Favorite Garden Recipes...from an Iowa Acreage

Chocolate Espresso Brownie Cookies

2011-02-12T17:34:00.005-06:00

I started with a recipe from Taste of Home at this site, and made a number of changes, including cutting down the ingredient amounts. These are just delicious and truly scream Happy Valentine's Day!

Ingredients:
* 1/2 cup butter, cut into slices
* 1/3 cup packed brown sugar
* 1 teaspoon instant espresso powder
* 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
* 1 egg
* 1-1/4 cups all-purpose flour (or a combination of whole wheat pastry flour and all-purpose flour)
* 1/4 cup baking cocoa
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 1/2 cup finely chopped walnuts
* extra cocoa for rolling out dough*

Topping:
* 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
* 1 tablespoon coconut oil*
* 1/2 cup finely chopped walnuts

Directions:
* In a large saucepan, combine butter, espresso powder, and brown sugar. Cook and stir over medium-low heat until butter is melted. Remove from the heat; stir in vanilla. Cool for 15 minutes. Whisk in egg.
* Combine the flour, cocoa, salt, and walnuts; add to butter mixture. Cover and chill for 30 minutes or until easy to handle.
* On a surface lightly coated with cocoa powder, roll dough to 1/4-in. thickness. Cut with a 3-in. heart-shaped cookie cutter, or any size you prefer. Place 1 in. apart on baking sheets. ( I always use unbleached parchment paper on my cookie sheets.)
* Bake at 350° for 9-10 minutes or until edges are firm. Cool on cookie sheets.
* For topping, in a microwave, melt chocolate chips and coconut oil; stir until smooth. Dip half of each heart into chocolate mixture; allow excess to drip off. Place on waxed paper. If desired, decorate with sprinkles before chocolate sets up; let stand until set. Yield: about 4 dozen, depending on the size of your cookie cutter.
***Notes:
1. I use coconut oil in place of shortening. It's solid at room temp., so has very similar properties to shortening, but without the horrible ingredients of shortening. In fact coconut oil is very good for you - look it up!
2. Using cocoa powder to roll out chocolate dough helps keep from having white flour spoil the look of your finished cookies, plus it adds yet another layer of chocolate flavor!

Cranberry Salad Dressing

2010-11-08T14:00:00.004-06:00

This makes a nice dressing for fall salads, over pears, etc. Add some chopped nuts to the salad too, and maybe some goat cheese? Very easy to make and something a little different.

Ingredients:

2C fresh or frozen cranberries
1/4 C water
1/4 C orange juice
3/4 C sugar
2Tbs. walnut oil
extra orange juice for thinning dressing if needed
orange zest (optional)
salt and pepper to taste

Combine the cranberries, water, juice, and sugar in a heavy saucepan. Bring to a boil, then lower heat and let simmer for about 5 minutes, until the berries are mostly popped. Stir frequently. You want to keep an eye on this and watch out for spattering!

Remove from heat and let cool. Push the mixture through a sieve so that the skins and most of the seeds can be discarded. Add walnut oil and orange juice until the dressing is a consistency that you like. Stir in zest and S&P. Taste as you go!

Sausage, Potato, and Kale Soup

2010-10-27T12:56:00.007-05:00

This recipe is similar to one of the Italian soups that is served at a popular Italian restaurant chain. However, my version has much more meat and many more veggies. The last time we made this, we added more chicken stock than what is listed below, since it didn't seem like there was enough liquid. We also had an entire bunch of kale to use up, and it was more than two cups. When cooking the kale, keep in mind that it takes a little longer than spinach to cook down. Test the kale when you think it's finished, to make sure it has the texture you like. This is a really a hardy Italian soup which is perfect for cold weather!

1 lb. spicy Italian sausage (or use whatever Ital. sausage you have and add a few red pepper flakes)
1/2 lb. bacon - chopped
1 qt. water
32 oz. carton (4 C) chicken broth
2 lg. russet potatoes - scrubbed clean, cubed
2 garlic cloves - peeled, crushed
1 med. onion - peeled, chopped
1/2 C carrot, grated
2 cups kale, chopped
1 cup milk, half and half, evaporated milk, or heavy whipping cream
salt and pepper - to taste

Brown sausage and bacon in a medium skillet, breaking sausage into small pieces as it cooks; drain, set aside.

Place water, broth, potatoes, garlic, onion, and carrot in a large soup pot; simmer over medium heat until potatoes are tender. Add sausage and bacon to pot; simmer for 10 more minutes. Add kale and milk to pot; season with salt and pepper; heat gently until kale is tender.

Yellow Squash Fritters

2010-09-29T12:31:00.011-05:00

The early fall take-home from our food co-op has included some beautiful yellow squash. I have no trouble using up this veggie and have lots of favorite things to do with it, like sauteing and adding Italian spices and Parmesan cheese, or simply using it in spaghetti sauce or in a lasagna. However, I'd seen this recipe made on a cooking show and wanted to try it. As usual, I started with a base recipe and made a number of changes to suit us. You should do the same!

Here are the ingredients:

1 medium yellow squash, soft/seedy parts removed, and chopped into small cubes - you will need 1 C of mashed squash in the end, or if you have more than that, just adjust the other ingredients
1 Tbs. dried onion flakes
1/4 C chicken broth
1 egg
1/3 C whole wheat pastry flour
1/3 C cornmeal
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp pepper
oil for frying - 1/4 to 1/3 C

Instructions:
Cook the squash with the dried onions in the chicken broth, until tender. I used a microwave vegetable bowl for this step. I also added salt and pepper to the squash, but you can suit your own taste here - in fact if you like spicier food, a touch of cayenne would be good. Once this mixture is tender, mash it, using a potato masher, or if you are lucky enough to have a hand blender, use that until it looks about like this consistency:

Beat the egg into the squash mixture until well blended. Next, mix the flour, cornmeal, baking powder, salt and pepper in a medium bowl. Add the squash mixture to the flour mixture, stirring well but not over beating.

Heat the oil in your skillet - I used about 1/3 C for frying these. Drop batter into the oil by the tablespoonful. Don't over crowd the skillet- you may need to do these in a couple of batches. Flip over to cook the other side. Drain on a paper towel. I got about 12 fritters out of this batch.

We enjoyed these along side a nice steak and the next morning they were great with sunny-side-up eggs!

Apple Stuffed Iowa Chops

2010-09-19T18:38:00.008-05:00

What a great fall meal this is! Apples are in season and this stuffing is a great compliment to a thick cut chop - in this case an Iowa chop. As with most of my recipes, this one is flexible in terms of what you put into your stuffing. Also, you can obviously double or triple the amounts for more servings. Just be careful to check the final cooked temperature of the pork with a meat thermometer. According to this article from the USDA, pork is safely cooked at 160 degrees.

To Start:

2 thick-cut pork chops - ask to have the pocket cut for you at your grocery store if you are unsure about how to do it. I used a good pair of kitchen shears to cut the pocket.

Stuffing:

1 whole apple, cored and chopped with skin on
1/2 C bread crumbs - I had seasoned croutons on hand and crushed those up
1/2 C chopped pecans
1/2 C crumbled blue cheese - feel free to substitute another cheese
1/4 C snipped fresh chives - or 2 tsp dried - or substitute finely chopped onion
1 slightly beaten egg
salt and pepper to taste
Mix all together and stuff tightly into pork chops. You can use skewers to secure the stuffing in the pocket if you need to.

Place stuffed chops into a greased baking dish which is big enough to hold them without being crowded, pour a little apple juice (and a splash of sherry?) in the bottom for moisture if you wish, cover and bake at 350 for 45 min. Then remove the cover (foil) and bake for another 10 to 15 minutes, or until browned and at the safe temperature of 160 degrees.

This made the whole house smell like Thanksgiving!

Tomato Cucumber Salad with Feta Cheese

2010-09-04T21:38:00.008-05:00

vThis salad is similar to another tomato and cucumber salad I posted last summer, but it's nice to have several options when cucumbers and tomatoes are pouring out of your garden! We have a local source for fresh Feta and it's nice in everything. Check out the website for Northern Prairie Chevre - they love their goats!

2 cups fresh tomatoes - I used 3 medium sized yellow pear tomatoes, peeled, seeded, chopped
1 medium cucumber, seeded and sliced - I partially peel mine
1 Tbs. chopped, fresh oregano
1 Tbs. chopped, fresh parsley
1/4 - 1/3 crumbled Feta cheese
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp. sugar - I used dried cane sugar
Mix together gently.

Dressing:
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1-2 Tbs. red wine vinegar
2-4 Tbs. oilio
**a general rule of thumb in dressings is to use twice as much oil as vinegar or other acid

Whisk together until the garlic is evenly distributed and pour over salad.

Summer Fruit Crisp

2010-08-30T07:52:00.001-05:00

Mmmmmm...local blueberries and raspberries from our food coop, and Colorado peaches at our local grocery store, collided in our kitchen to become this delicious fruit crisp! You can make this crisp with any fruit you have available - fresh or frozen. Adjust the amount of sugar and spices in the filling to suit the fruit and your taste buds. Reduce the amount of cornstarch in the filling if you want a looser (runnier) crisp. No matter what changes you make, this is almost fool proof!

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Fruit filling:
Roughly 2 pts. total fruit - I used 1.5 C frozen blueberries, 1/2 C fresh raspberries, and 5 small Colorado peaches (peeled and sliced)
1/4 c. granulated sugar
2 tbsp. cornstarch
pinch of grated nutmeg
Toss all ingredients together in a large bowl, and place in a buttered or sprayed 9x9 inch baking dish, or one of similar capacity.

Topping:
1 c. whole wheat pastry flour
1/2 c. brown sugar
1/2 c. rolled oats
3/4 tsp. cinnamon
pinch of salt
1/2 c. walnuts, pecans, or almonds, chopped
1 stick softened butter, cut into slices (for easier incorporating)
Mix together the dry ingredients, including the nuts, and then work in the butter with a pastry blender or a fork.

Sprinkle half of the topping evenly over the fruit and cook for 10 minutes. Add the rest of the topping and cook for another 15 minutes, until top is crisp and brown and juices start to bubble up around the edges.

Serve warm with a scoop of ice cream!

Lovely Lemon-Filled Coconut Cupcakes

2010-07-27T19:06:00.001-05:00

These are not your everyday, quick-cooking cupcakes. These are for special occasions and worth every minute of effort! These are pound cake-like in density, and part of the lemon flavor comes from a liqueur called Limoncello, which is really lovely. If you "Google" recipes using this liqueur, you'll find it in everything from pasta to chicken. I hope you'll make these cupcakes for someone's birthday, Father's Day, Mother's Day, a bridal shower... and I hope you enjoy them as much as we did!

Yield: 1 dozen

For the cupcakes:
1½ cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
½ stick unsalted butter, at room temperature
3 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
3 large eggs
2 tablespoons Limoncello (an Italian lemon liqueur)
1 tsp. coconut extract (optional)
½ cup milk or buttermilk
¼ cup lemon juice
½ c shredded sweetened coconut
Zest of 1 lemon

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Combine the flour, baking powder and salt; set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the butter, cream cheese and sugar on medium speed until light and creamy, 2-3 minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the Limoncello, coconut extract, milk and lemon juice, and beat an additional minute. On low speed, add flour mixture, scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Add the coconut and lemon zest and mix on low speed just until incorporated. Divide the batter between 12 muffin tins. Bake for 15-18 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Let cool completely.

For the lemon curd:
Zest of 1 lemon
1/2 cup lemon juice
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 egg + 1 egg yolk

In a heavy medium saucepan, stir together the lemon zest, juice and sugar and bring to a simmer over medium heat. In a small bowl, whisk together the egg and egg yolk. Whisk a small amount of the lemon mixture into the eggs to temper them. Scrape the mixture back into the saucepan and place over medium heat, whisking constantly until it thickens, about 5 minutes. Remove from the heat, and let cool completely.

For the cream cheese Limoncello frosting:
½ stick unsalted butter, at room temperature
4 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
1 tablespoon Limoncello
2 cups powdered sugar, sifted
Coconut for toasting, for decorating top of cupcakes
*you can also add a little coconut to the frosting itself if you're a big fan :)

Using an electric mixer, beat the butter and cream cheese on medium speed until light and creamy, about 2-3 minutes. Add the Limoncello and beat for an additional minute. Reduce the speed to low and gradually add the sifted powdered sugar and beat until fully incorporated and smooth.

