Spinach, Broccoli & Feta Crustless Quiche

It seems that lately I am struggling to get all of my veggies in for the day. An easy way I have found to help with that is by making a crustless quiche for dinner. They are pretty healthy, full of protein from the eggs and packed with veggies. This particular one I used up some frozen spinach and broccoli in the freezer, but the original called for mushrooms. You can use whatever you have on hand or your favorite vegetables, the base will remain the same. The best part is that this can be made for basically any meal. Even if you have it for dinner like us, leftovers can be eaten for breakfast, lunch or dinner the next day!

Spinach, Broccoli & Feta Crustless Quiche
Adapted from: Tasty Kitchen
Serves: 6

Ingredients:10 ounces, weight Frozen Spinach (defrosted and drained)
10 ounces, weight Frozen chopped broccoli (defrosted and drained)
2 ounces, weight Feta Cheese, Crumbled
6  Eggs
8 ounces, fluid skim Milk
⅛ cups Parmesan Cheese, Freshly Grated
⅛ cups Mozzarella Cheese, Shredded
Salt And Pepper, to taste

Directions:
Preheat your oven to 350F. If your frozen spinach and broccoli are not already thawed, thaw it in the microwave according to package instructions. Empty the box into a colander and let it drain while you begin to prepare the rest.

Spray a pie dish with non-stick spray. Squeeze the rest of the water out of the spinach and spread it out on the bottom of the pie dish. Next add the broccoli and crumbled feta.

In a medium bowl whisk together the eggs until fairly smooth. Add the milk, Parmesan and another small sprinkle of pepper. Whisk to combine. Pour this mixture into the pie dish over the spinach, broccoli and feta.


Sprinkle the shredded mozzarella cheese over the top. Place the pie dish on a baking sheet for easy transfer into the oven. Place the quiche into the preheated oven and bake until it is golden brown on top and the center is solid. Every oven is different but this should take between 45 minutes and an hour. Slice and serve!

Skinny Spinach Stuffed Mushrooms

Normally when you go to a party the hors d'oeuvres are tasty yet usually not very good for you. Whenever I entertain I try to have some healthier versions of favorites so that the only healthy item isn't veggies and dip. The original recipe calls for bacon, but one of my friends is a vegetarian and since this was mainly a vegetable dish I omitted the bacon and didn't miss it at all. At less than 34 calories each, these were a huge hit and I wanted to just eat the leftover filling! If you don't want to make this as an appetizer you could stuff a large portobello mushroom for a meal or even a chicken breast. I made the stuffing ahead of time for less work while guests were over and then filled them right before baking.

Skinny Spinach Stuffed Mushrooms
Serves: 12-20
Source: Skinnytaste

Ingredients:
14oz (1 package) fresh mushrooms, stems separated
2 garlic cloves, sliced thin
4 cups fresh baby spinach
1 tsp olive oil
1/4 cup Italian seasoned bread crumbs
2 Tbsp shredded Parmesan cheese
Cooking spray

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 400F. Lightly spray a foil lined baking pan with cooking spray.

Remove stems from mushrooms and finely mince.

Heat a medium sized skillet. Rinse spinach and to the skillet; cook until it wilts, about 2 minutes. Remove from the pan, squeeze excess liquid and chop finely, set aside. (You can use frozen (defrosted) chopped spinach if you want to eliminate this step).

In a skillet, add olive oil and garlic, saute until golden, about 2 minutes. Add minced mushroom stems and saute until soft, about 2 minutes. Remove from the heat and combine mushroom stems with sauteed spinach, bread crumbs and parmesan cheese.

Season mushroom caps with salt. Fill mushrooms with spinach mixture, rounding tops off. Place on oven safe dish and lightly spray the tops with oil to turn golden brown. Bake 20 minutes or until golden. Eat warm.

