Some Recipes Popeye Would Love

We've been doing pretty good with our eating (not counting all the BBQs that come along with July, but those don't count, right? And a cinnamon toast every other night or so just helps settle my stomach...), but one thing we've been lacking a little is leafy green veggies. It's just hard to fit them into your day. Probably the best leafy green on the market is spinach, and I don't know about your kids, but my kids hate it. We've come up with an awesome way to get them to eat it though!

We call it a Green Slime Smoothie, and I got the name from this recipe, but we've changed it up a bit. The frozen strawberries were very difficult for our blender since we don't have a Blendtech yet, and it also wasn't very green. It was more brown - not as exciting.

Here's what I did this morning, and it was really good:

1 1/2 cups almond milk

3 oranges (I just cut the peal off, cut them in half and threw them in)

2 big handfuls of baby spinach (pre-washed from Costco, so easy!)

2 bananas

a glassful of ice

It was pretty thin, so next time I'll probably double the ice, and maybe not put quite so much milk. The almond milk was really good. It added to the sweetness I think. The key is the bananas, though. They are pretty much what you taste and they totally cover up the taste of the spinach. You still get a beautifully green drink, though! My kids all come running when I say, "Green slime is up!"

The other recipe that we loved, wasn't actually a hit with the kids, but here it is:

Spinach and Goat Cheese Salad with Beetroot Vinaigrette

1 cup walnuts, coarsely chopped
2 tablespoons white sugar
1/3 (15 ounce) can pickled beets
1/4 cup cider vinegar
1 teaspoon chicken bouillon granules
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon white sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/2 pound baby spinach, rinsed and dried
4 ounces goat cheese, crumbled

Directions:

1. In small saucepan over medium heat, cook and stir the walnuts and sugar until walnuts are lightly browned and sugar is caramelized. Thoroughly coat the walnuts with the sugar.
2. In a blender or food processor, blend the beets with cider vinegar, bouillon granules, garlic powder, sugar, salt, and pepper. Gradually blend in the oil.
3. In a large bowl, toss together the sugar-coated walnuts and spinach. Before serving, drizzle with the blended beat mixture, toss, and sprinkle with goat cheese.

This salad is sooo yummy! I had seconds, and maybe thirds, then I ate what was left when everyone else was finished.

I found this recipe because we had bought some spinach and some beets at the Farmers Market, so I just went to allrecipes.com and searched for a recipe that used both. I ended up using feta cheese instead of goat cheese because I couldn't find any goat cheese at my ghetto grocery store, but it worked great. I also used fresh beets so I boiled them first to make them soft enough to blend. The walnuts were so good, and I'd almost say you don't even need to sugar them because the dressing was so strong and sweet that I don't think you'd notice.

Mmmm, it's making me hungry just thinking about this salad. I hope you try it. I have to make it again. Soon.