elizabeth's spinach quiche from smitten kitchen

with or without crust even:
1 3-ounce package cream cheese, room temperature
1/3 cup half and half (or milk)
3 eggs
1 10-ounce package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained
1/2 cup grated cheddar (gruyere works well, too)
1/4 cup grated Parmesan
4 to 6 green onions, thinly sliced (1/2 cup finely diced red or white onion or shallots work as well)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper

Preheat oven to 425°. Beat cream cheese in medium bowl until smooth. Gradually beat in half and half and eggs. Mix in remaining ingredients. Pour mixture into prepared crust. Bake until crust is golden brown and filling is set, about 25 minutes. Cool 10 minutes before serving.

artichoke and white bean crostini

4 artichokes, halved lengthwise, tops and stems trimmed, center leaves removed, chokes scraped out
6 cups (or more) low-salt chicken broth
1 cup dry white wine
1/2 cup chopped carrot
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup chopped celery
2 large fresh thyme sprigs
1 cup drained rinsed canned cannellini (white kidney beans)
1/2 cup grated Pecorino Romano cheese
1/4 cup (packed) finely chopped fresh basil plus whole leaves for garnish
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil plus more for brushing
8 1/3- to 1/2-inch-thick slices pain rustique or other flat country bread
Lemon wedges
Preparation

Bring artichokes, 6 cups broth, and next 5 ingredients to boil in large saucepan, adding more broth if necessary to cover. Reduce heat; cover and simmer until artichoke hearts are very tender, about 50 minutes. Chill artichokes in broth mixture, uncovered, until cold, at least 2 hours and up to 1 day.

Remove artichokes from broth; drain. Pull off leaves. Cut hearts into 1/3-inch cubes; place in large bowl. Mix beans, cheese, 1/4 cup chopped basil, and 2 tablespoons oil into hearts. Season with salt and pepper.

Preheat oven to 400°F. Arrange bread on rimmed baking sheet. Brush with oil. Bake until beginning to crisp, about 8 minutes.

Spoon artichoke topping onto bread. Squeeze lemon juice over; top with basil leaf.

healthy cookies

Nikki's Healthy Cookie Recipe

You can use unsweetened carob, or grain sweetened chocolate chips, or do what I did and chop up 2/3 of a bar of Scharffen berger 70%. I sort-of shaved half the bar with a knife and then cut the rest into bigger chip-sized chunks. You can make your own almond meal by pulsing almonds in a food processor until it is the texture of sand - don't go too far or you'll end up with almond butter. And lastly, the coconut oil works beautifully here, just be sure to warm it a bit - enough that it is no longer solid, which makes it easier to incorporate into the bananas. If you have gluten allergies, seek out GF oats.

3 large, ripe bananas, well mashed (about 1 1/2 cups)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup coconut oil, barely warm - so it isn't solid (or alternately, olive oil)
2 cups rolled oats
2/3 cup almond meal
1/3 cup coconut, finely shredded & unsweetened
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon fine grain sea salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
6 - 7 ounces chocolate chips or dark chocolate bar chopped

Preheat oven to 350 degrees, racks in the top third.

In a large bowl combine the bananas, vanilla extract, and coconut oil. Set aside. In another bowl whisk together the oats, almond meal, shredded coconut, cinnamon, salt, and baking powder. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and stir until combined. Fold in the chocolate chunks/chips.The dough is a bit looser than a standard cookie dough, don't worry about it. Drop dollops of the dough, each about 2 teaspoons in size, an inch apart, onto a parchment (or Silpat) lined baking sheet. Bake for 12 - 14 minutes. I baked these as long as possible without burning the bottoms and they were perfect - just shy of 15 minutes seems to be about right in my oven.

Makes about 3 dozen bite-sized cookies.

sorbet w/o added sugar

juice of 3 limes
juice of 1 orange
1 finely chopped mango
1 small jar prune baby food

mix in freezer.