Chilly Weather=Comfort Food

 When the weather gets like this:

 

You need a dish like this:

 

Super Easy Roasted Sausage

This dish is so easy, makes your house smell good, and can be served several different ways. And, you can make leftover sausage sandwiches the next day!

1 pkg of hot Italian sausage (or mild, or sweet, or turkey, or whatever kind you like)
2 pints of cherry tomatoes
1 onion, chopped in large pieces
1 pkg. of sliced mushrooms
3 cloves of garlic, chopped
2 T of olive oil
2 T of balsamic vinegar
1 T of dried thyme
salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 425 and put rack on lowest setting.

In a 9 X 13 dish, add all the ingredients and drizzle on olive oil and vinegar and season. Pop into the oven (not covered) and stir well after 30 minutes. Then cook 25 minutes more.

Serve over rinsed, heated sauerkraut, mashed potatoes or, sliced, browned polenta.

Very tasty

Saugatuck Sojourn............

Look who's heading to Saugatuck. Why should that Travelocity gnome have all the fun?

Rare one-legged paper bag turkey-known to be feisty

Just love a road trip, don't you?

Hmmmmmmmm Bella Vita Suites.......pretty nice digs

niceeeeeeeee--high thread count--goose down?

Turkey tub??

Birds of a feather?  wassup Rex?

I'll have the hummus, fried pita and a pint of porter, thanks

Which one's the turkey??

Cozy Curry

It has been raining on and off all day. It's a good day for a nice bowl of curry over brown Basmati rice.

Cozy Curry

1 sweet potato, peeled and cubed
1 medium eggplant, cubed
1 onion, chopped
5 tablespoons olive oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon ground turmeric
1 tablespoon curry powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3/4 tablespoon sea salt
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 (15 ounce) can garbanzo beans, drained
1 can diced tomatoes with chilies
1 yellow squash, cubed
2 tablespoons raisins
1/2 cup chopped raw almonds
10 ounces spinach (I forgot to add this, but I meant to!)

Directions

In a large Dutch oven place sweet potato, eggplant, and onion, and three tablespoons oil. Sauté over medium heat for 5 to 7 minutes.

Drizzle 2 tablespoons olive oil over veggies and add garlic, turmeric, curry powder, cinnamon, cayenne pepper, salt and pepper and sauté over medium heat for 3 minutes.

Add the garbanzo beans, yellow squash, raisins, can of tomatoes and 1/2 can of water. Simmer 20 minutes, covered.

Add spinach to pot and cook for 5 more minutes. Serve over rice with Sara's Sauce (recipe follows) and chopped almonds.

Sara's Sauce

1 small container Greek non-fat plain yogurt
1 t minced garlic
some red pepper flakes
1/3 of a cucumber, peeled, seeded and chopped small
A couple slices of onion chopped small  (also good if you have scallions-I didn't)
1 T dill ( I didn't have fresh but good anyway)
salt and pepper
juice of half a lemon
1/4 cup olive oil
a couple T of apple cider vinegar
Mix all that together and put in fridge. Good to make several hours ahead.

Eggplant Parm Plus

A while ago I made an eggplant Parmesan and I made the same thing last night except I added a bit of ricotta cheese and it was so good! It made the dish a lot richer so we had it again tonight with grilled flank steak and sautéed spinach and mushrooms. Here's the recipe again with the added ricotta:

Easy Eggplant Parmesan

1 medium eggplant
Parmesan cheese
3 large egg whites
Garlic powder
cooking spray
1 cup ricotta cheeese
1 jar Trader Joe's pizza sauce
1 pkg of low fat mozzarella

Peel eggplant, and slice into 1/4 inch slices. Whisk egg whites in bowl. Dip eggplant slices into egg whites and the Parmesan cheese and place on baking sheets that have been coated with cooking spray. Sprinkle garlic powder on eggplant slices.

Bake for 20 minutes in 400 degree oven, then flip and bake another 10 minutes.

Layer in small casserole,: eggplant, sauce, cheese and ricotta-- ending with  mozzarella cheese.

Bake 20 minutes at 400--let sit a good ten minutes before cutting into it.

Catfish!

