comfort food
Spinach & Zucchini Pie – 141
If you’ve read my previous blogs you’ll know that I LOVE to shop at Whole Foods. The last time Eric and I went there, I may have gone a little overboard with the produce – but everything looked so good! I bought a giant container of fresh, organic baby spinach. My plan was to make a Spinach Lasagna (which I did – it was awesome 😉 ); but Eric had warned me that there was still going to be a LOT left over – I disagreed….OK, he was right. So I had to come up with something delicious that would use up the rest of the spinach…that way I’m still technically right and I didn’t waste any food 🙂
Back in the mid 90’s I spent a bunch of time going to clubs in Salisbury and Hampton Beach (Massachusetts and New Hampshire). My friends and I would go and see either Shockwave or Jet City (our two favorite bands) at Bevie B’s or the Kon Tiki or Tequila Jacks (oh..the memories 😈 ) and at the end of the night, once the bars closed down, we would very often visit this little pizza place that was on the strip in Salisbury and order a piece of “Spinach Pie”. Those of you from New England know what I’m talking about. I don’t know if it was the time of night or “other circumstances” that made that pie so delicious, but it sure was tasty! I don’t even want to think about how much fat, salt and calories it contained, I was young, having fun, and I didn’t think about such things.
Now that I’m older (and wiser…no wisecracks…) I want that same delicious spinach pie, without the excessive junk. I think this recipe accomplishes that pretty well. I used a whole wheat pie crust, a mixture of fat-free and low fat cheeses, and added in some zucchini for fun. I made it for dinner last night for me, Eric and Josh and we all had it for lunch today – it’s all gone now…I think that says it all 🙂
Spinach & Zucchini Pie
1 9″ whole wheat pie crust (I use Wholly Wholesome)
1 Tablespoon olive oil
3 large cloves garlic, minced
1 cup onion, chopped
1 – lb. baby spinach
1 large zucchini, chopped
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon basil
1/2 cup feta cheese
1/2 cup Asiago cheese
1/2 cup low-fat mozzarella cheese
4 eggs, beaten
Preheat oven to 350°
Heat olive oil in a skillet over medium heat; add garlic, onion, and zucchini. Saute until the onion is starting to soften. Add the baby spinach in small batches (it will look like way too much, but the spinach wilts down pretty quickly), continue sauteing until all the spinach has been added and is wilted down. Set aside and let cool slightly.
Combine feta, Asiago, and mozzarella cheeses and egg in a large bowl. Add in the cooled spinach mixture and mix well. Pour into the whole wheat pie crust. Bake for approximately 45 minutes or until a knife inserted into the center comes out clean.
Spinach & Mushroom Lasagna – 143
Yesterday Eric and I took a trip to the new Whole Foods that just opened in our area. It’s actually a new location for the Whole Foods that we’ve been visiting for years. Yesterday was the Grand Opening – how could we resist? We made a big list, loaded up the car with our canvas grocery bags and we were on our way!
There was one small crimp in our plan…I had forgotten to write down directions to the new location…ooops 😳 We were almost at the old location when I realized my mistake. Not to worry – I have a GPS and Google Maps on my phone, a couple of wrong turns later and we arrived at our destination. Wow, this place is huge and the parking lot was packed (at 2:00 pm on a Wednesday afternoon – doesn’t anyone work any more?).
The first thing we realized when we walked in was that we had no idea where anything was located. Oh well, they had plenty of samples – fresh strawberries, cantaloupe, cheeses….mmmm. As we made our way around this giant food heaven, I started realizing that our cart had a lot more in it than we had on the list – but how can you resist? The produce is spectacular. I found a huge container of fresh baby spinach and I decided that we were going to cook a vegetarian lasagna for dinner! A few minutes later we arrived at the “Olive Bar” and I saw some beautiful roasted red peppers; another great addition to my lasagna.
Once we arrived at home we had the monumental task of putting away all of this good food and then getting in a P90X workout! We did it, a kick-ass P90X+ Intervals workout, followed by creating a huge pan lasagna, followed by a great bath, followed by eating this amazing creation with a glass of red wine – what a perfect ending to the day 🙂
Spinach & Mushroom Lasagna
1 – 8 oz. box whole wheat lasagna noodles, cooked according to package directions, no salt
1 – 28 oz. can tomato puree (I finally found a large can with no salt – Dei Fratelli brand)
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon basil
1/2 teaspoon oregano
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup onion, chopped
6 cups fresh baby spinach, chopped
1 cup mushrooms, sliced
1/2 teaspoon basil
1/2 teaspoon oregano
2 Tablespoons olive oil
3 cups fat free cottage (or ricotta) cheese
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup fat free feta cheese
1/4 cup egg substitute (or 1 egg)
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
2 cups Mozzarella cheese ( I use 1 cup fat free and 1 cup of regular)
1 large roasted red pepper, sliced into julienne strips
Preheat oven to 375°, spray a 9″ x 13″ pan with cooking spray.
