Tomato Salad

Tomato Salad

The farmer's market had some great looking tomatoes on Saturday, so I picked up some to take to the lake.  They disappeared!  David said they may have been his favorite food that he ate at the dinner!

I made a vinaigrette by whisking together olive oil, white wine vinegar, Dijon mustard, minced garlic, and fresh basil. I added a little sea salt and pepper.

 

I cut red, orange, and yellow tomatoes into 8 wedges in and tossed with the vinaigrette.

I let it chill until we were ready to eat.



 

Once we were ready to eat, I tossed the tomatoes again, drained off the excess vinaigrette, and added some more fresh basil and parsley.

 

Then I topped it off with feta cheese crumbles, and we served it with dinner.

 

(no need to drain the excess vinaigrette if not adding feta)

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Enjoy!

 

Simple Sauteed Vegetables

Simple Sauteed Vegetables


This recipe is long overdue for my sweet friend Emily who is learning to cook and is wanting to introduce more vegetables into her family meals.  She had sauteed squash at a meeting luncheon we attended in April and thought it was amazing.  I assured her it was simple, simple, and I would provide more specific instructions.  Here's what I do (this time with Brennan's help).

These are the beautiful vegetables that Mary brought to Brennan and me last week (along with fun family movies!).  We sliced everything up kind of thick - organic squash, zucchini, kohlrabi (my first time!), and peppers. 


You can either spray the hot saute pan with olive oil spray or pour a little olive oil into the pan with the vegetables.  Spread them out and cook them on each side about 5 minutes.

We sprinkle them with garlic powder, sea salt, and black pepper for a little flavor.

The red potatoes I did separately because the other vegetables had already started and I knew these would take a few minutes longer, being thicker.  We sauteed them with fresh rosemary from Mary's garden.  

 

Then we tossed all the vegetables together, added a little fresh parsley and a touch more sea salt and served.  We also microwave the leftovers the next day.

 

 

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Enjoy!

Lentil Salad

Lentil Salad

I found this recipe in the April/May 2013 Vegetarian Times.  I thought it sounded like a great dish to make ahead of time and take to the lake this weekend.  It was really great - I will make this again and again!

I started by cooking a bag of lentils in broth.  They only take about 15 minutes.  I drained them and scooped out 4 cups worth, keeping the rest for another use.

While the lentils were cooking I asked Brennan to make up the vinaigrette of Dijon mustard, white wine vinegar (you could also use red wine vinegar or sherry vinegar), olive oil, Kosher salt, and pepper.

This recipe calls for 2 cups of chopped vegetables like carrots, fennel, celery, or radishes.  I went with carrots and radishes, dicing them somewhat.

Add the lentils, vegetables, diced cucumber, fresh parsley, and season with Kosher salt and pepper.  Refrigerate for up to a day and top with more fresh parsley before serving at room temperature.

 

It was a great accompaniment for the brats, sweet corn, fruit salad, tomato salad, chips, and Gouda and apple appetizer that Brennan made for us! 

 

 

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Enjoy!

Mexican-Style Sweet Corn

Mexican-Style Sweet Corn

 

I found this recipe in Redbook Magazine and knew the boys would especially like it.

I modified it just a bit, reducing the amount of butter their recipe called for.

 

When we lived in Mexico, we enjoyed visiting local parks.  The boys were so young - just toddlers/preschoolers while we were there - and a trip to the park was a big outing :)

 

At all the parks, and lining the streets in the little towns, were fresh fruit and fruit juice vendors.

And one of the most popular street food was Mexican corn on the cob.

And it was muy, muy rico!

 

I was always a little leery of buying food off the street in Mexico, especially for the boys.

But we did enjoy some Mexican corn - what with it being cooked and all :)

 

The corn I remember the most was when we were visiting the rainforest in the state that we lived in, a beautiful lake park.

 

After walking around enjoying the beautiful scenery, we enjoyed some corn.

 

Media Luna

 

 

Brennan (2) at Media Luna

 

I could just squeeze him.  He is so darn cute.

 

 

 

What made it different was that they roasted it on an open grill, then squeezed lime over it, dusted on some cayenne pepper, cheese, and then had mayo or melted butter for you to add if you wanted to.

 

Really, really good!

 

source

 

 

This recipe is for cut sweet corn.  I didn't have fresh grilled, so I used frozen, and cooked it first according to the package, and drained it well.  Then I added it back to the pot.

 

I added in butter and cayenne pepper and let it cook for 3 minutes.

 

Then I removed it from the heat and stirred in grated Parmesan, Kosher salt, and fresh lime juice.

The boys really liked this version.  I think I could use quite a bit more cayenne pepper, especially a dusting on top before serving.  But 1/4 tsp might be enough for your family. 

