Spinach & Herb Smashed Topatoes

spinach & herb smashed topatoes...

Sometimes, a girl's just gotta go with a big ol' bowl of comfort food for dinner and for me, that's mashed potatoes. Yes, it's a stereotype: girl of Irish descent loves potatoes. Can you blame me? But these aren't the mashed potatoes of my childhood, made with starchy russet potatoes and lots of milk and butter. Nope. Mine are made with the less starchy, waxier red potato, are much chunkier (thus "smashed" instead of "mashed") and they're not just potatoes (thus "topatoes"- a term that entered my vocabulary back in my college days). With a friend sharing dinner and football tonight, one of us had the vegetarian version, while the other bowl was topped with diced turkey bacon. It's like a hug for the soul... or your stomach. You know what I mean.

Spinach & Herb Smashed Topatoes

... with turkey bacon

Ingredients:
2 large red potatoes, skins on, diced
1 parsnip, peeled and diced
1 cup of cauliflower, chopped
1 Tbs. olive oil
4 ounces of spinach (fresh or frozen)
2 Tbs. goat cheese (cream cheese would work well here)
1 Tbs. sour cream (I usually have the fat-free stuff in my fridge)
1 Tbs. parsley, chopped (fresh is best, but dried would work)
1 Tbs. basil, chopped (fresh really is best here)
1 tsp. dill (fresh or dried, whatever you have on hand)
1 Tbs. chives, chopped (I usually just snip my chives with kitchen shears 'cause it's easier than using a knife)
salt & pepper to taste

Directions:
In a large pot over high heat, cover the potatoes, parsnip, and cauliflower with water, add 1 Tbs. salt, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-high and cook the vegs until fork tender, about 13-15 minutes. (Stating the Obvious: The smaller everything is diced, the quicker it will cook.) Drain the vegs, and return everything to the hot pot (now over low heat) before adding the olive oil and spinach, covering with a lid to allow the spinach to wilt and heat through. When the spinach has wilted, lightly mash the vegs with a fork (NOT a potato masher), leaving things relatively chunky. Stir in the goat cheese (or cream cheese) and sour cream, then finish with the herbs and salt & pepper. To keep things vegetarian, stop here and serve the smashed topatoes as is. If, however, you want to take that extra step, top the smashed topatoes with some crispy bacon; in this case, I used a slice of turkey bacon, diced and crisped in the toaster oven.

Enjoy!

Quiche Lorraine with Spinach

Quiche Lorraine with Spinach

Ingredient:
1 Tbs olive oil
1/2 sweet onion, finely diced
10 oz frozen cut leaf spinach
5 slices of turkey bacon, diced
salt & pepper to taste
pinch of nutmeg
2 whole eggs + 4 egg whites
4 oz neufchatel cheese, softened
assorted herbs (parsley, chives, basil, dill)
1/2 cup shredded Gruyere cheese
9" refrigerated pie crust

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees and allow the pie crust to come to room temperature (about 15 minutes).

Saute the onion, spinach, and turkey bacon in the olive oil with salt & pepper (lemon pepper is good here) and a pinch of nutmeg until most of the moisture is cooked out. Whisk together the whole eggs, egg whites, neufchatel cheese, and assorted herbs until well blended. Press the pie crust into a 9" pie dish then spread the spinach mixture evenly over the crust. Sprinkle on 1/4 cup of the Gruyere cheese then slowly pour in the egg mixture. Top with the remaining 1/4 cup of cheese. Bake at 400 degrees for 15 minutes, then lower the temperature to 350 degrees and continue to cook for another 25 minutes. *Cover the crust with foil to prevent over-browning. Cool slightly before slicing.

Enjoy!

Hangover Carbonara

Not that I overindulge on a regular basis, but every once in a while I tip back a few too many and like everyone else, suffer the consequences the next day. Last night, I was challenged by a pitcher of margaritas and had to show it who was boss. So when I was finally able to pry my eyes open this morning, I realized that I was in desperate need of something to soak up the rest of the alcohol swimming in my system… this particular dish is a pretty good stand alone meal to serve for dinner (especially when you have an unexpected dinner guest), but it’s fantastic for a hangover breakfast, especially when served with a side of strong hot coffee and a handful of ibuprofen.


Ingredients:

turkey bacon, diced
olive oil (I use some oil because the turkey bacon is so lean)
shallot, diced (you can use a regular onion and garlic here, but I wanted to keep the knife work to a minimum)
pasta, cooked al dente (I had some leftover penne in the fridge, but any pasta shape would work… you can also start from scratch and cook the pasta while the sauce is coming together, but with a hangover pounding my head I wanted something fast and easy)
1 egg, beaten (I used my regular Egg Beaters)
splash of heavy cream or milk (I’m not going to lie, all I had was some soy milk on hand and it worked in a pinch but wasn’t my first choice)
Parmesan cheese (the stuff from the green can works just as well, if not better, than fresh grated in this dish)
coarse ground black pepper

(*When fighting the effects of a hangover, drink as much water as possible while in the kitchen gathering food… I think I drank like 4 glasses in the short amount of time it took me to throw this dish together and brew a pot of coffee.)