Toast about 1/2 C additional coconut for topping the cupcakes if desired. You can easily toast the coconut in the oven while it's coming up to temperature for the cupcakes, or you can do it on top of the stove in a small skillet. Always watch very carefully when you toast coconut or nuts as they get away from you so quickly!

Assembly:

1. Cut a cone shaped piece from the top of each cupcake. Cut the point off of the cones so that you won't be displacing too much filling when you put these cones back on top of the filling.

2. Fill the cavity with the lemon curd.
3. Replace the trimmed cones on top of the filling, and don't push down too hard. If it sticks up a little or if a little filling squishes out the top, it's fine since the frosting will cover it up.
4. Frost the cupcakes and sprinkle on the toasted coconut. Then have someone with willpower hide some of them, so you don't finish them off in one night! Actually they're so rich you won't be able to finish them quickly unless you have the world's biggest sweet tooth!

Fruited Rice and Lentil Salad with Chicken

2010-07-06T21:12:00.009-05:00

This is another recipe which started with a recipe in Moosewood Restaurant Daily Special cookbook. The biggest difference is that you won't find chicken in the salads in this cookbook! I certainly don't mind a vegetarian salad, but this is one example of a way to make a more hearty dinner salad by adding a little grilled chicken or shrimp.

1. You will need about 3 C of cooked rice, and 1 c cooked lentils for this salad. This is approximately 1 C uncooked brown rice, and 1/2 C dry lentils. When I made the salad, I had leftover cooked rice and therefore simply cooked up the lentils. If you cook either the rice or lentils from the raw state, follow the package cooking directions and add a bay leaf and a clove of garlic to the cooking water for both.

2. Adding chicken to this salad is optional. I used two grilled, chopped chicken breasts, and added it at the same time that the fruit and vegetables were added.

3. To the cooked rice and lentils, add the following:
1 apple, unpeeled and chopped - toss with a little lemon juice to prevent browning
1 1/2 C seedless grapes (black preferred), sliced in half
1 large red or yellow pepper, medium dice
1/2 C celery, chopped
cooked, chopped chicken if using

4. Dressing:
1/2 C olive oil
1/3 C white wine vinegar
1 Tbs. balsamic vinegar
1 Tbs. Dijon mustard
2 garlic cloves, finely minced
2 tsp. dried tarragon
1/4 tsp. dried mint
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. black pepper

Add about half the dressing, or as much as you need to make the salad moist enough for your liking. You can offer more of the dressing when you serve it. OR...I made this salad the day before, tossed half the dressing into the salad the first day and then added the other half of the dressing the next day before I served it.

Greek Pasta Salad

2010-07-06T17:51:00.012-05:00

This recipe was inspired by Moosewood Restaurant Daily Special cookbook. I put in a few changes of course - can't help myself! I highly recommend this cookbook - salad, soup, and bread combos - what could be better?

1. Bring a large pot of water to boil to cook pasta. Once water is boiling, add 1/2 pound pasta such as rotini, bow tie, or elbow macaroni. Cook until just tender and drain.

2. Whisk together:
1 Tbs. olive oil
1 Tbs. white wine vinegar
1 tsp. ground fennel seeds
1 tsp. dried oregano
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. black pepper

Then add:
1 1/2 C cooked chickpeas (or 15 oz. can, drained). Set the chickpeas aside to marinate.

3. Heat 1 Tbs. olive oil over low heat. Add 2-3 cloves of minced garlic and cook just until the garlic is tender, probably less than a minute.

Then add:
1/2 C celery, sliced
1 bell pepper, diced
1 1/2 C diced tomatoes, or when out of season use 15 oz. can of diced tomatoes with liquid
1 1/2 C green onions, sliced

Simmer the tomato mixture for 8-10 minutes, stirring often. Then add in the chickpeas with marinade and cook for another 2-3 minutes.

4. Toss the warm tomato/chickpea mixture with the pasta, then add the following ingredients:

1/2 C your favorite olive, sliced
1/3 C chopped parsley
2 Tbs. lemon juice
1/2 -1C crumbled feta cheese - depends on how much you love it!
1 small can artichoke hearts, drained and roughly chopped

Serve warm or chilled. Serves 4-8 depending on whether or not it's a main dish or a side.

Pear Salad

2010-07-06T16:59:00.006-05:00

This has been one of our daughter's favorite salads for some time now. We tried it out for the first time a number of years ago on some died-in-the-wool Mainers and they loved it! This photo shows the addition of fresh blackberries, which we don't always have available, but it's a wonderful compliment. It's simply a composed salad, one you layer on a plate. We use one whole pear for each person, but that can be changed of course.

Here's a list of the ingredients:
spring salad greens
ripe pear, cored and sliced
thinly sliced red onion
fresh black raspberries or another berry if in season
toasted walnuts, roughly chopped
blue cheese crumbles or soft goat cheese bits
raspberry vinaigrette - homemade or purchased

Watermelon Salad - Hawaiian style

2010-07-06T16:22:00.004-05:00

For my 50th birthday, we went to Hawaii and for my actual birthday dinner, we ate at a wonderful restaurant that is known for their watermelon salad. We didn't get the recipe, but recreated it by listing the ingredients on a scrap of paper that actually made it home with us! I either compose each person's salad on a small plate or layer it on a large platter to pass. It's colorful and delicious!

Here are the ingredients:
greens of your choice
watermelon cut into chunks
very thinly sliced red onion
carrot curls
toasted macadamia nuts, chopped
Roquefort or Blue cheese crumbles (the cheese crumbles aren't pictured here since I passed them separately when I last made this - we had a non blue-cheese eater in the mix!)
Raspberry vinaigrette - homemade or purchased

Crockpot Chicken Chili

2010-05-04T12:25:00.007-05:00

This was an easy dish that I took to a church luncheon. It is just delicious and is very simple to adjust to your tastes and what you have on hand in your pantry. Somehow the chicken and black beans felt more like a spring/summer kind of chili. I left some of it at home for us to enjoy later, and it was excellent with a Fat Tire beer. Perfect out-on-the-patio supper!

* 3-4 chicken breasts - cut in half, or thirds if large
* 15 oz. canned black beans, drained
* 15 oz. canned pinto beans, drained
* 3 cloves garlic, minced
* 1-2 tsp. cumin
* 16 ounces salsa - I ended up using about 1 1/2 pints of my homemade salsa
* 1 C bell peppers, chopped (frozen works too if you need a shortcut)
* 1 jalapeno, chopped or 1 medium long green chili, chopped
* 1 C chopped onion
* 1 C frozen corn
* salt and pepper if needed - I didn't use any

* Garnishes - fresh cilantro, sour cream, shredded Manchego cheese, chopped green onions, or anything else that pleases your family. I served this with blue corn chips and it was great!

Place all ingredients into crock-pot, placing chicken pieces on top. I pushed them down slightly into the liquid ingredients so they would cook well, but I wanted to be able to retrieve them easily later on. Cook for 6 hours on low, or 4 hours on high. Remove chicken from the crockpot to a cutting board and check for doneness with a thermometer (should be 165 F per USDA). Shred chicken pieces and put back into crock-pot and let them heat through for another 20 minutes. Adjust seasonings and serve.

***Note - For the potluck, I shredded the chicken, stirred it back into the chili, then moved the entire mixture into a casserole dish and refrigerated it overnight. At the potluck, I placed the casserole into a medium oven to re-heat, and it was nice and bubbly by the end of the morning service. Of course this might vary according to how long your pastor preaches!

Chocolate Shortbread Cookies - No Eggs or Butter!

2010-04-26T20:48:00.006-05:00

I made a batch of one of our favorite chocolate cookies recently, and made use of some new organic flavorings I recently purchased. I chose the hazelnut and it worked great in place of the vanilla! The original recipe comes from the magazine "Vegetarian Times". I've made a couple of permanent adjustments, like subbing whole wheat pastry flour. In one of the photos above, you can see another addition, which is a little bit of raw sugar sprinkled on top for taste and appearance. There's a little nutrition boost with the prune puree, and no eggs or butter makes them an option for some folks with food allergies - but check first before you serve these to people with allergies as there are always hidden ingredients that we might not know about.

Makes 16 cookies

* 1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
* 1/2 cup brown sugar
* 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
* 1/2 tsp. baking soda
* 1/4 tsp. salt
* 1 oz. unsweetened chocolate
* 3 Tbs. canola oil
* 5 Tbs. prune baby food
* 1 tsp. vanilla extract (or try hazelnut extract)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Coat baking sheet with cooking spray. Whisk together flour, brown sugar, cocoa, baking soda, and salt in bowl. Heat chocolate and oil in glass measuring cup in microwave on medium power 30 seconds to 1 minute, or until melted. Stir in baby food and vanilla, then stir into flour mixture. If dough is too crumbly to hold together, add 1 Tbs. more baby food.
2. Roll dough into 1 1/2-inch balls and place 1 inch apart on prepared baking sheet. Press with bottom of drinking glass to flatten. Bake 12 minutes, or until small cracks form on cookie tops. Cool 5 minutes on baking sheet; transfer to wire rack to cool completely.

Swiss Green Beans

2010-04-07T13:29:00.004-05:00

This recipe is from Mollie Katzen's Enchanted Broccoli Forest cookbook and everyone at our home loved it. I am posting the recipe as we made it, which is just slightly different from Mollie's recipe. BE SURE to remember that if you make this ahead of time to let it marinate, you don't put the almonds, or the vinegar and lemon juice on until the last minute, so that you won't end up with gray colored green beans! Makes 4-6 servings.

1.5 lbs fresh green beans, cleaned and trimmed
1/4 C olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp dried tarragon
1 tsp dried dill
1/2 tsp salt, or to taste
black pepper to taste
2 tsp Dijon mustard
1/2 C minced fresh parsley
1/3 lb. Swiss cheese cut into thin chunks
one small can sliced black olives
1 large red pepper, cut into small squares
____
3-4 Tbs lemon juice
1 Tbs red wine vinegar
____
1/2 C sliced almonds, toasted

Steam green beans until just tender. In a large bowl, combine all other ingredients except lemon juice, vinegar, and almonds. Add green beans, toss well and allow to marinate (tightly covered) in the refrigerator, for at least 2 hours, and up to 24 hours. About 10 minutes before serving, toss with the lemon juice and vinegar, and top with toasted almonds.

Fajita Salad

2010-02-23T12:36:00.006-06:00

What started out as fajitas in corn tortillas, eventually became a new twist on a salad! I decided not to deal with the usual mess of sauce and peppers, and whatever else dripping out of the ends of the tortilla, and instead cut the tortillas into triangles, and quickly sauteed them in a little oil in a fry pan, turning them to lightly brown both sides. I put them on paper towels to drain, and sprinkled them with salt and a little chipotle pepper from this nifty new grinder (pictured above) that my hubbie found at the grocery store. The final product tasted a little like fry bread - yum!

The rest of the salad was just a matter of assembling. The first layer was organic lettuce greens, topped by the fajita mixture, then Colby-jack cheese, the corn tortilla chips, a little homemade salsa for dressing, a drizzle of yogurt, and finally some cilantro leaves. Here's what I put in the fajita mixture:

thin slices of round steak
slices of green and orange bell pepper
thin sliced onion
one 15oz. can of fire-roasted tomatoes (drained)
2 tsp. crushed garlic
1-2 tsp. cumin
2-3 tsp. chili powder
1-2 tsp. oregano
salt and pepper to taste

Simply saute the meat, peppers, and onions in a little oil until the meat is slightly browned, then add the tomatoes and spices, cover and cook for 10-15 minutes until the meat is tender. Enjoy!

Whole Wheat Pumpkin Walnut Bread

2009-10-29T17:02:00.008-05:00

Oh yes, it's autumn and that leads to pumpkin bread every time! This recipe comes from the Whole Foods website. Of course I couldn't leave well enough alone, so I have included the little changes that I made. For one thing, I couldn't see using part of a can of pumpkin, so I upped the amount in the bread and added more flour to prevent wasting the rest. And since we're "gaga" over black walnuts, I just had to use them in this bread and sprinkle some on top for good measure! I served this with cream cheese sweetened with honey and spiked with cinnamon - so good with a cup of hot tea on a rainy afternoon!

