Cucumber Peanut Salad (0 Star)

The other day I bought a bunch of cucumbers because they had an amazing sale price. Then they just sat in my fridge for a while because I didn't know what to do with them. I do that sometimes--buy something that's on a great sale and then let it rot in my fridge because I didn't know what to do with it.

Luckily, I found a delicious recipe this time and my cukes were saved from a rotten fate. I liked the fresh, clean taste of cucumbers in this salad paired with the peanuts, cilantro, and coconut. However, I used only one Serrano pepper (the recipe calls for 1-2) and (woowee!) it must have been a spicy one because it made the salad way too spicy for Brandon and I. Next time I will start with half and go from there. Aside from that, I really enjoyed this, and paired with grilled chicken strips, it made a healthy, light meal, loaded with crunch and flavor.



Click here for the recipe and beautiful photos, courtesy of 101 Cookbooks.

Asian Noodle Salad (0 Star)

This salad, courtesy of Pioneer Woman, is chock full of colorful, crisp, sweet, and nutritious vegetables. The dressing is salty sweet spiked with lime, hot pepper, and cilantro. This is the kind of thing that Brandon and I love, but the boys don't consider edible.



Pioneer Woman's recipe makes a ton--she says it makes six servings, but the veggies alone filled my bowl to the twenty cup mark. Also, if you don't plan to eat this right away, my recommendation is to keep everything separate. Keep the salad in it's own bowl, dressing separate, and pasta separate, or the salad will wilt and the pasta will absorb the dressing and get mushy and gross. (Yes, I know this from experience.)

I used whole wheat pasta and I think this might also be good with quinoa in place of the pasta--I plan to try it next time.

Click here for the recipe.

Salsa Bean Dip (0 Star)

This is a recipe I came up with myself, and maybe I am a little strange, I don't know. But I like it and it is another healthy way to make veggies more enticing. All it is, is refried beans mixed with salsa. I use my homemade refried beans from this post. If I were to make it with canned refried beans (which I'm not sure I ever would because they just don't taste nearly as good) I would season them with stuff like liquid smoke, garlic powder, onion powder, chipotle powder, maybe some taco seasoning, etc. As far as amounts, I haven't measured, but I'm guessing it's somewhere between a one to one, or three to two ratio, the beans being the greater amount.

Baked Sweet Potato (0 Star)

I have expressed my love for sweet potatoes on this blog before (and my mock snobbery--it's obvious when I'm joking, right? Right?). This sweet potato love matured and deepened when I lived in Hawaii. It was there that I tried my first baked sweet potato. It was served to me by a family with about ten scrawny kids living in a tiny, humble home. It was a very small half of a sweet potato that had been grown in the family garden. I was blown away by the creamy, bright orange, buttery, sweetness. I devoured it and looked around hoping for more, but it was obvious that my small half was a generous offering.

Another family in Hawaii served me a sweet potato, the likes of which I had never known existed. It was a small, skinny tuber, about the diameter of a medium sized carrot. It had been peeled, boiled, sliced into discs and served with butter. The most amazing thing about it was the gorgeous purple color. The color reminded me of purple gumdrops. Again I was blown away by the buttery sweetness--and the color!



I dream about those Hawaiian sweet potatoes. I have even grown my own sweet potatoes, hoping to replicate them, but the results were worse than yams. (Were they yams? The catalog said "Georgia Jets" and called them sweet potatoes.) If you read this post, you know how I feel about yams.

Then, this week when I went shopping I noticed that the sweet potatoes looked a little different than the typical sweet potatoes that I've seen around here. The skin was a deep purple. Normally the sweet potato skin color is closer to the color of regular baking potatoes. With visions of my Hawaiian sweet potatoes, I immediately snatched up a half dozen or so. Eagerly, I went home and baked one up and took a bite. Ahhh, lovely, lovely sweet potato! It was obviously not the same kind as the ones that I had in Hawaii--the flesh was not purple or bright orange--but it's flavor did come closer than any other sweet potato I've had. (Or at least closer to my memory of them...that was kind of a long time ago, sad to say.) What a creamy, buttery, sweet dream.







