Sauteed Spinach and Mushrooms

This is probably one of the easiest healthy side dishes to whip up even if you're pressed for time and have all the ingredients on hand. I purchased some fresh spinach, I think for the first time ever! Normally, I have frozen spinach on hand. However, I saw some fresh at the Chinese market and picked it up. It was crazy cheap, and it was a big bunch.

This dish is most definitely a power dish as well, considering all or most of the ingredients are basically super foods. Lucky for me, Gary loves all the ingredients, so I didn't have a hard time convincing him how delicious this was! The ginger and garlic added a nice flavor to the dish, and it wasn't too overpowering.

I used a wok for this, but a saute pan should work just as well. The spinach wilted significantly, so there was a lot more mushroom than spinach after it was cooked, so when I make this again, I might use 2 bunches or  try this with frozen spinach next time and see how it goes.

---

Sauteed Spinach and Mushrooms

a cathy's kitchen journey original




ingredients:

• 1 TBSP canola oil
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 TBSP fresh ginger, minced
• 10 oz baby bella mushrooms, sliced
• 1 or 2 bunches fresh spinach (or a 10 oz package of frozen, thawed)
• 2 tsp soy sauce
• salt and pepper to taste

directions:

1. In a hot wok, heat the oil. Add garlic and ginger and cook while stirring for 30 seconds, or until fragrant.
2. Add the mushrooms and stir fry for a minute. Add the spinach and stir until it has wilted, continuing to stir for 3 minutes.
3. Add the soy sauce, salt and pepper to taste. Mix to coat well.
4. Transfer to a bowl and serve.

Yield: 2 servings

---

Pin It

Spinach Potato Salad

Although these past few days have been rain filled spring weather, today marks the unofficial start of summer. While the official day doesn't start for another few weeks, people have already started their barbecues early this year!

We started a few weeks ago when the weather shot up to an unseasonable 80+ degrees. One of my favorite things to eat at a barbecue are actually the sides believe it or not. Since I don't eat too much red meat, I'm normally limited to grilled chicken and load up on sides.

One night, I was looking in my pantry and had a few odd and ends ingredients to use up. This recipe used up all my eggs, potatoes, and spinach! I decided to combine it all into this dish and it came out great! Although I didn't really measure the ingredients, I added mustard and mayo to taste, and that's about how much I used. Now with the weather warming up, this would be a great dish to add to your next cookout menu as well!

---

Spinach Potato Salad

a cathy's kitchen journey original recipe





ingredients:

• 4 medium russet potatoes (or an equivalent amount of red potatoes)
• one big handful baby spinach
• 2 heaping TBSP mayo
• 1 tsp spicy brown mustard
• 2 hard boiled eggs, chopped
• salt and pepper to taste

directions:

1. Scrub the potatoes clean, peel if desired. Cut into 1 1/2 inch pieces.
2. Steam in a pot with water for about 15 minutes, or until fork tender.
3. Remove from heat, transfer to a large bowl and immediately add the spinach to wilt slightly. Mix in the remaining ingredients.
4. Cool in the fridge before serving.

Yield: 4 servings

---

Pin It

Gingered Kale and Bok Choy

I swear that Gary changes is mind about foods every other day. One day, we saw a Vitamix demo at Whole Foods. The guy doing the demo made a green smoothie with all kinds of fruits and kale. He thought it tasted good. Meanwhile, I've tried to give him a green monster smoothie a while back and he didn't like it.

So fast forward to the present, I decided to pick up some kale for smoothies, or just to eat. I told him I would make a smoothie, but he didn't want any part of that! Of course, I mentioned that he liked it before, and he even likes the Bolthouse bottled ones as well as the Naked Juices, but NO!

OK, fine. I decided to find another way to use up the kale and found this recipe. It's a simple and quick stir-fried veggie dish that is similar to how I am used to frying vegetables, in a wok! I've used ginger with mushrooms, and I usually use garlic to stirfry vegetables. I don't know why I didn't think of stir frying the veggies in ginger too!

I had all the ingredients on hand. I omitted the cilantro since I'm not a huge fan. I've started to like it in certain dishes, but I wasn't sure how it would taste in this. I also added some almonds as a garnish for extra crunch.

