Grilled Zucchini

An easy way to prepare zucchini is to slice it lengthwise into long strips and to grill them on a prepared and preheated grill pan.  To prepare the grill pan spray it with some cooking spray and after it is preheated lay the zucchini on the grill pan.  Season with ground sea salt and freshly ground pepper.  Cook the zucchini turning it every few minutes until done.  This is really quick – 10 minutes maximum.  Place in a bowl and sprinkle quality balsamic vinegar over them.  Season with more salt and pepper if desired.

Guacamole

There is nothing like freshly made guacamole.  I love to have chips with my guacamole, not guacamole with my chips!  Two of my three children also love the stuff.  The other likes to eat the avocado just by itself.  Also a good treat, but takes less effort.  The key to great guacamole is starting with fantastic avocados.  I happen to be fortunate to live in Southern California, where it is easy to find great avocados, but even then, you can find some that are less fantastic.  I highly recommend Haas Avocados.  They are consistently good.  They are large and buttery.  To pick a good avocado you want one that is still firm, but not hard.  If you press on the skin it should give a little (not a lot)  If it is soft and mushy the flavor is also less great in my opinion, but don’t worry if you can only find ones that are hard as baseballs, you can still buy them.  Take them home and put them in a paper bag with a ripe banana and in a day or two you will have a perfect avocado too.  You don’t need to buy any seasoning packets – use all fresh ingredients and you will have the best results.

A tip – to remove the seed can be a tricky process and sometimes dangerous – I have cut myself several times trying to remove that sucker!  Cut the avocado in half starting at the top and cutting around the bottom to other side and to the top again. Twist the two halves apart.  The flesh should be green – it may have some brown spots, but typically don’t take away from the taste, I cut them out because I don’t want brown chunks in my guacamole.  Place the half that still has the seed in it on a cutting board and use a sharp knife to tap the blade into the seed.  Give the knife a rotating twist and the seed should loosen and come off (on your sharp knife). To remove the flesh of the avocado from the skin simply run a large spoon along the edge and scoop it out into a bowl.

Becky’s Homemade Guacamole

Serves 6 hungry dippers

• 3 large ripe Haas avocados,
• 1 Roma Tomato, diced small
• 3 cloves of garlic, pressed through a garlic press
• 1/2 jalapeno pepper, white ribs removed and seeds removed, diced finely (wear gloves to protect your hands)
• 2 Tbsp minced red onion
• 1/2 – 1 lime, juiced (depending on size)
• salt and pepper to taste
• 2 Tbsp cilantro if you have it on hand and like it

Preparation:

Use a fork to mash the avocado flesh in a bowl.  Add the chopped onion, tomato, garlic, jalapeno pepper and stir into the avocado.  Add lime juice and cilantro if desired.  Season with salt and pepper, stir and taste.  Add more seasoning or lime if needed.  Chill and serve with tortilla chips, or serve with tacos or any other Mexican dish.

Some say that if you place the avocado seed in the guacamole while it is in the fridge that it will not turn brown, but I have found that if you cover it with plastic wrap and lay the plastic wrap on the guacamole so there is little air around the dip that it will stay the vibrant green that you want in a good guacamole.

Enjoy!

Printable Recipe

Ratatouille

No, there isn’t a rat in this dish, nor was it prepared by one as in the popular Disney movie! It is a wonderful vegetable side though.  I found the recipe on allrecipes (of course).  I did make a few changes to it though.  I used Asian eggplant, since I had heard it is less bitter than the traditional eggplant you find (Most grocery stores carry them, but if you must use a purple one try to find a smallish one that will be less woody and taste less bitter). I also omitted green peppers.  Instead of layering them like the recipe called for I arranged them in a circle in the oval baking dish I was using.  I increased the amounts for more servings.

I liked this dish.  I may even like eggplant! It is a little time consuming to arrange it nicely, but if you are in a hurry arrange them however you wish.

