Meat-and-Grain Burgers {with spinach!}

I've said before that I am loving all of the spinach we have been getting in our Bountiful Basket lately.  I wish we would get a bushel every week!  It is so good for you and there are so many good, healthy things to make with it!

Here is a great recipe my best friend, Lara, gave me when she was up visiting week before last (I think she got it out of her Runner's magazine).

If you love hamburgers and wish you could just forget about all of the beefy fat and eat them a couple times a week, this is a great alternative.  I don't think we will make plain, straight beef burgers around our house very often with this recipe.  Both me and my husband loved these!

Meat-and-Grain Burgers

Serves six

Ingredients:

1 pound fresh spinach leaves

1 pound lean ground beef, ground chicken, or ground turkey (we used beef)

1 small onion, finely chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced 

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1/4 teaspoon cayenne 

salt and pepper to taste

1 egg

2 cups cooked quinoa (or any cooked grains, such as cracked wheat, steel-cut oats, or whole wheat couscous)

Directions:

Boil a large pot of salted water; fill another bowl with ice water.  Put spinach in boiling water for 30 seconds.  Drain and plunge the cooked spinach into ice water.  Drain again, squeezing to dry, then roughly chop.  Put spinach into a bowl and set aside.  Add ground meat, onion, garlic, cumin, and cayenne.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Add egg and grains.  Mix until combined.  Shape into burgers.  Grill on medium heat, about four minutes per side. (Alternatively, place burgers in a rimmed, greased baking sheet.  Roast in the oven at 400 degrees until firm and browned, about 20 to 30 minutes.  Turn once or twice.)  Put burgers in a bun and add salsa or your favorite toppings (we did avocado, lettuce, and tomato and a cilantro lime mayo from this recipe.

Spinach Love

I was thrilled to get more spinach in our basket on Saturday!  I would love it if we got spinach every week.  There are so many health benefits to spinach and so many yummy things to do with it.  

For breakfast this morning I made my husband and I a delicious mango-banana-strawberry green smoothie.  A green smoothie has been a delicious start to many of our days lately!

Here are a few other great ideas I'm looking forward to to use up all that spinach we've been getting . . .

Tuscan Garlic Chicken from Mel's Kitchen Cafe.

I actually made this one last week.  Overall, it was good.  My husband loved it.  I just didn't love the chicken . . . which really surprised me.  But the cheesy, creamy pasta was of course delicious!

Spinach Lasagna Roll-Ups from Just Cook Already.

This one is on this week's menu.  I'm thinking this will make my sweet husband very happy!

Gnocci with Tomatoes, Pine Nuts, and Spinach from Skip to my Lou.

I'm looking forward to this one one day soon.  Although, I am going to complicate it a bit by making my own gnocci.  I've seen a few recipes for it and it doesn't seem too hard.  I'm hoping it will cut down on the cost a bit also.

What great ideas have you guys come up with to use all of the spinach we've been getting?  We'd LOVE to hear your ideas!

Imperial (Spinach Stuffed) Chicken with Mushroom Bechamel Sauce

Don't let the fancy name OR the fact that this recipe is what was served at my wedding luncheon fool you. This is a recipe that YOU can make and will be delighted when you do! OR, you could make it and serve it to a crowd and let them be fooled that you're a super fancy cook! Cause it is THAT good!

 I'll humor you and post two pictures from my wedding day. Since this is my wedding day recipe, after all! 

My parents and new in-laws, after eating the Chicken Imperial. 

Don't they all look so satisfied?!?!?

 The basket411 Sisters. Cindy, Lisa-Marie, Kim

circa 2001

Chicken Imperial with Mushroom Bechamel Sauce

From: Cindy Sylvester-Dear family friend who made all this chicken for the luncheon

6 chicken breast halves

1/4 cup fresh chopped chives

1/4 cup chopped spinach

1/2 cup butter-softened

1 1/2 tsp. salt

2 eggs

4 Tbsp. flour

1/4 cup fresh parsley-chopped

1/2 cup Monterey Jack cheese-grated

1 Tbsp. orange zest-divided

1/8 tsp. pepper

1/2 cup fresh orange juice

1 cup bread crumbs

• Blend butter, salt, pepper, chives, spinach, parsley, cheese and 1 tsp. orange zest. Form into six finger size strips/rolls. Chill on wax paper. 

• Flatten Chicken with a mallet.

• Create batter with eggs, orange juice and flour. Beat until smooth. Heat, stirring constantly until slightly thickened. 