Ingredients:

Canola oil cooking spray
1 1/2 cups whole wheat pastry flour (I added an extra 1/4C)
1/4 cup oat bran or wheat germ
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
6 tablespoons cane sugar (I used Sucanat)
1/3 cup canola or sunflower oil
1/3 cup honey
1/3 cup milk
1 1/4 cups fresh or canned pumpkin puree (I used one 15oz. can)
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup chopped walnuts

Method:

Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease an 8-inch loaf pan (I used a larger loaf pan) with canola oil cooking spray and set aside.

In a large bowl, combine flour, oat bran, baking powder, pumpkin pie spice, salt and baking soda. In a second large bowl, combine sugar, oil, honey, milk, pumpkin, egg and vanilla then add to flour mixture and stir until just combined. Fold in walnuts.

Transfer batter to prepared loaf pan (I sprinkled a few extra black walnuts and 2 tsp. cinnamon sugar on the top before placing the bread in the oven.), and bake until cooked through and a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean, about 1 hour. Cool for 15 minutes on a wire rack then remove from pan and set aside to let cool completely.

Asian Lettuce Wraps

2009-09-28T15:24:00.004-05:00

This is one of our favorite appetizers from Chinese and Thai restaurants but I'd never tried it at home for some reason. Now I will admit that the first recipe I found on the internet was one of the most convoluted, complicated processes I'd ever seen, and it could have scared off anyone - but that didn't deter me for long since we were craving these! As usual, I researched all the versions and put them together to suit us. This is very versatile and therefore great for using what's in your fridge.

For serving:
bib lettuce, or another soft lettuce, washed and leaves separated
sliced green onions
thin, crispy rice noodles

For filling:
1/2 C celery
1/2 C onion
1/2 C green and hot peppers - combination depends on how much heat you like
1-2 Tbs. peanut oil
Saute the vegetables in the oil in a large pan until they have started to soften.

1 lb. chicken breast meat, chopped or ground
small eggplant, peeled and chopped (optional, but gave a nice texture)
one can of water chestnuts, chopped
2 tsp. grated fresh ginger
2 tsp. toasted sesame oil
Add the chicken, eggplant, water chestnuts, and ginger to the vegetables, and drizzle the sesame oil over all. Continue cooking until the chicken is cooked all the way through.

1/4 - 1/2 C sesame/ginger salad dressing
1-2 Tbs. soy sauce
1-2 tsp. cornstarch
To finish the filling, add the dressing to the pan, then dissolve the cornstarch in the soy sauce and add that to the pan as well. Stir well and cook until the filling is thickened, about 2-3 minutes.

Fill the lettuce pieces with the filling and top with the onions and noodles. Fold the lettuce over the filling, a little like a burrito or a taco shell. We had these with steamed dumplings and called it a meal - a delicious meal!

Baked Bean Soup with Ham

2009-09-25T18:59:00.004-05:00

Yes indeed, this is not a picture of baked bean soup! I decided that would be a rather boring photo, and besides these individual bean pots are so cute that I put them on my wish list! You can get them if you click on the photo or the link. This recipe had it's start from the Moosewood Restaurant Daily Special cookbook, but it was greatly transformed in our kitchen since it's a vegetarian recipe and the ham addition would not be welcome! It tasted great and I'll try my best to include all the changes I made, but keep sampling it and make it taste the way your family likes baked beans!

2 C chopped onions
1/2 C diced celery
1 C diced carrots
2 Tbs. olive oil
1 Tbs. chili powder
3 tsp. Dijon or German mustard
2 C chicken stock
1 - 14.5 oz. can stewed tomatoes and juice (I used my homemade stewed tomatoes)
2- 15.5 oz. can white beans or pinto beans, or a combo, drained
1 Tbs. apple cider vinegar
3 Tbs. molasses
1-2 Tbs. brown sugar or another natural sweetener like sucanat
1 Tbs. soy sauce
3 Tbs. catsup
3-4 Tbs. tomato paste
1 C diced ham
several drops liquid smoke
ground pepper to taste

In a soup pot, saute the onion, celery, and carrots in the olive oil for about 10 minutes. Add the chili powder and continue to cook until the vegetables are tender, about 5 minutes. Stir in the remaining ingredients. Cover and bring to a boil. Then lower heat and gently simmer for about 15 minutes. Season with pepper to taste. An optional step is to use a hand held blender and puree the soup slightly to thicken it.

Alternately, this can be cooked in a crock pot. I did this for a ladies' soup and salad dinner, sauteing the vegetables first, then adding everything else to the crock pot and cooking the soup for about 4 hours on high and 2 hours on low. I think it gave it a nice flavor, like you'd get from the long cooking of baked beans. The ladies all enjoyed it!

Another Coleslaw Recipe?

2009-09-12T21:35:00.004-05:00

I couldn't help myself! We're still getting 2nd generation cabbages from the garden, which are plants that grow on the same plant that's already been harvested once, so it's impossible to ignore such bounty! So, this one is a little different twist, though still using cranberries and nuts. It's delicious and we'll have it after church tomorrow, alongside BBQ ribs from the crock pot - if I remember to turn it on at 6:00 in the morning!

1 small head cabbage, sliced, shredded or chopped
1/2 C dried cranberries
1/2 c chopped raw cashews

Combine in a large bowl.

Dressing:

1/2 C mayo
2 Tbs. white wine vinegar
2Tbs. real maple syrup
2 tsp. Dijon mustard
1/2 tsp. pepper

Whisk together well, and pour over cabbage mixture. Combine gently and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes before it's served.

Tomato Cucumber Salad with Lemon Vinaigrette

2009-09-01T08:27:00.009-05:00

This salad is fantastic with seafood! We often have loads of little tomatoes ripen at the same time, and since they aren't the best to can, I try to come up with salads that will set off their distinct flavors. This salad, and the dressing, could easily be transformed into a more Italian flavored dish, by using a traditional Italian vinaigrette, using Parmesan cheese in place of the Feta, and substituting fresh basil for the parsley in the salad.

Salad:
2 C chopped yellow pear tomatoes, or any other tomato you prefer
1 C whole cherry tomatoes
1 small cucumber, sliced thinly
1/4 - 1/2 C crumbled feta cheese
2 Tbs. fresh, chopped parsley
1 tsp. grated lemon zest
salt and pepper to taste

Gently combine all ingredients in a bowl. Pour vinaigrette over the salad and let marinate for 15-30 minutes before serving.

Lemon Vinaigrette:
1/4 cup olive oil
3 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 -2 teaspoons white wine vinegar (depends on how tart your lemon is)
1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
2 teaspoons honey
1 teaspoon Greek seasoning, or a combination of oregano and thyme
1 clove garlic, minced
3/4 teaspoon coarse salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper

Mix all together in a small bowl and combine thoroughly with a whisk, or mix in a shaker jar.

Stuffed Cabbage Rolls

2009-08-27T08:30:00.000-05:00

This surely seems like a winter dish, but we've had such cool and rainy weather, and I've been processing cabbage anyway, so this was a natural for late August too. I found many versions of recipes for stuffed cabbage, so like most of my other recipes, I encourage you to suit your own taste and use what you have on hand in your refrigerator to make these your own creation.

Ingredients

* 1 large head cabbage

Filling:
* 1 lb. ground beef, or a combination of beef and pork
* 1 cup cooked brown rice
* 1 small onion, finely chopped
* 2 garlic cloves, minced
* 2 carrots, finely chopped or grated
* 1 small green pepper, finely chopped
* 1/2 C celery, finely chopped
* 1 egg, lightly beaten
* 2 Tbs. steak sauce, catsup, or Worcestershire
* 1 T paprika
* 2 tsp. ground pepper
* 2 tsp. salt
* 1 Tbs. fresh parsley, chopped
* 1 tsp. dried thyme

Sauce
* 2 cups tomato sauce ( I used a combination of leftover tomato gravy from Swiss steak and a chopped fresh tomato)
* 2 Tbs. red wine vinegar
* 1 Tbs. sugar
* salt and pepper to taste

Directions

1. Carefully remove the larger outer leaves from a large head of cabbage, save the rest of the head for coleslaw or another recipe. I used 8 leaves for this recipe.
2. Drop leaves into boiling water to soften them enough to be rolled around the filling. It should take about 1-2 minutes of cooking, being careful not to overcook. See picture of softened leaf here.
3. Drain and cool cabbage leaves.
4. Heat oven to 350 degrees and spray a 9x13 baking dish with non-stick spray.
5. Combine all sauce ingredients, and ladle about half of the sauce into the bottom of the dish.
6. Combine meat with all other filling ingredients.
7. Spoon stuffing into cabbage leaves and roll to enclose filling.
8. Arrange seam side down in a baking dish.
9. Cover cabbage rolls with remaining tomato sauce.
10. Drizzle a little olive oil over the top of the cabbage rolls, to keep them moist, and you may want to baste them once or twice during the cooking time.
11. Bake uncovered, for about 1 hour, or until the cabbage has softened and the filling is completely cooked - I always use a meat thermometer to be sure.

Note: I've seen recipes that are a layered casserole version of stuffed cabbage, in which you shred the cabbage and then layer first the rice, a pre-cooked meat mixture, cabbage, and top with tomato sauce (or a large can of diced tomatoes with juice). It's baked at 350 for 30-40 minutes. This sounds good to me, and I'll bet there's a crock-pot version as well. So many recipes to try!

Rhubarb Crisp

2009-08-22T14:35:00.008-05:00

This is a "once in a while" treat since it's so sugary, but adding some whole grain helps keep the balance a little doesn't it??!! The kind of rhubarb we grow doesn't have much of that traditional red color, and I don't like to add food coloring, so it looks a little green in this photo! It's nice and tart though, just the way it should be!

Whole Grain Rhubarb Crisp

Topping:

1/2 cup chopped pecans
1/2 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1/2 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
2/3 cup softened butter

Filling:

5-6 cups rhubarb,chopped
3/4 cup granulated sugar

Heat oven to 375. Spray an 8-inch baking dish or a 1.5 quart casserole with non-stick spray.

Combine nuts, flour , rolled oats, brown sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg. Using a pastry blender or two knives, cut in butter until mixture is crumbly.

In large bowl, toss rhubarb with sugar. Place rhubarb in baking dish. Sprinkle topping evenly over rhubarb . Bake, uncovered, 35 minutes, or until rhubarb is tender and topping is deep golden brown. Place foil loosely over the crisp if it gets too brown during the cooking time. Of course this is traditionally served with ice cream, and if you can find it, cinnamon ice cream is amazing with rhubarb crisp!

Garden Stuffed Peppers

2009-08-19T19:03:00.006-05:00

These were truly stuffed with the garden! These are peppers from the garden with onion, carrot, garlic, and tomato from the garden as well. There are so many, many versions of stuffed peppers out there, but this one was different, and a little more work because I used our fresh tomatoes rather than opening jars of diced tomatoes and sauce. It was well worth the effort - one of those "food of love" dishes. Make it because you love the people who are eating it!

Ingredients - all very flexible:

5-6 bell peppers, halved and seeded
I chose to precook these by placing them in a sprayed baking dish (9x13), and microwaving them for 3 minutes. Some people par-boil them instead, and some don't precook at all.

For the filling:
1 lb. lean ground beef, thoroughly cooked in a skillet along with one chopped onion and two chopped garlic cloves
3 C cooked rice - I used "sweet" brown rice, which is stickier than normal rice
2 shredded carrots
2-3 peeled, chopped tomatoes
2/3 C shredded cheese - I used sharp cheddar
Seasoning of your choice - I used 1 Tbs. parsley, 1 Tbs. paprika, 2 Tbs. Worcestershire sauce, 1 Tbs. brown sugar, 1 Tbs. balsamic vinegar, 1 tsp. celery seed, salt, pepper
Mix all of this together in a bowl. It's a good idea to taste this now, to see if it needs any tweaking. If it seems like it's not holding together very well, some recipes suggested adding an egg - like you would with meatloaf. Just do your tasting before the egg goes in!

For the sauce:
3-4 peeled tomatoes, chopped or torn into the same pan in which you browned your beef. Cook the sauce down until some of the liquid has evaporated. Then add a strange ingredient - about 1/4 C of catsup. I know! But it adds just the right punch to the sauce. Skip it if it turns you off!

