Spinach Lemon Orzo Soup April 21, 2012

I’m not sure why this Spinach Lemon Orzo Soup caught my attention when I was going through the recipes on Sprinkled with Flour.  It might have been the picture, or the orzo (what’s orzo?  I thought…) or the lemon spinach combo.  Whatever it was, I wrote down the recipe and finally got to make it a couple of weeks later after getting back home from my trip.  I’m glad I did!  It is a good soup that is different from any other I have made.  It has a subtle lemon flavor and just the right amount of ‘kick’ from the red pepper flakes.  This soup was really simple to throw together.  I actually had it made a bit before I was ready to eat it, so I turned it wayyyy down.  The orzo ended up soaking some more liquid so I believe I added a bit more water.  I also didn’t think it necessarily needed the cornstarch/water mixture to thicken, but you may find it needs it.

You probably already know, but in case I am wrong, Orzo is a ‘rice-shaped pasta’.  I loved it and will be trying other recipes with it!

Spinach Lemon Orzo Soup (serves 8)

2 T Olive Oil

1 whole Large Onion, Chopped

2 cloves Garlic, Minced

1 whole Lemon, Zested And Juiced

1 tsp Red Pepper Flakes (I halved and was the perfect amount of spice for MY taste buds)

1 tsp Dried Thyme

2 cups Fresh Spinach Leaves, Packed

1-½ cup Uncooked Orzo Pasta

8 cups Vegetable Or Chicken Broth

2 T Water

1 T Cornstarch

¼ cups Freshly Grated Parmesan Cheese, More Or Less As Needed

Heat the oil in a large heavy pot or stock pot. Add the onion and garlic and cook for 3-4 minutes until fragrant. Add the lemon zest, red pepper flakes and thyme and cook another 3 minutes until the onions are tender and translucent. Turn the heat to medium and add the spinach and orzo. Cook for 1 minute and then add the broth and lemon juice.

Bring to a light simmer and cook for 12-15 minutes until the orzo is barely tender. Whisk the water and cornstarch in a small bowl. With the soup at a light boil, whisk in the cornstarch mixture and stir rapidly. Allow the soup to thicken, about 3 minutes.

Serve immediately garnished with freshly grated Parmesan.

Cassie’s notes: This soup is also great with 1-2 cups of cooked chicken added in. Feel free to use chopped frozen spinach—just make sure you thaw, drain and squeeze out the excess water.

Avocado Spinach Egg Salad March 16, 2012

It’s been a CRAZY week!  For my family at least, many families probably have weeks like this very often, but not us.  Our nights have been super short and sweet because of stuff that had to be done, places that we had to go, etc.  I’ve pulled out a container of Chicken Noodle Soup one night, even in this summer-like weather.  Gave my husband some hot dogs to grill up another night when I had to run out the door and we even headed to Portillos another night when time didn’t allow cooking or eating at home.  Love there beef sandwiches and they have an AWESOME chocolate cake shake….but saved a few calories THIS time from not ordering one of those.  Oh yes, we had a decent meal on Monday night – grilled Cajun Salmon and mashed potatoes.  Good to get some Omega 3s in the body!

For lunch this week I’ve been making this Avocado Spinach Egg Salad which I found when I was searching on foodgawker.com recently.  This is a new fav site for  me – even more than pinterest!  Take a look for yourself but don’t say I didn’t warn you – it’s addicting!  The avocado recipe was posted on the website called We Are Not Martha.  It is a delicious and healthy lunch.  I love the creamyness of it all and the sprinkle of salt adds the perfect touch.

Avocado Spinach Egg Salad

1 hardboiled egg

2 T plain greek yogurt

1/3 avocado

1/3 celery stalk, chopped

4-5 baby spinach leaves, ch0pped

hot pepper flakes, to taste (I don’t like heat, I omit this)

good bread, toasted if desired (I use whole wheat)

Peel and mash the egg with the yogurt, avocado, celery, spinach and hot pepper flakes.  Toast your bread and spread with avocado mixture.  Sprinkle with salt.  Enjoy!

