Salmon Artichoke Patties and Cinnamon Banana Chocolate Chip Cookies—Secret Recipe Club

I know what you all are thinking—“What has happened to Katrina?  Where’s the chocolate?”  Don’t worry, it’s coming. ;)  With my Secret Recipe Club assignment for this month, I got to have Stephanie’s blog, Sustainable Cooking for One.  You might wonder how that worked out for a gal who is feeding a family of six.  Here’s the short of it.  With Halloween just past us, my boys have eaten way too much candy and junk over the last week.  On Friday night, I’d planned to make breakfast for dinner—sausage, eggs, and French Toast.  After they got home from school, they all dove in to their Halloween candy.   I won’t let them have any before school, but we’ve decided to just let them get it all over with and they can eat as much as they want.  The sooner it’s all gone, the better.   By the time I asked them if they wanted sausage and eggs, which they love, they weren’t too keen on the idea.  I told them fine and if and when they were hungry they could just have some cereal or make a sandwich. 

That left dinner wide open for me as Kevin has just eaten some leftovers.  I had found on Stephanie’s blog some Salmon Artichoke Patties and remembered that I had some salmon in the freezer..    It really took no time at all to thaw some.  I had some canned artichokes as well.  All set.  I cooked the salmon for a couple minutes, then let it cool at bit while getting the rest of the ingredients ready in a bowl. 

It took no tine at all to form six little patties and cook them in a skillet for a couple minutes.  Parker and Taylor like salmon, so I called them in to try one.  They weren’t impressed with how they looked, but tasted it anyway—and liked it and each at one.  Kevin ate one plus some of another and I ate the rest.  We had a good, quick healthy “dinner”!  (Scott was spending the night at his cousin’s house and Sam just had some cereal.)

I only snapped a few quick pictures, so these aren’t very good photos—I think that is why I also prefer making and photographing desserts, they just look better on film to me.  That’s just because of my lacking the ability to make savory food look better for the camera.  That said, we do eat considerably healthy.  And I’m happy to say that I believe all their Halloween candy is just about gone. 

Salmon Artichoke Patties, adapted by Katrina, Baking and Boys! from Stephanie at Sustainable Cooking for One

6 ounces cooked salmon, broken in to little pieces

6 ounces artichoke hearts, (canned) drained and chopped small

2 teaspoons cornmeal

1 large egg, beaten

1/4 teaspoon oregano flakes

salt and pepper to taste

1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

Mix all ingredients together until combined.  Shape in to six patties, about 2  1/2 inches round.  Sautee in a non-stick skillet with a little olive oil on medium heat a couple minutes per side until browned.  Serve immediately with a hot sauce or garlic-chili sauce or mustard.

*Stephanie has a cookbook available with this recipe in it.  One Bowl:  Simple Healthy Recipes for One

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I really enjoyed looking through all the recipes on her blog.  She has mostly, if not all, gluten free recipes.  While browsing around, of course I stumbled on chocolate chip cookies and had to see about making those.  They were gluten free and used corn flour, white rice flour and a mix of other gluten free flours.  In looking at the choices I had at the grocery store, I decided to make the cookies more all whole grain instead of gluten free.  I ended up using corn flour, brown rice flour, some barley flour and some oat bran.  So because of the barley and oat flour, the cookies I made are not gluten free, but surprisingly I kind of like them.  You can definitely taste the different flours, or just taste that they are not your normal chocolate chip cookies, but I like that.  These cookies also have some molasses, banana and cinnamon.

Cinnamon Banana Chocolate Chip Cookies, Whole Grain, adapted by Katrina, Baking and Boys! from Sustainable Cooking for One

1/3 cup corn flour

1/3 cup brown rice flour

1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons oat bran

1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon barley flour

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/8 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature

3/4 cup granulated sugar

1/2 tablespoon molasses

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 a large egg (25 grams), room temperature

1 banana (100 grams), mashed

1 cup dark chocolate chips (or any kind you’d like)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Line baking sheet with parchment paper.  Whisk together all the dry ingredients in a medium sized bowl.  Set aside.  Cream together in the bowl of a mixer, the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.  Add the molasses, egg, vanilla and banana and mix until smooth.  Add the dry ingredients, then stir in the chocolate chips.  Scoop  cookie dough onto baking sheets spaced 2 inches apart.  Bake for 10-12 minutes (I did 12).  Allow the cookies to sit on the baking sheet on a wire rack for a couple minutes before removing them from the baking sheet to cool completely on a wire rack. 

*Try a mixture of other flours you’d like or have on hand.  I bought corn flour and brown rice flour to make these, but already had oat bran and barley flour on hand.  Stephanie used a mixture of buckwheat, amaranth, quinoa, millet and brown rice flour along with the corn flour and some white rice flour. 

There you have it---salmon patties and my chocolate fix with some whole grain cookies.  Win and win.

I like Stephanie’s philosophy about food, you can read about it on her About Me section on her blog.  Hadn’t heard of her blog until now, but I’m glad I do now.

 

Delicious Low Fat Spinach Artichoke Dip

I made a most delicious Low Fat Spinach Artichoke Dip today.  I like it so much, it’s a must-share!  I actually spread some on a flattened whole wheat pita topped with a little extra cheese and broiled for a quite low fat personal pizza for lunch also—but didn’t photograph it.  Trust me—it was so good!

