Jean's no-fuss creamed spinach

Looking for a no-fuss side dish for Thanksgiving? Try my friend Jean's creamed spinach.

This is a staple at her house every year, and when she brought it to my house last Thanksgiving, I got the recipe from her. It was a hit, and I'll be making it for large groups on special occasions in the future.


Jean's creamed spinach (serves 4-6)

8 ounces cream cheese

30 ounces frozen spinach, with 80 percent of water drained out

1 can cream of mushroom soup

Mix ingredients well and bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.



Told you it was easy!

Wild rice & hickory nut salad

I didn't know quite what to do with the hickory nuts that fell in our yard, but our friendly neighbor had mentioned they were very tasty.

I found this Web site devoted to the little nuggets -- which taste like a cross between walnuts and pecans, with a strong hint of maple, I think -- and decided on the following recipe. (I adapted it to my needs.)

Shelling the hickory nuts was the most difficult part of this; they are small and really tucked into their shells, so you'll have to use a nutcracker and pick to get them out. I started with about one-third more nuts than I needed, which was a good thing because about that many were old and shriveled inside! My photos show the nuts I started out with, unshelled, and then the good nuts that remained after shelling.

At first bite, this salad tasted a little strange to me. By the third bite, I thought it was delicious. I know that might sound weird, but some dishes are just like that, aren't they? I happen to love the nutty flavor of brown and wild rice, so that helps. Hopefully, you are a fan of those, too, and will try this interesting side dish out for yourself.

I'm now a big hickory-nut nut! I will be trying out some more dishes with them next year, for sure.

Wild rice & hickory nut salad (makes about 8 servings)

1/2 cup uncooked short-grain brown rice

1/2 cup uncooked wild rice

enough water to cook rice

3/4 cup shelled and chopped hickory nuts

4 green onions, finely chopped

1/2 teaspoon salt, plus more if necessary (that's really up to you)

1/4 teaspoon cracked black pepper

3 tablespoons lemon juice

3 tablespoons olive oil

1 apple, diced (just use your favorite kind)

optional: a handful of golden raisins and/or a pinch of nutmeg or cinnamon (I will try one of these next time)

1.) Cook rice with water in pot or rice cooker, and let cool completely.

2.) Combine rice with other ingredients in large bowl and toss well to coat evenly with dressing.

Dan's Indian pilaf

Sometimes it's so great to have a few days off from cooking -- especially when you're lucky enough to have a husband who knows his way around a kitchen!

As I said in my last post, I had to take a few days off from cooking and doing dishes because of a finger injury. It's just a small cut, but in a place that makes it really painful and impossible to keep away from water while working in the kitchen. So for the past few days, I've been enjoying some down time -- as much as I can get with a 1-year-old -- and Dan has taken over kitchen duties.

Last night, he threw together a delicious rice pilaf for our quick Indian meal (I sang the praises of that fast Indian food in this post about my favorite things). Sorry the photo is so dark!

Dan's Indian pilaf (makes 4 servings)

1/2 cup uncooked brown rice (we had short grain; basmati would be ideal)

1/2 cup uncooked wild rice blend

enough water to cook rice in pot or rice cooker

5 cardamom pods

pinch of saffron

1 teaspoon ground coriander

2 teaspoons sliced almonds, toasted and crushed

1 bay leaf

Combine all ingredients in rice cooker or large pot, stir to mix, and add water. Cook until done, and remove cardamom pods before serving.

A few days off...

I will be taking a few days off from blogging because of a finger injury that makes it hard for me to cook, do dishes, etc. So no blogging for me!

When I return, though, I promise a recipe that uses the tasty hickory nuts in our yard -- a wild rice-hickory nut salad -- and a pumpkin pie using fresh pumpkin, as well as a special creamed spinach recipe (an easy one!) just in time for Thanksgiving.

By the way, in case you've never tried hickory nuts, they taste like a cross between walnuts and pecans, and are a little sweet. I'd never heard of them before this year, and I can't wait to try the recipe out.

Nicole

Crunchy peanut butter balls

These are a delicious sweet treat, and they also are a good snack during a hike (think trail mix). The cereal used should be whole grain, and the peanut butter should be all natural, with no added sugar.

