Wilted Spinach w/Bacon & Pine Nuts

I badly needed to use up a LARGE tub of baby spinach I bought a few days ago. Normally I have about 2 cups of baby spinach and a cup of kale as my salad base every day, but for some reason I have not been in the mood for cold meals lately. Even though it's 100 degrees outside, it's fall on Facebook and I'll blame my disinterest in spinach salad on that. :-)

I hate cooked/boiled spinach, as the tinny aftertaste and slimy texture leave me wanting to vomit. Let's pretend my previous post wasn't about decadent cupcakes, and I'll act like I eat raw spinach for its health benefits, and not because cooked spinach leaves me spitting and grimacing like a 2-year-old. Besides, just know that getting Rich to eat spinach, period, would take some doing. It might even be impossible.

After some online searches, I rejected everything that came up on google and decided to go back to the basics of tricking grown men into eating leafy green vegetables: bacon. Before you get all crazy, actually READ the recipe. ;) I decided to make a butter mix that was garlicky-buttery-bacony goodness. Here goes.

6 cups baby spinach, rinsed thoroughly.

2 tbsp butter

2 tbsp Hormel bacon bits

1 clove of roasted garlic (throw an unpeeled clove of garlic in the oven at 325 for 20-25 minutes, and you'll have a perfect piece of roasted garlic. Squish it out of the peel and smash it.)

2 tbsp pine nuts (put them in a pan with the roasting garlic, but only about 15 minutes. Roasting them is delish.)

Salt & pepper

Smash the garlic clove with a wide wooden spoon in the bottom of a medium-sized pot. Add the butter, and turn the heat on low. Stir until the garlic is creamy. Add the bacon bits and the spinach. Lightly salt and pepper the leaves and toss them gently until they begin to wilt. Do not overlook!!! If your spinach leaves turn that deadly dark green color, there's a 5-year-old voice inside me strongly suggesting you don't even eat it.... Lol :)

Once the greens are wilted drain off ALL excess liquid (from the washing of the greens, and extra butter!) and top with roasted pine nuts. This was a winner at our house tonight. :-)

Salted Caramel Cupcakes

Amidst all the posts about pumpkin spice lattes, I decided to make something I've never made before. Salted caramel seems to be the item of the season. So, after a reading a few blogs, I decided to go for salted caramel cupcakes.

Now the cupcake really wasn't the star of my show. This was all about the frosting. Also, my first attempt at this particular flavor. One thing I've been noticing lately is most baked goods taste too sweet. I specifically looked for a "not so sweet" frosting that would be very light and fluffy. This was pretty labor intensive but ended up being pretty good.

1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup whole milk
1/2 stick salted butter, at room temp
1/2 cup sugar
1-1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup caramel sauce
Kosher salt for garnish

Whisk together the flour and milk in a small saucepan over medium heat until it thickens, about 3-5 minutes. Pour the mixture into a small bowl and put into the fridge. Set a timer for 18 minutes. Every 3 minutes, remove the mix and stir well with a fork. The mix must be kept as smooth as possible.

While your flour/milk mix is chilling, cream the butter, sugar, and vanilla together on medium-high at least 5 minutes. Once the mix is cool, stir it into the butter/sugar and mix 3-5 minutes more. You are looking for a very stiff texture. It will not have the creamy smooth texture of jar frosting, so don't be surprised. Once the frosting is mixed, carefully fold in the caramel sauce. You do not want to completely blend it but want ribbons of caramel throughout the frosting.

After you frost the cupcakes, drizzle with caramel sauce and a few grains of course salt for garnish. I also added candy pearls on the photo-op cupcake :-)

Enjoy!!!

*note: for the cupcake, I used a yellow cake mix + 1 cup apple sauce + 1 can puréed pumpkin. Bake @ 325 for 25-29 minutes.