Showing posts with label spinach. Show all posts
Showing posts with label spinach. Show all posts

Saturday, March 24, 2012

Spicy Chickpeas and Greens - Greenslove Blog Hop


Greens of some sort make a daily appearance in the meals served at our house. I'm in the midst of planning my garden, and next to tomatoes, greens will have the largest presence. Right now we are planning what to plant where in the beds, trying to decide the best material to use to build them, and starting seeds. I'm so excited to have a garden again! I'll share pictures once we get things rolling.

Being a co-host of the #greenslove blog hop, I've got a virtual cookbook showcasing some of the most drool-worthy recipes from some of the best bloggers right at my fingertips.  And so do you.  That's a pretty cool thing, if you ask me. Be sure to check out the bloghop going on beneath this recipe to add to your collection of healthy greens based recipes.

In Spicy Chickpeas and Greens, nutty chickpeas mix with fresh greens in a spicy tomato sauce and are served over a bed of brown rice.  Yum!

Spinach is my favorite green to use when making this dish, but chard works well, too.  You may notice in the photo that this time I used collard greens because that's what I had on hand.  While it was still tasty, I don't really suggest using collard greens because they were a little more bitter than what works well with the spices.  If you decide to use chard, be sure to cut out the stems and use only the leaves.

Spicy Chickpeas and Greens
serves 5-6
  • 1 Tbs olive oil
  • 1 large onion, chopped
  • 1 tsp fresh lemon zest
  • 1 tsp ground cumin
  • 1/2 tsp crushed red chili flakes
  • 1/2 tsp sea salt
  • 1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
  • 2 medium tomatoes, chopped (about 1 1/2 cups) *you can use the same amount of purchased chopped tomatoes
  • 3 c cooked chickpeas
  • 4-5 c fresh spinach or chard, roughly chopped
  • 1 Tbs freshly squeezed lemon juice
  • 1 1/2 c cooked brown rice
  • Crumbled feta cheese and lemon wedges for garnish, if desired
In a large deep skillet or dutch oven, heat the oil over medium high heat.  Saute the onion for about 10 minutes or until tender.


Stir in the lemon zest, cumin, chili flakes, salt and pepper.  Heat for 1-2 minutes, or until fragrant.


Add the tomatoes and chickpeas. Cook for about 2 minutes more, stirring occasionally.


Mix in the spinach or chard.


Cover, reduce heat to medium low, and simmer for 8-12 minutes, or until greens are wilted and sauce has thickened, stirring occasionally.

Stir in the lemon juice and adjust salt accordingly.

Serve over brown rice. Top with feta and more lemon juice, if desired.

March is #greenslove month!

Please join in the #greenslove fun by linking up any leafy green recipe from the month of March 2012.  Don't forget to link back to this post so that your readers know to come by the #greenslove event!  The twitter hashtag is #greenslove.

Check out the #greenslove co-hosts!

Al Dente Gourmet ~ Aldy ~ @AlDenteGourmet
ASTIG Vegan ~ Richgail ~  @astigvegan
Bon a croquer ~ Valerie ~ @Valouth
Cheap Ethnic Eatz ~ Evelyne ~ @cethniceatz
Easily Good Eats ~ Three Cookies
Oh Cake ~ Jessica ~ @jesshose
Queen's Notebook ~ Elizabeth ~ @Mango_Queen  


Posted by Laura at The Art of Cooking Real Food at Saturday, March 24, 2012 5 comments
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Friday, March 9, 2012

Spinach and Mushroom Stromboli


A stromboli is more or less a big stuffed sandwich, similar to a calzone.  With some styles of stromboli, the ingredients are layered over the dough and then rolled for a spiral effect.  With some, like this one, the ingredients are piled on and the dough is wrapped around them. This stromboli starts with an easy homemade bread dough and just gets better from there with fresh ingredients like spinach, mushrooms, garlic, red bell pepper and lots of ooey gooey mozzarella cheese.

