Weekly recipe roundup

Frittata with Spinach and Cheese
Last Saturday night we were feeling lazy so we opted for a simple, light dinner. Let me interject here to say Jon was feeling lazy because he'd done a 70 mile bike ride wearing his Crocs since he forgot his cycling shoes, but I was feeling lazy because, well, I'm lazy. Especially when it's 102 degrees outside.

We had a package of baby spinach and an extra dozen eggs in the fridge, so I made the Frittata with Spinach and Cheese out of Batali's Molto Italiano. It's basically the same as his recipe on The Food Network website, except the book calls for two pounds of spinach and eight eggs. I only had a pound and a half of spinach and it was fine. The key to getting this to turn out well is getting as much of the excess water out of the spinach after you blanche it. The book recipe suggests first draining it in a colander, then squeezing it between two plates and then twisting it in a dish towel. It's amazing how much water you can squeeze out of spinach. Anyway, it was deee-lish. And at 220 calories for 1/6 of the recipe, it's hard to argue with.

Yogurt Fruit Dip
I was craving something sweet but I'm trying very hard to steer clear of baked goods and ice cream for a while. To satiate the craving, I made yogurt fruit dip. So good, so easy. There are as many ways to make this dip as there are kinds of fruit to eat with it, but I made a version that includes some of my favorite flavors.

1/3 cup of Greek yogurt (I use Fage 0%)
1 tbsp of ginger syrup (see below)
dash of vanilla extract
pinch of cinnamon

Mix everything in an adorably small bowl and mix it all together. Serve with fresh fruit. I like nectarines, strawberries, and pineapple best, but any kind will do.

Ginger Syrup
Jon loves fancy, obscure ginger ales so we are often trying different ways to make ginger flavored beverages at home. We came across a recipe on Whole Foods' website that was just ginger syrup mixed into a glass of carbonated water. It wasn't bad, but I've found that the ginger syrup has even better uses. I especially like to put it in smoothies, pour it over yogurt, or add it to iced tea.

2 cups raw cane sugar
2 cups water
2 tbsp (or more) of chopped fresh ginger root

Put everything in a sauce pan and bring it to a boil. Lower heat and simmer for 10 minutes. Let cool and then strain it. Keeps in the fridge for about a week. 45 calories per tbsp.