Are you with me on this? There is just something weird about eating warm bacon grease spooned onto a salad. I have always loved the taste and texture of barely wilted spinach in a salad, but most restaurants and recipes use hot bacon grease in the wilting liquid. It is a truly American dish, traditionally served with a warm bacon dressing, according to Supreme Food Geek Alton Brown. But, seriously, the time has come for an upgrade! Spinach is one of the healthiest things you can put into your mouth, so I say Hoo-rah for Spinach!

Don’t you just love Meatless Mondays?!

This scrumptious salad could be made into a main dish salad by adding sliced hard boiled eggs, and – never fear – it will STILL be on your table in 20 minutes or less.

I tried this vegetarian version and like it even more than the bacon version. You can use spinach or Swiss Chard – both work well here. The sesame oil gives a little smokiness and the sliced almonds make up the crunch of the bacon bits. I could eat this every single day!

‘WHO-NEEDS-BACON?’ WILTED SPINACH SALAD

1/2 of a red onion, outer peel removed
2 tablespoons canola oil
2 teaspoons sesame oil
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
1 tablespoon honey
1 teaspoon salt
8 cups chopped spinach
1/2 cup sliced toasted almonds
1 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds
Thinly sliced hard-boiled eggs (optional)

Slice onion into paper-thin slices about 2 inches long. Let onions soak in ice water while preparing rest of dish.

Heat oils in a small saucepan to high heat. Mix together the mustard, vinegar, honey and salt and add to pan. Heat to a boil.

Remove stems from spinach and roughly chop into bite sized pieces. Place into a large serving bowl and the pour on hot mixture from skillet. Immediately toss spinach until all leaves are coated with hot liquid.

Serve about 1 cup of mixture on each plate and sprinkle with onions, almonds and sesame seeds. Serve immediately.

Other food bloggers’ vegetarian wilted spinach salads:
Wilted Spinach Salad, Kalyns Kitchen
Wilted Spinach Salad with Kamut, Whole Grain Gourmet
Wilted Spinach Salad, The Dinner Files
Wilted Spinach Salad with Sesame Marinated Mushrooms, Food for Laughter

–Posted by Donna

Twenty Minute Dinner: Spice Rubbed Fish Fillets

You just can’t have a frugal cooking blog without at some point featuring spice rub recipes. (( I’m pretty sure there is a law somewhere requiring frugal foodies to use spice rubs!)) The Mother of all Spice Rubs is Spike Seasoning, which boasts 39 ingredients – no, I am NOT making that up! – and has been around since my mom was a kid.

Spice rubs are so very handy, healthy and frugal, whether you just use them as a shortcut to spice up a dish or as a rub.  I use three rubs pretty frequently and try to keep them mixed up and on hand. Even in the dead of winter (hello – right now!) these rubs will make you feel like you are having a backyard barbecue. So here, beloved frugal readers, are Donna’s Top Three Spice Rubs of all time – with a bonus: Donna’s Techniques for cooking Spice Rubbed Fish Fillets!

Fish is on many “I Should Eat More of” Lists. White fish fillets are perfect as a canvas for spice rubs! Here’s an easy, budget-friendly fish recipe to do just that – and only takes just 20 minutes total time.  Using small fish that are lower on the food chain is an environmentally friendly thing to do – they are sustainable fish, AND – more good news: they’re less expensive than larger varieties. For this technique, you could use tilapia, snapper, trout, cod or any other firm white fish fillets.  (Pictured above is tilapia.)  This technique is one that can be used with most any spice rub – try one of our three different  spice rubs with different flavor profiles – Indian Tandoori Spice Rub,  Southwest Chile Cumin Spice Rub and Jamaican Jerk Spice Rubs. All three are delicious – but feel free to use your own creation or purchased spice rub. Just make sure to watch the salt content so your fish isn’t too salty.

SPICE RUBBED FISH FILLETS

Serves 4
Prep and cook time – 20 minutes

3 tablespoons Spice Rub
1 teaspoon cornstarch
4 white fish fillets, 5 to 6 ounces each
2 tablespoons canola oil, divided

Mix spice rub with cornstarch and then coat one side of each fish fillet with 2 teaspoons of spice mixture, pressing down with fingers to adhere spices to fish. Heat a large skillet to medium high heat. Add 1 tablespoon of oil to skillet. Place 2 fillets in pan, spiced side down. Cook 2 to 3 minutes, until lightly browned on bottom. Carefully turn fillets over, so that uncooked side is down. Cover and cook another 2 to 3 minutes, until fillets are cooked through. Repeat this process to cook remaining 2 fillets. Serve warm with spiced side up on rice or pasta.

