Showing posts with label comfort food. Show all posts
Showing posts with label comfort food. Show all posts

Baked Spinach & Eggs: The New Face of Comfort Food

9:58 AM | Labels: , , , , , ,



Comfort food. You think of lots of butter and heavy cream, right? Biscuits and gravy, chicken pot pie, macaroni and cheese – meals you guilt yourself about eating but that make you feel warm and safe when you do. I’m convinced that it doesn’t have to be that way. I love comfort food, yet I really hate heavy foods that feel like a ton of bricks settled in the pit of your stomach by the time you reach the bottom of the bowl. Lighter foods can still be comforting, can still evoke that warm and safe feeling so traditionally associated with those heavier meals. No guilt required (not that I think you should guilt yourself about anyfood decision – make your food choice mindfully, and enjoy whatever that choice may be; if you can’t eat it shamelessly, it isn’t worth it, if you ask me).

This dish – baked spinach with eggs – was loosely adapted from the Smitten Kitchen, and by loosely, I mean I changed very little about it aside from cracking an egg into the dish during the last few minutes of cooking. I also swapped all of the butter for olive oil and used whole wheat, homemade bread crumbs, not that there’s really anything wrong with a little bit of butter here or there; I just didn’t have any on hand, and was curious to see if the olive oil would be successful. I do, however, have serious issues with store-bought bread crumbs, when homemade are so much healthier and ridiculously easy to make. But I’m no doppelganger hanging out on your shoulder while you cook, so don’t let that guilt settle in if you like and happen o keep store bought crumbs in stock – remember what I just said about guilt? Yeah, it’s lame. If you like shake-n-bake, use it as proudly as I use my food-processed whole grain bread butts. (But if you haven’t tried making your own, I highly recommend it.)

 
But alas, I digress. This dish is so much more than olive oil and bread crumbs. The spinach is light and not soggy or greasy or slimy the way that some cooked spinach dishes can become – it tastes about as fresh as cooked spinach can possibly taste. The smoked cheddar cheese gives off this poser-bacon flavor and the eggs really come in with a protein/nutrition 1-2 punch. And did I mention it’s low-carb? Well, low-carb unless you choose to pair it with a warm, fresh loaf of bread – which is absolutely a fantastic decision, though I didn’t do that. Even without any herbs and spices, this is seriously one of the best recipes I’ve made in a long time, and I’ll be the first to admit that I use my seasonings (except salt) with a heavy hand. And comfort food? Folks, you have not tasted comfort food until you’ve tasted this baked spinach and egg dish. Forget your Aunt’s famous pot pie or your husband’s great-grandma’s secret recipe for biscuits. This is the new face of comfort food: healthy instead of heavy, without sacrificing any of the warmth and happiness that comes with taking that first bite. And then the second. And then the third. And then…

By the way, do not be intimidated by this recipe. It looks long, but it goes very smoothly and is very intuitive. If you need to, take a deep breath (I know I did!), and give it a shot, because it’s not a difficult recipe and the pay-off is absolutely incredible in the end.


One Year Ago: Savory Baked Eggs with Veggies, Sophisticated Stuffed Mushroom Caps

Baked Spinach with Eggs
This dish proves that comfort food doesn’t have to weigh you down and tempt you with that pesky feeling of guilt. It is light yet unquestionably filling and satisfying, and packed with a whole heck of a lot of nutrients. If you’re not comforted when you eat this dish, I want emails.

Yield: 6 servings
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes
(printable recipe)

The Ingredients
3 pounds fresh spinach
3 ½ tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
freshly ground black pepper
1 ½ tablespoons whole wheat flour
1 cup stock
¾ cup grated smoked cheddar cheese
2 tablespoons whole grain, homemade bread crumbs
6 eggs

The Method
Preheat the oven to 375° Fahrenheit and lightly grease a 1-quart baking dish; set aside.

