Black Bean, Corn and Spinach Enchiladas

This is one of those recipes, that now having made it for the first time, I can't believe that I've never done is before. Enchiladas were always something for the local Mexican restaurant to handle and it never really occurred to me that it would be such a simple thing to make them as home. Of course, any recipe can be made complicated, and I've sure there are ways of making enchiladas that would require a dozen more ingredients and half a day of work, but having tasted these I see no reason to do much more than what I've got here. 

The only thing I will probably try net time is to add some shredded chicken or beef to see what these are like as a non-vegetarian version. I suppose the one thing I did do here to make things a bit more complex was making the sauce from scratch (could have just bought a can of it at the store) but in truth it was not that much more work and I always prefer to serve a homemade sauce over store bought.

As for the filling, I had spinach to use so I googled "spinach enchiladas" and ended up on the recipe linked below. The beans give a nice meatiness to the dish and combine very well with the spinach. The addition of corn (I used some of the kernels I had frozen from fresh ears several weeks back) adds a bit of sweetness and crunch. 

I do think the ingredient that really brought it all together was the cheese. Choose that well and you will be well rewarded. I went for a blend of cheddar, pepper jack and mozzarella. Top these off with a spoonful of salsa, or better yet do what we did and use the salsa verde I made a few days ago. Cook a big batch, these make great leftovers!

Scallops with Spinach and Beans

A quick one for tonight. Canned beans cooked with garlic, onions and spinach make for a hearty accompaniment to some fresh sea scallops.  Serve this with a crisp side salad lightly dressed with oil and vinegar to give yourself an acidic bite in between the rich mouthfuls of scallops and beans.

Share contents used

All the spinach

A few of the red leaf and romaine leafs for the side salad

Ingredients
1 tbs olive oil
1/3 cup onion, minced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 can white beans (14 oz), rinsed and drained
4 cups baby spinach
1 lb large sea scallops
Salt and black pepper to taste
1/2 tbs olive oil

1/2 tbs butter
2 tbs fresh lemon juice

Preparation
Heat the oil in a medium saucepan over low heat. Add the onion and garlic; saute until the onion is soft and translucent, 2 to 3 minutes. Add the beans and spinach and continue to cook until the beans are hot and the spinach is wilted. Cover to keep warm.

Heat the 1/2 tbs oil and butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Rinse and dry the scallops and season with salt and pepper on both sides. Add the scallops to the pan and sear the scallops for 2 to 3 minutes per side, until nicely browned.

Before serving,  season the beans with salt and pepper, then divide among your plates and top with scallops. Drizzle with the lemon juice and serve immediately.

Spinach with Garlic

The name says it all!  Fresh spinach lightly sauteed in olive oil that has been infused with garlic. By first cooking the garlic in the olive oil, you add a light garlic flavor to the oil and also end up with crisp little chips of garlic that add a bit of crunch to the final dish.

This is a great and simple side dish that you can use to accompany just about any main course.  We enjoyed it with some baked salmon and Israeli couscous.

Share contents used:
5 oz Spinach

Other Ingredients:
2 garlic cloves
Olive oil
Salt & Pepper








Clean and dry the spinach.  Tear large leaves into bite size pieces and remove any long stems. Set aside.

Thinly slice the garlic into little chips.  Heat 2 tsp of olive oil in a skillet over medium heat and add the garlic.  Saute until the garlic is brown and crisp, then remove the garlic from the pan and set aside, leaving the olive oil (now infused with garlic flavor) in the pan.

Add the spinach to the skillet and saute until just wilted.  Season to taste with salt and pepper.  Serve sprinkled with the toasted garlic chips.

Spinach and Mushroom Lasagna

Most of the time, I hope to cook dishes that highlight the item(s) from the weekly share, and not bury them amid other flavors like I'm doing here. However, we were already planning lasagna this week, and I had no intention of  skipping one of my favorite dishes.  Normally, the recipe uses frozen spinach that has been thawed and dried, so it was not a big stretch to substitute the fresh leaves from the share.

This recipe is based on one that I learned from my lovely wife, which she originally got from the Food Network.  I have made a few changes to the ingredients and assembly procedure.  You start with a bechamel sauce at the bottom of the lasagna pan and then build the lasagna from there.

The tomato sauce is my own recipe for a basic marinara that I prefer to use, but you can substitute your favorite if you like.



We also put together small tossed salad as a side using some of the other items in the share.

Share Contents Used:
All 6 oz of the spinach in the lasagna
A few leaves of the red leaf lettuce plus a couple radishes for the side salad.







Recipe for Spinach Mushroom Lasagna is as follows:

Bechamel Sauce:
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
4 teaspoons all-purpose flour
1 1/4 cups whole milk
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
Pinch ground nutmeg

Melt the butter in a heavy medium saucepan over medium-low heat. Add the flour and whisk for 3 minutes. Whisk in the milk. Increase the heat to medium-high. Whisk the sauce until it comes to a simmer and is thick and smooth, about 3 minutes. Whisk the salt, pepper, and nutmeg into the bechamel sauce.

Tomato Sauce:

1/3 cup chopped onion

1 tbs olive oil

1 32 oz can of crushed tomatoes

1/4 tsp dry basil

1/4 tsp dry oregano

Dash of cinnamon

Salt & Pepper to taste

Saute the onion with the olive oil in a medium saucepan until soft.  Do not let them brown.  Add the tomatoes, basil, oregano and cinnamon.  Bring to a simmer, cover and let cook for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Season to taste.

Optional Step - Remove from heat and blend until smooth using a stick blender.  (I do this because I prefer the smooth texture that I get by doing this, but you can skip it if you don't mind a slightly chunky sauce.)

Lasagna:
1 tablespoon olive oil

1 cup yellow onion, fine dice

1 16 oz container baby bella mushrooms, coarsely chopped

6 ounces fresh spinach, washed and chopped
1 15 oz container whole milk ricotta cheese

1/4 cup grated Parmesan
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
12 cooked lasagna noodles
Bechamel Sauce

Tomato sauce
Shredded mozzarella

Directions
Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.

Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat.  When hot, add the onions and mushrooms, season with salt and pepper and cook until the onions are slightly browned and all the liquid has evaporated from the mushrooms.  Add the spinach and cook until it has wilted.  Add the ricotta, parmesan and pepper and stir until the cheese is warm and everything is completely mixed.  Remove from the heat and keep warm until ready to use.

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Boil the lasagna noodles until just tender but still firm to bite. Drain. Arrange the noodles in a single layer on a baking sheet to prevent them from sticking.

Pour all the bechamel sauce over the bottom of a 13-by-9-by-2-inch glass baking dish. Lay 3 lasagna noodles on top of the bechamel, top each noodle with some of the ricotta mixture. Spread around 1/2 a cup of the tomato sauce over the ricotta and then sprinkle with a little mozzarella.  Repeat the layering procedure until all the ricotta filling is used, ending with lasagna noodles on the top.  Spread around 1 cup of tomato sauce over the top of the last noodles and sprinkle generously with mozzarella . Cover tightly with foil. Bake until heated through and the sauce bubbles, about 20 minutes. Uncover and bake until the cheese on top becomes golden, about 15 minutes longer. Let stand for 10 minutes. Serve with additional tomato sauce if desired.