 

Brennan mentioned this corn from lunch when we were at a play last night. 

How much he loved it. 

 

Didn't have the heart to tell him I finished it off with my dinner :)

 

Looks like I'll be making it again.

 

 

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Buen Provecho!

 

 

 

Delish Summer Salad

Delish Summer Salad

 

This salad comes from my friend, and chef and wellness coach Sandy Thomas.  She shared this recipe with us in a cooking class I took with her last year.  I took this salad to a party for the 4th of July, and made it again for the family last night. 

 

It's really delicious!

 

Cook frozen edamame according to package directions.  I used frozen sweet corn, so I cooked that as well.  Grilled fresh sweet corn would be great!

 

Then I rinsed a can of black beans and a can of cannelini beans and drained them well.  I tossed together the corn, edamame, black, and cannelini beans with grape tomatoes.

 

I mixed up the quick vinaigrette of olive oil, rice vinegar, sherry vinegar, and Dijon mustard.  Once it was emulsified, I tossed it with the vegetables.  Before serving I added ribbons of sliced fresh basil and seasoned with sea salt and pepper.

 

Of course, I made a tomato-less version for my no-tomato eaters. 

 David let them know that our version was not only prettier, but tastier.  They still declined the tomato version :)

 

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Enjoy!

Easy Mushroom Rice Pilaf

Easy Mushroom Rice Pilaf

 

On the back of the Lundgren's short grain brown rice package, Brennan found a recipe for easy mushroom rice pilaf.  He cut it off the package and I tucked in away in my thick file of recipes-to-try.

 

When Thomas was gone last week to camp, it was a great time.  Thomas does not like mushrooms, so he wouldn't miss out.

 

Brennan and I picked out a box of fresh shiitakes to try with this recipe.  I've read that button mushrooms don't have the same nutritional properties that other mushrooms have, plus shiitakes are "meatier", and I like them the best.  You could use any mushrooms here.

 

So, my first attempt at this dish didn't work great.  The directions stated to put all the ingredients in a pot, bring to a boil, then simmer covered for 50 minutes.  I think the mushrooms soaked up too much of the broth.  I kept adding more, and adding more, but it took much longer than 50 minutes.  The dish was still good, but let me share with you what I did to make it much faster the second time I made it.

 

I soaked the rice in a bowl, covered with a dishcloth, for 6 hours.  You could also do this overnight.  Then I drained the rice and followed the directions - much, much better.  The rice cooked well and I didn't have to add any extra broth.  It was delicious.

And with only a few ingredients that I usually have on hand - mushrooms, brown rice, fresh parsley, broth, garlic, olive oil, pepper - it is definitely an Easy recipe.

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Enjoy!

 

 

Sauteed Mustard Greens

Sauteed Mustard Greens

 

This recipe comes straight from Anne Burrell at foodnetwork.com.  I was looking for a healthy, simple way to cook greens like mustard, collard, and turnip and found this one that I liked a lot.

 

Start by washing the mustard greens and remove the hard stems.  Cut them into 2 inch pieces.  You don't have to dry them thoroughly.

 

 

 

Heat olive oil (a Tbsp or so) in a large pan with halved garlic and red pepper flakes.  Allow the garlic to brown slightly and get really fragrant.  Discard the garlic.

 

 

Add the greens and cover, cooking until they are wilted.

Stir in the red wine vinegar, and season with Kosher salt.

 

Serve hot.
 

I didn't have red wine vinegar so I used Balsamic and it was too vinegar-y.  The second time I used red wine vinegar and it was much, much better.

 

I'm going to try this dish again with other greens.  But it certainly worked well with mustard greens!

 

 

 

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Enjoy!

 

Pickled Vegetable Sandwich Slaw

Pickled Vegetable Sandwich Slaw

 

This recipe was featured on Smitten Kitchen this week, and I realized I had all the ingredients so decided to try it right away instead of putting it in my well-meaning, ever-growing folder full of great sounding recipes that I really want to try.

 

Pickled vegetables have all sorts of nutritional properties, and they are really versatile.  I decided to pick up some containers and try it out.

 

This is a refrigerator pickling method - not the heated canning method, so any glass jar with tight lid will work.  You'll see I've started with plastic containers until I find the right sized glass ones that I'm looking for.

 

Deb from Smitten Kitchen suggests any firm, crunchy vegetable, but Deb's tip - she wouldn't use red radishes again because they turn everything pink. 

 

Suggested Vegetables for Pickled Vegetable Sandwich Slaw:

Radishes

Red, Orange, Yellow Bell Peppers

Carrots

Fresh Sugar Snap Peas

Kirby Cucumbers

Cabbage

 

But the list is really chef-preference.

