Spanakopita Quesadilla

A fusion of Mexican and Greek cuisines.  Spinach, feta, and mozzarella packed into a whole wheat tortilla and fried.

I'm sure I've mentioned how much I love cheese.  Cheese is a food group for me.  I believe I eat some every day.  So, to get my cheese fix, I've been making quesadillas lately for a quick lunch.  Quesadillas are a grilled cheese sandwich on a tortilla.  I even found some good whole wheat tortillas (that are made locally) and one tortilla has 3 grams of fiber.  That's a great way to add a little more fiber to my diet.

#Quesadilla a #grilledcheesesandwich on tortilla  [Tweet this]

Since I love cheese I tend to have plenty in the house.  I had made some other dishes that left me with leftover shredded mozzarella and some feta crumbles so I wanted to use them in a quesadilla.  I also had some baby spinach so I came up with this idea.  It turned out fantastic and I like to think it's healthy too.

#Spinachandwholewheat make a #healthy quesadilla.  [Tweet this]

Spanakopita is a spinach pie of spinach and feta wrapped in phyllo pastry.  They are absolutely delicious.  A great way to eat your spinach.  So when I had the spinach and feta I knew they would be great together.  Feta doesn't melt well so I knew it alone would not be able to hold a quesadilla together.  I need a good melting cheese to act like a glue and keep everything from falling out when I flipped and ate this quesadilla.  That's what the mozzarella does.  It melts really well and it has a very mild flavor so the feta and spinach flavors stand out and the quesadilla stays closed.  I added garlic just because (you can omit it if you want but I am a garlic addict and add it to everything...I think it make the spinach and feta even better).

Spanakopita Quesadilla a great way to #eatyourspinach.  [Tweet this]

Spanakopita Quesadilla

Prep and cook time: under 10 minutes
Servings:  1

Ingredients:

1 10 or 12-inch whole wheat tortilla
2-3 Tbsp mozzarella (or any mild flavored melting cheese)
2 hand fulls of baby spinach, torn
garlic powder (optional)
2 Tbsp feta crumbles
sprinkle of Parmesan (optional)

Place the tortilla flat into a 10-12 inch frying pan (I use a non-stick pan so no need for oil).  Sprinkle the mozzarella evenly over the entire tortilla.

Then, top half of the tortilla with the spinach tearing it into bite-sized pieces (pack as much and/or more spinach in as you can it will shrink when cooked).  Sprinkle some garlic powder (as much as you like), the feta, and Parmesan (if using) over the spinach and place the frying pan over medium heat.

Once the mozzarella starts to melt, fold the tortilla in half so the mozzarella cheese is on top of the spinach too.  Keep cooking until the spinach starts to wilt a little and the bottom of the quesadilla begins to brown.  Then carefully flip the quesadilla and cook on the other side until the spinach is tender and both sides of the quesadilla are browned.

Remove to a plate and allow to cool slightly before eating.

Enjoy.

If you like this recipe, check out:

Greek Nachos

Greek Salsa

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Cucumber and Tomato Dill Salad with Smoked Salmon & Feta

A light and fresh salad with cucumbers and tomatoes tossed in a lemon dill vinaigrette then topped with smoked salmon and feta.

Lemon and dill pair well with salmon.   I often cook salmon with lemon and dill so I decided to put together a salad that would combine these flavors with smoked salmon.  I love the different textures of crisp cucumbers and juicy tomatoes in a Tomato and Cumber Salad and dill pairs well with cucumbers too.  So I thought this salad would be a perfect way to compliment the flavors I associate with salmon.  It turned out great. This salad is light and fresh with bright flavor and a perfect saltiness.  It's great as a side salad or light lunch, but you don't have to add smoked salmon if you don't have any.  It is great on its own or even served alongside grilled salmon for a Labor Day cookout.