Wash the spinach and, without drying, place in a large pot set over high heat. Cover and cook, stirring occasionally, until all of the spinach has wilted, 2-4 minutes. Transfer the cooked spinach to a colander and pour a bowl of very cold water over it to shock it and stop the cooking. Working in batches, gently squeeze the spinach by hand to drain as much water as possible. Coarsely chop the spinach and set aside momentarily.1

Meanwhile, heat 2 tablespoons of oil in the pot you just used for the spinach and lower the heat to moderately high. Add the spinach, cooking 2-3 minutes to remove any moisture you weren’t able to squeeze out by hand. When the spinach starts to stick to the pan, it’s ready.

Lower the heat and sprinkle the spinach with the flour, stirring for 2 minutes before adding in the stock. Scrape the bottom of the pan for stuck spinach. Bring the mixture to a simmer briefly, 1-2 minutes, stirring frequently. Season with freshly ground black pepper.

Stir 1 cup of the cheese into the spinach and transfer the mixture to the prepared baking dish. In a separate, smaller bowl, mix the remaining cheese and olive oil with the breadcrumbs and sprinkle over the top of the spinach.2 Bake in the oven for approximately 15 minutes before removing to crack the eggs over the top of the spinach (try to distribute them evenly, dividing the baking dish into 6 “portions”) and return to the oven to continue cooking the egg. For a runny egg, cook for 15 minutes; for a more solid baked egg, cook for 20 minutes.

Notes:
1This can be done up to a day in advance and stored, covered, in the refrigerator until needed.
2The recipe can be followed up to this point (full assembly of dish) ahead of time, covered and refrigerated until needed. Simply resume cooking instructions from this point 30 minutes before serving.


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Posted by toni

Thirty Minute Thursdays: The Chili for "Veg-Heads" that even the "meat-heads" in our lives will love!

1:45 PM | Labels: , , , ,


Chili is, perhaps, the greatest dish ever invented, and it’s perfect for the kind of weather dampening the mood outside my window. It’s grey, cold and wet, and quite frankly, nothing much sounds better to me right now than a pair of comfy sweatpants and a nice, hot bowl of chili. It’s comfort food turned healthy (well, usually – the way I make it, it is!). It can be spicy to add a different kind of heat to warm me up, and it’s really filling. To me, you can eat it any number of ways – with cornbread or without, with a dollop of greek yogurt or not, piled high with cheese and toppings, or bare bones and beautiful.

The recipe I have for you today is definitely spicy, definitely filling, and beyond satisfying. It doesn’t have too many toppings, though you could certainly add them – just a sprinkling of tortilla chips for crunch and, though I didn’t think to do this at the time, a dollop of greek yogurt to cool your taste buds down just a little bit with each bite. That’s all this meal needs. It’s also vegetarian, which is really how I prefer my chilis anyway. I’ve had some fantastic turkey chilis, some phenomenal beef ones, but in the end there’s something so great about a bowl of beans and vegetables in a thick, tomato sauce. Even if you’re not a vegetarian, you can definitely get behind this one. And, as the top of the recipe indicates in Rachael’s notes section – the leftovers only get better, which is so true. So make this, make a lot of it, and enjoy every bite. In the margins of this recipe I wrote GOOD! – capitals, underlining, and all. There’s no reason to be shy about how much I enjoyed this dish. Rachael Ray, you certainly hit it out of the park with this one!



One Year Ago: Very Veggie “Mac-n-Cheese” Spaghetti

Chili for “Veg Heads,” adapted from Rachael Ray’s Classic 30 Minute Meals
Yield: 4-5 servings
(printable recipe)

The Ingredients
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 medium onion, chopped
1 medium bell pepper, seeded and chopped
1 jalapeno pepper, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup chicken or vegetable broth
32 ounces (no salt added) crushed tomatoes
14 ounces black beans, drained and rinsed well
14 ounces red kidney beans, drained and rinsed well
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1 ½ tablespoons chili powder
several healthy shakes (8-10) of hot sauce
1 cup spicy vegetarian refried beans1
sliced scallions, for garnish
tortilla chips, for garnish or dipping
Plain greek yogurt, for garnish

The Method
Place the oil in a medium-large saucepot over medium-high heat. Once hot, add the onion and peppers, sautéing and stirring for 3-4 minutes. Stir in the garlic and cook 1 more minute, then pour in the broth, scraping up the debris from the bottom of the pan. Reduce the liquid by half, cooking 2-3 minutes, before stirring in the tomatoes, beans, seasonings, and hot sauce. Once heated through, mix in the refried beans to thicken.

