Greek Greens and Sweet Onion Pie

 A couple of weeks ago, my 10 year old son could not stop saying "I like Pie!".  He said it after almost every sentence. He sang it.  He yelled it.  He repeated it over and over.    He said a couple of friends at school had decided that was their new catch phrase.   The only problem was, he didn't really like pie.  Or at least he thought he didn't like pie.    


After hearing "I like Pie!" a million times at least, I decided that he was going to learn to love pie.  I declared that we would be having Pie Week, where we would eat all sorts of different pies.  Pie for breakfast.  Pie for lunch.  Pie for dinner.  Sweet pie, savory pie.  Any and every kind of pie we could come up with.  I started researching pie recipes and set the menu for the week.  He wasn't too excited to begin with.

This was the first pie we had for dinner.  It has a phyllo dough crust and a filling of swiss chard, spinach, and onion.  It was reminiscent of spanakopita, but mostly greens with a little bit of crust.  We eat swiss chard and spinach all the time, so I didn't have a hard time convincing anyone to eat this for dinner.  It was good and a fun way to start out our pie adventure. 




Greek Greens and Sweet Onion Pie from Cooking Light

• 2 quarts water
• 12 cups torn Swiss chard (about 3/4 pound)
• 8 cups torn spinach (about 1/2 pound)
• Cooking spray
• 2 cups chopped Vidalia or other sweet onion
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh dill
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
• 3/4 cup (3 ounces) crumbled feta cheese
• 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
• 2 large egg whites, lightly beaten
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 10 sheets frozen phyllo dough, thawed

Bring 2 quarts water to a boil in a large Dutch oven. Add the chard and spinach; cook 2 minutes or until tender. Drain well. Place chard mixture on several layers of paper towels; squeeze until barely moist.

Preheat oven to 375°.

Heat a large nonstick skillet coated with cooking spray over medium-high heat. Add onion; sauté 5 minutes or until tender. Add garlic; sauté 1 minute. Add chard mixture, dill, and parsley, stirring well to combine. Cook 1 minute or until thoroughly heated. Remove from heat. Combine chard mixture, cheese, eggs, and egg whites, tossing well to combine. Stir in pepper and salt.

Place 1 phyllo sheet on a large cutting board or work surface (cover remaining dough to prevent drying); lightly coat phyllo sheet with cooking spray. Place phyllo sheet in a 9-inch pie plate coated with cooking spray, allowing edges to overlap plate rim. Repeat the procedure with 6 additional phyllo sheets, placing sheets in a crisscross design. Spoon the spinach mixture over phyllo. Lightly coat each of remaining 3 phyllo sheets with cooking spray, and place sheets over spinach mixture in a crisscross design. Roll excess phyllo into the dish to create a decorative edge; press lightly to hold. Cut 4 (2-inch) slits in top of pie; cover with foil. Bake at 375° for 10 minutes. Uncover and bake an additional 30 minutes or until crust is crisp and golden.

Cut pie into 8 wedges.

What I Ate Yesterday (Thursday April 19th)

  I originally planned to post this a couple of weeks ago, but kind of forgot about it.  I got an email from a reader who was wondering if I would post the types of things I am eating these days.  One morning I woke up and decided to take a picture of everything I ate that day.  Let me just say that this happened to be a really good day for me and I stuck to my goals of eating healthy.  I also wanted to add that I don't usually drink chocolate milk or have it in the house, but my 5-year old really wanted to try TruMoo and so I bought a half gallon of it when we went grocery shopping.  I've read things about it being a good post run snack, so I decided to give it a try.