---

Gingered Kale and Bok Choy

made by cathy's kitchen journey
adapted from All the Good Blog Names are Taken




ingredients:

• 1 big handful baby kale, roughly chopped into 1" pieces
• 5 heads baby bok choy or shanghai bok choy, roughly chopped into 1" pieces
• 1 TBSP canola oil
• 1 TBSP minced ginger
• 1 tsp soy sauce
• salt to taste
• slivered almonds for garnish (optional)

directions:

1. Clean and rinse the vegetables thoroughly to get the sand out. Roughly chop into 1" pieces.
2. In a hot wok, add the oil and heat. Add ginger and mix continuously for 30 seconds.
3. Add the vegetables, mix with the wok spatula until they're vibrant green, 1-2 minutes.
4. Add a few sprinkles of salt, and soy sauce. Mix for another 2-3 minutes.
5. Transfer vegetables to a bowl and top with slivered almonds.

Yield: 3-4 servings

---

Pin It

Quinoa with Black Beans and Mixed Vegetables

 

For some reason, I always thought I’ve tried quinoa before…but apparently I haven’t. I’ve always mistaken it for couscous. I guess it’s an honest mistake, since they’re both of similar size, and I’ve never really seen quinoa before. I’ve been hearing so much about this super food, that I wanted to try it for myself.

We usually have rice to accompany our meals, which is natural to us since we grew up doing that. Other than pasta, we’ve never really ventured out of our little box in the grain department. I’m glad I tried this. Quinoa has a sort of nutty taste to it, and a texture that sort of pops in your mouth. It’s hard to explain, so it’s best you try it for yourself if you haven’t.

I boiled the quinoa in chicken broth to give it a little more flavor, but you can definitely use water or vegetable broth to keep it vegan. I’m a huge fan of using shortcuts such as canned beans and frozen vegetables. I think it helps a lot when it comes to easy meals. The frozen vegetables I used contains peas, carrots, green beans, and corn.

This was a great first attempt at making quinoa and having a different grain as a side. I can’t wait to try it again! Gary enjoyed this as well, but in the end he suggested using the bean and vegetable mixture in rice. Well…I guess you really can’t teach an old dog new tricks, but as long as I’m making dinner, he’ll eat it :).

Quinoa with Black Beans and Mixed Vegetables
a Cathy original!

 printable recipe

ingredients:
1 cup quinoa, rinsed and drained
2 cups chicken stock (or vegetable stock or water for vegan)
2 TBSP oil
1 small onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups frozen mixed vegetables (or an equivalent amount of fresh)
1 (15 oz) can black beans, rinsed and drained
salt and pepper to taste

directions:
Rinse and drain quinoa. Add quinoa and chicken stock in a 1.5 quart sauce pan. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low and simmer for 10-15 minutes.

Meanwhile, add oil to a pan on medium-high heat. Add in onion, garlic, vegetables and beans and cook for about 7-10 minutes, stirring occasionally to mix.  Cook until vegetables are tender. Add salt and pepper to taste. Remove from heat.

Add the quinoa to the large pan of vegetables and mix well, adding more salt and pepper as needed.

Serve 4 as a side.

Ginger Mushrooms

I just want to say this is probably one of the easiest side dishes I’ve ever made. A few years ago, I asked my sister what she usually did with mushrooms. She told me that she sometimes sautéed it with ginger and soy sauce. That’s it? Yes, that’s it! Hmm…I thought that was simple enough for a novice cook like me. Even I couldn’t mess it up. I tried it, and it was so easy! I couldn’t believe that with just 4 ingredients, I can have a simple side dish to go with pretty much anything.

I haven’t made it in  a while, but it was so simple that it’s easy enough to remember all these years. This time around, I thought a slight addition of ground pepper would work, and it did, but it tastes great without it as well.

Ginger Mushrooms

printable recipe

ingredients:
1 10 oz package baby bella mushrooms, sliced
2 thumb sized pieces of fresh ginger, peeled and cut into matchsticks
1 TBSP oil
2 TBSP soy sauce
freshly ground pepper (optional)

directions:
In a shallow pan, heat oil. Add ginger and sauté for a 30 seconds.

