Curry Chicken

Coconut milk, simmered into a complex curry with tomatoes, then served with seared chicken over brown rice for one scrumptious curry chicken.

Spinach and Tuna Fettuccine Alfredo

A quick and easy (skinnier) Fettuccine Alfredo with Italian seasoned tuna and spinach.

Watermelon Feta Spinach Salad

Combine some sweet watermelon with savory feta cheese, flavored up with some basil in a bed of spinach and make yourself a watermelon spinach feta salad. Drizzle some balsamic on top if you're feeling fancy!

Roasted Butternut Squash and Spinach Gnocchi

A yummy combination of sweet potato gnocchi, roasted butternut squash, and spinach topped with some crispy bacon.

Spinach Patties

These hearty, filling spinach patties with a bit of cheese are sure to satisfy the palate and the belly.

Thai Style Tofu with Peppers and Peanuts

Thai-style tofu with bell peppers and spinach, topped with chopped peanuts.

Enoki, Carrots, and Spinach Wrapped with Bacon

Enoki mushrooms aren't as common around here as some other types, so when we saw some for sale, I had to get some! Since I had never cooked them before, I got 2 packs. I figured I could just throw one pack in with some miso soup, but I wanted to try something new as well. Enoki mushrooms, or enokitake in Japanese, are long, thin mushrooms that grow in clumps. When choosing fresh enoki mushrooms, look for firm, white caps, and avoid slimy or brown stalks. (These characteristics apply to cultivated enoki and not wild enoki. However, if you're buying enoki from a grocery store, you're likely buying the cultivated variety.) You can also grow your own enoki from a kit! Enoki are a healthy choice since they contain antioxidants like ergothioneine and relatively large amounts of a protein (designated Five), which helps regulate the immune system and has potential uses in vaccines and immunotherapy.

I thought I would make something that matched the shape of the enoki mushrooms and would go well with them. As I looked around, I found some spinach...stems. I know they're usually removed, but why just discard them when you can put them to use? Plus, no chopping or cutting into strips needed! Just pinch off the stem and place it on top of the enoki mushrooms. With the white enoki mushrooms and green spinach, I thought I would throw in some carrots for additional color. Carrots also have quite a bit of β-carotene, but only about 3% is released during digestion - unless you cook and add in a bit of oil.

Well, how do you solve that problem? Wrap everything in bacon! Not only will the bacon add a huge hit of flavor, but it'll form the wrapping, making the enoki, spinach, and carrots easier to eat (and more nutritious)!


Enoki, Carrots, and Spinach Wrapped with Bacon (printable version)
Enoki mushrooms with carrots and spinach, wrapped in savory bacon for a chewy, yet crunchy bundle of delicious.

Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 20 minutes
Total time: 30 minutes
Yield: 4-5 servings

Materials:

• 1 bunch enoki mushrooms, cleaned
• 1-2 carrots, julienned
• 1 small handful spinach stems (Zucchini is another good option.)
• 4-5 strips bacon, cut in half

Methods:

1. Divide enoki into 8-10 portions, placing each portion in the center of a bacon strip.
2. Place 5-10 spinach stems on top, depending on how much spinach flavor and how "bite-size" you want the finished product.
3. Place about the same amount of carrot stems on top of the spinach.
4. Bring bacon strip ends together, and secure with a toothpick or skewer. I only had skewers, so I stuck one through a bundle and then break off the end. I kept doing that until I ran out of skewer, and I used a total of 2 skewers when I made this dish with 8 bundles.

What's your favorite way to enjoy mushrooms?

Linked to: Ingredient Spotlight

Spinach Balls

I wanted to try something with a little bit of a Mardi Gras theme, but I also wanted something with ingredients I had on hand and is quick and easy - not demanding at all, am I? :P Luckily for me, I found a spinach balls recipe, and it looked like something worth trying. I also liked that these are easy to make and freeze and also to eat as finger food, but, as usual, I couldn't follow the recipe exactly. The first thing I did was only make half a batch since I didn't really want 6-8 dozen and I only had about 10 ounces of spinach. Also, to save time (or increase efficiency :P), I didn't cook the spinach - I just let it thaw out a bit, but I did add some extra cornbread stuffing to soak up the extra liquids. I also feel like I'd just be pouring nutrients from the spinach down the drain by squeezing the liquid out after cooking. In addition, I also eliminated the margarine from the recipe. If I had not eliminated it, I would have substituted in butter and used it differently. I think I covered most of the material differences, but I won't go over the method differences in detail here. While making these spinach balls, I thought of Christmas since the red pepper flakes and the green spinach contrasted each other, so that might be another time these would be fun to serve. These spinach balls are also somewhat similar to the stuffing balls I made previously.

