YAY! This is Vanilla Latte’s 100th post! Well to be specific, this is Vanilla Latte now as a food and travel blog’s 100th post, I deleted the ones that were irrelevant from 5 years ago. So for such a celebration, I would like to share one of my favorite mac and cheese recipes. Now this isn’t the one I normally make for dinner parties that involve 5 cheeses, that one will have to wait. This version is an attempt to be slightly healthier… I threw in spinach! 
Okay it’s not that good for you. Anything that starts as a roux and involves adding milk and cheese always ends with ooey gooey goodness that can’t be that good for you. Ah well, that’s why it’s a celebration!
I’ve used low fat milk, low fat cheese, and spinach. Little ways to make sure this delicious dish won’t cause a heart attack. But feel free to live on the edge, use full fat milk and cheeses! MAN my mouth is watering as I’m writing this. So delicious and easy to make. And really good leftovers with a splash of Tabasco. Hope you like it!
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Posted by: Maggie Ha
Category: baking, food, mmmm
Tags: american, baking, cheese, cooking, food, pasta, recipe, recipes, spinach, vegetarian
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Okay so “amazing” may be a little biased but it sure is OOEY GOOEY delicious! I have to be completely honest, this dish isn’t exactly good for you. In fact, it might cause a mild heart attack. WARNING: all of you on diets, stay away from this post! I even added more spinach, used low fat cheeses, used low fat sour cream and mayo but at the end of the day, you really can’t call this healthy food. Even if you eat it with just vegetables !
Now for all of you who are willing to be a little dangerous, this dip will knock your socks off and have you coming back for more. I’ve altered the ratio of ingredients to attempt to make it a little healthier less bad for you. But feel free to play around with it and see if you come up with something better. I don’t have pepper jack cheese which is what I would normally use instead of mozzarella so mine was a little lacking in that pepper jack punch. I would definitely advise using pepper jack if you have some! Mozzarella is my favorite alternative because it’s stringy not so much cause it’s similar in taste at all. You can add more cheddar if you want to skip the pepper jack or mozzarella too.
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Posted by: Maggie Ha
Category: baking, food, mmmm, recipes
Tags: baking, cheese, cooking, food, recipe, recipes, seafood, snacks, spinach
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I was sorta on a pasta kick lately because I was training for the half marathon. I think I take carbo loading a little too seriously. It’s the one time when I have a good excuse to eat lots of pasta, so why not! I’ve been using bucatini a lot lately because a.) I bought quite a few boxes and b.) I love the thickness/strawness! You try to slurp but you can’t cause it’s hallow! Great alternative to spaghetti!
Anyway, this recipe is really quick and pretty healthy. Well, at least I tried to make it really healthy. I only used a little bit of cheese in the pesto. I guess the only thing that’s “bad” is the extra virgin olive oil… which most cultures will say that it’s good for you! Such a quick and simple dish, it’s perfect for dinners during the week. Hope you enjoy it!
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Posted by: Maggie Ha
Category: food, mmmm, recipes
Tags: cooking, food, pasta, recipe, recipes, spinach, vegetarian
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Cinco de Mayo is only a few days away and in honor of the beloved Mexican holiday, I’ve got a great enchilada recipe for you. We had some leftover steak from steak and eggs this morning so I decided to make Vini some steak enchiladas and I made some spinach enchiladas for myself.
If I were in LA, I would have bought my enchilada sauce canned at my local Ralph’s but here in Sydney, I couldn’t even find dried chipotle chilies. So I had to make my own sauce from scratch, sans chipotle. It’s not as smokey without the chipotle but it was still fantastic tasting, so much so that I ate my entire dish!
I added several cloves of roasted garlic to the sauce which made all the difference. I would have made it spicier but Vini says I should practice making things a bit more mild for guests. So on a Maggie scale this would be a Mild but I guess on everyone else’s scale it’s probably at a Medium.
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Posted by: Maggie Ha
Category: baking, food, mmmm, recipes
Tags: cheese, cooking, food, meat, Mexican, recipe, recipes, spinach, vegetarian
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It’s been getting a bit chillier lately so I figured it was time for another soup recipe. I love the vibrant color of this pea and spinach soup! I think I even have a cardigan in that exact color. This week officially starts my get-fit-eat-healthy diet. Okay so it’s not really a diet and I’m sure it’s not going to last long, but it’s Fall and I have nothing better to do. And I figure it gives me an opportunity to work on some healthier recipes! First step, a very flavorful pea and spinach soup!
This recipe yields about 4 servings.
Ingredients:
4 cups of vegetable stock
3 cups of frozen peas (you can use fresh if they’re in season)
1 bunch of spinach, washed and drained
3 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
1 medium yellow onion, finely chopped
3 tablespoons of butter or margarine or extra virgin olive oil
4 sprigs of fresh thyme, leaves only
4 sprigs of fresh thyme, whole
1 teaspoon of chopped tarragon leaves or dried
2 sprigs of fresh tarragon
sea salt
fresh ground pepper
juice of half a lemon (optional)
Step 1: Simmer away!
In a medium pot melt the butter over medium heat. Toss in the chopped garlic and onions and season with fresh ground pepper and a pinch of sea salt. Also throw in the teaspoon of tarragon leaves and thyme leaves. Let that cook for about 5 minutes or until the onions are translucent. Now pour in the 4 cups of vegetable stock and bring to a boil. Using kitchen twine, tie together a few sprigs of fresh thyme and a couple sprigs of tarragon. Toss that into the stock and let that simmer.
Step 2: Peas & spinach!
Once the stock is boiling, pour in the 3 cups of frozen or fresh peas. Cook peas for about 2 - 3 minutes. Now take out the bundle of herbs and add in the spinach. Let the spinach wilt, which is about another 2 -3 minutes and then remove it from the heat.
