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Mediterranean Spinach Dip

May 11, 2017 By Jessica Braider 10 Comments

Mediterranean Spinach Dip

“I received free samples of Sabra Hummus mentioned in this post. By posting this recipe I am entering a recipe contest sponsored by Sabra and am eligible to win prizes associated with the contest. I was not compensated for my time.”

Sometimes the best things are simple. Super simple. That was a lesson I was reminded of as I worked to develop a recipe for this Sabra hummus recipe contest organized by The Recipe Redux. You see, I kept trying to come up with some innovative, creative, blow-your-mind-surprising use of hummus. Hummus croquettes and sweet potato toast towers were two of the almost-blogworthy recipes I worked on. Both of them were good, both of them were kind of fun, but as I sat down to write about them I just couldn’t get inspired. And then yesterday it kind of hit me: I was just trying too hard. I was making things more complicated than they really needed to be. So I pushed those two recipes aside, perhaps I’ll come back to them at another time, and decided to keep things simple.

Honestly, when I stop to think about it, making things too complicated has been kind of a theme in my life recently, as well as the hope that I can instead simplify (please tell me I’m not alone in this struggle). This recipe was a wonderful reminder for me that simple is often better. That sometimes we have to let go of our over-inflated expectations for a more balanced reality that will actually make us happier, as is the case with this rockstar, super simple dip.

So in honor of National Hummus Day on May 13th, I give you my Mediterranean Spinach Dip. A super simple, vegetarian, plant-based protein powerhouse of a snack that takes all of 5 minutes to make. Everyone in my family went nuts for this one and an added bonus is that it is another opportunity to get vegetables into everyone’s diet without cajoling or reminding. It works really well with crackers or chips, but also with crudité. My husband also recommends using it as a spread in a sandwich. Haven’t tried this yet myself, but it sounds amazing! Enjoy!


4.0 from 1 reviews
Mediterranean Spinach Dip
 
Save Print
Prep time
5 mins
Total time
5 mins
 
Author: Jessica Braider
Recipe type: Appetizer, Snack
Serves: 8
Ingredients
  • 3 cups frozen spinach, thawed and drained
  • 1 cup Sabra Classic Hummus
  • ½ cup crumbled feta
  • 1 Tablespoon lemon juice
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • ½ teaspoon thyme
  • ¼ teaspoon black pepper
Instructions
  1. In a food processor, blender, or with an immersion blender, blend all the ingredients until smooth. Serve with vegetables, tortillas chips, or pita chips.
3.5.3226

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Filed Under: Feeding Kids, Healthy Eating, Life Balance, Lunch Box Food, Sides, Snacks Tagged With: appetizer, Easy, feta, healthy, healthy eating, hummus, protein, quick, sabra, Spinach, vegetarian

Feta Jalapeño Corn Muffins

November 3, 2016 By Jessica Braider 1 Comment

Feta Jalapeño Corn Muffins

Let’s talk breakfast for a minute. When I was a kid I hated breakfast. I mean, I really hated breakfast, but I also needed a good one because, as I have written about before, when I didn’t get protein in the morning I turned into a little monster and got into trouble at school. So for years my poor mother struggled to find foods that I would be willing to eat in the mornings that had protein. Fast forward to current times and I couldn’t imagine starting the day off without a protein-rich breakfast. It is my foundation for the day and I have found that if I start off on the right nutritional foot the rest of the day’s food choices fall happily into place, but if I don’t get what my body really needs then I often make more sugar-laden or impulsive choices later.

For years my solution to this was, and often still is, homemade granola with a lot of fruit and some plain yogurt. The combination of the fiber and protein has worked really well for me and I really enjoy it. But recently I have noticed that sweet breakfasts are a little less appealing, so I have been trying to build up my savory breakfast options. So far my go-tos have been a rice cake with brie, tomato, and cucumber and frittatas packed with vegetables, but I wanted to have another option that I could rotate in and so the Feta Jalapeño Corn Muffins were born….

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Filed Under: Baked Goods, Breakfast, Freezer Cooking, Healthy Eating, Lunch Box Food, Sides, Snacks Tagged With: breakfast, corn, Easy, feta, healthy, jalapeño, lunch, muffin, quick, snack, whole grain

Spinach and Cheese Toaster Pastries

February 18, 2016 By Jessica Braider Leave a Comment

Spinach and Cheese Toaster Pastries

Growing up my family never really ate convenience foods. There were no freezer dinners, no hamburger helper, no pop tarts, and no hot pockets. I was always intrigued by those forbidden foods since the commercials made them looks so appetizing and my brother and I were definitely known to beg and plead to try them. Finally, when I was about 10 my mom agreed to let us get the boxed mac n cheese, but only if I was going to make it myself and only for special occasions, like when we had a babysitter.

As I got older I had the opportunity to try some of the other foods that I had salivated over for years and years and time and time again I found them to be highly disappointing. They always tasted sort of cardboardy and fake. And, yet, even today the allure of those foods that patiently wait for you in your freezer, ready to miraculously turn into a meal is a strong one. So, when I have the time, I try to stock my freezer with homemade versions. Empanadas are a favorite, as are black bean burgers, and this week I have a new one to share with you: spinach and cheese toaster pastries….

