spinach

Fluffy Green Pancakes

March 13, 2017

With St. Patrick’s Day a couple days away, it seems appropriate to feature some green-hued foods, don’t cha think? These fluffy green pancakes were actually inspired by those pancakes the Internet gave Chelsea Clinton such a hard time about. I guess I wasn’t as disgusted as everyone else, because I thought they would be perfect for St. Patty’s Day! Also, what a good way to sneak some extra veggies into your diet?

Before you are completely turned off by spinach in your pancakes, let me assure you that they don’t taste anything like spinach. You can’t taste it at all! So you really could trick your kids into thinking you made green pancakes just for St. Patty’s Day!

These pancakes don’t just get their green color from the spinach. There is also a bit of matcha green tea powder in there to get it an extra umpf. It aslo gives these pancakes a bit of caffeine, which I am not going to turn down in the morning.

Start by blending together the spinach, egg yolk, milk, lemon juice, and butter until it resembles that green smoothie you force down ever not and then (just kidding, I love green smoothies!). Then add the flour mixture to the blender so that the blender does all the work, not you.

I would suggest adding just part of the flour mixture at a time, otherwise the blender will just get overwhelmed and you will end up stirring it yourself anyways.

You should be left with a smooth, green batter. It’s okay if there are a couple lumps though. You don’t want your pancake batter over mixed. Then pour that batter into a bowl with some whipped up egg whites.

Oh yeah, this is the key to light and fluffy pancakes. Separate your egg white from the egg yolk and whip it up until light and airy. Then fold the batter into the egg whites so you have a light and airy batter!

Spoon about 1/4 to 1/3 cup of batter on to your cooking surface of choice. I prefer our electric griddle because it holds a constant, steady temperature ensuring I don’t under or overcook my pancakes.

Then just stack up your pretty green pancakes and top them with your favorite pancake toppings.

I prefer butter (and lots of it) and some maple syrup. Sure that sort of negates the “healthiness” of the spinach and whole wheat flour. But the way I see it, I would be dousing my pancakes in butter and syrup no matter what. So at least this way I am getting in a serving of veggies!

If the Chelsea Clinton green pancakes turned you off from adding spinach to your pancake batter, I hope I have helped sway you the other way. Because it’s always a good idea to trick your kids (or your husband…or yourself!) into eating more veggies.

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Lightened Up Kale Artichoke Dip

October 14, 2015

I personally love spinach artichoke dip, but have you seen some of the ingredients in it? Mayonnaise, sour cream, and tons of cheese. No wonder it is so delicious.It is terrible for you! But that is what inspired me to make something a bit healthier for our college football watch parties (Sic ‘Em Bears!). I decided to make a kale artichoke dip that is lightened up with Greek yogurt and ricotta cheese.

I was fully prepared to make this dip with spinach, but I had a lot of left over kale so I thought I would give that a shot (but this recipe can easily be used with spinach instead). I sauteed the kale in a bit of olive oil with some garlic and salt. I added the kale and artichokes to a food processor to chop up a bit. I then used the food processor to help me mix in the Greek yogurt, ricotta cheese, Parmesan cheese, and spices. That way I don’t have to dirty another bowl.
Kale Artichoke Dip 3

I transferred the mix to a small cast iron skillet (or you can use any baking dish) and topped with a bit of cheese just for the cheesiness that makes spinach artichoke dip so wonderful.

After baking just long enough to get all the flavors to meld together and the cheese to get ooey and gooey (about 20 minutes), I served it to my eager husband (after taking pictures, of course) with some pretzel chips. My husband LOVED this dip and could not tell that it was “healthy” or lightened up. He was not excited about the substitution of kale, but in the end, he could barely tell the difference. Honestly, if I didn’t tell you there was kale in it, you would never know. It tastes just like your favorite spinach artichoke dip, but with a thicker consistency.

I hope you try this and love it as much as we do!

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Spinach Tortillas

May 5, 2014

When I become I mother, I swear, I am going to be the best at sneaking vegetables into my kids food. I feel like I have mastered the art of “vegetable filler”. I will stick carrots and spinach in meatloaf or meatballs. I have even snuck (sneaked?) both into brownies before. Well, these tortillas are no different. Except that the spinach in these is very evident. But I feel like you could easily come up with a story about why these tortillas are green that doesn’t involve spinach. If Dr. Seuss can do it, so can I.In truth, these tortillas are just as easy as normal tortillas. I just blended up the spinach with the water and oil, then added it to the flour mixture.

I was prepared to add more flour or water if necessary in case the spinach changed the consistency of the dough. Fortunately that was not the case. The dough should be slightly tacky. Since you will be rolling them out in flour (most likely), you don’t want them to be too dry or they will crack when you try to flatten them out.

And I like that you can see some pieces of spinach in the tortillas along with their vibrant green color. It really makes you feel like you being more healthy than you actually are.This recipe makes 16 “taco” size tortillas (about 6″ diameter) or 10-12 larger tortillas (about 8″ diameter). I just flatten out the dough ball into a disk then cut into equal size wedges before forming them into smaller balls. It doesn’t have to be an exact science, but if you are worried about them being the same size, you could use a kitchen scale to make sure they are all about 1-1.5 oz.

We recently invested in a tortilla press, which I find to be somewhat helpful. But because I like my tortillas to be pretty thin, I end up rolling out the pressed tortillas anyways. Before I had the tortilla press, I would just flatten the ball with my hand, then roll them out until almost paper thin (1/16th to 1/8th inch).

I prefer cooking the tortillas on a cast iron skillet because the heat is disbursed pretty evenly. According to Alton Brown, the skillet should be about 400 degrees. You only need to cook them for about 25-30 seconds per side. Any longer, and they will dry out and become to rigid. So work quickly and keep the tortillas warm in a tortilla warmer or in the oven.

If you don’t need 16 tortillas, you can always halve the recipe. Or what I do, is make the whole recipe, roll out all 12-16 tortillas, then only cook what I need. Whatever I don’t use, I freeze, placing a piece of parchment paper between each uncooked tortilla. They will keep for a while in the freezer, but I would recommend using them within the month.

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