Passover Spinach Muffins

Happy Passover everyone! 

Last night I went to a lovely Passover Seder given by Friends of Food. 

I made Aunt of Food's Passover Spinach Muffins which are one of my favorite Vegetable based dishes at any time of the year.  This recipe was the inspiration for the topping on my sausage blinis, now featured on the ATK Foods website and, of course, on this blog. 

This dish is vegetarian, but not vegan; however, if you can find a substitute for the eggs, you may be able to make this dish vegan.

Here is the recipe as I make it:

2 TBSP Margarine (or Butter)

Olive Oil for Pan (About 2 TBSP)

1/2 Green Pepper

1 Medium Onion

1 Celery Stalk

2 Raw Carrots

10 oz package of Frozen Chopped Spinach

3 Eggs Beaten
1 1/2 tsp Salt

1/4 tsp Fresh Ground Black Pepper

3/4 Cup of Matzo Meal

Use the margarine to generously grease a metal 12 count muffin pan.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Grate the Pepper, Onion, Celery, and Carrots in the Cuisinart with the grating disk, or chop by hand.

Heat some Olive Oil in a large Pan and put chopped fresh veggies in the pan.

Sauté vegetables stirring occasionally for about 10 minutes, until the veggies are soft.

While the vegetables are cooking on the stove, microwave the frozen spinach according to package directions, draining when done.

Take the pan with the fresh vegetables off of the heat and add the spinach to the mixture.

Combine beaten Eggs with Salt, Pepper, and Matzo Meal. 

Combine that with the vegetable mixture in the big pan.

Spoon the mix into the greased muffin cups.

Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes or until the muffins are firm.

BentO' the Irish

It's time to celebrate!  St. Patrick's Day is almost upon us.

Let's party with something traditional like

 BENTO!!!

Today I have 3 bentos.  Two for my twin girls and one for the Proud Irish Husband of Food.
OK, had I planned this ahead of time, those Shamrock sandwiches would be Corned Beef, but alas... they are Turkey and Cheese.  The shamrock cuts left not enough left over as to be impossible to get a second shamrock out of the sandwich, but just enough to inspire a Lunch for Daddy. 


The last minute preparations led to the discovery of the most Irish of Snack Foods - Veggie Straws!  The green, white, and orange sticks make a lovely Irish Flag.

Blueberries?  They are healthy, nutritious and not entirely absent in Ireland.  The girls would have gotten raw carrots, like their Dad, but their school doesn't allow them.


If anyone wants to share some bento, please post a link in the comments.

Sausage Wrapped in Blini

Last night our meal was not your typical American family dinner. Something old world took over in me and I created a savory feast.

It all started at the Costco, where an assertive sample supplier foisted her sausages on my darling brood-lings. This persuasive dealer was more convincing than a bad witch with a poison apple. After an extra sample for each of the kids and a sample for Friend of Food and Me, I caved into the succulence and the pressure and bought the Amylu Smoked Chicken Gouda and Apple stuffed Sausages.

When I thought about preparing the sausages for dinner, my spirit reached back to my Russian and German roots. Something inside of me craved a thin pancake and the flavor of onions. I found a Sweet Blini recipe in my Gourmet Today cookbook which I adapted for this meal. I improvised the Onion Vegetable Topping, using a family spinach puff recipe for inspiration.  Below is a picture of my cooktop in action, simmering the sausages, cooking the crepes, cooling the vegetable topping muffins, fresh out of the 350 degree oven.

It all came together like a symphony. I got rave reviews from my family; my kids even requesting this meal again for tonight. I assure my Brood-lings, “we will have this dinner again my sweets, just let me write this blog post before I forget the recipe.”

Sausages

Cook per package directions.

Blini

1 tsp Active Dry Yeast

2 TBSP plus 1 tsp Sugar

1/4 Cup Warm Water

1 Cup All Purpose Flour

1/2 tsp Salt

1 Cup Milk

3 Large Eggs

1/2 Stick (4TBSP) Unsalted Butter, Melted and Cooled

Stir together yeast, 1 teaspoon of sugar, and warm water in a small bowl and let stand until foamy, about 5 minutes.

Transfer yeast mixture into a blender, add flour, salt, milk, and remaining 2 Tablespoons of sugar and blend until combined.

Pour into a bowl and cover with a kitchen towel.

Let stand in a warm place until almost doubled in bulk, about 1 hour.

Return mixture to blender and add eggs and butter.  Blend until smooth.

Spray a small skillet with spray oil or Pam and heat over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking.

Lift the skillet off the heat and pour in about 1/3 cup of batter (I used a small ladle for this) tilting and rotating the pan until the batter coats the bottom of the pan.  Return skillet to heat and cook crepe until undersides and edges are just set and golden, about 1 1/2 minutes.  Check with a heatproof rubber spatula to see if it is ready to flip.  Carefully flip crepe and cook about 1 minute more.  Transfer crepe onto a plate.  Spray pan again and make the next crepe.  When each is done, stack it on the plate on top of the last crepe.

