Work has been more hectic than usual lately so I was trying to brainstorm ways to be more efficient when a light bulb went off and I realized that I could save a bunch of time if I started running home from work a few times a week! Not only do I get a great workout in, but the jog home only takes 10 minutes longer than my usual 45 minute commute. Why didn’t I think of this earlier?!? I’m taking the shortest route home right now, but hopefully will start gaining enough endurance to mix my things up eventually. It’s funny, but I don’t usually have much of an appetite after I run…until the next day that is, when I become completely ravaneous and end up snacking all day. Anyway, one night after my run I decided to get some carbs ready in anticipation of my need to recharge the next day and whipped up this yummy pasta dish.

This spaghetti has a bit of a Greek twist because I made a sauce of pureed spinach, onions, garlic, lemon juice, and oregano. I mixed in some tomato paste to give it some depth and a bit of cottage cheese to add some richness without the heaviness of cream a la Cara. The shrimp and feta rounded out the dish nicely, although next time I may also add in some chopped roasted red peppers!

Spinach Sauce Pasta with Shrimp
Printable Recipe

Ingredients:
1 pound whole wheat spaghetti
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 medium red onion, chopped
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 pound fresh baby spinach
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1/2 cup 2% cottage cheese
2 teaspoons dried oregano
Juice of one lemon
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 pound shrimp, peeled and deveined
1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese

Directions:
To prepare the pasta, cook spaghetti according to package directions. Drain the pasta in a colander, return it to the pot, and keep warm.

Meanwhile, heat olive oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium high heat. Add onion and sauté 5 to 7 minutes or under tender; add garlic and sauté one additional minute. Place onion mixture in a food processor and wipe the pan clean with a damp cloth. Add half the fresh spinach to the cleaned pan and place a lid on top. Heat for 4 to 6 minutes or until wilted. Add the remaining half of the fresh spinach to the pan; stir well and repeat, cooking spinach 4 to 6 additional minutes or until wilted. Place spinach in the food processor with the onion; add in tomato paste, cottage cheese, oregano, lemon juice, and salt and pulse until smooth.

Place shrimp and spinach sauce into a large nonstick skillet and cook on medium high heat for 2 to 3 minutes, stirring frequently, or until shrimp are cooked through and opaque. Add sauce to the pasta and mix well. Scoop evenly into 6 bowls and garnish with crumbled feta cheese. Makes 6 servings.

Nutrition: 430 calories, 9.6g fat, 10.6g fiber, 30.7g protein per serving
Cost: $1.75 per serving

You may have noticed that I’ve been on a bit of a Mediterranean kick lately – chickpeas, roasted red peppers, and feta have all been making me very happy and this dish is no exception. I wanted to come up with a fun vegetarian main dish to serve at an upcoming dinner party. I’ve learned the hard way that it’s best to practice dishes before the actual event so I spent a bit of time brainstorming and finally decided to stack slices of roasted eggplant in between layers of a roasted red pepper and chickpea spread, feta, and pine nuts. I really loved the contrast of the crunchy pine nuts with the creamy chickpeas and I’m already looking forward to serving these cute little stacks!

Also, I’m working on going through our 2000 (!) pictures from our trip to Lithuania right now and I’ve already whipped up several dishes inspired by our trip, so stay tuned for a recap!

Mediterranean Eggplant Stacks
Printable Recipe

Ingredients:
2 medium eggplants, ends trimmed and cut crosswise into 12 1/2-inch thick round slices
2 tablespoons plus 1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup plus 3 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 cup chopped yellow onion
1 garlic clove, minced
1 15-ounce can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
1 7-ounce jar roasted red peppers, drained
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
1/2 cup crumbled feta
1/2 cup toasted pine nuts

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375˚F. Sprinkle eggplant slices evenly with 2 tablespoons salt on both sides and let stand for at least 30 minutes on paper towels. Rinse the slices with water and pat them dry. Place 1/4 cup olive oil in a small dish and use a pastry brush to coat both sides of each slice of eggplant. Place eggplant slices on two large greased cookie sheets in a single layer and roast at 375˚F for 22 to 25 minutes or until tender but not mushy.

