Published by mel on February 23, 2010 in entree and recipe.
For the past couple of months, Tom and I have been training for the A1A (Beach-front avenue!) Half Marathon and Sunday was the Big Day. For me, training was both exhilarating – you feel so accomplished when you’ve run a 10K before breakfast – and painful – patellar tendinitis isn’t particularly fun. Training made me hungry, made me hobble around like an old lady, made me stop drinking beer and wine on Saturday nights (the worst part by far) and made me actually stop wearing heels.
On the Big Day, we woke up at 3:30AM and had some homemade power bars and bananas and were on our way. The weather was great – 60 degrees – and we started our run heading east toward the most beautiful sunrise over the ocean. I didn’t have my best run, but Tom ran with me (almost) the whole way and my official time was 2:05:15. We crossed the finish line with our families cheering us on and then celebrated with a nice, big breakfast of French Toast, Eggs, Bacon and Bloody Marys. All in all, a wonderful, completely exhausting day.
So, what does all that have to do with Baked Chicken & Spinach Pasta? Well, it was all part of our pre-race meal. This dish is one of those things my mom made all the time when I was growing up and my brother and I loved like crazy. It’s a super simple recipe: sauteed chicken with lots of garlic, olive oil, spinach and white wine all tossed with pasta, covered with cheese and baked. Delicious. So, I made a batch and my mother-in-law made Tom’s favorite spaghetti and meat sauce and we all carbo-loaded on Saturday night before the Big Day. Perfect pre-marathon food, but good pretty much all the time.
And now, I’ll happily return to beer and wine on Saturday nights, heels at work and a lot less pasta recipes on the site.
Continue reading ‘Mom’s Baked Chicken & Spinach Pasta’
Published by mel on November 10, 2009 in breakfast, entree, recipe and sides & bites.
I don’t know how much you know about Detroit, but pretty much every diner in the Detroit Metro area serves Greek food, which means you can get Greek Salad, Gyros, Tzatziki, Lemon Rice Soup, Saganaki (Greek fried cheese) and Spanokopita anytime, anywhere. It’s amazing. We always hit up Leo’s Coney Island when we’re in town and I can’t wait to get my fix when we’re there for Christmas.
So, it turns out, Tom loves Spanokopita. This was news to me since he almost always gets the Gyro or the Greek salad or the Lemon Rice Soup. Never the spinach pie. Nonetheless, I was craving a good Spinach pie with a flaky filo crust, so I got to work.
I made a simple stuffing with sauteed onions, garlic, spinach, lemon and good feta cheese. I also didn’t add filo to the bottom of the baking dish because it always gets soggy. Tell me, what is the point of filo dough if it isn’t crisp and flaky? But don’t worry, I added a few extra sheets to the top to made up for it.
It was everything I could ever ask for in a light lunch or snack – flaky, flavorful, full of good stuff and delicious.
Continue reading ‘Spanokopita (Spinach Pie)’
Published by mel on October 16, 2009 in breakfast, entree, recipe and sides & bites.
Around these parts, everyone loves empanadas and you can get them pretty much anywhere. The Cuban kind are usually filled with ground beef picadillo and deep fried. Very tasty, but not exactly light.
Argentine empanadas are usually baked and filled with just about anything: tuna with pepper and onions, corn, Mediterranean-spiced lamb, spinach and ricotta, ham and cheese, chicken fricasse, cheese and onion. The list goes on and on. This is what I love about empanadas – there are endless possibilities.
This morning, I stuffed some store-bought shells with smoked salmon, goat cheese and spinach. It took all of 10 minutes to prepare, then into the oven for a half hour. The result? A delicious snack or light lunch. They’d also make a great addition to a brunch buffet.
A note on ingredients: I’m lucky enough to be able to find frozen, pre-cut empanada shells at any local grocery store. If you’re having trouble finding them, you can order online, substitute frozen pie shell dough or make your own.
Related: Empanadas Three Ways
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Published by mel on October 9, 2009 in entree, recipe and sides & bites.
I was going to make Braised Beef & Butternut Squash for today’s post. Really, I was! I had all the ingredients bought and ready to go. I just couldn’t summon any effort to make it last night. We had leftover meatloaf instead. But I did make a delightful little egg salad this morning, so I’ll share that instead.
Personally, I love eggs. I could eat them every day (and I usually do). When I was wondering what to make for lunch this morning, egg salad sounded perfect. I chopped a ton of spinach for color and healthiness, celery for crunch and stirred in plain Greek yogurt, lemon juice, tahini, salt and hot sauce. It’s eggy and tangy, a little spicy, and delicious between two slices of toasted whole grain bread. If you’ve got a tomato, add a thick slice. A simply awesome lunch.
Continue reading ‘Spinach-ful Egg Salad’
Published by mel on March 4, 2009 in entree, recipe and sides & bites.
This past weekend I was on a weekend cruise to the Bahamas for my cousin’s bachelorette party. (I know, life is hard.) Cruises mean food 24 hours a day. Breakfast buffet, snack, lunch, snack, 3-course meal, the bar and late-night pizza. All in all, more food (and beverage) than I’m used to. So, this week is all about detox for me, and I made this super tasty chopped salad with a slightly sweet miso dressing. I felt healthy just looking at it…and eating it was was no chore either.
