Summer's Bounty in a Bowl

I just can't write more about my favorite time of the year also coincides with when the freshest locally grown produce is available. Last night I made a salad that I found in the Everyday Food magazine, with my own twists.

Corn, Avocado and Tomato Salad
2 ears corn, shucked and kernels removed
2 avocados, diced
4 roma tomatoes, diced
1 jalapeno pepper, minced
4 green onions, sliced thinly on diagonal
1/4 cup cilantro, minced
4 TBS fresh lime juice
2 TBS vegetable oil
salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Combine all ingredients and serve.

Vegetarian Pleasures

Over 20 years ago when I decided to delve into the vegetarian lifestyle the first cookbook I got was Vegetarian Pleasures by Jeanne Lemlin. It is a menu cookbook and is a great first cookbook for someone new into the vegetarian scene. I have several favorite dishes that I have made from that book. With tomatoes and basil being in the height of the season now, I opted to make a delicious summer pasta dish.

Pasta with Uncooked Tomato and Fresh Basil Sauce
1 lb ripe tomatoes, diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup fresh basil leaves, shredded
1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1/2 teaspoon salt
fresh ground pepper to taste
10 oz whole wheat angel hair pasta
2/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Combine the tomatoes, garlic, basil, olive oil, red pepper flakes, salt and pepper. Toss well. Let marinate at room temperature for at least 2 hours.

Cook the pasta until al dente and drain very well in a colander and return to the pot.

Toss the pasta with the Parmesan cheese. Pour on the sauce. Toss well and serve immediately.

No Dumplings

A dish that brings back fond childhood memories is sauerkraut and dumplings. Tonight I made sauerkraut, but didn't make the dumplings. While good on it's own, I really missed the dumplings.

Sauerkraut
1 TBS vegetable oil
1/2 onion, thinly sliced
4 cloves garlic
1/4 tsp chili flakes
1/4 tsp caraway seeds
15 oz can diced tomatoes
15 oz can sauerkraut, drained
dash Tabasco sauce, to taste

Heat the vegetable oil in a skillet and saute the onions and garlic until tender. Add the chili flakes and caraway seeds and cook 2 minutes. Stir in the tomatoes and sauerkraut and cook until heated through. Add Tabasco sauce, stir and serve.

Farm Fresh Corn

Summer is most definitely a vegetarian delight with locally grown vegetables in abundance. I picked up some corn from my local vegetable market and made some corn chowder.

Southwestern Corn Chowder
1/2 cup onion, diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 TBS butter
2 TBS flower
2 cups potato, peeled and diced
2 cups water
1 vegetable bullion cube
2 cups fresh corn (2-4 ears)
4 oz can diced green chilies
2 TBS diced jalapenos (i used canned)
3 1/2 cups milk
1 TBS cumin
1/4 cup cilantro, minced

Melt butter in large sauce pan and saute onion and garlic until onion is translucent. Stir in flour and cook for 3 minute, stirring constantly. Add water, bullion and potatoes. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer 7-10 minutes until the potatoes are tender. Add corn, chilies, milk and cumin. Simmer 10 minutes. Ladle about 1/2 soup in a blender and blend until smooth. Pour blended soup back in pan. Add cilantro and stir.

Zucchini

It's summer and about the time that most folks that have a garden with zucchini are finding new and different ways to use it. I've had fried zucchini, grilled zucchini, zucchini bread and even chocolate zucchini cake! This is one of my favorite ways to prepare zucchini. My sister gave me this recipe... I modified it a bit to be "summer friendly" (i.e., no oven).

Sauteed Zucchini and Feta
1 TBS olive oil
1/2 onion, diced
2 cloves garlic minced
2 cups cubed zucchini
1 tomato, diced
1 tsp oregano
salt and pepper, to taste
10 kalamata olives, pitted and diced
1/4 cup feta cheese

Saute the onion and garlic in the oil until tender. Add the zucchini and cook for 5 minutes. Add the tomato, oregano, salt and pepper and cook until zucchini is tender. Add olives and feta. This is great served over rice or orzo, but equally good eaten all by itself.

Rainy Day

It is a cloudy and rainy day today in Houston... what better meal to make on a downer day like today than grilled cheese and tomato soup? We like our tomato soup with a little of a kick. Here's how I make it.

Tomato Soup - Indian Style
26 oz can tomato soup
26 oz water
1 TBS hot curry powder
1 TBS cumin
1 tsp coriander
1 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper (or more to taste)

Combine ingredients in sauce pan and cook over medium heat until heated through.

Fresh Basil

Recently I harvested basil from the garden and made pesto. It was so easy and so delicious. I used the pesto to make a pasta salad.

Pesto Pasta Salad
6 oz pasta shells, cooked, drained
1/2 cup homemade pesto
2 artichoke hearts, diced
3 sun dried tomatoes, diced

Combine ingredients. Chill and enjoy!


