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Smoked Salmon, Goat Cheese & Spinach Empanadas

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Smoked Salmon, <a href=viagra Goat Cheese & Spinach Empanadas” />

Around these parts, everyone loves empanadas and you can get them pretty much anywhere. The Cuban kind are usually filled with ground beef picadillo and deep fried. Very tasty, but not exactly light.

Argentine empanadas are usually baked and filled with just about anything: tuna with pepper and onions, corn, Mediterranean-spiced lamb, spinach and ricotta, ham and cheese, chicken fricasse, cheese and onion. The list goes on and on. This is what I love about empanadas – there are endless possibilities.

This morning, I stuffed some store-bought shells with smoked salmon, goat cheese and spinach. It took all of 10 minutes to prepare, then into the oven for a half hour. The result? A delicious snack or light lunch. They’d also make a great addition to a brunch buffet.

A note on ingredients: I’m lucky enough to be able to find frozen, pre-cut empanada shells at any local grocery store. If you’re having trouble finding them, you can order online, substitute frozen pie shell dough or make your own.

Related: Empanadas Three Ways

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Smoked Salmon, Caper & Goat Cheese Pasta

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Smoked Salmon, <a href=condom Caper & Goat Cheese Pasta” />

Some people like Pancakes and French Toast powdered with sugar and drenched in maple syrup for breakfast. Me? I can’t handle that much sugar in the morning. Honestly, unhealthy I can’t ever handle that much sugar. I’m more of an omelet, home fries and hot sauce kind of girl. So, you’d think I’d also be all about bagels with cream cheese, smoked salmon and capers. And I am…just not for breakfast. (Most days, anyway.)

So, here’s my take on a deli breakfast for dinner. Swap the bagel with some linguine and the cream cheese for goat cheese and you’ve got all that smoked salmon goodness at a more appropriate hour. This dish only has 5 ingredients, but tastes just right. If you want to lighten up the carbs, add a few handfuls of baby spinach.

Either way, it’s another tasty, easy weeknight meal.

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Goat Cheese Tartlets, 5 Ways

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Photo Credit: Agustin Sanchez

Vote for this recipe!

Awhile back, oncology the Ile de France cheese company sent me a free wheel of Camembert cheese to blog about. Since one would be insane to turn down free cheese, I accepted and made roasted fig, prosciutto and camembert “sushi” drizzled with honey. Nothing better than creamy cheese, fruit, cured meat and honey. Nothing.

I guess it was a success because Ile de France sent me some more free cheese. This time, a large piece of goat cheese and the chance to submit my recipe for a chance to win $1,000! Free cheese and a chance to win some cash? Yes please. So, I invited my photographer friend and co-worker Augi and his wife Meli (one of my homeys from high school) over for goat cheese tartlets.

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Photo Credit: Agustin Sanchez

I made a simple tart crust, which I stuffed into mini-muffin tins for appetizer-sized tartlets. Because I couldn’t decide on just one filling, I made five. And it can’t hurt my chances in this contest, right? Here were the 5 finalists:

  • Cracked Pepper Smoked Salmon & Dill (my favorite, I think) – #4 in photo above
  • Dried Apricot, Almond and Honey (Tom’s favorite) – #1 in photo above
  • Roasted Fig – #3 in photo above
  • Cardamom and Mustard Seed-spiked Butternut Squash – sadly, not pictured
  • Caramelized Onion & Pear (my second favorite) – #2 & #5 in photo above

The point here is that you can have fun with the fillings and the possibilities are endless. Each were tasty little bites and my guest photographer snapped away while I cooked and sipped from a Red Hook ESB. A perfectly relaxing Sunday afternoon.

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