In a large bowl, mix the tomato puree, garlic powder, onion powder, basil, and oregano; set aside. Heat the olive oil in a skillet over medium heat, add onion, garlic, and mushrooms; saute until onion is soft and mushrooms begin to lightly brown, season with basil and oregano. Add in the baby spinach – you’ll need to do this a little at a time. It seems like a ton of spinach, but once it cooks down it’s just right. Once all the spinach has been added and is cooked down; take the pan off the stove and let the mixture cool slightly. In another large bowl mix the cottage cheese, Parmesan, egg, and black pepper; then add in the cooled spinach mixture and blend well.
Now you’re ready to assemble it – put a very thin layer of the puree mixture on the bottom of your prepared 9″ x 13″ pan, followed by a layer of lasagne noodles, spread the noodles with 1/3 of the cheese/spinach mixture, add several strips of roasted red pepper, a layer of Mozzarella – continue until all of the noodles are used up; ending with a last layer of sauce followed by Mozzarella on top. I also added a few last strips of the roasted red pepper on the very top.
Cover with tin foil and bake for 1 hour. Take the foil off and place under the broiler for about 1 minute to lightly brown the top. Now the hardest part – let it sit for at least 15 minutes before cutting into it. 😆
Quick ‘n Easy Chicken Parm – 144
My son came over the other night to watch the Celtics play off game against the Nicks. Just like during football season, we like to DVR the game and watch it without commercials (who wants to watch commercials?). While we were waiting for the recording to get to a point where we wouldn’t “catch up” to it by fast forwarding; we had time to listen to some albums (yes, actual vinyl) and cook a great dinner. I was still recovering from my cold and I was going to just make a quick Chinese stir-fry, but my son suggested “how about chicken parm?”. What a great idea! I hadn’t made it in a long time and my blog is in dire need of some new recipes- perfect! It came together super fast and before you know it we were enjoying an awesome meal and a great Celtics play off win 🙂
Quick ‘n Easy Chicken Parm
1 – lb. 99% fat-free chicken breast, cut into “finger” like strips
1/2 cup seasoned dry bread crumbs
2 Tablespoon grated, low-fat Parmesan cheese
1/2 cup egg substitute
1 Tablespoon olive oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup onion, chopped
1 – 12 oz. package sliced Portobello mushrooms
2 – 15 oz. cans diced tomatoes, no salt added
3 – 8 oz. cans tomato sauce, no salt added
1/2 teaspoon basil
1/2 teaspoon oregano
2 Tablespoons grated, low-fat Parmesan Cheese
1/4 cup fat-free Mozzarella cheese, shredded
1 – 16 oz. package of any 100% whole wheat pasta (I used Rotini), cooked according to package directions – no salt)
Preheat oven to 425°. Heat olive oil in a large skillet. Saute the garlic, onion and mushrooms until soft and lightly browned. (**note** my awesome sous chef is very particular about prepping our chicken, he makes sure that only the best pieces are cut for the recipes and any yucky fat or unpleasant looking veins and tendons are cut out. Sometimes this means that along with these perfect “finger” size strips, I also get some small pieces that don’t really work for breading and baking. This happened with this meal, so I jut took all of the small pieces and sauteed them with the veggies – problem solved!) Add diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, basil and oregano. Cook for several more minutes, until hot and bubbly. Add 2 Tablespoons Parmesan cheese and stir until well combined.
While the sauce is simmering, place a cooling rack on a cookie sheet and spray with cooking spray. Combine break crumbs and 2 Tablespoons Parmesan on a plate. Dip chicken pieces in egg and then dredge in bread crumb mixture. Place chicken on the rack. Bake in oven for approximately 10 – 14 minutes. When done; top with shredded Mozzarella and cook for a couple of more minutes, just until the cheese melts.
Pour the sauce over the cooked pasta (reserving some sauce for the chicken) and mix well. Serve with chicken strips on the side top each piece with some reserved tomato sauce.
