Sneaky Spinach

I'm on a kick to try new recipes. This shouldn't be a problem since any recipe I could possibly want is just a mouse click away, along with reviews and advice on how to make the dish perfect. The problem is finding dishes that both John and I will eat. He's pretty much a "meat and potatoes" kind of guy (and sushi, too, oddly enough). I generally hate anything that's green and plant-like. Oh, and green beans. They taste like little chewy dirt capsules.

Unless Amelia inherits my wacked out taste buds (and if she does I promise not to force her to eat things that repulse her), I want her to grow up eating vegetables. In order for this to happen, I have to (A) serve vegetables and (B) eat them myself since I don't subscribe to the "do as I say, not as I do" school of parenting.

So that leads us to tonight's experiment: Monterey spaghetti casserole. It has spinach in it which by itself I despise. However, mixed with cheese (lots of cheese) I can get it down.

Ingredients
1 egg
1 cup sour cream (I used a little extra since I had it and it's almost out of date)
1/4 grated Parmesan
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
2 cups of shredded Monterey jack cheese (also used a little extra of this since I LOVE cheese)
8 oz pack of spaghetti, cooked (unsalted) and drained (recipe called for thin but I used regular)
1/2 bag of chopped frozen spinach, thawed and dried thoroughly

Preheat oven to 350.

Boil water for spaghetti. While you wait, mix egg, sour cream, Parmesan and garlic powder. Add Monterey jack. Stir.

Thaw spinach and add to bowl. Stir.

Cook spaghetti. Drain and add hot noodles. Mix.

Lightly spray 8 x 8 casserole dish. Pour in mixture and bake for 30 minutes.



My thoughts:

John and I both liked this dish. Very cheesy and rich. I forgot to take a picture of the dish since I was starving and was busy stuffing my face as soon as it came out of the oven.

I liked the spaghetti, but I'm going to try it again but with a different pasta. Maybe farfalle or some penne lisce. I actually think I may add more spinach next time since I could barely taste it (even though I hate squeezing the water out of it because raw spinach smells unholy to me and I swear I still smell it on my hands). The only problem I had with this dish is that once it sets out for even 10-15 minutes, the cheese cools and gets "goopy." If you make this and go back for seconds, pop it in the microwave.