Warm Spinach Salad

This salad could make up for some of this weekend's not-so-healthy Super Bowl snacks.

Ingredients

2 TB olive oil

1 TB maple syrup or brown sugar

1 bunch spinach with stems removed, rinsed and drained (but not completely dry)

2 med. shallots, peeled & sliced thin

3 cloves garlic, peeled & sliced thin

1/2 large apple, diced

1/8 c. raisins

1/8 c. sliced almonds

Heat oil over medium heat in large skillet or wide-bottom pan. Add shallots and cook until translucent. Reduce heat to medium-low and add garlic, apple and maple syrup or brown sugar. Cook until beginning to caramelize, stirring occasionally, 10-15 minutes. Return to medium heat, add raisins and cook for a few more minutes, stirring more frequently. When onions and garlic are all golden brown with some good caramelized spots, toss in spinach and cover. Cook just until spinach begins to wilt; 2-3 minutes. Uncover and stir for less than a minute. Remove from heat and transfer to serving bowl, leaving behind as much of the liquid as possible. Top with sliced almonds. Serve immediately.

We ate ours with pecan-crusted tilapia. Going to work on the recipe some more before I'm happy enough with it to post here, but it was pretty good:

Lastly, just in case you care, here are two of my favorite kitchen items that came in handy for this salad:

The Cuisinart 12" Everyday Pan, which we recently receive for Josh's birthday ;). I love this thing. Still true to my old cast-iron, but this is quite a bit roomier, and definitely easier to clean.

And the collapsable over-the-sink colander for rinsing greens. Nice and deep, so I can rinse a lot of greens without tossing any overboard.

Sweet & Creamy Parsnip Soup

A very satisfying mid-winter soup. Even if it is feeling a lot more like spring, around here! Not too sweet, and a little bit spicy from a healthy dose of black pepper, plus the natural bite of parsnips. It doesn't taste too cheesy, either. The gruyere adds a depth of flavor, and of course creaminess, that I definitely wouldn't want to do without. All of the flavors manage to play nice, without any one taking over.

Ingredients

2 TB olive oil

1 TB unsalted butter

1 TB maple syrup

1 med. yellow onion, chopped

2 med. carrots, chopped

2 celery stalks, trimmed & chopped

1 sweet apple, peeled, cored & chopped

1 TB fresh rosemary, minced

1 lb parsnips, peeled and chopped

1 med. yukon gold potato, peeled and chopped

4 c. vegetable broth

1/4 tsp black pepper

few gratings fresh nutmeg

big pinch sea salt

1/2 c. grated gruyere cheese, plus extra for topping

chopped parsley for topping

Heat olive oil and butter over medium heat. Add onion, carrots, celery, sweet apple and rosemary. Add maple syrup. Saute until onion is translucent, about 8 minutes.

Add parsnips and potato, stir. Add veggie broth and spices. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to simmer and cook 35 minutes or until parsnips and potatoes are soft and pierce easily.

Remove from heat and blend until completely smooth, either with immersion blender or in batches in regular blender. 

Stir in grated gruyere until melted.

Serve with chopped parsley and extra cheese.

P.S. If you live around here and are enjoying these mid 60's temperatures like us, (and if you're still reading!) I must suggest a trip to Huntley Meadows. I'd never been in the winter before, and it was still very beautiful, and very full of birds and beaver dams and adventures of all kinds (few frogs and snakes, though). I LOVE this great big wildlife sanctuary in the middle of Alexandria.

A well-maintained boardwalk takes you all around the wetland.

Our friend spotted a beaver dam!

The trails continue in the woods. A winter walk was especially fun with Ingrid and a friend because they got to run pretty far ahead, and I could still see them (plus, our friend brought walkie-talkies!)

Homemade Vegetable Stock

I love making my own stock. I love chopping up an entire leek and an entire fennel bulb with greens attached and just tossing it in a pot. I love not peeling the onion. I love having just that much more control over the subtle flavors of a special soup.

This is a basic vegetable stock recipe. You can and should use what you have lying around, begging to be used. Celery a little wimpy? Forgot to use that bunch of parsley you bought last week? Toss it in. Organic veggies mean you don't need to worry about peeling. As Ingrid, my almost-7-year-old would say, "Easy Peasy lemon squeezy."

Try making your own stock, I know you'll love it.

Ingredients

2 TB olive oil

8 peppercorns

1/8 tsp cardamom seeds, crushed (use side of chef's knife)

10 fennel seeds

1/2 tsp dried rosemary

few gratings fresh nutmeg

4 garlic cloves, crushed

1 med yellow onion, chopped (no need to remove skin)

2 med carrots, chopped

3 whole celery stalks, chopped (including leaves)

1 fennel bulb, chopped (greens, too)

1 bunch parsley, chopped (reserving 1/2 c. for soup garnish)

1 entire leek, chopped

Heat olive oil in large stock pot. Add peppercorns, cardamom, fennel seeds, rosemary and nutmeg. Saute until fragrant, about 1 minute.

Add garlic, onions, carrots and celery. Saute until onions are translucent, about 8 minutes.

Add fennel, parsley and leek. Stir and sauté until coated in oil and leaves have wilted some, about 2 minutes. 

Add 8 cups filtered water. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low and simmer, partially covered 30-45 minutes. Remove from heat, cover and let sit for several hours, or overnight in the refrigerator, to allow flavors to fully develop. 

When ready to use, strain through a colander, then a fine mesh sieve. Keeps refrigerated for up to 2 weeks, or freeze. During times when we were really into making stocks, we'd measure out 2 cups servings into ziplock baggies and stack them in the freezer. Ice cube trays work well, too.