Tag Archives: cheese

Mindless Monday: Spinach Frittata

Our newest idea: Mindless Monday! What’s deal with that? Well… we’ll be the first to admit that some of our recipes are a little time consuming. So we thought we’d highlight some of the easier, quicker, less time-intensive options. This also means that the recipes are open to interpretation. Think of Monday recipes like the Pirate Code “they’re more like guidelines.”

Saute the spinach and onions in an oven proof pan until spinach is wilted and onions are translucent
Whisk the eggs (8) together with some milk (1/2 cup), salt and pepper
Add sun-dried tomatoes, and chopped up sausage to the spinach in the pan, if you want
Pour the egg mixture over all of it
Pick up the spinach with your spatula to let the egg seep under
Cook on medium until egg is about half way done
Layer on as much goat cheese as you want (or not!) 
Pop into the preheated oven (400F) for about 15 minutes
Done when the egg is cooked through!

Savory Bread Pudding

The world’s most ridiculous conversation took place while I was making this…

Peter asks what I’m making.I say “bread pudding with the left over cubed bread.” He eyes the bacon I’m frying and asks “with bacon?” “Well, yeah, bacon makes everything better!” I reply. “Even dessert?” he asks skeptically. “Dessert??? This has bacon, cheese, spinach and sun-sried tomatoes. I didn’t know where was such a thing as sweet bread pudding” I reply. Pause. “I didn’t know there was such a thing as savory bread pudding!” LOL

Ingredients:

1  loaf  bread, cut into 1-inch cubes
1 (5-ounce) package spinach leaves
1 jar sun-dried tomatoes, drained well
1/2 cup bacon, cooked and crumbled
2 cups shredded sharp Cheddar cheese
(we threw in a mixture of all the cheeses we had on hand… gruyere, parmesan and a bit of asiago too)
6 eggs
3 cups milk
Sea salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

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Julia Child’s French Onion Soup

 

Julia says it best: “Fat gives things flavor! The only time to eat diet food is while you’re waiting for the steak to cook.”

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup olive oil
3 lbs onions, halved and sliced thin
2 cloves garlic, minced very fine
1 teaspoon granulated sugar
2 cups red wine
6 cups beef stock
salt and freshly ground black pepper
12 toasted slices of French baguettes, 1/2 inch thick
1 cup swiss cheese, grated
3 cups parmesan cheese, grated

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Cheesy Apple Pie

Laurie inspired this creation with her talk of having a slice of cheese with your apple pie. After gushing about the pleasures of combining sweet and salty, we asked the obvious question… why not just put both sweet and salty in one pie? Here’s the before and after. We fully baked the apple pie and then broiled the organic white cheddar cheese on top to get it nice and gooey!

Cottage Pie with Mashed Yams

We found this yummy recipe on the Nourished Kitchen blog and just had to try it (with our own additions and modifications, of course)!

Ingredients:

1 pound grass-fed ground beef
1 cup beef stock
1/3 cup cream
1 stick butter
1 large onion, chopped
1+ cup frozen peas
1+ cup diced carrots
3 medium sized yams or sweet potatoes
2 cups shredded cheese
1 tablespoon arrowroot powder
1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh rosemary
1 teaspoon dried thyme
2 tablespoon tomato paste
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
sea salt and crushed black pepper to taste

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Mac & Cheese

This recipe came from the Macaroni & Cheese cookbook, which is pretty hilarious because the only requirements are literally that the recipe contain macaroni AND cheese. So recipes like Truffled Timbales with Zucchini Pesto, Lemon-Scented Pasta Pudding and Tuna Noodle Casserole are in this book because they have… you guessed it… both cheese and macaroni! We’ll be trying out a couple more recipes, especially a couple of the baked versions.

This recipe is SUPER easy and SUPER quick. You can literally prep everything in the time it take for your pot was water to come to a boil.

Ingredients:

12 ounces smallish macaroni (elbows or pennette)
2 cloves chopped garlic (we minced 4 cloves)
1 shallot, chopped (we clearly used a red onion)
10-12 ounces shredded Gruyere, Emmenthal or Appenzeller (we used about 16 ounces total of all three!)
4 ounces of creme fraiche (we used heavy whipping cream)
A grating of nutmeg
Salt and pepper to taste
2 – 3 tablespoons butter


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Pesto

This recipe is a conglomerate of a bunch of different recipes! By using walnuts instead of pine nuts, you get a very earthy-tasting pesto. The flavor goes great with whole wheat pasta and sun-dried tomatoes! Or spread on a sandwich with some fresh mozzarella, tomatoes and prosciutto!

