Brussel Sprouts Salad

Took about 15-20 blanched Brussel sprouts and thinly sliced them

Had one roasted chicken breast to use up so chunked that (another time I might substitute cashews or some other nut)

Found about 1/3 dried craisins and mixed those in with the first two ingredients. 

Added about 1/3 to 1/2 cup of chopped purple onion

Made a dressing of a heaping half cup of DUKE'S mayonnaise and about 1 or 2 Tablespoons of apple cider vinegar. 

Finely chopped about a Tablespoon or two of sweetened, dried ginger slices and tossed those in with salt and pepper to taste.

YUMMY salad!

Vegan Green Bean Casserole

 Sauteed with garlic and sliced almonds enough green beans to fill a 7 x 11 casserole dish. Chopped them up a little and laid them in the dish. Made this white sauce of which I used almost all following this recipe in part:

• 2 cups almond milk, unsweetened
• 2 T cornstarch
• 1 cup vegetable broth
• 1 clove garlic
• Freshly ground white pepper

I topped the "casserole" with thinly sliced onion and then drizzled melted vegan butter over that. If you bake for a half hour at 350, perhaps the onions will crisp up a little...? Or once it's hot and bubbly you could low broil the top for the same effect. 

Curried Roasted Carrots

This recipe is originally from onceuponachef.com

INGREDIENTS
2 pounds medium carrots, sliced into thirds on the diagonal
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon curry powder
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 tablespoon honey, or to taste

INSTRUCTIONS
Set oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 425 degrees. 

Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil. Toss carrots with olive oil, curry powder and salt directly on baking sheet until evenly coated. 

Roast, stirring with a rubber spatula a few times to prevent sticking and burning, until tender, 25-30 minutes. 

Toss roasted carrots with honey directly on baking sheet. 

Taste and add more salt, pepper or honey if desired.

Roasted Cauliflower Soup

This was fantastic. I had a quart of fresh chicken broth in the refrigerator and I substituted it for the vegetable broth.

Later I mixed the leftovers with leftovers of theArtichoke Parmesan Chicken recipe  that we've discovered, added more lemon juice, a can of great northern beans, a cup of fresh frozen corn from the farm cob, and served it with chopped green onion and more parm cheese. Yum!

2017 Sardine Supper Salad

On heavy antibiotics for an infected finger, I'm trying to keep our diet high in probiotics. So this is the salad we just enjoyed for dinner and hope to repeat it. 

Shaved or shredded fresh cabbage--1 to 2 cups, each plate
Thinly sliced purple onion--just a dozen various sized rings, each plate
Sauerkraut--2 to 3 Tablespoons per salad
Vigo Imported Sardines in soybean & olive oil--1/2 to 1 4-3/8 oz. tin per plate
French Fried Onions--1/3 to 1/2 cup as garnish
Assorted olives

Dressing for two salads: 1/4 c sauerkraut juice, 1/3  c mayo, 1/3 c greek yogurt, one clove fresh garlic crushed, black pepper to taste

I layered the fresh cabbage, onion rings, and dressing twice before topping the salad plates with the sauerkraut, sardines, a garnish row of french fried onions, and the rest of the dressing. Garnish with olives.

Quinoa Garbanzo Bean Broccoli salad

It's what's for dinner: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/216190/garlicky-quinoa-and-garbanzo-bean-salad/ along with broiled chicken breast that is marinating in lemon juice, pepper, and garlic.

Three cucumbers and an avocado

So this makes a very tasty salad. We had it tonight with grilled bratwurst sausages. We didn't have scallions, but check out the recommendations before the actual printed recipe: like all good cooking it's flexible and you can use what you have, what you like. I do have to record here that the dressing: mayo, lime juice, cilantro, and sriracha sauce is a keeper for many concoctions!

Cauliflower Steaks

Sarah made this for us at our sister reunion Summer of 2015. Worth repeating.

Twice-baked Kale and Cheddar Potatoes

Today's hit lunch. 

Took two formerly baked potatoes.
Halved them and scooped out the insides.
Set the skins upside down in a baking dish, covered them with a dab of butter and broiled until brown and crispy.
Roughly chopped one scallion and one large washed Kale leaf in the food processor.
Added the potato insides, salt, black pepper, red pepper flakes, handful of shredded cheddar and chopped a little more.
Mixed about 2 oz. soft cream cheese and about 1/3 c. sour cream, then gently blended with the potato mixture.
Turned the skin inside up and loaded the potato mixture in each skin, sprinkling a little more cheddar on each potato.
Returned to oven and baked at 350 for another fifteen-twenty minutes.

Served with wine soaked granny smith apple slices and seedless red grapes.

Kale Kole Slaw

Okay, Grace the kale-hater, has decided we need to name this recipe by the not-the-largest-ingredient so that people like she will know what to do with kale. That is, she loved this salad. We served it for lunch with hot chicken wings.

