Spinach Artichoke Balls - Great Party Food

This past weekend I had the honor and pleasure of providing some munchies for some lovely ladies in the Krewe of Juno.  When we were discussing the menu, I mentioned I had come across an interesting recipe for Spinach Artichoke Balls and we decided to give those a whirl.  Well, let me tell you - these little guys are fantastic and make for great party food.  Literally, when I tried one when they came out of the oven with the dipping sauce - it tasted just like spinach artichoke dip.

I altered the recipe a bit from the one that came in my Food Republic email. I can't stand mayo and I wanted to make the dipping sauce healthier so substituted out mayo for greek yogurt and low fat sour cream.  To make the balls healthier - I think you could definitely use Smart Balance to replace some of the butter, use egg whites, and whole wheat breadcrumbs to make the balls a bit on the healthier side.  I will definitely make these again and am thinking you could add some crumbled bacon to the balls or substitute out some of the parm for feta to mix it up a bit.  As the for the dipping sauce, I love the dill, but think other herbs could be used as well.  Great recipe for those of you with upcoming Super Bowl parties!

 Spinach Artichoke Balls

1 1-pound package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and chopped finely

1/2 package frozen artichokes, thawed and chopped finely (9 oz)

5 eggs

1 large onion, minced

4 tablespoons butter, melted and cooled

1 1/2 cups Parmesan cheese, grated

2 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 teaspoon Cayenne powder

2 cups Italian-style breadcrumbs

Dill Sauce

1 cup greek yogurt

1 cup light sour cream

1/4 cup dill, chopped

2 scallions, chopped

Squeeze of lemon juice

salt and pepper to taste

Directions: 

1. Combine all sauce ingredients together in a bowl, cover and refrigerate.
2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
3. Squeeze excess water from spinach and put in a large mixing bowl.
4. Add remaining ingredients and mix well by hand. Form mixture into 1 ½” balls either by hand or with a small ice cream scoop. Roll them between the palms of your hand to get a uniform smooth finish. 
5. Place balls on a parchment lined sheet pan and cook until firm to the touch, 20-25 minutes.
6. Serve warm or at room temperature with the dipping sauce. 

*** I doubled the original recipe and it was suppose to make about 50 balls, but yeah...I think I ended up with probably 60-70 total.  So I made them a bit bigger and cooked them longer for like 35 minutes.  Also I turned them over half way through the cooking time to ensure they would brown on all sides.***

These were some of the Spinach Artichoke Balls right after I pulled them out of the oven.   

In addition to these guys, I served:

- ham and havarti on mini Hawaiian bread rolls with farmer's market lettuce and pepper jelly

- turkey and provolone on focaccia with sun dried tomato pesto and arugula.  I bought a loaf of focaccia, sliced it in half, loaded it up with all the ingredients and then sliced it into small sandwiches.

Shrimp, arugula, and sun dried tomato pasta dish

I picked up some fantastic large gulf shrimp the other day at Rouses and was debating all day on how I was going to prepare them. After getting home a bit on the later side, I went for the pasta dish a/k/a my fall back dish for when I need to make something quick. I didn't measure anything
In this dish other than pasta, so I apologize for some bizarre descriptions.

Ingredients:
- 1/2 lb of shrimp - deveined, peeled and sliced in half
- 4 ounces of arugula
- 1/2 cup sun dried tomatoes, chopped
- 3 cloves of garlic, sliced thin
- 2 shallots, dice
- 4 tablespoons of olive oil - divided
- 3/4 cup of white wine
- 4 oz of feta
- juice from half a lemon
- salt, pepper and red pepper flakes
- 5 ounces of pasta
- 1/4 cup of pasta cooking water

Directions:

Place arugula and feta in a big serving bowl. Start boiling water for pasta and cook pasta according to the directions. Drain (reserve 1/4 cup of the cooking water) and toss with 2 tablespoons of olive oil in the bowl with the arugula and feta.
Heat a skillet on medium heat and add 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Allow oil to heat up then add shallots, garlic, pinch of salt and crushed red pepper to the pan, sauté for 3 minutes. Next add shrimp, sun dried tomatoes, wine and pasta water to the skillet. Cook until shrimp turn pink/ opaque, then add lemon juice and add to the serving bowl, toss with arugula and pasta mixture until everything is well coated and serve. Make sure to taste for salt and pepper. The feta can be salty so a lot of salt is not needed during the cooking process.