Breakfast-  Oatmeal- 1/2 cup rolled oats (made with 1 cup water), 1/2 cup original almond milk, a handful of frozen berries

   Mid-Morning Snack- reduced fat cheese stick, 1/3 cup sugar snap peas, 1 mandarin orange, 10 almonds

Lunch- 1 small LaTortilla Whole Wheat tortilla with sauteed (already cooked) sweet potato, swiss chard, zucchini, black beans and a sprinkle of feta cheese, broiled

 Afternoon snack- handful of cherry tomatoes

 Post workout snack- 8 oz TruMoo Chocolate milk

Dinner- Veggie and Chicken Frittata (similar to this Frittata) - I had leftover steamed green beans & cooked chicken, so I quickly sauteed asparagus, spinach and zucchini, put  all of that on the bottom of a 9*13-inch pan, then whisked 8 eggs together, seasoned with a little salt and pepper, poured it over topped and sprinkled very lightly with crumbled feta cheese
  Roasted Cauliflower (I used olive oil cooking spray and 1/2 Tablespoon olive oil) on the side

Exercise- Ran 4.5 miles at 5k pace

           30 minute Pilates video

2 mile walk with kids after school

Peach Almond Green Smoothie (with Swiss Chard) & other Green Smoothie recipes

Back in October my sister came to visit. She was reading a book about Beauty Detox when she came and although we didn't agree with everything in the book, we both decided that we would incorporate green smoothies into our diet. I had had them before, but not consistently, because I always felt that I was getting enough greens in my normal diet. Swiss Chard is my all-time favorite food. We eat tons of kale, spinach, swiss chard, beet greens, turnip greens, collards, etc., and even had a very successful first summer/fall of growing swiss chard in the garden. (I still have some sprouting up out there!)

Taking all of this into account, my sister and I started having a green smoothie almost daily. She went back to Utah and we would email or text our different recipes and ideas. I experimented with some of my own concoctions, some were delicious, some not so good-(which I still got drank, somehow). I also tried a bunch of different recipes that used different greens besides spinach, which I am going to share. I haven't taken a picture of every single one of these recipes, but I have enjoyed each of them 5+ times in the past few months. My go-to, on hand, I-don't-want-to-think green smoothie is banana, frozen mixed berries, spinach and cold water. I don't like using yogurt/milk or juice because it adds unnecessary calories, in my opinion.

Now I have some sort of green smoothie 3-4 days a week. I find they are very refreshing as an after workout snack/meal, but also are great as a breakfast or snack anytime of day. I don't add any honey/agave/sweetener because I think the fruit makes them sweet enough. My kids drink them with me and really like them. I know many people try to eat healthier as the New Year rolls around and green smoothies are a great and easy way to up the number of veggies/fruits you consume.

I have made and enjoyed each of the following Green Smoothie recipes at least 5 or more times. My kids love them too.

Peach Almond Green Smoothie (pictured above)

1 cup frozen peaches

1 sliced banana

2 cups chopped (torn) swiss chard

1 T raw almond butter

2 cups water+ a few ice cubes

Optional: 1 T ground flax seed

Blend all ingredients in blender until smooth

Blueberry Kale Smoothie

1 cup frozen blueberries

1 1/2 sliced bananas

2 handfuls (1 1/2 cups) chopped kale (I like to use red russian kale, it has a better raw taste)

2 cups water

handful of ice

Optional: 1 T ground flax seed

Blend all ingredients in blender until smooth

Grape Fig Cleanser

3 cups grapes (purple or green)

3-4 black mission figs

2 cups chopped spinach

2 cups water

1 cup ice

Optional: 1 T ground flax seed

Oat Berry Green Smoothie

1/4 cup oats (ground up in blender before other ingredients are added)
1 sliced banana
1/2 cup chopped fresh or frozen mango
1 cup frozen blackberries or blueberries (or mixed frozen berries)
2 cups spinach
2 cups ice cold water

Glowing Green Smoothie by Kimberly Snyder

1 1/2 cups water

1 head organic romaine lettuce, chopped

1/2 of large bunch of organic spinach (or 3/4 of small bunch)

3-4 stalks organic celery

1 organic apple, cored and chopped

1 organic pear, cored and chopped

1 organic banana

Juice of 1/2 organic lemon

Optional: 1/3 bunch organic cilantro (stems okay), 1/3 bunch organic parsley (stems okay)

Directions:

1. Add the water and chopped head of romaine and spinach to the blender.

2. Starting the blender on a low speed, mix until smooth.

3. Gradually moving to higher speeds, add the celery, apple, and pear.

4. Add the cilantro and parsley if you choose. Fresh herbs, like cilantro and parsley, have cleansing properties that help extract heavy metals and other toxins from the body.

