Carrot Salad

Mom made lots of this salad when we were growing up and it was always a favourite. I have seen similar carrot salads with added dressings, but this is just marinated in pineapple juice. It tastes better the second day and keeps for a few days in the fridge. The raisins are optional.

Two pounds carrots, grated
1 tin of canned pineapple, tidbits or crushed
Handful of raisins

Stir ingredients until well combined.

Broccoli Salad

We go the the homestyle buffet at The Crossroads in Elmira occasionally and this is my favourite salad there. It can be made with broccoli and/or cauliflower. I have had it at potlucks where other additions such as raisins and sunflower seeds are included. Here is the basic recipe.

1 bunch of broccoli cut into small pieces
2-3 slices cooked bacon, finely chopped (we use bacon flavoured soy bits)
Grated cheddar cheese, about 2 ounces
Salad dressing or mayonnaise, 1/3 to 1/2 cup as desired
Sliced green onions

Mix together. Salad keeps for a couple of days.

Stuffed Zucchini

I am lifting this recipe directly from Simply Recipes, which is simply one of the best recipe blogs around! I stopped at my favourite farm lane to get fresh corn last night. Sadly, it was not ready to be picked yet because of the cool, wet summer weather we are experiencing. But I bought 3 large courgettes (yellow summer squash) and really fresh onions and garlic. This recipe is quick and easy and very tasty.
I omitted the wine. The meat mixture filled 3 squash (6 halves). It served 4 with leftovers.

Ingredients

• 1 zucchini about 12 inches long, or 6 medium ones
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1/2 cup chopped onion
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 cup chopped mushrooms
• 2 tablespoons dry white wine
• 1 pound ground turkey
• 2 diced tomatoes
• 3 tablespoons chopped fresh basil
• 1 teaspoon chopped fresh rosemary
• 3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 2 teaspoons pepper

Method

1 Cut zucchini in half lengthwise. Scoop out insides, leaving shells about 1/4 inch thick. Reserve about half of the insides.

2 Heat 2 Tbsp of olive oil in a skillet on medium high heat. Sauté onion and garlic until soft. Add mushrooms and reserved zucchini insides, and sauté another 2 minutes.

3 In a separate skillet heat a Tbsp of olive oil on medium high heat. Add the ground turkey. Lightly brown the turkey, stirring only occasionally. After the turkey browns on one side, stir it so that it has a chance to brown on other sides. Cook until the ground turkey is lightly browned, about 6 minutes. Stir in the onion and mushroom mixture from the other pan. Add the wine. Stir in tomato, basil and rosemary and cook 1 minute longer. Drain any excess fat. Remove mixture from heat and set it aside.

4 When mixture has cooled, add cheese, egg, salt and pepper. Fill zucchini shells with mixture. Fill a baking pan with 1/4 inch of water. Place filled zucchini halves in pan and bake at 375 degrees for 40 minutes, until golden brown. Remove zucchini from pan and serve while hot.

Serves 4.

Tuna Salad

Stephanie invented this recipe and serves it often in her home in Mexico. She made it for us and it was delicious but she emphasized that the ingredients are added until the salad "looks and tastes right". Don't be afraid to substitute ingredients or amounts. The lime and cilantro are what make the taste special. It can be served with tostadas, taco chips, or crackers.

Dice (small dice)
1/2 onion
1 carrot (can be grated)
1/2 sweet pepper or jalapeno pepper
1 small seeded tomato
1/2 diced apple (or mango or pear)

Add
1/2 tin corn niblets or corn cut off one cob
1-2 cans drained tuna
1/4 cup or more chopped cilantro

Squeeze the juice of 2 limes (more or less to taste) over the salad and add salt and pepper to taste.

I have now made this a few times and find it a very satisfying lunch for work. I have doubled the vegetables and fruit and added 1/2 cup of garbanzos or peas and found it very tasty.

Chicken Salad

This is another recipe Stephanie uses in Mexico. She had it at a local restaurant and asked how it was made. It is served cold and keeps for a day or so.

Dice in 1-2 cm squares:
4 large potatoes
2-3 carrots

Boil in salted water until just tender and drain.

Add:
1 can corn
1 diced green pepper (or poblano peppers)
celery (optional)
2 apples
1/2 head shredded iceberg lettuce
2 cups cooked chicken, diced

Dressing:
1/2 cup sour cream
1/4 to 1/3 cup mayonnaise (change the proportions according to taste)
salt and pepper

Strawberry Rhubarb Pie

The local strawberry season was disappointing this year due to the cool, wet weather this summer. But my rhubarb has thrived in the same conditions. I extended the strawberries and made several strawberry rhubarb pies.

Prepare a single pastry crust and line a 9" pie plate, fluting the edge.

Combine in a large bowl:
2 cups strawberries (cut large ones in half)
2 cups diced rhubarb
1/4 cup white flour
3/4 cup white sugar

Mix together and dump into the crust.

Crumb topping:
1/4 cup soft butter
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup brown sugar

Mix together until crumbly and place over the top of the fruit.

Bake at 425F for 12 minutes, then turn heat down to 350F until filling is thickened and clear, about 45 minutes. (glass pans may be done a bit sooner)

It is a good idea to place a cooking sheet under the pie as it usually runs over a little.

Pasta and Roasted Vegetables

A recipe for Pasta with Roasted Cauliflower and Prosciuto was published on Simply Recipes, an excellent blog to which I subscribe. It looked delicious, and I modified it to a vegetarian dish with the vegetables I had on hand. We have made it three times now and it is already a favourite. The leftovers are excellent for lunch and are good cold or hot. I have copied the recipe from the other blog and have written in my changes.

Pasta with Roasted Cauliflower and Vegetables (Prosciutto) Recipe

If cherry tomatoes aren't available, you can skip them and add a few chopped sun dried tomatoes to the dish at the end.

