Sauteed Cauliflower

I'm not usually a cauliflower fan, but I loved this:

Sauteed Cauliflower

Ingredients:

1 head cauliflower broken into large florets 

2 T olive oil

2 cloves garlic

2 T lemon juice

1 cup chicken stock

Salt and pepper to taste

In a large sauté pan or Dutch oven over medium high heat, add the olive oil. Once the oil begins to warm, layer the florets in the pan along with the garlic slices. After a minute or so, add the salt and pepper to taste, chicken stock and lemon juice. Cover and allow to cook for 15 minutes or until the cauliflower is crisp tender. Garnish with a drizzle of olive oil and serve immediately.

Zucchini Oven Chips

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup dry breadcrumbs
• 1/4 cup (1 ounce) grated fresh Parmesan cheese
• 1/4 teaspoon seasoned salt
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 2 tablespoons fat-free milk
• 2 1/2 cups (1/4-inch-thick) slices zucchini (about 2 small)
• Cooking spray

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 425°.
2. Combine first 5 ingredients in a medium bowl, stirring with a whisk. Place milk in a shallow bowl. Dip zucchini slices in milk, and dredge in breadcrumb mixture. Place coated slices on an ovenproof wire rack coated with cooking spray; place rack on a baking sheet. Bake at 425° for 30 minutes or until browned and crisp. Serve immediately.

the way we like Asparagus

I had never purchased Asparagus until we got some from Bountiful Baskets in the past year.  Wasn't sure how to eat it.  Just thought I'd share our new favorite way to enjoy it.  Sorry I'm lazy and didn't retype the text. 

Now Asparagus is one of my favorite vegetables of all time.  Hurray!

Broiled Tomatoes

I like to have these with eggs for breakfast.

Heat broiler. Place tomatoes cut side up. Drizzle with oil & sprinkle with salt and pepper. Broil until tender 2 to 3 min.

Lady and Sons Asparagus Sandwich

This is another recipe my Mom shared with me. I loved it too. My Mom first had this sandwich when we went to Savannah, GA a few years ago and ate at Paula Deen's restaurant "Lady and Sons." My mom fell in love with this sandwich and was excited to find it on the internet.

Ingredients

• 8 to 10 fresh asparagus spears, washed and trimmed
• 2 tablespoons butter, divided
• Salt and pepper or lemon pepper
• 2 slices pumpernickel bread
• 2 slices Jack cheese
• 1 or 2 tablespoons Thousand Island Dressing, recipe follows
• 3 slices red onion, cut into rings
• Pickle slices or fresh parsley, for garnish, optional

Directions

Blanch asparagus spears in boiling, salted water for 1 minute. Remove immediately to a bowl of ice water.

Melt 1 tablespoon butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add asparagus and lightly saute. Season with salt and pepper, or lemon pepper. Remove asparagus from pan and set aside. Butter 2 pieces of bread with the remaining 1 tablespoon butter. Place bread in the same skillet, buttered side down, and grill on 1 side. Flip bread and lay 1 piece of cheese on each slice of bread. Grill until cheese is melted and then remove from pan. Spread desired amount of dressing on top of each slice of bread. Arrange asparagus on top of cheese, rotating the spears. Place onion rings on top of asparagus. Cut sandwich in half. Garnish with pickle slices or parsley, if desired.

Thousand Island Dressing:

1 1/2 cups mayonnaise

1 hard-boiled egg, crushed finely

1 cup ketchup

1/4 cup dill relish

Salt and pepper

Lemon pepper

In a medium bowl, mix all ingredients together. Season with salt, pepper, and lemon pepper, to taste. Store in an air-tight container and refrigerate until ready to serve.

Yield: 2 3/4 cups It makes a ton, so you can half the recipe. My mom likes it so much she uses it as a dressing on salad.

Veggie Lovers Quesadilla

My mom found this recipe from abountifulkitchen.com. We made it when I went home for a few days. We all loved it. I am trying to find more recipes with lots of veggies. Meat is kind of grossing me out lately but I'm not ready to go all out vegetarian yet, so I'm just flirting with it.