5. Add the banana and lemon juice last.

Here is a link for Green Smoothie Cups that I plan to try really soon since I located coconut water at Trader Joe's last week

Spinach (Swiss Chard), Pasta, and Pea Soup

Besides eggplant, I've still got swiss chard growing in my garden out back. It just keeps growing back and I am happy about that. I love being able to go out and cut my swiss chard when I need some for a recipe.

I found this soup in a recent issue of Cooking Light and since it was a "superfast" meal, I knew it would be perfect to make on a night when my son has Cub Scouts. I added some green pepper (also from the garden) and used swiss chard instead of spinach. Quick and Easy!


Here is the recipe for Spinach, Pasta, and Pea Soup

Colorful Lentil Salad with Rainbow Chard

The swiss chard in my garden is still doing really well and I wanted to make something really delicious with the bunch I picked recently. I wanted to use lentils and found a beautiful picture of a dish that combined the 2 ingredients I had been thinking about. I served this on the same night that we had the Panko Crusted Salmon. I think that salmon and lentils really compliment each other and these 2 dishes definitely made for a great dinner. We also had a fennel/celery salad.

If you can't find Pomegranate Molasses anywhere or it is too expensive, don't forget that you can make it yourself- Here is the post when I first made it a couple of years ago.

Here is the recipe for Colorful Lentil Salad
* I didn't use the sundried tomatoes
* I sauteed my swiss chard (stems included) with the onions and bell peppers, adding it after the onions and bell peppers had softened a bit
* I used less olive oil for the dressing and the sauteing
* I used a little bit of red wine vinegar instead of steeping liquid in the dressing

Strata with Swiss Chard

I love growing swiss chard in my garden. It is so pretty and it has really done a great job producing lots of chard. I hadn't picked it for a couple of weeks, so when I went to harvest it, I ended up with more swiss chard than I have ever seen. I also had two whole wheat baguettes in the freezer that I wanted to thaw and use, so I somehow found this recipe and threw it together.

I love these types of recipes because you don't have to follow them to a tee. You can sub different veggies, according to what you have on hand and the results are still fabulous.
This was a really tasty strata that we all enjoyed.

Here is the recipe for Strata with Swiss Chard
* I used green bell peppers instead of mushrooms because I had them
* I used mozzarella and parmesan
* I added about a cup of cooked, shredded chicken to the bread, veggie, milk/egg mixture before cooking

French Lentil and Swiss Chard Risotto

I love growing my own swiss chard. Nothing makes me happier than seeing those beautiful rainbow stalks in my garden. I have been really lucky this spring and summer- all of my chard has been doing great. No bugs, no problems. Usually I just quickly saute it or add it to whatever we happen to be eating. But, when I harvested it about a week ago, there was a ton of it and I wanted to do something bigger and better.

I found this recipe and knew it was perfect because it combines 3 of my most favorite things in the world- swiss chard, risotto, and lentils. I had just made chicken broth the weekend before I made this, so I had some of that on hand to use too. I know lots of people don't like cooking in the summer, but I find it really relaxing after a day of activities and swimming to be able to spend some time in the kitchen, making a delicious dinner. And this was delicious!

Here is the recipe for French Lentil and Swiss Chard Risotto
* I used chicken broth in place of the wine
* I didn't have any radicchio on hand to use as a garnish

Spicy Chard Soup

Do you dye eggs for Easter?
We do and this year, we might have gone a little overboard. Lots of lots of hard-boiled eggs.

The good thing is that we love to eat hard-boiled eggs around here. Well, at least the white part of the hard-boiled egg. My kids don't like the yolk and I only like a little bit of the yolk with my white and it has to be cooked perfectly. No green ring around the yolk and no dark yellow, crusty, not cooked all the way yolk. They must be perfectly creamy and dreamy light yellow.
I don't always get them just perfect, the way I want them, but this time I did have some success.

