Spinach Indulgence

Last night Chris and I completely indulged ourselves for dinner...with cheese! I know, I know...not vegan. To save myself from the guilt of cheating, I'm defining myself as a vegetarian with vegan tendencies. I'm not going to make it a habit of cheating but when I do...these are the recipes I'm going to grab:

Creamed Spinach

(source)

10 oz. pkg. frozen spinach
4 oz. cream cheese
1/3 stick butter
Sprinkle of bread crumbs
Salt
Cook spinach according to package directions; drain. Combine spinach, cream cheese, bread crumbs and salt. Place in casserole and bake until hot.
 
 

Cheesy Baked Pasta with Spinach and Artichokes

(source)

 

8 ounces mezzi rigatoni (or other short pasta)
1 14 ounces can of artichoke hearts (rinsed and quartered)
1 9 ounce package frozen creamed spinach, thawed (or just use the recipe above like I did...yum!)
1/4 cup grated Parmesan (1 ounce)
2 cups grated mozzarella (8 ounces)
Black Pepper
 
Cook the pasta according to the package directions, drain and return it to the pot. Heat broiler.
 
Add the artichoke hearts, spinach, Parmesan, half the mozzarella and 1/4 teaspoon pepper to the past and toss to combine.
 
Transfer the mixture to a shallow 2 quart broilerproof baking dish and sprinkle with the remaining mozzarella. Broil until the cheese is browned in spots (2-3 minutes)
 

Both of these dishes were FABULOUS! I loved creamed spinach, so as you can see I doubled the first recipe so we could enjoy that as well. If you want to have a vegetarian meal that is tasty and relatively healthy, these are your tickets! Chris and I both made happy plates:

By the way, these fabulous turquoise dishes and baking dish are from the Southern Living at Home Collection, which I was able to purchase from my dear friend Anna. Shout out!