Spinach and Artichoke Dip

Finally here! My summertime recipe for spinach and artichoke dip. I usually only make this when I am in New York at the lake during vacation because Wegman's is the only store that sells the ingredients that make this dip taste just right. Below are the instructions and a rough estimate of the ingredients. Since I never write any of my recipes down this might not be the exact way I make it every time but if you use the best ingredients you can find and bake it until it bubbles you can probably get it to come out perfectly! 

Ingredients:

2 jars of marinated quartered artichoke hearts

2 - 3 vine ripe tomatoes roughly chopped (depending on their size)

1/2 red onion diced

3 cloves of garlic minced

2 jars of Italian style shredded parmesan cheese

2 boxes of frozen chopped spinach

1.5 cups of mayonnaise (roughly) 

1/2 cup of cream cheese

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

Directions:

1. Pre-heat the oven to 350°

2. Defrost packages of chopped spinach

3. While those are defrosting saute your tomatoes, garlic and onion in the olive 

oil and add salt and pepper to taste

4. When the spinach is defrosted you need to put it in a kitchen towell 

(one that you don't mind if it gets stained a light green color) and squeeze out 

all of the liquid - it is very important to NOT SKIP THIS STEP because if there

 is too much liquid in the mixture it will not cook out it will make the dip 

very soupy and mushy (we don't want that!)

5. Once you have drained all the liquid place the spinach in a bowl

6. Add the marinated artichoke hearts along with their liquid 

to the tomato, onion and garlic mixture and cook for about 2 minutes

7. Add the tomato, onion and garlic mixture to the spinach once the onion 

is softened and translucent

8. Add your cheese (but save about 1/4 cup for the top), mayonnaise and cream cheese

9. Stir the mixture together until it is all combined

10. Put in a baking tin and add remaining cheese to the top.

The in I used was probably just 10" around but it doesn't really matter 

what one you use as long at your mixture isn't more that 2" thick. 

Bake for about 15 - 20 minutes and take out and serve when it is warm and bubbly! 

Happy Thursday!

Friday Favorites

Today's favorites are short and sweet - just a few things I've collected over the week that I'm looking forward to. I also have a short and sweet soup recipe that I whipped up today when I didn't feel like making anything that was too time consuming. It was very tasty and its even good cooled or at warm temperature. But first things first, here are the Friday favorites:

 [whole artichoke that will be used in a recipe found at this blog]

 [one of my new favorite ingredients; recipe coming soon]

[cozie recently bought from a good friend in honor of our 2012 graduates]

Bell Pepper and Tomato Soup

2 tablespoons olive oil

 1 yellow bell pepper

2 cloves of garlic minced

1 can chili ready roasted tomatoes

1 can cannellini beans

1/2 tablespoon cumin

1 tablespoon dried oregano 

2 Turkish bay leaves

1/4 cup chopped parsley 

5 cups chicken stock 

s & p

In a large pot saute garlic and bell pepper in olive oil for five minutes until soft. Season with salt, pepper, cumin, and oregano. Add chili ready roasted tomatoes and cannellini or white kidney beans. Cook for about two minutes then add five cups of chicken stock - I used two cups of broth and then used chicken bullion cubes and water to come up with the remaining three cups since I ran out of broth. If you do it that way then bring the soup to a boil and then add your bullion cubes, usually one cube is good for one cup of water. Let simmer for ten minutes after adding your two bay leaves and parsley. Ready to eat!

This recipe can be used with any other vegetables too so you can use what you have on hand. Also the spices I chose can be substituted out for other ones or you can choose not to use them all together. I like the cumin because it gives a bit of heat and smokey-ness to the soup and the bay leaves bring out such a deep depth of flavor that makes it more vibrant. However, these aren't required so if you don't have them don't worry! Salt and pepper will do just fine but make sure to season liberally and TASTE it to check the flavor - you can always add more but you can't take seasoning out!

