Spinach and Pea Spaghetti with Lightened Spring ‘Roux’

SPINACH AND PEA SPAGHETTI WITH LIGHTENED SPRING 'ROUX'

16oz spaghetti

1 lb bag frozen peas

40oz fresh spinach

1 recipe of  Lightened Spring 'Roux'
Fresh grated Parmesan

Cook spaghetti according to package directions.

Wilt spinach in the microwave; place spinach in a microwave-able bowl and cover tightly. Cook four minutes and stir, adding spinach until all is wilted.

Place frozen peas in colander. Drain pasta when done over frozen peas.

Place spinach, pasta, and peas back in the pasta pot. Stir Lightened Spring Roux in to pasta mixture.

Serve topped with fresh Parmesan.

Servings: 7
Calories per serving: 310

Basic Quinoa

So. QUINOA. Quinoa gets a terrible rap for being this faddish Gluten Free food. And it is true I probably wouldn’t have tried it if I wasn’t gluten free - but I never did grits before I went gluten free either, and live right down in grits county, North Carolina in the U.S. of A.!

You need to give quinoa a chance. I buy it in bulk at Sams, now, as you can see - eat it instead of rice with dinners. 

I've put up a post (copied and pasted shamelessly here) on how to make quinoa in the Instapot. https://myashleyetc.blogspot.com/2019/09/instapot-quinoa.html

I'm going to show you how to make quinoa salad in a couple weeks, so I wanted to put how to make your basic quinoa if you don't have an Instapot. It turns out just fine on the stove, that's the way I did it for years. The only thing is - you have to keep an eye on it, because once it boils, it boils over QUICK.

BASIC QUINOA

2 cups quinoa
3 cups water or broth

Put two cups of quinoa in three cups water or broth in a saucepan over high heat. Heat to boiling. When quinoa starts boiling, reduce heat to low and cover. Cook for 20 minutes on low. Let sit five minutes, covered, then fluff with a fork before serving.

Ashley’s Favorite Sauces: Blender Hollandaise

A hollandaise is the traditional sauce for Eggs Benedict, which is what I’m using it for this week! It’s also great on vegetables: I love it on roasted asparagus or wilted spinach too.

Eggs Benedict is tricky when you’re gluten free. Usually an Eggs Benedict is poached eggs on top of ham or Canadian bacon, on a split English muffin, covered with hollandaise. I haven’t met a gluten free English muffin I’ve liked yet! 

I do my Eggs Benedict on top of roasted asparagus (break the woody ends off, break the rest into bite-sized pieces, wrap in foil, and put in the oven on top of a baking sheet for 12-15 minutes at 375) or on top of hashbrowns, which is what I’m using today.

Anyway, now that I’ve set off my smoke alarms cooking my hashbrowns- don’t let your cast iron get too hot! that’s what I did there! -I’m ready to put my sauce together.

BLENDER HOLLANDAISE

1 cup butter

3 large egg yolks

2 T lemon juice

1 T hot water

1/2 t salt

2 T finely chopped fresh tarragon (optional, but great if you’ve got it)

Melt butter in the microwave in a small bowl. Skim and discard any foam. Pour butter into a measuring cup, leaving white solids behind.

Place yolks, lemon juice, hot water, and salt in a blender or food processor. Immediately whirl on High one minute.

If butter is not hot, reheat. While motor is running, slowly pour butter through hole in lid. Whirl until thickened, about one minute. Stir in tarragon. Whisk just before serving.

Ashley’s Favorite Sauces: Quick and Easy Cheese Sauce

This one tiptops the list of easy sauces; all done in a glass measure (my mother’s standard is a two-cup, my favorite is my four-cup) in just a couple minutes in the microwave.

Ready to cover brococli or cauliflower for your picky eaters in no time FLAT!

I’m using it for macaroni and cheese today, which is a lot more usual in my household. I double the recipe I’m writing down below for a full pound of pasta. Double the quantities, that is! Do NOT double your cooking times or you will have a MESS in your microwave, no matter how large your cup-measure. 😊

BASIC CHEESE SAUCE

1 cup milk

2 T margarine or butter

2 T flour 

1/2 C shredded cheddar cheese 

*NOTE on the flour for us gluten-free-ers: nut flours do NOT work to thicken sauces. I love almond flour myself, but it won’t work here. You need a starch-based flour to thicken. I am using white rice flour today.

Heat milk in the microwave for 2 minutes on Power 7. Set aside.

In 2 cup glass measure, melt butter 45 seconds. Stir in flour; microwave one minute. Whisk in warm milk until no lumps remain. Microwave on High 3-4 minutes or until boiling, stirring once during cooking.

Stir in cheese until melted. Let stand several minutes before serving (it should thicken while standing).

