Sweet Pea Paula's Beer Margaritas

Sweet Pea Paula's Beer Margaritas

 

 

Paula shared her Beer Margarita recipe with me a couple of years ago, and I tucked it away with all of the other recipes that I'm attempting to get to.  Slowly, but surely. 

 

We had friends over to sit by the pool sit on the screened in porch and watch the thunderstorm and enjoy some tamales together this week.

I knew it would be a great time to try out Paula's recipe.

What I liked about this simple beverage, besides the fact that you can make up a pitcher ahead of time, is that it is smooth, and slightly sweet.  Without that tartness of sweet and sour that hits the back of my throat in other margaritas.  This one is almost too smooth.  Really good, and I will certainly make it again.

 

You mix a beer (I used a bottle of Corona), a 20 oz Sprite, frozen limeade concentrate, and then half of the limeade container filled with tequila.  Combine and refrigerate.  Stir before serving.  Run a lime wedge around a cup, dip in margarita salt and add crushed ice and Beer Margaritas.

 

We all loved it.  Some chose to add a couple of lime wedges to theirs to up the tartness.  I will certainly make this recipe again and again.  Perfect for out by the pool on a hot summer day!

 

 

Double click to print as a 5x7 recipe card.

 

Enjoy!

 

 

Romesco Sauce

Romesco Sauce

 

I was very excited to see this recipe in Southern Living this month.  It's similar to the Red Pepper Dip that I made a couple of months ago, but I think I like this one a little better.

 

When I traveled to Nashville, TN for work, I stayed for a week at a hotel near a Whole Foods.  I usually stopped by Whole Foods to get dinner each night - and my favorite was a made-to-order vegetarian sandwich that they made in the deli area on a fresh baguette with Romesco Sauce.  I loved the sauce, but had never made it.

 

I love any recipe with one line of directions - process all ingredients in a food processor. 

 

This recipe calls for a drained jar of roasted red bell peppers, toasted pecans (8 minutes in the oven on a baking sheet), 2 garlic cloves, olive oil, red wine vinegar (I used Balsamic), and a dash of sugar, sea salt, and pepper.

After the dip set up in the refrigerator, I drained it before taking it and a bag of pita chips to Wine Club on Saturday night.

 

 

The recipe says that it is great served on all things grilled (chicken, fish, steak, etc.), as a sandwich spread, or served as a dip with vegetables or pita chips.

 

It was a big hit, so this goes out to all my wine club friends!

 

Double click recipe to print as a 5x7 recipe card.

 

Enjoy!

Cantaloupe Salsa

Cantaloupe Salsa

 

This recipe was actually called "Line-Fighting Salsa" because of its great dose of wrinkle-reducing Vitamin C.  It came from a magazine, and I'm sorry I don't know which one.  Fitness?  Southern Living?  Good Housekeeping?  Mississippi Magazine?  Bon Appetit?

 

I ripped it out because I thought it sounded like a nice salsa for fish.

We eat grilled fish pretty regularly and cantaloupes are in season so I thought it would be a nice time to try it out.

 

It was delicious.  The boys chose to eat their tilapia plain, but David and I both chose the salsa.  David recommended more chile next time, so if the boys aren't going to eat it, then maybe I will add more jalapeño.

 

There's really nothing too it. 

 

Dice up 1/2 cantaloupe, 1/3 peeled cucumber, 1 seeded jalapeño, and 1 small red onion (which I didn't add since we're not raw onion fans).  Stir in together with 3 Tbsp of fresh lime juice and 1/4 tsp sea salt.  Refrigerate until ready to use.

 

Double click to print as a 5x7 recipe card.

 

Enjoy!

Avocado Alfredo Sauce

Avocado Alfredo Sauce

Alicia Silverstone shared this recipe on her blog last week so I tried it out.  It originally comes from EcoSalon, and it looked absolutely delicious.

 

I made up a large pot of pasta - rotini was what I had in the pantry.

Then I made the "alfredo" sauce by combining avocados, fresh basil, garlic cloves, lemon juice, sea salt and pepper in the food processor.

 

 

I drained the pasta and tossed it with the sauce, then topped it off with Kalamata olives and a little lemon zest.

 

It was really good.  David and I loved it.  Brennan liked it even better the next day, warmed up for an after school snack. 

 

David was pretty certain I had made this dish before, so I looked here on the blog and lo and behold - a different version of this same meal - although this other version was more of a pesto and included pine nuts.  You can find it here.

 

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!