Here is a great way to make catfish: easy and tasty. I have included yet another version of a remoulade sauce which the catfish really doesn't need, but is a nice touch anyway :-)

Blackened Catfish for Two

1 lb catfish (2 nice sized fillets)
1 T paprika
1 t salt
1 t pepper
1 t thyme
1 t garlic powder
1/2 stick of butter, melted

Mix the spices together. Dip the fillets in the melted butter and then cover (on both sides with spices)
Heat a cast iron skillet and then cook the fillets for about 4 minutes per side--drizzle any leftover melted butter over the fillets while cooking.


Serve with remoulade sauce:

3/4 cup mayonnaise
1 1/2 tablespoons finely chopped cornichon (tiny French dill pickles) or good dill pickle relish
1 teaspoon finely chopped capers
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon spicy brown mustard or grainy Dijon
1/4 teaspoon dried leaf tarragon
dash hot sauce, or to taste
Mix all together and refrigerate for several hours.

Cabbage Lasagna? Who Knew?

OK, so there's the deal: I bought a GI-normous head of green cabbage at the Farmer's Market and a person can only make so much slaw, so I was cruising around on the web looking for cabbage recipes and lo and behold came across one for lasagna! Of course, I didn't have all the same ingredients that they had but I did indeed have CABBAGE so there you have it. Now, just because you CAN make a certain recipe, doesn't necessarily mean that you SHOULD! However, I'm here to tell you that the final product was mighty tasty, so go figure. I guess I will draw the line at some concoctions like let's say, marshmallow lasagna?? ha ha oh well..........possibly not?

Need an 81/2 X 11 baking dish
Enough cabbage leaves to make two layers--don't worry if they're not big or perfect
3/4 lb. ground beef (could use turkey or chopped mushrooms instead)
1/2 large green pepper, chopped
1/2 medium onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves chopped
1 can diced tomatoes
1 small can tomato sauce
Italian seasoning (or just use oregano and basil) 1 big T
Red pepper flakes ( I basically put these in everything!) a kitchen staple IMHO
1 pkg. of reduced fat shredded mozzarella cheese
1/2 tub ricotta cheese
Parmesan cheese

Make sauce:
Brown ground beef and salt and pepper the meat, then add onion, green pepper, garlic, cook for five minutes then add the tomatoes, sauce, spices, red pepper flakes and cover and simmer for 1/2 hour.

Steam the cabbage in the microwave about five mutes so that it's cooked and limp.

Preheat over to 350

Assemble the lasagna:  put a little bit of sauce in the bottom of the baking dish, then a layer of cabbage, then 1/2 the meat sauce, then 1/2 the mozzarella, then 1/2 the ricotta, then a cabbage layer, meat, mozzarella,  ricotta and top it all with Parmesan. Cover with foil and bake 30 minutes, then remove foil and cook maybe 5 or ten more minutes--you can run under the broiler if you want to brown the top more. Let this dish sit for at least 15 minutes as it's easier to cut and actually tastes better too when not scorching hot.

Shrimp Creole

This is a really good creole and you can make it less spicy by adjusting the hot sauce.

Sara's Creole Sauce

1/2 green pepper, chopped
1/2 onion, chopped
3 stalks of celery chopped
1 can diced tomatoes
1 can water
2 T tomato paste
2 garlic cloves, minced
salt and pepper
1 T Tabasco sauce (less if you don't like spicy)
2 t chili powder
1 t sugar
1 T Worcestershire sauce

12 large frozen shrimp, thawed

Sauté green pepper, onion, celery and garlic in olive oil about five minutes. Add all the rest of the ingredients (not the shrimp) and cover and simmer for 2 1/2 hours. Add shrimp and heat until opaque.

Good served over rice, couscous, etc.

Turkey Taco Salad

Here's an easy, tasty dinner salad.

Turkey Taco Salad

1 lb ground turkey
1 packet of taco seasoning--I like Bearitos, but any is fine
Sauté the ground turkey, add seasoning and water and simmer for ten minutes.
In the mean time, put together the following ingredients:
Shredded iceberg lettuce
Chopped cherry tomatoes
Chopped red onion
Salsa
Chopped jalapenos
Shredded cheddar cheese
Greek Yogurt (non-fat)
Black olives for garnish (optional)

Assemble salad in bowl:

Shredded lettuce, then taco meat, cheese, onions, tomatoes, jalapenos, salsa, and yogurt.

Greek Nicoise?

I have taken "liberties" with the traditional Nicoise Salad (forgive me, Julia) and a classic Greek salad and devised my own "Gre-nique" Salad.  Combining some of the common elements of both, I created a delicious composed salad of summer.

