Spinach Crepes with Mushroom and Ricotta

A little short on Magnesium? You may feel generally fatigued, and think it's from all the partying you've been doing this festival season. You may feel bloated and blame the beer. But hey, let's not get caught up in the blame game, because we both know that there is one whole month of Summer left and the show must go on!

I'm going out on a limb here and suggesting that a little bit of nutritiously fortified feed will go a long way into putting that spring back into your step so that you don't miss another spontaneous moment of fun while the sun's a-shinin'. Spinach is full of good stuff, such as magnesium, Vitamins A,C, E, K.... This little recipe should get you started. For other recipes packed full of spinach goodness, check out these other recipes.

Crepes are fun because they sound fancy, but they're really as basic as it gets. These are green because the spinach goes right into them. Pretty.

Spinach Crepes
1 bunch of spinach (about 300 grams)
1.5 cups of milk
3 eggs
3 tablespoons olive oil + more for the frying
1 tbs marjoram
1 cup flour

Cook the spinach until wilted in a pan on medium heat with a pinch of salt. Mix in with the wet ingredients in a food processor and blend until a nice green color is throughout. Slowly add the flour.

Ricotta Filling
1 cup ricotta
1/2 cup grated parmesan
1 tbs marjoram
some chopped spring onion, greens only
salt and pepper to taste

Mushroom Filling
2 tbs olive oil
1 small spring onion, whites only, chopped
1/4 cup white wine vinegar
1/4 cup of cream or sour cream

In a saucepan, heat the olive oil and sautee the onions until transparent. Add the mushrooms and wilt (if fresh. I used canned so there wasn't much need for the cooking). Whisk in the wine wine vinegar and cream and remove from heat almost immediately.

Eat these crepes with either filling or both. Surprisingly filling and it'll keep you going for a long time. Now get outside and get some sunshine.

If you want to prosper in 2011- Black Eyed Peas

Several New Years traditions began with Jewish New Years traditions around Rosh Hashana. The food traditions, with the Shepardi Jews, moved to Georgia in the 1700's and the traditions have been given a good dose of Southern flare and hotsauce.

Of those traditions, black eyed peas and greens symbolize prosperity and money. With that in mind, I decided to modify a recipe from Vegetarian Suppers and use some black eyed peas with spinach and onion.

I start with half a bag of black eyed peas, the day before, because they have to soak in cold water over night and simmer for over an hour before being ready to eat.


To a large non-stick pan I added olive oil and one whole yellow onion, chopped. After the onion has cooked a bit, I added a couple handfuls of fresh parsley leaves, garlic powder, paprika, and a tablespoon of tomato paste. I stirred that a bit until incorporated and fragrant then added the spinach. About a half kilo of fresh spinach should do it. Once that has wilted. I strain most of the liquid from the black eyed peas, and add them to the spinach mixture. Salt and pepper as desired and serve over brown rice or bulgar, as I have in the picture. I heaping dallop of plain rich yogurt really goes well with this, and I've used a thick Turkish yogurt, although sour cream would be a good substitute.

Grilled Polenta with Blue Cheese Cream Sauce, Spinach and White Beans

The best polenta is made slowly over a double boiler, but if you're strapped for options and for time, most will never be able to tell the difference between instant and the slow cooked. While most recipes call for water and a little bit of parmesan cheese, I use vegetable broth and a 'lot bit' of parmesan cheese. If you don't have time to make polenta and let it cool before making this dish, you may skip the grilling of the polenta squares, and serve it soft on a plate, with the vegetables and sauce.

