Saag Paneer

Have you ever made your own cheese?  I made some ricotta last year, and wanted to try my hand at paneer.  Fresh cheeses like paneer and ricotta are easy to make at home, and totally worth it.  All you need is milk, a lemon, some cheesecloth, and a little patience.  

Saag paneer has been my favorite Indian dish for years, and I'm so glad I finally made it myself.  The creamy spiced spinach studded with chewy bits of paneer is totally addictive, and my major Indian takeout/delivery habit is all saag paneer's fault (oh, and Eat24--you guys didn't help, either).  This homemade version is just as good as my local restaurant's, and the paneer is far superior: it's meltingly tender, with a wonderfully creamy flavor.  It's a little labor intensive to make the paneer and the saag on the same day, but it was a perfect project for a Sunday afternoon.  Next time I might try making a big batch of paneer, stashing some in the fridge, and freezing the rest.  That way I can make saag paneer happen on weeknights!

Paleo Poached Eggs with Creamy Spinach

Okay, big news. A Calculated Whisk is going paleo for one month. There. I said it. Now if I go and try to post some kind of insane ice cream cupcake cookie sandwich, you guys will call me out on it. Right?

Nobody tells you this, but the ugly downside of starting a food blog is you EAT so much of the delicious food you make that your figure kind of falls by the wayside. I love desserts, obviously, but you can only have so much. It's time for a change. In the past I've lost a lot of weight following the Zone diet, but this time I wanted to try something different.

I've been hearing so much about paleo, and it makes sense to me that eating the foods we evolved eating would be the healthiest way to go. I checked out this website for the Whole 30, and thought I would give it a try. I got The 30 Day Guide to Paleo Cooking: Entire Month of Paleo Meals, and I'm ready to go. The book is great, but I always think it's more fun to create my own recipes. So, here it is! My first paleo breakfast. It tastes great, and I didn't feel like anything was missing since it's so filling, rich, and creamy.

Oh, and by the way! I'm on an exercise program, too. I've started barre3's 28 to Great. That's six days of workouts a week (they have an awesome online library of 10, 30, 40, and 60 minute videos) for four weeks. I've done two workouts so far, and they are exhausting. It's really targeted muscle work and I can tell it's going to have an impact.

Phew.  This is a lot of changes, but I hope you guys will support me and try some of the recipes.  Let's start with the most important meal of the day.

Ingredients (serves one):

2 teaspoons coconut oil, plus extra

2 eggs

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 cups baby spinach (or more!)

2 teaspoons coconut milk or cream

Salt and pepper to taste

In a large skillet, heat the coconut oil over medium low heat.  Add the garlic and saute until it starts to brown.  Turn the heat up to medium high, add the spinach, and season with salt and pepper to taste.  Cook the spinach, tossing frequently, until just wilted, 3-5 minutes.  Turn off the heat and stir in the coconut milk or cream.

Meanwhile, poach your eggs.  See this post about how to do it on Smitten Kitchen, or use an egg poacher.  I greased the cups of my egg poacher with a little bit of coconut oil.

When the spinach is ready, make it into a nest on your plate.  Slide the finished eggs into the nest, sprinkle with more salt if desired, and serve hot.

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Baked Eggs with Parmesan and Chives

Breakfast Arepas with Guacamole

Spinach & Parmesan Soufflé

Spinach and Parmesan Soufflé

This is my first attempt at making soufflé.  I like to cook breakfast pretty much every weekend morning, and was in the mood for blueberry muffins. Unfortunately, I was out of frozen blueberries and too lazy to go to the store.  I had baby spinach, lots of eggs, and a hunk of Parmigiano Reggiano.  Also, I had two four-cup soufflé dishes that had only held lemon mousse so far.  Right now, they’re living up to their name since they’re filled with spinach parmesan soufflé.  This recipe is adapted from Bon Appétit.

I was so paranoid that the soufflés would fall that I started snapping pictures while they were still in the oven.  But, they actually held up really well!

Ingredients (serves 2-3):

1 1/2 cups freshly grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese

2 tablespoons butter, plus extra for greasing dishes

6 tablespoons flour

1 1/4 cup buttermilk

3 cups baby spinach

6 egg yolks

8 egg whites, at room temperature

1 teaspoon lemon juice (optional)

Salt and pepper to taste

Pinch of nutmeg (optional)

Preheat the oven to 375.  Place two four-cup soufflé dishes (or eight one-cup dishes for mini soufflés) on a cookie sheet.  Grease the bottom and sides of the dishes with butter.

Melt the butter over medium heat.  Add the flour and whisk for a minute.  Add the buttermilk and whisk until combined and almost smooth.  Add the spinach, parmesan cheese, egg yolks, salt, pepper, and nutmeg.  Stir to combine and remove from the heat.  

In a non-reactive bowl, place the room-temperature egg whites and lemon juice, if using (this just makes it a little easier to whip the whites).  Beat until the whites hold medium peaks.

Fold the egg whites into the other mixture a little bit at a time.  Divide mixture among the dishes, and bake for 30 minutes for one-cup dishes or 40 minutes for four-cup dishes, or until puffy and golden brown.  Serve immediately.