Makes two large dinner salads

2 large fresh beets, tops removed and scrubbed. 
4 cups lettuce (I used a combo from the Farmer's Market)
1/4 English cucumber, sliced thinly
1/4 red onion sliced thinly
2 medium tomatoes cut in wedges
2 hard cooked eggs, sliced
1/4 cup feta cheese
8 marinated kalamata olives
1 small tin of Italian tuna in olive oil
Trader Joe's Champagne Vinaigrette

Roast your beets!  Put the beets on a large piece of foil, drizzle with olive oil and salt. Wrap up and put in 375 oven for an hour and a half. After beets have cooled a bit their skins will just rub off easily. Slice them up and resist popping the slices into your mouth.

Compose the ingredients on top of the fresh lettuce, drizzle with dressing and enjoy!

Rib-licious

Korean Style Ribs

Recipe of the week from the The Week Magazine
Flanken, Fleisher’s-style (tweaked a little)

What is flanken? Short ribs that are cut Korean barbecue–style, meaning the butcher cuts horizontally across the rib cage to produce long, thin pieces of meat “studded with ribs.”

4 to 6 garlic cloves, minced
1 tsp. ginger
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup rice vinegar
1/4 cup canola oil
2 tbsp pure maple syrup
2 tbsp toasted Asian sesame oil
1 tbsp Asian chile sauce, such as Thai sriracha
3 lbs flanken, cut 1-inch thick, 2 to 3 ribs across
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
2 tbsp toasted sesame seeds
1 tsp kosher salt
1/4 cup coarsely chopped scallions (white and green parts)

Put garlic to taste, ginger, soy sauce, vinegar, canola oil, maple syrup, sesame oil, and chile sauce in a bowl and mix well. Reserve 1/2 cup marinade to boil down a bit as sauce. Pour the rest of the marinade into a thick, sealable bag, place flanken in bag, and marinate for 30 minutes at room temperature, or up to 12 hours in refrigerator. I marinated all day.

Heat grill to high and brush oil on the grill grates. Remove meat from marinade and lay it out on grill, reserving the marinade. Grill meat until done, about 6 minutes on each side. Be careful not to burn ribs; the high sugar content of the marinade causes them to char easily.

To serve, drizzle flanken with reduced marinade and sprinkle with cilantro, sesame seeds, scallions and salt. Serves 4.

Salmon with Good Sides

Using the bounty from the market today,  here is tonight's menu:

Wild Alaskan Salmon
Roasted Summer Squash and Red Onions
Roasted Cherry Tomatoes with Fresh Thyme

Wild Alaskan Salmon
1 lb salmon fillet
1/2 T  paprika
1/2  T ground nutmeg
1/2  T  chili powder
1/2  T  garlic powder
1/2  T kosher salt
1  T light brown sugar
1 T fresh ground black pepper
Extra-virgin olive oil

Directions

Combine all spices. Generously rub the spice mixture on the flesh side of the salmon and drizzle with a light coat of oil. Place the salmon on the grill, flesh side first. Let cook for about 7 to 10 minutes each side. OR, cook on stove top if it's raining and you don't want to go outside which is what happened to me! Be careful and watch as mine good a little more "blackened" than I intended as my salmon was not all that thick. If your salmon is thinner, maybe turn after 3 minutes or so.

 Roasted Summer Squash with Red Onions

2 medium squash cut in half long ways and then into half moons
1/2 red onion sliced into thin wedges
olive oil, salt and pepper
minced fresh garlic (2 small cloves)
Pesto--either homemade or a couple of T from a jar--thinned with some olive oil

Put cut up squash into bowl, add garlic, salt and pepper, and olive oil (a couple of T) stir around and then spread out on a large jelly roll pan.

Roast at 425 for 30 minutes. When it comes out of oven put into bowl and add the pesto and combine.

Roasted Cherry Tomatoes
Half the tomatoes end to end, put in bowl, stir in salt and pepper,some olive oil , and fresh thyme. Turn out onto cookie sheet and roast at 425 about 20 minutes.

Saturday Morning Market

Up early and to Kerrytown.
One hour later:

3 lbs. short ribs from Sparrow Meats

1 lb wild caught Alaskan Salmon from Monahan's Seafood

Various goodies from Farmers Market (see below)

Stay tuned!!