Meanwhile, heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a skillet over medium heat high. Add onion and sauté for 5 to 7 minutes or until tender; add garlic and sauté 1 additional minute.

Place cooked onions, chickpeas, roasted red peppers, red wine vinegar, remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil, and remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt in food processor and pulse until well blended.

To assemble the eggplant stacks, evenly layer a slice of eggplant, approximately 1 tablespoon of the red pepper chickpea spread, 1 teaspoon of feta, and 1 teaspoon of pine nuts. Repeat 2 more times, so each stack contains 3 slices of eggplant. Makes 8 eggplant stacks.

Nutrition: 308 calories, 20.6g fat, 7.3g fiber, 7.3g protein per serving
Cost: $1.11 per serving

Get this, my mom told me today that the reason I didn’t remember having mac & cheese growing up is because I didn’t like it! Apparently I always refused to eat it and would push it away and eat cereal for dinner instead! I mean I know I was an extremely picky eater growing up, but what kid doesn’t love mac & cheese?

My parents are visiting this weekend and my mom said she always marvels a bit over the fact that I now enjoy cooking and have a food blog, since she always struggled to diversify my palate. It wasn’t until I went to college that I really started trying new foods, and a trip through Europe after graduation solidified my foodie ways. I actually kept a travel journal during that trip and have a list of 32 new foods that I tried for the first time – things like raspberries, duck, prawns, quiche, lobster, salmon, cherries, mussels, and crepes. How did I go 21 years without thinking I’d like all these things? It sort of makes me sad thinking about it, but I am doing my best now to make up for all that lost time!

One of the 32 items was lamb – I had it twice during our trip and now have finally tackled making it at home myself. I’ve braised it a couple times this year and recently bought a Frenched (bones exposed) rack of lamb at Costco for $18 and crossed my fingers that I wouldn’t mess it up. Thanks to my trusty meat thermometer it turned out wonderfully and for a fraction of the price it would cost at a restaurant! Some of the almonds fell off the crust because I manhandled the pieces a bit while I was trying to figure out how to cut around the bones on the rack, but it was still very tasty and I’ll know how to do things more delicately next time around. I served it over a fennel, artichoke, and chickpea mash that is very versatile and would also be great with chicken – yum!

Roasted Rack of Lamb with a Fennel, Artichoke, and Chickpea Mash
Printable Recipe

Ingredients:

Fennel, Artichoke, and Chickpea Mash:
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 large yellow onion, chopped
1 bulb fennel, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 14-ounce jar roasted artichoke hearts, drained
1 15-ounce can chickpeas, drained
Juice from half a lemon (2 tablespoons)
1/2 teaspoon salt

Roasted Rack of Lamb:
1/4 cup spicy brown mustard
Juice of half a lemon (2 tablespoons)
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 16-ounce Frenched rack of lamb, with 8 bones per rack, trimmed of all but a thin layer of fat
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon canola oil
1/2 cup finely chopped almonds

Directions:
For the fennel, artichoke, and chickpea mash, heat olive oil over medium high heat and sauté onion and fennel for 5 to 7 minutes or until tender; add garlic and sauté 1 additional minute. Add fennel mixture, artichoke hearts, chickpeas, lemon juice, and salt to a food processor and pulse until smooth, about 2 minutes.

For the lamb, heat oven to 400˚F. Mix mustard, lemon juice, and garlic in a small bowl. Pat lamb dry and season with salt. Heat a large heavy skillet over high heat until hot. Add oil to the pan and brown the lamb on all sides, about 2 minutes per side, for 6 minutes total. Rub seared lamb with mustard mixture and coat with almonds.