Pasta Sauce – 147
Last week a friend of mine posted a comment on Facebook that she was cooking a big “gravy” (apparently that is Italian for “sauce”) complete with meatballs and sausage. This sounded pretty good to me, not too healthy ( 🙄 ), but good. Also, since I don’t eat beef or pork I would be leaving that out. I love all types of pasta (again as my friend pointed out – all pasta is actually “macaroni”) and a fresh homemade sauce sounded like dinner! Since I’m Irish/French and Eric is Italian/French and we’re both into eating healthy; this sauce was going to be a combo of Italian/French/Mediterranean/P90X. I prefer my sauce to be more “chunky-saucy” and less “gravy” so my first step was to enlist my favorite prep cook to chop up some veggies. I also don’t add salt or products containing salt (whenever I can avoid it) to anything, so I am forced to use small cans of tomato sauce. It’s a pain and very wasteful. If anyone knows where I can get no-salt added tomato sauce in cans larger than 8 oz. I will give you a free copy of this cookbook when it’s finished!
Pasta Sauce
1 – 1/4 lbs. 99% fat-free ground turkey
1 Tablespoon olive oil
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon oregano
1/2 teaspoon basil
1/4 teaspoon marjoram
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
3/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon ground savory
1/4 teaspoon ground sage
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1 Tablespoon olive oil
4 cloves garlic, minced
3/4 cup sweet onion, chopped
1 cup mushrooms, sliced
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1 orange bell pepper, chopped
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
3/4 teaspoon oregano
3/4 teaspoon basil
1/4 teaspoon marjoram
4 – 8 oz. cans no-salt added tomato sauce
5 cans no-salt added diced tomatoes
Heat olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add the ground turkey, season with next 9 ingredients and saute until cooked through and nicely browned. In the meantime, in a very large skillet or dutch oven; heat the remaining Tablespoon of olive oil and add the garlic, onion, mushrooms, and peppers; season with the next 4 ingredients. Saute until the peppers are tender crisp. Add the 4 cans of tomato sauce and 2 cans of the diced tomatoes. Place the remaining 3 cans of tomatoes into a blender or food processor and puree them (if I could buy tomato puree with no salt I could eliminate this step). Add the tomato puree to the veggie mixture and blend. Once the turkey is done, add that to the tomato/veggie mixture and mix well. Turn heat to very low and simmer for as long as you can stand it (the smell will be making you crazy 🙂 ). Cook up some whole wheat “macaroni” (pasta) of your choice and enjoy! This makes a TON of sauce, so for the next week or so I’m making Pizza’s, Lasagna, more pasta….yummy!
Mini Pizza – 148
I have to give credit to Eric here, he is my pizza king. These pizzas make a great quick lunch, or (if you can afford the calories) an awesome snack 🙂 We use whole wheat pita bread for the crust, it’s the perfect size, all whole wheat, no fat and it cooks up nice and crisp. If you’d read many of my other recipe blogs, you’ll know that we don’t eat beef or pork…but I’ll bet you’ve noticed there are pepperoni’s in the photo…fooled you…they’re vegan “pepperoni”. I promise you, with all of the other flavors and cooked up with yummy melted cheese on the top, you’ll never miss those greasy, salty, nitrite slices.
Mini Pizza
2 whole wheat pita breads
olive oil (in a spray bottle, if possible – here is a link to one on Amazon for about $10)
1/2 cup low-fat mozzarella cheese, shredded
1/3 cup baby portabella mushrooms, sliced
1/3 cup onion, sliced (sweet yellow is really good, red is awesome)
12 slices of vegan pepperoni (Smart Deli is my favorite)
2 cloves garlic, sliced razor thin (watch “Goodfellas” to observe correct technique)
1 teaspoon fresh basil, minced
1 teaspoon fresh oregano, minced
Sauce:
1 eight ounce can no salt tomato sauce
¼ teaspoon each: garlic powder, onion powder, basil, oregano, onion flakes
1/8 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
Place pizza stone in oven and preheat oven to 500°, when it is preheated, turn it down to 450°.
Spray a light mist of olive oil onto each pita bread. Spread a thin layer (or more if you like it “saucy-ier”), sprinkle each with about 1/4 of the mozzarella. Add the mushrooms, onion, and pepperoni. Top with garlic, remaining cheese, basil, and oregano. Spray with a light mist of olive oil. Place onto pizza stone and cook for approximately 7 – 9 minutes or until nicely browned.
