Tag Archives: vegetarian

Spinach and Parmesan Soufflés

As I mentioned the other day, I’m a big breakfast fan and will eat it for any meal. Eggs are one of my favorite foods to make but I’m usually either a simple fried egg or scrambled egg girl (I’ve only recently started eating runny yolks). So when I come across a recipe like this one for Spinach and Parmesan Soufflés, I get a little excited to make something new, something that might become another breakfast favorite in my book. Soufflés seem intimidating but I was up to the challenge. And I was prepared to eat these whether they were puffy or floppy.

Spinach is mixed with thickened milk, cheese, and egg yolks before being gently combined with whipped egg whites. Once baked until golden brown, they become puffy and are a true picture (although I didn’t take the picture right away and they had deflated by the time I was ready to snap…boo). The result is a light, healthy, nutritious breakfast sure to impress everyone. Don’t like spinach? Swap it out for broccoli or green peppers. Serve this with some toast, a little fruit or as a complement to any meat. And don’t be afraid of or intimidated by soufflés. They really aren’t hard and even if they lose their puff, they’re still good.

The ingredients:

Place a baking sheet in the oven. Preheat oven to 425°F. Coat 4 (6-ounce) ramekins with cooking spray; sprinkle evenly with breadcrumbs, tilting and turning dishes to coat sides completely. Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Lightly coat pan with cooking spray. Add spinach; cook for 2 minutes or until spinach wilts, tossing constantly. Place spinach in a colander; let stand 5 minutes. Squeeze excess liquid from spinach. Coarsely chop spinach.

Combine 2/3 cup milk and the next 4 ingredients (through black pepper) in a small saucepan over medium-high heat, stirring with a whisk until smooth. Cook for 2 minutes or until mixture is thick and bubbly, stirring constantly. Spoon mixture into a large bowl, and let stand for 10 minutes. Stir in spinach, cheese, and egg yolks.

Combine egg whites and cream of tartar in a large bowl, and let stand at room temperature for 15 minutes. Beat with a mixer at high speed until medium peaks form (do not overbeat). Gently stir one-fourth of egg whites into spinach mixture, and gently fold in the remaining egg whites.

Gently spoon mixture into prepared dishes. Sharply tap dishes 2 or 3 times on counter to level. Place dishes on preheated baking sheet; return baking sheet to 425° oven. Immediately reduce oven temperature to 350°; bake soufflés at 350° for 21 minutes or until puffy and golden brown.

Serve immediately.

Additions: None

Omissions: None

Substitutions: None

Overall Rating: Love It

Source: Cooking Light Magazine

Healthy Whole-Wheat Buttermilk Pancakes

I’m so so sorry I’ve been slacking on the posts lately. I can’t really explain why other than my brain has been focused on so many other things lately – work, travel, fashion, reading, home decor and catching up on old episodes of House. I promise I’ll try to do better! I can’t even tell you what I’ve been eating lately because I haven’t been cooking much. Lots of eggs and toast, I guess. When I have no food in my house and no imagination to come up with something creative, my go-to dinner is an egg sandwich. I’m one of those people who loves breakfast foods and could eat breakfast at any meal of the day without being embarrassed by it. Eggs are usually what I reach for when I have time to make a nice breakfast but after realizing I had some buttermilk about to expire, I dug into my recipe book, searched and found these Healthy Whole-Wheat Buttermilk Pancakes. I had everything I needed already to make these so this was a perfect dish for a slow Sunday morning.

With equal parts whole-wheat and all-purpose flour, these pancakes are mixed together with low-fat buttermilk and eggs to become light and fluffy. These aren’t jazzy or exciting pancakes but with a little butter and syrup, these are the kind of pancakes that remind me of Sundays as a kid. They are perfect for a cozy weekend morning at home with the paper and hot cup of coffee. If you’re feeling nutty, add a dash of cinnamon to the batter or top it with fruit and powdered sugar. The nice thing about these simple pancakes are in fact their simplicity. And a great way to use up your leftover buttermilk.

The ingredients:

Lightly spoon flours into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flours, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl, stirring with a whisk. Combine buttermilk, oil, egg, and egg white, stirring with a whisk; add to flour mixture, stirring just until moist.

Heat a nonstick griddle or nonstick skillet coated with cooking spray over medium heat. Spoon about 1/4 cup batter per pancake onto griddle. Turn pancakes over when tops are covered with bubbles and edges look cooked.

Serve with syrup and butter.

Additions: None

Omissions: None

Substitutions: None

Overall Rating: Like It

Source: Cooking Light Magazine

Crunchy Chickpeas

February 18, 2013
Shannon
1 comment
appetizer, beans, chickpeas, food, vegetarian

For the second weekend in a row, I’ve gotten completely sucked into the 80’s miniseries North and South staring Patrick Swayze. Last week was North and South Book 1 and yesterday was North and South Book 2 (based off of John Jakes’ book Love and War). I remember watching both of these miniseries when I was a kid and have managed to get sucked right back into it all over again like I’ve never seen it. I’ve always slightly been fascinated by the Civil War but it might be because I grew up in the Land of Lincoln, 30 minutes away from Springfield, Illinois where every field trip I went on in school was somehow related to Abraham Lincoln. As if dedicating two Sundays in a row to the Civil War and Abraham Lincoln wasn’t enough, I proceeded to watch Killing Lincoln on Nat Geo last night before bed which let me tell you – was not a good idea. At some point, I did manage to make myself a snack of Crunchy Chickpeas, to keep me going through hours of, well, death. I guess it’s fitting since today is President’s Day, right?

I’ve seen these chickpea snacks nearly everywhere – in magazines, on Pinterest and in food blogs so I figured, why not give them a try? They aren’t the simplest things to make but now I get the hype. Canned chickpeas are tossed with garlic and seasonings and baked low and slow for a long time until crunchy on the outside but slightly chewy on the inside. Sounds simple enough but the beans first have to be drained and de-skinned. Hah..wahh? I never really paid attention to the fact that chickpeas have skin but they do. Lay them out on a paper towel, top with another paper towel and gently roll. Yes, roll. Those little pesky skins will slide ride off. But take my word for it, do this process in batches. Otherwise, you’ll be rolling and plucking skins all day. My first bite of these chickpeas, I wondered what was so great. But then, there I was, watching 80’s TV and popping these obsessively into my mouth. I can’t explain it what it is about these snacks but they are slightly addictive.