Kale and Butternut Squash Strata

29 09 2010
A strata is a type of bread pudding like casserole. It is a one dish meal made with bread cubes soaked in eggs and milk (like french toast) and then baked with assorted vegetables. In this case, I used fall flavors of kale, chard and butternut squash. It almost was like a stuffing casserole. I served it to guests who found it delicious. My complete menu was Tarragon Zucchini soup followed by the Strata and a nice green salad with a Sherry shallot vinaigrette. I finished the meal with a peach and blueberry crisp. Read the rest of this entry »
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Categories : Brunch, Main Dish

Fig and Almond Bread Stuffing with Fennel

25 02 2010
I keep finding recipes that I used at Thanksgiving time. I thought I could wait to post this until closer to Thanksgiving, but then I thought I might lose it. Also, why is it that we all love a good stuffing, but we only eat it at Thanksgiving time? And actually it is technically not a stuffing, but a dressing, since I am not actually stuffing anything.  So here is a vegetarian stuffing that you might enjoy even in these colder months for something hearty. You could serve this with a side vegetable and a salad and be perfectly satisfied. I just love the hint of fennel in this stuffing, a beautiful mild licorice flavor. Read the rest of this entry »

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Categories : Vegetable side dish

Grinach Bread

11 01 2010

Last night we made this cool looking green spinach garlic bread, inspired by Rachel Ray. We just saw Jim Carrey in the Grinch and so we named it Grinach Bread. Very popular amongst all our guests from teens to adults and even one meat-eater who was a little intimidated by our green way of eating. (I think I really through her for a loop when I sat her down near the kombucha jar with its floating alien fungus staring up at her.)

This version of garlic bread is super colorful and a great way to get extra greens into the pickiest of eaters. Try it, you’ll like it.

Grinach Bread
Ingredients:
4 cups baby spinach
1 stick softened unsalted butter (maybe a little more to help it puree in the food processor)
sea salt to taste
pepper
4 cloves garlic
1 cup Parmesan cheese (optional)
1 loaf good Italian bread, French batard, or even a sourdough whole wheat.
Puree the spinach with the butter, salt, pepper and garlic in a food processor until smooth. If you like your garlic bread cheesy, add the Parmesan cheese and blend together. Cut the bread in half horizontally. Place the two halves on a baking sheet and spread with butter mixture. Heat in a hot oven until warmed through and then broil last minute to lightly crisp the edges. Slice and serve warm.

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Categories : bread