Ingredients

• 1 medium cauliflower, cored and broken up into 3/4-inch florets (4+ cups)
• 1 pint cherry tomatoes (or sundried tomatoes in oil added at the end)
  
• Olive oil
• Salt
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 1 1/2 teaspoons dried sage
• 4 large cloves garlic
• (4 ounces of prosciutto) (mushrooms and red peppers used instead of meat)
  
• 8 ounces orecchiette pasta (or other pasta)
  
• 8-16 ounces baby arugula, collards, kale or spinach, cleaned and coarsely chopped
• 1 cup grated Parmesan cheese (I used less cheese than this)
  

Method

1 Preheat oven to 425°F. Lay out cauliflower, cherry tomatoes ( peppers, mushrooms etc in a roasting pan, sprinkle with olive oil, salt and pepper. Roast until just lightly browned and cooked through, about 15 minutes.
2 Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil (1 teaspoon salt for every quart of water).
3 While water is heating, slice garlic and greens. Once cauliflower has browned lightly, remove from oven, toss cauliflower with garlic and greens mixture, and return to oven to cook for 5-7 minutes more.
4 Boil pasta uncovered (rolling boil) for 9-10 minutes until firm, but done (al dente). Reserve one cup of pasta liquid. Drain water from pot. Add cauliflower, arugula (or spinach), sundried tomatoes and Parmesan to the pasta. Stir in enough cooking water to moisten. You likely will not need a full cup. Add salt and pepper to taste.
Serves 4.

Variation- I used an entire bunch of collards one day when I had no other greens. I sliced them thinly and roasted them with the cauliflower. The combination of greens was delicious!

Lazy Day Cabbage Rolls

This tasty casserole is a lot faster to prepare than cabbage rolls and has much the same flavour. I made. The leftovers are good too. I use extra lean ground beef and brown rice in the recipe.

1 medium green cabbage, coarsely chopped
1 onion, chopped
1 pound ground beef
1 egg
1/2 cup rice
1-1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon (optional but tasty)
3 cups tomato juice ( I use 1-28 oz tin of diced tomatoes)

Place half the cabbage and onion in a medium roasting pan
Mix the ground beef, egg, rice, salt and seasonings together and spread over the cabbage.
Cover with the rest of the cabbage and pour juice/tomatoes over the top.

Bake at 350 F for 3 hours stirring occasionally and adding more liquid if necessary.

Maple Syrup Muffins

Here is another recipe from the book Muffin Mania by Cathy Prange and Joan Pauli. We get a case of canned maple syrup each spring and enjoy these muffins as a special treat.

1/4 c. butter
1/2 c. white sugar
1 tsp salt
1-1/4 c. flour
2 tsp baking powder
3/4 c. rolled oats
1/2 c. milk
1/2 c. maple syrup

Soften butter, blend in sugar and salt

Add dry ingredients and blend with pastry cutter until crumbly. Mix in oats.

Blend milk and syrup together in measuring cup and pour over dry ingredients stirring only to moisten.

Bake 350 degrees - 20 minutes. Makes 8 large muffins.

Optional glaze

1 tbsp butter
1/2 c. icing sugar
1 tbsp maple syrup

Spread glaze over muffin tops when slightly cooled.

Cheese Tortellini

Four Cheese Tortellini

A favourite dinner of the Becka.. very fast to fix after work

1 -700g pkg fresh cheese tortellini
15 mL (1 tbsp) butter
3 green onions, chopped
1 small red pepper, julienned
125 mL (1/2 c) frozen green peas
1 - 330 mL jar four cheese pasta sauce (Classico is good)
50 mL (1/4 c) grated parmesan cheese

1. Cook pasta according to package directions; drain.

2. Meanwhile, in skillet, melt margarine over medium heat; cook onions and red pepper for about 5 minutes or until softened. Stir in peas. Add cheese sauce and tortellini;
cook for about 2 - 3 minutes or until heated through.

Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.

Makes 4 servings.

Serve with a salad or cooked vegetables
A couple of slices of ham can be served for meat lovers in the family.

Real Popcorn

Real Popcorn

2 tbsp. neutral oil, like grapeseed or corn

1/2 cup popping corn

4 tbsp. butter

Salt

1. Put the oil in a large, deep saucepan (six quarts or so) with a lid. Turn the heat to medium, add three kernels of corn, and cover.

2. When the three kernels pop, remove the lid and add the remaining corn. Cover and shake the pot, holding the lid on. Cook, shaking the pot occasionally, until the popping sounds stop, after about five minutes. (Note: Just as with microwave popcorn, the threshold between unburned and burned is minuscule, so use your ears and your nose carefully!) Meanwhile, melt the butter.

3. Turn the popcorn into a large bowl; drizzle with the butter and sprinkle with salt while tossing the popcorn. Serve immediately if possible; popcorn is best hot.

Serves 4 to 6 people.

Source: Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything

Play Dough

I made many batches of this play dough when our children were young. It handles well and keeps soft for a long time in a plastic bag. It can also be rolled out and cut into shapes, dried and painted. I made a double batch today for Sunday School and it was a great hit. Now that we have fewer toys in the house for young visiting guests, this could be an option to occupy little hands creatively. It is too salty to eat and those who try to taste it are quickly discouraged from ingesting more.

2 cups white flour
1 cup salt
4 tbsp cream of tartar
2 cups warm water
2 tbsp oil

I add a couple of teaspoons of cinnamon or you can add 1 package of dried, unsweetened drink mix for scent and colour.

Mix all ingredients and place in a medium saucepan. Heat on medium stirring constantly until mixture thickens into a ball. Turn out onto a table and knead till smooth. Let it cool and place in a plastic container.