Baked Spinach and Egg White Muffins

egg white muffins
12 whites, 2 yolks- large eggs
1T parm cheese
1T Mexican blend cheese or another cheese of your liking, shredded
1t garlic powder
¼t good salt

This recipe will make 6 standard sized muffins or 4 large muffins.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a skillet, saute 3 handfuls of fresh, washed spinach in 2T of olive oil. Let the spinach cool and squeeze out the extra moisture.

In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs then add the cheese, seasonings and spinach.

Spray your muffin pan, even if you are using one with a nonstick surface. Pour the mixture into each of the cups, almost to the top.

Place the tin in a water bath, pouring water about halfway up the side of the tin.

water bath

Cook for about 25 minutes, or until the centers are set.

After cooling for a few minutes, remove from the tin and serve.

These “muffins” can be eaten warm or cold and is an Atkins friendly option.

Mexican Lasanga

lasagna whole
8 Chorizo links (Goya brand)

Cook chorizo in a pan over medium heat until all sides are browned.
Deglaze the pan with 1/4 cup of dry vermouth. Add 3 tbsp of maple syrup and 1 tsp of fennel seeds, and pout mixture into a food processor.

Pulse until mixture is a small crumble, then remove and place into a bowl.

Roast 2 polano peppers over a flame (grill or gas stovetop). This will help to remove skin and intensify the flavor. Place the pepper right over the flame until all sides are covered with brown blisters.

peppers

Remove from heat, and place into a brown paper bag to help “sweat” off their skin.

Once cool, peel the blistered skin from the pepper and finely dice the pepper. Add 1 tsp of garlic powder and 1 tsp of salt to the peppers and reserve for cheese sauce.

In a small sauce pan simmer 1 cup of half and half or heavy cream over low heat.

In order to help thicken the liquid, take 1/2 C of warm half and half in a small bowl and wisk in 1 tsp cornstarch and 1/4 tsp of cayenne pepper.

Once incorporated, add the liquid back to the pot and continue wisking.
Add diced polanos and 3/4 cup shredded asaigo cheese and wisk until cheese is melted into the milk mixture.

Remove from heat and place the sauce in a container and into the refrigerator.

Using Doritos or another tortilla chip, pulse in food processor to make about 2 cups worth of crumbs.

Finely dice 2 Spanish onion and place in a pan with oil to caramelize
Add ½ tsp salt
¼ c sweet vermouth to deglaze

Caramelize 2 leeks in a pan with sweet vermouth and ½ tsp of salt

Using pre-made crepes, layer the ingredients in a springform pan.

This is how I layered my Mexican lasagna, but you can try different layer combinations.

Crepe
Onion
Crepe
Chorizo
Crepe
Poblano cheese sauce
Doritos
Crepe
Shredded cheese
Chorizo
Onion
Crepe
Poblano cheese sauce
Doritos
Leeks
Chorizo
Crepe
Top with cheese

Cook at 375 for 30 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool for 5 minutes prior to removing springform pan and serving.

lasagna cut

Sausage Bake

sausage bake cut

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Using a casserole pan approx 11×13, butter the bottom and sides. Using 2 Pillsbury crescent rolls (I used the reduced fat type), unroll and lay out the dough flat against the bottom and up the sides of the pan. Poke holes in the dough using a fork to help it from puffing up with baking. Pre-bake in the oven for 30 minutes, until lightly golden brown.

1lb italian sausage- mild or spicy depending on taste
1 tsp fennel seeds
1 oz sherry
¼ tsp crushed red pepper flake
¼ c maple syrup

Brown sausage in a pan with casing on over medium-high heat. You don’t really need any oil in the pan, because the fat will render from meat for it to cook in. When the sausage is almost done browning, add fennel seeds.

Deglaze the pan with a splash of sherry, then place the sausage with any liquids in the food processor. Pulse until the sausage is in a medium crumble, then add the red pepper flake and maple syrup and pulse to combine.

In a medium sized bowl, wisk together:

2 whole eggs
1 C egg whites (liquid)
2 C half and half or heavy cream
2 C cheese (reserve 1/2 C to top casserole) You can use cheddar, mexican blend, provolone, gruyere, or any type of cheese you have in your refrigerator.

Once browned, remove the pan from the oven and place the sausage crumble on top of the flat crescent rolls. Then pour in the egg mixture and sprinkle the rest of the cheese over the top.

sausage bake

Return the casserole back into the oven for an additional 50 minutes at 350 degrees.

Let the casserole set and cool and bit prior to serving. The casserole can be cut into little breakfast squares or be cut into larger pieces.