Assembly:
Fill the precooked peppers with the beef and rice mixture; using your hands is the best way to do this. Set them back in the baking dish and then carefully ladle the tomato sauce down around the peppers, using a little bit of the sauce on top of each pepper as well. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 30-40 minutes or until the sauce is bubbly and the peppers are tender.

Fresh Pasta Sauce

2009-08-14T16:54:00.010-05:00

One of the nicest ways to use up a flood of garden tomatoes, is to make a splendid fresh pasta sauce! Above are pictured the main ingredients, all of them from the garden except for the sausage of course, which is Archer Farms chicken mushroom, organic sausage. I used somewhere between 6 and 8 pounds of our tomatoes, peeled, cored, and mostly seeded. I never kill myself getting every last speck of seed and pulp from them. Then the tomatoes - 3 different varieties - were torn into small pieces. Our onion and newly harvested garlic were chopped and sauteed in olive oil first, then the fresh tomatoes, chopped sausage, and the chopped basil were added to the pot. Next come seasonings that you like. I used about 2 Tbs. red wine vinegar, 1 Tbs. succanat for sweetener, 1 Tbs. dried oregano, 1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes, salt and pepper to taste.

Let this simmer for a while to develop flavor. Depending on your preference and the amount of time you have before you serve the sauce, you can thicken it up in a few different ways. One is to let it cook down until it thickens (this could take a while), the next is to add a little cornstarch dissolved in a small amount of water (this is what is in a packet of spaghetti seasoning), or you can add a can (or less) of tomato paste. For this batch of sauce I did a combination. I added a can of paste since I like the contrast of that to the fresh tomatoes, and I simmered it for about 30 minutes while waiting for DH to finish the Friday night mowing - fun, fun job! It came out just great and what a difference a fresh tomato makes!

Grilled Salmon all Wrapped Up!

2009-08-12T15:17:00.006-05:00

MMM...this is such a great way to make salmon on the grill in the summer. And obviously this could be done in the oven as well, but then you wouldn't get the carmelization of the shallots that happened on the grill - MMM again!

I make these packets for potatoes and veggies a lot, and the method is just the same. I placed the salmon on parchment paper, drizzled on a little olive oil, then place the sliced shallots and the herb stalks (thyme and rosemary) on top. I seasoned with a little salt and pepper and then carefully wrapped up the paper around the fish. Then I placed the bundle on a piece of foil large enough to seal tightly. Make tight seams as you close the foil around the parchment bundle, then place it on a medium hot grill. We actually cooked ours a wee bit too long, so watch it carefully since the time needed will vary tremendously, depending on the thickness of your piece of salmon.

Obviously the possibilities of ingredient and seasoning combinations is limitless. One note is that if you use potatoes in these packets, it's best to partially pre-cook them by either popping them in the microwave or parboiling them. Here's another "foil packet" recipe on this blog. Experiment and enjoy!

Bruschetta the Julia Child Way

2009-08-10T11:17:00.006-05:00

...or at least it's the version of Julia Child's bruschetta that was made in the wonderful movie, "Julie and Julia". This is so very, very adaptable. Add or subtract any number of ingredients. Our daughter made this with pesto, balsamic vinegar, olive oil, and pieces of mozzarella cheese added to the tomatoes, and she and her friends loved it! This is another recipe in which the quantities are very hard to list. You should be able to eyeball the amount of tomatoes you need to cover the number of bread slices you choose to make.

Ingredients:

a loaf of quality rustic bread, sliced into one inch slices
one clove garlic
olive oil to coat your frying pan, or as much oil as you like!

an assortment of ripe tomatoes, cut into smallish chunks
fresh basil leaves, torn or cut into pieces
olive oil to dress the tomatoes
salt and pepper to taste

finely grated Parmesan cheese - optional

Method:

Mix the tomatoes and basil. Drizzle on olive oil and toss gently; then salt and pepper the tomatoes. The more salt you use, the most juice will be released. Let this marinate while you prepare the bread.

In a skillet, brown the bread slices in the olive oil on both sides, until it's a nice golden color. Remove the bread from the pan. Cut off one end of the garlic clove, and rub carefully over the hot bread slices. The garlic "melts" into the bread by using this method. If you prefer, you could saute the garlic in the oil before browning the bread, but you need to be careful to remove the garlic before adding the bread, or the garlic will burn and become very bitter.

Now pile on the tomatoes, Parmesan if you wish, and enjoy the juice running down your chin!

Confetti Salad

2009-08-06T13:38:00.008-05:00

This salad is so ridiculously simple that I hesitated to post it! However, it's such a great way to use up lots of produce at the height of garden season, and it's also something that I don't always think about making. So here goes!

Ingredients: any assortment of fresh, chopped vegetables - in this pictured version I used red and yellow tomatoes, cucumbers, green bell pepper, and spring onions. The dressing is as simple as cottage cheese and seasoning of your choice. Toss them all together, using enough cottage cheese to moisten the vegetables, but the amount of cottage cheese you use is completely a matter of personal preference. Let the flavors blend in the refrigerator for a few hours if possible. I served this alongside a spicy meal - very refreshing!

I used a grill-type seasoning this time, and fresh herbs, like basil leaves, are especially nice. BTW, I highly recommend an organic brand of cottage cheese called "Nancy's". It's quite different from run of the mill cottage cheese, and it has a distinct tangy flavor. I'm hooked!

Fresh Peach Cobbler

2009-08-03T12:42:00.004-05:00

We've been getting some wonderful organic peaches from a "local" grocery store - I put local in quotes since we have to travel about 30 minutes to get organic produce that we don't grow ourselves. Anyway...the peaches have been delicious and we turned some of them into this summer evening, company dessert. I served it with vanilla frozen yogurt and it was well appreciated!

Ingredients:
1/2 cup sugar
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
4 cups fresh peaches - peeled,and sliced
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1 cup all-purpose flour, or whole wheat pastry flour
1 tablespoon sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon grated nutmeg
3 tablespoons butter, or butter-flavored shortening
1/2 cup milk
raw or decorative sugar for the top (optional)

Spray a 1 1/2 quart baking dish , or an 8x8 baking dish with non-stick spray. Heat oven to 400 degrees. Mix sugar, cornstarch, lemon juice and cinnamon in a heavy saucepan. Add peaches, stir well, and heat filling until the peaches reach a boil, stirring often. Gently boil for about one minute, or until the mixture begins to thicken a little. Keep hot until the biscuit topping is ready.

Mix flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and nutmeg together. With a pastry blender or two forks, work the butter or shortening into the flour mixture, until it's a crumbly texture. Add the milk and fold together just until the flour is all moistened. Drop the biscuit mixture on top of the hot filling - about six equal mounds of dough. Sprinkle the raw sugar on top of the biscuits (to give extra sheen and taste), then bake for 20-25 minutes, or until the biscuits are lightly browned and the filling is bubbling. Makes 6 servings, unless you're greedy!

Waldorf Coleslaw Salad

2009-08-02T14:45:00.007-05:00

We have all kinds of cabbage coming out of the garden right now, so here's another coleslaw recipe to help you get creative with your crop too! This one tastes like a classic Waldorf apple salad, but no apples.

Dressing:
3/4 cup sour cream, or plain yogurt
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/3 cup sugar
1/2 cup walnuts,chopped
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar

Salad:
1 medium cabbage, sliced or chopped
1/2 medium red cabbage,sliced or chopped
1/2 cup raisins

Directions:

Make dressing by combining first 8 ingredients. Toss together the green and red cabbage with the raisins. Pour dressing over the cabbage and fold in gently. Sprinkle on additional walnuts and/or raisins for garnish. Salad should be refrigerated for about 2 hours for the flavors to combine.
**This salad can be made ahead by preparing the dressing and cabbage separately, then adding the dressing 2 hours before serving time.

Potato Leek Soup

2009-07-29T20:53:00.010-05:00

Rich and thick and a wonderful way to enjoy new leeks and potatoes.

These leeks were split down the center and then cleaned thoroughly to remove the sand that hides in the layers.

There are many, many versions of this soup. You're basically sauteing leeks in butter, adding potatoes and broth, seasonings of your choice, and in most cases some sort of milk or cream. It helps to have an immersion blender like we have, to make it a creamy consistency without having to take a hot soup out of the pan and put it in a blender. I chose to leave a few chunks of potato.

Ingredients I used:
4 small leeks, cleaned well and sliced into small pieces
1 Tbs. butter
3 slices of bacon, chopped
1/3 C white wine
salt, pepper, 1 tsp. thyme, and one bay leaf
(DH said he thought tarragon would have been a good addition to the seasoning.)
1 1/2 lbs. potatoes, roughly diced (German Butterball)
4 C chicken broth - divided
1/3-1/2 C half and half

In a heavy saucepan (I use Le Creuset pots), saute the leeks, butter and bacon until the leeks are totally softened. Deglaze the pot with the wine, then add the seasonings, potatoes and 3C of the broth. Cook until the potatoes are tender, then blend all or most of the potato-leek mixture. Stir in the last cup of broth and the half and half until smooth. Taste and adjust the seasonings.

Sweet and Sour Red Cabbbage

2009-07-28T15:24:00.004-05:00

Our first red cabbage of the 2009 season was turned into one of our standing favorites and fall back recipes. I've made this in various ways over the years and it's one of my recipes that isn't an exact science. Taste as you go and make it the way you like it. This was served as part of a German style dinner - chicken spinach sausage on top of the cabbage, boiled parsleyed potatoes (some of ours and so yummy!), applesauce and homemade brown bread. A great healthy, comfort food dinner - even if it's not the dead of winter!

Ingredients:
1 lb. red cabbage, sliced or chopped
1/2 C diced red onion
1 Tbs. butter
1-2 Tbs. olive oil
1/4 C apple cider vinegar
2 - 3 Tbs. brown sugar
2 tsp. beef bouillon concentrate or granules
1/4 C water (for dissolving bouillon)
1-2 tsp. caraway seed
salt and pepper to taste

Saute the cabbage and onion in the butter and olive oil. Stir often, and when it has begun to soften, about 5 minutes, add all the other ingredients. You can dissolve the bouillon in the water in a separate cup before adding it, or you can make a little well in the cabbage and stir the bouillon and water together before incorporating it into the other ingredients. Continue to cook over medium heat. I usually cover the skillet partially, to help steam the cabbage, but at the same time allowing the excess water to cook out a little. Keeping it partially uncovered will also help retain the purple color. The final cooking can take as long as 20 minutes, but as little as 1o. Just depends on your cabbage and how crunchy you like the final product.

Citrus Tarragon Chicken Kabobs

2009-07-25T17:42:00.008-05:00

I used a marinade recipe from The Food Network website as the base for this shish kabob dish. It is so tangy and full of flavor - really good and the marinade tastes don't disappear even after grilling. Yummy, yummy, yummy. Do note that this is a do-ahead recipe.

Marinade ingredients:
1 orange, zested, then juiced
1 lemon, zested, then juiced
1 lime, zested, then juiced
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon fresh tarragon leaves
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup canola oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Kabob ingredients:
1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1-inch cubes
assorted vegetables, like zucchini, bell peppers, onions and mushrooms, cut into approximately 2 inch pieces (leave the mushrooms whole unless they're huge!)

Mix together all the marinade ingredients in a large zip lock baggie. Drop in the chicken cubes and marinate at least 4 hours - I almost always marinate meats overnight. After marinating time is up, thread the vegetables and chicken on skewers. I will often do this part well ahead of time, and if I'm using bamboo skewers I find that stringing them ahead eliminates the need to soak the skewers. (Of course the kabobs should go back into the fridge until time to grill.) Grill slowly, turning every so often, to prevent burning, and ensure thorough cooking of the chicken.
***A tip for well cooked shish kabob is to soften crisper types of vegetables, like peppers and onions, by microwaving them briefly. This helps to get them totally cooked on the grill, instead of having the problem of cooked meat and slightly raw veggies, which I don't care for!

Basil and Walnut Cheese Spread on Cucumbers

2009-07-25T17:10:00.007-05:00

This is adapted from a recipe on RecipeZaar.

Ingredients:
1/2 cup chopped walnuts, toasted
1 (8 oz.) package cream cheese, softened to room temperature
1 teaspoon minced fresh garlic
1 Tbs. finely snipped, fresh basil
1 teaspoon grated lemon rind
salt and pepper to taste
1 medium cucumber, sliced into rounds
paprika for garnish

Mix all ingredients together until well blended. Chill for at least 2 hours to incorporate the flavors. This will be quite firm once refrigerated, therefore, if you want to pipe it onto cucumbers or anything else, you'll need to bring it back to room temperature. Sprinkle on a little paprika for a nice color pop. It's addictive, so watch out!

