Fresh Spinach with Garlic-Yogurt Sauce

This was, well, interesting. I thought it had a nice flavor. The garlic yogurt really pulled it all together. Next time we’ll pre-cook the rice though – it took much longer than the 10 minutes in the recipe and use much more than a few tablespoons of water before the rice was even close to tender. By that time our spinach was so far beyond wilted… so much for ‘fresh’ spinach!

Excuse the bad photo… like I said, the spinach was overcooked. It’s better than it looks! I promise!

Fresh Spinach with Garlic-Yogurt Sauce

Recipe from Bon Appetit. Makes 6 side/appetizer size servings. Maybe we should stop trying to turn intended appetizers into main courses, eh?

Ingredients
4 tablespoons olive oil, divided
2/3 cup chopped onion
1/2 tablespoon tomato paste
4 dried chilies de arbol
1 1/2 pounds fresh spinach leaves (four 6oz bags), divided
1 1/2 tablespoons uncooked medium-grain white rice
2 garlic cloves
6 tablespoons plain Greek yogurt
1 tablespoon butter
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Directions
Heat 3 tablespoons oil in heavy large skillet over medium heat. Add onion and sauté until translucent, about 5 minutes. Add tomato paste, stir 1 minute. Add chiles and 1/3 of spinach. Cook until spinach wilts, adding remaining spinach in 2 additions and tossing often, about 4 minutes.

Mix in rice. Cover and simmer until rice is tender and moisture from spinach is absorbed, adding water by tablespoonfuls if needed for rice, about 10 minutes. Uncover and continue to cook until mixture is dry, about 2 minutes. Discard chilies.

Meanwhile, press garlic cloves into small bowl, stir in yogurt, and season with salt and pepper. Melt butter with 1 tablespoon oil in small skillet. Mix in cayenne and remove from heat.

Spread spinach mixture on platter; make indentations with back of spoon. Spoon yogurt into indentations and drizzle with cayenne butter.

Soy Sake Shrimp with Ginger Aioli

The flavor in this dish was incredible. The marinade really does wonders for the shrimp. The aioli is good, but the shrimp would still be fabulous without it.

Soy Sake Shrimp with Ginger Aioli

Recipe from Epicurious. Makes 4 servings.

Ingredients
1/2 cup soy sauce
2 green onions, chopped
6 tablespoons olive oil, divided
2 tablespoons unseasoned rice vinegar
2 tablespoons sake or dry Sherry
1 tablespoon golden brown sugar
3 garlic cloves, chopped
24 deveined peeled uncooked large shrimp (about 1 1/2 pounds)
1 cup mayonnaise
1 tablespoon chopped peeled fresh ginger
Cooked white rice

Directions
Combine soy sauce, green onions, 4 tablespoons oil, vinegar, sake, brown sugar, and garlic in 13x9x2-inch glass baking dish; whisk marinade to blend. Add shrimp and toss to coat. Refrigerate at least 30 minutes and up to 1 hour, turning shrimp occasionally.

Blend mayonnaise and ginger in food processor until smooth. Transfer ginger aioli to small bowl and refrigerate.

Drain marinade from shrimp into small saucepan; bring to boil. Whisk 2 tablespoons boiled marinade into ginger aioli; reserve remaining boiled marinade.

Heat remaining 2 tablespoons oil in heavy large skillet over medium-high heat. Add shrimp; sauté until just opaque in center, about 4 minutes. Mound rice in center of plates. Arrange shrimp around rice; drizzle with ginger aioli. Serve, passing reserved boiled marinade.

Peanut Butter Banana Cream Pie

This is my favorite pie of all time. No joke. It’s so quick and easy but tastes like it took 3 days to make. Easy to make it dairy free as well… just substitute tofutti cream cheese for regular cream cheese, you’ll never know the difference! (Who would’ve thought Cool Whip has no milk in it?)

Peanut Butter and Banana Cream Pie

Makes 8-10 servings (or less if you go back for 2nds or 3rds… hehe)

Ingredients
1 cup vanilla wafer cookies
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
2 1/2 tablespoons melted butter or margarine
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup (4 oz.) cream cheese
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
8 oz. frozen whipped topping
1 1/2 cups (2 whole) sliced bananas
1/4 cup chocolate sundae syrup

Directions
Preheat oven to 350Ëš F. To prepare crust, place cookies in a food processor and process until finely ground. Add 1/3 cup brown sugar and melted butter; pulse 2 or 3 times or just until combined. Press into bottom and sides of a 9-inch pie plate coated with cooking spray. Bake for 10 minutes; cool completely on wire rack. (Or, do it the easy way and buy a pre-made Nilla wafer crust).

To prepare filling, place 3/4 cup brown sugar, cream cheese, peanut butter, and vanilla in a bowl; beat with a mixer at medium speed until smooth. Fold in whipped topping.

Arrange banana in bottom of prepared crust. Spread peanut butter mixture over banana; drizzle with syrup. Cover and freeze 8 hours; let stand at room temperature 15 minutes before serving.

Thai Tofu & Peanut Pizza

This is the 2nd time we’ve made this recipe. The first time we used chicken (like the recipe originally called for), but this time decided tofu worked better. Even my tofu-hating sister ate it and didn’t complain! Must have been some pretty good tofu!

Thai Tofu & Peanut Pizza

Recipe from Rachel Ray, with adjustments. Makes 2-4 servings.

Ingredients
1 lb pizza dough
1/2 cup Chinese duck sauce or plum sauce
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1/2 red bell pepper, cored, seeded, and thinly sliced
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon peanut butter
2 teaspoons hot sauce
2 tablespoons honey
1/2 block firm tofu, cut into 1/4-inch cubes
2 tablespoons cider vinegar
1/4 seedless cucumber, peeled and cut into matchsticks
4 scallions, white and green parts, chopped
1 cup bean sprouts, a couple of handfuls
fresh cilantro leaves, chopped
1/4 cup peanuts, chopped

Directions
Preheat the oven to 425°F. Roll the pizza dough on a pizza pan or cookie sheet. Top it with duck or plum sauce, spreading it around like you would pizza sauce. Sprinkle the pizza with some red pepper flakes, then top it with the bell peppers. Bake until golden and bubbly, 15 to 17 minutes.

In a small bowl, combine the vegetable oil, soy sauce, and peanut butter with the hot sauce. Use the microwave to loosen up the peanut butter if it is too cold to blend into sauce; 10 seconds ought to do it. Coat the tofu cubes evenly with the mixture and let it stand for 10 minutes. Preheat a nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Cook the tofu for 2 to 5 minutes on each side, or until browned.

While the tofu cooks, mix the honey and vinegar in a medium bowl. Add the cucumber and turn to coat in the dressing.

When the pizza comes out of the oven, top it with the chicken, scallions, sprouts, and cilantro. Drain the cucumbers and scatter them over the pizza. Garnish the pizza with peanuts, cut it into 8 wedges, and serve.