Add sliced mushrooms and continue to mix for 2 minutes.

Add in soy sauce, and cook until tender, about 2-3 minutes. Add ground pepper to taste.

Remove from heat and serve.

Pecan Crusted Sweet Potato Casserole

So I made this for Thanksgiving, but my family didn’t really go for it. They’re not from the States, so Thanksgiving is foreign to them. Did I also mention my family is a little unconventional? We had sushi and Japanese food for part of our menu and they were the first to fly off the table, but I digress.

When I told my sister I was thinking about making a sweet potato casserole for Thanksgiving, she was a little unsure. She remembered making one with a marshmallow topping a few years ago and it wasn’t such a hit. I looked around and saw this recipe that called for a pecan crusted topping, so I decided to make this.

Keeping my family’s tastes in mind, I decided to reduce the amount of sugar in this recipe. My family was never  fond of sweets, and sweet potatoes are best in it’s natural state too. I made a whole 9x13 pan of this, but only half was eaten. I guess the crust was a bit sweet for them. I thought the crust was a bit sweet even for my tastes as well, but it tasted fine the next day (even while it was still cold).

I prepared the sweet potatoes the night before, covered and added the pecan mixture the next day before baking. To make this dairy free, I used margarine, coconut milk and smart balance; whereas the original used milk and butter.

Pecan Crusted Sweet Potato Casserole
adapted from: allrecipes.com
printable recipe

ingredients:
4 1/2 cups cooked and mashed sweet potatoes (about 7 sweet potatoes)
1/2 cup margarine, melted
1/3 cup coconut milk 
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 eggs, beaten 
3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup smart balance buttery spread
1 cup chopped pecans

directions:
To cook sweet potatoes:
Wash and rinse sweet potatoes. In a large saucepan, arrange sweet potatoes in a single layer. Add enough water to cover. Boil potatoes until fork tender. Allow to cool, then peel. Mash with the paddle attachment of your mixer.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Spray a 9x13 inch baking dish with nonstick spray.

In a large bowl, mix together mashed sweet potatoes, margarine, milk, sugar, vanilla extract, and eggs. Spread sweet potato mixture into the prepared baking dish. In a small bowl, mix together brown sugar and flour. Cut in smart balance until mixture is crumbly (I used my mixer with the paddle attachment for this), then stir in pecans . Sprinkle pecan mixture over the sweet potatoes.

Bake for 25 minutes in the preheated oven, or until golden brown.

Oven Roasted Potatoes

Mmmm…carbs. I love potatoes in any form, shape, or size. Fried, baked, mashed, you name it! This recipe was actually found by Gary. He wanted potatoes one weekend morning (while I was sleeping in), he googled roasted potatoes and he found this. He asked me if we had the ingredients, and it just so happened I do! He ended up trying it and it was awesome.

Since he found it, we’ve had it twice, not including the 10 lbs we made for the birthday party over the weekend. It has also found a permanent spot in the recipe box I’m starting to build. This was the first recipe I added!

Oven Roasted Potatoes
adapted from: allrecipes.com
printable recipe

ingredients:
1/8 cup olive oil 
2 garlic cloves minced garlic
1/2 teaspoon dried basil
1/2 teaspoon dried marjoram
1/2 teaspoon dried dill weed
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon dried parsley
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (optional, more or less to taste)
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 large potatoes, peeled and cubed

directions:
Preheat oven to 475 degrees F (245 degrees C).

In a large bowl, combine oil, garlic, basil, marjoram, dill weed, thyme, oregano, parsley, red pepper flakes, and salt. Stir in potatoes until evenly coated. Place potatoes in a single layer on a roasting pan or baking sheet.

Roast for 20 to 30 minutes in the preheated oven until potatoes are cooked through.

Potato Zucchini Carrot Pancakes

When I saw this recipe pop up in my reader, I new I had to try it. We’re both suckers for great potato recipes, and this was indeed a great recipe.

