Food Friday - What's for Dinner?

from Kris B.

I don't like the heat that Texas summer's bring, but I do like the abundance of fresh veggies.  I feel like I eat a little better during the summer months because of all this freshness.  Unfortunately, I don't care much for canned and frozen vegetables, so the winter months for me are marked by a lot of squash!  I love squash, but I do get tired of it after awhile.

As far as leafy greens, spinach is by far my

 favorite.  I'll add it to almost anything.  Asparagus is one of those things that I have leaned to appreciate as an adult.  I never wanted it on my childhood plate!  I don't know if that is because my mom served it from a can or if it was fresh and seriously over cooked.  Whatever the case, I always thought it was mushy and smelled bad.  Lol!

This dish is an adaptation of a couple different recipes and is a summertime favorite at our house.  If you are not an asparagus fan or have greens other than spinach, substitute away, just about anything will work here...even squash!

INGREDIENTS
12 oz. store bought gnocchi
8 oz. spinach
1 tsp olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 Cup parmesan cheese and extra for garnish
2 TBS toasted almonds
6 spears of asparagus
3 TBS butter
Salt and pepper to taste

Heat  olive oil over medium high in a large pan.  Add the spinach and sauté until bright green and wilted.  Remove to a cutting board and allow it to cool.

Cook the gnocchi by adding it to a pot of boiling water.  Cook for three minutes.  the pieces should rise to the top.  Reserve about 1/2 cup of the water in which you cooked the gnocchi.  Drain the gnocchi.

In a large bowl, combine the spinach, garlic, almonds, a 1/4 of parmesan cheese.  Mix and mash the ingredients together.  It will look like green paste.  It may not look appetizing at this point, but it will taste good in the end!

Trim the asparagus and cut it into bite-seized pieces, about 1 inch.  In the same pan you used to cook the spinach, melt the butter.  Add the cooked gnocchi and the asparagas.  Sauté until the gnocchi is golden brown and the asparagus is soft but not much.  Lol!   I know what you're thinking.  Butter???Butter gets a bad rap. We all need a little fat in our diets, it helps the gnocchi and asparagus brown just a little, and, admit it, it tastes good!  Once cooked, add the gnocchi and asparagas to the spinach mixture.  If it seems to dry, add a little of the reserved gnocchi water a tablespoon at a time until it seems moist enough.  You do not want standing liquid in the bowl, just nicely coated gnocchi!  Season with salt and pepper and garniush with additional parmesan cheese, if desired.

I usually serve this warm, but my daughter prefers it cold.  So, I guess anything goes!

Makes 2-3 servings

Nutrition information: per serving; 377 calories; 18.8g fat; 43.9g carbohydrates; 13.3g protein; 6.1g fiber; 800mg sodium

The Bean Thing - that's the actual name, not just something we called it because we couldn't remember the name, and I've always loved it! The minute I take a bite of this salad I am a kid again. It's not sweet at all like most bean salads and that's what drew my mom to the recipe, it was different from most bean "salad" recipes out there. My mom made this often for "special occasions"  - meaning  mostly those things where you need a dish to pass. This couldn't be any easier and it's a powerhouse of good the stuff that beans have to offer. Now, my mom mostly served it as a side dish. And I have too, but for me it's a 50/50 mix of making it to go with something and making because this is the something that I want! I love to use it as a light lunch in the summer (winter too because it uses canned beans and corn - I've also used frozen corn for this too and it works just as well) and I've been known to have it for dinner with some nice bread, lol. In fact, it was my lunch today!

The original recipe is fine as it is, it uses heart healthy olive oil as the oil for the dressing. I have taken it a bit further and played with the amount of oil that goes in and I've come to the conclusion that you can cut it back to a little over a 1/4 cup and it still tastes pretty darn good! I've lessened the sodium as well, even though I pretty much exclusively use kosher salt, less salt is less salt. Kosher salt is great due to the flat nature of the crystals, you get big salt taste for a lot less of the stuff!  But this recipe is from the late 60's early 70's and at that time it was salt salt salt! I imagine you could skip it entirely and just salt your own portion. It also helps to use lower-sodium canned beans & corn to help reduce it as well. The original recipe calls for green pepper to be added, but Jeremy, my husband is not a big green pepper fan, so I omit it. And that's just fine - this does well without it. Another thing it does well without are the chickpeas - I love them, Jeremy does not, so, I used cannellini beans and all is well. Versatile recipes that you can swap without losing the integrity of the dish are hands-down my favorite kind! I hate not being able to make something because I'm lacking one ingredient, that drives me crazy! I love to use whatever I have on hand and have it be just as good as if I had everything right down to the letter. That makes me a pretty happy girl!  

I believe my mom cut this out of a newspaper or something, but it was actually a recipe written for red wine - not sure anymore it was a particular kind/brand etc because the original recipe has been long gone for quite awhile now, in fact, I don't think I've ever actually seen the original clipping!

The Bean Thing

serves about 8 officially

1 can red kidney beans

1 can pinto beans

1 can chickpeas or cannellini beans

1 can sweet corn

1 bunch green onions, chopped

1 green pepper chopped

Dressing:

3/4 cup olive oil

3 tbsp vinegar

3 tbsp red wine

1 clove garlic crushed (or I use my microplane grater instead of my press sometimes!)

2 tsp salt (less is fine)

black pepper to taste

Combine beans and corn in a colander. Rinse under cold water and drain well. Place in a serving bowl, add green pepper and green onion. In a small bowl, combine dressing ingredients and mix well. Pour over bean and vegetable mixture. Toss to coat and refrigerate until serving time. This is always better the longer it gets the chance to sit and marinate.