It’s simple. The recipe just contains cucumbers, arugula, olive oil, lemon, salt and pepper. Some recipes swirl in plain yogurt and you can always do that, but I like the olive oil/lemon version for a clean, fresh tasting soup.

I’ve made chilled soups here before. Traditional Gazpacho, Chilled Watermelon, Canteloupe soup are all summer soups that are perfect during the hot summer days.

Two Main Ingredients

This is a very simple soup. You might see recipes online with a long list of ingredients, but this is a soup of fresh, local ingredients, using only two basic ingredients cucumbers and greens for either a quick starter or a nourishing, refreshing lunch.

Ingredients

• Cucumbers
• Arugula or Raw Baby Spinach
• Olive Oil
• Lemon
• Splash Vinegar
• Fresh basil or mint
• Salt, Pepper

Process for Cucumber Gazpacho Soup

This is very easy and quick chilled soup. I like to peel most of the cucumber (you don’t have to) and cut into large chunks. All of the ingredients go into a blender, adding only as much olive oil as you need, saving some to drizzle.

If you have a lemon-flavored olive oil, all the better. As far as vinegar, a splash means a small splash, just enough to bring some acid to the soup. A squeeze of lemon and some salt will do the rest in balancing flavor.

You can use either arugula or baby spinach. Keep in mind that arugula will add a peppery profile. You could also mix the greens.

More Cold Soups from Spinach Tiger

• Gazpacho (traditional)
• Golden Grape Gazpacho
• Watermelon Gazpacho Soup
• Chilled Canteloupe Soup with Blackberry Drizzle

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Play Around with the Recipe

• Add a chopped bell pepper to the recipe.
• Swirl in plain yogurt.
• Garnish top with chopped cherry tomatoes.

Products I Used for This Recipe

• Vitamix or Super Blender
• Cutting Board
• White Wine Vinegar

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Chilled Cucumber Gazpacho

Chilled Cucumbers with Arugula, Lemon, Olive Oil Blended to a summer soup.

Course Soup

Cuisine American

Keyword cucumber, gazpacho

Prep Time 15 minutes minutes

Servings 4

Ingredients

• 2 cucumbers see notes
• 2 cups arugula or baby spinach
• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1 squeeze lemon
• 1 tablespoon white vinegar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt or as needed
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper or to taste
• fresh herbs for garnish

Instructions

• Reserve 1 tablespoon olive oil for garnish.
• Put all ingredients in blender except vinegar, reserving salt and pepper and then adjust to your taste.
• Serve with basil or mint or garnish with micro greens.

Notes

You may need more cucumbers depending on how much you want to make or size of cucumbers. Best ratio is a handful of greens to one cup of cucumber, but this is a very flexible recipe made to taste.

The post Chilled Cucumber Gazpacho Soup (No Dairy) appeared first on Spinach Tiger.

Mix up your stuffing with some turkey, some greens like arugula and fry in butter. Serve with cranberry sauce. How good does that sound?

It starts with this stuffinig, made from my very popular grain free biscuits, which lay the ground work for the stuffing and many future recipes.

Make the Keto Stuffing Hash

This stuffing recipe has sausage in it, and I also added in some chopped turkey. Next went a whole bunch of arugula, but you could add any green you like.  I also fried some sage leaves in butter to up the flavor a bit. You can skip that part, but do use a good Irish butter. Cranberry sauce goes so well with this.

Sugar Free Cranberry Sauce

Of course, adding eggs is a great idea. I have the perfect recipe for oven-fried sunny side up eggs with a video (for the eggs). Or make these perfect poached eggs. 

You can also oven bake your bacon, the same time you roast the vegetables.

The nice thing about red flannel hash is making it your own! The first time I made it I did oven fried the eggs separately and made my famous southern fluffy biscuits. 

You can get everything ready a day in advance by prepping your veggies!

