Spinach Pinwheels

I had a serious debate with myself about what to call these. There aren't a lot of circle words that we use to describe food that are all that appetizing. Wheels? Nah, too transport oriented. Twirls? That's not food, that's movement. Rounds? Discs? Rings? None of these sound terribly appetizing. I really wanted something that sounded as tasty and light and crunchy as these lovely things. Ultimately, (as you can see above), I landed on pinwheels, but I'm not totally satisfied with that. Do you, my lovely readers, have any suggestions?


Anyway...this dish is, in the most basic description, spanakopita in a hurry. I posted a recipe a while back on here for spanakopita, the traditional way. It's a spinach pie with feta cheese and it's deliciously flaky and lovely. But, the fact of the matter is, working with phyllo dough is really time consuming. So, this recipe is a way to enjoy the wonderful spinachy-flavor of spanakopita, without having to worry about all that finicky phyllo. You make the filling in exactly the same way, but then you spread it on some puff pastry, roll it all up and they are in the oven in less than an hour. Gotta love a good shortcut!

Spiced Pasta

I have two words for you. Brown. Butter. When put together, they produce total heaven. Now, I won't claim that they produce the most nutritious or healthy kinds of foods. I won't even claim that they should be eaten with any regularity, but every so often, they are truly wonderful.


So, this particular recipe is for spiced pasta. It's egg noodles covered with a brown-butter based (say that 5x fast!) spice mixture and paired with some lightly cooked asparagus and topped with some toasted nuts. Like the previous recipe, this is a perfect meal for a busy weeknight. It comes together in less than 30 minutes, it's satisfying and balanced and spicy and delicious. Don't let the ingredient list get you down. Most of these spices are pretty common, and you absolutely do not need to follow the recipe to the letter. Let your creativity, spice cabinet and taste buds be your guides! This recipe originally came from the lovely 101 Cookbooks, but I've modified it a bit. I hope you love it even half as much as I do!

Honey, Peanut and Lime Chicken

This past week has been totally crazy. I can't even tell you how little motivation I had to do tasks that were outside of what was listed in my day planner. But, as we all know, it's really necessary to have some good food in your stomach to face stressful days, so I rallied. The good news is, I discovered and tested a whole slew of quick, easy, delicious, filling and nutritious meals that can be ready in the time that it takes a pizza delivery person to get to your house. (This does not even include the amount of time it takes for said pizza delivery person to claim that he/she has no change, and for you to scramble to find the right denominations.)

Anyway, this recipe really couldn't be simpler. It's easy enough to mix up before heading off for the office, and once you get home it comes together in a snap. Basically, you take chicken and marinate it in some soy sauce, peanut butter, lime juice, honey, hot sauce and garlic. It's savory and sweet and spicy and completely delicious. The recipe was originally from a forum on The Pioneer Woman's site, called The Tasty Kitchen, but I found it via a charming blog called The Well-Fed Newlyweds. According to these sites, and personal experience, this chicken is good enough to inspire profanity-laced compliments at a generally swear-free dinner table.