Serve chili topped with coarsely crushed tortilla chips, sliced scallions, and a dollop of greek yogurt.

Notes:
1Quick tip! Make your own – it’s so easy, ridiculously cheap, and super healthy, plus you can add whatever spices or ingredients you want. I used a recipe that I found at GNOWFGLINS.





 


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Posted by toni

Oh the weather outside is frightful, but this Ground Turkey Casserole is so delightful...

8:26 AM | Labels: , , ,


Just this past week, the sun was shining and I wasn’t even wearing a jacket to go outside. Now, I’m sitting in bed staring out the window as snowflakes fall gently to the already-white ground. Go figure. No, but really, as much as I smile into the sun and grumble about cold fronts, I feel better about this weather. After all, it is February and I’m currently situated in central Pennsylvania; anything less than the weather falling down upon the grass and lake behind L’s dorm building is, quite frankly, unnatural.

The other relieving part about Mother Nature finally deciding to switch over to winter is that I can really get behind telling you about this recipe for a ground turkey casserole. I did love breaking up the parade of heavy winter dishes with the light avocado salad on Thursday, but it’s just as nice to have this warm and comforting, yet ultimately healthy version of a comfort food to counter it today. Life is all about balance, no?

This casserole brings a meek heat, just as though the spices from the rotel tomatoes were peeking around a corner, asking not to be forgotten completely. It’s creamy in a respectful way, so you can indulge in flavor without feeling weighed down by the end of the meal. The only change that I would make, which should really come to no surprise to you by now when it comes to the meat meals that I cook, is to supplement some of the turkey with some beans or extra vegetables. I definitely like the meat in my recipes to get nominated for Best Supporting Actor, while leaving the starring role to the plant-based ingredients. Still, it tasted delicious as it was, so if you come from a more meat-centric household, I certainly wouldn’t fault you for leaving this as is.

 
One Year Ago: Classic Chocolate Cake with Ganache Frosting

Ground Turkey Casserole, adapted from SI Money Savers
Yield: 6 servings
(printable recipe)

The Ingredients
1-2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 pound ground turkey breast
1 medium chopped red onion
2 celery stalks, diced
15 ounces (no salt added) tomato sauce
10 ounces rotel tomatoes
½ teaspoon dried oregano
½ teaspoon dried basil
1 cup kale, chopped
½ cup (low-fat or skim) milk
4 ounces (non-fat) plain greek yogurt
2 tablespoons minced garlic
1 cup cooked brown rice
5 tablespoons nutritional yeast flakes1
freshly ground black pepper, to taste

The Method
Preheat the oven to 375° Fahrenheit and lightly coat an 8 inch square baking dish with nonstick spray.

Place the oil in a large skillet over medium heat and, once heated, add in the turkey, onion and celery. Continue to cook, breaking up the turkey until it is nearly or completely done (no pink should remain). Stir in the tomato sauce, rotel, oregano, and basil, allowing the mixture to come to a boil. Reduce the heat, cover, and simmer for approximately 5 minutes. Stir in the kale and continue simmering for another 5 or so minutes.

Meanwhile, combine the milk, yogurt, and garlic in a small, separate saucepan. Stir the mixture constantly over medium-low heat until well blended, then mix in the rice. Add the rice mixture to the turkey off heat and fold to incorporate well. Season with salt and pepper, pour into the baking dish, and sprinkle with the nutritional yeast flakes. Bake in the preheated oven for 20-30 minutes until it is heated through and bubbly; check on it halfway through and cover if browning too quickly. Remove from the oven and let rest 5 minutes before serving.

Notes:
1Nutritional Yeast Flakes are a vegan-friendly alternative to cheese in that they impart a cheesy flavor without using any animal/lactose products. They’re excellent sources of fiber and protein, yet low in fat, making them even more enticing additions to a healthy meal. You can find them at many grocery stores, including Wegman’s (in bulk) and Whole Foods. But, if they’re really not your thing, you can use 1 ½ cups shredded cheese, as the original recipe indicated.