My favorite part of this recipe though is the sauce made of blue cheese and rosemary. This makes the dish rich and delicious and this recipe has made the ranks of my comfort food, up there with pizza, mac 'n cheese, and fried eggs :)

Serves: 4

Takes about 30-40 minutes (depending on the polenta cooling time)

1 cup instant polenta

4 cups vegetable broth

1/2 cup of grated parmesan

1 small onion, diced

3 cloves garlic

100 grams, of fresh or frozen spinach

1 can northern or white beans, drained and  rinsed

5 ounces good quality blue cheese

1/2 cup cream

2 tsp rosemary

salt and pepper

olive oil

flour for dusting

1.) Start by making the polenta in advance, according to the directions on the type of polenta you've bought. Typically there is a 1:4 polenta to liquid ratio, and I like to get the broth boiling and slowly pour in the polenta whilst stirring. If possible, I also try to keep a lid partially on, because boiling polenta that hasn't thickened yet has a tendency to spatter.

2.) Once the polenta has thickened, spread it evenly onto a baking sheet, or in my case, a buttered cake tin.  Allow to cool in this shape so that it will be easier to cut, and later, grill.

3.) In a skillet, heat oil to medium and add the garlic and onions and fry until soft, which should only take a few minutes.

4.) Add the beans and the spinach. Or if using frozen spinach you can add that first and allow to thaw before adding the beans. Heat through, or until spinach has wilted. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

5.) Meanwhile, in another saucepan, crumble the cheese and add the cream and rosemary until cheese has melted. Season and remove from heat.

6.) With the polenta, cut squares or triangles and dip them into the flour, if you have semolina flour it's better because of the nice golden hue. Shake off the excess flour and grill the polenta in a small bit of olive oil until golden on either side.

7.) Serve the grilled polenta with the spinach and beans piled on and a generous portion of sauce.

I realize I haven't been labeling servings per recipe, nor cooking time. It's true that sometimes I make very small recipe versions, which renders only 2, or even 1 serving. I live alone and like to cook every day. (I also don't have a microwave, so reheating dishes often takes as much heating and energy as the initial cooking.) As much as I love leftovers, I don't love them the 3rd or 4th day, so I tend to reduce recipes to half. From now on, I'll do my best to make this more apparent!

Other things I realize I often do is switch between metric or European measurements and American measurements. Though I know think in terms of Celcius and kilometers, I still haven't figured out how the heck to cook with deciliters and grams, ounces, etc. Furthermore, I don't even own a measuring cup! My calculations are based on my Muumi coffee mugs, which I believe to hold about 3 deciliters (a little more than a cup) and that's what I 'measure' with. (don't be mad at me). Cooking is not a science, it is an art!

Spinach and Artichoke Lasagna

This is one of my favorite recipes. I've made it more times than I can count, but I'm always making small modifications. The basics are always the same, spinach and artichoke, but sometimes I'll add olives, or use red onions instead of yellow.

8 sheets lasagna

2 cans crushed tomatoes

1 tbs tomato paste

250 grams spinach

250 grams artichoke hearts drained, quartered or roughly chopped, liquid reserved

250 grams shredded mozzerella

1 cup cottage cheese, drained

1 red/yellow onion, diced

2-3 cloves garlic, crushed

olive oil

1 tbs each rosemary, thyme, oregano, basil (or whatever you have/like)

salt, pepper, crushed chilli pepper (optional)

parmesan cheese, grated

1. Heat olive oil in a skillet. Add the garlic and onion, spices and cook until softened and fragrant.

2. Add the artichoke hearts and spinach and and cook until softened.

3. Add tomatoes to the skillet, turn the heat down to low, and simmer for as long as you have time for, with the lid on, stirring occassionally. The longer the more flavor infuses. If the mixture thickens too much, add some of the reserved liquid from the can of artichokes.

4. Layer a small amount of the sauce on the casserole dish, then two of the lasagna sheets, a quarter of the sauce, a quarter of the mozzerella, a quarter of the cottage cheese, and repeat, until the everything is used. Sprinkle with parmesan.

5. Bake for 30 minutes uncovered at 175C, and then another 15 minutes covered with aluminum foil.

6. Let cool for several minutes before cutting and serving.

Serves 6 (a large casserole dish full)