—————————

Edited.

Your gluten free flours are touchy, celiacs and gluten-intolerant-ers. 

My rice-flour thickened my sauce to wallpaper-paste consistency while standing, sure enough. It’s happened before. I’ve never figured out why it does sometimes, because other times it does great: they’re TOUCHY, best word I can come up with.

So, just in case? I’m editing to tell you how to fix some common GF flour problems.

To thin down a cheese sauce that’s too thick: get out some more milk and your whisk. Whisk extra milk in, a little at a time, until it’s where you need it.

To thicken a cheese sauce that hasn’t: more cheese is the tastiest solution. Whisk in more shredded cheese and stick back in the microwave for a bit to melt it.

A tablespoon or so of cornstarch, stirred into a quarter cup of milk, and then whisked into your sauce  will do it too. Heat to boiling after whisking in.

Teriyaki Chicken and Broccoli Stir Fry

Stir fries are awesome if you’re trying to cut calories: just skip the rice and you can eat a whole pile of dinner that’ll satisfy YOU and any diet you can name!

Load them up with any veggies you care to name. 😊 Stir fry meats are almost always lean meats: chicken breasts, beef, or boneless pork chops all work well cut into stir fry strips.

You can use a skillet, but really a good wok is a MUST if you’re going to be stir frying often. I personally like the IKEA woks; my parents picked me up a new one at IKEA today, because I’ve used my current one so much the non-stick coating is coming off. $9.99: spending a bundle is not required to add a wok to your kitchen!

CHICKEN AND BROCCOLI TERIYAKI 

1 lb chicken breast, cut into stir fry strips

6 cups broccoli florets

Teriyaki sauce

https://myashleyetc.blogspot.com/?m=1

1/4 cup sliced scallions

2 T sesame seeds

Coat a wok with pan spray. Cook chicken over high heat until no longer pink. Add broccoli; stir until bright green and tender crisp.

Add teriyaki sauce. Cook over high heat until thickened and chicken and broccoli are glazed, about two minutes. Stir in sesame seeds.

Serve over rice; garnish with scallions.

Ashley’s Favorite Sauces: Teriyaki

Another favorite sauce this week: a Teriyaki, for you gluten-free-ers! 

I know most of you can just go buy a bottle of teriyaki, but keep in mind, some of us can’t. And this is better and healthier for you anyway! 

If you need it GF, make sure you are using GF soy sauce!! Tamari is usually the easiest brand to find, around here.

I’ll put up a post on a stir-fry I am using this teriyaki in. Chicken and broccoli teriyaki, but keep in mine you could do any stir-fry with it, or use it as a marinade too.

TERIYAKI SAUCE 

1/4 C Tamari soy sauce

2 T pineapple juice

1 1/2 T honey

1 T rice vinegar 

1 T grated garlic

1 t cornstarch 

1 t grated fresh ginger

Mix together in a smal bowl; whisk until smooth.

Ways to Use That Marinara!

Suggestions on what to do with that huge batch of Marinara you just made!

PARMA ROSA

I dearly love a Parma Rosa sauce, probably more than the marinara alone. I’m tossing this Parma Rosa over fresh steamed spinach, a grilled chicken breast, and brown rice pasta (Tinkanyada).

Use:

A cup of the Basic Marinara

Half a cup Fat Free Half and Half

And half a cup Parmesan. 

*The Parmesan: I use dried or fresh, whichever I’ve got on hand. Today the dried is going in the sauce and it’ll be topped with fresh when I eat it.

STUFFED SHELLS

You know those great big pasta shells? Cook your shells; make a filling out of ricotta cheese, egg, shredded mozzarella, shredded fresh Parmesan, thawed chopped frozen spinach (squeeze the water out), and parsley. Stuff your cooked shells with that, line them up in a casserole dish, and pour marinara over all.

BAKED MOZZARELLA

I love it as an appetizer, either as a dipping sauce for cheese sticks, or poured over slices of fresh mozzarella and baked.

PIZZA SAUCE

Enough said, there. Excellent pizza sauce, tops anything that comes out of a jar!

If you want to try it on my cauliflower crust gluten free pizza, I’m going to try and attach the link:

https://myashleyetc.blogspot.com/2019/12/cauliflower-gluten-free-pizza-crust.html?m=1

LASAGNA OR ZITI

Use it in your favorite lasagna or baked ziti recipe.

THOSE suggestions I have all tried and loved! Here are a couple others from my favorite Cooking Light:

https://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/chicken-pasta-chickpea-stew

https://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/swordfish-with-lemony-red-sauce

https://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/shrimp-fra-diavolo-1

And an addition from a friend, an Eating Well recipe this time!

http://www.eatingwell.com/recipe/255176/meatball-creamed-spinach-skillet/