If you want to try especially good sweet potatoes, go to Buy Low and get some right now! If you are not familiar with it, Buy Low is right next to Cafe Rio, and close to Olive Garden and Movies 8. And be sure the sign says "sweet potatoes" not "yams"!

To prepare a baked sweet potato, bake the same as you would a regular baked potato and slather with plenty of butter.

Rosemary Hummus (0 Star)

One of my goals for this year is to eat more veggies, especially fresh ones. I normally am not too excited about eating them plain, though--a dip is essential for me. However, since many dips are so high calorie and not so great on the "healthy" scale, I've been interested in finding some dips that I love that are more healthy and lower calorie. This hummus was a good fit.

I'm not a big hummus fan and my previous attempts at making it have been bad enough that I threw them away. But I thought I would make another attempt and this one I liked.

This was a very easy recipe and one thing that I liked about it was the absence of sesame tahini--a common hummus ingredient. I didn't have any on hand and it can be pricey, so I was glad to not have to deal with it. I also didn't have fresh rosemary so I just used about a half teaspoon of dried rosemary.



Rosemary Hummus
adapted from Tasty Kitchen

•2-½ Tablespoons olive oil
•½ teaspoon dried rosemary
•30 ounces canned garbanzo beans, drained
•⅓ cups plain Greek (or regular) yogurt
•1 teaspoon lemon juice
•1 whole garlic clove, peeled
•1 teaspoon salt
•¼ teaspoons pepper

Place the oil in a small skillet over high heat. Once smoking, sprinkle the dried rosemary into the oil and flash-fry for maybe a couple of seconds. Remove from the heat, and immediately pour the hot oil and rosemary into a small heatproof cup or bowl. Allow to cool a bit before adding this to the other ingredients.

Place the garbanzo beans in the food processor with the yogurt, rosemary-infused oil (cooled), lemon juice, garlic, salt and pepper. Puree to desired consistency.

Click here for the original recipe.

Roasted Cauliflower Soup (0 Star)

I like soup. Soup is good. This Roasted Cauliflower Soup is good.



The only change I made was the salt. The recipe calls for a tablespoon of coarse salt. I only had sea salt and I used 2 teaspoons. Coarse salt must be less salty because 2 teaspoons of sea salt was too salty for me. Next time I will use one.

Click here for the tutorial and here for the recipe.

Fire Roasted Tomato Soup (0 Star)

I almost didn't post this recipe because my picture is kind of lame--more of an afterthought to our consumption. But then I decided to post it because this soup is so awesome and I didn't want to wait until the next time I make it to try to get a good picture.

This is the best tomato soup I have ever tasted. It is creamy and flavorful with a slight kick. And it is full of vegetables, so it's a great way to get more good wholesomeness into yourself.

It is Picky Palate's creation and is excellent as written. However, I am posting it below with changes that I made due to ingredients that I had on hand and also because I took the easy road and made it a little differently (easier). A little flavor may have been sacrificed my way, but only the very keen palate would notice, I think!



Creamy Fire Roasted Tomato and Bacon Soup

28 oz can Muir Glen Fire Roasted Diced Tomatoes or 28 oz fresh tomatoes and a couple of dashes of liquid smoke
1 medium or large onion, peeled and cut into fourths
3 medium carrots, peeled and cut into fourths
2 stalks celery, trimmed and cut into fourths
1 Serrano pepper, stem trimmed off
4 cloves fresh garlic, peeled, or 1 1/2 teaspoons garlic powder
¼ cup flour
1 teaspoon dried basil
1/3 cup bacon bits (I buy the bags from Costco) or you can cook 12 strips of bacon and then crumble (save half for garnish)

42 oz chicken broth

Few pinches of salt to taste
¼ teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
1 Cup half and half or heavy cream

Additional bacon bits to garnish

1. Place the first 8 ingredients into a blender in the order listed above. Puree until smooth.

2. Put the vegetable puree into a large pot and add the chicken broth. Heat to a boil and then simmer on low, uncovered, stirring occasionally for 15-20 minutes.

3. Add salt to taste, pepper, and cream, and stir until heated through. Allow flavors to combine on a medium-low heat for about 5 minutes and then serve with bacon bits sprinkled on top.

Click here for the original recipe.