Zucchini, washed and sliced thin
Mushrooms, washed and sliced thin, stems on
Roma tomato, chopped
Red onion, chopped
Spinach, fresh
Pepper Jack Cheese, grated
Tortillas, Flour any size (we used uncooked whole wheat)
Pesto, store bought or home made
Olive oil or cooking spray
Kosher salt
Fresh ground pepper

Prepare all vegetables and grate cheese.
Turn griddle (or fry pan that will fit tortilla) onto medium high or about 350 degrees.
Spray pan lightly with cooking spray.
Spread one tortilla with about 2 tablespoons of pesto. Place on grill or pan. Cook over medium high heat. Layer a small amount of cheese, then all desired vegetables, topping with a bit of cheese again. Place other tortilla on top. Flip the tortilla onto other side, being careful to not let vegetables spill out. Use either one large or two small spatulas. After turning, brush top of tortilla with a little Olive oil, and sprinkle generously with Kosher salt and ground pepper.
Remove from pan to cutting board or serving platter when cheese is melted. Using pizza cutter or large sharp knife, slice into wedges and serve immediately, or keep warm in 250 degree oven until serving.
May be served with guacamole and salsa.

Tips:
-you may alternate and use any vegetables desired. I sliced fresh vegetables really thin and did not pre-cook the vegetables.
-To cut the amount of fat and calories, use a small amount of cheese. For a large burrito size tortilla, I used about 1/3 cup grated (packed into a measuring cup) cheese total.

Pioneer Woman's Fresh Green Beans

Pioneer woman has done it again. Not a big surprise, her recipes are awesome. I have not been a fan of fresh greens, until now. I like canned green beans, but we have been participating in a food co-op called bountiful baskets, and last week we got a bag of green beans. I didn't really know what I was going to do with them. Then I found this recipe... yep, it is a keeper. I ate more green beans than the rest of our meal. They were that good. Give them try. Here is the link to pioneer woman's fresh green beans.

Mashed Sweet Potatoes

Thanks to Martha Stewart for the recipe below. I have discovered sweet potatoes recently and really like them. The only thing I changed below is to use skim milk instead of half-and-half. Also, I used unsalted butter. This recipe is easy and delicious!

Ingredients

Makes 3 cups

• 2 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 2-inch chunks
• 1/2 cup half-and-half
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 2 tablespoons light-brown sugar
• Coarse salt and ground pepper

Directions

1. Set a steamer basket in a large saucepan. Fill with enough water to come just below basket; bring to a boil, then reduce to a gentle simmer. Place sweet potatoes in steamer basket and cover; steam until tender, 15 to 25 minutes. Drain, and return to saucepan.
2. Meanwhile, in a small saucepan, bring half-and-half, butter, and brown sugar to a simmer, stirring to combine; remove from heat. Add to drained sweet potatoes, and mash just until smooth; season with salt and pepper.

Zucchini Cakes

We have had an abundance of zucchini's in our garden this year and so I have been in search for fun new ways to use it up. These are tasty. Here's the link from pioneer woman (I love her).

Zucchini Cakes

1 Large Zucchini

1 TBSP garlic

1/2 - 3/4 cup bread crumbs

1/2 cup cheese (Italian (this is what I used), Parmesan or Romano)

2 eggs

Kosher salt

Pepper

Olive Oil

Wash and cut the ends of the Zucchini, shred it using a cheese grater. Squeeze the shredded zucchini in a towel until you have removed as much liquid as possible.

Put zucchini in a medium sized bowl. Add garlic, bread crumbs, cheese, eggs, salt and pepper. Stir with a fork till well mixed.

Heat olive oil (about 1/4 in deep in skillet) over medium heat. When the oil is hot enough drop a glob of batter into the skillet and flatten it a bit. After about 2 min flip the cakes over (they should be nice golden brown). Cook on the other side for about 2-3 minutes.

Serve with dipping sauce (we used ranch. - yum!) Enjoy!

Butternut Squash Casserole

This "Casserole" is really very much like a dessert but has squash in it. So you could call it a veggie. :) My friend made it for our dinner group and it was so yummy we all had seconds. She said they have this instead of candied yams for Thanksgiving. I hope you like it.

INGREDIENTS

• Flesh of 1 cooked butternut squash – about 3 c.
• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 1 1/2 cups milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 pinch salt
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 3 eggs
• 1/4 cup margarine, melted

TOPPING

• 3/4 cup chopped nuts (pecans preferred)
• 3/4 cup coconut
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 6 tablespoons flour
• 6 tablespoons melted butter

DIRECTIONS

1. Combine topping ingredients and set aside.
2. Blend all ingredients (except topping) in a blender or food processor.
3. Pour into a greased 9x13” pan.
4. Bake at 400 F for about 20 minutes, then sprinkle topping over all and return to oven.
5. Bake another 10-20 minutes, or until casserole is set.

