Asparagus Spinach Feta Quiche

 https://www.twopeasandtheirpod.com/asparagus-spinach-feta-quiche/

This recipe was a great starting point.

Instead of fresh spinach, I used 2 cups of frozen spinach.

I used double the asparagus as well because we needed to get rid of it.

I used double the cheese and it was a mixture of parmesan and cheddar.

Plus I added a sprinkle of oregano and basil for good measure.

Also, I didn't have green onions so I added 1/4 a large onion and sauted it with the asparagus. 

The biggest thing was the shell. The website recommended a recipe from a book. So I had to hunt around.

https://www.confettiandbliss.com/flaky-quiche-crust/

This turned out to be amazing and I did not prebake it.

For pastry

1 egg

2 1/2 tbs ice water

1 1/2 c flour

1/2 tsp salt (way too much)

10 tbs butter, cut in small cubes

Ingredients

  

• 1/2 tablespoon olive oil
• 8 asparagus spears ends removed and cut into 1-inch pieces
• 4 cups fresh baby spinach
• 5 large eggs
• 1 cup milk
• 3/4 cup crumbled feta cheese
• 1/4 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 4 green onions chopped
• 1 9- inch pie crust

Instructions

 

• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Line a 9-inch pie plate with pie dough and stick in freezer while you prepare the other quiche ingredients.
• In a large skillet, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add the asparagus spears, and spinach. Cook until asparagus spears are slightly tender and spinach is wilted. Transfer spinach to a colander. Press firmly with the back of a spoon to squeeze out as much liquid as possible. Set aside.
• In a large bowl, whisk together eggs and milk. Stir in the feta and mozzarella cheese. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.
• Remove pie crust from the freezer. Place asparagus pieces, spinach, and green onions on the bottom of the crust. Pour the egg and cheese mixture over the vegetables and into the crust.
• Bake the quiche for 45 minutes or until quiche is set and slightly golden brown. Let quiche stand for 15 minutes before serving.

 https://cookieandkate.com/vegetable-soup-recipe/

Another great recipe from cookie and kate.  Marie style of course.

Seriously Good Vegetable Soup

ingredients

• 4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 medium brown onion, chopped
• 3 carrots,  chopped
• 2 celery stalks, chopped
• 2 cups chopped seasonal vegetables, such as sweet potatoes, green beans, butternut squash, potatoes, bell pepper, zucchini or yellow squash- I used potato, pepper and peas and probably corn
• 1 teaspoon fine sea salt, divided, to taste   Less for us
• 6 cloves garlic, minced
• ½ teaspoon curry powder
• ½ teaspoon dried thyme= mine was fresh and I also added a stalk of lemon grass
• 1 can (28 ounces) diced tomatoes
• 4 cups (32 ounces) vegetable broth
• 1 cups water
• 2 bay leaves
• ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes, reduce or omit if sensitive to spice-Instead of this, I used Harissa that I made
• Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• 2 cups chopped kale or collard greens or chard (thick ribs removed), or spinach- I used spinach since our kale is not growing due to the hot weather.
• 1 can Garbanzo Beans- had to add some sort of protein. After today, I will probably add some lentils as well.
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Warm 3 tablespoons of the olive oil in a large  pot over medium heat. Once the oil is warm, add the chopped onion, carrot, celery, seasonal vegetables and ½ teaspoon of the salt. 
2. Stir until the onion has softened and is turning translucent, about 6 to 8 minutes.
3. Add the garlic, curry powder, lemon grass and thyme. 
4. Cook until fragrant while stirring frequently, about 1 minute. Pour in the diced tomatoes with their juices and cook for a few more minutes.
5. Pour in the broth and water. Add ½ teaspoon more salt, 2 bay leaves and the red pepper flakes or harissa. Season generously with freshly ground black pepper. 
6. Bring the mixture to a boil, then partially cover the pot and reduce heat to maintain a gentle simmer.
7. Cook for 25 minutes, then remove the lid and add the chopped greens. Continue simmering for 5 minutes or more, until the greens have softened to your liking.
8. Remove the pot from heat and remove the bay leaves. Stir in the lemon juice and remaining 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Taste and season with more salt, pepper and/or red pepper flakes. (You might need up to ½ teaspoon more salt, depending on your vegetable broth and your personal preferences.) Divide into bowls and enjoy.

 https://cookieandkate.com/foolproof-shakshuka-recipe/

Last night followed this Foolproof shakshuka recipe adding lots of fresh tomatoes from our garden and our neighbors garden. Yum.

Thinking about making Enchilada Casserole, but we still don't have a stove. Maybe tomorrow it will come.

https://www.bhg.com/recipe/vegetarian-enchilada-casserole/?utm_campaign=bhg_mybhg&utm_content=evergreen&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_term=60fce1788de8530001f148f9&fbclid=IwAR3OoWbQq2_n-GNv3jiC3R3TkeefDFXqYqM_KDtywEHKWH-nrsQb99pRTE4

Ambrosia Salad

 So, we have orange trees and all year try to figure out what to do with oranges. Then we also needed to bring a dish at short notice...so looked around and came up with this.

