; really, when building nachos, it depends on which chips and which dish you end up choosing. So just dollop away to your preference. Begin first with the mashed potatoes, then the extra sharp cheddar cheese, then the bacon bits, and lastly the scallions. Place the plate on a baking sheet, and bake for 10 minutes in the 400°F oven.

6. Lastly, dollop some sour cream over the top of the nachos, and serve straight from the oven, hot and gooey and really, really good.

Variation from heelsonbricks: Another variation of potato chip nachos that I love is to sprinkle kettle chips with gorgonzola, bake until the cheese is softened, and drizzle on some reduced balsamic vinegar. Mmm.

Italian Vegetable Bake

It's so cold outside right now. Days like this I always seem to gravitate towards my oven in search of warmth and comfort. This looks good for tonight's dinner. I think I'll saute' some Terkettes in olive oil and garlic and Italian seasoning and add it into the veggie mix. Looks like it could use some other tweaking as well. The more I think about it, this would be an easy base for soup. Maybe throw in some tortellini or gnochhi? As is, serve it over noodles for the DD's, over roasted potatoes for the DH. Y'know, I bet this would be yummy over garlic parmesan couscous or Italian polenta, too. Feedback, as always, is much appreciated. :)

Italian Vegetable Bake

Serves: 18
Serving Size: 1/2 cup

This colorful low-sodium cholesterol-free vegetable baked dish is prepared without any added fat.

INGREDIENTS
1 can (28 oz.) whole tomatoes
1 medium onion, sliced
1/2 lb. fresh green beans, sliced
1/2 lb. fresh okra, cut into 1/2" pieces or 3/4 cup (1/2 10 oz. pkg) frozen okra
3/4 cup finely chopped green pepper
2 tablespoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon chopped fresh basil, or 1 teaspoon dried basil, crushed
1-1/2 teaspoons chopped fresh oregano leaves, or 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano, crushed
3 medium (7" long) zucchini, cut into 1" cubes
1 medium eggplant, pared and cut into 1" cubes
2 tablespoons grated parmesan cheese

DIRECTIONS
1. Drain and coarsely chop tomatoes. Save liquid.
2. Mix together tomatoes and reserved liquid, onion, green beans, okra, green pepper, lemon juice, and herbs.
3. Cover and bake at 325º F for 15 minutes.
4. Mix in zucchini and eggplant and continue baking, covered, 60-70 more minutes or until vegetables are tender. Stir occasionally.
5. Sprinkle top with parmesan cheese just before serving.


NUTRITION INFO
(per serving)
Calories: 33.0
Fat: 0.2 g
Carbohydrates: 7.5 g
Protein: 1.8 g

Sweet Potato-Leek Gratin

Doesn't this one look good???

Baked Sweet Leek and sweet potato gratin

From Vegetarian times, Feb 2009

• 1 1/2 Tbs EVOO, divided
• 3 medium leeks, white and green parts chopped (6 cups)
• 3 cloves of garlic minced
• 3 Tbs chopped fresh rosemary, divided
• 2 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/8 in thick slices
• 1/2 cup veggie broth
• 3 Tbs Italian dry breadcrumbs

!. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees and spray a 10 inch round pan.

2. Saute leeks garlic and half the rosemary, about 8 min (in a Tbs EVOO)

3. Arrange 1/3 sweet potatoes over bottom of pan, overlapping slightly, spread half leek mixture on top. Repeat. Drizzle broth over, cover with foil and bake for 35 minutes.

4. stir breadcrumbs, rosemary and EVOO together, remove foil, sprinkle with bread crumbs and bake 15 more minutes.

**** Try adding nutritional yeast to each layer and make the bread crumbs from scratch and add nutritional yeast. Gonna be delicious!

The "go-to" recipe

Everyone I know has a "go-to" recipe. If they can't think of what to make or bring, they always make their "go-to". I have a few of these go-to's.... Anyone wanna try this one?

This is something you can use as a side dish, a snack, a condiment, anything, and you can add all kinds of things to it.

1 can diced tomatoes
1 can chickpeas, drained but not rinsed
1 cup green olives, halved
2 tbsp parsley
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 drizzle olive oil
Garlic to taste

Mix all ingredients, and if you can, let it sit in the fridge for as long as possible. Its always better the next day, but I usually can't wait that long.

I have also used kidney beans, and a mixture of chickpea and fava beans, and sometimes add some diced onion.

I eat it right out of the bowl, but DH likes to dip bread or garlic bagel crisps in it.

The Magical Loaf Studio

Everyone has their favorite sites to visit and revisit. I recently ran across this one, The Magical Loaf Studio. And since I'm looking hi and low for the perfect recipe for my Super Bowl Sliders, this seems to be the site of the day for me. And so, I share. Enjoy! And I'd love to hear if any of you have already found the magic combination of yummy..... do tell!! :)