INDIAN TANDOORI SPICE RUB
1 tablespoon sweet paprika
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
2 teaspoons cumin
1/2 teaspoon coriander
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ginger
1/4 teaspoon curry powder
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

SOUTHWEST CHILE CUMIN SPICE RUB
2 teaspoons smoked paprika
1 teaspoon chipotle powder
1 teaspoon cumin
1/4 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper

JAMAICAN JERK SPICE RUB
2 tablespoons paprika
1/2 tablespoon cumin
1/2 tablespoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon allspice
1 teaspoon coriander
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon ground oregano
1/4 teaspoon salt
Cayenne pepper to taste

Other food bloggers do white fish:
White Fish en Papillote, Guilty Kitchen
White Fish Citrus Salad, The Kitchn
Grilled Halibut with Southwestern Rub, Kalyns Kitchen
Panko and Mustard Crusted Fish, The Perfect Pantry
Harissa Braised Fish, The Perfect Pantry
Fish Picatta, Serious Eats
Tilapia with Pimiento Sauce, Simply Recipes
Baked Fish with Chorizo, Yum Sugar

– posted by Donna

Festive Jack-o-Lantern Cheese Ball Halloween Recipe

I promise this jack-o-lantern cheese ball recipe will make you the hit of any Halloween celebration!

I was looking for something savory and orange to roll the cheese ball in and finally the light bulb went on: crushed Nacho Cheese Doritos! They are the perfect color for a jack-o-lantern and add a little zip, too. I know they’re not the healthiest thing you can put in your mouth, but really the color is perfect and you’re only using a little bit of crumbs.

Use your favorite cheese ball recipe, or mine below. Don’t forget the jumbo olives cut into triangle eyes and a toothy smile!

JACK-O-LANTERN CHEESE BALL

8 ounces regular or light cream cheese, softened
8 ounces sharp cheddar cheese (or other favorite cheese), grated
2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
3 green onions, thinly sliced, tops included
1 cup finely crushed Nacho Cheese Doritos chips
4 jumbo sized black olives
1 small dill pickle

Mix together the cream cheese, cheddar, Worcestershire sauce and green onions. Form into a ball and then flatten slightly on top to form a pumpkin shape. Make and indentation on the top where the stem will be placed. Freeze for at least one hour.

Place Dorito crumbs on a plate and roll cheese ball in crumbs. Place on a serving plate.

Cut olive into two triangles for eyes and a jack-o-lantern style mouth.  Stick the eyes and mouth onto cheese ball with toothpicks. Cut pickle in half and place on top, forming a stem.

Serve chilled with crackers, toasted baguette slices or pita crisps.

There are tons of cute Halloween ides out there by other food bloggers, too:
Witches and Wizards Treats, Farenheit 350
Three Homemade Candy Recipes,The Hungry Mouse
Halloween Dinner Menu, Yum Sugar
Halloween Recipe Treats, My Wooden Spoon
Pumpkin Pie Bites, Bakerella
Mummy Pizzas, Kara’s Kitchen
Fun Halloween Recipes, Picky Palate
Slime Ricky Punch, Yum Sugar

– posted by Donna

Budget Friendly Halloween Treats: Spider Topped Deviled Eggs

Can you believe it’s time to dig out the Halloween recipes?!

It’s not too often that you see low-carb Halloween treats – and such cute ones at that! This recipe for jazzed-up deviled eggs is one of the most fun of any holiday treats I have ever made. I make them every year!

This is a great recipe for kids to make with just a little help from an adult – deviled eggs are something my kids could make from about the age of 8. All you do to turn them into a festive holiday appetizer is top them with black olives cut to look like spiders.

You won’t believe how easy these are to make! Just make up a batch of your favorite deviled eggs. I like them pretty plain – just smash the yolks with mustard and mayo. For about 8 eggs, I use two cans of olives – one “jumbo” and one “large.” Cut each large olive in half and place on top in the middle of each deviled egg to form the spider’s “body.” Then, cut a jumbo olive lengthwise to form six spider “legs” and stick them on next to the body. That’s it!

