Spring Greens - What to Do With Them....

Spinach is in season RIGHT NOW and over here at the Recca House, we eat a ton of spinach as it's so easy to grow here in North Carolina.

You can only eat so many spinach salads, so what do you do with all that spinach?

An easy recipe that is as healthy as it is delicious - spaghetti with spinach. And the variations - are endless!

What You Need:

Spaghetti (I prefer to use whole grain spaghetti as it lends itself nicely to this type of dish)

At least 4 cups of fresh (baby) spinach

1 Tablespoon of Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Garlic Cloves (as few or as many as you like) Crushed

Fresh Grated Parmesan Cheese

And here's where the fun starts. This recipe is so versatile. You can add any, all or none of the following ingredients depending on your taste:

1-3 (depending on your taste) tablespoons of capers

1-3 tablespoons of pine nuts (my favorite)

2 or 3 sliced dried red chillies or a teaspoon of red pepper flakes

1/4 Cup of Feta Cheese (this is really good)

Some crumbled bacon (I don't use Bacon Bits, I like to use fresh, cooked bacon)

1/2 Cup of sliced up chicken breast

1/2 Cup of sliced mushrooms

Really, list goes on and on. Use your imagination.

Directions:

Boil your pasta al dente. Do NOT overcook whatever you do.

Drain and Rinse

In a nice sized skillet, heat up olive oil, throw in garlic and cook it until it starts to turn light brown. When the skillet and garlic are nice and hot, throw in your chicken if you are going to use it. Let it get nice and hot. Then it's time to throw in the pasta and toss around for a few minutes - you don't want to brown the pasta but again, you want it to get nice and hot.

Then it's time to toss in whatever else you are adding - capers, peppers, etc.

and toss that around for a minute - not much more.

Finally, throw in your spinach - and toss until it wilts.

Put it in a pretty bowl (I love to use a nice white pasta bowl) and sprinkle with Parmesan. NOTE: if you use Feta cheese, I put that in BEFORE I take it out of the pan so it has a chance to soften up just a wee bit.

Time this takes to prepare - once the spaghetti is cooked - about 5 minutes. It's a beautiful and impressive dish sure to please the most discriminating palette. Great for a light dinner or a fancy lunch.

I like to serve this with some fresh semolina bread and a glass of red wine. Yumm!

Bon appetit!

P.S. I also make this exact same dish but instead of spinach, we use broccoli rabe - I like that even more. It's absolutely delicious - and oh so healthy!

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Counts the Raleigh-Cary market among a small group of Metropolitan Statistical
Areas that ADDED JOBS in the fourth quarter of 2008, says a study released Monday.

Bizjournals used a six-part formula to analyze the nation''s 100 largest metropolitan areas, noting population growth between 2002 and 2007, employment growth from 2003 to 2008, small-business growth from 2005 to 2006 and small-business population. Bizjournals defines a small business as any private-sector employer with 99 or fewer employees.

The country's top five rankings went to Raleigh, N.C.; Charlotte, N.C.; Seattle, Wash.; Austin, Texas; and Boise, Idaho.

Not only that, Bizjournals counts the Raleigh-Cary market among an ELITE small group of Metropolitan Statistical Areas that added jobs in the fourth quarter of 2008, says a study released Monday.

The number of jobs in the Raleigh-Cary MSA, which comprises Wake, Johnston and Franklin counties, increased by 3,500 from the fourth quarter of 2007, according to a bizjournals analysis of U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data. Bizjournals is part of American City Business Journals, the parent company of Triangle Business Journal.

Raleigh's total of 434,100 jobs in the fourth quarter of 2008 gave the MSA a 0.8 percent gain year-over-year and a 21.6 percent gain (a whopping 77,000) job gain since 2003.

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Have a great week!

Is it Spring Yet????

Well, officially - no, not yet. But with temperatures in the high 70's and 80, it sure feels like it. A week ago we had almost 5 inches of snow and temps dipped into the teens. This week - we're up to 80! I love the weather in North Carolina. Because we're the dividing line between the North and the South, when those weather systems collide - we get some really interesting results. My daffodils are blooming, the tulips are ready and my seedlings (radishes, turnips, beets, and broccoli rabe) are germinating already. So in my mind - Spring is here!