Low Fat Spinach Artichoke Dip, by Katrina, Baking and Boys!

9 ounces fresh spinach, stem removed and cut into pieces

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

3 cloves garlic, minced

Salt and pepper to taste

1 can small artichoke hearts, chopped

½ cup nonfat Greek yogurt

¼ cup light sour cream

¼ cup grated low fat mozzarella cheese

¼ cup parmesan cheese, grated (a little extra for sprinkling on top, too)

2-3 dashes of Tobasco sauce (optional)

8 ounces 1/3 less fat cream cheese, softened

A few shakes of dried oregano and basil (optional)

Saute the spinach (with a little salt and pepper) for just a minute or two until it starts to wilt in a large nonstick skillet with one tablespoon EVOO. Add the minced garlic for just 30 seconds to a minute. Remove from heat and let cool.

In the meantime, combine the yogurt, sour cream and cream cheese. Add the mozzarella, parmesan cheese, Tobasco and dried oregano and basil (if using). You can also add another shake or two of salt and pepper if desired. Stir in the now cooled spinach and the artichokes. Put the mixture in a glass/Pyrex baking dish (I used one that is 8 ½ x 6 ½ inches). Sprinkle with a little extra mozzarella and parmesan cheese.

Bake in a 350 degree oven for 20-25 minutes, until bubbly. Put the oven on broil and move the dish to the top rack and broil for 3-5 minutes with the oven door open and watching, so it doesn’t burn. Let cool enough to serve with crackers or fresh cut up vegetables.

(Or spread some on a flattened whole wheat pita, sprinkled with a little extra mozzarella and parmesan cheese and broil—so good!)

And then Kevin came home from work and asked about the dip and I told him it’s low fat and so good.  He said, “Someday you can make some that isn’t low fat and just think how good it would really be then,” and I won by telling him, “Yes, and then WE wouldn’t be low fat!”  I like when something is still really good, but you can have more of it rather than “splurge” with a whopping crackerful and that’s it.  Just saying. 

Vegetarian Low Fat Spinach Artichoke Pizza Recipe

This Vegetarian Low Fat Spinach Artichoke Pizza with Light Alfredo Sauce, Asparagus and Tomatoes is my new favorite thing!  (I forgot to take a picture of the whole pizza.)

I made homemade pizza for dinner tonight.  We do often.  The boys each get to make their own individual pizzas and I put out the different toppings.  All four boys have only put cheese on their pizzas.  Yet they will eat pepperoni right out of the package like crazy.  Silly boys!  I usually just make a pizza on the pizza stone for Kevin and I, but he decided to make calzones with all kinds of “things” inside that I wouldn’t eat. ;)  So I made my own pizza.  It will take me days to eat it, but it was so good, I probably could have eaten half the pizza in one sitting!

For the boys, I made a regular pizza dough with bread flour.  Then I made a whole wheat pizza dough, which is one I’ve made quite a few times that I found on Joe’s blog, Culinary In The Country.  I adapted the recipe just a little, instead of one cup whole wheat flour and one cup all purpose flour,  used 1  1/2 cups whole wheat flour and 1/2 cup all purpose.  This pizza dough is so easy as everything is made in the food processor and it makes a nice crisp whole wheat crust after rising for about an hour.

Vegetarian Low Fat Spinach Artichoke Pizza, by Katrina, Baking and Boys!

1 recipe whole wheat pizza dough (or regular dough, enough for a 14 inch pizza)

1/2 cup jarred Light Alfredo Sauce (I used Classico)

3 cloves garlic, finely chopped

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

2 cups chopped fresh spinach (or more)

about 1/3 lb. fresh asparagus, cut on a diagonal in 1/2 inch size pieces

1  14 oz. can quartered artichoke hearts (I used about 3/4 of the can, add according to taste)

1 medium tomato, chopped

1 cup finely shredded mozzarella

1/4 cup finely shredded parmesan cheese

1-2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil

cornmeal, for sprinkling on the pizza stone

Make pizza dough, let it rise for about an hour .

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.  Preheat a pizza stone. Heat the olive oil in a 12-inch non stick skillet over medium heat.  Add the spinach and asparagus and saute for a minute or two.  Add the garlic and artichokes and saute for another 30 seconds or so.  Remove from heat and let it cool while you roll out the pizza dough.  Remove the stone from the oven and place the rolled out dough on it.  Spread the Alfredo sauce evenly over the dough.  Scatter the spinach mixture evenly over the sauce. 

Sprinkle both cheeses over the vegetables.  Then scatter the chopped tomato over the top.  Bake the pizza for 10-15 minutes (checking it every minute or two after 10 minutes).  Remove the pizza from the oven and sprinkle it with the chopped basil.  Slice with a pizza cutter. 

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I can hardly wait to have another slice of this pizza!

Here’s Kevin’s two calzones he made.  One was full of pepperoni, green peppers, jalapeno, cheese, etc. and the other had some leftover chicken fajita mixture with black beans, cheese, etc.

 

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Sam had his last day of preschool for the year.  We snapped a quick picture with his teacher, Mrs. Clark.

The other boys are counting down, four more days of school next week until they’re done!  Their last day of school will be Scott’s 13th birthday.  Oh boy, are we ready for a teenager?