Process to small:
2 large leaves kale
1/4 head cabbage
1/2 c cilantro
2 scallions
1 peeled carrot

Spoon into bowl and toss with 1/3 c olive oil
Sprinkle with rock salt to taste

Process to almost liquid:
1 large tomato
1 peeled lime
1 small onion
Mix into slaw mixture.

Enjoy even before chilling!

(She had seconds!)

Crunchy Creamy Salmon Salad

Call this a meal on its own or a side dish to take to a potluck, I call it a great way to get a plethora of vegetables into my husband.

This experiment of a salad has so much going for it, it would be hard to ruin it by tweaking. So while I used leftover salad dressed with Brianna's poppy seed dressing, you could stick to a simple mayo and lemon combination or make your own poppyseed dressing, or go a different route with your favourite salmon-complementary herb.

But the main thing is to get as many crispy, crunchy veggies in there as possible! I used shredded fresh romaine, a red apple, a chunk of cucumber, a whole red bell pepper, a handful of baby carrots, some chopped up almonds, a few minced rings of red onion, and I would have added jicama if it hadn't gone bad before I got to it. Crunch, crunch, crunch! Feel free to add toasted seeds or celery (if you dare) or raw broccoli or cabbage or pretty much anything to add colour and texture. As always with salads, the amounts are completely up to you, depending on how many you plan to serve.

Then, open up a can (or two, if you're making a huge bowl) of salmon and drain it well. Remove the vertebrae, because that stuff falls in between crunchy and grainy in a pretty off-putting way. Then chunk the salmon up into your salad, and dress with the following:

• 1/2 c mayonnaise
• juice of 1 lemon
• 2-4 T poppyseed dressing (Brianna's is great. And while you're at it, make a mental note that Brianna's Asiago Caesar dressing makes an incredible steak marinade!)

Toss the salad together very well, and it should wind up looking like a pasta-less pasta salad bursting with colour.

Adjust as you wish, serve on its own or with flatbread or in a sandwich. And don't tell anybody how many vegetables they're getting in all that yummy mayo and salmon!

Pumpkin Soup

So much fun today preparing a fancy candlelight dinner for our friends Mickey and Denna. Just two couples. Candlelight and champagne. Mickey had ordered "Oktoberfest", so I found a few German recipes and bought sauerkraut. Dancing lessons after dinner. Denna asked for this recipe, so here it is with my alterations:

Ingredients:
Large can of pumpkin (1 lb. 29 oz.)
2 medium Onions
5 tablespoons Butter
2 tablespoons Brown Sugar
6 cups Chicken Broth
1 cup Sour Cream
Salt and Pepper, to taste
Pinch of Nutmeg

Instructions:
Finely chop the onions. In a large pot, melt the butter. Add onions and cook until transparent.
Add sugar and mix until it has dissolved and melted slightly.
Add pumpkin and cook 15-20 minutes.
Add seasonings.
Add chicken broth and half of the sour cream.
Allow mixture to simmer for about 10 minutes.
Pour soup in individual-sized bowls.
Swirl in some sour cream into each serving.
Sprinkle with nutmeg.

Potato-Carrot Casserole

My late friend, Ruth Lagasse, brought this recipe along with some delicious barbequed pork country style pork ribs 26 years ago when I was put to bed with my first pregnancy. I'm making it tonight again. A little labor-intensive, but well worth it.

4 large potatoes, peeled
4-6 large carrots, peeled

Cook until very soft.
Mash or sieve into a large bowl.

Beat until light and fluffy:
1 egg
1 c. sour cream
salt, pepper, dry mustard to taste

Combine potato-carrot mixture with egg mixture

Pile into buttered casserole dish. Top with Parmesan cheese and butter

Bake at 325 for 30 minutes.

Imam Bayildi

The name of this delicious eggplant dish, meaning "the Immam fainted", is one Kilby made for us during our recent family reunion.

4 medium aubergines (eggplants)

3 T olive oil

1 finely chopped onion

2 cloves garlic, crushed

1 hot green pepper

1 hot red pepper

1/2 c chopped parsley

3 large tomatoes, blanched, skinned, chunked

1/2 t ground cinnamon

black pepper

salt

1 t sugar

juice of 1/2 lemon

Heat oven to 375 degrees. Slice each eggplant in half lengthwise. Scoop out flesh from aubergines and chop. Blanch aubergine shells in boiling water for 2 minutes then drain upside down. Heat 3 T oil and saute onion until soft and golden. Add crushed garlic and fry for 2 minutes. Add parsley, chopped aubergine, tomatoes, green and red pepper, cinnamon, salt and black pepper and cook about 5 minutes. Add lemon juice and sugar to taste. Arrange aubergine boats in baking dish and fill each one with filling. Cover dish with foil. KILBY! HELP. I LOST THE NEXT PAGE, SO HOW LONG DID YOU BAKE IT? You can go in and edit this post, if you will.