Recipe adopted from We are Not Martha

Super Stuffed French Bread Pizza Rustica June 1, 2009

Scrounging through blogs, looking for a new recipe to make, I ran across La Mia Cucnina who made Rachael Ray’s Super Stuffed French Bread Pizza Rustica.  I stopped there, made an ingredient list and ran off to the grocery store.  Well, after I went through my kitchen to pull out the ingredients I already had, so really, all I needed was little bit more ricotta and a loaf of french bread.  Not bad for the long list of ingredients!

This was a great twist to pizza burgers.  The recipe says it feeds 4, but I feed 6 plus leftovers!  It’s very filling.  Unfortunately, I forgot the leftovers at my parent’s cottage and before I could call to tell them I was on my way to get them, they were already gobbled up.  Even though I would have loved those leftovers, I’m glad they could enjoy them after unpacking from a long holiday weekend in Michigan. 

Super Stuffed French Bread Pizza Rustica

1 (2 ft) loaf french bread (I used a Vienna loaf, which was about 4 inches wide)

1 lb sweet Italian sausage

1 small red bell pepper, seeded and chopped

1 small onion, chopped

2 large cloves garlic, chopped

1 pkg frozen chopped spinach, defrosted and squeezed dry

Salt and pepper

1 1/2 cups ricotta

1/2 cup grated Parmesan

1/2 pound sweet spressata, chopped (I omitted this)

1/2 stick pepperoni, chopped (I used already sliced pepperoni)

10 oz shredded mozzarella

10 oz shredded provolone

1 tsp dried oregano

1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes (I omitted)

Pizza Sauce (my addition)

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Split bread lengthwise and hollow it out. 

Heat a skillet over medium high flame and brown sausage.  Brown and crumble sausage.  Add red bell pepper, onion and garlic.  Cook 3 to 5 minutes, add spinach.  Remove mixture from heat and season with a pinch of salt and black pepper to your taste.

Transfer to a bowl.  Combine sausage and veggies with ricotta, Parmesan, sopressata and pepperoni.  Fill bread shells with meat mixture (this is where I spread pizza sauce over the top and then pepporoni slices on top of that).   Mound with mozzarella and provolone cheeses.  Place in hot oven on cookie sheet and bake until cheese melts and bubbles and bread is super crisp, about 10-12 minutes.  Top pizzas with oregano and hot pepper flakes.  Serve immediately.

Recipe from Food Network

Spinach and Cheese Roll-ups March 14, 2008

I made these the night before I ate them so they took about 50 minutes in the oven instead of 25.  I also made a few changes to the original recipe which you can see in parenthesis.  This dish needed more seasoning, I had to add salt, so if I make it again I’ll be throwing in additional spices that aren’t listed in the recipe.  Although I have to say it was a good light meal!

Spinach and Cheese Roll-Ups

(Recipe from lowfatlifestyle.com)

• 1/3 cup chopped onion
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 teaspoon olive oil
• 1 – 14.5 ounce can diced canned tomatoes
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• 1/2 teaspoon dried basil
• 1/4 teaspoon sugar
• Dash of salt
• Dash of black pepper
• 8 dried lasagna noodles (whole wheat noodles)
• 1 – 10 ounce package frozen chopped spinach, thawed
• 3/4 cup fat-free or reduced fat ricotta cheese (ff cottage cheese
• 1/2 cup shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese (2 ounces)
• 2 tablespoons finely shredded Parmesan cheese
• 2 tablespoons snipped fresh basil (dried basil)
• 1 slightly beaten egg white

In a medium saucepan cook onion and garlic in hot oil until onion is tender, stirring occasionally. Carefully stir in undrained tomatoes, tomato paste, basil, sugar, salt, and pepper. Bring to boiling; reduce heat. Simmer, uncovered, about 5 minutes or until sauce is desired consistency, stirring occasionally.

Cook pasta according to package directions; drain. Rinse with cold water; drain well.

For filling, drain thawed spinach well, pressing out excess liquid. In a medium bowl stir together ricotta cheese, mozzarella cheese, Parmesan cheese and basil. Add spinach and egg white, stirring to combine.

To assemble, evenly spread about 1/4 cup filling on each noodle and roll up from one end. Place rolls, seam side down into 8×8 pan. Top with sauce.

Bake casseroles, covered, in a 350 degree oven about 25 (50 if made the night before) minutes or until heated through.