Spinach Recipe No. 2: Enchiladas

As you may have just read in the blog post titled "Spinach Recipe No. 1: Strata," I recently had an abundance of spinach from our CSA box. The first recipe I made from about half the spinach and arugula was a strata. Here is the second.

Spinach, Pork and Swiss Cheese Enchiladas

Like with the strata recipe, I just made up this recipe as I went, so please forgive the lack of true measurements!

• 1 lb. ground pork
• 1/2-1 yellow onion, diced
• 1 jalapeno, diced
• 2 cups spinach and arugula, chopped
• 1 cup or so shredded Swiss cheese
• 1 can enchilada sauce, any time (I used a mild red sauce)
• 8 small corn tortillas 
• Spices: salt, pepper, chili powder, cumin, coriander

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Spray 9x13 pan with cooking spray.

In a skillet, saute pork, onion, jalapeno and a shakes of each of the spices (to taste) until pork is cooked through. In another skillet, saute spinach and arugula in a skillet with a bit of water (you could probably cook the spinach withe pork, but for some reason I didn't). Mix the spinach in with pork.

Lay out all tortillas and scoop a hefty amount of pork mixture onto each tortilla. Top with cheese. Roll each one tightly (easier said than done) and lay in pan with seam side down. After all tortillas are rolled, pour can of sauce on top and top with additional cheese, if there is any left.

  

Bake for about 30 minutes or until sauce is bubbly. Broil on high for about 5 minutes. Enjoy with some black beans on the side!

Spinach Recipe No. 1: Strata

If you follow my blog on Facebook, you know I recently received a ton of spinach from the last two CSA boxes. I went back and forth with recipes and ideas, trying to figure out what to do with all of it. I finally settled on separate dishes. Here's the first of the two.

Spinach, Mushroom and Green Onion Strata with Swiss Cheese

I originally thought of doing a quiche, then wanted to go with a lighter dish with a frittata. But then, remembering to the leftover Italian bread from Sciortino's bakery. So I settled on a strata, which is similar to a frittata, but on top of and soaked into bread. What's great about a strata is that you can pretty much put in it whatever you want and make it up as you go -- which is exactly what I did.

I apologize for my lack of exact measurements, but it'd be hard to screw up this dish, no matter what you do!

• Enough slices of French or Italian bread to cover the bottom of your baking dish (I used a 9x9 dish)
• about 2 cups packed spinach and arugula, chopped 
• about 1.5 cups mushrooms, chopped
• bunch of green onions, sliced
• 5 eggs
• 1 cup milk (I used 2% to make it a little creamier) 
• about 2 Tbs. sundried tomato spread (not all that necessary, but if you have a bit in the fridge like I did, it's a good way to use it up!)
• about 1 cup shredded Swiss cheese
• about 1/4 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
• spices: salt, pepper, seasoned salt, garlic powder, smoked paprika
• a dollop of olive oil

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Coat bottom of 9x9 pan with cooking spray. Line bottom of dish with bread and top bread with sundried tomato spread.

Saute spinach and arugula until it wilts with a bit of water and a few shakes of salt, pepper and garlic powder. Add mushrooms and green onions with a bit of olive oil, cooking until soft.

In a large bowl, beat eggs, milk and a few shakes of all spices.

Spread the vegetable mixture on top of the bread. Cover with Swiss cheese. Pour egg mixture on top. Finally, top with Parmesan cheese.

Bake uncovered for about 45 minutes, or until knife inserted into middle comes out clean.

Like most of the food we eat, we topped the strata with a bit of hot sauce. Delicious! 

Pad Puk Gai

Otherwise known as chicken with bok choy. We got an abundance of bok choy with our CSA box late last week and wanted to use it sooner than later.

Using an app on his phone, Nate found a recipe, which was easy enough and sounded tasty. The Thai-inspired recipe used up all of our bok choy and included lots of other fresh veggies. We paired it with some leftover soba noodles we had in the freezer.

We followed the recipe pretty closely, but made a few substitutions including making a sauce because other than 1/4 teaspoon of fish sauce, there wasn't anything saucey about it. And we like sauce!

I definitely recommend this recipe and it's easy enough to make it to your taste.

,

Pad Puk Gai (Chicken with Bok Choy)

• 4 cups (or one huge bunch) bok choy, chopped
• 1 large chicken breast, cut into cubes
• 4 Tbs. olive oil
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1/4 teas. fish sauce
• 1 small container mushrooms, sliced
• 1 medium onion, sliced
• 1 red bell pepper, cute into big cubes
• 2-3 green onions, sliced
• (we omitted the celery and MSG the recipe calls for)
• For the sauce: a couple shakes (to taste) of soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, hoisin sauce, Sriracha)

In wok, heat oil until hot. Cook chicken and garlic until done (about 5-6 minutes)

Add onions and fish sauce and cook about another five minutes.

Add the remaining ingredients and cook until veggies are tender.

Whisk together sauce ingredients and pour over veggies. Add noodles, stir and cook until warm.

Serve with more Sriracha!

My CSA Pick for 2012

As you've been reading for the past few months, you know I'm participating as one of three local bloggers who are writing about CSA experiences this year. Nate and I attended the Local Farmer Open House back in March, which helped us choose our pick for a CSA this year.

After talking with numerous CSA farmers about their programs, we decided to go with the CSA farm we had two years ago: Tipi Produce. We went with Tipi because we knew what we were getting into, and we knew we liked everything they offered!

We like that it's a long share -- 26 weeks -- it's a good price, it's organic and the pick-up location is a mere two or so miles from our house. The food was always fresh and each box seemed to include something we weren't familiar with, which was exciting. Also, the weekly emails from Beth, who runs Tipi with her husband Steve, were always a pleasure to read. Each issue includes farm news, items that are coming up in the next box and recipes using items in the box.

We'll again be splitting it with another couple, and it will be fun to see what recipes and meals they come up with, using the same ingredients.

We pick up our first share this week, so stay tuned for more posts about the CSA share, the produce we receive and the meals we make!

In the mean time, check out some meals we made from our 2010 share:

• Spicy beef and bell pepper stir fry
• Pork chops with rhubarb chutney
• Stir fry goodness
• Salsa and tomato basil soup
• Chicken fajitas