Chicken Broccoli Alfredo – 149
What a crazy few weeks it’s been, in a good way. My website company is super busy – thank you to all of my wonderful new clients for choosing Just Ducky Designs for your on line advertising! I’ve also been working very closely with my favorite website client The Nashville Musician’s Survival Guide (full disclosure here – he’s also my husband 😛 ). We just launched the new online store where you can purchase an advance copy of the book and/or Eric’s CD “Songs Without Words” (individual downloads are also available). Also added to the site is a PDF preview of the actual book, click here to take a look. We are very excited to announce that April 18th is the official release date! Be sure to check out the store and purchase your advance copy to insure that you will be among the first to receive the book (buying it in advance will also help us pay for the upfront printing costs 😳 ).
OK, enough about all that – back to recipes!! The other night as Eric was prepping and I was cooking this delicious meal, I realized that I hadn’t added it to the blog yet. I’ve been making this recipe forever and it’s one of our favorites. It’s yummy, satisfying, and so easy. I hope it will become one of your favorites too!
Chicken Broccoli Alfredo
(or as Eric calls it – Chick-Broc-Alf)
4 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 cup onion, finely chopped
1 Tablespoon olive oil
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon basil
1/2 teaspoon oregano
3 cups broccoli florets
3/4 cup fat-free, low-sodium chicken broth
1 – lb. chicken breast, cubed
2 cups skim milk
2 teaspoons cornstarch
1/3 cup fat-free mozzarella cheese, shredded
1/4 cup low-fat Parmesan cheese, grated
1 – 16 oz. package whole wheat pasta (I used bow ties for this); cooked according to pkg. directions – no salt
In a medium saute pan, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the onion and garlic and saute for 2-3 minutes. Add the broccoli, season with half of the pepper, basil, and oregano; cook for 2 -3 additional minutes. Add the chicken broth; mix well. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 3-4 minutes or until the broccoli is tender-crisp (you don’t want mushy broccoli). Place broccoli mixture into a bowl and keep warm (there will still be a small amount of broth left, keep most of it with the broccoli but leave a little in the saute pan. Add the chicken cubes to the saute pan (you might want to add a teaspoon of olive oil to the pan); season with remaining pepper, basil and oregano. Saute until lightly browned and cooked through. Remove chicken to the bowl with the broccoli mixture. Add almost all of the 2 cups of milk to the pan (reserve about 2 tablespoons of the milk), heat to very hot but not boiling. Mix cornstarch with the reserved milk and whisk into the hot milk in the pan. Continue stirring until the mixture starts to thicken; turn off heat. Whisk in the cheeses until well blended. Stir in the chicken/broccoli mixture and pour everything over the cooked and drained pasta. Serve with a little extra grated Parmesan!
Buffalo Mac & Cheese – 150
The good news is that I am 1/4 of the way to my goal of 200 recipes in 400 days. The bad news is that I only have 206 days to accomplish it 🙁 I will not be discouraged, I am going to keep going and (like Tony says in the P90X workouts) “Do your best and forget the rest”.
I loved the idea of combining spicy buffalo chicken with a creamy mac & cheese. I simply needed to “healthy it up” a bit. It is still spicy, creamy, delicious and as comforting as any mac & cheese you’ve ever had 😉
1 – 16 oz. pkg. of any whole wheat pasta (macaroni is the obvious choice, but any short cut pasta will do; I used rotini in the photo)
1 – lb. 99% fat-free ground turkey (or chicken)
1/3 cup Franks Red Hot wing sauce
2 Tablespoons Smart Balance Light
2 Tablespoons whole wheat flour
2 cups skim milk
1/3 cup shredded low-fat jalapeno cheddar cheese
2/3 cup fat-free cheddar cheese
1/3 cup low-fat blue cheese, crumbled
3/4 cup whole wheat dried bread crumbs (seasoned with 1 teaspoon chili powder)
Preheat oven to 350°
Saute the ground turkey in a skillet over medium high heat until cooked through and lightly browned. Turn heat down to very low and add the wing sauce; mix well. While the turkey is browning, cook the pasta according to package directions (no salt) and drain. Put the pasta back into it’s pan and add the turkey mixture; cover and keep warm. In the same skillet, on medium low heat, melt the smart balance. Sprinkle in the flour and cook and until well incorporated. Whisk in the milk and keep whisking until the mixture is smooth. Add in the cheese (one cheese at a time and whisk well after each addition). Pour cheese sauce over the pasta/turkey, mix well and then pour into a 9″ x 13″ casserole dish that has been sprayed with fat-free cooking spray. Sprinkle breadcrumbs over the top; cover and bake for 25 minutes; remove the cover and bake for an additional 5 – 10 minutes (until the breadcrumbs are lightly browned).