westyn – Page 11 – And What I Ate

Spinach and Feta Turkey Meatballs

Meatballs top the list of my favorite foods, especially when they’re over pasta. My mom’s meatballs are completely amazing, so I’ve never tried to duplicate them, but I’ve got to start somewhere. I put these together based on a recipe for my Greek Turkey Meatloaf, and ended up with a lighter, brighter, Greek-er (is that a word? Anyway.) version of a traditional meatball. They were fantastic. I’m seriously convinced that a combo of spinach and feta makes just about everything better.

– 1.5 lbs ground turkey
– 1 package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained pretty well
– 1/2 tbsp chopped dill
– Squeeze of lemon – this sounds weird, but just trust me.
– 1/2 C crumbled feta
– 1/3 panko bread crumbs
– 1 egg
– Salt & pepper

1. Preheat oven to 400 and lightly grease a baking tray.

2. In a large bowl, combine turkey, feta, spinach, egg, dill, lemon, salt & pepper. Dig your hands in and just mix it up – it’s kind of gross and satisfying all at once.

3. Form turkey meatballs into approximately golfball sizes, place on the tray.

4. Bake for 12 minutes, then flip and bake for 12 minutes more until they gain a little color and are fully cooked through. I put these on top of a mediterranean quinoa and topped them with Tzatziki sauce, and we housed them. Fantastic.

Tzatziki Sauce

The best part about this sauce is this: it is way easier to make than to spell.

With that, the greatest Tzatziki (dammit. every time.) sauce for anything that needs a lemony, cucumber-y, garlic-y kick to it. I used this on top of spinach and feta turkey meatballs and a mediterranean quinoa, and it was perfect.

TZATZIKI SAUCE (makes about 1.5 cups)
– 1/4 english cucumber, peeled and coarsely grated
– 1 container plain Greek yogurt (the one I used was almost 6 oz.)
– 1 tsp. fresh chopped dill
– Juice of 1 lemon
– 2 cloves garlic, grated
– a little salt & pepper

1. This is tough. Ready?

2. Combine everything. Taste, season, chill & enjoy.

Father’s Day

Everybody who’s ever met my dad knows how much he loves a story. He’s the greatest story-teller ever – seriously, ever – and despite having gone and kissed the Blarney Stone myself, I will never be able to deliver a punchline like he does. It’s a gift and I love nothing more than hanging out with him, enjoying cocktails and listening to his stories. But sometimes he needs a little material, and so this Father’s Day, Colly and I woke up really early (really early), made his favorite mini potato pancakes and a “#1 Dad” sign and surprised him on the 9th green at Fox Hill. He got to rave about his daughters surprising him, share the mini potato pancakes with his buddies, and drive around with that sign in his golf bag for the rest of the day. Oh, and then Collyn and I got back in the will (whew). Later on he came home to my mom’s famous meatloaf and a gorgeous little dinner outside with his family. Today was a good day. Happy Father’s Day Dad, we love you!

Grilled Romaine with Smoked Blue Cheese and Balsamic Reduction

The lovely Jonelle hosted us for dinner last week, and it everything was so delicious. From the pretty apps to the unbelievable gin & earl grey tea cocktail she made, to the london broil & grilled romaine…we had so much fun we decided to make it a monthly thing with all of us rotating as hostess. Anyway, I’d never even heard of grilled romaine, but this was incredible. If I had even the slightest clue how to work a grill myself, I’d be making this all the time.

GRILLED ROMAINE WITH SMOKED BLUE CHEESE AND BALSAMIC REDUCTION (makes 6)

– 6 Romaine Hearts

– 1/4 C. smoked blue cheese (or gorgonzola)

– Balsamic reduction (makes sure it’s a reduction, not balsamic vinegar), drizzled

– A blend of EVOO, a little salt & pepper, and some oregano

1. Um, I guess, fire up the grill?

2. Brush the washed romaine hearts with the EVOO/salt & pepper/oregano mix.

3. Grill the romaine hearts pretty quickly, about 2 minutes on each side. You want them to have grill marks but not get burned.

4. Crumble the smoked blue cheese (or gorgonzola) over the try of romaine, then drizzle the balsamic reduction in a nice little pattern. Serve & enjoy. My girlfriends have got skillz.

The hostess at work!

Breakfast Bake: Spinach, Feta and Caramelized Onion

I really love breakfast bakes – they’re so easy to make, you can throw it together in 15 minutes and have a reheatable breakfast for almost the rest of the week, and they’re so versatile, too. In this past I’ve made a baby kale & feta bake and one with leeks, smoked salmon, cheddar & cream cheese, but this one is more of a Greek flavor…spinach, feta, onions and a little dill. It was fantastic.