More Egg Recipe from Spinach Tiger

More Whole 30 Recipe from Spinach Tiger

More Red Beet Recipes from Spinach Tiger

Perfect Poached Eggs

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Red Flannel Hash with Oven Fried Eggs

Red Flannel Hash, a colorful medley of red beets, potatoes, and bacon, with our secret technique for oven fried sunny side up eggs,

Course Breakfast

Cuisine American

Prep Time 40 minutes minutes

Total Time 40 minutes minutes

Servings 4

Author Angela Roberts

Ingredients

• 2 red beets can be mixed in color
• 1 small sweet potato
• 4 purple splendor potatoes optional
• 1 to 2 teaspoons olive oil
• 2 shallots
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2 tablespoons chopped parsley
• 2 cups arugula
• 4 large eggs

Instructions

• Peel beets,dice, bake for 20 minutes or until softened.
• Peel sweet potatoes, dice, bake for 20 minutes.
• Keep beets in separate pile on baking sheet.
• Drizzle oil on vegetables.
• Roast at 400 degrees for about twenty minutes.
• Bake bacon in oven for twenty minutes. (recipe here)
• Dice purple potatoes, (no peeling)
• Dice shallots or onions. Cook in butter until softened.
• Add all vegetables, onion, parsley and arugula to cast iron pan or baking sheet.
• Add eggs.
• Bake for 7 to 10 minutes until eggs are cooked.

The post Red Flannel Hash with Oven Fried Eggs appeared first on Spinach Tiger.

What is an open face frittata? It’s a frittata with fillings placed on the top instead of inside. It’s what happened for me when we were down to two eggs and I was making a quick Sunday brunch for the two of us. I didn’t plan on making this a blog post, but it was a new discovery for me that one could stretch two eggs into a meal and that it seemed worthy to share with you.

Open Face Healthy Frittata with Purple Potatoes and Arugula is full of nutrition.

I’ve made lot of frittatas here at Spinach Tiger. It’s a cornerstone of my big fat healthy food view. Frittatas can be a healthy lunch or a quick dinner, and are a great fall back to the “busy life” dilemma.

Purple potatoes and arugula both have a high anti-oxidant profile. Many studies have shown both to aid in lowering blood pressure.

If you’re new to purple potatoes, let me give me the good news. There is not “potato” guilt. They have a lower glycemic index than white potatoes, and are all around “healthy” food. One half cup of potatoes is only about 12 carbs.  Purple Potaotes are a super food, containing cancer fighting anthocyanin, which gives the potato its brilliant purple color.  I wrote more about the benefits here.

The Process for a Healthy Frittata

I made this healthy frittata with only two eggs (because that’s all we had), but you can increase the ingredients for a larger frittata, just adjust your ingredients accordingly. If you want to bake your frittata, follow these instructions, although I would only do that if I were making a frittata with six or more eggs.

I prepared the toppings first, then took the two minutes it takes to make the eggs. Once the frittata is turned over, I added the cooked ingredients, the cheese and put a lid on it so the cheese would melt.

I think this is a beautiful presentation and I might do more frittatas like this.

This recipe is more of a guide and a new idea. It’s a great way to use any left overs!

You might recall I made a frittata for one, because sometimes it’s just you. Sometimes, it’s a crowd and you can bake a frittata in a baking pan.

Frittata for One

Sheet Pan Frittata for a Crowd

More Frittatas from Spinach Tiger

More Purple Potato Recipes from Spinach Tiger

This site contains affiliate links which earn a small commission, but does not affect your price. See disclosure here. 

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Open Faced Healthy Frittata with Purple Potatoes, Shallots, Arugula

A open faced frittata with purple potatoes and arugula.

Course Entree

Cuisine American

Prep Time 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time 5 minutes minutes

Total Time 15 minutes minutes

Servings 2

Author Angela Roberts

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoons butter avocado oil or olive oil (may need less)
• 2 purple potatoes large diced
• 1 shallot small diced
• handful of arugula
• 1/4 corn or peas I used corn off a fresh cob
• 2 to 4 eggs see notes
• 1 ounce of Manchego cheese or cheese of your choice

Instructions

• Heat butter or oil a small non stick frying pan.
• Add potatoes and shallots until potatoes are cooked through.
• Remove to a plate.
• Clean out pan if needed.
• Add more oil or butter in pan.
• Beat eggs. Season with salt and pepper.
• Add to pan. Using a large spatula (like this one), move the eggs to the underneath, from all four corners, east west north south, until there is not much liquid on top and you can flip.
• Using potholders and a flat dish, flip frittata over.
• Add in potatoes, shallots, arugula, and corn over the top.
• Add in cheese. I didn't cover with cheese, just added intermittently. You can use any cheese you like.
• Cover with lid for a minute or two until cheese is melted.
• Serve immediately.