Turkey and Spinach Lasagna

Lasagna is a great way to feed a crowd with not a ton of work, or if you want to have a lot of leftovers. If you are having a group over for the holidays or New Year’s Eve, this is a healthier spin on lasagna that tastes just as great. Jason’s family is Italian so for Christmas there is always a lasagna in addition to the main meal. This year it was just us, so we made this lasagna together to try and incorporate some tradition on the day, but would be good any day! The original recipe called for beef, but we used ground turkey to cut down on the fat and didn't miss the beef. By adding spinach to the lasagna it is a great way to get in some vegetables, especially with kids. The recipe made a ton, so our freezer is full of 2 piece portions to defrost for quick weeknight meals.

Turkey and Spinach Lasagna

Serves: 12

Source:  Taste of Home

Ingredients:

1 pound ground turkey

1 medium onion, chopped

2 jars (24 ounces each) spaghetti sauce

4 garlic cloves, minced

1 teaspoon dried basil

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1 package (10 ounces) frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry

2 cups part skim ricotta cheese

1 egg

2 cups shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese, divided

9 no-cook lasagna noodles

Directions:

In a large skillet, cook beef and onion over medium heat until meat is no longer pink; drain. Stir in the spaghetti sauce, garlic, basil and oregano. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 10 minutes. In a large bowl, combine the spinach, ricotta and egg.

Spread 1-1/2 cups meat sauce into a greased 13-in. x 9-in. baking dish. Top with three noodles. Spread 1-1/2 cups sauce to edges of noodles. Top with half of the spinach mixture and sprinkle with mozzarella. Repeat layers. Top with the remaining noodles, sauce and mozzarella cheese.

Cover and bake at 375° for 30 minutes. Uncover; bake 10-15 minutes longer or until bubbly. Let stand for 15 minutes before cutting.

Chicken and Orzo Skillet Dinner

This month I am a little behind on reading all of the magazines I subscribe to. However, this weekend I sat down to relax Sunday morning with my tea and the October issue of Cooking Light magazine. Per usual, I ripped out a bunch of recipes to add to the ever growing pile of recipes to try on our kitchen counter. And now with blogs and pinterest I also have "stacks" of virtual recipes to try as well. There is a method to my madness, I keep everything in a stack to try at least once. If it is a keeper, it gets added into my binder of go to recipes. I am going to have to try and be better about actually making at least one of the recipes I pull out a week.

Ok enough of my rambling and onto the cooking! Tonight I tried the chicken and orzo skillet dinner  from Cooking Light that claims it feeds 4 people for less than $10 and ready in 35 minutes. I always see shows and recipes that claim to be a bargain meal but never believe them since they tend to calculate out the cost of the exact amount of an ingredient, not the entire containter you usually have to purchase. However in this case it came in costing $13.75, I sprang for organic chicken, which made it cost a little bit more since the chicken alone was $7, overall not bad! At first I wasn't sure if there was enough flavor, but then we got a burst of flavor from the red pepper flakes. I did add a splash of white wine to the sauce in the pan. The leftovers would also be great as a cold salad the next day for lunch.

Chicken and Orzo Skillet Dinner
Source: Cooking Light Magazine October 2012
Serves 4

Ingredients:
1lb boneless, skinless chicken breast halves cut into bite size pieces
12 ounces uncooked orzo
2 medium tomatoes chopped
2 teaspoons no-salt added tomato paste
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
3 cups baby spinach leaves
1/2 cup feta cheese crumbles

Directions:
1. Heat a nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Season chicken with a sprinkle of salt & pepper (not listed in ingredients), then add to pan. Saute 6 minutes, turning to brown all sides. Remove chicken from pan; keep warm.

2. Bring 6-8 cups of water to a boil in a large saucepan. Add orzo and cook for 8 minutes or until orzo is al dente. Drain in a colander over a bowl, reserving 1/4 cup cooking liquid.

