Black Eyed Peas, Tomato, Spinach and Quinoa Salad

This is another way to combine leeks, spinach and black eyed peas. This delicious salad is worth serving year round–not just on Rosh HaShana.

Spinach and Chickpea Curry

My sister gave me a stash of cooking magazine to look through and this recipe popped out at me. It is the sort of brilliant recipe that is dead simple and super quick to make, but tastes as complex as a time-consuming complicated recipe.

Tapenade Salmon with Orange Spinach en Papillote

Tapenade Salmon en Papillote over Orange Spinach before baking

This is an easy, low-carb make-ahead supper. Well, it is easy if you buy a jar of  olive spread (I used Ta’amti tapenade).

It also helps if you know how to cook “en papillote,” which is a French term for cooking something wrapped in paper. According to the dictionary, the term doesn’t come from “papier” (paper) but “papillon” (butterfly). Maybe because the paper is traditionally cut into a heart shape, folded in half, so it looks a bit like a butterfly? I don’t know . . . But, you can even more easily wrap the fish in a rectangular piece of foil and that will still accomplish the primary “en papillote” goal of trapping and infusing flavor during baking. I have made this fish in foil and in paper and both ways work.

Here is what you do: saute baby spinach with garlic and orange zest and then lay it on a piece of parchment or foil (traditionally, the paper is greased, but I didn’t bother and it was fine). Spread a piece of salmon with tapenade and place the salmon over the spinach. Squeeze over a little lemon juice. Wrap the fish up in the foil or parchment (here is how you crimp the parchment, if that is what you are using). Set the package aside in the refrigerator until about 20 minutes before you want to serve the fish. Then cook the fish and serve.

You could also make this fish without the paper or foil, just roasting it uncovered on a baking sheet. The spinach can be cooked separately on the stove instead of with the fish in the oven. The en papillote method seems to infuse the flavors more, plus you get a delicious blast of savory aromas when you open the package. Olive, orange and garlic fuse together, creating an aroma that is intense, almost meaty in its umami-ness (if that is a word).

The spinach all by itself is lovely, fragrant with garlic and a hit of orange that is both unexpected and yet absolutely right. If you want to make the spinach separately, you can just leave the spinach in the pan in which you wilt it, cover it and cook it another 20 minutes on low before serving.

Feta Compli

Last year for Pesach, I made what I called Naked Spanakopita: spinach filling without the filo. It was good, but I felt it was too crowded in a round pan and needed to be spread thinner in a  9×13 pan. Plus, I just wanted to tweak it a bit.

Then a neighbor kindly lent me a copy of The When You Live in Hawaii You Get Very Creative During Passover Cookbook, published by Sof Ma’arav Congregation, Honolulu, Hawaii (1989). There was a recipe with the irresistible title “Feta Compli.” I decided to borrow the name, plus the idea of topping the spinach layer with a cheese-ey, creamy layer. I also made the filling richer and more moist with Dill Havarti cheese and some farmer’s cheese.

Donna Hay-esque Dairy Spinach Kugel (and My Mom’s Dairy Spinach Kugel)

This is actually a mash-up of two different Donna Hay recipes: Spinach Pie from The Instant Cook, and Spinach and Ricotta Baked Pasta from Off the Shelf. It is sort-of like spanakopita, without the phyllo, or a crustless quiche. With some salad on the side, it makes a nice light lunch.

The results reminded me very much of my mother’s dairy spinach kugel, which is a good thing. My mother’s recipe (which I am also including) uses farmer’s cheese and sauteed onions and mushrooms.

This recipe is a little easier because you skip the sauteed onions (but adding them could only make this even better). Putting the halved grape tomatoes on top is not only pretty, but adds a lot to the flavor as the acidity of the tomatoes cut through the creaminess of the dish. Serve this with a salad on the side. If you don’t want to add the tomatoes to the top of the dish, trying serving it with a tomato salad on the side.

Dorie Greenspan’s Spinach

This is a great, easy way to make spinach: you season the baby spinach kind of like a salad, tossing it with salt, pepper, olive oil, and lemon zest. Then you are supposed to steam it, but I just put a cover over the Corningware casserole, and cooked on low until it wilted.

This is from the mind of Dorie Greenspan, and it is in her new book.

And, while we are on the topic of interesting ways to make vegetables that are kind of salad-ish, I also liked (but took no photo!) this butternut squash recipe from Abraco’s chef Elizabeth Quijada.

Cheesy Spinach Snacks

This is from Family Circle. Very rich, best as a part snack or in small servings as a side dish.