Notes

You can make this larger by adding up to six eggs. You can also bake frittata in oven if you desire.

The post Open Faced Healthy Frittata with Purple Potatoes, Shallots, Arugula appeared first on Spinach Tiger.

How beautiful are the colors of Autumn, the inspiration for the this frittata for one. Yes, you read that right. You can make a frittata for one with three eggs or you make a more traditional, thicker frittata for two.

I found myself alone, post weight training workout, hungry and wanting nutrient heavy, low carb, filling lunch. I wanted a frittata. that was was under 500 calories.

Every Other Day Diet

I haven’t made much of a big deal of this yet, but I’ve been doing the Every Other Day Diet for the past month. There’s a lot of information in the book about why this diet is the best thing for people like me, and I encourage you to read it. Basically, one day you eat 500 calories and the next day you eat whatever you want. I’m going to start a facebook group on this, coming soon, called Spinach Tiger’s Intermittent Fasting Group.

This frittata would coming in at 370 calories is a perfect example of how I might eat on fasting day, saving the rest for milk for coffee and and a 100 calorie snack. While the book suggests frozen dinners, that’s not a choice for me. I need to eat my own food on these days prepared with the most nutrient dense foods and I must have high protein because I work out a lot and don’t want to lose muscle. This EOD Diet which is intermittent fasting at its best promises that very little muscle is lost in this way of eating, and I’ll be sharing more about this in future.

The Frittata for One Process

When counting calories, I needed to make a half of a sweet potato look like a lot of potato.  Shredding the potato gives you a lot or at least makes you feel that way. I used three whole eggs. Some people eat egg white omelettes, but I’m totally against that. The yolks have a lot of nutrition. Please don’t throw those away.

Use a non-stick pan and a healthy spray to crisp up the shredded sweet potatoes. That takes almost no time. Add in shallots if you have them for extra flavor. Make room for a handful of arugula. The color adds spirit to this and makes me thinks of Fall. If you don’t have arugula you could add spinach or kale.

I baked my sweet potato frittata for one. I used a 10 inch non-stick pan that is oven safe. Once I added the eggs, the put it in the oven at 400 degrees for about 10 minutes.

My sweet potato frittata for one was delicious and made me feel like a fasting day is a very good day! (More to come on this).

More Frittata Recipes from Spinach Tiger

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Shredded Sweet Potato Frittata for One

How to make a frittata for one, low carb, low calorie, using shredded sweet potatoes, arugula for a beautiful Autumn Frittata

Course Breakfast

Cuisine American

Prep Time 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes minutes

Total Time 30 minutes minutes

Servings 1

Author Angela Roberts

Ingredients

• 3 eggs
• 1/2 sweet potato
• Handful arugula
• 1 teaspoon coconut oil or healthy fat of choice (order here)
• dash freshly ground nutmeg optional (order here)
• pinch sea salt
• dash black pepper

Kitchen Tools

• Vegetable Shredder order here

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
• Shred sweet potato. Use paper towel to blot moisture.
• Heat oil in nonstick frying pan. Cook sweet potatoes until cooked through, turning frequently.
• Add in handful of arugula.
• Once potatoes are cooked, add eggs.
• Place in oven for 10-15 minutes or until cooked through.

Notes

You can make this for two by doubling ingredients.

The post Shredded Sweet Potato Frittata for One appeared first on Spinach Tiger.

This beautiful arugula hash with oven baked eggs is not a product of genius or organization. It’s certainly pretty to the eyes and satisfying to the taste buds, but it wasn’t created with finesse or thought.

I’ve been reflecting on the past six years of over 600 recipes. As I scroll though the photos, a part of me gets a little impressed. It’s a body of work to be sure. But then a part of me wishes I was more organized, more intentional, and truthfully, more creative. I find myself falling into the same ruts that anyone else does in the kitchen. I could actually get intimidated by my own photos of some pretty amazing food, if I didn’t know the back story.

Yes, it’s true that I have immeasurable passion for food, and for good ingredients, and for the local farmer (no matter where that farmer lives). I’m devoted to sight, taste, smell, experience. But I sometimes imagine other food bloggers with hefty scheduled calendars, ordered pantries, and a more well defined plan.

