Tag Archives: spinach

Spinach-Pesto Dip

A friend of mine came to visit a couple weekends ago and when I was at the grocery store buying food for the week, I realized I didn’t have anything to offer her to snack on other than veggies or chicken. I remembered a page in the latest Real Simple magazine about different dips to make with Greek yogurt and the next thing I know, I was scouring the check-out lanes for the latest issue to look up the ingredients. This Spinach-Pesto Dip appealed to me since I’m not only a big spinach fan but I would eat pesto on top of just about anything if it wasn’t so fattening. I wasn’t thrilled about buying store-bought pesto with it’s inch-thick layer of olive oil sitting at the top of the jar but I didn’t want to have to buy all of the ingredients to make my own. I ended up dumping most of that olive oil once I opened the jar before stirring the pesto and I didn’t miss any of the extra oil. This was such a simple dip to make what with it only having three ingredients and it’s a pleasant change from the regular old spinach dip. This made for a perfect last minute appetizer to have with wine when my guests came over. I served it with carrots and pretzel chips (is anyone else as addicted to these things as I am?!) but this dip will taste great with any of your favorite veggies or chips.

The ingredients:

Cook the frozen spinach as per the package instructions. Once the spinach is cool enough, press or squeeze out as much excess water as you can.

In a small bowl, combine Greek yogurt and pesto.

Add in the spinach and stir until incorporated.

Serve with your favorite vegetables or chips.

Additions: None

Omissions: None

Substitutions: None

Overall Rating: Like It

Source: Real Simple Magazine

Sausage and Spinach Risotto

It snowed in the Philadelphia region this past weekend and it was icy, gray, and cold.  Saturday was the kind of day where you didn’t want to go outside but stay curled up on the couch with a warm bowl of something and a cozy blanket.  I wanted something a little more stick-to-your-ribs and comforting than soup so I decided to make Sausage and Spinach Risotto.

This risotto is made with arborio rice, mushrooms, spinach, and sausage and cooked slowly until creamy and dreamy.  (I used Thin ‘N Trim’s Spinach & Red Onion Chicken Sausage but I bet sweet turkey or pork sausage would be good here too.)  I messed up making this and left the mushrooms in the pan the whole time (the recipe says to cook them, set them aside, and add in at the end) but it turned out fine.  I love the salty addition of the cheese at the end too so don’t leave that off or you might need to add in some salt.  As I’ve mentioned before, I love risotto and don’t mind that it takes time and patience to make.  It was exactly what I wanted while the sleet fell against my windows and I stayed nice and warm inside.

The ingredients:

Bring broth and water to a simmer in a small pan and keep on low heat.  Add oil to another pan and cook mushrooms and salt over medium-high heat until browned (about 8 minutes).   Remove mushrooms from pan and set aside.

Add sausage until browned.  Then add shallots and garlic, cooking 1 minute, stirring constantly.

Reduce heat to medium and add rice, cooking for 1 minute, stirring constantly.

Stir in wine, and cook until liquid is nearly absorbed.  (Ahh, fragrant!)  Stir in 1 cup of broth mixture and cook until liquid is absorbed, stirring constantly.  Continue adding remaining broth mixture, 1/2 cup at a time, until each portion of broth mixture is completely absorbed.  Stir constantly.

Once all of the broth has been absorbed, remove the pan from the heat and add mushrooms and spinach, stirring until spinach wilts.

Serve topped with cheese.

Additions:  None

Omissions:  None

Substitutions:

  • Pre-cooked chicken sausage for sweet sausage
  • Shaved parmesan cheese for Romano cheese

Overall Rating:  Like It

Source:  Cooking Light Magazine

Spinach-Feta Stuffed Shells

As I mentioned two weeks ago, I can’t stop eating spinach. Maybe my body is needing iron, who knows. I’ve had this recipe for Spinach-Feta Stuffed Shells for quite a while and this seemed like a perfect time to make them. These aren’t quite your traditional stuffed shells because they have cottage cheese and feta instead of ricotta cheese. Using cottage cheese in place of ricotta is nothing new to me because my mom never used ricotta in recipes like this but always used cottage cheese instead. It provides a different texture to these shells which works well with the spinach.

These aren’t overly cheesy which is one thing about them that I like. The tomato-basil feta adds a little bite and the parsley adds a happy freshness but the spinach is the real star of this show. If you are willing to branch out and try something a little different than your normal shells, give these a try. You might be pleasantly surprised.

Also consider Pumpkin-Ricotta Stuffed Shells.

The ingredients:

Cook the shells according to package directions and let cool. In a bowl, combine cottage cheese, feta cheese, parsley, salt, nutmeg, spinach, and garlic.

Pour marinara into a cold large skillet and add the basil.

Spoon the cottage cheese-spinach mixture into cooled shells and set each shell into the marinara sauce.

Move skillet to the stove over medium-high heat. Bring the sauce to a boil. Cover and reduce heat, allowing the sauce to simmer for 15 minutes.

Serve shells with crumbles of feta and fresh parsley.

Additions: None

Omissions: None

Substitutions:

  • Fat-free tomato-basil feta cheese

Overall Rating: Like It

Source: Cooking Light Magazine

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