Step 3: Blend!
Now this part is dangerous if you don’t have a hand held blender. If you have a hand held blender, carefully blend up that entire mixture in your pot. If you’re using a regular blender, split up the soup into 3 or 4 portions to blend. You want to make sure you’re only blending a little at a time and have a small opening for the hot air to escape. You can cover the opening with a towel very loosely so you don’t end up with pea and spinach all over your walls! Add in a tablespoon of water each time you blend to get to the consistency you like. I didn’t add any at all and it was the perfect thickness for me. Once all blended, pour all of it back into that pot and let that simmer on low until you need to serve, stir occasionally.
You can serve this with some yummy crusty bread or a dollop of sour cream or a drizzle of good olive oil. I garnished with mint leaves and the pungent herb went really well with the earthy aromas of the soup. Enjoy!
Posted by: Maggie Ha
Category: food, mmmm, recipes, soups
Tags: cooking, food, peas, recipe, recipes, soup, spinach, vegetables, vegetarian
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I’m not going to lie, it tastes MUCH better with full cream and lots of it. Luckily Ii only had milk which means, yay low fat white sauce! Sorta?
Ingredients:
1/2 lb (8 oz.) of fafalle pasta (you can use any pasta) - cooked al dente (don’t forget the salt in the water!)
2 cups of milk (heavy cream or half and half for the fatty version)
4 springs of fresh thyme
1 french shallot diced fine
3 cloves of garlic
1 tablespoon butter
1/2 cup of grated parmesan cheese
1 bunch of spinach - use the leaves only and wash thoroughly in cold water
extra virgin olive oil
red chili flakes
dried oregano
sea salt
fresh ground black pepper
chili oil to garnish
Step 1: The Spinach
Make sure to wash the spinach leaves thoroughly because there’s lots of sand in spinach. Feel free to buy a bag of baby spinach instead. Bring a pot of water to boil. Blanch the spinach leaves for about 15 seconds and place in ice water. Make sure to put the ice UNDER the colander so you don’t have chunks of ice in your spinach. drain and squeeze out as much water as possible. Use a paper towel to get the remainder out. Roughly chop the cooked, dried spinach and set aside.
Step 2: The Sauce
In a large saucepan, melt the tablespoon of butter. throw in the shallots and saute until translucent - about 3 minutes. Now throw in the garlic, dried oregano, fresh thyme, salt and pepper and some crushed red pepper for another 3 mins but turn the heat to low. By this point you will need to add a small drizzle of olive oil. Let everything simmer for another few minutes and then slowly add in the milk or cream and bring to a simmer. stir often and let that reduce down to about halfway. Now add in the spinach and mix thoroughly to get the sauce in the leaves. And finally fold in the pasta.
Plate and garnish with chili oil, some more freshly grated parm, some fresh cracked pepper - whatever you feel like! I personally like spice so chili oil with chili flakes for me!
Posted by: Maggie Ha
Category: food, mmmm, recipes
Tags: cheese, cooking, food, pasta, recipe, recipes, spinach, vegetables
{1 comment}
For dinner tonight I made a spinach and cheese pie. I actually have been wanting to make this since I had it for lunch at the David Jones foodhall a few days ago. This was nothing like the one I had for lunch… it was better! if I do say so myself
Ingredients:
8 sheets of filo dough (or phyllo dough)
10 oz of spinach, washed and dried (or you can buy frozen!)
3/4 cup of grated parmesan cheese
1/2 cup of feta - cut to tiny 1 cm cubes
1/2 cup of low-fat ricotta cheese
2 medium yellow onions - chopped
2 cloves of garlic - chopped fine
1/4 teaspoon of cumin
1/2 teaspoon of sea salt
fresh ground pepper (you can add as much as you like)
1 tablespoon of butter
2 eggs
2 egg whites
canola spray
preheat oven to 350°F or 170°C
Step 1: The spinach
if you decide to use frozen, defrost the block of spinach in some warm water, strain, squeeze out all the water as much as you can, ring it out like a cloth. use a paper towel to soak up the rest. if you are going from fresh, chop the leaves up roughly. in a low heated saucepan, melt just a tiny bit of butter - just enough to coat the very bottom of the pan and put the leaves on. cook to just wilted and it turns bright green. remove from heat and let it cool. once it’s cool - strain, squeeze and ring to get all the excess water out.
Step 2: The onions & the mix
melt the tablespoon of butter in a saucepan and then throw in the onions and garlic. stir occasionally. remove from heat when the onions are translucent and set aside to cool. now, in a large mixing bowl, mix with a large spoon the following: ricotta, 2 whole eggs, 2 egg whites, parmesan, feta, salt, pepper, and cumin. when the onions have cooled, add that in. when the spinach is drained, throw that in as well. make sure to just mix enough to get everything together.
Step 3: The dough
get your canola spray ready! in a pie dish, spray a thin layer of oil on the naked pan. then place 1 sheet of filo dough on it - don’t worry about the edges we’ll worry about that later. spray another thin later of oil, and place another sheet of filo. do this for 8 sheets of filo dough total. the key is spraying the oil on EACH layer. now trim the edges of your dish with scissors and thats it!
Step 4: Bake Bake Bake
spoon in the cheese-spinach mixture into the filo crusted dish and spread evenly. bake for about 1 hour, until toasty golden brown and the mixture is set. let it cook for about 15-20 mins before cutting and serving. enjoy!!
Posted by: Maggie Ha
Category: baking, food, mmmm, recipes
Tags: baking, cheese, cooking, food, recipe, recipes, spinach, vegetables
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