We here at Fab Frugal Food have been inspired many times by the recipes of Kalyn at Kalyn’s kitchen – her low-glycemic deliciousness is fabulous! I decided that the world needed another low-glycemic treat on the holiday that puts sugar at the center of the festivities!

Almost-instant, frugal low-sugar Halloween treats that look fabulous! Martha, are you jealous?

Here are some other festive Halloween recipes by fellow food bloggers:
Witches and Wizards Treats, Farenheit 350
Three Homemade Candy Recipes,The Hungry Mouse
Halloween Dinner Menu, Yum Sugar
Halloween Recipe Treats, My Wooden Spoon
Pumpkin Pie Bites, Bakerella

– posted by Donna

Each summer I can hardly wait until I start seeing red globes peeking out from between the green leaves of our tomato plants.

There is a fabulous blog celebrating home-grown goodness – Andrea Meyers at Andreas Recipes – she hosts a twice-monthly “Grow Your Own” feature where she highlights recipes from food blogs that feature cooks using ingredients they have grown (or foraged or were gifted) themselves. This salsa post was featured on her blog – check it out to see this and other “GYO” goodness!

There are a million salsa recipes out there, and I have tried my share of them over the last 30 years. Trust me on this – I grew up a few miles from the Mexican border and I have eaten hundreds of salsas. If I am a connoisseur of any one thing, it has to be salsa! This Roasted Tomato Salsa recipe is my absolute all-time favorite!  Roasting about half of the tomatoes quickly at a very high heat give a wonderful roasted smoky flavor, but keeping half of the tomatoes raw gives it the perfect freshness and texture. And, the chipotle chile powder and smoked paprika are delicious in combination with tomatoes.

Don’t skip the EVOO. Olive oil used with tomatoes improves BOTH their flavor and health benefits exponentially.

I love to make gallons (literally) of our family’s favorite salsa and then cruise around the neighborhood like “The Salsa Fairy” handing out pints to friends or leaving them on doorsteps as a surprise treat. Everyone raves about salsa that has roasted tomatoes in the recipe!

You may even be tempted to sit down with a bowl of this with a very large spoon. No, I am NOT kidding.

SASSY SMOKY SALSA

Juice of two limes (about 1/4 cup)
zest of two limes (about 2 teaspoons)
4 cloves garlic
1 large bunch cilantro
About 12 large ripe tomatoes (to make 8 cups smashed)
2 bunches green onions, tops included
1 bell pepper, any color
4 to 6 fresh jalapeños
1 tablespoon each chipotle chile powder and smoked paprika
2 teaspoons salt (or more to taste)
2 tablespoons olive oil
a few dashes Tabasco sauce, to taste

Core and cut tomatoes in half and squeeze out all juice and seeds. Place half of tomatoes cut side down on a baking sheet and spray with a little oil. Broil about 3 inches from heat for about 5 minutes, until tomato skins begin to blacken in spots. Let cool. Drain off liquid from pan and then pulse roasted tomatoes and remaining uncooked tomatoes in food processor until tomatoes are in small chunks. DO NOT PUREE. Place tomato mixture in a large bowl.

Place lime juice, lime zest, garlic and cilantro in food processor and blend until smooth. Remove seeds and pulp from jalapeños and mince. Remove ends and outer skins of green onions and mince. Remove seeds and white pulp from bell pepper and mince. Add chile powder, smoked paprika, salt and olive oil. Stir all ingredients together and let sit on counter for at least one hour for flavors to blend. Taste. If necessary because tomatoes are acidic, add in a little sugar to taste. If salsa is too runny, stir in a can of tomato paste. Cover and refrigerate for up to 10 days. Serve at room temperature. Makes a HUGE batch!!

Variation: To make salsa hotter, add more hot peppers, such as serranos. Also, leaving the seeds in will make the salsa hotter after seeds have had a chance to blend with other flavors.

Some other fabulous roasted tomato salsas:
Fourth of July Roasted Tomato Salsa, 101 Cookbooks.com
Roasted Tomato Salsa, Karina’s Kitchen
Slow Roasted Tomato Salsa, A Veggie Venture

– posted by Donna