Ratatouille

adapted from allrecipes.com

Serves 6

Ingredients:

• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• 5 cloves of garlic
• 1 Tbsp dried parsley flakes
• 2 Asian eggplants (larger than a cucumber, but much like the shape of one and a little more pinkish in color)
• 1 tsp Kosher salt
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 3 zucchini, sliced
• 1/2 of a sweet Maui onion, thinly sliced
• 2 cups sliced mushrooms
• 3 large tomatoes, thinly sliced

Preparation:

Preheat the oven to 350F.  Spray the baking dish with cooking spray.

Heat the olive oil in a large non stick skillet.  Sauté the garlic until lightly browned.  Add the sliced eggplant and dried parsley.  Sauté until the eggplant is tender, but still holds its shape.  Season with salt.

Arrange the eggplant in an oval dish starting along the outside edge and working in. Alternate the slices of eggplant with slices of zucchini, tomatoes, onion, and mushrooms. As you work, add in more slices to make the vegetables almost stand on edge, filling in where you have gaps.  Sprinkle the the vegetables with Parmesan cheese. Season with salt and pepper.

Bake in a preheated oven for 45 minutes.  Enjoy.

Printable Recipe

I will make the dish again with the changes I made.

Pasta Salad

Here is another lovely Pasta Salad that I like to serve with BBQ foods.  It is a variation on the Veggie salad, but with tri-color rotini pasta.

Pasta Salad

Serves 8

Ingredients:

• 12-16 oz tri-color Rotini Pasta
• 1 large cucumber, peeled and cut into bite size chunks (remove the seeds if they are large)
• 1 package grape tomatoes, halved
• 1/2 large yellow bell pepper, cut into bite size pieces
• 2 green onions, thinly sliced
• 1 can ripe olives, drained
• 3/4 cup Italian dressing (I used a roasted red pepper Italian dressing that is quite yummy)

Instructions:

Cook the pasta according to package directions.  Drain and shock with cold water to bring the temperature down.  Combine the pasta, veggies and the dressing. Toss.  Chill and serve.

Veggie Salad

It is Memorial Day.  For lunch we grilled hot dogs.. well actually we did it stove top, because our back yard is being taken over by thousands of angry bees, who have decided our house would make a rather nice home for them.. well, not if I can help it — we will be soon let them know that we don’t really want them squatting without paying rent.  A friend suggested, I light the house on fire as smoke and lots of it calms bees down — good advice. He also told me to tell the firefighters to “buzz off” when they get here.  Ah yes, with friends like this… anyway… there is always a cause for excitement at our home.  We had lunch and I made salad.

Becky’s Veggie Salad

Serves 6

Ingredients:

• 1 large cucumber, peeled and cut into bite size chunks (remove the seeds if they are large)
• 1 package grape tomatoes, halved
• 1/2 large yellow bell pepper, cut into bite size pieces
• 2 green onions, thinly sliced
• 1 can ripe olives, drained
• 1/2 cup Italian dressing (I used a roasted red pepper Italian dressing that is quite yummy)

Instructions:

Combine the veggies and the dressing. Toss.  Chill and serve.

BLT Salad

This salad is once again from allrecipes.com.  It is called “That good salad” (link) but in essence, it is a BLT salad that is quite good.  I had just gotten a box or organic vegetables from a vegetable co-op and had most of the ingredients on hand.  There is nothing quite like fresh – really fresh veggies!  I followed the recipe almost exactly.  I may change up the dressing a little the next time, as it was not seasoned very well, but once I put it over the salad, it did not detract from the flavors of the salad; it did not overpower the salad.  I will be making this salad again and again.  I halved the recipe from the original – if you are taking a salad to a potluck, do make the full recipe.