Roast Beef and Pasta Salad with Green Beans

2009-07-23T13:23:00.009-05:00

The basis for this recipe came from Cooking Light Magazine, but I changed it to use more green beans and leftover roast beef. It would be great with any leftover beef. Seasoned grilled beef, grilled chicken, and even grilled shrimp would be delicious with this combination of ingredients. The vegetables you add to this salad could be switched up too. I also changed the dressing recipe to add a little more olive oil, since dry pasta salad is not our bag! Check your fridge and make a great summer salad!

Ingredients:

* 2 cups uncooked penne or other pasta
* 1 pound green beans, trimmed
* 1/2 - 1 lb. leftover beef roast or any other grilled meat or shrimp
* 1 cup thinly sliced red onion
* 1 1/2 cups thinly sliced red bell pepper
* 1/4 cup chopped fresh basil
* 3 tablespoons Dijon mustard
* 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
* 3 tablespoons olive oil, plus a little extra for the pasta
* 2 teaspoons honey
* 1 teaspoon minced garlic
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
* 1/4 cup (1 ounce) crumbled blue cheese

Preparation:

Bring 3 quarts water to a boil in a large pot. Add pasta; cook 5 1/2 minutes. Add green beans, and cook 3 minutes or until pasta is done. Drain and rinse with cold water. Drain well and place in a large serving bowl. Drizzle a little olive oil over the pasta and green beans and toss to coat. This will prevent the hot pasta from immediately absorbing all the dressing, and causing the salad to be too dry.

Add the meat, onions, peppers, and basil to the pasta and green beans. Combine the mustard, vinegar, oil, honey, garlic, salt and pepper. Mixing it all together in a shaker jar is an easy way to make a dressing. Pour over the pasta salad, tossing gently to coat. Sprinkle the blue cheese over all. Great served with a loaf of rustic bread!

Cranberry Pecan Coleslaw

2009-07-15T15:53:00.002-05:00

The first recipe I made with our newly picked heirloom cabbage, was this slightly different coleslaw. I think it would be good in the fall too with some chopped apple added. The dressing is really just a poppy seed salad dressing, which could be used for any salad. Make it a little sweeter and it would be good for fruit salad.

Ingredients:

1 head cabbage, sliced, shredded or chopped
2/3 C dried cranberries
1/2 c chopped pecans
1/3 C chopped red onion
S&P to taste

Combine in a large bowl. Keep in mind that salt makes water come out of the cabbage, so don't use too much or your slaw will turn runny.

Dressing:

1 C mayo (we've started using Hellmann's canola mayo, which has NO soy oil)
1/4 c milk
2 Tbs. apple cider vinegar
1 1/2 Tbs. honey
1-2 tsp. poppy seed

Whisk together well, and pour over cabbage mixture. Combine gently and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes before it's served.

Sweet and Sour Green Beans

2009-07-15T10:29:00.000-05:00

This is the first thing I made with the batch of green beans we picked from my uncle and aunt's garden. They are really terrific! I used this basic recipe from the Martha Stewart site, and made some changes.

Ingredients
Serves 4

* 4 slices bacon
* 1 large onion, chopped ( I used a sweet Vidalia onion)
* Coarse salt and ground pepper (yeah, just use salt and pepper for Pete' s sake)
* 1 pound green beans, trimmed (I snapped mine into inch sized pieces)
* 1/4 cup cider vinegar
* 1/4 cup sugar (I used Maui raw sugar, which has a great tangy flavor)
* 1/2 cup water

Directions:

1. In a large skillet, cook bacon over medium until browned, 3 to 4 minutes per side. With tongs, transfer to a paper-towel-lined plate (reserve skillet with pan drippings). (I chopped the bacon first and then browned it off.)
2. Add onion to skillet; season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until onion starts to brown,3 to 5 minutes. Add green beans and 1/4 cup water; cook, tossing occasionally, until beans are bright green and tender, about 10 minutes. ( I added more like 1/2 C water and put the lid on for a good part of the cooking time. I don't really know how the beans would be cooked enough otherwise.)
3. Crumble bacon into skillet; add vinegar and sugar. Cook until a syrupy sauce forms, 2 minutes (I let it go a little longer in order to evaporate the extra water I added), tossing to coat. Serve immediately.
**See the recipe for Three Bean Salad for a great way to use any leftovers you may have!

Three Bean Salad

2009-07-15T10:27:00.007-05:00

I made this the day after I made Sweet and Sour Green Beans. It was a great leftover recipe! As with all recipes using leftovers, make sure the leftovers are not too old and have been stored properly. Food poisoning is not what you want to achieve when trying not to waste food!

leftovers from Sweet and Sour Green Beans
1 can garbanzo beans (chick peas)
1 can dark red kidney beans
1/3 C finely chopped green pepper
olive oil, red wine vinegar, salt, pepper, sweetener

Drain both cans of beans. Toss together the leftover green beans, drained beans, and green pepper. Then use your judgment and taste buds and dress the salad with the oil, vinegar, salt and pepper, and some sort of sweetener, such as honey, raw sugar, or whatever you like.

**A note about sweetening foods - the mass media being what it is, and having the agenda that is does, we have gotten a little crazy with our fear of using any sugar at all. And the harm of using artificial sweeteners is becoming more obvious all the time. But one of the secrets in experienced kitchens, is that many things have just a little sweetener added to enhance all the other flavors, or even provide a balance to something with vinegar for instance. If you look at the labels of many purchased foods, like spaghetti sauce, you'll see really high amounts of sugar and especially the harmful high fructose corn syrup. So when you're at home, a teaspoon or so of sweetener in a whole batch of soup, or chili, or sauce, is not going to hurt anything - unless you have some medical reason for avoiding it of course! There are good choices of natural sweeteners out there too, like sucanat and raw sugars, some of which have a lower glycemic index than processed sugars. The glycemic index measures how quickly the sugar affects the insulin levels in your blood stream, which affects so many other things - read up on it. However, one slice of pasty white bread has a higher glycemic index than does a whole tablespoon of plain old, processed, white sugar!! So throw out the white bread with fear and trembling, but go ahead and add a little sweetener to your cuisine when it needs it - it's a cook's secret you'll be glad you learned!

Avgolemono Soup from Roasted Lemon Chicken

2009-07-15T09:54:00.000-05:00

From Sunday leftovers, this soup came to be. I made a roasted lemon chicken in a Dutch oven and used the drippings, leftover chicken, and rice to make one of my husband's favorite soups. Avgolemeno is Greek style, lemon flavored, chicken soup, and it's just delicious. I used a combination of recipes to come up with the amounts for this soup recipe, so feel free to alter it some more. One source for this recipe, a notoriously snobbish food magazine, actually called for 8 egg yolks to be added - now come on! I get practically offended when these companies use excessive ingredients just for the sheer decadence of it - not cool. Anyway, hope you give this a try and make it your own!

First the basic recipe for the roasted chicken:

One three to four pound bird, giblets and extras removed, cleaned, and patted dry. Tuck under the wings and place in a covered Dutch oven. I cut up a lemon, squeezed the juice into a bowl, and placed the lemon wedges under the chicken to keep it from getting too soggy on the bottom as it roasted. I poured about 1/2 C white wine into the bottom of the Dutch oven, then poured the lemon juice over the chicken, drizzled on some olive oil, and sprinkled on some Greek seasoning blend. You could use any combination of seasonings you like. I covered the Dutch oven and roasted the chicken at 350 degrees for 1 1/2 to 1 3/4 hours - just cook until it reaches the safe temperature of 180 degrees. I always use a meat thermometer to be sure! If you don't know the best places to check the internal temperature of a cooked bird, look on the internet and inform yourself.

Now for the recipe for Avgolemono Soup!

For cooking this soup, I used the same Dutch oven in which I had roasted the chicken, since all the juices and goodies were still in there. Feel free to skim off some of the fat on the top if you wish.

Start with leftover roasted lemon chicken. Carefully take the cooked chicken off the carcass and watch for bones, since they get pretty soft after being oven roasted. You might have just a little meat left, but that's o.k. The flavor is in the drippings anyway!
Chicken stock - I use a boxed, organic chicken stock, but anything along the lines of chicken stock or broth will do. I used a whole box, or about 4 Cups.
Fresh parsley - around 1/3 C , chopped
2 C cooked brown rice
2 Tbs. lemon juice - bottled or fresh, but use fresh if you have it
2 eggs
1 Tbs. water
S&P
honey or other sweetener to taste (see the note on this post about sweeteners)
lemon zest

Add the chicken, chicken stock, parsley, and rice to the Dutch oven containing the drippings. (Note - I made the decision to leave in the lemon rinds that were used with the roasted chicken - don't, they get too bitter.) Then bring this to a simmer. Next whisk together the lemon juice, eggs, and water. Slowly add to the soup, whisking while you're adding it. After the soup has thickened enough for you, adjust the flavor with salt and pepper, honey or another sweetener, and some lemon zest. The amounts are up to your taste buds!

Balsamic Glazed Beets

2009-06-30T20:58:00.014-05:00

Wow, this was amazingly good. This little dish of baby golden and albino beets was my first serving idea for this yummy vegetable. Then I was trying to figure out what kind of salad dressing to make for dinner (one that wouldn't clash with the strong flavors in the beet glaze) and I came up with plan B, which was to dump the beets and glaze over the garden lettuce and sprinkle on a little chopped bacon. Oh my - it was a winner!
---based on a recipe printed in the Washington Post 6/6/07

Ingredients:
16 baby beets
(this recipe would work with regular beets, but they would need a longer roasting time)
fresh rosemary sprigs
1/2 C balsamic vinegar - I used white balsamic for my lighter varieties of beets
2 Tbs. brown sugar
2 Tbs. butter

Step 1
Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Trim the beet tops down to about one inch, leave on the root end, and gently scrub the outside of the beets. Wrap the beets and rosemary sprigs in enough heavy foil to make a packet that seals. Place the packet on a jelly roll pan or something else with sides. Roast for about 30-40 minutes for small beets. You should be able to pierce the beet easily when they're done. Let them cool completely, then trim off both ends and peel off the skins. Discard the rosemary. Step 1 can be done up to a day ahead of time.

Step 2
Combine the vinegar, sugar, and butter in a small saucepan. Heat gently until slightly reduced. Add the beets to the sauce and heat through. Serve warm, or use on a lettuce salad with added crumbled bacon.

Shrimp and Pineapple Teriyaki with Swiss Chard

2009-06-22T17:42:00.012-05:00

This was tasty! I messed around with the original recipe, of course, and added more veggies. This makes two servings. We had it over brown Jasmine rice, with a side of steamed Swiss chard, fresh from the garden. Swiss chard is good with a little toasted sesame oil drizzled over it, or Balsamic vinegar, or lemon juice, or... Fit the flavor to the kind of food you're cooking, and you'll never get tired of it. It's very versatile!

1/2 lb. uncooked shrimp, peeled and deveined
1 C sliced celery
1 C sliced carrot
2 green onions, sliced, with whites and greens separated
1 1/2 C pineapple chunks, fresh is better
1/3 C Teriyaki sauce
1/3 C orange juice
1 Tbs. lime juice
1 Tbs. corn starch
1-2 Tbs. oil

Mix the Teriyaki, orange juice, lime juice, and corn starch in a shallow bowl. Add shrimp and marinate for about 15 minutes in the refrigerator. Remove shrimp from marinade, set aside, reserving marinade.

Heat 1 Tbs. oil in a large skillet. Quickly saute the celery, carrot, and white parts of onions. Add pineapple and saute until pineapple begins to brown slightly. (You may wish to add a touch of sweetener to help the pineapple caramelize. One suggestion-raw sugar has a great taste with fruit.) Add more oil if needed. Then add shrimp and cook until almost done. Stir the marinade again, and add to the shrimp mixture; continue cooking another few minutes, until the sauce thickens. If you are steaming chard or another green to go along with this dish, you can steam it right on top of the shrimp while the sauce is thickening. Don't stir the greens into the shrimp mixture, just put a lid on the skillet and let them wilt down on top of everything else. Then remove the greens from the top of the skillet, and serve along side the main dish. Serve the shrimp dish over rice, sprinkled with the green parts of the onions.