We always make these Egg Salad Sandwich faces with some of the eggs and eat them for snacks, but I wanted to do something else this year. Something new.

When I saw this recipe for Spicy Chard Soup in a recent issue of Food Network Magazine, I thought it would be the perfect way to use some of those extra hard-boiled eggs. I have never seen a hard-boiled egg in soup before, so I was intrigued. Plus, it contains swiss chard- my favorite food.
The soup was easy to make. Not too many ingredients, but yet the results were really fabulous.

What is your favorite way to use hard-boiled eggs?

Here is the recipe for Spicy Chard Soup from Food Network Magazine
* I used less olive oil than called for and didn't drizzle the soup with olive oil at the end
* I didn't have caraway seeds, so I just skipped them
*I didn't have cumin seeds, so I just used ground cumin
* I didn't add the hot sauce to the entire pot of soup. I put the hot sauce on the table and the adults added it to their own bowls. My son even got brave and added a couple drops to his soup.

Barley and Greens Gumbo

Here is a quick recipe before the weekend starts.

I saw this in a recent issue of Everyday with Rachael Ray magazine. It was in the Dinners for less than 10 dollars section and had lots of dark greens, including swiss chard and spinach, so I knew it would be a quick weeknight meal for us. It has a little bit of flour cooked into the sauteed veggies, which thickens the whole dish and gives it a risotto-like texture.

I changed the recipe quite a bit, because I couldn't find escarole anywhere and had quick cooking barley on hand. It was fast and easy and very filling. Mine turned kinda reddish/pink because I used red chard, but it was still delicious.

My younger brother is here visiting with us for a couple of days and I am grateful it is going to be such a beautiful weekend.

Have a great one everybody!

Barley and Greens Gumbo adapted from Everyday with Rachael Ray Magazine
1 1/2 Tablespoons canola oil
2 ribs celery, finely chopped
1 onion, chopped
1/2 green bell pepper, chopped
salt and pepper
3 Tablespoons flour
1 bunch swiss chard, stems and leaves chopped and separated
2 cups vegetable stock
1 cup quick cooking barley
10 oz baby spinach
1/3 cup chopped fresh Italian parsley

1. In a dutch oven or large pot, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Add the celery, onion, and green pepper and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 5 minutes; season with salt and pepper.

2. Add the flour and cook, stirring often, about 5 minutes. Add the swiss chard stems and cook for 1 minute. Stir in the barley, vegetable stock and 1 cup water; bring to a boil. Lower the heat, cover and simmer until the barley is just tender, about 10-12 minutes.

3. Working in batches, add the swiss chard, spinach and parsley, stirring the greens until wilted between each addition. Season with salt and pepper.

Swiss Chard Ravioli

Swiss Chard is my favorite food. It's green, healthy and delicious. You can eat the whole thing- stems and all. It has great flavor and can be turned into anything, as you can see by this recipe for Swiss Chard Ravioli.

I can't remember how I found this recipe but I knew I was going to make it as soon as I saw it. I love any take on Swiss Chard and this was something that I thought looked really original and interesting.

The ravioli is made with wonton wrappers, which makes that part of the recipe much easier. I decided to use water to seal my ravioli, instead of an egg-which the recipe suggested, simply because that is what I use to seal wonton wrappers when making pot stickers. I had one ravioli that exploded and I think looking back, using an egg would have been a better idea, since boiling the ravioli really spins them around a lot.

The swiss chard is sauteed with a shallot and a little oil (the recipe used butter, but I avoid butter when I cook), and then mixed with some ricotta cheese, thyme, and fresh parmesan. That is what makes up the filling for the ravioli. Then the stems are boiled in some chicken stock, mainly to give the stock some color. The recipe said to drain the stems, but I left them in there, with a few of the leftover leaves and we ate them too.

This was a fun twist of ravioli and a great new way to use swiss chard.


