Baked Spinach & Rice Recipe

Prep Time: 25 mins (mostly unattended)  Cooking Time: 30 mins

Ingredients:
1 package rice pilaf
1 box frozen chopped spinach
1 cup mozzarella cheese
2 eggs
1/4 cup lowfat milk

Defrost spinach and squeeze dry. Set aside. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Cook rice according to package directions and transfer to a large bowl. Stir in chopped spinach, cheese, milk and eggs. Pour into greased square baking dish and cook for 30 minutes or until set. Let cool for 5 minutes before cutting into squares for serving. Serves 4 to 6.

Oven Baked Sweet Potato Fries Recipe

Prep Time: 10 mins  Cooking Time: 20 to 30 mins

Ingredients:
2 very large sweet potatoes (peeled and sliced into fry shape)
2 tablespoons olive oil
sea salt
fresh pepper

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Spread sweet potatoes in single layer on the parchment paper. Drizzle with olive oil and toss a to coat making sure that the fries aren’t overlapping when they go in the oven. Season with salt and pepper. Bake until sweet potatoes are tender and golden brown, turning occasionally, about 20 to 30 minutes. Let cool slightly before using spatula to transfer to dish. Serves 4.

Prep Time: 25 mins (largely unattended)  Cooking Time: 10 mins

Ingredients:
2 salmon filets (6 to 8 oz each)
2 lemons
1 teaspoon chives (chopped)
fresh ground pepper
sea salt
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon water

Place the salmon fillets in a square baking dish skin side down.  Squeeze juice of entire lemon over salmon and add fresh ground pepper and sea salt and let sit for 20 minutes.  Heat oil in in a non-stick skillet on medium-high. Cook the salmon, skinside down for 3 or 4 minutes, shaking the pan and carefully lifting the salmon with a spatula to loosen it from the pan. Reduce the heat to medium-low.  Add water and cover the pan and cook until the salmon is cooked through. The skin should be crisp and the flesh medium. Slice remaining lemon and garnish each salmon filet with 2 pieces of lemon and chives.

Simple Sugar Snap Peas Recipe

Prep Time: 5 mins  Cooking Time: 10 mins

Ingredients:
1 pound sugar snap peas
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon butter
sea salt

Cut off ends of snap peas and remove strings. Heat butter and olive oil in a large saute pan over medium heat. Add snap peas and saute on medium-low until they are heated through and just beginning to soften slightly. Remove from heat and toss with sea salt (to taste). Serve warm or at room temp. Store in fridge for several days!

Homemade Fruit Strip Recipe

Prep Time: 20 mins  Cooking Time: 8 to 10 hours (largely unattended)

Ingredients:
2 cups ripe fruit
1/2 cup water
juice of 1/2 large lemon
1/4 cup sugar

Wash, peel and core fruit. Chop them into small chunks. Place the fruit in a saucepan and add water. Bring to a simmer and continue to cook for 10 to 15 minutes. Stir occasionally. Add sugar and lemon and continue to cook for a few more minutes until the sugar is dissolved and liquid begins to thicken in the pot. Pour into a blender and let cool for 15 minutes. When cool enough, blend on high for a few minutes until it becomes a smooth puree.  Line a rimmed baking sheet with microwave safe plastic wrap. Pour out the purée into the lined baking sheet. Be sure to keep plastic wrap from touching the top of the puree. Place the baking sheet in the oven being careful not to let the plastic wrap it touch the oven racks.  Heat the oven to a low 175 degrees.  Let dry in the oven like this for as long as it takes for the purée to dry out and form fruit leather. Leaving it in overnight for 8 to 10 hours generally works well.  The fruit strip is ready when it is no longer sticky, but has a smooth surface.  It peels off ithe plastic n one giant sheet and then we use kitchen scissors to make strips.