INGREDIENTS

  

• 3 oranges cut up
• 3 slices diced  pineapple
• 1 cup sliced fresh strawberries or cherries ( I didn't have any, but that sound good
• 1 generous squirt of sour cream... sorry I didn't measure it. Probably 1/4 to 1/2 cup
• ½ cup unsweetened shredded coconut- I wish ours was a smaller shred. I think ours was flakes
• ¼ cup chopped pecans This would be lovely, but we used cashews which was what we had

INSTRUCTIONS

 

• Place the fruit into a large mixing bowl.
• Add the cream and stir until combined.
• Top with shredded coconut and chopped pecans. (I mixed these in)  Enjoy!

NOTES

Cover leftovers and store in fridge for up to 1 week.

https://leangreendad.com/vegan-ambrosia/

Colcannon Waffles

 we were madly looking for something to cook for St Patricks Day with the neighbors, but our oven is out of order. Finally, we decided to try these potato waffles. Now our waffle maker has never had anything in it but pure waffles or waffles with fruit in them so this was a big jump.

The waffles tasted great but were a bit soggy. I need to adjust some of the measurements. But super yummy. We will for sure make this recipe again.

• 1 yellow onion, finely chopped
• 2 cups finely chopped kale (packed)
• 1/4 cup salted butter I used olive oil and then added butter as well
• 2 cups cooked potato maybe a bit more
• 2 cups milk
• 2 eggs
• 2 tsp salt--I dropped the salt to a pinch
• fresh ground pepper
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 cup flour
• 2 cups cheddar, shredded 

Add olive oil/butter to a saucepan over medium heat. 

Add onions and kale and cook until onions are translucent and kale is wilted.  

Set aside (this mixture can be made the night before and rewarmed slightly before using).

Puree potatoes with milk, then add eggs, salt and a few grinds of pepper, mix to combine.

  Sift together flour and baking powder, then mix into potato mixture.  

Stir in shredded cheddar and kale mixture.

Heat up your waffle iron and add batter, cook for several minutes until waffles are golden.  I got 6 from this recipe.

Adapted from

https://sugarstuff.wordpress.com/2015/03/15/colcannon-waffles/

Lemon Cranberry Snowballs

 This Christmas we found a great recipe in the paper. 

1 cup unsalted butter
1/2 cup icing sugar, plus more for rolling
Grated zest of 2 lemons
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
2 1/4 cups sifted cake flour (9 ounces)
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup finely chopped toasted walnuts
1/2 cup dried cranberries coarsely chopped

Line two coolie sheets with parchment paper.
Combine the butter, 1/2 cup icing sugar and lemon zest in a large bowl.
Beat together until light and creamy
Beat in the vanilla
Gradually beat in the flour, salt and walnuts.
Stir in the cranberries at the end by hand.

Roll into 3/4 oz balls and refrigerate 30 min

Heat over to 375 degrees

Place the balls 2 inches apart on the cookie sheet.
Bake 8-10 minutes until set but not brown.
Coll for 3-5 min
Roll in additional icing sugar.
When completely cool, roll again.
Store in a tightly covered container.

Adapted from Lemon Cranberry Snowballs. San Diego Union Tribune 12/16/2020
By Jill O'Conner

heart appetizers- not perfect, but everyone ate them.

https://saffronstreaks.com/recipes/tomatoes-and-cheese-hearts-for-your-valentine/

brownie fruit tart

https://www.bettycrocker.com/recipes/brownie-and-berries-dessert-pizza/c7d4b6b3-7d76-4387-b2cc-2e72327c45b4

ANZAC crumble with apples and blue berries

https://www.newworld.co.nz/recipes/desserts/anzac-crumble

https://www.everydaymadefresh.com/blueberry-apple-crumble-2/


I combined these two recipes. Blue berry apple underneath. Anzac cookie dough on top.  Wish us luck in eating it.

Pimms Cake

Ingredients:

• 11 oz soft unsalted butter
• 9 oz sugar
• 11oz self-raising flour
• 4 eggs
•  2  egg yolks (reserve the whites for the frosting)
• zest of 2 large oranges
• 5 oz dried apricots chopped

The syrup

• 1 1/4cups Pimm’s
• 3 oz sugar

The buttercream

• 2 medium egg whites
• 3 oz sugar
• 7 oz butter
• 2-3 tspn Pimms
• mint leaves chopped
• 2 large oranges diced
• 10 oz strawberries
• 2 inches of cucumber

 

• Email

Make up to the end of step 5 up to a day ahead. Store in an airtight container. 