In a large sauté pan, toss the turkey bacon with the olive oil over medium heat and cook for 2 minutes before adding the shallot. Cook for another 3-5 minutes or until the shallot is softened and the bacon is starting to crisp. Toss in the cooked pasta and stir to combine. (If your brain is actually functioning and not just running on autopilot, you might want to add some frozen green peas to the pan as well at this point.) Meanwhile, in a separate bowl, mix together the beaten egg or Egg Beaters, cream, and Parmesan cheese. Turn off the heat before stirring the egg mixture into the pasta. The residual heat from the pan and the hot pasta will cook the egg mixture without scrambling it. If you’re like me and don’t remove the pan from the heat soon enough, it will be a little too hot and start to scramble the egg, but whatever. It still tastes just as good with little bits of scrambled egg in the otherwise creamy sauce that clings to the pasta. Finish with another sprinkle of Parmesan and black pepper.

Enjoy! (quietly, please)

Burger Creativity For The Lazy

Last night I found myself craving a good old fashioned cheeseburger and fries, but I didn’t feel like going out again in search of one or the proper ingredients to make one. Now, I usually have some sort of ground meat in the freezer and I just happened to have some lean ground sirloin on hand this time. We all know that the leaner the beef, the drier the burger, so I decided to get a little creative with my very lean beef and add in some diced turkey bacon… a sort of bacon cheeseburger with the bacon built right in adding both flavor and moisture. Then I figured, since I’m putting the bacon directly into the meat, why not put the cheese in there as well? So there you have it, my latest version of a bacon cheeseburger. Only problem was, I didn’t have any regulation hamburger buns or my favorite toppings like lettuce or tomatoes. And I had to nix the fries because I didn’t have any sweet potatoes left. *sigh* This is where me being lazy really caused me to get creative with this burger masterpiece…


Ingredients:
1 lb. lean ground beef
3 pieces of turkey bacon, diced (I suppose real bacon would be fine… if you like that sort of greasy stuff)
1 oz. cheddar, diced (I also like to melt a slice on the finished burger)
garlic powder
onion powder
pepper
choice of delivery system (bun, bread, pita, wrap)
choice of toppings (I like ketchup and dill pickle chips)

In a mixing bowl, combine the beef, turkey bacon, and cheddar, mixing just to combine. Divide the mixture into 4 equal portions and form into patties, pressing your thumb in the center to form a shallow dip (like a Life Saver). Set aside to rest and allow to come to room temperature (room temperature beef cooks more evenly) while you preheat a grill pan over medium heat.

*Note: If you’re one of those people that like to grill in any kind of weather, I don’t need to tell you that just about any kind of meat tastes better when cooked over an open flame. My old roommate, Chuck, is the quintessential grill man, and before he moved out he fired up the grill at least 5 nights a week. Well, since he moved out, I can’t be bothered to grill outside so instead, I use one of those stove top grill pans. Not quite the same, but it works for me.

Sprinkle one side of the burgers with the garlic powder, onion powder, and pepper. I don’t use salt because the bacon is salty enough for me, but if you want the extra salt then go for it. Place the burgers, seasoned side down, on the grill pan. Season the other side and cook to desired doneness, flipping once. Ok, here’s where most people I know cringe: I like my beef cooked well done. A sacrilege some might say, but if I’m going to eat it, I want it damn near leather consistency. So for me, after I put the burgers on the grill pan, I cover them to help speed the cooking process as well as keep them from drying out, and cook them for about 4-5 minutes each side. Now, you may be asking why I bothered to press a thumb print into the center of the burger. Here’s why: As the burger is cooking, the juices inside get rockin’ and rollin’, creating steam inside the meat. This creates a bulge in the center of the patty so by creating a dip in the middle of the burger, when it starts to bulge it evens out with the rest of the burger. And you thought I was crazy.

Now here’s the other draw back to being lazy (give me a break… I put in 10 hours at work yesterday and I was tired!) and not going out to the store at the last minute: No hamburger buns. So, what to serve this burger on? In my case, I may not have had any of the traditional burger buns available (and when I do, my first choice would be a soft potato roll), but I did have some whole wheat wraps in the fridge. With a little creative folding, this makes a fantastic burger “bun”… maybe even better than the original because toppings don’t drip or fall off. Maybe I’ll start a new trend in burger construction? Anyway, I melted a slice of white cheddar on my burger and topped it with ketchup and dill pickle chips. While lettuce and tomato would have been my first choice (along with the ketchup and pickles), I was still happy with what I ended up with. They say necessity is the mother of all invention, and that was certainly the case with this burger creation.

(In case you were wondering, I served this burger with some mixed grilled vegs which included eggplant, potatoes, peppers, and zucchini as well as some broccoli topped with shredded parmesan cheese and red pepper flakes. If I hadn’t run out, I would have made baked sweet potato fries or chips… ‘cause what’s better with a burger than fries?)

Enjoy!