The original post mentioned she omitted the carrots, but I replaced one of the zucchini with carrots and it was great. This is great as a side or as a replacement for potato only hash browns.

I wasn’t able to squeeze this as dry as I would like, but if you want to keep it crispy, I do recommend getting as much of the liquid out as possible. I think I’m going to have to invest in some cheesecloth or something sooner or later.

Potato-Zucchini Pancakes
Adapted from: Culinary Infatuation

Ingredients:
3 medium red potatoes shredded and squeezed dry 
1 medium zucchini shredded and squeezed dry
1 carrot shredded and squeezed dry
2 eggs beaten 
3 Tbsp AP flour
1/2 and onion finely chopped or (1/2 a cup)
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
salt and pepper to taste
Canola oil

Directions:
Put shredded potato, zucchini and carrot in a medium sized bowl. Add the rest of the ingredients and mix thoroughly.

Heat a large skillet over medium heat and add the canola oil (enough to cover the bottom of the skillet).

Scoop out about 1/3 cup (or more if you want them larger) and put in pan. Flatten with a spatula and let cook until crispy on that side (about 4 minutes).

Shanghai Bok Choy and Mushrooms

Every other week, we buy bags of vegetables at the Chinese supermarket. We don’t usually buy the bunches. Instead, they have pre-packed bags that are already portioned out. It’s perfect for the 2 of us. Each bag has enough for 4 servings (not necessarily an actual serving) with leftovers to pack for work. I think there is about 2lbs in each pre-packed bag. We use half the bag if we do not want leftovers.

This week, we picked up some Shanghai bok choy. I’ve always made the veggies more or less the same way, however this time I had leftover mushrooms that I needed to use up, so I added that in. The mushrooms made this dish extra tasty!

Shanghai Bok Choy and Mushrooms

Ingredients:
1-2 Tbsp oil
1 lb Shanghai bok choy or baby bok choy
1 tsp minced garlic
1 cup sliced baby portabella mushrooms
1 Tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp oyster sauce

Directions:
1. Slice of the ends, rinse and clean the bok choy. Clean and slice the mushrooms.

2. Add oil into a hot wok. Add the garlic, sauté for a few seconds. Add the bok choy to the wok. Stir-fry for 2-3 minutes. Add soy sauce and oyster sauce. Add the mushrooms and continue to stir well until vegetables are tender.

3. Transfer to plate and serve.

Roasted Red Potatoes

We ended up picking up a bag of red potatoes from our trip to BJ’s this weekend. Gary originally wanted to pick some up because he saw a recipe for roasted red potatoes he wanted to try. I heard him say something about 2 Tbsp of salt…and lots of oil…for 6 potatoes! He didn’t know what else to put in it, so of course I had to help him out. I let him start off…and he put 1 full Tbsp of salt onto the potatoes, which was way too much! I improvised with the other ingredients, hoping it would turn out ok. It did turn out ok, except for the saltiness. The recipe below is adjusted for the salt content.

We ended up mashing this together with the meatballs the next day to make a pseudo hash/potato type meal. That ended up pretty good…considering I forgot to add salt into the meatballs. I guess the 2 of us are perfect together in the kitchen! ;P

Roasted Red Potatoes

Ingredients:
6 red potatoes 
1-2 Tbsp olive oil
1 tsp salt
1 tsp black pepper
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp thyme
1 tsp rosemary

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350° F.

2. Scrub and clean potatoes. Cut into bite sized wedges.

3. In a large bowl, toss the potatoes with the remaining ingredients. Spread the potatoes out into a baking dish and bake in oven for 40-5o minutes or until potatoes are tender.

Crispy Hash Browns

Adapted from: Simply Recipes
Made by: Cathy

Gary and I love potatoes. I don’t think we can live without it. One of our favorite sides for breakfast is hash browns. I saw a recipe for this and I had to try it.

This was also a great opportunity for me to use my new food processor! I love it. I asked Gary if he wanted to see me grate potatoes in 2 seconds, he said yes, thinking I was going to do it by hand…LOL. Of course I put the grating attachment on and literally grated it in 2 seconds. I love my food processor!

Ingredients:
cooking spray
3 potatoes, peeled and grated
salt and pepper to taste.

