End of Summer Garden Sides and Salads

Still pulling stuff out of the garden?

I find that I still have tons of produce that needs to either be canned or eaten ASAP.  Here are some more of my favorite recipes to help that along...

1. Green Bean Tomato Salad
Ingredients:
1 pound green beans
1 pound cherry or grape tomatoes
1 large shallot
2 T red wine vinegar

salt and pepper to taste
1/3 C EV olive oil

Directions:
1. Clean and cut beans.  Parboil for 4 minutes in salted water.  Drain and spread to cool.
2. Clean and half/quarter tomatoes.
3. Make vinaigrette -peel and mince shallot, add to vinegar, salt, and pepper.  Whisk in oil.
4. Store separately.  Mix just before serving.
5. Garnish with fresh herbs (basil, parsley, etc.)

2. Dilly Cucumber Salad
Ingredients:
1 large English cucumber, sliced thin
1 1/2 T EV olive oil
2 T red wine vinegar
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/2 - 3/4 tsp sugar or honey to taste
1/4 C chopped dill

Directions:
1. Mix all ingredients, except cucumbers.
2. Store until ready to serve, mix in cucumbers.

3. Apple and Celery Salad
Ingredients:
4 large apples, peeled and diced
2 C celery, cut small
1/2 C mayonnaise
1 tsp Dijon mustard
1 clove garlic, pressed
1 1/2 tsp lemon juice
1 1/2 T water to thin
salt and pepper to taste
Directions:
1. Mix dressing
2. Combine over prepared apples and celery.

Garden Sides and Salads

I've been harvesting up like a fiend, and was entertaining last weekend.  Being as I didn't want to buy anything (or much of anything), I pulled together what I could find from the garden and pantry and made due.

1st Dish: I made beet salad.  But, I've made (and you've read) that before, so I won't bore you with those details again.  But, for the record, it's good EVERY time you make it.  And people don't seem to bore of it, so double bonus.

2nd Dish: Yellow squash casserole.
Ingredients:
3 medium squash, sliced
1/2 stick of butter (4T), melted
1 small sweet onion, diced
about 20 saltines, crushed

Directions:
Saute onions.  Boil squash until al dente (not soft).
Combine veg with about 1/4 of the cracker crumbs.
Place in greased 8x8 dish.  Top with remaining crackers, then top with melted butter.
Bake at 350 until the crackers turn golden.  Everything is already cooked, so it's just to combine the flavors so nicely.

3rd Dish: Cucumber, Tomato, and Feta Salad

Ingredients:
4-6 Roma Tomatoes, diced large-ish
2 Cucumbers, diced large-ish
1/2 C Feta crumbles
Dressing Ingredients:
2 T red wine vinegar
3 T olive oil
Salt and Pepper to taste




Directions:
Combine first three ingredients in a bowl.
Whisk dressing ingredients.
Toss everything together just before serving.

Summer Salsas

I was trolling the internets in search of a more non-traditional sauce (read non-traditional as no-tomatoes), but something that was still good on a corn chip or pita chip.

Who knew that Oprah could solve my issues??

Luckily, these two base recipes are actually the same, it's just the two main ingredients that change, so let's put it up this way, shall we?

Ingredients:
1 medium red onion, finely chopped
1/2 C chopped cilantro
1/4 C fresh lime juice
1/4 C cider vinegar
1 jalapeno, deeded and minced
kosher salt and fresh ground pepper to taste

Variation One:
2 C chopped papaya
2 C chopped banana (slightly firm, underripe)

Variation Two:
2 C chopped, seedless cucumber
2 C chopped jicama

Directions:
Combine all ingredients*.  Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.

*With variation one, add banana just before serving

Variation One: Banana Papaya Salsa

Variation Two: Cucumber Jicama Salsa

Cucumber Cups

 I can't believe I haven't tried these before.  So painfully simple, and yet they are elegant in their own way.

Cucumber cups start with some great cucumbers.  I worked with English "burpless" cucumbers since I could get them at Costco in bulk, for cheap.

Then, I chose not to peel the entire cucumber, since that would make them too slippery.  I left little grips around the edges.

I then cut each cucumber into 12 pieces.  Some could have been smaller, but I was more interested in the number 12. Ideally, you should aim for a size that could easily fit in your whole mouth at once, but I just wanted a number I could tabulate quickly.

Whatever, we already know how odd I am.

No apologies.

Next, use that handy dandy melon baller and scoop out the middle of the cucumber, creating the cup.  I used the smaller end of my baller, but you can use whatever size you think makes the best scoop.

For fillings, I found several different recipes.  Spinach dip, crab dip, cheese dip, etc., etc.  A quick Google search will give you a ton of ideas.  However, I was making enough other appetizers that I didn't want to overlap any of my other flavors presented.

So, as I was perusing the aisles of the Costco, I discovered some Mango Pico de Gallo, and some Roasted Red Pepper Hummus.  I picked up a tub of each.

The mango pico was great to just scoop in by the teaspoonful.  However, for the hummus, I piped it through a broad frosting tip to give it a little swirl.

 I think the hummus was my favorite.  Not because I eat it, but because it was fun to pipe on.