BLT Salad

adapted from allrecipes.com

Serves 6

Dressing ingredients:

1/3 cup vegetable oil

1/8 cup fresh lemon juice

1 garlic cloves, minced

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

Salad Ingredients:

1 head romaine lettuce – rinsed, dried,and torn into bite-size pieces

1 large chopped tomato

1/2 cup shredded Swiss cheese

1/3 cup slivered almonds, toasted

1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

4 bacon strips, cooked and crumbled

1/2 cup Caesar salad croutons

Preparation

1. Combine the dressing ingredients in a small shaker style salad dressing container. Shake to combine. Chill.
2. Toss the salad ingredients in a large salad bowl. (Reserve croutons for last moment).  Shake the dressing and pour over the salad, toss.  Add croutons on top and serve immediately.

Printable Recipe

Tangled Menu: Part One

In celebration of the movie, “Tangled” being released to DVD I created a Tangled inspired menu.

What tie does this have to the movie? If you saw the movie you may remember that a skillet was used as a weapon.  This dinner was prepared in a skillet.

I seasoned boneless skinless chicken breast halves with salt and pepper and browned them in a hot skillet in olive oil until they were golden brown on both sides.  I then transferred them to a baking dish to complete cooking in a preheated oven at 350F  for about 20-25 minutes.

Meanwhile, I brought a large pot of water to  a boil and cooked baby dutch potatoes until fork tender (about 10-15 minutes).  I drained the potatoes and reheated the skillet that I had seared my chicken in.  I added 2 Tablespoons of olive oil to the hot skillet and fried the potatoes until they were slightly browned.  I seasoned with ground sea salt and pepper and to finish them, sprinkled parsley flakes on them.

After the potatoes were done and the chicken was fully cooked.  I pushed the potatoes to one side and placed the chicken in the skillet and served it in the skillet.

The kids loved the connection to the movie.

Part 2: Hazelnut Parsnip Soup … coming soon to a blog near you (this one).

A Different Coleslaw

Are you tired of the over-dressed coleslaw that is heavy and ‘same old same old’?  Here is a wonderful coleslaw that has pineapples and raisins in the mix that gives it a refreshing twist on a old and tired salad.  I found this jewel at a choir gathering.  I had thirds of the salad before I found out who brought the dish.  Finally, I found my friend Frieda, who had brought it… after some discussion she told me what was in the salad, but not the amounts- she is one of THOSE cooks (dump and taste), this was something I had to play around with a little to get it to the flavor I liked.  This time I wrote it down so you also can make it without all the guess work.

I call it Frieda’s Pineapple Coleslaw.  Thank you Frieda for sharing your passion with me.  My family really enjoyed it as well.  My husband even declared, you need to make this again… really soon!  This is a super easy recipe to make too – you could even have your upcoming cooks make it.

Frieda’s Pineapple Coleslaw

Serves 6-8

Ingredients:

• 1 (14 oz) bag Coleslaw Mix (without dressing)
• 16 oz can pineapple tidbits in juice, drained- reserving 2 Tbsp juice
• 3/4 cup raisins

Dressing:

• 3/4 cup Mayonnaise
• 2 Tbsp white distilled vinegar
• 2 Tbsp reserved pineapple juice
• 3 Tbsp sugar

Preparation:

Combine the coleslaw with pineapple tidbits and raisins in a large bowl.
In a smaller bowl, combine the mayonnaise, vinegar, reserved pineapple juice and sugar and stir to combine.  Taste and add more sugar if desired.  (I don’t like it super sweet – the raisins and pineapple bring plenty of that to the table).
Pour the dressing over the coleslaw mixture and toss to coat.  Cover and refrigerate.

French Fries

French fries come in the frozen section of the grocery store right?  You put them in the oven and bake them, .. at least that has been the case for me, if I even make them at all.  In an attempt to find something really cheap to make so I can blog about it, I tried the recipe that is in America’s Test Kitchen TV Cookbook (2001-2010) LINK.  They recently showed on their program a method of frying french fries that starts with the potatoes in cold peanut oil.  I was skeptical, that they fries would become really soggy. I have to say it was not a perfect first attempt, but they were yummy in the end.  It took longer for my fries to get crisp than they said it would, and I had some stick to the bottom that did not want to budge, but it’s okay — they stayed at the bottom when I went to scoop them out with my spider and did not affect that lot.  I did have to cook them longer than the recipe said, but they were good in the end.. so be patient if they don’t seem crisp to you.  I drained the fries on a baking pan lined with paper towels, sprinkled the hot fries with salt for the family and garlic powder with some parsley for hubby and I because we LOVE garlic!