Summertime Asparagus and Tilapia

The big recipe is finally here! 

I've been working on editing these pictures and re-reading the recipe to make sure I did everything right so that when you try this at home it will come out just right! When I went to the grocery store last week there were a lot of things that looked good and I could have left there with almost every vegetable in the produce section but I came home with just a few things that would last me a while. One of those vegetables was asparagus. One bunch will last you a while if you know how to use it properly. Depending on how big or small they are my rule of thumb is to grab a bunch of them with your middle finger and thumb and that is roughly the amount one person can eat. However, if you think that won't be a big enough portion try cooking it with other vegetables and some protein and I promise it will fill you up. The second thing you should know is how to store it. I keep mine in a vase full of water in the refrigerator - I found that it doesn't need much water and they will stay perfectly fresh for about a week or longer even. 

The other main ingredient I picked up at the store was tilapia. Tilapia is a fantastic fish - it is extremely versatile and it takes on other flavors very well so it will pair great with almost anything. It also has a mild fish flavor in my opinion so seasoning and other ingredients is a must in order to give it good flavor and body.

The recipe below was inspired by something I made at work a while back when I was trying to find a way to have a good meal without using pasta. I am on a non-gluten diet currently and during the first few weeks it was very difficult to find things to eat that felt like an entree. My solution: vegetable stir fry or rice - or both! I found that if you cut your vegetable into longer, thinner strips they act as pasta strings and you can put sauce and protein and whatever else you like on top. In this recipe the onions play that roll and if you cook them correctly you get rid of that tart, sour oniony flavor and end up with sweet, mild, savory onion flavor. So anyways, here it goes!

First things first - you must blanch your asparagus before you use it; otherwise it will be tough and the ends will be very fibrous and hard to chew. Here's how:

Fill a small pot with water and bring to a boil. Once its boiling add a handful of salt - well salted water makes for well seasoned ingredients. Add your asparagus (mine is cut before hand so that I don't need to use a bigger pot). Let it cook for about 3 - 5 minutes until it is bright green. Strain or use a spider to fish out the pieces and transfer directly into an ice bath (a bowl of ice cold water with ice cubes) in order to immediately stop the cooking process. Now they are ready for the main recipe.

Summertime Asparagus and Tilapia
1/2 bunch of asparagus blanched

2 tilapia filets (seasoned with s & p on both sides)

1 vine ripe tomato chopped

1 medium while or yellow onion slices 

1 7.5 oz jar of marinated artichoke hearts quartered

3 cloves of garlic minced

3/4 cup freshly chopped parsley

1 lemon

1 tbsp capers

3 tbsp olive oil

2 tbsp butter 

1 tbsp heavy cream (optional) 

salt and pepper (s & p)

In a skillet that is hot over medium heat cook onion and garlic in 1 tablespoon each of olive oil and butter. Cook for three minutes or until onions are translucent. Add your blanched asparagus and cook that for three minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste. Add your jar of artichoke hearts including the juice - the juice will help make the sauce later. Finally add one or two tablespoons of your chopped parsley then let the mixture cook on medium until about half of the liquid has evaporated from the pan. Transfer the mixture into a separate bowl, cover and set aside. Add one tablespoon of olive oil to the pan still on medium heat and place the seasoned tilapia in the pan. Add the juice of half your lemon then place in the pan flesh side down. After three minutes of cooking add 1 tablespoon of butter in order to keep the fish moist and the bottom of the pan from getting too dry (you can add more or less olive oil or butter in order to prevent the bottom of the pan from burning). Flip the fish over after five to six minutes of cooking. Add the juice of the other half of the lemon directly over the cooked side of the fish. Add your tomatoes, capers and the remaining tablespoon of butter. Cook the fish for three minutes in a covered pan on medium to low heat. Remove lid and add cream if desired. Pour the fish and tomato mixture on a plate and add the asparagus mixture on top to serve!