Hamburglers and Roasted Broccoli

Tried something a little different tonight with the traditional grilled burger. I made the burgers like usual but I tried a cheese/black olive spread along with red onion as the topping. Really good! What prompted this was the recent popularity of people putting pimento cheese on grilled burgers so I thought hey, what about that cheese dip I just made? Bingo-quite tasty.

To go with, I made a roasted broccoli recipe from Ina Garten and here is a link for the video and recipe that shows you exactly how to do it and this recipe is a keeper! I only made enough for two--one small head of broccoli--like the amount she does in the video.

//www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/parmesan-roasted-broccoli-recipe/index.html


Cheese/olive Dip
2 cups grated cheddar cheese
1 cup mayonnaise
1 1/2 cup diced black olives
6 green onions, chopped
1 tablespoon parsley leaves
1 teaspoon curry powder

PREPARATION:

In a medium mixing bowl, mix all ingredients together. Cover and chill well. Store, covered, in refrigerator.

Easy Eggplant and Burnt Beans?

So, have you ever been cooking dinner and then the phone rings? You know where I'm going with this--most likely a disaster? Happily, it was a disaster averted. Here's the deal: I'm making easy eggplant and decide to switch up the side dish from boring green beans to spicy Sichuan beans. All is going well, eggplant is happily baking in oven  but oh the poor beans. My hubby and I were busy on the phone with our son and suddenly the smoke alarms are ringing and opps, I forgot that the beans were cooking with very little water and oh, the smoke was rising! As I said before, disaster averted and now I had "blackened" Sichuan beans but they were actually quite tasty.  So, my advice, this dinner is really simple IF you stay off the phone!

Easy Eggplant Parmesan

1 medium eggplant
Parmesan cheese
3 large egg whites
Garlic powder
cooking spray
1 jar Trader Joe's pizza sauce
1 pkg of low fat mozzarella

Peel eggplant, and slice into 1/4 inch slices. Whisk egg whites in bowl. Dip eggplant slices into egg whites and the Parmesan cheese and place on baking sheets that have been coated with cooking spray. Sprinkle garlic powder on eggplant slices.

Bake for 20 minutes in 400 degree oven, then flip and bake another 10 minutes.

Layer in small casserole,: eggplant, sauce, cheese-- ending with cheese.

Bake 20 minutes at 400--let sit a good ten minutes before cutting into it.

Easy peasy and good.

Spicy Beans

Spicy Sichuan Style Green Beans
recipe adapted from Easy Party Food, a special-interest publication of Sunset Magazine.)

Ingredients:
1/2 bag of Trader Joe's whole green beans
2 T soy sauce (I used low-sodium)
1 T rice vinegar
2 tsp. Truvia or sugar substitute or agave syrup
1/2 tsp. red pepper flakes
Black pepper
1 T vegetable oil
2 T minced garlic
Instructions:
Cook green beans with just a little water. In a bowl, add all the other ingredients and add that sauce after the beans looked cooked to your liking. In the picture my beans are WAY overcooked and basically burned..........oh well, we enjoyed the phone call :-)

Crockpot Cuban Beef

I don't really use my crock pot much in the summer but sometimes when you know you're not going to have time close to the dinner hour for food prep, the crock pot can be quite handy. A friend also gave me some zucchini so I thought I'd use one of my favorite kitchen tools,  the julienne peeler, and make zucchini ribbons.


 Crock Pot Cuban Beef
1 can no salt added diced tomatoes
1 can diced tomatoes with jalapenos
1 onion sliced
3 cloves garlic (minced)
fresh ground black pepper (to taste
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp tsp ground cumin
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp allspice
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp dried thyme leaves
1/2 lemon (juiced)
16 ounces flank steak

Sauté the flank steak in a skillet on each side to give it some color. Remove and put in crock pot. In same skillet, sauté the onions. Once they have begun to brown a bit,  add 1/4 cup of water and stir around and then pour the onions and water on the flank steak. In a medium bowl, add the rest of the ingredients and stir--pour over steak. Cook on low 8 hours. When ready to serve pull meat apart--it will be very tender and stringy. This would be good over noodles, rice, etc. It was great over the zucchini ribbons.


Zucchini Ribbons
Julienne two medium size zucchini, and sauté in olive oil until tender, toss with Parmesan.