Cucumber Tomato Dill Salad is great for a Labor Day cookout  [Tweet this]  

Cucumber and Tomato Dill Salad

Prep time:  15-20 minutes
Servings:  4-6

Ingredients:

1 pound grape tomatoes halved
2 cucumbers seeded peeled and chopped
2 Tbsp minced red onions
1 lemon, juiced
2 Tbsp olive oil
1/2 tsp dry dill
Salt & pepper to taste
Smoked salmon
Feta

Toss together the tomatoes, cucumbers, and onions until well mixed.

Then, mix the lemon juice, oil, and dill and pour over the vegetables.  Add just a little salt and pepper to your taste.  Toss well to combine and let set in the refrigerator until ready to serve.

Serve cold or at room temperature with smoked salmon and feta.

Makes 4-6 servings.

Enjoy.

For more fresh light salads check out:

Simple Carrot and Cucumber Salad

Greek Salad              -

Tomato and Cucumber Salad

Linked to:  2 Cup, J&J, Lou Lou Girls, Tickle My Tastebuds, Whimsy, Wonderful, full Plate, Freedom, Foodie Friends

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Smoked Salmon Mini Flatbread Sandwiches

Smoked salmon atop a warm feta spread with lettuce and red onions on miniature naan bread.

Smoked salmon is delicious.  It's tender, smokey, slightly salty, fishy (in a good way), and a good source of omega-3s (if wild caught).  Many are used to having it with bagels and cream cheese which makes a wonderful breakfast or brunch (who am I kidding lunch and dinner as well).  I love it that way too, but I didn't have any bagels on hand.  No matter smoked salmon is very versatile.  It's great with salads, in soups, and with just bread or crackers.  I had these mini naan breads and decided to top them with smoked salmon and these sandwiches were the awesome results.  They were light but filling and very flavorful.

Delicious and versatile smoked salmon.  [Tweet this]

Smoked Salmon Mini Flatbread Sandwiches

Ingredients:

8 oz cream cheese, at room temperature
1 cup feta crumbles
Mini naan breads (or any kind of flatbread)
Lettuce
Smoked salmon slices
Red onion slices
Lemon wedges (optional)

Mix together the cream cheese and feta.  Spread about 1/4 cup of the mixture on each flatbread you are using and place on a baking sheet.  Place on the top rack in the oven and broil the cheese covered bread for about 5-10 minutes until cheese is slightly melted and brown around the edges (this should also help soften the bread).

Remove the bread from the oven and top with lettuce, salmon, and red onions.  Squeeze some fresh lemon juice over all.

Fold and eat like a taco.  I served these sandwiches with a cucumber and tomato salad.

Enjoy.

For more recipes to pair with this sandwich check out:

Tomato and Cucumber Salad

Greek Salsa        -

Simple Carrot and Cucumber Salad

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Focaccia Pizza

An Italian flat bread made with a wet dough, shaped into a pizza, and topped with tapenade, sun-dried tomatoes, and feta cheese (or toppings of your choosing).

Focaccia is a simple bread that requires no real kneading.  This wet dough is mixed vigorously and then stretched and folded with long rest periods.  Then, it is dimpled with herb oil until the desired thick/thinness and baked.  It is a long process like most yeast bread, but there is very little active time.  Focaccia is a very tender bread with crisp edges and makes a great pizza dough.  I opted for pizza-style focaccia which is basic focaccia topped with a few pizza toppings.  I chose tapenade and sun-dried tomatoes, both of which are packed in oil, so I didn't add much extra oil.

Focaccia #bread is really quite simple & delicious it just takes time.  [Tweet this]

For pizza style focaccia, there are some guidelines for when to add the toppings. There are pre-proof toppings, pre-bake toppings, and during bake toppings. The pre-proof toppings are marinated sun-dried tomatoes, olives, nuts, peppers, and roasted garlic.  These are toppings that need to be surrounded by the dough so they don't burn during baking or fall off.  Most soft cheeses and cured/cooked meats are pre-bake toppings while most shredded or grated cheeses are best to add during baking so they don't burn.  I used sun-dried tomatoes, coarsely chopped tapenade, and feta.  2 pre-proof and 1 pre-bake respectively.  Following these simple guidelines results in delicious focaccia pizza.