Preheat the oven to 350°F,  Grease and line a 9 x 11in rectangular tin with baking paper.
Tip all of the cake ingredients into the bowl of a mixer and beat for 2 minutes, until smooth. Pour the batter into the prepared tin and level with a palette knife.
Bake on the middle shelf of the preheated oven for about 40-45 minutes, or until well risen, golden and a skewer inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean. 

Syrup
 Put the Pimm's and  sugar in a small pan over a low heat. Stir to dissolve the sugar. Once the sugar has dissolved, increase the heat and bring to a boil. Boil for 7 minutes until syrupy and reduced by half, then pour the syrup into a small measuring jug.

Using a skewer, poke holes all over the warm cake, then pour 100ml of the syrup over and leave the cake to cool completely on a wire rack.
Set aside the remaining syrup. 

the buttercream.
Place the egg whites and caster sugar into a large, heatproof bowl over a pan of simmering water – ensuring the water doesn't touch the bowl. Using an electric whisk, whisk until the sugar dissolves in the egg whites. Test by rubbing some of the mixture between your thumb and index finger – you shouldn't be able to feel any sugar granules, and it should feel warm.
Take the bowl off the pan and continue to whisk for 3-4 minutes on high speed. The bowl should be cool to touch at the end of this.
Ensure the bowl is cool enough for the butter not to melt when you start adding it to the meringue.
Reduce the speed to medium and start adding the butter, one piece at a time, allowing each cube to be incorporated before adding the next. After half the butter has been added, the mixture may look curdled. But keep adding the butter and the buttercream will come together. This will take around 4-5 minutes. Continue to whisk until the buttercream is light and fluffy. Then add the Pimm's and chopped mint to taste.
Cover the top of the cold cake with the prepared buttercream.

Toss the oranges, strawberries and cucumber with the remaining Pimm's syrup and sprinkle over the top of the cake with the extra mint leaves just before serving.

Adapted from

https://www.sainsburysmagazine.co.uk/recipes/traybakes/pimms-cup-traybake
 

https://www.thecookierookie.com/raspberry-moscow-mule-cake/
 

RASPBERRY MOSCOW MULE CAKE

COURSE: DESSERT

CUISINE: AMERICAN

PREP TIME: 10 MINUTES

COOK TIME: 1 HOUR

TOTAL TIME: 1 HOUR 10 MINUTES

SERVINGS: 8

CALORIES: 480KCAL

AUTHOR: BECKY HARDIN - THE COOKIE ROOKIE

RASPBERRY CAKE makes life a little bit sweeter! This cake is inspired by one of my fave drinks, the Moscow Mule. It's made with fresh raspberries, ginger beer, a raspberry moscow mule simple syrup, and a fresh lime glaze.

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INGREDIENTS

FOR THE CAKE

• 1 ½ cups 3 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature
• 2 ¾ cups sugar
• 5 large eggs room temperature
• 3 cups sifted cake flour
• 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 cup Crabbie's Scottish Raspberry Ginger Beer
• 1 pint fresh raspberries

FOR THE SIMPLE SYRUP

• ½ cup Crabbie's Scottish Raspberry Ginger Beer
• ½ cup sugar
• ¼ cup freshly squeezed lime juice

FOR THE FRESH LIME GLAZE

• 1 ½ cups powdered sugar
• 4 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice
• zest from one lime

INSTRUCTIONS

TO MAKE THE CAKE:

• Preheat your oven to 315 degrees F. Lightly flour a 6 cup bundt cake pan or spray with nonstick spray.
• In the bowl of a stand mixer, use the paddle attachment to combine the sugar and butter. Cream together for 5-7 minutes or until the butter is pale and fluffy.
• Add in the eggs, one at a time. Mix for about 30 seconds in between one egg. You may need to scrape down the sides in between eggs as well. Add in the vanilla and salt.
• Reduce the speed to just above low and add the flour in one cup at a time. Once combined (be careful not to over mix), add in the ginger beer slowly so it doesn't splash up. Turn off the mixer and set aside.
• Add the raspberries to the bottom of the bundt cake pan, spreading them out to cover the bottom.
• Pour the cake batter over the raspberries and smooth out the top.
• Bake for 75-80 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.
• Allow the cake to cool for at least 10 minutes. One the cake is cooled, transfer to a plate and set aside. Once cooled to room temperature, poke all over with a fork. Pour the simple syrup over the cake, the more the better! Then pour on the lime glaze. Top with fresh whipped cream and strawberries to serve. Enjoy! (see below for how to make simple syrup and glaze)

FOR SIMPLE SYRUP:

• Heat a small sauce pan over medium high heat. Add in the ginger beer, sugar, and lime juice, stir to combine. Allow the mixture to come to a light boil and then reduce to a simmer. Simmer for 5-7 minutes or until the syrup is slightly reduced.

FOR LIME GLAZE:

• In a medium bowl, stir together the powdered sugar and lime juice. Once combined, stir in the lime zest.
• Enjoy!