Onion-Vegetable Topping

1 Onion

1 Stalk Celery

2 Carrots

1 Cup Fresh Broccoli

1 Egg

1/3 Cup Seasoned Breadcrumbs

1 tsp Salt

Dash of Pepper

Preheat Oven to 350 Degrees.

Grease a muffin pan.

Use a  Food Processor with a grating blade to grate all of the ingredients together.

Unplug and Stir Contents as you go to make sure everything is mixed thouroughly.

If you do not have a food processor, you can grate the vegetables by hand, beat the egg seperately, and mix in a bowl.

Divide the mixture evenly into muffin cups.

Cook at 350 degrees for 25-30 Minutes.

Combination

 

Lay a Blini on a plate.  Scoop one vegetable muffin onto the crepe and squash down.  Place a sausage on the vegetable layer.  Wrap Blini around Sausage.

Addendum*
I made this recipe again today.  This time I used 2/3 Cup of Breadcrumbs in the veggie topping mix instead of 1/3 cup.  It set up well in the muffin cups and were able to be a side dish on their own.  I would use less salt in this version.  The seasonings in the breadcrumbs are plenty.

Bananas Foster Waffles

Today we shared a wonderful brunch with Friends of Food.  I apologize for the lack of imagery, but we were way too busy eating and wrangling tiny tots for that.  What I will share with you was the hit of the meal, Waffles with Banana Sauce, which I will call Bananas Foster Sauce.

We were off to a rocky start with the Waffles since I have no practical experience with our waffle iron.  I recklessly dove right in and learned a few valuable tips after destroying the first Waffle (forever after to be known as Waffle Bits) and mucking up the iron.

1. Use Oil Spray on the Waffle Iron.  That one I kind of knew, but forgot in my rush to waffle.
2. More batter is better than less batter.  You need enough to really fill those squares.
3. Wait until the little light on top of the waffle maker goes off before opening the iron.

Husband of Food is the master waffler and I am in his debt for making the rest of the perfectly good waffles once he cleaned out the mess I had made.

I did kick butt in the Banana Sauce department.  OK, I used a whole stick of butter, and anything tastes good when you use a stick of butter, but this simple sauce was well worth the hours of exercise I am going to do this week.

Here is the recipe for Waffles and Bananas Foster Sauce

For the Waffles

1 3/4 Cups All Purpose Flour
1 TBSP Baking Powder
1/2 tsp Salt
1/4 Cup of Light Brown Sugar
2 Egg Yolks
1 3/4 Cups Milk
1/2 Cup Vegetable Oil
2 Egg Whites

In a large bowl mix together Flour, Baking Powder, Brown Sugar and Salt.
In a medium bowl beat Egg Yolks with a fork.  Beat in Milk, and Oil.
Add the Yolk Mixture to the Flour Mixture all at once.
Stir Mixture until blended but still slightly lumpy.
In a small bowl beat Egg Whites until stiff peaks form, I used my Kitchen-Aid mixer for this.
Gently Fold in Beaten Egg Whites to the Flour-Milk Mixture, leaving a few fluffs of Egg White.
Do not over mix.

Pour Batter onto preheated Waffle Iron.  Follow the tips Husband of Food gave above.

For the Bananas Foster Sauce

2 Ripe Medium Bananas, sliced
1  Stick of Butter cut into pieces
1/4 Cup of Light Brown Sugar
2 TBSPs of Light Rum

Melt Butter in a small heavy saucepan over medium heat.
Add Brown Sugar and cook, whisking until smooth and well mixed.
Add Bananas and Rum and stir with the whisk for a few minutes more.
Remove from heat and serve on top of waffles.

1 Point Chocolate Chip Muffins

Do not be afraid. Culinary experiments can have terrific results.  Today I went to make a sweet variation on the 1 point muffin I posted in November.  This recipe requires a substitution from granulated sugar to brown sugar.  I had made this recipe last week and my family could not keep their hands off of these muffins.  My three year olds adeptly climbed chairs and opened ziplock bags to nab the sweet treats whenever possible.   

I was ready to make another batch, but in the middle of my prep, I discovered that we were out of milk.  With the twins peacefully napping, going to the store was out.  * New Parents of Multiples, here is a helpful tip:  NEVER, ever wake the wee ones when they are sleeping, or you will pay a high price.  Certainly milk was no valid cause for disturbance.  A substution was needed and an option presented itself, yogurt.  What is yogurt anyway?  Mostly milk.  I figured a little water would thin the yogurt enough to make the recipe work.  And guess what, it worked like a charm.  Here is my recipe for 1 point Chocolate Chip Muffins.