Spinach Balls

by CJ Huang

Materials:

Mass	Weight	Volume	Number	Material	Notes
	10 ounces			spinach	I used frozen, but you could also use fresh, just make sure to chop it first.
		2 cups		stuffing	I used cornbread stuffing.
			1	onion, finely chopped
			3	eggs, beaten
		1/2 cup		cheese, grated	I used Pecorino Romano, but Parmesan is another good option.
				chili pepper flakes
		1/2 teaspoon		garlic powder
		1 teaspoon		soul food seasoning	Creole seasoning or seasoned salt are some other options.
				butter	optional

Methods:

1. (optional) Melt butter and cook onion until slightly caramelized. This step will add extra flavor, but unfortunately, I did not think of it until it was too late. Next time!
2. Mix stuffing, onions (either cooked or raw), cheese, pepper flakes, garlic powder, and seasoning together.
3. At this point, I just put the frozen spinach on top and let it melt while I did other chores, and then I just mixed it in once it melted. If you're using fresh spinach, you could just mix everything together.
4. Once the spinach is ready, add the eggs and mix everything together.
5. Shape into balls. I made mine about an inch in diameter, but you could go larger or smaller - just be sure to adjust your baking time.
6. Bake at 350F. You could also freeze them at this point, and when you want to eat them, just thaw slightly and bake.

Asian Mushroom Noodle Soup

With all this cold weather, I thought, "what's better than a bowl of warm soup?" I knew I wanted to use the cellophane noodles since they seem to add a special touch. Fortunately, I had some around. I also looked forward to using the shiitake mushrooms I recently got. And then, I thought some baby bok choy might go well, but I didn't quite make it to the Asian grocery, and I wasn't about to pay double or triple for the small, yellowed ones I saw at the regular grocery store. Luckily, I got a good deal on some spinach, so I used that instead. If you do use the bok choy, you would want to put that in with the soup to cook it a bit as opposed to just pouring the soup over the spinach like I did. Although this soup tasted quite delicious, next time, I would use fewer mushrooms (having forgotten about them expanding as they rehydrated) and maybe add in some miso to give it some additional flavor.

What's your favorite soup?

Asian Mushroom Noodle Soup

by CJ Huang

Materials:

Mass	Weight	Volume	Number	Material	Notes
			1-2 portions	cellophane noodles, soaked
		2 teaspoons		garlic, minced
			5-10	mushrooms, sliced	I used dried shiitake mushrooms.
			2 handfuls	spinach
			2	carrots, julienned
		2 teaspoons		ginger, minced
		1/2 teaspoon		pepper, ground
				stock or water
				green onions, sliced

Methods:

1. Add all ingredients except noodles, spinach, and green onions to a pot and bring to a boil. If you're using bok choy, you'd probably want to add it in at this point.
2. Stir in noodles and simmer for a few more minutes.
3. Place a handful of spinach in each bowl, and pour the soup on top. The heat from the soup will cook the spinach. I know a handful sounds like a lot, but the spinach will cook down quite a bit.
4. Sprinkle green onions on top, if desired.

Teriyaki Salmon Miso Noodle Soup

After making the quick and easy teriyaki salmon, I was thinking about how to make it into a better, more well rounded meal. I thought about maybe doing something similar to the duck noodle soup I had made a while back, but with the teriyaki salmon. I have also been trying various miso soups, including pond scum soup v 2.0. I incorporated various aspects of each of those, and the result was something better than each of the parts! And so, without further ado...

What's your favorite noodle soup?

Teriyaki Salmon Miso Noodle Soup

by CJ Huang

Flavorful teriyaki salmon in a noodle soup with miso, shiitake mushrooms and spinach, garnished with seaweed.

Materials:

Mass	Weight	Volume	Number	Material	Notes
				teriyaki salmon
				shiitake mushrooms, sliced
				green onions, sliced
				noodles
				kim
				water or stock
				miso
				spinach	optional

Methods:

1. Boil the shiitake mushrooms in stock or water.
2. Cook the noodles.
3. Mix the miso into some of the slightly cooled stock or water.
4. Divide the noodles into bowls, and pour the broth over them. If using spinach, add it to the stock or water just before pouring over the noodles or to the noodles just before pouring the water or stock over them.
5. Pour the miso into each bowl.
6. Garnish with kim and green onions.

Spinach Kim Chi (시금치 무침)

I think the first time I had this was at the H-Mart near 69th Street. It came as a side, and I no longer remember the main dish I ordered except that it was some sort of noodle soup. Not knowing it’s real name, I just called it spinach kim chi since Koreans apparently must have kim chi with everything, and this side was made of spinach. Makes perfect sense! I’ve always thought of Korean food as too time consuming to make, so I never really tried to make spinach kim chi. But then I found out this dish is actually very quick and easy to make.

What kinds of foods do you have to have to make a meal complete?

Spinach Kim Chi (시금치 무침)

by CJ Huang

Spinach, marinated in soy sauce with garlic and sesame.

Materials:

Mass	Weight	Volume	Number	Material	Notes
				spinach
				sesame seeds
				soy sauce
				garlic powder
				sesame oil
				sugar

Methods:

1. Steam spinach briefly. You can also blanch it, but that makes for a weaker taste.
2. Pour small amount of soy sauce, sesame oil, sugar, and garlic powder into serving container or jar.
3. Mix together until sugar is dissolved and garlic powder is rehydrated.
4. Add in spinach, and layer with sesame seeds. I used untoasted sesame seeds, but it would also be tasty to use toasted.
5. Mix well, or if you used a jar, cap and shake.
6. Taste to see if anything else should be added.
7. Serve cold.