Leftover Chicken

When I make grilled chicken I always make extra because I love having leftover cooked chicken in the fridge. It's great for pulling together a super easy dinner the next night or for chopping up and making a delicious chicken salad for lunch. Here are the ingredients for tonight's Grilled Chicken Salad:

1 large piece of grilled chicken, sliced thinly
1/4 red onion sliced
1 orange pepper sliced
2 mini cucumbers sliced
1/2 cup of feta
1/2 cup toasted walnuts
Some red leaf and arugula
Paul Newman's Caesar Dressing

Makes two dinner size salads

Summah Time=Buttermilk Chicken

Chicken on the grill is so summer-licious and chicken that has been marinated all day in buttermilk is well..........really tender, really moist and scrumptious. A perfect side dish is cheesy summer squash-enjoy!


Buttermilk Grilled Chicken
adapted from Martha Stewert (bless her heart)

Large pkg of chicken breasts (maybe 7)
1 1/2 cups buttermilk
5 cloves of garlic chopped
a bunch of fresh rosemary, chopped
salt and pepper

Mix buttermilk and spices and then add to chicken in large (2 gallon) zip lock bag early in the morning and marinate all day.
When ready to cook preheat well-oiled grill and add chicken, grill five minutes and then flip for another five and then cover with foil for another five.

When ready to serve, slice breasts on diagonal and serve as is or you can add some salsa like I did. A friend gave us some hot cherry salsa from Cherry Republic and it was splendid on top of this buttermilk grilled chicken!

Easy Cheesy Zucchini Bake
Recipe adapted from Kaylyn's Kitchen

Ingredients:
2 medium-sized zucchini, cut in slices or half-moon slices
2 medium-sized yellow squash, cut in slices or half-moon slices
2-4 T chopped fresh basil (or even less, depending on how much you like the flavor of basil)
2 T thinly sliced green onion
1/2 tsp. dried thyme
3/4 tsp. garlic powder
red pepper flakes to taste
1 1/2 cups of three cheese low-fat cheese mix from trader Joe's


Preheat oven to 350F. Spray an 8" x 8" baking dish with olive oil or non-stick spray. Wash the squash and cut in slices or half-moon slices. Wash basil, spin dry or dry with paper towels and finely chop. Slice green onions.

Combine the sliced squash, chopped basil, sliced green onions, dried thyme, garlic powder, red pepper and 1 cup of the cheese and stir together until the veggies are coated with cheese and the herbs are well-distributed. Season with salt and fresh ground black pepper. Put the mixture in the baking dish and bake uncovered for about 25-30 minutes.

When the zucchini is nearly cooked through, take the casserole dish out of the oven and sprinkle over the remaining 1/2 cup of grated cheese. Put the dish back in the oven and bake 10-15 minutes longer, or until the cheese is melted and nicely browned and zucchini is fully cooked. Serve hot.

Shrimp on the Barbie!

Remember a few posts ago when I made that radish leaf pesto? Well, I was standing and gazing into the fridge and thought about how good that would taste on some grilled shrimp. To make it a really fun summer meal I added a really tasty appetizer of radishes and smoked salt. If you haven't yet tried smoked salt, well.....just get some. And, to keep the meal light and fresh I added a yummy salad of arugula with sweet mini peppers and feta. I love summer!

Appetizer of red radishes and smoked salt

Shrimp on the Barbie

1 lb of shrimp, cleaned
Pesto--I used my radish leaf pesto but any good jarred pesto or regular homemade will work.
Add enough pesto to the cleaned shrimp in a zip lock bag so that the shrimp are well covered. Put in fridge for a couple of hours.

When it's time to cook, thread the shrimp on skewers and cook on a medium well-oiled grill for maybe  4 minutes total--shrimp cook fast so have every thing else ready to eat.

Salad with min peppers
Bag of arugula
6 mini peppers, cut into rings  (or regular peppers, sliced)
a couple of radishes sliced
some feta cheese
Dressing: in a small bowl  squeeze a fresh lime, 1/4 cup olive oil, 3 T red wine vinegar, salt and pepper--whisk.
Pour on greens and toss.

Chicken Thighs Done Yummy

I was rummaging around in the refrigerator trying to decide what to do with the six boneless chicken thighs that wanted to be cooked! What follows is one of those recipes that tasted great but I'm not sure I exactly remember what I did even though it was just a mere few hours ago!