Crunchy peanut butter balls (makes about 4 dozen)

1 cup light corn syrup

1 cup sugar

1 cup peanut butter

6 cups toasted corn & oat cereal (I highly recommend using Annie's Bunny Love)

6 tablespoons powdered sugar

1.) Combine the corn syrup and sugar in a pan over medium-high heat. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly, and boil rapidly for about 2 minutes. Don't stop stirring!

2.) Take off the heat. Whisk in the peanut butter.

3.) Put the cereal in a wide bowl and pour the peanut butter mix over it. Sprinkle the powdered sugar on top. Stir with a wooden spoon. Let cool for about 5-10 minutes. You want it to be warm enough to form into balls, but cool enough to handle.

4.) Form into balls and let them cool completely on wax paper before storing in tupperware.

Optional: Try adding a couple handfuls of raisins with the powdered sugar, or drizzling with melted chocolate before cooling.

Memphis pork supper

I've never made a meal in the crock pot that was almost too big to fit inside, but that was the case with this interesting dish I decide to make. "Too much pork for just one fork," Dan says.

I found this little cookbook in the mall -- at one of those vintage poster shops that pop up around the holidays -- and it's a Family Circle slow cooker cook book, called "Family Circle's Carefree Crockery Cookbook." It's very '70s, not just in how it looks, but in recipes, too, which makes sense because it was published in 1976.

Now, while this recipe is called "Memphis pork supper," there's no fried peanut butter-bacon-banana concoction, or whatever it was that Elvis devoured! It's really an apple-onion-sweet potato-pork mixture, and it's quite good. There was quite a bit of liquid in the crock pot, so I served the pork with a slotted spoon and bread on the side.

Memphis pork supper (serves 8)

3 pounds boneless pork loin, trimmed of fat, cubed

3 pounds of medium-sized sweet potatoes, peeled and quartered

3 medium onions, sliced

4 medium-sized tart red apples, cored and sliced into rings

2 tablespoons brown sugar

2 cups apple juice

2 teaspoons salt

1 teaspoon leaf marjoram, crushed

1/4 teaspoon pepper

chopped fresh parsley (I used the Italian parsley left over from the Sicilian-style grouper)

1.) Trim the fat from the pork and brown it, in a little of that fat a few pieces at a time, in a skillet very quickly. Remove with a slotted spoon and put aside.

2.) Arrange the potatoes around the slow cooker; place the meat in the middle. Top with half of the onion slices and half the apple rings. Sprinkle with sugar. Repeat with a second layer.

3.) Combine apple juice, salt, marjoram, and pepper in a glass measuring cup or bowl. Pour over apple rings.

4.) Cook on low for 8 hours, or on high for 4 hours. Sprinkle with parsley before serving.

Need an idea for leftovers? Try this pork casserole with cornbread crust & mole sauce.

Citrus-roasted snapper

Well, here it is, the final fish dish in the week's worth of dinners. The photo's not much to look at, but this is a good dish if you're in the mood for something mild and low fat that could accompany a wide variety of sides.

I had no idea initially how this would taste because I'd never made it before. Actually, I'd never made any of the fish recipes I've posted here since last Monday. My top pick is the oven-steamed tilapia, but the others all ran a close second.

This one takes the cake for simplicity -- and it's so low-cal (151 calories per serving)! I recommend serving this with a veggie side and some brown rice to soak up the juices. Some recommended sides are listed after the recipe (which, by the way, is from The Wellness Kitchen).

Citrus-roasted snapper (serves 4)

4 red snapper fillets, about 5 ounces each

1 tablespoon fresh lime juice

1 tablespoon fresh orange juice

1/2 teaspoon sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

optional: 2 tablespoons chopped fresh mint

1.) Spray a small baking dish with oil and preheat oven to 425.

2.) Sprinkle the snapper with the lime and orange juices, then with the sugar and salt. Top with mint, if using.

3.) Roast for about 10 minutes. (I cooked a single fillet that was 0.83 pounds for Dan and me, and it took twice that amount of time.) Fish should flake when tested with a fork.

Possible sides:

spiced spinach

corny corn bread (instead of rice)

Scandinavian cucumber salad

Today's food fact: Shrimp is the number-one seafood consumed in the United States.

Today's question: What's your favorite fish/seafood? I don't think I can pick a fave.