Homemade Pesto
2 cups fresh basil leaves
2/3 cup olive oil
4 cloves garlic
3/4 cup Parmesan cheese

Combine the basil, olive oil and garlic in a food processor and process until smooth (scraping down he sides as necessary). Place the mixture into a bowl and stir in the Parmesan cheese. Chill until ready to use.

Wet and Refreshing

We enjoyed a refreshing beverage last night as the Houston heat ebbed off a bit.

Summer Beer
12 oz can frozen lemonade
60 oz beer (5 beers - we use bud light)
12 oz water
12 oz vodka

combine and serve in glasses over ice.

The Search has Ended

Mark loves sloppy joes, although the canned sloppy joe sauce does not make Mark a happy camper. I looked through a few sloppy joe recipes and decided to make sloppy joes from scratch. Mark thought they were phenomenal, much better than the ones made from a can.

Sloppy Joes
1 lb lean ground beef (I use buffalo)
1 green pepper, diced
1 onion, diced
1 cup ketchup
2 TBS yellow mustard
3 TBS brown sugar
1 tsp garlic powder
salt and pepper
1 TBS Tabasco, or more to taste

Brown beef, pepper and onion together in skillet. Drain and rinse. Return to skillet and combine with all other ingredients. Simmer 20 - 30 minutes. Serve in hamburger buns.

Shortcut to Curry

This weekend I had a craving for shrimp... and Indian food. Wanting to create something at home, I found some Indian Josh Rogan sauce by Patak's in the Indian section of Kroger. As usual, I added my own touches to the sauce. It turned out wonderful!

Shrimp Curry
1 jar Patak's Josh Rogan sauce
1 TBS vegetable oil
1/2 onion, diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and diced
1" piece ginger, shredded
1 lb shrimp, peeled and deviened
1 cup frozen peas
1 cup broccoli florets
1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup cilantro
1 TBS garam masala
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

Saute onion, garlic, pepper and ginger in oil until onion is soft. Add the Josh Rogan sauce and bring to a boil. Turn down head and add shrimp, peas and broccoli. Cover and simmer until shrimp is pink and vegetables are cooked. Remove from heat and stir in the sour cream, cilantro, garam masala and cayenne pepper. Serve over jasmine rice.

The Cause of My Headache

This morning I woke up with the most terrible headache. Most likely it was from celebrating the 4th too much. We had a great time visiting with our neighbors, watching fireworks, drinking jello shots and eating guacamole and chips. (What a combo!) This was my first time making jello shots, they are a lot easier to make than I ever imagined.

Tropical Jello Shots
16 ounces (2 cups) boiling water
6 oz. jello fusion - pineapple, cherry, orange flavor
6 ounces cold water (3/4 cup)
10 ounces chilled coconut rum (1 1/4 cup) - we used Palms

Bring water to a rolling boil. Stir together boiling water and powdered gelatin in a mixing bowl. Stir constantly until gelatin is completely dissolved. Stir in cold water and rum. Pour mixture into individual shot-size (1oz-2oz) plastic cups

Happy 4th of July!

As most Americans do on the 4th, we had a cookout. Mark filled up his smoker full of meat... he had a steak, hot and spicy bratwurst, and pork tenderloin. He even put potatoes on the grill. I focused on drinks and side dishes. One side that HAD to be made was potato salad... this isn't just any potato salad, it's the best in the world!

Mom's Potato Salad
2 lbs russet potatoes, cubed and boiled
Italian dressing
1/2 onion, diced
15 pickle slices, diced
3 hard boiled eggs, diced
1 cup mayo
1 TBS sugar

Pour Italian dressing (enough to coat) over hot potatoes and allow potatoes to cool. After cooled, combine with the rest of the ingredients and enjoy!

Getting back into the swing of things

Eleven days of vacation will do strange things to a person. Everyday tasks that seemed effortless now become a struggle. We had a great time on vacation and got to see lots of family and friends that we have missed so much since our move to Texas. Mark was surprised with a couple of cookouts for his birthday, and even some great presents - homemade pies, a smoking jacket and an electric smoker. Mark wasted no time putting the smoker together and to good use upon our arrival home. I ran to the store for ingredients for a favorite BBQ side dish.


Spicy Coleslaw
1 package broccoli coleslaw
1 package home style coleslaw
1 bunch green onions, thinly sliced
2 jalapeno peppers, seeded and minced
1/2 red onion, diced
1 TBS cumin
1 TBS chili powder
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper (or more to taste)
10 dashes of chipotle Tabasco sauce (or more to taste)

1/4 cup cilantro leaves, chopped
1/2 cup ranch dressing
3/4 cup miracle whip or mayonaisse (or more to desired consistency)

Combine all ingredients, chill overnight and enjoy!