A chopped salad is so much more pleasant than one with big, chunky toppings. Especially when you eat it at your desk and your office has no walls. Much neater. This salad starts with some baby spinach, small enough that chopping isn’t necessary. Pile on your favorite chopped veggies and proteins — radishes, hard-boiled egg, Canadian bacon, Havarti cheese and carrots in my case. Then drizzle with a little miso dressing and dig in.
I’m posting this salad and others this week as part of The Cruise Cleanse. Stay tuned for Taco Salad later this week.
Continue reading ‘Chopped Salad with Miso Dressing’
Published by mel on February 4, 2009 in entree, recipe and sides & bites.
Before I begin waxing poetic about soup, a story. Every year at Thanksgiving, I roast garlic. Usually for my famous Roasted Garlic Mashed Potatoes. This year, for a too-greasy Roasted Garlic Manchego Gratin from Food & WIne. The process is always the same — place garlic cloves in a shallow baking dish, drown them in olive oil, cover with foil, spill oil in the hot oven, smell smoke, then run around with paper towels trying to mop up burning, smoking oil from the bottom of the oven while trying not to burn myself or set anything on fire. Sounds fun no? It’s awesome.
Since this happens every year in my mom’s usually-clean oven, she bought me a teeny, tiny Le Creuset dutch oven that’s just the right size for roasting garlic. And as a bonus, it comes with a snug-fitting top so I won’t spill hot oil all over the place. Sometimes traditions must come to an end. This cute little pot is also useful for blog photos. See how pretty my soup looks?
Moving on, this soup is thick and hearty, really flavorful, super simple. Start with a couple of very spicy sausages, add butternut squash, pearled farro, chicken stock and curry powder…maybe a few handfuls of baby spinach for color, and you’ve got a delicious little lunch that’s satisfying and warm on a cold day. It also sets off my new Le Creuset mini-pot nicely!
Continue reading ‘Butternet Squash, Farro & Sausage Soup’
Published by mel on September 29, 2008 in entree, recipe and sides & bites.
It’s officially Sports Food season. Baseball playoffs are coming soon (go Red Sox!), college football is in full swing (go Eagles!) and the NFL is taking over Sundays and Mondays (go…uh…). This means lots of nachos, 7-layer dip, pizza, buffalo wings, blue cheese and other assorted Sporty Foods.
I happen to love Sporty foods. Last year, I made delicious chorizo nachos and boneless (organic and whole wheat) buffalo fingers for the Super Bowl. It’s all about bold, hearty food that pairs nicely with a beer, or two, or three… But soup? Can soup be a Sporty Food? Why yes, yes it can. This weekend, I made Loaded Baked Potato soup. Thick, creamy, topped with bacon, cheese and hot peppers, this soup can definitely hold its weight during the baseball playoffs or a football tailgating session.
You can set your soup station up like you would a taco or baked potato station: a big pot of soup, bowls and toppings. Begin with your potato soup and layer on as many toppings as you’d like. Go crazy here – anything goes. Personally, I’m all about bacon bits, cheddar cheese, chopped spinach, sour cream and jalapenos. It’s a fun, Sunday kind of soup, even if you’d rather curl up with a good book or episode of Gossip Girl (What? Everyone has their guilty pleasures…) than a football team.
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Published by mel on May 30, 2008 in entree and recipe.
Nothing says comfort food like a big bowl of slurpy noodles. Surprisingly, I don’t miss living in New York as much as I thought I would. I’ve adjusted well to the tropical weather and the beach across the street from my home. And the flip flops. But one of the things I really miss is the delicious and plentiful Asian food. It’s sorely lacking here in Miami, so I’ve taken to making much more of it at home than I ever did in New York.
Lately, the craving has been for a big bowl of Udon noodles with pork, dumplings, fish cakes (they’re delicious – I swear!), shrimp tempura and a poached egg. A bit weird since it’s full-blown summer here and that’s definitely a winter meal. But I craved it nonetheless. And it’s nowhere to be found. (If anyone has a recommendation, please please please leave a comment!)
Where was I? Oh yeah – so I made some Udon soup to calm the craving. It’s not really authentic, and doesn’t have the shrimp tempura or the fish cakes, but it’s still a big comfy bowl of noodle soup. And it’s delicious!
Continue reading ‘big, slurpy bowl of udon noodles’
Published by mel on May 8, 2008 in entree, recipe and sides & bites.
Back in college, Saturdays in the Fall used to be all about football. And football started first thing in the morning. It’s very important to get a few hours of tailgating in before the noon kick-off. So that means kegs and eggs. Yep, beer and breakfast. I’ll admit the first beer doesn’t go down so easily, but you get used to it after the first one, and you’re definitely enjoying it by the second or third. Some girls started with mimosas, but I’m a beer girl.
Last night I was cooking the potatoes and onions for my frittata when they began sticking to the pan. I didn’t want to add more oil and I didn’t have any chicken stock handy. Water is flavorless, and I needed something to help the potatoes and onions soften. Then that Corona in the fridge caught my eye. I promptly poured 1/3 of the bottle over the potatoes. The pan deglazed, the potatoes softened and a nice beer-y smell filled the air. Kegs and eggs anyone? Yes, please.
The roasted tomato salsa was a perfect match for the Corona-spiked frittata. It would also be darn tasty with some tortilla chips. I encourage you all to regress to those college days and try some kegs with your eggs.
Continue reading ‘potato & spinach frittata w/ roasted golden tomato salsa’
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