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Filed Under: Baked Goods, Breakfast, Dinner, Freezer Cooking, Lunch, Lunch Box Food Tagged With: cheese, Easy, feta, freezer, Spinach

Wilted Kale Salad: A Cure for the Winter Blues

December 17, 2015 By Jessica Braider Leave a Comment

Wilted Kale Salad: A Cure for the Winter Blues

Is anyone else overtired, stressed, or feeling sluggish? The other day as I was realizing that I was feeling really low energy and unmotivated. In theory, I was doing everything right—exercising, getting plenty of fruits and vegetables, sleeping (ok, maybe not sleeping enough, but getting some sleep)—but I was still dragging and then it came to me: greens. I wasn’t getting enough leafy greens.

Many (most) of us don’t get enough leafy greens, but they are so important. They are great for circulation and respiratory support, they boost our immune systems, and they provide a great energy boost. I hadn’t been eating them, though, because as the weather gets colder I am less drawn to smoothies and salads. So out came my sautéed and wilted green recipes to provide me some warmth, while still giving me all the benefits of the greens. And it worked! While I may not be stress-free and perky, I am definitely feeling much more alert and focused….

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Filed Under: Dinner, Quick Dinners, Sides Tagged With: dried cranberries, Easy, feta, greens, healthy, holidays, kale, vegetarian, walnuts

Savory Zucchini Corn Muffins

July 16, 2015 By Jessica Braider Leave a Comment

Savory Zucchini Corn Muffins

Zucchini and all summer squash are at their peak right now. They are everywhere. The farmer’s markets and farm share baskets are full of them and they are on super sale in the grocery stores. Given their abundance I have been on the search for new and different ways to cook with them. I’ve sautéed, roasted, and grilled them. I’ve added them to sauces, casseroles, and sweet breakfast muffins. But this week I decided to try something different: a savory muffin. And boy am I glad I did!

These muffins are simple, flexible, and delicious. They are wonderful as a side dish with a cold summer soup, like gazpacho (here is a great, super simple recipe), or with a big salad. They’d be wonderful with a light chili made in the crock pot, so your house doesn’t get too hot. And they’d make a great addition to a barbeque or picnic….

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Filed Under: Baked Goods, Breakfast, Freezer Cooking, Lunch Box Food, Sides Tagged With: cheddar, corn, Easy, feta, garlic, healthy, jalapeño, monterey jack, onion, parmesan, summer squash, Vegetables, zucchini

Simple Grain Salad: A side dish without a recipe

February 19, 2015 By Jessica Braider Leave a Comment

Simple Grain Salad: A side dish without a recipe

One of the recommendations I often make to clients and in workshops is to “cook once, and eat two, three or more times.” Many times, life can get so busy that meal planning seems impossible and all we can do is try to quickly figure out the next meal—tonight’s dinner, tomorrow’s school lunch, etc. When we do that we are constantly searching for recipes and depending on our creativity, which can quickly burn us out and leave us resentful of having to cook at all. But, with a tiny bit of planning and maybe some flexibility we can turn one round of cooking into two or three simple meals.

One of my favorite ways to stretch the food I make farther is with a grain salad. If I am making a pot of grains—rice, quinoa, millet, couscous, etc.—I always make extra. So much can be done with leftover grains: you can turn them into breakfast porridge, throw them into a big green salad for some added heft, mix them into soups or stews, fold them into veggie burger batter, and, my favorite, turn them into a grain-based salad. Grain salads are great because they can serve as a hefty side dish and are so incredibly flexible—any leftover vegetables, cheese, or salad dressing you have lying around can get thrown in!…

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Filed Under: Sides Tagged With: Beans, black beans, cheese, couscous, eggplant, feta, grains, greens, leftovers, Millet, quinoa, rice, Spinach, sweet potato, tomato, Vegetables, vegetarian

Kale Pizza

December 16, 2013 By Jessica Braider Leave a Comment

Kale Pizza

As is often the case at this time of year, things in our house are CRAZY BUSY. The to-do list is over a page long and that doesn’t even include work or all of the school events happening this week. It can be a bit overwhelming. It is times like these when I start to fight the urge to order pizza. Every night.

So I have been trying to focus on making quick, easy meals- veggie fried rice, veggie quesadillas, quick pastas, etc. These are great, but last night I really wanted something different. I sort of wanted pizza but I also had a lot of kale in the house that needed to be eaten. So I decided to make kale pizza. I thought maybe I had gone off the deep end, but then I found that others have had the same idea in the past. And it turns out, kale on pizza is awesome. Really….

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Filed Under: Dinner Tagged With: feta, kale, lamb, pine nuts, ricotta

Baked Pasta and Multitasking in the Kitchen: Making Time Count

October 7, 2013 By Jessica Braider Leave a Comment

Baked Pasta and Multitasking in the Kitchen: Making Time Count

Whenever I am in the kitchen to make a big meal, like I often am on Sunday afternoons, I like to try to make that time really count. This often means that while I am cooking one big dish, I also take on some simple side dishes or meal prep that will help me save time later in the week. So yesterday when I pulled out the veggies I was going to put into a big baked pasta that would last us for at least one dinner and two or three lunches, it was also time to roast the remaining broccoli and brew my chai (spiced tea) for the week.

There are a couple of tricks that I have learned over the years that help this kind of multitasking work well:…

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Filed Under: Dinner, Family Dinner, Feeding Kids, Sides, Tips and Tricks Tagged With: broccoli, carrot, feta, healthy, mozzarella, pasta, time management, Vegetables, vegetarian

Jessica Braider

Hi! I'm Jessica. I love delicious food that is simple and easy. As a busy mom, I am always on the lookout for ways to make life easier and tastier! Read More…

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