Sheetpan feta with chickpeas, tomatoes, and mushrooms (NYT Cooking)

 Time for another sheetpan recipe. I picked one from the NYT again. I did my shopping at Trader Joe's. Simple ingredients, simple preparation. It all came together quickly.

In a spread of Greek appetizers, or meze, there’s often a warm feta dish like bouyiourdi (baked feta with tomato and hot peppers) or a saganaki (fried cheese). This recipe combines elements of these two classic appetizers into a sheet-pan meal. Softened feta provides a salty, creamy counterpoint to sweet, juicy tomatoes and chickpeas that are sticky from honey and spicy from dried chile. Try this version, then riff wildly: Switch out tomatoes for mini peppers, olives, dates or cauliflower. Swap the hot honey for anchovies, harissa, smoked paprika or turmeric. Eat with pita, grains, salad greens, hummus or yogurt.

 

First, the chickpeas. Roasting them made them less mealy, though not quite crispy. 

As for cheese, though the recipe advises against using feta made from cows' milk, that's what I did. I'm not a big fain of sheep feta. The cows' milk feta (from Trader Joe's) worked just fine. 

 Here's what I put into the oven. I added mushrooms in addition to the tomatoes and left out the tomatoes in one corner of the sheet (my daughter doesn't like tomatoes). It worked just fine. Here's the dish after the bake.

And everything arranged on a plate with some  yogurt and pita chips. It made for a lovely low-effort summer dinner. 8/10.

Sheet-Pan Gnocchi With Mushrooms and Spinach (NYT Cooking)

I love this one-pot dish, where the pasta is just cooked right in the pan, together with the ingredients for the sauce. Can you do something similar with gnocchi? Let's try it out. Here's the link to the NYT Cooking recipe. 

"This sheet-pan dinner is inspired by classic steakhouse sides: roasted mushrooms, creamy horseradish-mustard sauce, wilted spinach and roasted potatoes. Well, kind of. Instead of whole potatoes, this recipe uses store-bought gnocchi, a superspeedy stand-in that takes on the fun combination of browned and chewy when roasted. This dish is hearty enough to be a full meal, though it’d also make a great side to braised beans, roast chicken, a seared pork chop and, of course, steak."

Ingredients arranged on a baking sheet. 

I left out the spinach (not a favorite with my daughter) as well as the horseradish in the sauce (not a big fan myself). We were almost running out of olive oil, so, to coat everything on the sheet, I used olive oil cooking spray. 

 

 And done!

 

Running joke in my family: Instead of eating dishes with a side of salad or greens, I put them on a 'spinach bed.' Worked like a charm for this dish. 

Feeds 3 not super hungry people. Verdict: 8/10, worthy to be repeated.

Ingredients:

1. 1pound mixed mushrooms, such as shiitake, oyster, maitake or cremini, trimmed and quartered (or cut into 1-inch pieces, if large)
2. 1(12- to 18-ounce) package shelf-stable or refrigerated potato gnocchi
3. 6tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus more as needed
4. 4scallions, cut into 1-inch lengths
5. 1large shallot, thinly sliced
6. Kosher salt and black pepper
7. 5ounces baby spinach (about 5 packed cups)
8. 2tablespoons Dijon mustard
9. 2tablespoons prepared horseradish
10. 1teaspoon honey
11. 1tablespoon unsalted butter

PREPARATION

• Step 1Heat the oven to 425 degrees. On a sheet pan, toss together the mushrooms, gnocchi, 5 tablespoons olive oil, scallions and shallot. Season with salt and pepper, shake into an even layer, and roast without stirring until the gnocchi and mushrooms are golden and crisp, 20 to 25 minutes. Add the spinach and remaining tablespoon of oil, season with salt and pepper, and stir to combine. Spread in an even layer, then return to the oven to roast until the spinach is tender, another 5 to 7 minutes.
• Step 2 Meanwhile, in a small bowl, stir together the mustard, horseradish and honey until combined. Season with salt and pepper.
• Step 3Add the butter and half the sauce to the sheet pan, and stir until melted and glazy. Eat with the remaining sauce on the side.