 

 

Suggested Uses for Pickled Vegetable Sandwich Slaw:

On Sandwiches

Alongside Grilled Anything

As a Side Dish

On Top of Salad

On Top of Rice or other Whole Grain

 

 

I started with a mandolin but mine was not working well, so I just julienned the vegetables with a good knife instead.  Then I split them up into my 3 containers.

Next I brought distilled white vinegar, sugar, Kosher salt, and yellow mustard seeds to a simmer until the sugar and salt dissolved.  Then I added cold water and let the mixture cool to lukewarm.

Poured the pickling mixture over my vegetables, made sure they were all covered, and refrigerated them for 24 hours.  They can be eaten within 1 hour though.  They last up to a month in the fridge.

 

So far I've just eaten them by themselves, or with lunch.  But I think they'd be great on a pulled-pork sandwich - julienned even thinner.

 

Very tasty - slightly addictive!

 

 

 A big thank you to Deb at Smitten Kitchen for the recipe!!

 

Double click to print as a 5x7 recipe card.

 

 

 

Enjoy!

 

 

Nectarines and Basil

Nectarines and Basil

I saw a short blurb in a recent magazine (maybe Vegetarian Times?) where a chef said one of his favorite things to do with basil is pair it with fruit, like nectarines.

 

So, I followed the photo with the blurb and made a side dish for dinner last week.

 

 

No recipe needed.

I think we all enjoyed the fruit and herb combo!

 

Enjoy!

Guilt-Free Garlic Mashed Potatoes

Guilt-Free Garlic Mashed Potatoes

 

Another couple of good recipes to share with you from my latest cookbook read.

 

 

I didn't set out to fool my family into eating vegetables, so I was surprised when my 3 boys thought this dish was just potatoes. 

They almost seemed disappointed when they found out parsnips and cauliflower were also involved.

  They never did taste the parsnips.

 

This is a good side dish that heats up well the next day too.

 

Start by roasting a bulb of garlic in the oven.

Remove any loose garlic paper, then snip off the pointed end of the bulb, exposing the cloves.

Wrap the bulb in foil and roast for 30 minutes.

 

While the garlic is roasting, peel and chop 2 russet potatoes, 2 parsnips, and chop up a head of cauliflower.  Boil the vegetables in generously salted water, then reduce to medium and continue cooking until tender.

Drain the vegetables and return them to the pot.

Squeeze the garlic juice and cloves over the vegetables, and add a little butter (or margarine or olive oil), milk or vegetable stock, and sea salt to season.

 

Mash well.

Season with sea salt and black pepper and serve warm.

 

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Enjoy!

 

Grape Salad

Grape Salad

 

 When we were at home at Thanksgiving, my mom made this salad, and it was sooo good.
I made it this past week for our Wine Club/Baby Shower (what a combo!), and then again when I hosted my daytime Book Club, As the Page Turns.

It's rather addictive, and is really sweet.
I actually cut back on the sugars and didn't notice the difference.
A great, easy dish for a big group (especially kids!)

 

 

 

Remove stems from grapes.

Mix together cream cheese, sour cream, and granulated sugar.

Toss together with the grapes and place in a serving bowl.

 

Combine brown sugar and chopped pecans and top the grapes.

Cover and chill before serving.

 

 

 

 

Enjoy!

Kale, Kale, Kale

It's been well over a month since I posted a new recipe.

 

Unfortunately for you, I have two kale recipes to share in this post.

 

I love kale though, but I'm still learning how to cook it. 

Thought I'd share two recipes that worked well for us.

I'll admit up front I was having camera issues so not the best photos, oh well.

 

This first is one of those funny-titled ones from the Abs Diet Cookbook.

 

 

Kale, Kale, The Gang's All Here
This very simple recipe was delicious.  I'll certainly make it again and again.

Heat olive oil in a frying pan and cook minced garlic for 1 minute.

Add chopped kale and saute for 5 minutes until wilted.  



 

Add one can of rinsed & drained cannellini or navy beans. 

Add to the kale and garlic and heat through.

Season with salt & pepper, and drizzle on more olive oil if you want.

 

 

Blurry, but yummy.

 

 

The second kale recipe comes from my new cookbook Chloe's Kitchen. 

I love this cookbook!  I'm actually reading it cover to cover right now.

 

 

 

Garlicky Greens

 

Very similar to the above recipe, this one has a kick to it, and no beans.

 

Heat olive oil in a frying pan and stir in kale, heating until wilted, about 5 minutes.  Add lots of minced garlic and cook for another minute.  Remove from heat and toss with lemon juice and red pepper flakes.  Serve immediately. 

 

 

Delish!

(Ok, that might be pushing it, but really not bad!)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Eat Your Veggies!