• Combine bread crumbs and remaining orange zest. 

• Roll butter sticks up in each chicken breast. Roll in batter and then in bread crumbs.

• Bake at 375* for 45 minutes. Butter will melt out basting the chicken and keeping it moist.

• Serve with Mushroom Bechamel Sauce or chicken gravy.

*I don't have the mushroom sauce recipe but here is a great link that gives you three options. I'm sure you'll find one that suits your fancy!

Fruit and Spinach Smoothies

 I've said it once and I'll say it again . . . I NEED a new camera.  So please, bare with me.  It's actually kind of embarrassing to post pictures sometimes because for those of you that don't know, I got my degree in photography.  So naturally, these terrible, off-colored, grainy pictures kill me.  I have nightmares of my art professors looking at this blog.

I'm sure this is nothing new to a lot of you.  But just in case some of you haven't heard the great secret of adding spinach to your fruit smoothies for an extra vitamin kick or just haven't been brave enough to give it a try, I encourage you to try it now.  We've gotten spinach two weeks in a row so there is definitely some spinach to spare!

Here's what I add to my smoothies . . . 

6 oz plain or vanilla greek yogurt (high in protein, low on sugar!!!), 5 frozen strawberries, 1/3 cup frozen blueberries, 1 banana, a handful of fresh spinach, and a dash of milk.

Blend it all together and you have a delicious, healthy breakfast!

Yummy Chicken Pasta Salad with Spinach

Did you all read Kim's Mexican What-Ever recipe? That really is such a delightful recipe. If you're careful, you might have enough spinach leftover for the following recipe as well. It doesn't require a whole lot.

Yummy Chicken Pasta Salad with Spinach

In a frying pan cook chicken tenders cut into bite sized pieces in olive oil. Season with Lemon Pepper. Set aside. Meanwhile toast 1 pkg. of slivered almonds under the broiler. 

In a big bowl add the following:

1 16 oz. pkg. cooked bow tie pasta

1 bunch sliced green onions

1 cup (more or less) torn spinach leaves

1 red, yellow and green bell pepper cubed

When the chicken and almonds are cooled add to the pasta mixture. 

Dressing:

3/4 cup canola oil (I used less and I used olive oil)

1/3 cup red wine vinegar

1/3 cup soy sauce

1/4 cup parsley (I will leave this out next time. Go easy on it until you are sure you like the flavor of parsley.)

1/4 tsp. each salt and pepper

3 tbsp. sugar

Blend in blender and pour over pasta mixture. Toss to coat.

SPINACH, Oh How I Love You

Image

I was ecstatic that we received spinach in our baskets this week.  I adore spinach and throw handfuls of it into all kinds of dishes; smoothies, eggs, omelettes, spaghetti sauce, quesadillas, but this week I used our spinach to make one of my favorite dishes.  Technically it's called Mexican Lasagna, but when I first received this recipe I could never remember it's name and we just referred to it as Mexican Whatever and that stuck.  I found this recipe on CuisineNie plus many, many other recipes we love to make. 

Grab that spinach and let's get started...

Mexican Lasagna
1 cup fresh cilantro leaves
4 scallions, coarsely chopped
Coarse salt and ground pepper
10 ounces fresh baby spinach
Nonstick cooking spray
8 (6-inch) corn tortillas
1 (15.5 ounces) pinto beans, drained and rinsed
1 cup prepared salsa (mild or medium)
8 ounces pepper Jack cheese, grated (about 2 cups) (I only use 1 cup)
DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

In a food processor, combine cilantro, scallions, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper with as much spinach as will fit; pulse, adding remaining spinach in batches, until coarsely chopped.

Coat an 8-inch square baking dish (I use whatever dish is handy) with cooking spray. Lay 4 tortillas in bottom of dish (they will overlap slightly). Layer with half of beans, salsa, spinach mixture, and cheese; repeat with remaining ingredients, ending with cheese and pressing in gently.

Cover dish with foil and bake until bubbling, 25 to 30 minutes; remove foil, and continue baking until golden, 15 to 20 minutes more. Cool 5 to 10 minutes before serving.

**My husband doesn't think this is spicy but I do.  If you don't tolerate spice well, definitely use the mild salsa and use half pepper jack cheese with half Monterrey jack.  I have done that before and it does produce a milder flavor, but still just as delicious!


BTW--if you haven't noticed, my family could eat some sort of Mexican dish every night of the week.  Y-U-M!!!