Chocolate Chip Muffins:

Makes 24 Servings - 1 Point each


1-3/4 cups of flour

4 tsp brown sugar

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1 Cup Plain Lowfat Yogurt

1/2 Cup of Water

1 egg

4 tsp unsalted butter, melted

1/4 Cup of Chocolate Chips



1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

2. Spray a 24 cup mini-muffin pan with nonstick cooking spray (I use a silicone pan with spray)

3. In a large bowl, combine flour, brown sugar, baking powder, and salt.

4. In a small bowl combine egg, yogurt, water, and melted butter. Pour over the flour mixture and stir, just until blended (do not overmix).

5. Fold in the Chocolate Chips.

6. Spoon the batter into the cups, making sure each muffin has a couple of chips.  Add more if you don't care about the calories.

7. Bake 20-25 minutes.

I Didn't Order the Spam!

Hello, kind readers.  We seem to have a Spammer Fan on the blog.  Over the past two days we have gotten many comments on the blog with sales links to unrelated products, in other words, spam.

I apologize, but we will have to put the human verifier back into the comments process.  I know that it is an extra step, but please do not let that be a barrier to you making comments on the blog.

Valentine Lunch, Bento of Love, Heart Shaped Box?

I was overcome with love for my two little girls this week and I had to express it somehow.  Hopefully my expressions will be remembered by my children always.  This little Pre-Valentine was made like this...

A bunch of washed edemame pods are topped with cherry tomatoes cut into heart shapes with a sharp knife.
Deep Red Chilean cherries are sliced in half and pitted, then covered with sprinkles of hearts picked out of a box of Kashi Heart to Heart cereal.
A bed of romaine heart lettuce is laid beneath heart shaped roast beef and muenster sandwiches.  The sandwiches were easily cut with heart shaped cookie cutters. 

Maybe this will inspire you to share some food love with someone special.

Comfort Food, Tuna Noodle Casserole

I have mixed luck with Tuna Casseroles.  Either the pasta isn't cooked right, the topping is weak, or there just isn't enough tuna.  Today, determined to cook a winner, I decided to take the best parts of several Tuna Noodle Casserole recipes and create a version of this traditional dish that was delicious yet not too fattening.  I used fresh vegetables to improve the nutrition in this dish.  The veggies not only added a health boost, but were also one of the tastiest components of the casserole.

This Tuna Noodle Casserole was yummy, however, the pasta was still a bit al dente for my taste.  The remedy is a different type of pasta like egg noodles, or to cook the pasta first, then add it to the mix.  I decided not to precook the pasta because I wanted to keep the process simple and have fewer dishes to wash.  If you want a better casserole, you'll precook the pasta and wash the dishes.  Anywhoooo, other than slightly hard shells, the casserole was pretty tasty.  Here is the recipe.

Tuna Noodle Casserole

Serves 6 people

Olive Oil Spray

1/2 Large Onion (or one small one)

1 Cup Chopped Carrots

1 Cup of Green Beans, either fresh or frozen ones that have been defrosted

3 Cups of Pasta (Egg Noodles, Shells, Macaroni, or any short cut pasta)

2 Cans of Tuna; drained and rinsed (I used 7oz cans)

1 Can of Fat Free Cream of Mushroom Soup

1 Can of Cream of Celery Soup

1 Cup of Milk

Dash of Freshly Ground Black Pepper

1/2 tsp Salt (Optional)

1 Cup Grated Sharp Cheddar

1 Cup of Panko Crumbs

1 Tbsp of Parmesan Cheese
Parsley Flakes

Spray a large pan with the Olive Oil Spray. 

Saute the onion, the carrots, and the green beans in the pan until the onions are soft and slightly browned. 

Preheat the oven to 350 Degrees.

Pour the vegetable mixture into a 9x13 casserole pan. 

Add the Pasta, the Tuna, the two cans of Soup, the Milk, the Pepper and Salt.
Mix these ingredients well with a spoon, so that the liquid fully covers all of the pasta.

Sprinkle the Cheddar Cheese evenly over the mixture.

Sprinkle the Panko Crumbs over the Cheddar.

Sprinkle the Parmesan over the Panko.
Sprinkle the Parsley Flakes over the top to make sparse flecks over the crumbs.

Bake at 350 Degrees for 30-35 minutes.

Enjoy your casserole! 

If anyone has the Weight Watchers Tools and wants to build out this recipe, I would be really interested in knowing how many points this has on their site.  I calculated it out on a nutrition site and ended up with these numbers...

For Serving 6 people with this recipe, per serving you get:
307.2 Calories
14 Grams of Fat
2.6 Grams of Fiber

I calculate that on my WW calculator to be about 7 Points a serving.