 


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Posted by toni

Thirty Minute Thursdays: Not-So-Traditional Caponata

11:52 AM | Labels: , , , , ,


Snow. In October. I know that’s not so uncommon in parts of this country, but for here, it’s a little disheartening. True, I may be speaking too soon – right now the precipitation is cold, wet rain, but the temperatures are preparing to plummet and I can feel the rain clouds getting ready to turn into snow clouds. I almost feel as though I’ve been robbed of autumn: it was so warm throughout September, and just when the leaves were turning and the crisp air came in, we get hit with this unseasonably cold front. My meals have consisted of chili, soup, and more soup, and the bundles of firewood at the grocery store have come very close to finding their way into my cart.

Enter Rachael Ray’s Emmanuel Nini’s Caponata – and if that’s not enough of a mouthful for you, I don’t know what is! This is another reliable recipe from her Classic 30 Minute Meals cookbook, but not one that I went stark-raving-mad over. It was a standard, perfect-for-cold-weather meal: warm and comforting, though not wildly seasoned so ultimately pretty simple. Every once in a while you get a sweet burst from a hidden raisin, which is a really nice surprise. I ate it with some toast, but I think it would make an even better chunky, hearty sauce for pasta. Later on I snacked on some leftovers with added parmesan cheese and a dollop of plain greek yogurt, and then that meal had me at hello! It was creamy, and absolutely killer. I broke tradition, I know, and may not even be allowed to call it a caponata anymore, but I’m including that dollop of yogurt in the recipe below because it was fantastic.

I took some other liberties, nixing the capers and olives (those pesky salt monsters!), using all green peppers because my poor little red one was infested with mold when I cut into it, and opting for a full can of diced tomatoes with added time for reducing/thickening because when you try to scale down the recipe, you’re left with two half-containers of different tomato products.  The only other change I would make, and it’s really not so much a change, would be to serve it with a fresh side salad for extra crunch and freshness.

Not-Really-Anymore-Emmanuel Nini’s Caponata, adapted from Rachael Ray’s Classic 30 Minute Meals
Yield: 6-8 servings
(printable recipe)

The Ingredients
4 large cloves garlic, minced
½ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
3 tablespoons olive oil
¼ cup (packed) golden raisins
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1 medium Spanish onion, chopped
1 medium eggplant, chopped
1 celery heart, chopped
32 ounces diced tomatoes
13 ounces crushed tomatoes
chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
3 ounces pine nuts, toasted
1/3 – ½ cup plain non-fat greek yogurt (optional)
¼ cup parmesan cheese (optional)
cooked pasta, for serving

The Method
Heat the garlic, red pepper flakes, and olive oil in a deep skillet or pot over medium, and sauté until the garlic begins to sizzle. Add in the raisins, peppers, onion, eggplant, and celery. Cook, covered, while stirring occasionally, until the eggplant begins to break down, 7-10 minutes. Stir in the tomatoes and parsley and cook long enough to heat through, then turn off the heat. Stir in the yogurt and cheese, if using, and serve hot over pasta (or any temperature with bread). Sprinkle with pine nuts just before serving.





 

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Posted by toni

Down Home Chicken 'n Dumpling Pie

9:56 AM | Labels: , , ,


The east coast has been hit yet again, but this time with a soft, powdery blanket that makes a snow day all that much more enjoyable. The ordeal of shoveling diminishes into a minor chunk of work taken out of an otherwise peaceful day, where schools are closed and families are home, but we are not all completely stranded by blizzard-level accumulation. As much as I dislike the cold, I love a snowy winter, and what's more, I love the food that it evokes. I haven't had hot chocolate yet and I did just eat a salad for lunch instead of a body-warming soup, but the dish that I have for you today is the epitome of snow day suppers: chicken 'n dumpling pie.

As with most casserole or classic meals that I make, this one is loosely based off of the recommendations of several online recipes I found. I didn't really go out and shop for ingredients, except for the chicken which I didn't have on hand; mostly, I used what was in my kitchen, and I think that's what makes this dish so perfect. It's malleable and forgiving, but no matter what you throw into it, it's a comfort to eat it. There's just something about a snow storm that makes me want to gather around a table with a group of people and eat something tried-and-true, a classic American specialty.