BREAKFAST BAKE: SPINACH, FETA AND CARAMELIZED ONION (makes 8 slices)
– 8 oz. spinach
– 1/2 a vidalia onion, sliced into thin moons
– 1 tsp. chopped dill (optional)
– salt & pepper
– 10 eggs (6 whites and 4 whole eggs)
– 1/3 C. milk
– 1 tbsp. butter
– 1 tbsp. EVOO
– 1/3 c feta
– 1 tsp. herbamare or 1/2 tsp. salt & 1/2 tsp. pepper

1. Preheat oven to 375.

2. Grease pan lightly with dab of EVOO.

3. Melt butter over medium low and saute onions until translucent, then beginning to pick up some rich color.

4. Remove from heat and add spinach, stir until wilted.

5. Add dill (optional) and herbamare or salt/pepper.

6. Make the first layer a mix of spinach & onions.

7. Add crumbled feta for the second layer.

8. Beat the eggs, milk & a little more salt/pepper, then add to the top of the spinach/onion/feta layers. Use a fork to kind of stick the eggs down into the mix so they get covered.

9. Bake, uncovered, for 30-35 minutes, or until a knife can be interested cleanly. Don’t open the oven to check on this until you’re almost positive it’s ready, or it’ll fall!

10. Let stand uncovered for at least 5 minutes before serving. Cut into squares or slices and enjoy.

Tortellini and Basil Shrimp in a Lemon-White Wine Sauce

So, let’s say you go to the grocery store and shop for the week, then get to the checkout aisle and only after the checkout girl starts ringing you up, realize that you’ve forgotten your wallet back at the office, and have to leave everything there. Then, let’s say you go back home and wing a recipe by putting cheese tortellini, lemon, shrimp and basil together, make a lemon-white wine sauce with a little butter and parmesan, then sit down for a really delicious meal that’ll knock your socks off and only leave you with one pot to clean. Who needs a wallet anyway. It’s Monday. This is a great recipe to start the week.

ONE-POT TORTELLINI AND BASIL SHRIMP IN A LEMON-WHITE WINE SAUCE (serves 3-4 as a side; 1-2 as a main)
– 1 lb. shrimp, frozed, uncooked, peeled & deveined, tails off
– 1 12-oz. bag of frozen tortellini
– zest of 1 lemon
– juice of 2 lemons (divided)
– 2 tbsp. butter
– 1 tbsp. EVOO
– 4 cloves garlic, chopped
– Bunch of fresh basil, chiffonaded
– 1/3 grated parm (use same microplane you used to zest the lemon)
– 1/4 c white wine

1. Cook tortellini in salted water in a french oven (I would cook absolutely everything in this), set aside.

2. In the pot that you used to cook the tortellini, melt butter, add EVOO & simmer with the lemon zest on low for 5 minutes.

3. Add chopped garlic and shrimp, cook until pink (2-3 mins).

4. To this mix, add juice of 1.5 lemons, and 1/4 c white wine, then let infuse for another 2 minutes on low.

5. I removed the shrimp at this point and put them on a plate to rest, so they didn’t overcook, then cooked down the wine/lemon/butter/garlic sauce a little bit. When the shrimp cooled, I chopped it up into bite-size pieces.

6. When sauce is mildly reduced and the alcohol has burned off the wine, add the shrimp & the juice collected on the plate, tortellini (dry – don’t add EVOO or anything, or it won’t stick!), parm, basil, and give everything a big stir.

7. Remove from heat, cover, let sit to warm up the tortellini and shrimp again (get a salad ready or something – we had it with a green salad topped with my favorite avocado-cilantro dressing).

8. Right before serving, put a little slice of butter in, along with half a lemon, juiced, and a little more grated parm. Taste and adjust seasonings, and enjoy.

Grapefruit-Basil Vodka Gimlet

This is what happens when you make things with what you already have in your fridge/freezer. Grapefruit? Check. A huge pot of basil? Check. Vodka? Check, obvs. Also limes, which have thankgodfully stopped selling for $1 apiece. This was seriously delicious, and refreshing, and had the added bonus of allowing me to trick myself into thinking that I was detoxing, because everybody knows that grapefruit is clearly a diet food.

GRAPEFRUIT-BASIL VODKA GIMLET (makes 1 smallish mason jar full)

– 2 shots vodka

– 1/2 a ruby red grapefruit, juiced

– Couple of basil leaves, chiffonaded

– Juice of 1/2 a lime

– Splash or two of tonic water

– Ice

1. In a mason jar, add ice, then vodka.

2. Squeeze half a ruby red grapefruit into the glass, then use a citrus reamer to get the rest of the juice.

3. Juice the lime and add the tonic water.

4. Chiffonade some fresh basil, then stir. Taste and adjust as needed. Oh – hello, summer.

World’s Greatest French Toast

For years I thought that French Toast was my least favorite breakfast food (sorry Mom). But then my sister invited me over for brunch and made this sensational French Toast, and it changed my opinion completely. I think, like with most simple recipes, the difference comes from really good quality basic ingredients. Collyn brought me home some ridiculous bread from Penn State on one of her work trips, so I used that, and then milk and eggs from Hillside, this really great vanilla, etc. It ends up being sort of a custardy, breakfast-y French Toast/Bread Pudding, which is obviously the best dessert of all time. I would wake up early to make this, and for how much I love sleep, that’s saying a lot.