Ingredients:

2 cups fresh basil
3 garlic cloves (minced)
1/4 cup walnuts (finely chopped)
1/2 cup shredded cheese (your choice: parmesan, pecorino romano or asiago are all good choices)
1/2 cup (or more) olive oil
salt & pepper to taste

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Kale and Barley Gratin

If you like kale, you’ll love this earthy dish. If you don’t like kale, just try it! It really doesn’t taste like you’re eating straight kale… plus the cheese helps! From Deborah Madison’s Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone.

Ingredients:

2/3 cup pearl barley, rinsed
Salt and freshly milled pepper
1 large bunch kale, about 1 1/4 pounds stems entirely removed
2 tbsp butter
3 tbsp flour
1 1/2 cups milk or basic vegetable stock
1/4 tsp allspice
1/8 tsp grated nutmeg
1/2 cup grated Gruyere

The classic Julia Child Cheese Soufflé

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons finely grated parmesan cheese
1 cup milk, whole
2 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour, unbleached
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 pinch ground nutmeg
4 large egg yolks
5 large egg whites
1 cup gruyere cheese, finely shredded (about 4 ounces)


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Burritos & Wraps

It’s 5:45 on a Wednesday. You’re tired. You just got home from work. And you don’t really want to cook. You had take out yesterday. You don’t really want to go out… so where does that leave you? Well, if you have homemade burritos prepped and waiting for you in the freezer that leaves you ready for a super easy, super delicious dinner in!

We prep these burritos by the dozen… chicken, veggie, and our newest discovery… lamb wraps!

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Tortilla Casserole

Taken (and only slightly modified) from the Sundays at Moosewood Restaurant cookbook.
We had tried this before, so we doubled the recipe so we would have leftovers!

Ingredients:

1 medium organic onion
1 roasted garlic clove, minced or pressed
3/4 teaspoon dried oregano
3 tablespoons olive oil
jar of organic tomatoes, chopped (you can use fresh, just saute longer)

10 sprouted tortillas

1/2 pint organic heavy cream
1/3 cup grated parmesan
salt and ground pepper to taste

1/2 cups grated organic Monterey Jack cheese

Prep time: 10-15 minutes

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Chicken Vegetable Quiche

Ingredients:

1 pie dough round

1 cooked chicken breast shredded
1 medium zucchini cut into cubes
1 carrot, peeled and thinly sliced
3 sticks of celery thinly sliced
1.5 cups whole milk
3 large eggs
1.5 cups grated cheese – we used a combination of mozzarella, monterey jack and a cheddar
salt, pepper, onion powder and garlic powder to taste

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Garden Risotto

Found this on the Food Network website–the original recipe called for asparagus, we didn’t have any so we just doubled the amount of cheese that the recipe called for! We figured that would make up for the lack of asparagus!

Ingredients:

6 cups low-sodium chicken broth
2 teaspoons olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
1 1/2 cups Arborio rice
1/2 cup dry white wine
3/4 teaspoon salt
Freshly ground black pepper
3 lightly packed cups baby spinach leaves
1 cup frozen peas
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan

Instructions:

Bring the broth to a simmer in a pot.
Heat the oil in a saucepan over low heat, cook the onion, stirring occasionally, until soft, 3 to 5 minutes.
Add the rice and cook, stirring constantly, 1 minute.
Add wine and simmer, stirring constantly, until absorbed, about 1 minute.
Add 3/4 cup of the hot broth, the salt and a few grinds of fresh pepper and simmer.
Stir constantly, until broth is absorbed.
Continue simmering and adding hot broth, about 3/4 cup at a time, stirring constantly and making sure the broth is absorbed before adding more.
Continue this process until rice is almost tender and creamy-looking, about 18 minutes.

Add the spinach and peas and cook until the spinach is wilted.
Add the asparagus and cook just until the vegetables are hot.
Stir in the Parmesan and serve.

Chichen Enchiladas & Enchilada Sauce


Chicken Enchilada Ingredients:

meat from whole chicken
2 medium onions, finely diced
2-4 small green peppers (hot or mild, your choice), seeded and finely chopped
2 carrots, grated
2 zucchini, grated
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
2 teaspoon oregano
1 tablespoon cumin
2 cups grated cheese

8 cups enchilada sauce

corn tortillas (18-30)

avocados, sour cream, salsa and limes for garnish


Enchilada Sauce Ingredients:

4 ounces whole dried New Mexico or Ancho chiles (or chilies with a smoky taste)
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 medium onion, finely chopped (or pureed in Quisinart)
1 teaspoon ground cumin
2 cups chicken stock
2 cloves garlic
2 small cans tomato paste
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
sea salt (to taste)

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Red & Green Lasagna

Ingredients:

30 ounces ricotta cheese (about 4 cups)
one package frozen chopped spinach
4 cups prepared pasta sauce
Twelve 7 by 3 ½ inch dry no-boil lasagna pasta
10 ounces mozzarella, grated (about 2 ½ cups)
1 ¼ cups fresh grated parmesan (about 5 ounces)
1 cup basil pesto

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