If you've been reading my blog for a while, you know how much I love the Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day guys.  To make this stromboli without using frozen bread dough or, even worse, that icky "dough" in the can in the dairy section of the grocery store, I'm going to show you how easy it is to make your own dough.  If you're not familiar their method, you're going to be blown away at how easy it is.  Are you ready?

Combine:
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour 
1 1/2 cups unbleached all purpose flour 
2 tsp Kosher salt
2 1/4 tsp yeast (one envelope)
in a medium mixing bowl.  Mix.


Make a well in the center.  Pour in:
 1 1/4 c warm water (about 90 degrees or so)


Mix well with a sturdy spoon.


Cover and let rise for about 2 hours.

When it looks something like this, it's ready to use.


That's it.  Think you swing it?  I think so, too. It's pretty hard to mess up.  And another great aspect about this method is that if you want to prep the dough ahead of time, after the initial rise you can just put the dough in the refrigerator until you are ready to use it (just like that stuff in the can, only NOT).  Nice!

In fact, each step of this stromboli can be made ahead of time and stored separately (the spinach and mushroom mixture, the dough, the pizza sauce, the shredded cheese) in the refrigerator for quick assembly of an easy, filling, delicious, completely homemade dinner on a busy night.

In the recipe that follows, I give instructions for using a pizza peel and stone.  If you don't yet own a pizza stone, you can use an oiled jelly roll pan for this recipe.

You may notice from the pictures that I forgot to slash the top to allow steam to escape.  The steam will need to get out one way or another, folks, so it's wise to choose where you would like that to happen before you have a minor blow out in an odd place.  The slashes don't need to be deep, and there really only needs to be a few of them, each about two inches long.

Spinach and Mushroom Stromboli
serves 5-6
  • 1 Tbs olive oil
  • 8 oz cremini mushrooms, stems removed and sliced
  • 1/2 c red bell pepper, chopped
  • 1/4 c onion, chopped
  • 2 garlic cloves, minced
  • 8 oz fresh spinach, washed and roughly chopped
  • 1/2 tsp sea salt
  • 1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
  • 8 oz fresh mozzarella cheese, shredded
  • 1/2 c pizza sauce
  • 1 egg white plus 1 Tbs water
  • 1/4 c grated Parmesan cheese
  • 1/2 tsp dried oregano
  • 1 recipe bread dough (see above)
Preheat oven and pizza stone to 450 F.

Heat olive oil in 12" skillet over medium high heat.  Saute the mushrooms, bell pepper, onion, and garlic until the vegetables are tender and any liquid had mostly evaporated; about 5-6 minutes.


Mix in the spinach and gently stir until the spinach has completely wilted; about 5-6 minutes more.  Season with salt and pepper.


Remove from heat and set aside.

Lightly flour a large pizza peel. Dust the dough with flour.  Scoop out the dough and form into a ball. 


With a rolling pin, roll the dough into a rectangle about 20 inches by 8 inches.

Sprinkle 1 cup of mozzarella down the center of the dough.  Top with pizza sauce, then the spinach mixture.  Sprinkle with the remaining 1 cup of mozzarella.


Bring up one side of the dough and gently stretch over the filling.  Do the same with the other side. Seal the ends, and pinch edges to secure, taking care not to tear the dough.


With a sharp knife, make 3 or 4 shallow slashes across the top of the bread. Mix the egg white and water together with a fork.  Using a pastry brush, brush the top and sides of the stromboli with the egg wash.  Sprinkle with Parmesan and oregano.


Carefully slide the stromboli onto the hot pizza stone.  Bake for about 25 minutes, or until the stromboli is deeply golden.


Use a bread knife to slice.  Enjoy!

March is #greenslove month!

Please join in the #greenslove fun by linking up any leafy green recipe from the month of March 2012.  Don't forget to link back to this post so that your readers know to come by the #greenslove event!  The twitter hashtag is #greenslove.

