​Cucumber Salad with Peanuts and Cilantro on page 52 of this NY Times bestselling vegan potty mouth cookbook is the salad I need right now. 
​
Springtime has me with cucumbers and spinach.  This Asian inspired salad is hearty and tasty.

Easy to whip up; shake dressing up in a jar and hold until ready.  Chop cucumbers and onions.  Add in cilantro and spinach.  

I like with some red pepper flakes in my salad.  My neighbor thought it was just fine as is.

This book has recipes that are simpler than their original book; for me it's been hit or miss (I don't mind more complicated recipes!).  This one is a hit that I will put into my veg rotation.

​1. Make the dressing:  Pour the vinegar, lime juice, soy sauce, maple syrup and oils into a jar and shake the shit out of it.
2. Make the salad:  In a large bowl, toss together the spinach, cucumbers, red onion, and cilantro.  Pour in the dressing and toss everything together.  Sprinkle in the peanuts, salt, pepper then taste and add more salt or whateverthefuck you think it's missing.

Spinach & Pine Nut Quiche
by Steve Petusevsky & Whole Foods Market Team Members

The quiche may be made up to three days before serving.  Serve it at room temperature, or reheat it slowing in a 325 oven for 30 minutes until heated through.

1 9" pie crust
1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
2 large garlic cloves, sliced
6 cups fresh spinach leaves, washed and dried
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
1 teaspoon dried sage (or 1 tablespoon fresh)
1/2 cup pine nut, toasted
1 cup mozzarella cheese, grated
1/4 cup parmesan cheese, grated
1 cup milk
2 large eggs
1 large red bliss potato, steamed until tender, sliced 1/4" thick
​
​​1. Preheat the oven to 350.  Remove the piecrust from the freezer, and let it thaw for 10 minutes.  Prick the bottom with a fork and bake for 7-10 minutes, until lightly browned.  Remove the crust from the oven to cool.

2. Heat the olive oil in a medium saute pan.  Add the garlic, spinach, salt, pepper and sage.  Cook, stirring constantly, for about 1 minute or until the spinach is just wilted.  Stir in the pine nuts.

3. In a small bowl, mix the mozzarella and parmesan cheeses.  In another bowl, whisk the milk and eggs together.

4. Sprinkle 1/4 cup of the cheese mixture on the piecrust.  Top with half the spinach mixture.  Place the potato slices on top of the spinach.  Add half the remaining cheese mixture and then the remaining spinach mixture.  Top with the rest of the cheese.  Place the piepan on a sheet pan.  Carefully pour in the milk mixture.  Bake for 45-50 minutes, until a knife inserted into the center comes out clean.  Cool slightly before cutting.

On the top of my list of things I miss from my hometown, Outpost Coop is up there.  I miss a quick trip in for any of the good foods that they create in their kitchen.  I remembered I had a few of their magazines with some recipes bookmarked so I started paging through and was thrilled to find this one for the Florentine Burgers!  It's my favorite of all the prepackaged deli burgers.  I happen to have leftover creamed spinach and I used that and omitted the cheddar and it still had that familiar flavor I missed so much.  This little veggie patty is a winner.  Tamari and nutritional yeast are two of my favorite flavors as are fried up toasty walnuts and spinach is always good!  I have had these as a sandwich, in a wrap or just all by themselves.

Florentine Burgers
Outpost Coop, Milwaukee WI

1 package (10-12 oz) Frozen Spinach
1 1/4 cup walnuts, chopped
1 cup panko bread crumbs
2 eggs, whisked
1/4 cup onions, minced
1 cup sharp cheddar cheese, grated
2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
1 1/2 tablespoons tamari
1 1/4 teaspoons garlic, minced
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
2 teaspoons fresh basil, chopped
Freshly ground black pepper to taste
Oil for sauteing

1.  Thaw spinach and press any excess liquid out.  Set aside.
2.  Add walnuts and panko to a food processor until finely ground.  Add spinach, process until roughly chopped.
3.  Put walnut, panko and spinach mixture into a bowl and add remaining ingredients.  Mix well to combine.  Form into 6 burger patties.
4.  Heat oil in a saute pan over medium heat.  Saute burgers until golden brown.

Spinach is the first sign of spring here in Wisconsin.  I'm so happy to finally get it fresh and local!  So I dug out my arsenal of spinach recipes and this sounds like a winner.  It's from Penzey's and surprisingly from a spice company, turned out a bit bland so I added tons of celery salt which helped.  I ate mine on some veggie meatballs. 

Vegan Spinach Pesto

Makes 1 1/2 cups


 10 ounces baby spinach
 2 tablespoons pine nut
 1/4 cup nutritional yeast
 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
 1/4 teaspoon granulated garlic

Place the spinach, pine nuts, yeast and olive oil in a food
processor or blender and pulse until well-blended, scraping the sides as needed.
Add the water or more olive oil and pulse to reach your desired
consistency.