Cranberry Sauce (0 Star)

Homemade cranberry sauce is very easy to make and so flavorful. And beautiful. The gorgeous red color and the sweet-tart taste to complement the turkey is a Thanksgiving delight.



This recipe is also versatile. You can experiment with different flavors of juice, citrus zest, and different sweeteners. You can make it as sweet or as tart as you'd like. I used Pioneer Woman's recipe as a starting point but I didn't have maple syrup (though I'd like to try it that way). Here is what I did:

Cranberry Sauce

12 oz cranberries (one package)
1/2 cup frozen orange juice concentrate
1/2 cup water
2/3 cup brown sugar

Wash the cranberries under cold water and put into a medium saucepan. Add the rest of the ingredients and then stir. Turn heat to high and cook until it boils. Then turn the heat down to medium or medium low and simmer for about 10 minutes or until thickened. Remove from heat and cool completely before serving. Store in the refrigerator.

Click here for Pioneer Woman's recipe.

Pecan Pie (0 Star)

This year I tried Pioneer Woman's pecan pie recipe. It was excellent. I love the gooey, caramel-y (I used that made-up word in the last post, too, didn't I?) middle with the crisp, nutty top.







Click here for the recipe.

Bananan Cream Pie (0 Star)

Aaaahhh, banana cream pie--what a lovely thing! It is so hard to see these pictures and write about this when it is gone. I have banana cream pie hunger pangs.



This banana cream pie is the real deal. No boxed puddings here. If you had to eat banana cream pie made from boxed pudding with cool whip on top for Thanksgiving, I feel really sorry for you. (Yes, I am a banana cream pie snob.)



This recipe is from my paternal grandmother's file. I'm going to title it after her because that's what it has always been called to me.

Virginia's Banana Cream Pie
(makes one 9-9.5 inch pie)

1 pre-cooked 9-9.5 inch pie shell

2/3 cup granulated sugar
2 Tablespoons cornstarch
2 Tablespoons flour
1/8 teaspoon salt
2 cups milk
3 egg yolks (well beaten)
1 teaspoon vanilla
2-3 bananas
1 cup whipping cream
1/4 cup powdered sugar (or to taste)
1 teaspoon vanilla

In a medium saucepan, place the first four ingredients and whisk them together with a wire whisk. Add 1 cup of the milk and whisk until smooth. Add the remaining milk and the egg yolks and whisk again. Place the pan on a hot plate and turn the heat up to medium. (Being impatient, I usually start the heat on high until I begin to see a little steam coming from the milk and then I turn down the heat to medium. But you have to be careful not to scorch the milk.) Heat the pudding, whisking constantly, until it is very thick. You can heat it to boiling but it isn't necessary, as long as it has thickened sufficiently. It should be thick enough that it is not so easy to whisk. Remove the pan from the heat and add the vanilla. Stir it in until smooth.

Peel the bananas and slice them into the pie shell. Pour the pudding on top and allow to cool. Cover with plastic and place in the refrigerator until completely cold.

When the pudding is cold, whip the cream, powdered sugar (to taste), and vanilla until fluffy. I don't like it too stiff, but just barely getting stiff. Then spread it over the top of the pudding and chill until ready to serve.

If you are wondering, none of the boys care much for this except for eating the whipped cream off the top. Where did they come from?

Spicy Cauliflower with Sesame (0 Star)

When I told Brandon I was making cauliflower for dinner, his response was, "Oh." But when he came home he was first wooed by the spicy, exotic smell, and then completely wowed by the delectable flavor of this dish. Cauliflower is probably normally considered rather boring, but in this, it is anything but. It was like a party in my mouth. I omitted the jalapeno and used red pepper flakes instead of the dried red chilies and it was plenty spicy for me.

I didn't even try feeding this to the boys. I guess sometimes I get tired of even trying.

Click here for this recipe on 101 Cookbooks.

Apple Cheddar Squash Soup (0 Star)

I couldn't believe that none of the boys liked this soup. (How often have I said this? Will I never cease to be amazed at their lackluster palates?) I really thought they would. I think I would have liked it at their ages. It was smooth and creamy and the flavor was mellow, earthy, and cheesy. I doubled this recipe and Brandon and I happily took care of it within a few days. And it was even better the second and third days. I didn't have any prosciutto or bacon so I used some smoked canned ham. Sorry if that sounds gross, but we still really loved it.

