Spinach, Asparagus and Feta Quiche

Maybe this magnificant spring quiche will lure her out...

Lucinda's Cream Cheese Pie Crust or a pre-made shell

Spinach
Asparagus
Green Onion
Feta
4 large eggs
1/4 cup milk
2 T. Sour cream

Salt and pepper

Steam asparagus, steam chopped spinach and drain. Put them + onion and feta in pie crust. In a separate bowl mix egg, milk, salt and pepper and sour cream. Pour over ingredients. Bake at 350 for 35 minutes or until knife comes out clean.
Photos:Shawn Campbell

Spinach Pizza

With Tomato, Garlic and Onion
Ok, I've posted this amazing pizza dough before. It make 4 adorable mini pizzas and is surprisingly filling. I've modified the way it's cooked. Before putting any toppings on, brush with olive oil. Bake as is at 500 for 5 minutes. Top it and bake it for another 5-7 minutes. Much better. The recipe is here. And keep in mind you can make the dough and freeze it for a rainy day. Or squirrel it away like a creepy pregnant chic.



Photos:Shawn Campbell

Spanikopita

And How To Fold The Perfect Phyllo Triangle
Anyone can make spinach pie. It's delicious and it's healthy. Personally, I think the trick to the perfect spinach pie is tons of fresh garlic and tons of fresh dill. I have made this now many many times and I consider the below to finally be the perfect mix of ingredients. I've been told more than once that "It's the best".


Recipe Makes About 12 Triangles

2 packages frozen chopped spinach
1/4 t. salt
1/8 t. black pepper
1 T. greek seasoning
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 T. fresh lemon juice
1 8 ounce package feta cheese
1/4 cup fried chopped onion
2-3 chopped green onions
3 cloves minced garlic
3 Heaping T. chopped fresh dill
1 package of phyllo

Heat frozen packages of spinach in microwave for about 5 minutes. Once defrosted empty contents into a clean dish towel. Wring out liquid over sink. Put dry spinach in bowl. Mix all ingredients together and wrap into phyllo like this:

**Note the green damp towel covering the thawed phyllo sheets. Phyllo dries very easily so make sure to keep it covered.
Step 1: Lay one sheet of phyllo out. Brush center line with melted butter or olive oil.
Step 2: Fold one side of sheet over buttered area. And butter the top of the folded piece.
Step 3: Fold other edge over buttered area like a letter. Now you have a long rectangle.
Step 4: Place about 2 T. filling in phyllo like this. Loosely shape it like a triangle.
Step 4: Fold the corner over filling like this and then butter the rest of the phyllo.
Step 5: Keep folding until you reach the top.

At this point you can freeze them or bake in oven at 350 for 15 minutes. You may need to flip them half way through. When cooking from frozen leave in oven for 30 minutes.

Photos:Shawn Campbell

Spinach and Dill Grilled Cheese Sandwich

Fresh dill mixed with cream cheese. Spinach and Mozza. Salt and Pepper.


Photos:Shawn Campbell

Spinach

The other day when Canada won the gold metal in olympic hockey the whole city of Vancouver went crazy. Celebration is great! But this went beyond celebration. The win seemed to make some people feel cool and beautiful. Beautiful?? Cuz you won a hockey game? Ew.

My aunt once told me that when she was pregnant with my cousin she had heard that if you ate lots of spinach while pregnant then your baby will be born with a huge brain. Her daughter, my Beautiful cousin is one of the smartest people I have ever met. She is a nurse and is currently working on her law degree. She is only 26 years old.

I'd imagine spinach is great for developing brains too. So if you have children or are going to have children, eat spinach, feed them spinach. Lets work on the brain size of generations to come. Maybe we can make the world a more brilliant and less self absorbed place to live. Starting with spinach!!

