Spinach Kugel

Spinach Kugel

4 eggs, well beaten
1 lb. spinach
1 lb. whole wheat egg noodles
1 pkg. dry onion soup mix*
1/4 lb butter (1 stick, 1/2 cup)
1 c milk

Cook the egg noodles.

Cook the spinach if using fresh spinach; defrost and dewater the spinach if using frozen spinach.

Blend eggs, onion soup mix, non-dairy creamer, and margarine (you can use your blender).  

Pour onto hot noodles, mixing well.  Add spinach.  Mix well.  

Pour into a baking pan and bake at 350 for 1 hour.

*I've been trying out substitute recipes for Lipton's onion mix but they have yet to measure up.

This is one of my dogs; his name is Kugel.
He is eating kugel! 

Salmon with Sweet Potato Fries and Sauteed Broccoli

Salmon with Sweet Potato Fries and Sauteed Broccoli

For the fish:

I got wild salmon from Captain's Catch in Northern Delaware.

First I rubbed the salmon with a mixture of cumin and zatar.

Next I heated a pan, heated coconut oil in it, and then pan-fried/seared the salmon for a couple minutes on both sides.

Then I took the salmon, put it into a glass baking tray sprayed with oil, poured freshly squeezed lime juice on top, and put it in a preheated oven to bake so the middle could cook more and to keep it warm while the rest of dinner finished cooking.

Finally I heated a bit of butter in a saucepan until it browned and when I removed the salmon from the oven I poured the butter on top of the salmon before serving it.

For the sweet potato fries:
I cut raw sweet potatoes into fry shape.

I tossed them very lightly with olive oil.

I laid them out on a baking tray on parchment paper, sprinkled them with cinnamon, sea salt, and hot red pepper, and then baked them. Once the sweet potato fries were cooked through, I turned the oven to broil to brown them a bit and give them a firmer texture.

For the broccoli:
I sauteed it with a little big of Bragg's (like soy sauce), Ginger juice (grated squeezed ginger), minced garlic, and sesame oil.

A cutting trick I learned at the Natural Gourmet Institute regarding broccoli is that one should use the stalk but only the less tough parts.  If you cut a bit off the sides from each part of the stalk and make it into a rectangular prism (kind of like if you were peeling it but taking more off), you will get rid of the tough part and will only have stalk left that tastes great as part of the stir fry.

Turkey Soup

Turkey Soup

In the past when I've had fresh stock I like a simple soup of ground turkey, spinach, and cannelini beans.  I also like a Pistou soup with vegetables, pasta, and beans with a tomato-basil broth.  I had pesto on hand and no homemade stock so I decided to combine the recipes for a hearty and tasty stew.

1.  Cook ground turkey with onion and garlic.

2.  Boil stock.

3.  Add ingredients, giving each some time to cook:
potato, carrot, leek, whole wheat orzo, kidney and garbanzo beans, yellow squash, corn, spinach, ground turkey mixture.

4.  Stir in pesto and tomato sauce.

Roasted Beets

I was not a fan of beets until a few years ago when they came in our CSA and I roasted them.  Now I love them, but I think local and fresh is the way to go..  These are Golden Beets.  After roasting them longer than you think you should in the oven and then peeling them, they are delicious served with goat cheese, basalmic vinegar, and nuts (pictures above is with pistachios).