I Heart Dinosaur Kale a/k/a Lacinato Kale a/k/a Tuscan Kale

I absolutely adore Dinosaur Kale.  This variety of kale is has been used in Italy for centuries, hence its name of Tuscan Kale.  It's delicious raw in salads, but equally good sauteed and used in place of spinach in any dish.  This past weekend I sauteed a bunch I had bought at the local farmer's market and ate it as a side dish to my roasted chicken and then had the leftovers cold for lunch today.  The sauteed kale was delicious both hot and cold.  If your a bit nervous about trying kale, I highly recommend trying this variety as it is a bit sweeter and has more of a delicate flavor than its curly leafed cousin.

Simple Saute of Dinosaur Kale

Ingredients:

1 bunch of dinosaur kale, roughly chopped
2 tablespoons of olive oil
2 cloves of garlic, chopped
1/4 cup chopped, onion
1 tablespoon of red pepper flakes
1/2 cup chicken broth
1 tablespoon of white wine vinegar (or rice wine vinegar, balsamic, etc.)
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:


  Heat olive oil on medium in a large saute pan.  Add garlic, onions, red pepper flakes and cook for about 3 minutes.  Add kale, chicken broth, pinch of salt and cover and reduce heat to medium-low for about 15 -20 minutes, stirring often. Kale will not wilt like spinach and keep some of its body. Cook until most of the liquid has evaporated.  Remove from pan, season with salt, pepper, and vinegar - serve hot or cold.

Prosciutto Wrapped Artichoke Hearts

For literally like months I have been wanting to make this appetizer. Having friends over for a New Years dinner seemed like the opportune time to try out this idea. One thing I did know is that to make this it was a must to use frozen artichoke hearts (or fresh ones), using canned or jarred would mangle the flavors. Next time I make these I think topping them with some quality parm or placing just a touch of provolone when you wrap the hearts with the prosciutto would make these bundles even better.

Ingredients
1 box of frozen artichoke hearts
2 tablespoons of olive oil
1/2 lb of prosciutto
2 tablespoons of minced fresh parsley and basil
Salt and pepper
Balsamic vinegar or balsamic reduction/syrup

Directions:

Defrost artichoke hearts and pat dry. Combine hearts, olive oil, fresh herbs, salt and pepper in a bowl and marinate for 30-60 minutes. Pre-heat oven to broil. Wrap each heart with prosciutto and place on a cookie sheet. ( I lined my cookie sheet with parchment paper or foil for easy clean up.) Cook until prosciutto starts to crisp and turn brown - about 7-10 minutes. Remove from oven and top with balsamic vinegar/syrup and serve.

Mashed Sunchokes

I had very little in my fridge after being gone for the Christmas holiday, do I was excited to find in my fridge sunchokes and red potatoes from my last farmers market venture. I boiled both of them together until both were easily pierced through with a fork. Then drained the water and mashed them with fat free half and half, smart balance, pepper and this fantastic sage/rosemary infused salt ( thanks mom and dad for that fantastic Christmas present). This dish was so simple yet tasted amazing. The sunchokes gave the potatoes a nice sweet earthiness and the hint of rosemary and sage was perfect. Obviously as not everyone has that salt I would suggest adding just a tiny, tiny bit of dried sage and rosemary to the mix. Oh and I would normally use skim milk, but as I didn't have any the fat free half and half made a fantastic substitute.

Piccata Style Flounder

First time posting via the blogger app. Recipe to come...

Arugula and Broccoli Pistou

I went a little crazy this past weekend at the farmer's market and bought a lot of veggies, completely forgetting I was going to be out of town from Tuesday to Friday.  So in effort to use up some of those veggies in productive ways, I decided to make a pistou of sorts.  A pistou essentially is like a pesto, but minus the nuts.  It's relatively healthy  and was the perfect sauce to accompany sauteed shrimp, white beans, and whole wheat pasta.  


Broccoli and Arugula Pistou

2 cups (packed) arugula

3 cups small broccoli florets 

1 cup chicken stock

1/2 cup cooked Great Northern or cannellini beans

1/2 cup fresh Italian parsley leaves

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

3 cloves of garlic

1 teaspoon red pepper flakes

Juice from half a lemon

Dash of vinegar - preferably rice wine vinegar

Salt and Pepper to taste

Directions:
Bring large saucepan of water to boil. Add arugula and simmer 1 minute Using strainer or slotted spoon, transfer arugula directly to blender. Add broccoli, and cook until all vegetables are tender, about 5 minutes longer. Drain. Using slotted spoon, transfer vegetables to bowl of ice water and let stand until cold. Drain well. Add broccoli, chicken stock, beans, parsley, garlic, lemon juice, vinegar, red pepper flakes, and olive oil to arugula in blender. Puree until smooth, and season with salt and pepper to taste.


This would also be great as a base for bruschetta.