Tag Archives: spinach

Turkey Sausage and Spinach Lasagna

I don’t know what has happened to me but I think I’ve turned into a little girl again getting all giddy every time Frozen comes on television. The past couple of weekends, I’ve been getting ready to cook some food and scroll through the tv stations for background noise only to find Frozen on one of the cable channels. When I see it’s on, I can’t help but turn it on. And yes, I sing at the top of my lungs. Frozen has become one of those movies I turn on whenever it’s on. I’m even pretty darn close to downloading it. I mean, I have a niece who turns six on Friday so I should at least download it so I have it available for her to watch when she visits, right? It only seems like the right thing to do. Anyway, one dish I made while belting out Let It Go was this Turkey Sausage and Spinach Lasagna.

Hot turkey sausage, fresh spinach, shallots and garlic are the basis of this lasagna which is layered with no-boil lasagna noodles, ricotta cheese, and a béchamel white sauce. Topped with mozzarella and Parmesan cheeses, this tomato-less lasagna is creamy, a little spicy, and a lot flavorful. It makes six servings so this is a great meal for a family or easy to portion control for lunches or dinner leftovers. Maybe you won’t feel like making lasagna during the summer but after watching Frozen for the umpteenth time, I felt like having a warm meal. Do you want to build a snowman?

If you like this, check out Turkey Lasagna.

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Weigh or lightly spoon flour into a dry measuring cup; level with a knife. Combine flour, milk, stock, oil and bay leaf in a medium saucepan over medium heat, stirring with a whisk. Cook 8 minutes or until thick and bubbly, stirring frequently. Remove from heat; stir in salt and pepper. Spread 1 cup milk mixture in bottom of an 11 x 7-inch glass or ceramic baking dish coated with cooking spray.

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Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Add 2 tablespoons water and spinach to pan; cook 2 minutes or until spinach wilts. Drain spinach, pressing until barely moist. Increase heat to medium-high. Remove casings from sausage. Add sausage to pan; cook 4 minutes or until browned, stirring to crumble. Remove sausage from pan. Add shallots and garlic to pan; sauté 2 minutes. Stir in remaining milk mixture, spinach, and cooked sausage. Remove pan from heat.

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Arrange 2 noodles over milk mixture in baking dish; top with 1/2 cup ricotta and one-third spinach mixture. Repeat layers twice. Sprinkle with mozzarella and Parmesan cheese. Cover with foil coated with cooking spray. Bake at 375°F for 40 minutes. Remove foil.

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Preheat broiler to high. Broil 4 minutes or until cheese is golden brown.

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Let stand 10 minutes.

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Additions:  None

Omissions:  None

Substitutions:  None

Overall Rating: Love It

Source: Cooking Light magazine

Chicken Roulades

I’ve been feeling under the weather so I’ve been trying to eat a lot of veggies.  Luckily, I’ve been obsessed with frozen vegetables lately unlike I ever have before in my life.   It’s pretty common for me to have boxes of frozen spinach in my freezer because I throw it in everything – eggs, pasta, on pizza, and in smoothies.  I also typically have all kinds of chicken in my freezer since I take advantage of when it’s on sale at the store so rather than making plain old chicken and vegetables, I wanted to see what else I could do.  I was thrilled to come across this Chicken Roulades recipe I had tucked away.

Thin slices of chicken are rolled with a spinach-Gruyère cheese mixture, cooked until golden brown and topped with an easy broth-based sauce tanged up with fresh lemon juice and lemon peel. I used smoked Gruyère cheese which gave this dish a whole other layer of flavor but you could easily use any of your favorite cheese.  I love buying thin chicken cutlets in the store and keeping them on hand specifically for recipes like this because I’m not a big fan of pounding chicken until it’s thin.  With the thinning already being done for me, it also speeds up my whole cooking process which is just what I need when I’m not feeling good.  This dish is just what the doctor ordered.

If you like this, also check out Spinach and Tomato Stuffed Chicken Roulade.

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In small bowl, combine Gruyère, mayonnaise, garlic, 1 teaspoon  mustard, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper.

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On each piece chicken, spread 1 heaping tablespoon spinach up to 3/4  inch from edges. Place 2 teaspoons cheese mixture on spinach at one short end,  in a strip, 1 inch from edges. Roll up, starting at end with cheese. Secure with  toothpicks to enclose filling.

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Heat oil in 12-inch skillet on medium-high; add chicken. Cook 5 to 8  minutes or until browned, turning occasionally. Reduce heat to medium; add 1 tablespoon water. Cover; cook 5 minutes or until chicken is cooked through (165  degrees F), turning over once. Transfer to plate and cover with foil.

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Into same skillet on medium-high, stir chicken broth, lemon juice,  remaining 1 teaspoon mustard, and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Cook 4 minutes or until  sauce thickens slightly. Stir in lemon peel.

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Remove toothpicks from chicken and slice.

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Additions:  None

Omissions:  None

Substitutions:

  • Smoked Gruyère

Overall Rating: Love It

Source: Good Housekeeping magazine

Baked Eggs with Spinach and Tomato

Ahh, eggs.  I swear I could eat them everyday.  And I almost do.  Until recently, I wouldn’t eat any egg that had even a hint of a runny yolk.  As in no over-easy eggs, no “dippy” eggs (aka sunny side up), no eggs Benedict.  Then all of a sudden, I became obsessed with vegetarian eggs Benedicts.  So now, I’m no longer grossed out.  Well, I am a little.  But I’m getting over it quickly.  Because of this new revelation, I am now suddenly even more drawn to eggs than ever because now I have so many more options (how many times can you eat fried, scrambled, or deviled eggs?)!  These Baked Eggs with Spinach and Tomato are slightly dippy in the middle but filled with tons of other flavors making this a not-so-standard breakfast.

Onions, spinach and tomatoes are mixed together with spices before being spooned into ramekins, topped with a fresh egg and feta cheese and baked.  This dish is filled with flavor and puts plain old scrambled eggs to shame.  Serve this with a side salad and you could have this for lunch or dinner.  I left mine in the oven a little longer than the recipe said but not because of the runny yolk, but because I wasn’t sure if the whites were cooked fully.  I haven’t quite mastered the “baking” of eggs yet so I never quite do it right.  But this is a really fantastic alternative to eggs which would be festive for a holiday breakfast one day this week.

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The ingredients:

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Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Meanwhile, in a medium saucepan, heat  oil over medium-high heat. Add onion and sauté until soft, about 5 minutes. Add  spinach and sauté until just wilted, about 2 minutes. Remove from  heat.

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In a medium bowl, stir together tomatoes, cumin, salt, pepper,  paprika, and, if desired, hot sauce. Add onion-spinach mixture  and stir to  combine. Divide among 4 oiled 10-ounce ramekins.

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Crack an egg into the center of each ramekin, then sprinkle on feta.

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Bake until whites are set but yolks remain soft, 12 to 15 minutes.

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Additions:  None

Omissions:  None

Substitutions:

  • Reduced-fat feta cheese

Overall Rating:  Like It

Source:  Country Living magazine

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