Feta and Ricotta Cheese Skillet Pie

This dish is simple, fast and delicious. Add a salad or a bowl of soup and you've got a quick weeknight meal. I've made it several times now, but I'm finally getting around to blogging about it. The dish is handsome enough for company, especially if you have a cast iron skillet, which I don't. I think it is pretty enough for company even if you cook it in a plain dish. I usually cook it in a skillet that I can put in my oven. It is also high in protein, thanks to cheeses and eggs. It's so fast that you literally have to wait for your oven to warm up. It's also quite forgiving about the quantities. When I made it yesterday, I only had about 1/2 pound feta, and 2/3 pound ricotta, so I just used fewer eggs to get a consistency I thought would work.

Let's Get Started

Preheat the oven to 375º. Butter a 10" cast iron skillet or an earthenware baking dish.

In a bowl, mix 1/2 pound feta cheese and 1 pound ricotta cheese. You want some chunks left, so don't mix for too long. Stir in 4-6 eggs. Then add 1/4 cup flour and 3/4 cup milk. Season with salt and pepper, and 1 T. chopped dill.

Pour the batter into the buttered pan or dish. Crumble 1/4 pound feta over the top. Bake until golden, 35-40 minutes. Cut into wedges and serve.

Mashed Potatoes with sauteed onions and greens

This is a great comfort food sort of a dish. It's easy to prepare and came in at under half an hour prep time, which is nice. I purposely left out "turnips" in the title because I thought I didn't like turnips, but it turns out that they blend very nicely into this dish and they were quite tasty. Deborah Madison says that this can also be a summer dish, especially when farmers markets have sweet little turnips with their greens. The dish uses the turnip greens, but I made it with chard since the turnips I bought didn't have the greens attached. She recommended broccoli rabe in place of the turnip greens, but I couldn't find those either. I think most any greens will do.

Here's how to get started

Peel 4 russet potatoes (about 2 pounds) and cut them into chunks. Peel 3/4 pound turnips (8 to 10 small ones or a few larger ones.) Put them in a pot, cover with cold water, add 2 t. salt and 1 thyme sprig. Bring to a boil and cook uncovered for 20 - 25 minutes.

While those are cooking, slice 2 onions and saute them in 1 T. butter plus 2 t. olive oil (or whatever combination you like.) Cook over medium-high heat, stirring frequently, until golden and tender - about 15 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.

While that is cooking, wash and trim the greens. Cook in boiling salted water until tender, about 8 minutes. Drain and add the greens to the pan with the onions.

When the potatoes and turnips are done, scoop them out of the pot into a bowl. Mix in 3 ounces of goat cheese and some butter to taste (I used 2 T.). Add salt and pepper to taste.

To serve, mound the mashed veggies on a platter, and smother it with the onions and greens.

Cost to Prepare

2 pounds potatoes - $1.00

3/4 pound turnips - $2.00

3 oz. goat cheese - $4.50

2 onions - $1.50

turnip greens - free if you buy them attached to the turnips OR

chard or other greens - $2.50

salt, pepper, butter, oil, 1 thyme sprig - negligible

TOTAL for 4 people - $11.50

I actually didn't use all the goat cheese, so that made the dish less expensive.

Mushroom lovers rejoice

Tonight I made a recipe that I made a long time ago and it was fabulous again. This was a "what do I have in the fridge?" night and what I came up with was the sauteed mushrooms over croutons with an egg recipe that can be found here. This time I followed the instructions and left the egg to cook in the 400º oven for exactly 15 minutes. It was perfect. I served it with brussels sprouts and pistachios cooked in garlic butter. (I have George addicted to these now!)

I also tried making it in 2 oven-proof bowls this time, which cut down on dishes and the recipe was perfect for 2 people.

The combination of mushrooms, rosemary, red wine, croutons, and eggs is simply inspired. This dish is fast and easy and super tasty. A must try. I need to memorize this one so I can pull it together quickly any old time.

Portobello Sandwiches with mozzarella and greens

Oh wow, I will definitely be making this again. These open-faced sandwiches are good enough to serve to company. It took under half an hour and had a big flavor payoff. I think garlic mashed potatoes would be a nice accompaniment. Deborah recommends a pinot noir to go with this meal, but I think any red will do.

We had leftover hamburger buns that we needed to use up, so that's what we used for these sandwiches. The recipe calls for ciabbata or good crusty french bread, which would be fabulous.