Pad Thai

2009-06-11T11:22:00.007-05:00

We love making homemade Pad Thai, which uses any assortment of veggies and meat you have on hand. It's a great meal to make when you have a surge of veggies coming out of the garden too. Other than having the right kind of Thai noodles, the most important thing is figuring out the sauce recipe that you like. It takes just a few unusual ingredients, which are well worth hunting down, and they last for a long time as well. We've experimented a lot and have come up with this recipe for sauce:
1/4 C fish sauce
1/4 C soy sauce or tamari
1/4 C tamarind sauce
1/2 C white vinegar
1/4 C sugar
2 tsp. chili paste
2 tsp. paprika
Stir together all of these ingredients and set aside. This is enough sauce to coat a 16 ounce box of Thai noodles.

Soak the Thai noodles in very warm water while the meat and vegetables are cooking. Stir them around now and then to keep them from sticking together.

Meat possibilities: chicken, shrimp, beef, or pork - about 2 lbs. will make 4 big servings
Vegetable possibilities: sliced red or white onion, thinly sliced carrots, bell pepper strips, shredded cabbage, snow peas, bok choy, spinach leaves

The basic method is to stir-fry your veggies and meat in vegetable oil, then add the sauce and bring to a boil, then add your softened noodles, and cook until the noodles are done, stirring until the sauce is thickened up and absorbed by the noodles to your liking.

The toppings we like are:
fresh bean sprouts, cucumber matchsticks, or shredded carrot
scrambled egg, cut into strips
unsalted peanuts
lime juice
fresh cilantro

Check out what's up in your garden, or waiting in your refrigerator and get creative!

Homemade Salad Dressings

2009-06-09T20:27:00.003-05:00

Since there are so many good uses for salad dressings in the summer months, I've put a couple of recipes here to get you started. Dressings are really easy and there are a myriad of recipes on the internet. They are so, so much better for you than the commercial dressings. Treat your family to better taste and healthier dressings!

1. Tarragon Dressing:

1/2 C olive oil
2 Tbs. Dijon mustard
2 Tbs. white wine vinegar
1 Tbs. chopped, fresh tarragon, or 1 tsp. dried tarragon
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
1 tsp. honey

Combine all ingredients in a shaker jar, cover and shake well for a creamy consistency.

2. Ranch Dressing:

1/2 C sour cream, or plain yogurt
1/2 C mayonnaise - we use a canola oil mayo to avoid soy
1/3 C buttermilk
1 Tbs. lemon juice
1 Tbs. red wine vinegar
1 tsp. garlic powder
2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp. Dijon mustard
2 tsp. chopped chives or green onion tops
1 Tbs. chopped parsley

Whisk first 8 ingredients until smooth. Stir in chives and parsley. Adjust flavor with salt or pepper if needed.

Chinese Chicken Soup with Baby Greens

2009-06-03T20:32:00.008-05:00

Ingredients:

Group A-
2 C cooked chicken, cut up into medium pieces or shredded
8 C chicken stock
1 C sliced mushrooms
1.5 C sliced bell peppers
1 C thinly sliced onion, (I used a Mandolin)
2 cloves garlic, grated
2 inch piece of fresh ginger, peeled and grated
10 ounces of rice noodles, or use Ramen or fresh stir-fry noodles

Group B-
3 T sherry
2 T tamari or soy sauce
2 tsp. sesame oil
1 T sugar
1 T rice wine vinegar
1.5 tsp. chili garlic sauce (in the Asian foods isle)

Group C-
4 C baby greens, such as Tatsoi or spinach
2 T chopped, fresh cilantro

The first step is to bring the ingredients in group A (except for the noodles) to a boil. Then reduce to a simmer and cook the veggies until nearly done; return the soup to a boil, and then add your noodles. Plan your vegetable and noodle cooking time according to what you have chosen to use - some noodles will need very little cooking time. Next stir together all ingredients in group B and add to the soup. Finally, just before serving, stir greens and cilantro into soup and just let it wilt down. Don't overcook the greens!

This recipe is very flexible and I hope you'll tweak it to your liking and according to what you have on hand. You'll feel instantly healthier after eating this - I hope!

Simple Radish Recipes

2009-05-29T12:00:00.008-05:00

There is an age old way of enjoying fresh radishes from the garden. You simply make these very English looking bread and butter, radish sandwiches. A hearty bread is a must.

Another twist on this is to make a spread with butter, radishes, and lemon, which works well on bread or crackers. The proportions I used were: 1/4C butter, 1/4C radishes and 1 tsp. of lemon zest. Whir it all together in a small food processor, and thin with a little lemon juice if needed. Truly yummy!

Asparagus Salad with Feta Cheese and Dijon Vinaigrette

2009-05-11T15:19:00.007-05:00

This is a salad I made for Easter dinner this year and it was a hit!

Ingredients and Directions:

2 lbs. fresh asparagus
1 garlic clove, minced
1 shallot, minced or 1/8 C minced white onion
1 Tbs. Balsamic vinegar
2 Tbs. white wine vinegar
2 Tbs. Dijon mustard
About 1/2 C olive oil (add until dressing is the consistency and taste you prefer)
salt and pepper to taste
pinch of sugar (optional and depends on your vinegar)
2 tomatoes, seeded and chopped (cherry tomatoes don't need seeding)
1/3 C feta cheese, crumbled

Trim tough ends from asparagus, cut stalks into 2 inch pieces, blanch in hot water or in the microwave, and then plunge into ice water to stop the cooking. You want them to be tender but still crisp. Remove asparagus from the ice water and dry thoroughly by wrapping in paper towels.

To make the dressing, whisk together all remaining ingredients except for tomatoes and feta. You can also make the dressing in a shaker jar or a small food processor.

Toss together asparagus and tomatoes; drizzle vinaigrette over top and mix gently; sprinkle feta over top and serve. Makes 8 servings.

Asparagus and Ham Quiche

2009-05-11T15:18:00.000-05:00

Ingredients:

3/4 pound fresh asparagus
1 (10 inch) unbaked pastry shell
2 cups shredded Swiss cheese (or your favorite cheese)
1/2 cup ham, chopped (or crisp bacon, or a little cooked sausage, or...)
4 eggs
1 1/2 cups light cream, or use part or all evaporated milk
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
2 tsp. dried onion (or saute a little chopped, fresh onion)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
dash of paprika for top of quiche

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Cut asparagus into 1 inch pieces, using only tender parts of stalks. Either by blanching, or steaming about 2 minutes in the microwave, cook asparagus until almost tender. Drain asparagus well and pat dry. In a medium bowl, combine asparagus, cheese, and ham, then place in bottom of pastry shell. In another bowl, beat eggs, cream, mustard, nutmeg, onions, salt and pepper until smooth, then slowly pour into shell. Sprinkle top with paprika. Place on cookie sheet, and bake at for 50-60 minutes or until a knife inserted near the center comes out clean. If top begins to get brown, cover loosely with foil. After removing quiche from oven, let sit for at least 10 minutes before cutting. Makes 4-6 servings. We LOVED this quiche!

World's Best Carrot Cake

2009-05-04T13:59:00.003-05:00

Lots of things are called "World's Best", but I will say that I have never served this cake to anyone that didn't think it was the best carrot cake they'd ever had - a truly good recipe. This is especially festive to serve at Easter! Decorate the top with orange icing carrots, or marzipan carrots for extra punch. NOTE: this really needs to be made the day before it's to be served.

Originally published in the Houston Chronicle, July 7, 1993 - and I have modified it in a number of places.

CAKE:

2 1/4 C whole-wheat pastry flour
2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp ginger
1 C dark brown sugar -- firmly packed
1 C granulated sugar
1 C buttermilk
3/4 C vegetable oil
4 eggs
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 lb. carrots -- grated
8 oz crushed pineapple -- drained
1/2 C (6-oz.) raisins, can be regular or golden or a combination, or sub currants
1 C (4-oz.) walnuts -- chopped, black walnuts are the best for this cake
1 C coconut -- flaked

ICING:
8 oz cream cheese -- softened
1/2 C butter -- softened
2 tsp orange rind -- grated
1 tsp vanilla extract
16 oz confectioners' sugar

Preheat oven to 350-degrees. Grease and flour three 8-inch cake pans and line the bottoms with parchment paper. Or use on 9x13 and one smaller pan, such as a loaf pan, or come up with whatever combination of pans suits your needs. If you're frosting the cake(s) in the same pan, don't line with parchment paper.

In a medium size bowl combine flours, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger. Set aside. Combine sugars, buttermilk, oil, eggs, and vanilla in large bowl; stir until all ingredients are well blended. Add flour mixture to buttermilk mixture along with carrots, pineapple, walnuts, coconut, and raisins, stirring just until well mixed.

Pour batter into prepared pans. Depending on the size of your pans, bake 30-60 minutes or until wooden pick inserted into center comes out clean. If you will be removing cakes from pans to frost them, cool in pans for 10 minutes. Loosen cake layers from edges of pans with a sharp knife and invert onto wire racks. Peel off parchment paper and cool completely.

To make frosting, combine butter and cream cheese in large mixing bowl; beat until light and fluffy. Add sugar, orange rind and vanilla, mixing well. Makes enough for 1 (3-layer) cake.
Spread frosting between layers and/or on top and sides of cake. Decorate with extra chopped nuts and orange zest if desired. Cover and refrigerate overnight before cutting.

Rhubarb Upside Down Cobbler

2009-05-04T13:57:00.006-05:00

Ever made a rhubarb cobbler? This will make you glad you tried one! BE SURE you chose a large enough dish since it will flow like lava over the sides if you don't! This is a very interesting recipe to watch as it's baking. The batter ends up wrapping itself around the rhubarb filling - nice!

2 C sugar
1 C whole wheat pastry flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. salt
3 Tbs. butter, slightly softened
1 tsp. vanilla
3/4 C milk
3 C diced rhubarb
3/4 C boiling water

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a pan, at least 9x9x3, with non-stick spray. Stir together 1 C of the sugar, the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt. Cut in butter. Add milk and vanilla, stirring in gently. Pour into baking pan. Sprinkle rhubarb over batter. Mix 1 C sugar and the boiling water together, stirring to dissolve sugar; pour over batter and rhubarb - yes really! Place on cookie sheet and bake for 45-60 minutes. The cake should be set when done. Protect from over-browning by tenting the dish with foil if needed. Of course this is fabulous with a dollop of frozen yogurt or ice cream!

Hobo Dinner

2009-05-04T13:55:00.002-05:00

This was dinner tonight - we used to call it Hobo Dinner in Girl Scouts. Is that PC anymore?? It can be any combination of meat, veggies, and spices you like. This is particularly good when you have loads of things coming in from the garden at the same time! This lovely pile includes sweet Italian chicken sausage (organic-from Target's Archer Farms line), onion, potato, green pepper (the last two!), and tomato. All drizzled with olive oil and sprinkled with Mrs. Dash Seasoning. I wrapped the whole business in parchment paper first and then wrapped it in foil since I'm a little squeamish about having aluminum next to our food. The picture is before cooking by the way. DH cooked it over indirect heat on the BBQ grill until it was all tender and aromatic - probably twenty minutes or so. Ahhhh...

Tomato Alphabet Soup

2009-05-04T13:54:00.001-05:00

This alphabet soup was ridiculously simple and very good and warming for a cold, gray day. The amounts you use are totally up to you. I used one frozen container (3 C) of my homemade tomato juice. I brought that to a boil, added a handful of this happy whole grain pasta shown in the picture, added some frozen peas and corn from our garden, plus a little dash of Worcestershire for zing and salt and pepper to taste. It was done in just a few minutes and made for a wonderful lunch. Obviously this is a very flexible recipe and any number of vegetables can be used. Get creative!

Eggplant Tomato Pie

2009-05-04T13:53:00.002-05:00

This dish was certainly pushing the limits in our kitchen! DH is not the grandest fan of eggplant, but he's learning to appreciate it. The finished product - very, very good. The topping includes bread crumbs, flax seed (because we were out of wheat germ), and a little Parmesan cheese - can't be too bad right? The recipe is from my old favorite - Joy of Gardening Cookbook.

