I have been trying out a bunch of new recipes lately – a Mediterranean twist on mac and cheese, some new sauce recipes, and a brownie garnished with sea salt – which have helped me to develop some new techniques, but also means that I have a fridge full of seemingly discordant leftover ingredients.
With that in mind, I have also been experimenting with new ways to combine these bits of odds and ends. Some of these experiments have not turned out well; those will remain a secret between my kitchen and myself. Others have turned out surprisingly well. Below are two simple recipes I created that can complement a variety of springtime meals or get-togethers.
I am a home cook and these recipes are the result of my own trial and error; use them as a launching pad for your own creations!
Mish-Mashed Spinach Dip
Here’s what I used:
- 5 artichoke hearts
- 2 cups frozen spinach – thawed and drained
- ½ large shallot
- 1 ½ cup Monterey Jack cheese
- Oil for cooking – I used Grapeseed Oil
- Sea salt – to taste
Here’s what I did:
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
- Dice the shallot.
- Saute the shallots and spinach together until the shallots are tender and a little transparent
- Dice the artichoke hearts, add them to the pan with the spinach and shallots. Cook on low heat for about 5 minutes.
- Transfer all the ingredients to an oven-safe dish, mix in the cheese.
- Bake for about 10 minutes, until the dip starts to bubble.
Hints:
- Jack cheese can be a bit mild for my taste buds – I made sure to season both the spinach and artichokes with sea salt when I added them to the pan.
- Frozen spinach can be a bit runny – I found it helpful to use a larger pan during the saute phase to help the excess water evaporate.
- If you want a bit of a kick, add a sprinkle of red pepper flakes before popping the dip in the oven.
Saucy Parsley Yogurt
Here’s what I used:
- 5 ounces plain Greek yogurt
- 1 tablespoon garlic salt
- 1 tablespoon onion powder
- 2 tablespoons dried parsley
- Sea salt – to taste
Here’s what I did:
- This one is almost embarrassingly easy: I mixed all the ingredients together, adding a bit of salt to taste – that’s it!
- This was fantastic as a dipping sauce for sweet potato fries and a condiment for salmon burgers.
Hints:
- I used dried parsley simply because I had it on hand – you could easily substitute another dry or fresh herb of your choice.
Learning how to cook based on intuition rather than relying on recipes is something we teach you how to do in The Chopping Block's Cooking Lab series.