Just a few simple guidelines for delicious Focaccia Pizza.  [Tweet this]

Focaccia Pizza

Modified slightly from Peter Reinhart's The Bread Baker's Apprentice

Total time:  5 hours (active time:  about 30 minutes off and on)
     Mixing time: 5-10 minutes
     Stretch and fold:  90 minutes
     First rise:  1 hour
     Second rise: 2 hour
     Bake time:  20 minutes

Makes:  1-12 inch pizza (500 grams)

Ingredients:

3 grams active dry yeast
190 grams water
267 grams bread flour
6 grams salt
36 grams olive oil
Oil packed sun-dried tomatoes, sliced
Coarse chopped tapenade or olives
Feta

To the bowl of a stand mixer (or large bowl), add the water and a spoonful of the flour.  Stir to incorporate and sprinkle on the yeast (since this recipe doesn't use sugar the little bit of flour gives the yeast something on which to feed).  Cover with a towel and let sit for 15 minutes until mixture becomes bubbly.

To this, add the rest of the flour, salt, and oil.  Mix with the paddle attachment, on low speed, (or by hand) until  a wet sticky ball forms.  Switch to the dough hook and stir for 5-7 minutes on medium speed (or use your hand/a metal spoon, repeatedly dipped in water to prevent sticking, like a dough hook and quickly stir and mix the dough) until the dough becomes a smooth mass that clears the sides of the bowl but sticks to the bottom.  You may need to add extra flour to reach this consistency.

Spread/spray some oil on your work surface (to keep dough from sticking) and turn out dough using a spatula or bowl scraper.  Oil your hands too and pat the dough into a rough rectangle.  Let the dough rest for five minutes.  Then, using an oiled bench scraper to help lift the dough, begin to stretch it gently from both ends until about twice its length.  Fold the ends back over themselves letter-style until the dough is roughly the same size and shape it started. Sprinkle a little flour on top of the dough and cover with plastic wrap.  Let rest for 30 minutes and repeat the stretch and fold method twice more.
**alternatively to using the oiled surface for the stretch and fold method you can use a bed of flour and floured hands to prevent sticking see this method in my Focaccia (sourdough).  I found that I like using oil more because it's less messy (and olive oil is great for your hands so feel free to rub it in).  You don't need to use too much I started with about a teaspoon on my work bench and spread it out with my hands to about the size of a baking pan then rubbed oil into my hands as needed.**

After the final stretch and fold, sprinkle the dough with flour, cover it with plastic wrap, and let the dough rise on the counter for 1 hour.  The dough should noticeably swell but not necessarily double in size.  Using oiled hands form the dough into a rough ball and place on a parchment-lined sheet pan (I used a 12x14 inch pan if using a smaller pan you may need to divide the dough into 2 pieces). You can also place the dough in a zipper bag and refrigerate overnight or up to 3 days if you prefer (the refrigerated dough needs 3 hours to come to temperature once removed from the fridge).

Sprinkle the dough with a little flour and gently dimple the dough with your fingertips until it flattens out into a disk about 8 or 9 inches in diameter.  Cover with plastic wrap and let rest for 15 minutes.  Then, uncover the dough and spread with sun-dried tomatoes and tapenade along with some of their oil.  Dimple the toppings and oil into the dough spreading the dough to about 12 inches in diameter.  Cover the dough again and let rise for 2 hours or until 1 1/2 times it's original size.

Preheat the oven to 450.

Uncover the dough, sprinkle with feta and bake for about 20 minutes, rotating halfway through, until the dough turns a light golden brown.  If you are using any during bake toppings add them before the final five minutes of baking.

Transfer the focaccia to a cooling rack and let cool for 10 minutes before slicing and serving.

Enjoy.

For more focaccia and pizza recipes check out:

Focaccia

Meatball Calzones

Cheese Steak Stromboli

Linked to:  Pretty Pintastic, Best of the Weekend, 2 cup, Treasure Box, Lou Lou Girls, Wed Roundup, Full Plate, Freedom, Foodie Friends

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