Click here for the recipe from Perry's Plate.

Chicken Enchiladas with Pumpkin Sauce (0 Star)

This is another recipe from Cheeky Kitchen. Unfortunately, not one of the younger crowd approved, but I thought they were great. The only change that I made was to use milk instead of cream. While cream is far, far superior in flavor and texture, it is also far, far superior in caloric content, and we are counting calories around here, ya know? (Sniff, sniff.)



I did use Queso Fresco in this (a first for me) because Cheeky Kitchen highly recommended it, but I think I would actually prefer Monterrey Jack. The Queso Fresco was mild, but it didn't thrill me and it was pricier. So for next time...Monterrey Jack it will be.



Click here to view recipe.

Curried Chicken Pasta Salad (0 Star)

Here is another Pioneer Woman recipe that I made recently--as in this summer. So I may or may not remember what changes I made. I did make changes in order to lower the fat/calorie content. I'm sure it would taste much better the way Pioneer Woman makes it, but we are reducing around here and we don't live on a ranch and burn that many calories every day. Brandon and I enjoyed this and it was fairly easy to make.

I am posting the recipe here with the changes I think I remember making.

Curried Chicken Pasta Salad

3 pounds Chicken, Cooked And Diced/shredded
6 ounces, weight Dry Pasta, Cooked And Drained (I used whole wheat--you know me)
4 whole Ribs Celery, Thinly Sliced - Leaves Included (use Interior Ribs)
¾ cup Golden Raisins
¾ cup Slivered Almonds
½ cup Mayonnaise
½ cup Plain Lowfat Yogurt
1+ Tablespoons milk--add enough to make dressing pancake batter consistency
3 Tablespoons Curry Powder, More Or Less To Taste
1 Tablespoon Sugar, More Or Less To Taste
1 teaspoon Kosher Salt
2 cups red grapes, halved
Freshly Ground Black Pepper

Boil chicken to cook and remove chicken from the broth. Boil pasta in chicken broth.

Dice/shred chicken. Drain pasta.

Mix together mayonnaise, plain lowfat yogurt, milk, curry powder, sugar, salt, and pepper. Whisk together until well combined.

Combine chicken, drained pasta, sliced celery, raisins, almonds, and grapes in a large bowl. Pour curry dressing over the top. Fold together with a rubber spatula. Make sure it’s all combined, then add more of whatever it needs. Make sure the sweet/savory balance is right for you.

Chill for several hours.

Click here to see Pioneer Woman's recipe.

Grilled Vegetable Salad (0 Star)

My pictures aren't the greatest but this salad was amazing. There were a lot of steps so it was a tad intensive to make (for me, maybe not for you expert cooks out there) but very much worth it. I'm posting the recipe here because I made some minor changes such as decreasing the red wine vinegar because I didn't want that flavor so strong and omitting the 6 tablespoons of olive oil in the dressing because everything was already coated in plenty of oil, I thought. I was very happy with the results. The flavors in this salad are fantastic together. I doubled it and took it to a barbecue this weekend and forgot to force it upon my children--um, I mean, allow them to sample it--so I don't know if they liked it, but I seriously doubt it.

Grilled Vegetable Salad

Several tablespoons grape seed, coconut, or olive oil
2 small sweet potatoes, peeled and sliced into 1/4-inch rounds (Sweet potatoes, NOT yams! Sweet potatoes = yum, yams = not so yum.)
3 small zucchini, sliced lengthwise into 1/4-inch strips
3 slices uncooked bacon
1 small leek, trimmed, scrubbed and chopped, about 1/2 cup (I used 1 medium yellow onion because I forgot to buy leeks and it was still great.)
1 cup frozen corn
3 ounces fresh baby spinach (a couple of handfuls)
2 T red wine or balsamic vinegar
1 T fresh chopped rosemary (or 1 tsp dried)
1 T chopped fresh oregano (or 1 tsp dried)
salt and pepper to taste
1/4 cup fresh Parmesan cheese (shavings or shredded)