Let's Get Started

Preheat the oven to 400º. You'll need one portobello mushroom per person. Using a damp paper towel, wipe off the cap of the mushroom. Remove the stem and the gills. The gills are those dark brown things inside the mushroom. A spoon works great to remove them. Drizzle the inside of the mushroom with olive oil and set on a baking dish. Chop 2 cloves of garlic together with a small handful of parsley leaves. Sprinkle the garlic-parsley mixture onto the inside of the mushroom (saving 1 t. of the mixture for later). Add salt and pepper and pop them in the oven for 8-10 minutes, until they are sizzling.

While they are cooking, wash and trim 1/3 pound greens. I used beet greens and curly kale. Any kind of braising greens will do. Heat 2 t. oil. Add the greens, the rest of the garlic-parsley mixture, a pinch of red pepper flakes and some salt. Saute the greens until they are tender. Taste for seasonings and doneness of the greens

Cut some fairly thick slices of fresh mozzarella. Put the mozzarella slices on top of the mushrooms, then layer the cooked greens on top of that. Bake for 5-7 minutes, until the cheese is melted. While that is baking, toast 1 thick slice of bread per person. Place the cooked mushrooms on top of the bread and serve.

Things I'd do differently next time

I just realized that the recipe called for 2 garlic cloves, a small handful of parsley, 1/3 pound of greens and 4 portobellos, but I only used 2 portobellos. If I were making this for 4 people, I think I'd increase the amount of garlic and parsley and greens, because those amounts worked perfectly for 2 portobellos.

I'd also try this with ciabatta or focaccia bread. It would also be wonderful with polenta or garlic mashed potatoes instead of the bread.

Cost to Prepare (for 2 people)

2 portobellos - $4.00

fresh mozzarella (4 slices) - $3.00

1/3 pound greens - $1.50 (organic)

2 slices bread - $.25

2 cloves garlic, red pepper flakes, salt, pepper, olive oil - negligible

TOTAL - $8.75 for 2

Mushroom and Tofu Saute with Rice Noodles

I made this for my family on Thanksgiving weekend. The asian flavors were a welcome break from the usual Thanksgiving fare that everyone had the day before. I loved it and everyone else seemed to enjoy it, too. This would make an excellent weeknight meal. I used very skinny rice noodles because that was all I could find. I think it would be better with wider rice noodles, or maybe even soba or udon noodles. This was fairly simple to prepare and it only took about half an hour.

Let's get started

• Cook the rice noodles in boiling, salted water according to package directions. Drain, rinse with cold water to stop the cooking, and set aside.
• Cut one block of firm tofu into bite sized cubes. Simmer in boiling water for 2 minutes. Lift cubes out of the water and set them in a colander to drain.
• In a small bowl, combine 2 t. tamari or mushroom soy sauce, 3 T. naturally brewed soy sauce, and 2 T. brown sugar.
• Chop together 2 cloves garlic, 3 T. fresh tarragon, 1/2 t. salt, and freshly ground pepper. (I know 3 T. sounds like a lot of tarragon, but it blends beautifully into the dish. Don't be shy about using the full 3 T. of tarragon. This is almost a full bunch if you buy it at the supermarket.)
• Clean and trim 1 pound mushrooms, including some shiitakes, if possible. Cut into quarters or thick slices.
• Finely dice one large shallot (about 1/2 cup total)
• Heat a little peanut oil (or vegetable oil) in a skillet. Add the garlic mixture and stir fry for 20 seconds or so, then add the mushrooms and shallot. Saute over high heat until the juices have been released and then reabsorbed and the mushrooms have started to brown, (7 - 10 minutes).
• While that is cooking, finely slice 4 green onions and set aside.
• Add the tofu, followed by the soy mixture and the cooked noodles.
• Mix gently, taste for salt, transfer to a platter and serve garnished with green onions.

Things I'd do differently next time: Use wider rice noodles, or experiment with other types of noodles. This would also be good over rice.

Cost to prepare

3/4 pound mushrooms (white and cremini mix) - $3.75

1/4 pound shiitake mushrooms - $2.50

3 T. chopped tarragon - $1.50

3 T. chopped garlic (2-3 cloves) - $.30

1 carton firm tofu - $1.50

soy sauces - $1.00 (?)

1 large shallot - $.75

4 scallions - $.25

6 ounces dried rice noodles - $1.00

TOTAL - $12.55 for 4 people

Suggested wine - a spicy, dry Gewurztraminer

Seared Tofu with Miso Sauce

This is so fast and flavorful, you'll have it on the table in minutes and have people raving. There's a second sauce for this same style of tofu that I will try on another occasion. This miso sauce takes only a few minutes to put together and you can do it while the tofu is cooking. Some pretty garnish on top makes it look great, too. I suppose you could also make this with chicken if you wanted.