The recipe works this way: you use Yukon Gold Potatoes — mine were on the small side, so they were not very long, but they were good: crisp on the outside and soft and velvety in the inside.  The recipe in the cookbook calls for 1/4 cup strained bacon fat in the oil to give it extra flavor, but I didn’t use any because for once I didn’t have any on hand!  Shocker, I know!  Cut the edges of the potato to give it a flat side on all four sides (and extra balance when you slice them) and slice them first in 1/4 slices and then 1/4 inch sticks.

Easier French Fries

adapted from America’s Test Kitchen

Serves 6

Ingredients:

• 2 1/2 lbs Yukon Gold Potatoes (about 6 medium), scrubbed, dried, sides squared off and cut lengthwise in 1/4″ slices and then 1/4 inch sticks
• 6 cubs peanut oil
• Salt
• Garlic powder, optional

Preparation:

Place the sliced potato batons and the peanut oil in a heavy duty dutch oven (I like to use my 6 1/2 quart Le Creuset- an enameled cast iron skillet).

Bring the oil and french fries to a full boil over high heat.  Once the oil is boiling set the timer for 15 minutes.  Do NOT disturb the fries those 15 minutes- keep the temperature at high during the boiling, but do monitor to make sure it does not spill out!

After 15 minutes use a long pair of tongs to gently stir the bottom of the pot to loosen any that get stuck to the bottom (I still had a few that did not want to un-stick, but it turned out okay)

Continue cooking over high heat for 10 minutes or longer, stirring occasionally with tongs, until they are golden brown and crisp.  Remove them with a slotted spoon or a spider if you have one (a metal net like looking thing).  Drain the french fries on a paper towel lined baking sheet.  Immediately, sprinkle with salt and garlic powder if desired. Serve with Ketchup or a dipping sauce.

Enjoy

Printable Recipe

 

Amish Macaroni Salad

I’ve said I was a fan of allrecipes.com before and I will say it again.  I made this macaroni salad because I had little else in the fridge to eat for lunch, so I made this recipe.  I made a few changes to the original (the original recipe called for 3/4 cups of sugar!  – that sounds way too sweet to me for the amount of salad; I also reduced the amount of celery and changed the onion to 1/4 cup sweet onion- like Walla Walla, Maui or Vidalia).  Never the less, after tweaking the recipe it is quite yummy!

I love Macaroni Salads that have eggs in them and this is one.  Next time I will add some chopped fresh dill or parsley to brighten it up a little.

Amish Macaroni Salad

adapted from allrecipes.com

Serves 6

Ingredients:

• 2 cups uncooked elbow macaroni
• 3 hard boiled eggs, chopped
• 1/4 cup sweet onion (like Maui, Vidalia or Walla Walla_
• 2 stalks of celery, finely chopped
• 1 small red bell pepper, chopped (I used 3/4 cup chopped roasted bell peppers from the jar)
• 2 Tbsp pickle relish
• 2 cups Mayonnaise
• 3 Tbsp prepared Dijon Mustard
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 2 1/4 tsp white vinegar (or champagne vinegar is really nice here)
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 3/4 tsp celery seed (I used Mc Cormick’s Salad Supreme seasoning)
• 2 tsp fresh minced parsley or dill (optional)

Directions:

Bring a pot of lightly salted water to a boil.  Add Macraroni and cook according to package directions.  Drain, rinse, and cool completely.

In a large bowl combine the remaining ingredients and stir them together.  Pour the dressing mix over the cooled macaroni and stir to combine.  Cover with plastic wrap and cool at least 1 hour.  Enjoy.