Check out the #greenslove co-hosts!

Al Dente Gourmet ~ Aldy ~ @AlDenteGourmet
ASTIG Vegan ~ Richgail ~  @astigvegan
Bon a croquer ~ Valerie ~ @Valouth
Cheap Ethnic Eatz ~ Evelyne ~ @cethniceatz
Easily Good Eats ~ Three Cookies
Oh Cake ~ Jessica ~ @jesshose
Queen's Notebook ~ Elizabeth ~ @Mango_Queen  







Posted by Laura at The Art of Cooking Real Food at Friday, March 09, 2012 12 comments
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Saturday, March 3, 2012

Spinach, Bean and Garlic Soup - #Greenslove Blog Hop


The month of March marks the beginning of spring, and with spring comes all those lovely, healthy, antioxidant rich leafy greens.  And the #greenslove blog hop!  Scroll down past the recipe to see all the awesome co-hosts this month and all the greens based recipes throughout the entire month of March!

Generally, I don't spend much time studying the scientific and nutritional value of my food anymore, beyond the quality and the manner in which it is grown or raised.  I used to, though, and I think every single living person should spend some time researching and understanding what our food is and how it affects us both physically and mentally, since many of us are generations removed from the common knowledge upon which our ancestors relied.  The information I have gathered over the years has formed my view of food, and it really does come down to eating rational portions of real, unadulterated food - nothing more, nothing less.  However, on the fairly rare occasion someone in my household is feeling under the weather, I do rely on the traditional medicinal, healing properties of our foods, rather than the pharmacy.  We have been fortunate in our health to be able to rely solely on this method so far, and I'm grateful every single day for that gift and freedom.

For many of us, chicken noodle soup is a favorite go-to meal when we are feeling sick.  The warmth of the soup and even the vegetables help us to feel better, but mostly it's the bone broth in which it is simmered; the easily digestible minerals found in homemade chicken stock delivers just what the ailing person's body needs to feel better.

But what about those people who either don't eat meat, don't have any stock on hand, or just don't feel like making it because they're so darn sick?  Enter garlic and spinach.

Garlic has been medicinally used for ailments of all manner for thousands of years for its antiviral, antifungal, and antibacterial value. Garlic always has been and always will be one of nature's "super foods".  My gosh, it's so powerful, it is even rumored to keep away the undead.  Need I say more?

Spinach  is so jammed full of antioxidants, vitamins and minerals, its contribution to our health is also indisputable. I'd be here forever touting all the benefits of this little leaf because it's an absolute powerhouse of health benefits, so I'll leave that to you to research for yourself.  It might be faster to ask what it doesn't offer; the list is short.

So, it makes sense to me that when cooked together and simmered with fresh herbs, the healing factor might actually trump the comfort and flavor factors for this antioxidant rich soup.  Spinach, Bean and Garlic Soup is easy to make, the ingredients are few and simple, and it tastes absolutely amazing.  We eat it even when we are feeling just fine, of course, but if you are a vegetarian or vegan (or even an omnivore fresh out of home made chicken stock) and are looking for a good "sick soup", this is one of my favorites.

Consider serving this soup with a salad loaded with fresh baby greens, sliced mushrooms and red onions, and drizzled with a lemon vinaigrette.  Mushrooms are incredibly powerful immune boosters, too, and easily fall into place in my top 5 "feel better" foods.