I struggle with such things. Most of the food in my kitchen seems to just happen. While I will think about a dish from a recipe, push it around in my mind, and try to replicate it, and I will study cookbooks, I don’t usually have a plan beyond a few days. How I’ve managed to keep this blog going so consistently sometimes baffles me.

Let’s take this arugula hash. Arugula is not a typical hash or breakfast ingredient. It found its way into my hash, out of desperation to add something green. The picture was an instagram hit. The oven baked eggs is another one of those recipes that just happened and is surprisingly successful on youtube, but can be found here.

There are some truly fabulous blogs out there, who run like a machine. I’ve seem some bloggers with a social media schedule that markets every recipe and plans every hour of their idea sharper than the president. I’m in awe of that, because I tried it for a week and found myself feeling miserable and less creative. I do have white boards with general goals, recipes, restaurants I want to visit, videos I want to make etc.

I’m sure there is a space in between that melds productivity and creativity in a perfect yin yang fashion. I’m searching for that sweet spot.

How about you. Do you live by a schedule? Do you produce your (blog, art, song, book, business plan, etc.) in a streamlined orderly fashion? Do you work more by the seat of your pants. Do you work with intention?

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Arugula Hash with Oven Baked Eggs

Arugula brings the greens to a ordinary potato has and the eggs are baked right there in the pan.

Course Breakfast

Cuisine American

Prep Time 20 minutes minutes

Cook Time 7 minutes minutes

Total Time 27 minutes minutes

Servings 2

Author Angela Roberts

Ingredients

• 1 medium potato peeled, diced
• 1 shallot diced (or 1/2 medium onion)
• 1 sweet pepper or use the pepper of your choice seeded, diced
• 1 big bunch of arugula about 2 cups or more
• 4 eggs
• olive oil for pan frying
• salt
• pepper

Instructions

• Saute onion for a few minutes, just until softened.
• Add diced pepper.
• Add garlic and while stirring cook for about one minute.
• Add potatoes and saute until softened.
• Season with salt and pepper.
• Put the hast into a cast iron pan, Add arugula,
• Make a hole in the center. Make sure there is enough oil in pan, it doesn't take too much, just a film of oil.
• Add eggs in the center.
• Bake in oven at 400 degrees F for 7-10 minutes or until eggs are set.

The post Arugula Hash with Oven Baked Eggs appeared first on Spinach Tiger.

Summer is the time for sweet, juicy, tangy food and, of course, salads. While this is a very simple salad, of honey baked goat cheese, greens, arugula, and summer fruit, there are nuances that must be noted. A good salad must have a proper balance of fat, acid and salt, the ingredients must be fresh and the greens must be washed and dried properly. Get these things right and you can make a thousand good salads.

I grew up eating salad every night at every dinner, so it’s easy for me, but I realize that’s not the case for everyone. Luckily, there is a video of this salad, that I taped for the Williamson Source and that should be up the week of the 23rd. You can watch me make this very easy dressing using products from a local olive oil store very close to home, Olivia Olive Oil. If you live in the Nashville area, you must visit the store. You can taste everything, and there is a wide assortment of amazing olive oils and vinegars.

Olivia’s lemon zest olive oil and Olivia’s blackberry with red pepper vinegar come together to sing a summer song of sweet and tart and marry so well with the honey-baked goat cheese.

Spring greens mixed with arugula is a combination of fragile greens that can wilt easily and require very little dressing to taste good. Other types of greens such as romaine is full of water, and requires at least three times the amount of dressing. That’s not the reason I chose these types of greens. I chose a more delicate green because it’s more complimentary to the baked goat cheese, which tastes best when it’s set down into the salad warm, right before serving.

During the taping, Donna the host and I got into a conversation about the cook putting the dressing on the salad for the guests. I’m a firm believer of making the salad and tossing it. There’s no dressing on the side around here. The salad simply won’t taste as good, if it’s not properly tossed in the kitchen.

As I mentioned above, salad really requires balance of acid, fat and salt. It might take some practice to get this balance right, but once you do, I’ll bet you that more people will eat salad in your house. We eat salad with every single dinner. I grew up that way and for me, a meal isn’t complete without a salad.