Recipe for the eggplant filling:
In a large saute pan, melt 2 Tbs. butter. Saute 3 Tbs. diced onion, 2 crushed garlic cloves, and 1 C each of chopped red and green bell peppers. Cook for about 5 minutes. Add 5 C peeled, diced eggplant, and 1/4 C water. Cover pan and cook 5 more minutes, stirring occasionally. Add 8 oz. of cubed cream cheese, cooking until it melts through the eggplant mixture. Next add 1/4 C grated Parmesan, 1 Tbs. lemon juice, and 2 Tbs. minced fresh basil, or 1 tsp. dried basil. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Recipe for the topping:
Mix together 1/2 C wheat germ, 1/4 C bread crumbs, 3 Tbs. melted butter, and 3 Tbs. grated Parmesan.

Assembly of the pie:
Into one unbaked pie shell, layer half the eggplant mixture, then cover with sliced fresh tomatoes, then the last half of the eggplant mixture. Sprinkle on the topping and bake at 350 degrees for about 60 minutes, or until the pie is firm. Loosely cover the pie with foil if the topping begins to get too brown.

Below is a photo of the pie in progress. It's a picture of the step where you layer tomato slices in the middle of the eggplant filling layers - I never cease to be thrilled at the color of our tomatoes!

Salsa Baked Burritos

2009-05-04T13:44:00.002-05:00

We canned a good amount of salsa this year and one of my favorite things to do with it is make smothered burritos. It's much tastier than using tomato sauce. These were made with beef that was braised with onions, mushrooms, garlic, and tomatoes. Then it was rolled up into whole wheat tortillas, covered with our salsa and baked. I topped it with cheese near the end and then served it on lettuce with more salsa and sour cream. This could easily have been spiced up with any kind of peppers in the filling too. My mantra once again, make it your own!

Roasted Tomato Tortilla Soup

2009-05-04T13:34:00.005-05:00

When you have a day with a high of ZERO degrees, you just have to think about a warm soup! A few weeks ago when I was down with a very bad cold, DH brought home some tortilla soup from a local health market and it warmed me from the inside out. Then today I came across another recipe for tortilla soup, and I just had the urge to make some. I wanted a cross between the two soups, so I took the basic ingredients in both, and adapted them. Here in the photo are most of the components. Frozen roasted tomatoes and hot peppers from our garden, local wine (for drinking with the soup!) and chicken, plus lots of other good organic ingredients.

Dinner is served! The two biggest recipe changes that I made were removing the chicken after it was sauteed with the veggies, and pureeing the finished soup with a hand held blender. Then to serve, I topped the soup with the chicken, some home toasted tortilla strips, and a dollop of sour cream. A piece of our homemade bread and some melted Jack cheese made for a great dipper!

Chicken Tortilla Soup Recipe

Ingredients:
2-3 lbs boneless, skinless chicken cut up, OR use leftover cooked and shredded chicken
2 Tbs. olive oil
1 onion chopped
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 large jalapeno or other hot pepper of your choice, chopped fine
2 C of chopped carrots
32 oz. chicken broth
2 tsp. cumin
3 C canned, or frozen roasted tomatoes
4-5 medium potatoes, cubed
1/4 C cilantro, or more if your a big fan
1 Tbs. lime juice
salt and pepper to taste

If using raw chicken, saute the chicken in the oil, with the onion, garlic, carrots, and hot pepper, in a large soup pot. (If using already cooked chicken, add it at the end or use it on top of the soup as in the picture above.) Cook until the vegetables start to color up just a bit, but be careful not to burn the garlic. If you prefer, you can add the garlic after the chicken and other veggies have been cooking for a couple of minutes. Then add the chicken broth, cumin, potatoes, and tomatoes. Bring this to a boil and reduce to simmer for about 25-40 minutes, until the vegetables are tender. Add the cilantro,lime juice, and salt and pepper, (and the already cooked chicken if that's what you're using), and cook about 5 more minutes. See my notes above if you want this to be a creamy-textured soup. Top with tortilla strips, a dollop of sour cream, or whatever strikes your fancy!

Black Walnut Fudge

2009-05-04T13:32:00.002-05:00

Just look at this chocolatey goodness...

This is my black walnut fudge - DH's favorite! We're fortunate enough to have a local source for fresh black walnuts, and there is absolutely no comparison to any other nut. They perfume the fudge like nothing else could. As a base for this fudge, I use an old "Fantasy Fudge" recipe, copied from my mother's recipe box, which I believe was an old Kraft marshmallow creme recipe that everyone used back then! I always substitute the black walnuts and I use butter instead of margarine. This recipe makes a load of gifts!

3 cups sugar
3/4 cup butter
2/3 cup evaporated milk
1 12-oz. package semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 7-oz. jar marshmallow creme
1 cup chopped black walnuts

Combine sugar, butter and milk in heavy 2-1/2 quart saucepan; bring to full rolling boil, stirring constantly. Continue boiling 5 minutes over medium heat, stirring. Remove from heat, stir in chocolate till melted. Add marshmallow creme, nuts & vanilla, beat until blended. Pour into greased 13 x 9-inch baking pan. Let cool and cut into 1-inch squares.

Garden Pizza

2009-05-04T13:29:00.006-05:00

Digging into the freezer for more garden goodies again! I made a simple pizza sauce by combining some of our frozen roasted tomatoes, a portion of frozen pesto, and a little dash of balsamic vinegar to give it a boost. Summer tomatoes and basil in November just about makes you forget how much work it took to get those tomatoes and basil in the freezer in the first place!
I use a homemade pizza dough - recipe below - tossed into my 11-year-old Zojirushi bread maker on the dough setting - easy stuff. My recipe makes enough for two pizzas and the second half goes into the freezer to save for another quick meal - either pizza or calzones, or even bread sticks. The first picture here, is of the raw dough with only the wonderful sauce so far, and it's sitting on my well worn baking stone from Pampered Chef, which is nice and dark now and missing one corner - but it still works great!

The toppings for this pizza were organic Italian turkey sausage, red and yellow pepper slices, red onion, and mozzarella cheese. Parmesan cheese is always the final touch when it comes out of the oven.

Mmmm...finished product. Fast food at it's best.

Whole Wheat Pizza dough for the bread machine:
2C warm water, 2 tsp. honey, 1 Tbs. olive oil, 1 tsp. salt, 4 C whole wheat pastry flour, 6 tsp. vital wheat gluten/dough conditioner (optional), 3 tsp. yeast. Add these in the order that your bread machine directs. I put mine on the dough setting and that's it. I always watch to make sure the dough is of the correct consistency, and then add a little more water or a little more flour if needed. It shouldn't be too sticky or too rock hard. BTW, you can easily add Italian seasoning, garlic, or whatever else you like.

Black Walnut Cherry Coffee Cake

2009-05-04T13:28:00.000-05:00

I was craving something home baked and came up with this, which is a modification of a couple of internet recipes - what a surprise huh?! This dish doesn't utilize anything from our garden, but it does incorporate local honey and local black walnuts, and local food is a growing passion for us - no pun intended. I recently read that the attitude you have while you're eating something can have a great effect on how it's processed in your body. That made a lot of sense to me. Making this was therapeutic, smelling it was therapeutic, tasting it was healing!

Black Walnut Cherry Coffee Cake

3 tablespoons butter
1 C whole oats
1/4 C whole wheat pastry flour
1/4 cup brown sugar
**********
2 C whole wheat pastry flour
1/4 C honey
1/2 C brown sugar
1/4 cup canola or walnut oil
1 cup skim milk
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 egg, slightly beaten
1 (12-ounce) bag frozen, unsweetened tart cherries, thawed and drained
1/4 cup chopped black walnuts or substitute any other nut of choice

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease 9-inch round cake or 9 x 9 square pan. Mix butter, oats, 1/4 cup flour and 1/4 C brown sugar in small bowl with fork or pastry cutter until crumbly. Set aside. Combine flour, honey, 1/2 C brown sugar, oil, milk, baking powder, cinnamon, salt and egg in large bowl. Beat mixture by hand or with a mixer for 1- 2 minutes, until well blended. Stir in thawed cherries. Spread half of the batter in pan and sprinkle ½ of oat mixture on top. Add remaining batter and sprinkle with remaining oat mixture and chopped walnuts. Bake 40-45 minutes or until toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Serve warm.

Baked Pumpkin Pudding

2009-05-04T13:23:00.002-05:00

We made this close to Halloween, but of course it would be great around Thanksgiving too. The recipe came from a search on the Light and Tasty web site. Click on the link to get the recipe. If you don't have egg substitute, then use egg whites, or whole eggs. Another note, my custard cups are all smaller than 8 0z. so I got 7 puddings out of this recipe instead of 5, and the cooking time was a little longer than stated, so go by the "knife in the center coming out clean test" to check for readiness. This dish is like pumpkin pie without the crust, but all the wonderful smell and taste. True comfort!

Pumpkin Maple Biscuits

2009-05-04T13:22:00.002-05:00

This recipe was a combination of ideas I came across over the weekend. One suggestion was adding pumpkin puree to any biscuit recipe and the other was using pancake mix for quick biscuits. We had a buckwheat pancake mix that was a little TOO "healthy" if you know what I mean. Once in a while we stumble across a whole grain mix that has seemingly forgotten the importance of taste as well as health! So in an effort not to waste it, I found some recipes online for using pancake batter as a base for biscuits. These were delicious with our chili (made using frozen garden tomatoes in juice) and they would also be a great way to "use up" some apple butter!

Pumpkin Maple Biscuits
2 1/2 C whole grain pancake mix
1/4 C oil or melted butter
1 egg
1/2 C pumpkin puree
2 Tbs. maple syrup
1/3-1/2 C water
Mix together all ingredients except water. Add water a little at a time until dough is moist but not too wet to pat out onto a lightly floured surface. You also don't want to overwork the dough. Pat out to an inch or a little higher in height, then use a sharp biscuit cutter or a knife to cut into rounds. Bake at 425 for 10-12 minutes. I baked mine on parchment paper. Makes 12-14 biscuits.

Marinated Sweet Potato Fries

2009-05-04T13:18:00.004-05:00

This is one of the tastiest ways to have sweet potatoes and one of our daughter's favorites!

Peel two large sweet potatoes, cut them lengthwise into 1 inch spears, and marinate for at least 30 minutes in the following:

1/2 C tamari or soy sauce
2 tsp. toasted sesame oil
1 Tbs. freshly grated ginger, or 1 tsp. ginger powder
1 Tbs. freshly grated garlic, or 1 tsp. garlic powder
2 Tbs. honey

Remove the potatoes from the marinade and bake in a 425 degree oven for 20 minutes or until tender, basting them with the marinade every 5 minutes. Cover with foil if they get too dark. We have also successfully grilled these. When we do that, we microwave them in the marinade first, and then finish them off on the grill, basting along the way. Fantastic!

Sweet Potato and Apple Sausage Bake

2009-05-04T13:17:00.005-05:00

Tonight we enjoyed a dish of sweet potatoes, shallots, and organic apple-chicken sausage (from Target). I put all of this into a casserole dish, added some sherry and apple juice to the bottom of the dish and covered it with first parchment paper and then foil. I then baked it in a 350 degree oven for about 45 minutes. Oh my goodness it was wonderful! The sweet potatoes tasted great. It was served with our own garden succotash, and apple butter on homemade bread. Eating from the garden is just sweet in every way!

Shepard's Pie with Ale

2009-05-04T13:16:00.007-05:00

Harvest time makes us head back to comfort food, and this baked meat pie is so good and so flexible. It's a great one to use with leftover meat, gravy, mashed potatoes and veggies. If you aren't into the beer, substitute beef stock.

Shepard's Pie with Ale
1 lb. ground turkey (or substitute another meat)
1 medium onion or a combo of onion and shallot, chopped
olive oil to coat pan
2-3 C chopped vegetables of your choice
1 bottle dark beer
1 pkg. gravy mix of your choice (I used brown.)
few dashes of Worcestershire sauce
salt and pepper to taste, plus any other herbs that sound good to you
4-6 servings mashed potatoes for the topping - fresh, leftover, or instant
1/2 C grated cheddar or other cheese

Heat oven to 350. Brown meat and onion/shallots in olive oil in a medium pan. Add vegetables and a little of the beer. Cover and cook until veggies are crisp tender. Then add remaining beer, gravy mix, Worcestershire, salt and pepper and any other seasonings. Cook for a few minutes until the gravy mix begins to thicken the filling a little. Pour into a greased casserole dish, spread mashed potatoes on top, sprinkle with the cheese, and put into oven for 30-45 minutes. Place a cookie sheet under the dish to catch any run over. Watch for light browning on your potatoes and the filling bubbling up. Hope it warms you through and through!