Spinach, Bean and Garlic Soup
serves 6
  • 2 Tbs olive oil, divided
  • 2 heads garlic, cloves separated, smacked, and peeled
  • 9 cups water
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 6-8 fresh sage leaves
  • 6-8 sprigs fresh thyme
  • 10 sprigs fresh parsley
  • 2 cloves (or a small pinch of ground cloves)
  • 2 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp peppercorns
  • 6 packed cups fresh spinach leaves, roughly chopped
  • 1 medium tomato, chopped (or about 1 cup purchased chopped tomatoes)
  • 1 1/2 c white beans such as Navy, Great Northern, or Cannellini
  • 1/2 c small dried pasta (elbows, small shells, ditalini, etc)
  • 6 drops hot pepper sauce
  • 6 lemon wedges
  • Croutons for garnish (optional)
  • Freshly grated Parmesan cheese for garnish (optional)

Heat 1 Tbs olive oil in a large stockpot over medium high heat. Sear the garlic cloves for about 2 minutes, stirring once or twice.


Add the water, bay, sage, thyme, parsley, cloves, salt, and peppercorns.  Bring to a boil, partially cover, and reduce heat.  Simmer for 45-60 minutes.


Place a sieve over a large bowl.


Carefully pour the garlic broth through the sieve.  Lift the sieve and set aside.


Heat the remaining 1 Tbs olive oil in the stockpot over medium high heat.  Remove 6 of the tender garlic cloves from the sieve and mash them into the warm oil with the back of a spoon.


Stir in the tomatoes. Mix well.  Cook for about 1 minute, stirring often.


Pour the garlic broth into the tomato and garlic mixture.  Mix well.  Bring to a low boil.  Sir in the spinach, beans, and pasta.  Simmer for about 5-7 minutes, or until pasta is tender and spinach is wilted.  Season with hot sauce.

Serve with lemon wedges.  Top with croutons and Parmesan cheese, if desired.

March is #greenslove month!


Please join in the #greenslove fun by linking up any leafy green recipe from the month of March 2012.  Don't forget to link back to this post so that your readers know to come by the #greenslove event!  The twitter hashtag is #greenslove.


Check out the #greenslove co-hosts!


Al Dente Gourmet ~ Aldy ~ @AlDenteGourmet
ASTIG Vegan ~ Richgail ~  @astigvegan
Bon a croquer ~ Valerie ~ @Valouth
Cheap Ethnic Eatz ~ Evelyne ~ @cethniceatz
Easily Good Eats ~ Three Cookies
Oh Cake ~ Jessica ~ @jesshose
Queen's Notebook ~ Elizabeth ~ @Mango_Queen  




Posted by Laura at The Art of Cooking Real Food at Saturday, March 03, 2012 26 comments
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Tuesday, November 8, 2011

Spinach Dip


This spinach dip is the cold version - similar to the one notoriously made with a packet of dry vegetable soup mix.  Gosh, I loved that stuff.  Ate the whole bowl myself every time I made it.  That is, until I actually read the ingredients on the vegetable soup mix labels of various brands; along with a few dehydrated vegetables, the mixes are riddled with ingredients such as monosodium glutamate, maltodextrin, hydrolyzed corn protein, disodium guanylate, disodium inosinate, partially hydrogenated soybean oil...you get the picture.  While googling, I saw that some even came with warnings not to feed their mix to children under 1 year old.

Good grief, people.  This food thing - it's not really so hard.  Just use food.

I suppose this entry is a good time to apologize to any of you who interpreted the name of my blog to mean that the "Art" is my photography (something my husband pointed out to me after I had already named my blog) - by now you surely know it is not.  The "Art" refers to something apparently lost over the many years - how to use real, readily available ingredients to produce edible and delicious results.  How many times have we grabbed mixes and packets and and stirred a few other premixed items into it and called it food?  It's easy, and it sure does taste great, so what's the harm?

The harm is that cooking and preparing meals for our families, friends, and others whom we love, has now become an "art" rather than the common knowledge that simply feeding ourselves should be.  The harm is that by using anything other than real, edible ingredients, what we are preparing and serving in the name of love is actually not all that great for our bodies (or our minds, as studies are showing).  The harm is that by introducing our bodies to all manner of chemical concoctions from the beginning of life ensures that we will be treating a plethora of ailments (many of which were not afflicting any living creature just one century ago) with more chemical concoctions at the end of that life.  Without food, there is no life; that's a fact.  Where does "Without chemical flavor enhancers and petri dish grown flavors and preservatives, there is no life" fit in?

