My favorite recipes

Delicious and healthy! You don’t always get such a perfect two-in-one combo such as this. This recipe may be a mouthful to pronounce but trust me when eating this, you will have your mouth full. The combination of tomatoes, cucumber, cream cheese and ranch dressing leaves you with a taste that is inexplicably awesome. Oh! And did I add that this is one of the most visually appealing recipes ever! Your eyes devour this first before your mouth gets to do the rest of the work.

This whole recipe comes together in less than an hour, meaning you can make a large batch for many guests at a party. There’s not much fuss in preparing this, and it doesn’t leave you with much to clean up afterward either. The best part of this is that it is a no-bake, no-cook recipe, meaning the bulk of your work is just setting up this recipe in an eye-catching design. If this isn’t on your to-cook list, then I don’t know what is!

Prep time: forty minutes
Serving size: 8 servings.

Ingredient you’ll need

4 ounces of a brick cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup of ranch dressing
2 tablespoons fresh dill or thyme
3-4 long cucumbers, skinned and sliced into 1 inch slices
15 cherry tomatoes, sliced in half
Salt to taste
Paprika or cajun spice mix to garnish

Step 1: To make the herbed cream cheese, mix the softened cream cheese with ranch dressing and herbs in a mixer. Mix them well until they are eve. Spoon the mixture into a piping bag with a star tip.

Step 2: Wash the cucumber, remove the peel, and using a fork, score the sides. Slice the cucumber into one inch pieces. Use a melon baller to remove a portion of the center of one side of the piece of the cucumber, leaving a half moon crater.

Step 3: The next step is to pipe the herb cream cheese into the crater, put enough in a way that it sticks out of the top about ½ inch.

Step 4: Add half of the cherry tomato which is partially buried into the herb cream cheese and sprinkle salt, herbs and spice mix for garnishing and colouring. Serve cold.

Spinach and Cheese Enchiladas – I have very few memories of my dad cooking dinner for our family when I was young (in his defense, my mother loves to cook), but there is one meal that’s always been the exception: enchiladas. As far as I can recall, anytime my mom was out for the evening that is what dad made us for dinner.

INGREDIENTS

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 medium yellow onion, diced
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 12 cups fresh spinach
• juice of half a lime
• ¼ cup cilantro, chopped
• 1 4.5 oz canned chopped green chiles
• ½ teaspoon chili powder
• ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 8oz cream cheese
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 28 oz can green enchilada sauce
• 8 burrito size flour tortillas
• 4 cups Mexican blend shredded cheese, divided
• Optional toppings: additional cilantro, green onions, olives, avocado

How To Make Spinach and Cheese Enchiladas

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
2. Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the diced onions until fragrant, about 4 minutes. Add minced garlic to skillet and cook for another 1-2 minutes.
3. Add spinach and cook down until wilted. Add the lime juice, cilantro, chiles, chili powder, cayenne pepper, and cumin. Stir until thoroughly combined.
4. Remove skillet from heat and mix in the cream cheese, sour cream, 2 cups of the cheese, and salt and pepper to taste.
5. Pour about ⅓ of the enchilada sauce in the bottom of a 9×13 inch baking dish and spread into an even layer.
6. Spoon about ⅓ cup of spinach filling into a tortilla, roll tightly, and place in the baking dish seam side down. Repeat until dish is full.
7. Top the rolled enchiladas with the remaining sauce (you may have sauce leftover) and sprinkle the remaining 2 cups of cheese on top.
8. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until cheese is fully melted and the sauce begins to bubble.
9. Serve warm and top with desired garnishes.