Sarah's Summer Salad

Threw together some veggies and served with hamburgers today - easy, yummy and healthy!-- Sarah Bamford

1 c Cherry tomatoes
1/2 red onion
1 c Red pepper
Can cannelli beans, drained, rinsed
1 c celery chopped
2 garlic cloves minced
1 T fresh pepper
1-2 t salt
Drizzle 1/2 c+ extra virgin olive oil
1 T Newmans balsamic salad dressing (optional)
1 t celery seed

Toss let sit room temp before serving/Great chilled
Adjust seasonings as desired

Imam Bayildi (A Stuffed Eggplant Recipe from Asia Minor) Read more: http://www.food.com/recipe/imam-bayildi-a-stuffed-eggplant-recipe-from-asia-minor

My husband, David, does not eat eggplant. He has told me this several times. BUT, this eggplant recipe is amazing! He will eat an entire eggplant by himself! Congrats Kilby!

2 medium onions, chopped

1/2-3/4 cup olive oil

2 garlic cloves, crushed

3 medium tomatoes, peeled and chopped

4 tablespoons chopped parsley

1 tablespoon chopped fresh mint or 1/2 teaspoon dried mint, crumbled

salt and pepper

2 medium eggplants

1 teaspoon sugar

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

Saute the onions in a little oil.

Add the garlic, tomatoes, parsley, salt, and pepper.

Cook until it comes together as a very thick stew (no liquid). Stir in mint.

Cut the stem ends from each eggplant and cut eggplants in half lengthwise.

Make 3 lengthwise slits, almost from end to end, cutting into the flesh about 1 inch deep.

Heat 1/2 cup olive oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat.

Add the eggplant, cut side down, and fry gently, until dark golden-brown on cut side.

Turn over and fry on skin side a couple more minutes.

Remove from oil (most of it will have been absorbed) and place on paper towels to drain for at least 15 minutes before proceeding with recipe (this gets rid of most of the oil- you can omit the frying step to cut calories and save time, but you will NOT have the same flavourful results, and the recipe will not be as authentic).

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Hold each slit apart and spoon the vegetable mixture into each cavity.

Arrange eggplants in a baking dish just large enough to hold them.

Sprinkle with sugar, lemon juice, and drizzle with the remaining oil.

Bake for 40 minutes, or until tender.

Serve with lots of crusty bread.

Read more: http://www.food.com/recipe/imam-bayildi-a-stuffed-eggplant-recipe-from-asia-minor-84776#ixzz1SbRzER39

Marissa's Summer Tomato Pie

David and Leigh made this delicious main course pie for us the last night they were in town. Paul and Kilby enjoyed the leftovers for brunch the next day, served with a fried egg. It's a keeper which is why I post it here.

1 T sugar & water

1 tsp lemon juice

1/4 c fresh basil, minced

3 oz. chevre cheese, crumbled

1 baked pie crust

2 lbs. fresh tomatoes, sliced (and maybe dried out in the oven for awhile)

1/2 c yellow pepper, minced

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

1 T olive oil

Preheat oven to 375. Combine sugar, water, lemon juice. When sugar is dissolved, brush onto pie crust. Overlap tomatoes in pie crust, sprinkle with basil, yellow pepper, and goat cheese. Season with salt & pepper. Drizzle olive oil. Bake 25--30 minutes. Serves 8.

Corn Souffle

So Grace made this for us the other night to go with the chicken legs I baked with bacon:

1 can whole kernel corn, undrained

1 can cream style corn

3 beaten eggs

1/2 c melted butter

1 cup sour cream (She used Breakstone's new Jalapeno Sour Cream :-) )

1 pkg Jiffy Corn Muffin Mix, 8 oz.

Mix and bake in 9 x 11 casserole 1 hour at 350 degrees.

Serve warm.

Sarah's Salmon with Asparagus

Cleaning out my emails today I find this saved from several months ago. Sharing it with you here: Awesome dinner I kind of made up tonight. Amazing flavors. Enjoy w chardonnay! (Sarah Bamford)

Salmon filets
Asparagus
Red onion
Olive oil
Thin spaghetti
Capers
Garlic
Orange
Fresh Basil
Salt/pepper

Use Grill pan indoors:
Olive oil, grill sliced red onion until tender, push to side,
Sauté fresh asparagus, salt and pepper generously, turn and add more olive oil
Place in separate serving dish, cover and set aside - will continue cooking.

Add more oil to grill. Salt and pepper salmon filets. Place salmon filets on hot grill, turn as sides start to turn opaque

Boil water cook thin spaghetti pasta with salt al dente, drain and return to hot pan
Drain, lightly rinse 3 tsp capers, add to pasta
Mince 1 garlic clove, add to pasta
Add olive oil, salt, pepper
Chop fresh basil leaves, add to pasta
Toss all together
Grate fresh orange peel over pasta. Juice orange over pasta, toss!

Grate a bit orange peel, sprinkle fresh orange juice on salmon

Plate pasta, salmon filet over pasta with asparagus spears and red onion over.

Serve immediately