I don't know if you've noticed in your supermarket, but it also appears that Strawberry Season is Fast Approaching. While North Carolina is not an "official" US Strawberry producing state, we have our share of fresh strawberry farms and in our house - we love to take advantage of that.

Just up the street in both directions from our home – there are fresh picked strawberry stands where you can buy a bucket of strawberries for $10. It seems from April through June we always have a bucket of strawberries in our refrigerator.

We use them in protein shakes, on ice cream, in cobbler, on cheesecake, in cereal, in yogurt – I can name 100 ways we use fresh strawberries. Toward the end of the season, I always over-buy a few buckets, wash them, dry them and freeze them for future use.

Plentiful, naturally low in calorie and rich in antioxidents, strawberries are a staple here in the Recca house. So, in honor of strawberry season, here are two of my favorite strawberry recipes – one healthy, and one, well – just plain delicious!

Cathie's Spinach, Strawberry and Pecan Salad:

· 1 large bag of fresh spinach, washed and patted dry with paper towels
· 1 quart fresh strawberries, hulled and sliced
· 1/2 cup chopped pecans (or walnuts or pine nuts)
· 1/2 cup mayonnaise (I use Kraft Light Mayo)
· 1/4 cup sugar (I use 2 packets of Splenda)
· 2 Tbsp. apple cider vinegar
· kosher salt and freshly-ground black pepper, to taste

Preparation:

1. Place spinach, strawberries and pecans in a large salad bowl.
2. Whisk together remaining ingredients. Pour over salad. Toss gently, but well.

NOTE: a variation from the mayonnaise dressing, I also use basalmic vinaigrette dressing with this salad - either bottled, or you can make your own.

This is a pretty spring/summer salad – great served with steak, hamburgers, or as a main lunch dish. You can add radicchio for more color.

Chocolate – Strawberry Shortcake:

This is so easy it's ridiculous – but it's a nice twist to traditional strawberry shortcake. Considering the chocolate lovers that live in this house – this one is a winner for Sunday dessert.

Ingredients:
· 2 cups all-purpose flour
- Bittersweet chocolate squares (4)
· 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
· 1/3 cup granulated sugar
· 1 Tbsp. baking powder
· 1/4 tsp. kosher salt
· 4 Tbsp. cold butter, cut into chunks
· 1 large egg
· 2/3 cup half and half or heavy cream
· 1 quart fresh strawberries, hulled and sliced
· Fresh mint leaves
· 1/4 cup powdered sugar
· You can use store bought whipped cream or thawed frozen whipped topping – but I like to make my own whipped cream using heavy cream and sugar – whipped on high.

Preparation:
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
2. In a large bowl, mix flour, cocoa powder, sugar, baking powder and salt.
3. With a pastry blender or two forks, cut in butter until crumbly.
4. In a small bowl, whisk together the egg and cream.
5. Pour cream mixture into the flour mixture, and mix with a fork until the dough just comes together. It will be sticky.
6. Grease a cookie sheet or line with parchment paper.
7. With an ice cream scoop, drop dough onto prepared cookie sheet. Flatten with your fingers to about 3/4-inch thick.
8. Bake 12-15 minutes.
9. Meanwhile, stir together strawberries and powdered sugar.
10. Melt dark chocolate or bittersweet (sweetened) squares in a metal bowl over pan
of gently boiling water.
10. To make shortcakes, place on chocolate biscuit, flat side up on a plate. Top with strawberries , fresh whipped cream, drizzle with chocolate and garnish with mint leaves.

For dozens of Southern recipes utilizing strawberries, (including the 2008 prize winner) visit the NC Strawberry Organization recipe page.

And when you finally decide that you'd like to call North Carolina "home" so you can pick your own strawberries in April (!) – give us a call at Carolina Pines Realty. Let us assist you in making your dreams of home ownership in North Carolina a reality!

Also, be sure to visit our website at http://www.carolinapinesrealty.com/ where you can search for your dream home in our local Multiple Listing Service without passwords.

Have a great week!