Place lamb in a 13×9-inch pan and bake at 400˚F for 15 to 20 minutes or until lamb reaches 145˚F when a thermometer is inserted diagonally into the center of the meat for medium. Tent with foil and let rest for 10 minutes and then cut into chops. Serve over fennel artichoke mash. Makes 4 servings.

Nutrition: 492 calories, 21.5g fat, 11.3g fiber, 35.1g fat per serving
Cost: $6.33 per serving

We just got back from our annual lab ski trip, where stayed in a huge house up in New Hampshire and hit the slopes and snowshoeing trails at Mount Sunapee. We all had a great time relaxing, hanging out, and enjoying some incredible meals. Everyone signed up to make a dish over the course of two days and I volunteered to organize our shopping list and go to the grocery store with my labmate Libby. It was quite the adventure navigating an unfamiliar store with a two page list and two full shopping carts, but definitely worth it because everything was so tasty! The first night we had pizzas with crusts made from scratch and the second night I decided to tackle the main course.

I was actually a bit nervous when I first got into the kitchen because I’ve never cooked for 10 people before and certainly didn’t want to disappoint anyone or mess anything up! But, I quickly settled into my groove once I started prepping all the ingredients. I’ve always enjoyed the challenge of multitasking in the kitchen and my goal was to finish all the dishes at the same time so nothing would get cold. Luckily, everything came together perfectly, and at one point I had all four burners going, which was a first for me (stirring risotto, cooking asparagus, searing chicken breasts, and keeping my eye on the simmering soup)! My menu included crab bisque (which I will post about next!), gruyere risotto with asparagus and peas, and these lovely stuffed chicken breasts.

I decided on chicken as the protein because everyone likes it and I knew it would be easy to find high quality chicken at the small local grocery store. There was no great inspiration for the filling – I just combined all my favorite ingredients! I mixed together caramelized shallots, garlic, pancetta, sun-dried tomatoes, and parmesan cheese, and then stirred in just enough mascarpone cheese to hold it all together. I think everyone enjoyed the meal and I’m already thinking about menu possibilities for next year!

Pancetta and Sun-Dried Tomato Stuffed Chicken Breasts
Printable Recipe

Ingredients:
2 tablespoons olive oil
2/3 cup chopped shallots
2 garlic cloves, minced
2/3 cup diced pancetta
2/3 cup chopped sun-dried tomatoes
1/3 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
1/3 cup mascarpone cheese
4 boneless, skinless, chicken breasts
1/4 cup almond meal
2 tablespoons flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon butter

Directions:
Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil over medium low heat and sauté shallots for 10 to 15 minutes or until caramelized. Add garlic and sauté 1 additional minute. Remove from heat and place in a medium bowl. Add pancetta to the same pan and sauté for 5 to 7 minutes or until browned. Place pancetta in the same bowl with the caramelized shallots and allow ingredients to cool completely to room temperature. Add sun-dried tomatoes, parmesan cheese, and mascarpone cheese to the bowl and mix until well combined.

Meanwhile, place chicken breasts between two pieces of plastic wrap and pound to 1/4-inch thickness using a meat mallet. Place filling evenly lengthwise down each chicken breast, roll up the sides, and secure with toothpicks.  Mix almond meal, flour, and salt in a shallow baking dish and evenly coat stuffed chicken with the flour mixture.

Heat oven to 350˚F. Heat butter and 1 remaining tablespoon olive oil over medium high heat and place chicken breasts seam side down in the pan. Use large tongs to rotate the chicken and sear it on all four sides. Place seared chicken breasts seam side down in a large baking pan and bake at 350˚F for 20 to 25 minutes or until cooked through and no longer pink in the center. Allow to rest 5 minutes, then remove toothpicks, and cut on a bias. Makes 8 servings.

Nutrition: 318 calories, 17.1g fat, 1.0g fiber, 32.6g protein per serving
Cost: $1.56 per serving