Here is my spinach list.
Valentines Day Ravioli
Super Vegetable Chicken Soup
Italian Wedding Soup
Eggs Poached in Tomato Sauce
Buckwheat Crepe
Ashorizo Lasagna

I've also used it with:
Pare's Cornmeal Pizza Dough (Spinach, Garlic, Red Onion, Tomato)
Ashparagus N' Leek Phyllo Pizza Pie (Replace the asparagus with Spinach)
Shortcut Butter Chicken (Mix Spinach in at the very end of the cooking process)
Most broth based soups can be poured over top of a fresh bed of spinach and kids won't even notice.
Spinach and Feta Stuffed Chicken Breast and Spinach Triangles coming soon.

Buckwheat Crepe

I had never used buckwheat flour or tasted buckwheat flour ever that I can remember.

"...it contains all nine essential amino acids, rich in fiber, antioxidants and magnesium. Eating buckwheat regularly may help improve cardiovascular health, assist in regulating blood sugar, and reduce your risk of colon cancer"-Bon Appetit

It was scary. Buckwheat just doesn't sound that appealing and the magazine showed no images of it. I cut the amount of buckwheat in half and split it with all-purpose flour. I thought I'd start slowly.

I made a savory filling to experiment (Spinach, red onion, toasted pine nuts and mozzarella topped with Avgolemono Sauce)and I also made a sweet filling recipe slightly adapted from the magazine(Pear, lemon juice, brown sugar, lemon zest and devon cream).






Basic Buckwheat Crepe: (Bon Appetit)
1 1/4 cup buckwheat flour(Split with all-purpose)
3 large eggs
1/4 cup vegetable oil plus more for skillet
3/4 cup milk
1 1/4 cups water
1/4 t. salt

Whisk ingredients together, pour over Med High heated non stick skillet. Immediately tip pan so batter goes right to the edge. Cook for 30 seconds on each side or until lacey and brown.

Spinach Pine Nut Filling:
-Toast pine nuts, add onion, garlic, salt and pepper. Saute. Set to side.
-Melt butter in aseparate pan, add fresh spinach, heat until just wilting.
-wrap into crepe with grated mozza
-Cover with Avgolemono Sauce

Avgolemono Sauce:
Boil 2/3 cup chicken broth. In a separate bowl whisk 2 egg whites and 1/4 cup lemon juice. Add half boiling broth in stream, whisking constantly careful not to scramble eggs. Then add that mixture to pot with other half chicken broth. Careful not to boil. Sauce should thicken slightly. Add salt and pepper to taste.



Pear Filling:(Adapted from Bon Appetit)
Heat crepe in pan with butter. Flip. Sprinkle with brown sugar. Fold into quarters. Keep warm in oven.
-Toss peeled, cubed pears (I used canned)with lemon juice and brown sugar.
-Lay onto crepe, top with lemon zest and creme fraise (I used devon cream)


Photos:Shawn Campbell

Buckwheat Flour

Valentines Day Ravioli

Spinach, Leek, Garlic and Ricotta inside heart shaped wonton wrappers.

1 Package wonton wrappers
1 Bunch of fresh spinach
1/4 Cup finely chopped leek
1/4 Cup ricotta cheese
3 Finely chopped garlic cloves
Salt and pepper to taste
1 Egg
Dash of cream or milk

-Lightly steam whole head of spinach. Wring it out. Chop it up.
-Add leek, garlic, ricotta salt and pepper.
-In a separate bowl beat egg with a dash of cream or milk.
-Lay down one wonton wrapper.
-Place 1/2 t. of filling in center.
-Brush 4 edges with egg mixture.
-Lay onother wrapper on top, push out air.
-Cut with cookie cutter. (I used hearts because of the occassion, but found it left too much noodle on the ravioli piece-Next time I'll use a circle)
-Make sure edges are sealed.
-Lay in a bed of flour until ready to boil.
-Boil for 5 minutes or until they float to the top. Strain.
Toss them in your favorite sauce.

I tossed mine in a creamy pesto sauce (Butter, flour, cream and pesto) Very good, very rich.
I served this dish with sundried tomato basil turkey sausage.
He loved it (Said it could very well be my signature dish!! That is depending on the final tally of the question on my side bar.... Is it once a year? Or weekly? The suspense is driving me crazy!!) and then he brought me these.

Beautiful, wondrous pieces of love joy. And we all lived happily ever after.


Photos:Shawn Campbell