Summer Fruit Crisp

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

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

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

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

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

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

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!

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

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

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

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

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

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?

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

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

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

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

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

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!

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!