To top it off, I was going to sprinkle some paprika for color, but I didn't have any.  Instead, I used some Chipotle red pepper sprinkled over it instead. Same color, still spicy, but not so much to be over powering.

(And no, Mom, I didn't serve it on a red paper plate.  This was just my plate to refill from.)

Can-Do Attitude: Bread & Butter Pickles!

Thomas suggested trying pickles the other day.  I haven't ventured in this realm before (ie: non-fruit canning), but I'm always willing to give a good recipe a try.

That being said, we couldn't agree on dill pickles (which he enjoys), or bread and butter (which I adore).  Obvious, I'm going to do both, but the B&B's sounded easier, so that is where I started.

Oh, and I love any excuse to use my crinkle cutter!

This recipe was found in Canning for a New Generation.  While there are literally a ton of recipes for pickles out there, I liked this one for using honey instead of sugar.  I'm not such a fan of adding onions, but I thought it would help with the overall flavor.

Honeyed B&B Pickles - made8 pint jars for me
Ingredients:
3 lbs pickling cucumbers (3-4" long)
1 pound small onions (about 2)
1/4 cup + 1 T kosher salt

2T yellow mustard seeds
1T celery seeds
1-2t of crushed red pepper flakes
6C apple cider vinegar (5% acidity)
3/4C mild honey
1 1/2t turmeric
1 1/2t dry mustard powder

To start, cut the ends off of your cucumbers, then cut into 1/4" rounds.  Cut your onions into quarters, then slice into thin half-circles.

Put cucumbers and onions in a large bowl, sprinkled with 1/4 C salt, tossing to combine.  Cover with a layer of ice cubes and refrigerate for 8 hours or over night. 

The next day, pick out any ice, drain well, and rinse under cold running water.  Then, toss with mustard seeds, celery seeds, red pepper flakes, then set aside.

 In a non-reactive (stainless) pot, combine vinegar, 1 1/2 C water, honey, turmeric, mustard powder, and 1T salt.  Bring to a full boil.

Working quickly, place your cucumbers and onion mixture into your jars (not too tightly).

Ladle the hot vinegar mixture into each jar, leaving 1/2" head space at the top.  Wipe the rims, place on your vacuum seal lids on, then screw down the rings until finger tight.  Finally, boil for a full 15 minutes.  Remove and let sit for 12 hours.  (Check after 1st hour to make sure the seal has set, if not, refrigerate that jar and use ASAP.)



Thai One On - Lettuce Wraps!

I've been off my blogging game a bit lately, sorry, Peeps!  It's been a laid back kind of week, and I've been doing much of nothing other than wasting time and catching up on sleep.  However, I think I'm almost back in the groove and should be cranking out some yummy food, and subsequent posts for you pretty soon.

However, the other day I managed to make an old book club favorite - Thai Basil Chicken Lettuce  Wraps.  Now, mind you, I didn't really follow the directions, since I've been making lettuce wraps for a couple of years now, but I did follow along with the general premise.

First off, the ingredients:

I used pre-marinated/cooked teriyaki chicken, some basil, romaine lettuce, bell pepper, and cucumber.  I just bought some Thai peanut sauce, instead of making it from scratch.  I bought the generic because they were out of my favorite: 

House of Tsang Bangkok Peanut Sauce. I also had some leftover rice (made in a pineapple juice/water/tomato bouillon stock) that I mixed the chopped basil into because it's filling and needed to be eaten.  Easy peasy.

 

For the first time, I got to use my julienne peeler.  I have always hated when a recipe calls for anything "julienned" because that means a lot of time trying to make teensy tiny little cuts.  This thing made quick work of my cucumber, and now I'm excited to find as many recipes with julienned ingredients as possible so I can get more work out of this beauty.  Who knew I'd be a kitchen gadget freak like mom?!  I think I'll need a second kitchen soon, too!!

 

The rest of the recipe was quite simple.  I used my food chopper for the meat and peanuts, and just quickly sliced the bell pepper with my handy dandy all-purpose knife.  It's was simple from then on out, just mix and put into bowls.

 

I love pre-prepped food, like the teriyaki pre-cooked chicken.  It was warm outside, but my kitchen stayed cool as I prepped up this meal.  A summer must!

 

 

You can see my pretty cucumbers on the left, up top is the basil rice, then the red bell peppers, and my chicken/peanut sauce/peanut mixture (as called for in the recipe).  I did warm the chicken up for about two minutes in the microwave to take the extra fridge-chill off.

 

Up top is the romain lettuce, which makes for easy loading and eating.  I chose this over a head of lettuce because you just have to cut off the base, wash, and eat.  Far easier than unraveling a head of lettuce, in my opinion.  You want something sturdy, but easy, on a dish like this.

 

Finally, I put out extra peanut sauce and chopped peanuts in little bowls to drizzle.  Then you just load up as much of whatever you'd like and dig in.  It's amazing!!

 

 

 

Don't be afraid to load up on your favorite ingredients.  It's like a room temperature burrito!

 

Thomas models his perfectly wrapped lettuce wrap!

Just add a little sunshine - we ate outside - and enjoy!