Saturday, April 11, 2009

HOLY SATURDAY BRUNCH ~ MUSHROOM SPINACH STRATA / SPRING SALAD with RASPBERRY VINAIGRETTE

"Easter spells out beauty,
the rare beauty of new life."

~S.D. Gordon



MUSHROOM SPINACH STRATA
~ Lovely to look at ... luscious to eat
__________
2 Tbsp. unsalted butter
1 lb. sliced mushrooms
1 cup chopped onion
8 slices good whole wheat bread,
trimmed & halved diagonally
2 cups shredded Swiss or Gouda cheese
1 10-oz. package chopped spinach, thawed and well drained
6 slices crisp bacon (optional)
4 organic beaten eggs
1 tsp. cayenne pepper
1 cup milk
coarse salt & freshly ground black pepper
  • Grease a 10-inch quiche pan and set aside.
  • Melt butter and saute mushrooms for about 5 minutes. Remove with slotted spoon and set aside. Add chopped onion to pan and saute for 5 minutes.
  • Arrange 6 of the half slices of bread to cover bottom of quiche pan. Atop bread, spread 3/4 of sauteed mushrooms and all of the onions, 1 cup of cheese, and drained spinach. Sprinkle crisp bacon over top. Arrange 8 half-slices over spinach, overlapping the pieces to fit in a circle; place remaining 2 half pieces over center.
  • Combine milk, eggs, cayenne pepper, salt & pepper. Pour over bread. Cover and let sit 30 minutes or overnight.
  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Bake strata, uncovered, about 40 minutes or until almost firm. Place remaining mushrooms in center of strata and bake 10-15 minutes more or until knife inserted comes out clean. (6 servings)


SPRING SALAD with RASPBERRY VINAIGRETTE
Organic baby spring Greens
Arugula
Blue cheese or goat cheese
Toasted walnuts, pecans, pine nuts, or pistachios
Thinly sliced red onion
Blackberries, raspberries, blueberries or strawberries
Kiwi or star fruit
Place greens in chilled salad bowl (healthy handful for each guest). Top with cheese, toasted nuts, sliced onion and fruit. Spoon vinaigrette to taste over each salad serving.
VINAIGRETTE:
1/2 cup raspberry (or black raspberry) vinegar
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1/2 cup salad oil
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. paprika
1 tsp. dry mustard
3 chopped scallions
Mix all ingredients (except oil) together in blender. Blend, slowly adding oil, until well combined. Serve spooned over salad.


14 comments:

Tatyana@MySecretGarden said...

What a wonderful post - colorful and yummy! happy Easter to you!

Brenda Pruitt said...

Oh Joey, those eggs are precious! Are they painted or decoupaged? I'm thinking of getting some wooden ones to decoupage soon.
Brenda

joey said...

... and Happy Easter to you, Tatyana! Thank you.

Thanks Brenda ~ the wooden eggs are hand-painted ... fun to shoot and combine like a poster.

Anonymous said...

Your handpainted wooden eggs are quite charming! Happy Easter Joey!

Monica the Garden Faerie said...

OOh, what lovely Easter eggs, and the cake looks mighty lovely, too! Maybe this summer we could tour each other's gardens! (I'm not a cook but I make good hummus!)

beckie said...

Joey, beautiful eggs! And I love the cake. :) Happy Easter to you and yours!

Naturegirl said...

The painted Easter eggs are gorgeous! Lovely post! Wishing you a happy Easter!!

joey said...

Happy Easter, dear Racquel! Thank you :) May our perennial gardens be blessed!

Monica ... your note sounds delightful. You are welcome to visit ... whenever (don't have to bring a thing ... meeting you would be the best)! Think of joining me for a glass of May wine :)

Thanks Beckie ... and to you and yours, a blessed Easter.

Enjoy this beautiful weekend, dear Naturegirl. Happy Spring ... Happy Easter!

Kathryn/plantwhateverbringsyoujoy.com said...

Wait! Is that a bunny cake??? :) Beautiful visuals for Easter, Joey. Enjoy your family gathering. Love and hugs, Kathryn xoxo

joey said...

Yes, the traditional bunny cake, dear Kathryn :) All my chickens and 'grand'chickens were here ~ a perfect day. Lots of cooking, lots of eating, and ... surrounded in love .... lots of hugs. Do hope your Easter was lovely also.

Anonymous said...

These are the kinds of eggs my Uncle Bim made when he was living. He was so talented. He used the same pattern but accomplished it with layering the color. He used beeswax. He would tip the end of a wire coat hanger in the wax and cover the area he didn't want colored. After dipping the egg and letting it dry, he would scrape off the old wax and put on new. The process was repeated until a pattern like the one above was finished. The colors were more subdued but it had the same affect.

joey said...

Thank you for sharing, Anna. I've seen that process done ... patience!

Marysol said...

Did you paint those eggs and made that adorable bunny cake? If so, I hate you.
No! I love you. Oh, but I'm supposed to hate you.

I suck at decision-making, so I'll stuff my alter egos with chocolate; that'll shut'em up.

joey said...

I did not paint the eggs but did make the cake ... a poor showing compared to your works of art, talented Marysol! (But it does taste good so says the grandboys)