Here is the Recipe for Swiss Chard Ravioli adapted from Martha Stewart
* I used a Tablespoon of canola oil instead of butter to saute the shallot and chard
* I did not discard the stems and extra leaves- I served them in the broth
* I used skim ricotta cheese
* instead of using an egg to seal the ravioli, I used water

Butternut Squash Baked Risotto

It's been awhile since I talked about risotto.
I saw this recipe in a recent issue of EveryDay Food magazine and thought it would be fun to try since it is not a traditional way to cook risotto.
The risotto is started off on the stove top, but then finishes cooking in the oven.
It kind of kills the notion that to get that creamy beautiful texture you have to spend forever stirring away. I already knew that you don't have to stir risotto the whole time.

So, I started this off in my saute pan and transferred it to a 9*13-inch glass dish to finish it in the oven.
I was a little skeptical when I put it in the oven, as to whether or not it would still have that creamy texture. While the rice on the very top was a little bit drier than that on the bottom of the dish, the overall texture was very nice and risotto-ish.
This was a great recipe and a fun take on the classic preparation of risotto.
I would make it again in a heartbeat.

And I just want to say that whoever said risotto doesn't taste good re-warmed is very wrong. These leftovers are good cold, slightly warm and hot.

Recipe for Butternut Squash Baked Risotto
* I used swiss chard, stems included
* I started this dish in my saute pan and transferred it to a 9*13-inch glass dish when I put it into the oven

Roasted Potatoes& Zucchini topped with a Fried Egg

Recently, I saw a recipe for zucchini-potato hash, topped with a fried egg in a magazine when I was checking out at the grocery store.
It looked really good, so I decided to make my own version, since I couldn't find the recipe online anywhere.

I used little red potatoes because they have a better flavor than other potatoes and they are small, so they are easy to cut and they cook quickly.

I also used zucchini and yellow squash that I got from the Farmer's Market.

I decided to roast all the vegetables in the oven.
I put the potatoes in first and then the squash, since the potatoes took a little longer to roast.
I topped it off with a fried egg and had some sauteed swiss chard on the side.

Roasted Potatoes & Zucchini with Fried Egg
1 pd red potatoes, quartered and sliced
1 pd zucchini, halved lengthwise and sliced
1 pd yellow squash, halved lengthwise and sliced
2 Tbls olive oil
oregano
salt and pepper
4 eggs

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
Place potatoes on a rimmed baking sheet. Drizzle with 1 Tbls olive oil. Season with oregano, salt and pepper. Toss to coat. Roast in oven for 20-25 minutes or until tender, stirring halfway through.

Place zucchini and yellow squash on another rimmed baking sheet. Drizzle with 1 Tbls olive oil. Season with oregano, salt and pepper. Toss to coat. Roast in oven for 10-15 minutes, until tender, stirring halfway through.

Meanwhile, heat a tsp of olive oil in a small skillet. Crack open an egg into hot oil. Season with salt and pepper. Cook until desired doneness, flipping over halfway through cooking. Repeat with other eggs.

When all vegetables are roasted and tender, toss together and top with a fried egg.

I cooked my swiss chard using this recipe/method.

Chard Quiche

I was looking for another way to use swiss chard a couple weeks ago and somehow found this recipe for Chard Quiche.

The thing that interested me the most, was the fact that the crust is made of wheat germ, flour, and sauteed chard. That's it. No butter, no shortening, etc.
This made me happy because my least favorite part of traditional quiches, is the pie-type crust. That is why we usually opt for frittatas for dinner when eggs are making an appearance.
I also had exactly 1 cup of whole milk in my fridge leftover from some dessert that needed to be used.

I might have used more chard than the recipe called for. I didn't weigh it or measure it. I figure it is okay to err on the side of more vegetables.
I also just used whatever cheese I had in the fridge. Happened to be mozzarella.

This was a really good quiche. I really loved the hearty/healthier crust.

The leftovers were good too.
This would be a great one to serve at brunch or dinner.