WORLD’S GREATEST FRENCH TOAST (makes enough for 4 lucky breakfast guests)
– 1/2 a loaf of really good bread, sliced thick.
– 1 tbsp. vanilla
– 1 tsp. ground cinnamon
– 1/2 tbsp. ground nutmeg
– 1/2 tsp. ground ginger
– Pinch of Kosher salt
– 1 cup milk
– 1 cup heavy cream
– 3 eggs
– Approx. 4 tbsp. butter

1. In a pretty big bowl, beat the eggs.

2. Add the milk & cream, then the vanilla. Then add the cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and a pinch of salt.

3. Whisk this mixture well. Soak the bread slices in this mixture as you melt the butter.

4. In the largest skillet you have, melt the butter over medium low heat. Here’s the secret – ready? You have to cook these really, really slowly. The french toast should kind of swim in a little pool of custardy deliciousness, slowly forming a golden crust, over maybe 10-15 minutes in total (flip 2-3 times during this process).

5. When French Toast is ready, keep warm in the oven on low heat while you make the other batch.

6. Serve with maple syrup and enjoy. Even Brendan couldn’t eat more than 3 pieces, he was so full. Finally that 24 year old metabolism has met its match!!!

Four-Layer Mediterranean Dip

Last summer my friends and kids spent almost every weekend at Regina’s pool. Everyone would bring something, we’d have a couple cases of juice boxes (for the kids) and coronas (for the adults) and would just swim and eat and hang out. It was one of the best summers I’ve had in a long time…the little things, I know. My friend Adrienne would make this dip almost every weekend, and we’d devour it. It’s hummus, lemon-flavored greek yogurt, feta and then a blend of english cucumbers, red bell peppers, olives, tomatoes and scallions. You eat it with Carr’s water crackers and IT IS THE BOMB. Ohhhh I’m so excited for pool season to start!!

FOUR-LAYER MEDITERRANEAN DIP (very slightly adapted from House Tweaking)
– 8 oz. plain hummus
– 1 tbsp. dill
– 2 tbsp. lemon juice, divided
– 1 regular size container plain Greek yogurt
– 1/2 tsp. pepper
– 1/3 english cucumber, chopped
– 1/2 small tomato, chopped
– 1/4 red bell pepper, chopped
– 1 scallion stalk, sliced thin (both whites and greens)
– 1/4 c. kalamata olives, chopped
– 1/2 c. crumbled feta

1. Add 1 tbsp. lemon juice and the dill to the hummus, mix well. Spread in 1 layer in a pie pan (clear is best since you can see the layers when it’s finished, but if you don’t have one, no worries).

2. Add the other tbsp. lemon juice and the pepper to the greek yogurt, mix well. Spread that in a thin layer on top of the hummus.

3. Crumble the feta in an even layer over the lemon greek yogurt mixture.

4. Add the english cucumber, tomato, bell pepper, scallions and kalamata olives (make sure these are all chopped in pretty much the same smallish size) over the top of the feta.

5. Serve with Carr’s Water Crackers and feel like Houdini as you watch this disappear.

— On another note, if Memorial Day Weekend was any indication of how this summer’s going to go, it’s going to be awesome.

Modest Mouse at Ommegang – it poured but we had a blast

An unbelievable meal at the Red Caboose in Oneonta

“I’m always red.”

Brendan’s first Phillies game!! (He’s from Colorado)

Ommegang

Otesaga Hotel – so so gorgeous

Cucumber Roll-Ups stuffed with Avocado-Feta Mousse

My parents had a little dinner party at their house, and we all kind of went overboard with our contributions. I made these cucumber roll-ups and those pear, prosciutto & honeyed goat cheese apps, my dad made his incomparable filet mignon with merlot reduction sauce, and my sister made this insane blackberry, lime & olive oil cake. And my mom just made everything look beautiful, as always. Anyway, these are super simple, really delicious and healthy too! Brendan helped me make them and he was all, “they’re like little cucumber burritos!” which…yup, I can see it. You can use just about anything as a filler, but you know how I looooves me some avocado & feta.

CUCUMBER ROLL-UPS STUFFED WITH AVOCADO-FETA MOUSSE (makes enough for 8 people as apps but only if you have a bunch of other little delicious apps, too)
– 1 english cucumber, washed, skin on
– 1 avocado
– 1/3 c. feta
– 1 tbsp. dill
– juice of 1/2 a lemon

1. Make the avocado-feta mousse. Dice the avocado, then mash it well. Combine with the dill, lemon & feta. Taste, then adjust seasonings as needed.

2. With a vegetable peeler or a mandoline (I can’t use these, they truly truly freak me out), shave the cucumber into very thin slices.

3. Take a small spoonful of the avocado-feta mousse and spread it over each slice of the cucumber. Roll and either secure with a toothpick, or leave as is.