German Red Cabbage

 This was really good. And easy.

• 1/2 large red cabbage, sliced 1/4-inch thick
• 1/2 onion, sliced
• 2 tablespoon butter
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
• Kosher salt
• Freshly ground black pepper
• fresh chopped  peeled apple 1/2- 1 cup. Optional.

Melt the butter over medium heat, saute the cabbage and onion until soft, about 5 minutes.

Sprinkle mixture with sugar. Add balsamic vinegar and apple (if desired). Toss to coat evenly. Bring to a simmer, then reduce to medium low. Cook until soft, approx 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Salt and pepper.

Tzatziki sauce

1 c plain yogurt
1 T lemon juice
1/3 garlic clove
1/3 cucumber, peeled and diced
1 tsp salt
1 tsp dill
Salt and pepper

Sprinkle salt over diced cucumber. Allow to sit for a few minutes, then dab dry with a paper towel. This pulls the moisture out of the cucumber and keeps the sauce from getting watery.
Combine all ingredients, add salt and pepper as needed at the end.

Good on pita, falafel, as a veggie dip.

Gordon's Balsamic Glaze for vegetables

~1/3 to 1/2 bottle of balsamic vinegar

2 or 3 tablespoons sugar or honey or both

~1/2 t salt

~2 T orange juice (or maybe lemon w/ more sugar)

Mix together and cook on the stove until it's reduced to about 1/2 the starting volume. Taste as you go and adjust ratios until you like it. There's a good chance I underestimated how much sugar I put in. 

Sage:

Lightly brown a little butter (~1/2 T), then add a handful of whole fresh sage leaves, fry until they're crisp

Vegetables:

I used brussels sprouts and special selection baby sweet potatoes. Chop into roughly equal sized pieces, spread on a baking sheet, drizzle with olive oil and a little salt, stir so they're coated, and roast at 350 for 30-40 min until done, turning once midway through. Pour balsamic glaze on top, add the sage, and stir it all together. 

Salt and Vinegar Potato Bites

3 cups cubed potatoes
2 T. vegetable oil
1 cup malt vinegar (we used a mix of apple cider and balsamic)
3 T. sugar

1. Soak potatoes in large bowl of cold water 30 minutes. Drain, and pat dry.

2. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Toss potatoes with oil on baking sheet, and spread in single layer. Roast 45 minutes, or until golden and crisp, turning 2 or 3 times. Season with salt, and pepper, if desired.

3. Meanwhile, bring vinegar and sugar to a simmer in saucepan over medium heat. Cook 15 - 20 minutes, or until liquid is reduced by half (helpful hint: don't inhale the steam), stirring occasionally. Serve sauce on side for dipping, or drizzle over potatoes.

chow down, it's good for you!

This could set the record for the vaguest post ever. I went to a friends house to eat and they had the most delicious side dish/salad! Here it is.

sliced cucumbers

rice wine vinegar

pinch of salt

"some" sugar

That's it. They had a bowl of rice wine vinegar (2 cups?) w/ what i would guess was 2T? of sugar and a pinch of salt in it. Then we had a huge platter of sliced cucumbers. We took one with some chopsticks and dipped it in the vinegar and ate it. It was fantastic! I could have eaten them all night. They said they had them at a Vietnamese place and asked what the sauce was. Easy!

You ate WHAT? (Collard Greens)

4 strips of bacon, sliced into 1/2" pieces
1 small onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1Tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
3 dashes hot sauce
1/4 c. apple cider vinegar
1 c. chicken broth or water
2 lbs collard greens, stems removed and sliced into strips


Cook bacon, onion, garlic together in pan. Combine other ingredients and add to pan along with greens. Cook 10-15 minutes until greens are soft.

Green rice

I should say that this recipe is kind of a bugger. I can't really recommend it unless you have a food processor or a better blender than mine. Here's why

Combine:
1 seeded jalapeno
3 Tbsp olive oil
2/3 cup cilantro
2 green onions (i use 1/3 reg onion)
1 clove garlic
salt/pepper

So you're supposed to blend the above together, but the olive oil is just not enough liquid to get it going in a blender. So I end up doing a lot of work with a spatula or adding more liquid (like lime).

Cook the rice 1 cup rice, 1 cup broth, 1 cup water.

Mix the green blended mush into the rice.

Cowboy Salsa

4 Roma tomatoes
2 Avocados
1 can black beans (its a good idea to rinse the beans so your whole dip isn't black)
1 can white corn
1-2 jalepeno peppers chopped small
juice from 2 limes
1 clove of garlic, mashed
salt/pepper
A bit of cilatro (or none for some of you)
A bit of red onion
mix all together with about 1/2 cup italian dressing

optional: 1 can of black eyed peas

Chill in refrigerator

This recipe makes a lot. Good to take to a potluck party.

Sweet potato/Black Bean salad

Rachel and I made this last night and it was so tasty. Lots of flavors all mixed together. I used 2 jalepenos and it was not very spicy.

4 medium sweet potatoes (about 1 1/2 pounds), peeled and cut into 1-inch chunks

1 large onion, preferably red, chopped

1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 to 2 tablespoons minced fresh hot chili, like jalapeño

1 clove garlic, peeled

Juice of 2 limes

2 cups cooked black beans, drained (canned are fine)

1 red or yellow bell pepper, seeded and finely diced

1 cup chopped fresh cilantro.