Chocolate Beet Snack Cake

2009-05-04T13:12:00.004-05:00

These two things, frozen applesauce and beet puree from our garden...

became Chocolate Beet Snack Cake.

Is this a scary idea to you?! This cake is moist and delicious and there is no need to fear the beets! They are not discernible in this cake as beets, but simply add lots of nutrition, moisture, and a certain something that you can't quite put your finger on. Did you know that beets are rich in vitamins C and A as well as antioxidants and they have plenty of fiber as well. Here's my recipe for the brave!

Chocolate Beet Snack Cake

Mix these ingredients in a medium bowl and set aside.
1C beet puree (can be made with canned beets in a food processor
with a small amount of added liquid)
1C applesauce
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp cider vinegar
2 eggs, slightly beaten
1/3-1/2C vegetable oil, more oil means a denser cake, so it's personal preference

Mix these ingredients thoroughly and then combine gently with the beet mixture:
1 1/2C whole wheat pastry flour (or half whole wheat and half all-purpose)
1/2C cocoa
1/2C sugar
1/2C brown sugar
2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt

Pour into a greased 13x9 pan and bake at 325 for 35-40 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. Let cool before cutting. Needs only a little sprinkling of powdered sugar for topping if you like.

Tip - try cutting moist cakes like this and brownies with a plastic knife. For some reason the cake or brownies are less apt to stick to the plastic knife, resulting in cleaner lines as you're cutting through.

Roasted Tomato Bruschetta

2009-05-04T13:10:00.002-05:00

On the main blog is a post about the way that we preserve a lot of our homegrown tomatoes, which is roasting them. Here's one of the savory appetizer recipes I made using some of these preserved beauties. The roasted tomato spread was served on homemade crostini - oh the goodness...

I started with a defrosted batch of the roasted tomatoes. Each bag of tomatoes that we froze was around two cups. I added approximately 1 Tbs. of balsamic vinegar, two crushed cloves of garlic, 1/4 C of chopped fresh basil leaves, and salt and pepper to taste. I didn't add any olive oil since these were roasted in olive oil. If you were doing this spread with a can of tomatoes instead, you would drain it and add some olive oil. The inspiration for this came from Susan Branch's book - Autumn. I made the crostini by simply slicing a loaf of Parmesan baguette, lightly coating it with olive oil on both sides and baking it at 425 until it was just browned - turn it over at some point to get both sides crusty. BTW, DH added olives to this spread and used it to top poached salmon. Equally wonderful!

Orange Dip for Pears

2009-05-04T13:03:00.003-05:00

My uncle has a pear tree and is such a good sharing gardener! We thoroughly enjoy getting these little pears and here is one of the ways we enjoyed them. This was a dish I took to a women's fellowship meeting. It makes a lot of dip, so for a smaller group you may want to make half this much.

Orange Dip For Pears

2 Tbs. lemon juice
1/3 C sour cream
1/3 C mayonnaise
3 Tbs. orange juice concentrate
zest and juice of one orange
1 tsp. ground ginger
Drizzle pears with lemon juice. Reserve a little zest to garnish dip and whisk all other ingredients together . Serve fruit and dip chilled.

Roasted Tomato Sauce and Grilled Chicken with Roasted Tomato and Olive Sauce

2009-05-03T18:31:00.004-05:00

We tried a very new idea to us - roasting fresh tomatoes to make a flavor concentrated sauce. I thought we might try roasting a lot of tomatoes at once and freezing it in batches for things like pizza, spaghetti, and Mexican dishes this winter. It worked best to slice them thin and to squeeze the seeds out as well. I always feel like I'm murdering the poor tomato and wasting something that's tasty, but I know that the wet pulpy part is not always so useful. Spray the pans well with a high temperature canola oil spray, drizzle them with olive oil, sprinkled on salt and pepper and put them in a 425 degree oven. They're just a little sticky to the touch when they're done. It took about 40 minutes altogether for this batch. They turned out just how we wanted them. The flavor is so intensified when you roast them! Here are shots taken before roasting and after roasting.

Our first use of these wonderful tomatoes was topping some grilled chicken. We added olives, sauteed shallots and fresh basil to some of the roasted tomatoes, then spooned it over a grilled chicken breast sitting on top of a slice of toasted French bread. The bread soaked up all the lovely juices - the whole thing was fabulous!

Two Delightful Beet Salads

2009-05-03T17:27:00.002-05:00

Both of these beet salads start with roasted beets. Here's an easy method for roasting.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Trim the beet tops to about one inch, and leave on the root end. Rinse beets, then coat lightly with oil. Wrap beets in aluminum foil, place on a baking sheet, and roast in the oven until cooked through, approximately 45 to 60 minutes. This will be a shorter time if the beets are very small. Remove from the oven, let cool for 10-15 minutes, then peel and cut into chunks or slices.

This beet salad was dressed with sherry vinaigrette, rosemary goat cheese and toasted walnuts.

Here's the vinaigrette recipe:
2 Tbs. sherry vinegar (or combine a little sherry with a white wine vinegar)
4 Tbs. olive oil
1/2 tsp. dijon mustard
pinch of sugar
salt and pepper to taste

If you can't find rosemary goat cheese, use plain goat cheese and add a little dried rosemary to the dressing. Toasting walnuts is done in a skillet or an oven. Just do it on a low temperature and keep an eye on them as they burn easily.

This beet salad had mandarin oranges and green onion added in, and is dressed with curried honey dressing. The recipe for this vinaigrette comes from The Joy of Gardening Cookbook.

Honey Curry Dressing
2/3 C olive oil
3 Tbs. lemon juice
2 Tbs. white wine vinegar
1/4 C honey
1 tsp. curry powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper

Combine well with a whisk or in a shaker jar. Makes 1 1/2 C

You will probably not need all of this dressing for your beet salad. Just dress it to your taste and save the remaining dressing for a tossed salad. Fresh orange slices in place of the mandarin oranges would be very good as well.

Eggplant Parmesan

2009-05-03T14:47:00.003-05:00

We grew Japanese eggplant in 2008 and it was a lovely, slender, mild vegetable. We started throwing together Eggplant Parmesan on a regular basis and developed a few techniques that we really liked. I didn't know how it would work with the smaller eggplant, but I just cut each one into 4 spears and then dredged and breaded it the same way you would the larger slices, browned them in olive oil, layered them with sauce and cheese, and it worked quite well. I even skipped the step of salting the eggplant and letting it sit to leach out extra water.

For the breading, we really like Panko bread crumbs. I thought they were a bit trendy, but after trying them, the crunchy difference is really outstanding. If I don't have them, I will toast fresh bread crumbs to get a similar texture. My order for breading the eggplant spears is dipping first into flour seasoned with salt and pepper (we use whole wheat pastry flour almost exclusively at our house), then into eggs beaten with a little water, then into the bread crumbs that have been seasoned with Italian seasoning. I then pan fry them on low heat in olive oil, and let them sit on paper towels after they are browned.

We make a homemade sauce, sometimes with, and sometimes without meat. Look at the post on Stuffed Zucchini to get the components of our sauce. We also will add some Provolone or Mozarella cheese to the Parmesan Cheese to make it a little more "melty".

I generally bake it at 350 degrees for 45 minutes to an hour. It depends on the size of your pan and how tender the eggplant are. I just poke into the dish with a sharp knife to see if the eggplant is thoroughly cooked. In this last picture you can see the individual spears of eggplant. It is just as delicious as it looks!

Mini Caprese Salad

2009-05-03T14:33:00.002-05:00

Caprese salad is a classic dish of layered tomato slices, fresh mozzarella cheese slices, and fresh basil, all drizzled with olive oil. However, I needed a use for a glut of cherry tomatoes coming from the garden! I made the salad with our cherry tomatoes, globe basil, and some tiny fresh mozzarella balls called "perlini", plus a generous drizzle of olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Couldn't be simpler, couldn't be tastier and it compliments nearly any main dish.

Stuffed Zucchini

2009-05-03T13:35:00.003-05:00

This stuff is fabulous! This is a shot taken just before they went in the oven. I have an old photocopied collection of recipes for zucchini, from the Colorado State University Extension Dept., and the stuffed zucchini has remained a favorite of mine for about 25 years. Jeesh I'm feeling old!

This is one of those do-your-own-thing kinds of recipes for the most part. But here are the basic steps and ingredient suggestions:

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Spray your baking dish, the size depends on how many zucchini you're filling of course. This works with either smaller zucchini or even overgrown zucchini.
3. Wash and trim the zucchini, cut them in half lengthwise, and scoop out the pulpy centers. Some people par boil the zucchini, but I just microwave them for a couple of minutes to begin cooking them. Place the zucchini cut side up in the baking dish. If they won't sit flat, trim a strip down the center of the undersides of the zucchini to help stabilize them.
**It helps to steam the zucchini if you put a little water or plain tomato sauce in the bottom of the baking dish before you place the zucchini in the pan.
4. Prepare your favorite meat sauce - mine usually includes a large can of ground tomatoes, one can of tomato paste, either Italian sausage or ground beef, onion, basil, garlic, vinegar, dry Italian seasoning, a pinch of sugar, salt and pepper. To thin it down I either use stock, wine, or water. For this dish, the sauce should not be too thick since the liquid will help to cook the zucchini. In a crush, you could use a jarred sauce of course. Try to add a little bit of extra spice, garlic, basil, etc., to wake up the flavor of the jarred sauce.
5. You can stretch the sauce with cooked rice or other grains you have leftovers. You could actually leave out the meat if you prefer.
6. Spoon the meat sauce into the centers of the zucchini, top with a little grated cheese of your choice, and pop into the oven. Cook for 30 minutes, or until the zucchini are tender and the sauce is bubbly. If the cheese starts browning too much, tent the pan with a piece of foil.

Turkey Burgers full of Greens

2009-05-03T13:09:00.001-05:00

These turkey burgers are full of good green things! Fresh basil, green onion, and chopped chard leaves. I "melted" the greens in the microwave, which simply means they were washed, a little of the water was left on them, and they were microwaved for about 20 seconds until they collapsed down. Then you chop them and mix them into the meat mixture. You can use any sort of greens in this recipe and also add any sort of seasoning you like. We usually put a good amount of grill seasoning into any burger we're making. Tucked in the middle of this beautiful burger is a small piece of blue cheese, which you can see is pooling out of the top of the burger on the left - what more could you need?!

I got this basic idea from my little sister who came up with tiny turkey burgers loaded with herbs and a hidden piece of Manchego cheese. These were one of the many wonderful things she had for her gracious graduation reception for my niece last May. So I combined her idea with the Joy of Gardening Cookbook tip, which says to add chopped greens to anything that comes out of the kitchen, and my burgers were born. So, so good, and good for you!

Blue Ribbon Rhubarb Cinnamon Bread

2009-05-03T12:49:00.000-05:00

I entered this bread into our county fair last year and it won a blue ribbon. The recipe is an adaptation of one that was in a Denver newspaper many, many years ago. It's even better if you can let it rest in the refrigerator for a day, but good luck resisting eating it immediately!

Rhubarb Cinnamon Bread

1 1/2 C brown sugar

1 tsp salt

1 1/2 C whole wheat flour

1 C all-purpose flour

3/4 C chopped pecans

1 C milk, soured with 1 Tbs. vinegar

1 tsp baking soda

1 large egg

1 tsp vanilla

1/3 C oil

1/3 C applesauce

1 1/2 C finely chopped rhubarb, fresh or thawed frozen

Topping: 1 Tbs. melted butter, 1/2 C sugar, 1 tsp cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine brown sugar, salt, flours, and nuts in a large bowl. Add soda to soured milk. In a separate bowl, mix egg, vanilla, oil, and applesauce; add to dry ingredients alternately with milk. Fold in chopped rhubarb. Turn into two well-greased loaf pans.

Combine topping ingredients and sprinkle half on each loaf. Gently press topping into batter with back of spoon. Bake 45-60 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Let stand for several minutes in pans before turning them out. Serve warm or cold.

**Note - by substituting part whole wheat flour and replacing half the oil with applesauce, you increase the fiber, reduce the fat, and improve the nutritiousness of any quick bread!