With all of this being said, I'm not a die-hard fan of pot pies. Nowadays, I can't go around eating most of them because of the pie crust ingredients, but even back when I didn't give a hoot about nutrition and what type of fat was in my food, I just didn't go crazy over this meal. I find the filling to be lackluster or, if it does have a flavor, overly salted - neither one of which flies in the Floptimism kitchen. I won't say that this dumpling pie is a complete revolution to this stigma I've attached to chicken pot pie and its relatives; it is not robustly flavorful in the way that an Asian stir-fry or Indian chutney is, but it is richer than most pot pies and chicken casseroles I've encountered. I enjoyed it; it warmed me up and comforted me, and left me very satisfied. And I have to admit, the warm-and-fuzzy emotions the are created by eating this with loved ones on a cold and potentially stormy night trumps complex spices and zesty flavor any day.

Down Home Chicken 'n Dumpling Pie, adapted from Gourmet Mama and A Dash of Flavour
Yield: 6 servings

The Ingredients - The Filling
3 small chicken breasts
500 milliliters (2+ cups) water
1/2 cup dry white wine
2 teaspoons chicken stock powder (no salt added)
1 teaspoon garlic
freshly ground black pepper, to taste
cooking spray, olive oil or butter
2 medium carrots, diced
1 cup frozen peas
1 teaspoon olive oil
1 onion, diced
1 medium-large stalk broccoli, chopped
1 stalk celery, diced
3 tablespoons whole wheat flour
1 cup whole milk (substitute any type of milk - I just had leftover from baking that I was trying to use up)
1 1/2 cups frozen corn
2 teaspoons desired herbs (the original calls for sage; I used parsley and thyme)

The Ingredients - The Dumplings
1+ cup flour
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup milk

The Method
Bring the chicken, water, wine, stock powder, garlic, and pepper to a boil in a medium sauce pot. Once boiling, reduce the heat and continue simmering for an additional 15 minutes. Remove the chicken to a cutting board or plate to cool, and transfer the stock to a large bowl temporarily. Meanwhile, microwave the carrots, peas, and broccoli until just tender, 2-3 minutes, and then drain. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and grease one 9x13 inch glass baking dish, or six individual ramekins.

Heat the oil in the pot that the stock was just in, and saute the onions until soft, 3-4 minutes. Stir in the flour and then lower the heat slightly to cook gently an additional 2 minutes. Stir the milk and stock in off the heat, and then return the mixture to the heat to bring to a boil. As this begins to reduce, set a water-filled pot with a large diameter on a burner and begin to heat; this will be to boil your dumplings.* Shred the chicken while you're waiting for both pots to boil, and then start on the dumplings.

Place the flour for the dumplings in a medium-large mixing bowl and top with the egg and salt. Mix well, then gradually add in the milk, only adding in enough to reach a slightly sticky consistency. More flour will dry it out and more milk will make it stickier, so adjust the dough accordingly. Once done, set aside.

Keep an eye on the stock, and is it reaches a boil and starts thickening**, add the vegetables, herbs, and chicken. Simmer for 5 more minutes. Also keep an eye on the water for the dumplings, and as soon as that's boiling, spoon the dough into it and begin to cook. When they're done, they will rise to the top.* Pour the filling into the prepared baking dish(es), and bake for 10-15 minutes.

When the dumplings finish, remove the filling from the oven, switch the settings and the rack for broiling, and top with the dumplings. Sprinkle the top with paprika and return to the oven to broil, no more than 5 minutes, keeping a close eye. Remove when golden or lightly browned, and serve!

Notes:
*You want a pot large enough to easily fit all of the dumplings on the bottom, preferably with a little space between each one. My pot was not large enough, although I used the largest one I had. The dumplings stuck to each other at the bottom of the pan, preventing them from individually rising as they finished. If they seem to be taking a long time to cook or look particularly crowded, take a knife and cut between them to try to free them a little.
**Really be patient with this as it thickens. I tried to rush it as dinner was taking longer to prepare than I had anticipated, and I wish the filling's gravy had been more substantial.

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