Take one container of firm tofu, cut it into 6 rectangular pieces, and fry it over medium high heat until golden on one side. Turn over and cook the other side until golden. Add a couple tablespoons of worcestershire or steak sauce. Most of it will cook away and what remains will glaze the tofu.

While the tofu is cooking, mix up the following ingredients in a bowl or food processor: 1/3 cup miso, 2 T. mirin, 2 teaspoons fresh ginger, 1 garlic clove, 1 t. sesame oil, a splash of soy sauce, 2-3 T. mayonnaise, and some salt and pepper. I didn't have enough mirin, so I used water to thin the sauce.

Put the sauce on the tofu pieces and put them under the broiler until the sauce blisters. Add a dollop more sauce and garnish with slivered green onions and slivered red peppers.

I also used a little of the miso sauce in a salad dressing I made up to go with this meal. It was about 1 T. soy sauce, 1 T. balsamic vinegar, 1 T. miso sauce, 1 t. sugar, salt, pepper, and olive oil. I put grapes in the salad, which I wasn't sure would work with the japanese tasting sauce, but it was great. I also put in the extra scallions and red peppers from the tofu dish, and some pine nuts I had in the freezer. It was yummy.

To round out the meal, I served roasted asparagus. Just drizzle olive oil, salt and pepper over asparagus and stick it in the oven at about 350 for 20 minutes. We took the whole meal out on the patio and enjoyed the first outdoor meal of many for the season. Welcome, spring!

Things I'd do differently next time: Make more tofu. We loved it and could have eaten more.

Approximate cost to prepare:
1 tub firm tofu: $1.20 (Trader Joe's organic)
1 slivered scallion and 1/8 of a red pepper: $.50 (?)
1/3 cup white miso: $1.50 (the whole container cost a little over $4.00 and I used about 1/3 of the container)
2 T. mirin - $.25 (a bottle costs about $3.00)
2 t. fresh ginger - $.25
garlic clove, salt pepper, soy sauce - negligible
1 t. roasted ssesame oil - $.25 (about .80 per ounce at Safeway)
3 T. mayo - $.50 (.17 per ounce)
TOTAL - $4.45 for 2 people and I had a lot of sauce left over.

Spinach Quesadillas

Quick and easy to prepare, and packed with flavor. This is a great weeknight supper. It only took me 20 minutes to put the filling together and grate the cheese, plus another 10 minutes to make the Salsa Cruda with avocado. I highly recommend this for a weeknight supper.

It's probably best to start with the salsa cruda, although I did it at the end. This salsa cruda is just like pico de gallo, but with chunks of avocado added. Chop up 4 roma tomatoes, 1 small white onion (or whatever you've got), 1 jalapeno chile, and a handful of cilantro. Add the juice of one lime and a little salt. Stir in 1 cut-up avocado.

Start with one head of spinach, washed and with stems removed, roughly chopped. Dice a small onion and a green jalapeno chile. Saute the onion and jalapeno with a large pinch of Mexican oregano over medium heat. When the onion is translucent, add the spinach and saute a few more minutes. While that is cooking, chop 1/2 cup of cilantro. Add to the saute mixture and taste for salt.

Turn off the heat. Grate 1/3 cup of cheese. I used muenster and it turned out to be more like 1/2 - 2/3 cup for my 2 quesadillas. Using 2 skillets, heat one whole wheat tortilla in each one, and turn it over to warm the other side. Scatter cheese on the hot tortilla surface, then cover with the spinach mixture. Cover with another tortilla, then flip them over when they've gotten a little crisp. Slide the finished quesadilla onto a cutting board, cut into triangles, and serve with salsa cruda and sour cream.

If I'd thought of it, I would have served the rest of my green rice, which was in the freezer. I'll have to do that next time.

Things I'd do differently next time: Start with the salsa cruda and consider adding a side dish.

Approximate cost to prepare:
2 small onions - $.50
4 roma tomatoes - $1.75
2 jalapeno chiles - $.35
1 avocado - $.80
1 lime - $.25
1 head spinach - $1.30
cilantro - $.50
4 whole wheat tortillas -$1.70
1/2 cup cheese - $2.00
1/4 cup sour cream - $.40
olive oil and salt - negligible
TOTAL - $9.55 for 2 people

We ate almost all the quesadillas in one sitting, but it did provide lunch for me the next day, and we had leftover salsa cruda.