6 boneless, skinless chicken thighs
2 cans of diced tomatoes--I used one fire roasted with chilies and one plain, but any would do
1 t of minced garlic
1//2 can of chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, chopped
6 garlic stuffed green olives, sliced (any green olives will work)
1/2 onion sliced
1 bag frozen artichoke hearts (from Trader Joe)
chili powder 1/2 t
cumin 1 t

some kind of pasta as a bed--spirals, ziti, bow ties,shells, penne, etc
Parmesan cheese

Sauté the chicken thighs just enough to give them some color since you're baking them they'll get cooked. Be sure to salt and pepper them. Throw the onion in to give it some color, too.
Meanwhile, in a bowl, mix the cans of tomatoes and all the other stuff (not the pasta)

Preheat oven 350
Put the chicken and onion in a 9 X13 casserole and pour the sauce on top--cover with lid or foil and bake 45 min.
Make pasta, toss with some olive oil and Parmesan when cooked and serve chicken and sauce over it.

Pretty tasty--it is spicy so you can add fewer chipotles if that makes you happy.

Archives!

Dipped into my archives tonight for the best ever gazpacho recipe!

http://thymetodine-cookcat.blogspot.com/2009/09/tomato-fever.html

All over but the Troutin'

OK, lame title, but this trout was sooooooo good. So, it's a long story: it all started with a bunch of radishes. I kid you not. I bought this bunch of red globe radishes and they had the most beautiful greens attached and I thought such a shame to waste those greens. And, of course that lead to a google search for radish greens and of course that lead me to a delightful blog, Zucchini and Chocolate written by a delightful French woman who had a great idea for radish greens: pesto! So, I made the pesto and then my issue of The Week came in the mail. This magazine, a gift from my wonderful son, always features one recipe per issue. This week was Campfire Trout. OK, so I had no campfire. In fact I don't like to camp. My idea of camping is a 2 star hotel! I'm not kidding. I once enjoyed camping but am over it.  I digress: so I see this trout recipe and I think to myself I could make that on the grill AND I could use that radish pesto and stuff those little fish and guess what...........OMG---It worked and it was good :-) don't you love it when a plan comes together?

So, first make the radish leaf pesto

Wash and dry your radish leaves
Put them into a food processor and add:
1/4 cup pine nuts
1/4 shredded Parmesan
2 coves garlic
Whirl around and then add about 2  T of olive oil (mixture will be thick)
Put mixture in container and top with olive oil and put in fridge.

Now, the fish: buy two cleaned rainbow trout from a good fish monger (like at Plum Market or Monahan's). Open those babies up and slather on a good 2 tablespoons of that radish leaf pesto and two dabs of butter (really, why not?) then wrap those little fishies in thin slices of prosciutto.

Slap them on a medium grill and grill about 5 minutes per side. In the meantime, sauté some mushrooms and garlic in olive oil and butter, adding 1/2 cup of white wine.

Throw in some parsley when that's all cooked.

Go get the grilled fish:

And, plate with mushrooms and side dish. I made roasted cauliflower to go with. If interested about that dish, just search on cauliflower as it's in an earlier post.

This was quite tasty :-)

Salad Days

After six straight days of temps over 90 I can only think of salad for dinner! I had some grilled chicken in the fridge so I decided to make a really light salad of greens and chicken with a buttermilk lime dressing. To add some "heft" to the meal I added parmesan crisps and be warned: these may be addicting!!

Bag of mixed greens
sunflower seeds
two grilled chicken breasts, sliced thin
fresh cilantro 

Dressing from Martha Stewert Living:
3/4 cup buttermilk
1 t lime zest and 1/4 cup lime juice
salt and pepper
1 avocado, pitted and peeled and chunked
In a small processor or blender, combine, buttermilk, lime zest, lime juice and avocado. Blend until smooth. Season with  salt and pepper.

Parmesan Crisps

Preheat 400
Need parchment paper
Put a sheet of parchment on jelly roll pan
Drop heaping T of shredded Parmesan, pressing it down a bit--space at least 1 and 1/2 inches apart cause they spread out (like cookies)
Bake 5 minutes or so (depends on your oven--watch these--take out of oven and sprinkle with whatever you want: paprika, chili powder, cayenne, etc)

Serve with salad.

Cod with Artichokes & Basil

I had a jar of marinated artichokes and some fresh basil so here you go:

1 pound cod fillets
2 T fresh chopped basil
10 oz marinated artichokes, plus some liquid from the jar
salt and pepper

Heat oven to 450. Place cod in ovenproof dish, arrange artichokes around and spoon some of the jar juice over the fish. Add salt and pepper and bake 15 to 20 minutes.