Preheat BBQ grill or stove-top grill pan to medium-high heat. Brush oil over grates and on both sides of the sliced sweet potato and zucchini. (I put the cut up veggies in a bowl with several tablespoons of olive oil and stirred to coat.) Place on hot grill and cook until tender, flipping once halfway through, cooking about 10-15 minutes. (Mine were done at about 4-6 minutes total; 2-3 minutes per side.) The sweet potato may take a bit longer than the zucchini, but be sure to remove it from the grill before it gets too soft to pick up in one piece. (There should be some pretty grill lines on the vegetables but they should not be blackened too much. Otherwise the zucchini will get mushy and the sweet potato gets a bitter taste when blackened.) Set aside to cool, then chop into 1/2-inch pieces.

Meanwhile, cook bacon (whole or chopped, whatever you prefer) in a medium skillet over medium heat until crisp. Remove bacon from the pan and leave about a Tablespoon or so of the bacon fat in the pan. Add chopped leeks (or onion) to the skillet and saute over medium heat for about 5 minutes or until they soften. Add frozen corn to the skillet and continue to cook, stirring occasionally, 4-5 minutes until corn is thawed and golden brown spots begin to appear. Remove from heat and allow to cool slightly.

In a large salad bowl combine all of the warm, cooked vegetables (grilled and sauteed), the bacon (chopped), vinegar, rosemary, oregano, and Parmesan shavings. Mix until everything is coated in the oil and vinegar and let it sit for about 10 minutes to allow the spinach to wilt. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Makes about 6 servings.

Nat's Notes:

1. Leeks are notorious for being gritty between layers. The best way to prep them is to first trim them, then chop them, then throw the chopped leek into a bowl full of cool water. Swish the leeks around and let it sit for a couple minutes to allow the sand to sink to the bottom of the bowl. Remove washed leeks with a skimmer/spider or slotted spoon.
2. Make sure the sweet potatoes are about 1/4-inch thick. If they're too thick, they won't cook through before the outsides get too black, and if they're too thin, they won't stay in one piece when you take them off the grill. They may have a slight bite to them, but they're still good that way.

For better pictures and the original recipe, go here.

Barbeque Chicken Ranch Spaghetti (0 Star)

This recipe is from Picky Palate (found here) and Brandon and I loved it. I was very surprised that the boys didn't like it AT ALL. Actually, I guess I should have know that onions in the spaghetti noodles would not be well received. Oh, well--toast for them, superb meal for Brandon and I.

I followed the recipe exactly. For the barbecue chicken, I cooked 2 1/2 pounds of boneless skinless chicken breasts in barbecue sauce on low in the crock pot for about 6-8 hours. Then I shredded them and added a teaspoon of salt, two tablespoons of brown sugar and a dash of liquid smoke.

Southwestern Cornbread Salad (0 Star)

This is one of my favorite salads. The recipe is here, courtesy of Prudence Pennywise. For the cornbread I used Pioneer Woman's recipe, which is my favorite right now. There is no sugar in it and sometimes if I want some sweetness I add a little but sometimes I like it as it is. For the dressing this time I used our left over Cafe Rio dressing which was really good on this salad.

Ten Minute Tasty Asparagus and Brown Rice (aka: Asparagus Fried Rice [0 Star])

This recipe is from 101 Cookbooks and I was amazed that it was so good. (Have I said that before?) It had delightful texture with the substantial softness of the chickpeas and rice contrasting with the crunchy asparagus and almonds. The flavor was nutty but also fresh with asparagus and lemon. Brandon and I devoured it. I think a boy or two may have liked it had they tried it, but I didn't finish making it until they were getting ready for bed. This took me a lot longer than ten minutes to make. I have never been known for my speediness, though.

Broccoli Crunch Salad (0 Star)

This salad, courtesy of 101 Cookbooks, is so yummy. I didn't change anything except a I used a little less onion because it was too strong for me. This was not a child friendly salad for our family (very few are) but Brandon and I (and my mom, to whom I fed some of this) loved it.

Asian Salads (0 Star)

I made these two salads, (recipes courtesy of Prudence Pennywise) and unfortunately neglected to take pictures of the Spicy Asian Pasta Salad. Pictured below is the Peanut Ginger Slaw. Both were good, but I especially liked the slaw.