Directions:
1. Peel and grate potatoes. Loosely lay on paper towels and press to dry.

2. Heat up a nonstick skillet on medium heat and spray with cooking oil. Spread potatoes in an even thin layer in the skillet. Add salt and pepper to taste. Cook for about 5 minutes, or until it turns golden brown on the bottom. Flip with a large spatula. I cut it in half before flipping. I wasn’t able to flip the hash brown in it’s whole state. Cook for another 4-5 minutes.

3. Remove from heat, and serve.

I ate them not quite as crispy as Elise did, because we like them a little mushy in the middle. The 3 potatoes filled my pan with 1 layer in my pan. Gary finished his quickly, and we wanted more. Next time, I think I’ll make one giant hash brown for each of us!

Green Eggs and Turkey

Made by: Cathy

We went out shopping today and ended up having fast food for lunch. We haven't had Burger King food in a long time! I normally don’t eat anything from there except for their french fries (mainly because their flame broiled stuff makes my stomach upset).

When got home, we started trying out our purchases. I got a new kitchen scale, and Gary got a new bathroom scale. I've been needing the kitchen scale for quite a while now. Many of the recipes I've seen lately call for an exact measurements. I didn’t get a fancy digital one, but it's fine for me.

Since we were busy playing around with our new gadgets, we decided to have a quick breakfast for dinner night. I have a lot of leftover baby spinach from last week's grocery shopping. This was a great way for me to use up some of my leftovers. I guess you can call this somewhat of a frittata, but it does not have any dairy in it because of new diet restrictions.

Here's my spinach egg bake. Gary thought it looked gross, but it was quite tasty indeed. He also keeps saying he doesn't like spinach, so this is a way to get it into his diet. So far, he’s been eating the spinach dishes I've been making.

Ingredients:
3 cups fresh baby spinach
1 small onion
5 eggs
2 white mushrooms (that’s all I had on hand so I threw it in)
6 slices turkey, or any meat of your choice
salt
pepper
dried basil
red pepper flakes
paprika
garlic powder

Directions:
1. Combine spinach, onions, eggs, and mushrooms into food processor and pulse a few times until blended (like the consistency of pesto). Add the turkey, and pulse 2-3 times until it’s chopped.

2. Spray a nonstick skillet with cooking spray. Pour the mixture into the pan and cook on medium for 3-5 minutes or until the sides start to unstick from the pan. While it's cooking, sprinkle spices on top to taste.

3. Remove from heat and bake in a 350° oven for 10-15 minutes.

4. Cut into wedges and serve.

We ate these with knishes (also leftover from a bulk store run). We would serve these with potatoes next time.

Main Dishes

barbeque baked bean burgers
beef and tofu stir fry
black bean veggie burgers
chicken (see chicken index)
chilean sea bass in black bean garlic sauce
crab cakes
crustless tomato basil spinach quiche
crustless spinach tofu quiche
eggplant and spinach lasagna
fish and string bean stir fry
fishcake and vegetable stir fry
ginger scallion lobster
ground turkey potato skillet
ground turkey with tomatoes
ground turkey zucchini with pasta
jambalaya
kielbasa and sauerkraut
lemon pepper salmon
loco moco
mac and cheese
no knead pizza dough (vegan)
panko salmon bites
potato sausage breakfast scramble
roasted sesame maple ginger tofu (vegan)
salmon patties
sausage and brats on italian bread
scallops with thai peanut noodles
sesame ginger salmon
shepherd’s pie
shrimp and steak skewers
shrimp omelet
shrimp scampi
sloppy joes with beans
spaghetti pie
spaghetti squash bolognese
stuffed shells (vegan)
sweet potato chili (crockpot, vegan/vegetarian) 
sushi rolls
tofu parmigiana 
tofu and broccoli with peanut sauce
turkey sausage wheatbery soup (crockpot)
turkey burgers
vegan cheese pizza with fresh tomato sauce
vegan mac and cheese with daiya
veggie loaded turkey meatloaf
veggie stir fry and linguine 
weeknight pizza
zucchini lasagna (vegan)