Recipe for Chard Quiche
* I used a little less oil than called for to cook the chard
* I used mozzarella cheese

Quinoa & Swiss Chard with Fried Egg

Going to the Farmer's Market on Saturday mornings is one of my favorite things to do in the summer. I love all the local produce. It makes me feel great when I support local growers and also makes me happy to know that the swiss chard, or whatever else I buy is grown naturally without pesticides.
I also love taking my kids with me so they can see how important it is to me to buy local whenever possible. Plus, they love having input on what we purchase.

One of my favorite things to buy is swiss chard. I just love it right now.
This is one of the ways we enjoyed it recently. I sauteed the chard like I usually do, then added some cooked quinoa that I had in the fridge. I topped it all off with a fried egg (courtesy of my neighbor across the street). Perfect dinner, in my opinion.

Couscous with Swiss Chard, Raisins, and Feta

I think swiss chard is my favorite vegetable right now. I love the flavor of the leaves and stems.
The color is so pretty too.
I saw this recipe in Everyday with Rachael Ray Magazine and immediately tore it out. I knew it would be delicious just by looking at the combination of ingredients. Dark greens, beans, pasta and a little cheese- great meal right there.

This was the first time that I have ever cooked Israeli couscous, which I found in the bulk section of Earthfare. It is just a little bit larger than normal couscous, but I think I like it better.

I was unsure how my family would react to the golden raisins in this dish, but they really complimented the other flavors and textures, adding just the right amount of sweet.
My husband was really curious as to what they were, but once I told them he just kept on eating.

This is definitely my favorite type of dinner-lots of fabulous ingredients combined in a simple, delicious way.

Recipe for Couscous with Swiss Chard, Raisins, and Feta

Quinoa Cakes with Ham, Onion, and Chard

I saw this recipe in Everyday with Rachael Ray Magazine and knew I had to make it as soon as possible.
It combines two of my favorite ingredients- quinoa and swiss chard.
I didn't really follow the recipe.
The recipe wanted caramelized onions, but I don't really care for those, so I kinda just did my own thing with the swiss chard and ham.
I followed the recipe for the quinoa cakes though.

I used Ellie Krieger's technique for making the ham crispy that I first discovered when I made her Cobb Salad. Basically, you slice the ham and cook it in a hot skillet, coated with cooking spray until it gets nice and crispy- it only takes a couple of minutes.

I cooked my swiss chard like this- making sure to keep all the beautiful stems in there, since they get nice and tender and yummy.

The final outcome was a really delicious dish.
You can leave off the ham pieces and make sure you cook the quinoa in vegetable broth and it makes a really great vegetarian dish.
Either way- this was a great success.
Really pretty with the chard and really tasty too.
You can find the original recipe by following the link below
Recipe for Quinoa Cakes with Ham, Onion, and Chard

Curried Red Lentil and Swiss Chard Stew with Garbanzo Beans & Seeded Cornmeal Biscuits

I have professed my love for red lentils before. I actually love all types of lentils, but red ones are just so delicious.
One of my good friends, who I was able to reconnect with recently, shared a great recipe with me a number of years ago and I shared it HERE. (along with another great red lentil soup)

Ever since I tried my friends soup years ago, I have been buying red lentils- at the local health food store, in the bulk section) and trying different recipes with them.
I love it when lentils are combined with dark greens and swiss chard is a definite favorite. I always use the stems and ribs of my swiss chard, because they soften up nicely and are yummy.

This Stew contains curry powder and garbanzo beans, so it is super healthy. And so tasty.
Perfect for the cold weather we are having. I know lots of places are colder than here right now, but this morning when I went to exercise it was a whopping 18 degrees! Not fun.

I found the Seeded Cornmeal Biscuits when I was searching on myrecipes.com for a hearty bread item to go along with this stew. They sounded perfect- a combination of whole wheat flour, cornmeal and lots of seeds on top. I have had great success with other biscuits on this site and knew they would be fabulous.
Once again, I like hearthy, healthy tasting breads. Some people in my family do not- mainly my hubby. He prefers Wonder Bread.
But the good news on these biscuits is that they were really popular with my kids. And they tasted good the next day and the next one after that.
I wish I had some of this leftover right now because I would eat it for breakfast.
(The recipe uses plain yogurt as a topping, I used Greek yogurt)

Recipe for Curried Red Lentil and Swiss Chard Stew with Garbanzo Beans

Recipe for Seeded Cornmeal Biscuits

Risotto with Swiss Chard

Risotto- I love you. I love you plain, with veggies, different grains, whatever it is, I love you.
Thanks for being you.

