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Healthy Spinach Veggie Dip

Ingredients:

• 1 ½,  9-10oz packages of frozen spinach (approximately 15oz total), thawed
• ½ small red pepper, finely diced
• 1 cup sliced mushrooms
• 1 small red onion, finely chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 16oz plain Greek yogurt (not fat free or reduced fat)
• ½ cup finely shredded parmesan cheese
• Salt
• Black pepper

Instructions:

1. Squeeze as much water as possible from thawed spinach, place in a medium sized bowl then set aside.
2. In a large skillet, heat olive oil over medium heat and add minced garlic and chopped onion. Sauté for 3 minutes.
3. Add red pepper and mushrooms to skillet and continue cooking for another 5 minutes. Remove from heat, drain, and let cool.
4. Add cooled vegetables to serving bowl with spinach, and season well with salt and pepper.
5.  Stir in Greek yogurt and parmesan cheese and combine well (may need to use hands).
6. Serve with crudité, toasted pita wedges and crackers. Enjoy!

Festive Spinach Salad with Honey Lemon Vinaigrette

Ingredients:

• 8 cups baby spinach, washed
• 2 bosc pears, thinly sliced (can substitute firm d’anjou pears)
• ½ cup pomegranate seeds
• ½ cup crumbled bleu cheese
• ½ cup pecan halves
• ¼ cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 1 tsp finely grated lemon zest
• 1 tbsp honey
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• ½ cup olive oil
• Salt
• Black pepper

Instructions:

1. Place spinach in a large, shallow bowl.
2. Layer other ingredients on top, starting with pears and ending with pecans.
3. Place lemon juice, lemon zest, honey, garlic and olive oil in a bowl and whisk briskly to combine. Add salt and pepper to taste.
4. Drizzle mixture over salad, serve and enjoy.

Winter Fruit with Prosecco Sabayon
(For adults only)

Ingredients:

• 3 blood oranges
• 2 small ruby red grapefruit
• 3 mandarin oranges (or clementines)
• 4 large egg yolks
• ½ cup superfine sugar, divided
• â…� cup prosecco, divided
• 1 vanilla bean, split

Instructions:

1. Use a sharp knife to peel each fruit and remove the white pity.
2. Work over a strainer placed on top of a bowl to capture any juices.
3. Thinly slice each fruit and arrange on a serving platter.
4. Combine 3 tablespoons of reserved juices, ¼ cup of sugar, and � cup of prosecco, and drizzle evenly over fruit.
5. Just before serving, in a double boiler or a stainless steel boil placed over a pot of simmering water (but not touching the water), whisk together the egg yolks, ¼ cup of sugar, and remaining � cup of prosecco.
6. Whisk continuously until the mixture reaches 160 degrees on a candy thermometer, and coats the back of a spoon.
7. Remove from heat and drizzle over the fruit.
8. Garnish with citrus zest and a few brightly colored berries.

This article first appeared in the December 2019 edition of the HealthPerks newsletter.