Gina's Savoury Spinach Casserole

In November, I had the pleasure of serving as a helper for another Healing Touch workshop. In addition to myself, others from my regular practice group were students and helpers, including my Healing Touch mentor Gina. I also had the pleasure of staying at Gina's lovely home in the Shenandoah Valley for the weekend. Gina's home is situated in a rural setting and is alive with healing energy. Before becoming a nurse and Healing Touch practitioner, Gina and her husband ran a nursery for many years. This is evident as soon as you arrive in the fairyland that is her home.

My accommodations were in what they call the loft room, but what I like to think of as the tree house. The room is a small, vertical room in the top of the house with the bed built into the Arts and Crafts room as a loft. A wee window gives one a glimpse to, in this particular instance, the full moon above. The tree house was most cozy and most magical.

Gina's cooking is equally magical, yet exceedingly simple -- my favourite kind. Fresh ingredients and healing energy abound. This particular dish was one that we enjoyed for dinner following the first full day of the workshop. Gina was kind enough to share the recipe and this weekend I found that I needed a bit of healing time in the kitchen.

Gina's Savoury Spinach Casserole

1 (10 oz) package frozen spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
1 cup cottage cheese
1 cup grated cheddar cheese
3 eggs
1 small onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
6 mushrooms, sliced

Preheat the oven to 400ºF. Grease a glass 9"x9" baking dish with olive oil or softened butter. Sauté the onion, garlic and mushrooms in a little olive oil, seasoning with salt and pepper to taste. Once delicious and savoury, tip into a bowl and combine with the remaining ingredients. Place the mixture into the casserole dish loosely, not packed down. Bake for 25 minutes until slightly puffy, firm and lightly browned. Serve hot or at room temperature.

Note: Gina has tried many variations on this recipe over the years, including such things in the casserole as artichokes, asparagus, olives and peppers, in addition to the spinach. Cheeses have ranged from feta, parmesan and gruyere. Given her abundance of fresh herbs, these always find their way in as well. Today I doubled the quantities, used parmesan cheese, sauteéd fresh spinach with the onions, sprinkled the sauté with fresh thyme and added a healthy dose of red pepper flakes, putting it all in a larger baking dish. Mushrooms were omitted because I'm not fond of them.