1. Heat oven to 400 degrees. Put sweet potatoes and onions on a large baking sheet, drizzle with 2 tablespoons oil, toss to coat and spread out in a single layer. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roast, turning occasionally, until potatoes begin to brown on corners and are just tender inside, 30 to 40 minutes. Remove from oven; keep on pan until ready to mix with dressing.

2. Put chilies in a blender or mini food processor along with garlic, lime juice, remaining olive oil and a sprinkle of salt and pepper. Process until blended.

3. Put warm vegetables in a large bowl with beans and bell pepper; toss with dressing and cilantro. Taste and adjust seasoning if necessary. Serve warm or at room temperature, or refrigerate for up to a day.

Yield: 4 servings.

Twice Baked Potatoes

We had potatoes that needed to be eaten, but not much else. My family isn't as big on P n' toppings as I am, so I made up this version:

1. Baked potato (i cheated and cooked them mostly in the micro, then finished in the oven for better taste)

2. Some kinda Meat (bacon, ham, we used breakfast sausage, chopped up- highly recommended!)

3. shredded cheese.

Scoop out the potato insides, leaving a bowl. Save insides.

Mix meat, cheese, and some (not all!) of the potato insides, and a bit of salt/spices.

Salt/pepper the bowl, then pack it with mixture.

It seemed a little boring last time I tried it, so i drizzled some butter over the top, then piled on the cheese.

Bake 400* for about 13-15 min, till heated through and cheese is melty. It was good served with broccolli.

I have also heard of adding cream cheese, garlic, and sour cream to mixture. yum.

Pasta Salad

Since this is an idea blog as much as a recipe blog, I thought I'd add pasta salad up in here. I don't have an actual recipe for this, and if I leave anything out, feel free to add.

1 lb rotelle pasta

Any of the following:
artichoke hearts
broccoli
tomatoes (sun-dried or normal type)
salami
peas
cheese
olives
cucumber
red onion

Cover in italian dressing. Refrigerate. I believe Bernsteins Restaurant Style Italian is the dressing of choice. Again, if you have any tips or tricks to add, please do.

Turkey Ricotta meatballs

1 pound of ground turkey (or hamburger)
1/2 c part skim ricotta cheese
1 egg
1/2 c dry breadcrumbs
1/4 c chopped fresh basil
1/4 t pepper & salt
preheat oven to 375. Combine all ingredients in a bowl, then shape the mixture into about 18 meatballs. In a large skillet brown the meatballs. Remove the meatballs and put them on a broiler pan(cover the pan first with cooking spray) bake for 15 min or until done.
To Freeze: follow cooking instructions then allow meatballs to cool. Place them on a cookie sheet making sure they don't touch each other and place them in the freezer for an hour then transfer the hardened meatballs to an air tight container and store in the freezer ( up to three months). Thaw the meatballs in the refrigerator, then bake 375 for 20 min.

Could be the perfect fruit salad...

All hail fruit! That mutant kid of orange that comes ripe in the summer (hey, i'm just the eater), 2 kinds of grapes from our vines, strawberries, perfect pears, and one huge mango. The only thing that would make it better would be a pile of blackberries.



o by the way, this is no receipe, this is just an "ode to food" entry...
o baby...

Great roasted vegetables

Roasted vegetables. mmmm. Just typing about them makes me hungry. There is no good way to "receipe" this, so we'll try a list, followed by basic instructions. Wait. that sounds a lot like a receipe...

potatoes
carrots
chucks of onion
parsnips
whole mushrooms
brussel sprouts
garlic

Cut all about the same size pieces so they will cook evenly. Leave mushrooms and brussel sprouts whole, or just cut large ones once. Garlic cloves whole as well.
Pour a bit of olive oil on the vegetables on a cookie sheet or roasting pan. A metal pie tin works for smaller portions. Work the oil and veggies around with your fingers so each piece gets a little coating of oil. Lots of salt and pepper and itallian seasonings are next. Mush around so it gets all over. Add more salt. Spread out shallow in the pan. Savvy?
375* for 45 min
400* for 35 min
425* for 30 min (you get the idea)
Leave for longer if you are going for crispy.
This is my favorite list, but many more things could be added, or taken away. I have also had good success with itallian dressing alone. Squash is great. Throw a piece of chicken or fish in there with the vegetables and feast!

Bruschetta

Here's the recipe for the bruschetta we had at the beach by Carrie's birthday request. This is about half the amount we made that night.

1 lb. roma tomatoes chopped small
2 T. olive oil
1/2 t. salt
2 cloves minced garlic
1/2 t. coarsely ground pepper
3 T. fresh basil
1 T. fresh parsley (optional)

Mix all together and let sit while you slice up and toast a baquette.

Add 4 oz. mozzarella cheese chopped into small cubes to the mix, and serve on the toast.

Beans

2 cups rinsed pinto beans
4-8 strips bacon
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper

Put beans in a big pot and cover with water about 2 inches above the beans. Add (uncooked) bacon. Bring to a boil then reduce to a simmer for 2-2.5 hours. It is done when most of the water is gone and the beans are nice and tender. Stir in salt/pepper. Serve with corn bread!

Pressure cooker version
2 cups of beans
1 clove garlic
1 jalapeno pepper
3 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
2-4 strips bacon
other: some cumin or chile powder could be good.

Soak beans for at least 4 hours. This is critical.
Put in pressure cooker and bring to pressure for 12-15 minutes. Use quick release method. If beans are still tough at all, put it back on the stove for 1-2 minutes more.