Pretty tasty--I served with baked plum tomatoes and green beans seasoned with thyme.

Fish Taco!

In case you don't know, the very best fish tacos in the world are to be found in San Diego, but I'm here to tell you that a mighty fine fish taco can be had right here in good old Ann Arbor!

Here's what you'll need:

1 pound of cod
olive oil
spices for fish: chili powder, cumin, smoked paprika, salt and pepper
a couple wedges of green and red cabbage, sliced thin
4 whole wheat tortillas

Chipotle Crema- this stuff is GOOOOOOD!

8 oz sour cream
1/2 t lime zest
2 T lime juice
a couple minced chipotle chilis in adobe sauce
1/2 t cumin
1/4 t salt

Combine all ingredients and put in the fridge for flavors to develop.

When ready to eat, put the spices on the fish and sauté in olive oil--the fish only takes a few minutes per side. Flake the fish into large bite-size pieces. Warm the tortillas.  On each tortilla, place some fish, some cabbage and some sauce and enjoy!!

Serve with roasted sweet potato wedges and a nice cold glass of Sangria!

Purple Haze!

Here's a quick, nutritious and yummy side dish. I served it with grilled pork tenderloin.

3/4 head of purple cabbage, sliced up
1/2 red onion, sliced
3 Pink Lady apples cut in wedges (use whatever apples you have on hand)
olive oil, salt and pepper and dried dill
water

Could this be any easier?

Sauté the cabbage, onion and apples until it all begins to wilt and soften--like 15 minutes or so--add salt and pepper, slosh in some water and lots of dill. I served it warm but probably would work at room temp as well.

Chopped Salad with Thai Flavors

I adapted this recipe from Mark Bittman's cook book, Food Matters, and I must say it is delicious. I love it when I find a recipe that is nutritious and oh so tasty.

Juice of two limes
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 T fish sauce or soy sauce (I used fish sauce)
1 t of agave or sugar
1 T of diced hot peppers
1 carrot, chopped
1 orange or red pepper. chopped
4 cups chopped cabbage
1 cup chopped snow peas
1 bunch of radishes, chopped
1/4 cup peanuts, crushed
salt and pepper
1/4 cup chopped fresh herbs: basil, mint and cilantro

Put the lime juice, oil, fish sauce, agave, and chilies in large salad bowl and whisk.

Add all the vegetables to the bowl with the dressing and toss. Top with peanuts, taste, add salt and pepper, toss again and refrigerate until ready to serve. It should chill for a while to let flavors develop--can sit up to 24 hours. Before serving, toss with fresh herbs.

Pasta with Roasted Cherry Tomatoes, Scallops, and Fresh Basil

Every Wednesday, I get the Splendid Table E-Newsletter and there's always a great recipe featured. Today's was just too good to pass up and so, so easy.

Pasta with Roasted Cherry Tomatoes and Fresh Basil

Reprinted with permission from Seriously Simple: Easy Recipes for Creative Cooks by Diane Rossen Worthington (Chronicle Books, 2002). Copyright © 2002 by Diane Rossen Worthington.

I, of course, made a few tweaks and changed the amounts bless my heart.

Serves 4

Many varieties of small tomatoes are available year-round. I like to use red cherry tomatoes or the smaller grape tomatoes. The toughest part of this entire recipe is halving the tomatoes.

I also sauteed a lb of scallops and topped the pasta with these yummy bites!

* 1-1/2 pounds ripe cherry or grape tomatoes, halved
* 4 garlic cloves, minced
* 1/2 cup fresh bread crumbs
* 1/2 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
* Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
* 1/4 cup olive oil
* 1/2 pound whole wheat spirals
* 1/2 cup finely chopped fresh basil

1. Preheat the oven to 400°F. Place the tomato halves in a large baking dish that can be brought to the table.

2. In a small bowl, combine the garlic, bread crumbs, cheese, salt and pepper. Spoon evenly over the tomatoes. Spoon the olive oil evenly over the mixture.

3. Roast the tomatoes for 35 minutes, or until the mixture is bubbly, browned, and slightly thickened.

4. In a large pot of salted boiling water, cook the pasta for about 11 minutes, or until al dente. Drain well.

5. Add the pasta to the tomato mixture in the baking dish. Add the basil and toss to combine. Top with scallops. Serve immediately.

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