There are so many beautiful blogs out there. So, so many. One that always has beautiful pictures and great commentary is The Way the Cookie Crumbles. When I saw Bridget's post- Risotto with Swiss Chard, I knew I would be making it.
I decided to put it on the menu when my mom was here visiting.
The swiss chard I found was red swiss chard and since I love the stems and all, I just washed it, chopped it, and added all the parts.
Delicious. I knew it would be. I had absolutely no doubts.
The day I ended up making this was a cold, rainy day and it was the perfect dinner. Perfect.

If you have never tried making risotto at home, you really should. It is so easy and worth it. One of my favorite things to make.

The only thing I changed is using more chicken broth instead of wine and I didn't warm my broth ahead of time. I tried a recipe for risotto once that didn't have you heat the broth and it turned out just as good as those that did, so I eliminated that step.
Yum.
My hubby requested that the leftovers be packed in his lunch the next day. If you know anything about him, that is really saying something.


Recipe for Risotto with Swiss Chard

Spaghetti Squash and Chard Gratin

I found out about this recipe when Kalyn sent out a tweet about a new post on her blog. I immediately went over to her blog to check out the Spaghetti Squash and Chard Gratin.
I love spaghetti squash (although this love is fairly recent) and I also love swiss chard. I never in a million years would have thought to put the two together.

I put this down on my menu calendar and the next time I went for groceries, I found beautiful swiss chard and a nice sized spaghetti squash.

This recipe takes a little time, but it is completely worth it. Plus, you can roast your spaghetti squash during the day, when you are at home, before dinner time.

There are a few things that I did differently.

I always roast my spaghetti squash whole. I preheat the oven to 400 degrees, poke my squash all over with a fork or skewer, cover a baking sheet with foil and pop the squash in the oven. I usually let it roast for an hour, turning it once or twice. This to me, is way easier than trying to cut through it raw. Once it has roasted, you can slice the thing in half with no problem.

I also sauteed my swiss chard mixture a little too long. It wasn't completely my fault though. Some kind of emergency came up with one of my kids in the bathroom and so, you know how that goes.
I also used chard with red stems and chopped them up and saute them too.
I used greek yogurt instead of sour cream.
I topped my gratin with a combination of Italian seasoned breadcrumbs, grated Parmesan cheese and a little bit of canola oil- to bring the topping together.
Delicious! I tasted it straight out of the pan and it was so good. My kids liked it and so did my hubby. So nutritious too.
Check out Kayln's blog for great pics of this recipe and lots of other great recipes too.


Recipe for Spaghetti Squash and Chard Gratin

One Year Ago-Bulgur and Chickpea Stuffed Squash

Lentil Soup with Chard

It is definitely soup weather. It has been all week. The temperatures have dropped and it has been raining. Cloudy skies and rain always make me feel like making soup and baking.

I found some beautiful swiss chard a couple of days ago and had a couple of recipes that I had been wanting to try. This was one of them.
It is a basic lentil soup without any meat and with the added nutrition and flavor of some dark greens. Dark greens and lentils pair together really well.
I really like lentils. They are easy to prepare and delicious. Make sure you sort and rinse them well. You don't want any tiny rocks to make it into your soup!

When I chopped my chard, I chopped up the stems and ribs and just added them to the soup. They soften up nicely and have to texture of celery in this soup.
I also used canola oil to cook my onion mixture instead of butter.
We topped ours off with a nice dollop of greek yogurt.

If it is cold and rainy where you are or you are in the mood for soup, give this one a try. It will warm you up.
Have a good weekend!
Recipe for Lentil Soup with Chard

One Year Ago-Vegetarian Pad Thai