Can you tell how passionately I feel about this subject?  I'll be stepping down from my soapbox now, since I expect you came here looking for a recipe, not a sermon.  I did, however, want to clarify that my blog has absolutely nothing to do with the art of photography (although, I must say, I've gotten a tiny bit better at it, and I'm enjoying it enough to possibly consider something other than my daughter's point and shoot camera - but I'm not sure I would know how it worked or have the time to figure it out).

So, back to Spinach Dip.  Real, easy, yummy Spinach Dip.  I use a combination of cream cheese and Greek yogurt.  If you can't find unadulterated cream cheese, or you are opposed to the locust or carob bean gum (which isn't really so awful, comparatively speaking) that almost inevitably shows up in even the organic commercial brands, go ahead and substitute a good mayonnaise (or home made mayonnaise) for the cream cheese.  Sour cream works in place of the Greek yogurt.  For the crunch; if you don't have radishes, use equal amounts of finely chopped celery.  If you don't have red onions, use 3-4 chopped green onions.

While it is not necessary to serve it in a bread bowl and use the excess bread cubes to dip, it's kind of cool looking and the dip is absolutely addictive when smeared on the bread.  If you use the Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day method, making the bread bowl is very, very easy.  Too easy, in fact.  The picture is using the European Peasant Loaf recipe because that is what I had premade in my fridge, but the rye bread recipes are beautiful with this dip.  Of course most any cut veggies work very nicely as well.

One last thing - this recipe does not necessarily make enough for a party.  If you are serving it to a lot of people, double it (easily done).  I purposely make this amount because I am an appetizer junkie and much like the Taco Dip, my daughter and I will immediately consume whatever I make almost as soon as it is ready, so this amount is simply a safety precaution.

Spinach Dip
makes about 1 1/2 cups
  • 4 oz cream cheese, room temperature
  • 1/2 c plain Greek yogurt
  • 1 10 oz pkg frozen spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
  • 2 Tbs radishes, finely chopped
  • 2 Tbs red onion, finely chopped
  • 2 Tbs red bell pepper, finely chopped
  • 1 clove garlic, minced
  • 1/4 tsp dried tarragon
  • 1/4  tsp sea salt
  • 1/4 tsp ground mustard
  • 1/8 tsp freshly ground black pepper
  • 1/8 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
Combine cream cheese and yogurt in a medium bowl.  With a hand held electric mixer, mix on low speed until smooth.

Add the rest of the ingredients and stir well.

Cover and chill at least one hour before serving.

Serve with rye bread, crackers, and/or cut fresh vegetables such as carrots, celery, bell pepper strips, green onions, etc.









Posted by Laura at The Art of Cooking Real Food at Tuesday, November 08, 2011 12 comments
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Friday, August 19, 2011

Spinach and Feta Thin Crust Pizza



Making your own pizza is easy and fun - the possibilities for topping combinations are nearly endless.  The crusts are easy to tailor, too; thick, thin, herbed, cheese stuffed...  And the sauces!  Red sauce, white sauce, pureed beans, no sauce at all...  The best part, though, is that it's inexpensive, not very time consuming, and the whole family can get involved.  Pizza is just good, no matter how you look at it.

A few kitchen items I use when I make pizza include my food processor, a rolling pin, a pizza peel and a pizza stone.  No, you probably don't need any of those things, but I find they make the process easy and improve the quality and flavor of the finished pizza.  If you do not have a pizza peel or stone, you can always pat the crust into some jelly roll pans (or cookie sheets) and bake them on the bottom rack, but you will get a crisper, more evenly baked crust with the stone.

For this pizza, I like a thin, crispy crust.  It's pretty simple to achieve this with a basic pizza dough recipe; more yeast and less oil yields a thicker, more bread-like crust, and less yeast and more oil will turn into a crispy, thin crust.

