Spinach and Potato Bake

Ever conscious that us veggies must ensure we have enough iron (and this can't all come from dark chocolate) I was browsing spinach recipes on the BBC Good Food website when I came across this recipe for sweet potato and spinach bake. It is a bit like a potato dauphinoise and is something that I would usually avoid making because they are usually packed with cream and cheese and therefore also packed with calories too. Using Elmlea instead of single cream I worked this recipe out to be just about 350 calories per quarter of the dish, not bad at all. I also decided to use half plain baking potatoes and half sweet potatoes. 

So the ingredients I used were:

284ml (1 carton) Elmlea alternative to single cream
2 garlic cloves , peeled
1 sprigs each of  thyme or rosemary
150g fresh spinach
freshly grated nutmeg
15g Bertolli spread , for greasing
450g sweet potatoes and 400g baking potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced (about 3mm thick)
25g mature cheddar cheese, grated

1. Heat oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6. Put the cream, garlic and herb sprigs into a small saucepan and slowly bring to just below boiling. Turn off the heat, season and leave to infuse.

2. Grease an ovenproof dish generously with butter and spread half the potato slices across the bottom. Top with a layer of spinach, season and grate nutmeg over the spinach, then add the remaining potato. 

3. Pour over the cream mixture, through a sieve to remove the garlic and herbs, then sprinkle with cheese (I was concerned that there wouldn't be enough cream but there was plenty).

4. Bake for 45-55 mins until golden and tender.

I served it with salad but I reckon it would be great as a side for some fairly plainly cooked quorn fillets and some veggies too. The flavour was really quite sweet, I'm glad I didn't use all sweet potatoes as I think this would have been a bit too much. I would infuse the cream for much longer next time as the garlic and herb flavour wasn't very strong at all. 

Leek and potato soup

The Christmas eating has gone well so far this year. I kicked off my mince pie habit in November and haven't looked back. I have eaten an awful lot of sweet stuff the last three weeks and although I was cooking for one this evening I fancied something proper. There was one lonely leek left in the fridge and so I decided to combine it with some butter, two potatoes and some veggie stock and make myself a lovely soup. I had it with a little block of Wensleydale and cranberry cheese and some crackers and it really hit the spot. 

Kernow Christmas

Saturday night's meal was part of our Christmas celebrations with friends in Cornwall. We were lucky enough to be made a roast dinner consisting of roast beef (for the meat eaters), roast potatoes, peas, roasted butternut squash with a creamy chilli sauce, parsnips roasted with parmesan and gravy and Yorkshire puddings. It was truly delicious.

This was followed by puddings, yes plural, my gingerbread cake with orange icing, a chocolate cheesecake and berry crumble and cream. I had a bit of all three and could barely move but it was worth it!

This was then followed by a board games, chocolate, secret santa, more board games and cheese and biscuits!

Leek and potato frittata with ratatouille

Tonight's meal was a variation on a summer staple for us. In the summer I made it with spring onions but today I made it with leeks instead and it was lovely. In the Summer we had it with salad but it's Winter and although salad is available in the supermarkets with no seasons and its cold outside and I don't feel like eating cold food so I thought I'd make a kind of ratatouille on the side. I fried off a small red onion, some aubergine and mushrooms and then added a tablespoon of balsamic vinegar and tin of chopped tomatoes and let it simmer down. The result was really yummy, I'm just not sure it went with the frittata!