Teriyaki Kabobs

Marinade:

• 1 cup soy sauce
• 2 teaspoons grated fresh ginger root
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup orange or pineapple juice
  
• 1 tablespoon sesame oil

other ingredients:

• steak, cut into cubes
  
• Fresh bell peppers (red, green, yellow or orange), cut into bite size pieces
  
• Sweet onions, cut into bite size pieces
  
• Fresh mushrooms
• Skewers, if wooden, soaked in water for 20 to 30 minutes

Directions:

Mix all ingredients together for the marinate, then add the other ingredients and marinate the kabobs before grilling.

Zucchini Stir-fry

I thought we would get in the Olympic spirit and make a Chinese meal. And this is the vegetable dish I made with the Mongolian Beef (not authentic Mongolian food), that I will post too. We really like the whole meal. And even Heidi liked the Zucchini, who hates to eat anything green. Enjoy!!!
Zucchini Stir-fry

• 2 large zucchini
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 1 teaspoon minced ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon sugar, or to taste
• 1 tablespoon Chinese rice wine or dry sherry*
  

Preparation:

1. Cut the ends off the zucchini, and cut diagonally into slices about 1/4-inch thick.
2. Pre-heat a wok or skillet over medium-high heat until it is nearly smoking. Add the oil, swirling it around the pan.
3. When the oil is hot, add the ginger and stir-fry until it is aromatic. Add the zucchini. Sprinkle the salt and sugar over. Stir-fry for a minute, then stir in the rice wine or dry sherry.
4. Stir-fry the zucchini until it turns dark green and is tender-crisp (about 3 minutes total). Serve hot.

* You can use apple or white grape juice in place of the Chinese rice wine or Dry sherry, I actually used some crangrape juice I had in the fridge, and it tasted good.

Pan Seared Salmon with Julienne Veggies

This is one of our favorite recipes to make with Matt's Alaska fish... so yum. We got it from a papered chef magazine and have altered it a bit.

Pan Seared Salmon with Julienne Veggies

Ingredients:
2 large carrots
2 medium yellow squash
2 med. zucchini
3 T. butter
1 garlic clove, pressed
1 T. Italian seasoning
1/2 t. salt
1/8 t. pepper
4 skinless salmon fillets, about 1 inch thick

1. Cut carrots, yellow squash and zucchini into julienne strips avoiding seeds.
2. Melt butter. Stir in garlic, seasoning, salt and pepper.
3. Reserve 1 T. of butter mixture and use the rest to brush onto the salmon.
4. Heat pan over med. heat, add veggies and coat with the reserved 1 T butter. Cook and stir for 2 min. or until veggies are crisp-tender, remove from pan and keep warm.
5. Return pan to med-high heat. Place salmon in pan, cook 3 min, turn and cook for 3-4 more min. or until salmon flakes easily with fork. Serve with the veggies. YUM!

Homemade Croutons

These are the lightest crispiest croutons we've ever had and we love them!! They are so great on toss salad or soup.

Cut one loaf French bread into 1/2-inch slices and then in 3/4-inch cubes. Melt 1/2 to 3/4 cup butter. Stir in 1/4 t. garlic powder. Toss with bread cubes until bread is evenly coated. Spread on shallow baking pan. Bake at 300 for 15-20 minutes, stirring occasionally, until bread cubes are dry and crisp.

Another salad tip I recently learned from a friend in town who used to work at Juniper Restaurant is to soak a cored head of lettuce in a bowl of ice water for 10 minutes before draining and serving in a salad. The cold water keeps the lettuce fresh and crisp. It's amazing!

Lemon Garlic Roasted Beets

I have really not liked beets, but these were really good.

Lemon Garlic Roasted Beets
1 lb. beets, peeled and sliced 1/4" thick
4 cloves garlic, sliced thin or minced
2 T. lemon juice
1/4 tsp. lemon zest
1/2 tsp. extra virgin olive oil
1/4 tsp. sugar
1 pinch each, salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 375*. In an 8" square glass baking dish, toss all ingredients together. Rub a piece of parchment paper with olive oil and set oiled side down on the beets. Cover tightly with tin foil and roast for 40 minutes, shaking pan occasionally.

To be honest I forgot to do the parchment paper and the tin foil, but these were still really good.