Tag: vegetarian main dish

Greek Style Beans with Onions & Spinach

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I found this recipe by The Doctor’s Kitchen, aka Dr Rupy Aujla, on the BBC website. I was incredibly skeptical about these flavors combined, but I have to say I am totally won over.

It’s super satisfying – a very solid healthy main dish, and very quick and easy to make. I made some tweaks, since he uses some ingredients less easily available in the US.

It uses mostly pantry ingredients, but tastes super fresh and delish. Kumy and I had it with naan and we totally devoured it! It’s also great with toast.

Ingredients
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 yellow onion, halved and thinly sliced (red’s fine, too)
½ tsp kosher salt
1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 can chopped tomatoes, with juice (14.5 oz)
2 tsp honey
1 small dry red chilli, deseeded and broken into chunks
3/4 tsp ground cinnamon
½ tsp paprika
1 tsp dried oregano
1 can Cannellini beans, drained and rinsed, 14.5 oz (Can use any white beans.)
8 oz baby spinach (really big handful)
Feta cheese, crumbled for garnish

Instructions
Preheat oven to 400.

Heat the oil in a large oven-proof frying pan over a medium heat. Add the onion and season with salt and pepper. Cook for 3-5 minutes until softened.

Add the tomatoes, honey, chilli, cinnamon, paprika and oregano. Simmer for a few minutes. Stir in the beans and the greens. Toss the spinach to help it wilt.

Bake uncovered for 20 minutes and serve sprinkled with Feta.

Spinach & Cheese Quiche

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We had a full house in August, and for brunch one Sunday morning, I decided to make quiche. But I needed a hearty vegetarian version, as some of our guests don’t eat meat. This one was quick, delish and disappeared in no time!

I’ve posted a spinach and cheese quiche previously, but this one is a little different, and uses a lot more spinach and cheese.  (Whenever possible, I like to double or even triple the normal amount of vegetables in a dish, without compromising on the flavor.)

If you have the time, you can make a home-made pie crust, adding some of the same seasonings that are in the quiche, but a pre-made crust is so much quicker.

1 Pre-made pie crust, thawed

5 eggs
1 cup milk
pinch of freshly grated nutmeg (a microplane makes it super easy!)
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper

1/4 cup butter
3 cloves garlic, crushed
1 onion, finely chopped
4-5 cups fresh spinach, roughly chopped
2-3 cups of sharp Cheddar Cheese

Preheat oven to 375.

Lay pie crust in a quiche pan and set aside. (It will be too small, but that’s fine.)

In a bowl, mix eggs, milk, salt, pepper and nutmeg.

In a large frying pan, melt butter. Add onion and saute until translucent and slightly golden. Add garlic and saute a couple of minutes more. Start adding spinach by handfuls, stirring as it wilts.

Scoop onion/spinach mixture into crust and smooth out in a fairly even layer. Sprinkle cheese over spinach. Carefully pour egg mixture over the spinach and cheese.

Bake for 45 minutes. Check to see if done by wiggling the dish slightly. If it is still “sloshy” in the middle leave in a few more minutes. It will continue solidifying as it cools.

Let cool 10 minutes and then serve.

Note: if I’d had them, I’d have sauteed and added a package of sliced mushrooms.  You can also try a different cheese – Gruyere or even part Gruyere would be delicious.  And you can use almost any vegetable, but make sure to dry it out through sauteing, or squeezing liquid out so it doesn’t dilute the egg mixture.

Enjoy!