3. Add reserved cooking liquid, chopped tomato, tomato paste, 1/2 teaspoon salt, red pepper flakes and black pepper to skillet; cook over medium-high heat for 2 minutes. Add in chicken, orzo, and 3 cups spinach leaves, stirring until spinach wilts. Remove from heat and sprinkle with feta to serve.

Frittata with Spinach, Potatoes and Leeks

This weekend my nana came to visit for the first time in our new house. Despite lots of transportation headaches she finally made it. While she was here we had over her sister, brother-in-law, and some cousins for brunch so she could get together with family that she no longer is able to see that often. I always love seeing family and that has been one of the perks since moving to Florida, there are a lot in the area either permanently or just for the winter.

We were doing your typical bagels, lox, etc. as the main brunch but I wanted to provide some protein with eggs. I will admit that I was intimidated by a crust for quiche and landed on a frittata. I specifically liked this recipe because it went into a dish and was baked so I didn't have to fuss over it once everything was combined. It was a huge success and a great way not only to add in protein, but vegetables! You can essentially use the egg and milk base and add in whatever vegetables you have in the house like bell peppers and mix up the cheese depending on what you like or omit it all together. Definitely a recipe I will keep and try with different variations.

Frittata with Spinach, Potatoes and Leeks

Serves 6-8

Slightly adapted from Cooking Light

Ingredients:

1 teaspoon butter

2 leeks thinly sliced

10oz frozen chopped spinach, drained

1/3 cup fat-free milk

2 Tablespoons finely chopped fresh basil

½ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

4 large  (I used 2 eggs and an egg beater for the other 2)

4 large egg whites

2 cups cooked, peeled, cubed red potatoes (about ¾ lb)

3 slices provolone cheese, diced

Directions:

1.    Preheat Oven to 350°

2.    Melt butter in a skillet over medium heat. Add leek and sauté 4 minutes. Add spinach to break up and warm through.

3.    Combine milk and next 5 ingredients in a bowl; stir well with a whisk. Add leek mixture,  potatoes and cheese. Pour into a 10-inch ceramic baking dish or a pie plate coated well with cooking spray. If desired, sprinkle top with bread crumbs.

4.    Bake at 350° for 25 minutes or until center is set. Preheat broiler.

5.    Broil frittata for 3 minutes or until golden brown on top. Cut into wedges and serve.

Baked Pasta with Spinach, Lemon, and Cheese

I had pulled this recipe out of a recent Cooking Light magazine and finally tried it out. I have become a fan of dishes that include the vegetable for dinner as well, one less thing to have to prepare and worry about. I had to search a few stores until I found casarecce pasta at Whole Foods, but you can use fusilli, campanelle or radiatore if you can't find it. I altered the original recipe to use whole wheat panko, cut the onions by more than half and then added some lemon juice for extra flavor. With the modifications it gave it more flavor. It was a creamy sauce with the nice crispy crunch from the panko to balance it out. I enjoyed this hearty meal but didn't feel like it was a heavy cream sauce which is a nice change, especially in the hot summer.

Despite having the vegetable in with the meal, this is a rather time consuming dish so be sure to plan this one out. The first thing is to get the pasta water on so it has time to boil. While that was happening I was hands on with the onions and sauce which requires almost constant stirring.

Baked Pasta with Spinach, Lemon, and Cheese
Serves 6
Cooking Time: about 1 1/2 hours


Ingredients:
10 ounce casarecce pasta (short twisted spaghetti)
1 (5-ounce) package fresh baby spinach
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 1/2 cups chopped onion
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 1/2 cups 1% low-fat milk
1/2 cup dry white wine
1 cup (4 ounces) grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, divided
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon grated lemon rind 
1/2 freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
Cooking spray
3/4 cup panko (Japanese breadcrumbs), divided - I used whole wheat

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350°.

 
2. Cook pasta in boiling water for 8 minutes or until almost al dente, omitting salt and fat. Remove from heat; stir in spinach. Let stand for 2 minutes or until spinach wilts. Drain pasta mixture well.

3. Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add olive oil to pan; swirl to coat. Add onion; cook 15 minutes or until golden brown, stirring frequently. Weigh or lightly spoon flour into a dry measuring cup; level with a knife. Add flour and garlic; cook 1 minute, stirring constantly with a whisk. Gradually add milk, lemon juice and wine; cook 8 minutes or until sauce boils and thickens, stirring constantly. Stir in 3/4 cup cheese, salt, and rind. Remove from heat; stir in pepper. Add pasta mixture to onion mixture, and toss gently to coat.

4. Spoon the pasta mixture into a 13 x 9-inch glass or ceramic baking dish coated with cooking spray. Sprinkle half of panko breadcrumbs over pasta, and top evenly with remaining 1/4 cup cheese. Sprinkle the remaining half of panko breadcrumbs over cheese. Bake at 350° for 50 minutes or until browned and bubbly.

Adapted from: Cooking Light March 2011

Spinach Pie and Peach Crisp

My mom makes this amazing spinach pie that I absolutely love. I have always like spanikopita and this is just a big version of it. The crisp and crunchy outside with soft spinach and cheesy center makes a great combination. Since it makes such a large serving size I was waiting until there were more than the 2 of us to eat it. Jason’s Dad lives here as well but is still getting the house together so we decided to have him over for dinner. I thought this was the perfect opportunity to try out the recipe and have another person to eat some.

Spinach Pie

Serves 6-8

Ingredients:

3 cups chopped yellow onions (2 onions)

2 Tablespoons olive oil

2 teaspoons kosher salt

1 ½ teaspoons fresh ground black pepper

3 (10 ounce) packages frozen chopped spinach, defrosted

6 extra-large eggs, beaten

2 teaspoons grated nutmeg

½ cup freshly grated parmesan cheese

3 Tablespoons dry plain breadcrumbs (I used whole wheat)

½ lb feta cheese, cut into 1/2-inch cubes (I used low fat)

½ cup pine nuts (pignoli)

¼ lb salted butter, melted (I used unsalted)

6 sheets phyllo dough, defrosted

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
   
2. In a medium sauté pan on medium heat, sauté the onions with the olive oil until translucent and slightly browned, 10 to 15 minutes. Add the salt and pepper and allow to cool slightly.
   
3. Squeeze out and discard as much of the liquid from the spinach as possible. Put the spinach into a bowl and then gently mix in the onions, egg, nutmeg, Parmesan cheese, bread crumbs, feta and pignoli.
   
4. Butter an ovenproof, non-stick, 8-inch sauté pan and line it with 6 stacked sheets of phyllo dough, brushing each with melted butter and letting the edges hang over the pan.
   
5. Pour the spinach mixture into the middle of the phyllo and neatly fold the edges up and over the top to seal in the filling. I had to add an extra piece to the top since the edges didn’t meet all the way.
   
6. Brush the top well with melted butter.
   
7. Bake for 1 hour, until the top is golden brown and the filling is set.
   
8. Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely. Serve at room temperature.

Source: The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook

Of course no meal is complete without dessert. And you definitely need dessert when having company so this was a good excuse. Normally, I make this with blueberries but since J doesn’t like that I tried it with peaches and it turned out pretty well. It wasn’t too sweet and I love the crunchy top with the warm filling. You can also mix peaches with raspeberries.

Peach Crisp

Ingredients:

4 cups sliced peaches (I used a bag of frozen, defrosted peaches and 1 fresh)

¾ cups brown sugar, packed

½ cup All Purpose Flour

½ cup Old Fashioned Oats

1/3 cup unsalted butter, softened

¾ teaspoon Cinnamon

¼ teaspoon Nutmeg

Directions:

1.    Preheat oven to 375 degrees

2.    Grease bottom and sides of a square 8x8x2 pan

3.    Spread the peaches in a pan

4.    Mix remaining ingredients and spread over peaches.

5.    Bake about 30 minutes or until topping is golden and peaches are bubbling.