Honey Baked Goat Cheese with Blackberry Lemon Vinaigrette

When an olive oil and a vinegar is high quality, a good vinaigrette is fairly easy to make. The blackberry red pepper vinegar is sweet and almost drinkable. That means that the ratio of vinegar to olive oil is going to be lower than a more acidic vinegar. In this case, we almost used a one to two olive oil to vinegar ratio. A 1 to 3 or 1 to 4 is more typical. Another reason I wanted more vinegar is to balance the sweetness of the berries and the goat cheese.

A fun garnish for the salad was a bit of shaved white chocolate. While not completely necessary, it’s a nice touch, as is a sprinkling of fresh mint. I used strawberries, but on the day of the taping we used raspberries along with blackberries. You could use any fruit you like, but blackberries are in season right now and a delicacy. I like to eat them in everything.

Some Tips for Making Salad and Vinaigrette

• Do not wash fruit or lettuces until ready to use. If you do, make sure they are completely dry and then wrap in paper towels before storing. Do not wash any berries before storing.
• Fragile greens need to be completely dry before applying a vinaigrette.
• A typical vinaigrette will be a 1 to 3 or 1 to 4 ratio vinegar to oil. Sweeter vinegars use ratio of 1 to 3 or 1 to 2. Always taste the dressing first. It should be tangy enough to wake you up, but not so tart that it’s hard to taste.
• You can make flavored olive oils by allowing an ingredient, lemon zest or basil, for example to sit in the oil for a few hours.
• Add Dijon mustard or honey to a vinaigrette. It will help to emulsify (come together and stay together).
• Add in a sprinkling of fresh herbs on top of the salad just before serving.
• Toss fragile greens and season before adding in toppings, especially delicate fruit such as berries. Use as little dressing as possible, because you can always add in more. Season with salt and pepper. Taste again, then decide if more dressing is needed.

This is perfect salad for a July 4th celebration. If taking it to a party, keep the goat cheese, fruit and dressing separate. Fix it at the party; otherwise it will melt. Perfect for someone who wants something sweet, yet healthy. You could consider this your dessert.

More Salads from Spinach Tiger

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Red White and Blue Honey Baked Goat Cheese Salad with Blackberry Lemon Vinaigrette

A perfect summer salad with baked goat cheese and a tangy blackberry vinaigrette.

Course Salad

Cuisine American

Prep Time 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes minutes

Total Time 35 minutes minutes

Servings 4

Author Angela Roberts

Ingredients

• 8 cups assorted spring greens and arugula
• 1 cup of Berries Blackberries, Raspberries, Strawberries
• 6 slices of goat cheese
• 6 teaspoons honey
• 1 ounce white chocolate for garnish
• sea salt
• freshly ground black pepper
• 5 tablespoons blackberry vinaigrette

Blackberry Lemon Vinaigrette

• 10 tablespoons lemon olive oil can use regular olive oil see notes
• 5 tablespoons blackberry red pepper vinegar can use balsamic, see notes
• 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees
• Wash and rinse greens and arugula. Use a salad spinner or paper towels to dry.
• Wash fruit, only right before using.
• Place sliced goat cheese on parchment paper. Drizzle each with up to a teaspoon of honey. You may not use all of it, just enough to cover.
• Bake goat cheese until golden brown, 15-20 minutes.
• Assemble greens, first and toss with viniagrette. Use just enough to glisten the greens. Season green with salt and pepper. Toss again.
• Arrange berries on the salad.
• Place goat cheese on salad right before serving. Season once more with freshly ground black pepper.

Blackberry Lemon Vinaigrette

• If you have Olivia lemon olive oil and blackberry red pepper vinegar, mix vinegar with mustard first and then pour oil in jar. Give a good shake. Taste. You can decide then if you want to add in more vinegar or more oil. Vinaigrette should be sweet and tangy.

Notes

You can make an alternative blackberry lemon vinaigrette as follows:
10 tablespoons olive oil
juice of 1/2 lemon
3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1/4 cup blackberries and 2 tablespoons honey preserves
1 teaspoon dijon mustard

Mix blackberries with honey and blend well in food processor. Strain.
Mix mustard with vinegar and blackberry juice. Add lemon juice. Stream in olive
oil. Shake well.

The post Honey Baked Goat Cheese Salad with Blackberry Lemon Vinaigrette appeared first on Spinach Tiger.