Working with yeast isn't as tricky as a lot of people tend to think it is, and that is especially true with a pizza crust.  With this recipe, we will "proof" the yeast before we add it to the dry ingredients so that there won't be any Oops My Yeast is Dead surprises.  We'll feed the yeast some honey while it hangs out in some warm water and when it foams, we'll know our yeast is happy and our crust will be awesome.  If it doesn't foam, you need to go buy some new yeast and throw the old yeast away.  There is really no need to check the temperature of the water with a thermometer - it just needs to be warm enough to not be too hot.  It should be between 90-105 degrees, so you should be able to put your fingers in the water without needing to pull them back out right away, and it should be warmer than your hand.

The dough recipe makes enough for two 12-14 inch pizzas.  You can either use it all  now, or freeze half; after the rise, form half of the dough into a ball, wrap it well in plastic wrap and freeze.  Thaw when ready to use.

For the dough:
2 cups unbleached white flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 tsp kosher salt
2 Tbs olive oil, divided
1 1/2 tsp active dry yeast
1 tsp raw honey
1 cup warm water (about 90-105 degrees)

Pour the water into a 2 cup (or larger) measuring cup.  Quickly stir in the honey and yeast, breaking up any clumps of yeast.  Set aside to rest for about 3-5 minutes, or until there is anywhere from 1/4 inch to 1/2 inch of froth on top.  It will look like this when it is ready:


Meanwhile, insert the blade (the dough blade is ideal, if you have one) into the food processor.  Place the flours, salt and 1 Tbs olive oil into your food processor.  Give it a few pulses to mix.  When your yeast and water are ready to go, turn your processor on "dough" speed and slowly pour the yeast mixture through the tube.  If the flour looks a little dry, add some more water by tablespoons full until it catches and creates a ball.  Let the ball whirl around in there for about 30 seconds (this the "kneading" part we are able to skip by letting the food processor do it for us).

Place the remaining 1 Tbs olive oil in a large bowl.  Remove the dough (it will be sticky) and place it in the bowl, turning to coat in the oil.  Cover with plastic wrap (or even a clean towel) and set aside to rise for about 45 minutes while you get the rest of your pizza ingredients together.

Spinach and Feta Thin Crust Pizza
makes one 12 - 14 inch pizza

2 Tbs olive oil
2 Tbs minced garlic
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
1/2 c shredded Provolone cheese
3 c chopped fresh spinach
 5 or 6 sun dried tomatoes, thinly sliced
1/4 c thinly sliced red onions
a handful of pitted olives, chopped or sliced
1/4 c shredded fresh Mozzarella cheese
3 oz Feta cheese, crumbled
Grated Asiago or Parmesan
1/2 recipe thin crust pizza dough (above)
Cornmeal for dusting the peel

Preheat oven (with stone) to 500F. *If you are not using a stone, lightly oil two jelly roll pans or pizza pans and adjust your oven racks to the lowest level.

Dust your pizza peel generously with cornmeal. Divide the dough in half (decide if you will be making two pizzas - if not, wrap the other half of the dough in plastic wrap and freeze or refrigerate).  With a floured rolling pin, roll out the dough directly on the pizza peel into a 12-14" inch round.  *If using pans, either roll it out or pat it into the prepared pans.

Using a pastry brush, evenly brush the olive oil over the whole crust.  Sprinkle with the minced garlic, crushed red pepper flakes, and provolone.  Top with spinach, tomatoes, onions, olives, Mozzarella, Feta, and grated Asiago or Parmesan.


Slide onto the pizza stone and bake for about 10 minutes, or until the crust is crisp and the cheese is just beginning to lightly brown. *If using pans, place them on the bottom rack and continue as directed for baking time.


Posted by Laura at The Art of Cooking Real Food at Friday, August 19, 2011 0 comments
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