Roasted Red Pepper Hummus

Okay, I have a newfound love.  My name is Carmel, and I love hummus.  I'm addicted, I am telling you.  At least it's a healthy habit, right?  Lots of protein and fiber, and its a low-glycemic food so it doesn't make my blood sugar spike fast.  And oh so delicious.  There are so many ways you can make it with so many different flavor profiles. And it's completely vegetarian, gluten free, and soy free....so it's friendly for most eaters out there, low risk of allergy troubles.  Try this recipe out, I like it, and so did my friends at church.

Roasted Red Pepper Hummus

1-16 oz can garbanzo beans/chickpeas
2 red bell peppers
1 jalapeño, seeds removed and sliced
1 tbsp chopped garlic
3 tbsp chopped onion
1 tsp paprika
3 tbsp chopped cilantro
1 tsp black pepper
1/4 to 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper, depending on your desired heat level
3 tbsp tahini (sesame paste--you can usually find it near the peanut butter in your grocery store)
1/2 c olive oil

Turn your oven on to the broiler.  Cut the tops off the peppers, and then pull out the seeds in the center, and cut them in half.  Place them skin side up on a baking sheet, and broil for 10 to 15 minutes, til the skins are charred on the outside.  Once done roasting them, place them in a bowl with plastic wrap tightly stretched on top.  Let them sit in the bowl and steam for about 15 minutes, this will let them cool, and make the skins come off easily.  Remove the skins, and set the peppers aside til needed. (if you have a gas stove, you can also roast them by just doing this on your range instead of in the broiler.  Just leave them whole, place them over the heat and turn them as each side chars on the outside.  When they are blackened on the outside, steam them just the same as I mentioned before.)

In a food processor, blend garbanzo beans til smooth.  I usually pulse them until they are chopped and then blend them the rest of the way.  Add your bell peppers, jalapeno, garlic, onion, cilantro, and spices.  Blend til well combined, and then add your olive oil and tahini, and blend til smooth.

Chill in refrigerator til ready to serve.  Serve with pita chips, veggies, or spread inside a falafel or any other sandwich of your choosing.  Delicious!!

Homemade Chex Mix

For some reason Chex mix always reminds me of Fall, and I love it as a snack.  Homemade is so much better than the stuff you can get at the store, and its so easy to make!  I just picked whatever stuff I wanted to mix, along with Chex of course, and mixed it with the seasoning stuff they recommend.   Here is my recipe, try some of your own!

Homemade Chex Mix

1/2 stick of butter
4 tsp worchestershire sauce
1 tsp salt
1 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp onion powder
3 c rice chex
3 c corn chex
3 c wheat chex
1 1/2 c cashews
1 c white cheddar cheese-it crackers
1 c regular cheese-it crackers
1 c pretzels

Preheat oven to 250 degrees.  Melt butter and then add worchestershire sauce, garlic and onion powder, and salt.  Mix well with a fork or whisk.   In a large bowl combine and toss together cereal, crackers, nuts, and pretzels.  Pour butter mixture over cereal mix, and toss together with hands.  Spread on a sheet pan covered with parchment paper, and bake for one hour, gently stirring every 15 minutes.  Let cool, and then store in an airtight container or large ziplock bag.

Pineapple and Tomato Salsa

This was a way for us to use up the tomatoes from the garden and use the pineapple I got in my Bountiful Basket.  I was going to have it ready yesterday for the shredded beef tacos I planned to make, but last night we had leftovers instead.  So now we have the salsa made, and I plan to make the tacos either next week, or on Sunday night for Halloween.  I love the sweetness pineapple adds to salsa to balance the spicy of the peppery cilantro and the jalapeño.  I hope you find this as good as I do.

Pineapple Salsa

15 cups quartered tomatoes, any kind
2 c chopped pineapple
1 bunch cilantro
1 onion
5 cloves of garlic
1 jalapeño, seeds and ribs removed, and finely chopped

Put all of the ingredients together in either a food processor or a blender (you might need to do this in batches).  Pulse til combined and chunks are broken down.  Pour into jars and refrigerate til ready for use.  Great on corn chips, tacos, burritos, carne asada, and whatever else you enjoy with your salsa.

Crostini...what's that?

So Hubby and I decided it was time to use up the goat cheese we had leftover from when I made the tomato goat cheese tart awhile back.  It had been in the fridge and I had been trying to figure out what to make with it for awhile and tonight I just decided to go out on a limb and try something new.  I came up with this recipe on my own, and it turned out delicious, so I hope you like it as much as I do.

By the way, crostini is basically just Italian for toast.  But when you get it at restaurants or see it in cookbooks, it generally is toasted bread with some sort of topping or spread on it.  Tonight I made different types of toppings for some tasty crostini.  :)  There are 3 things we had with it, though I only made 2 of them (the other was some spinach artichoke dip we got at Sam's Club that needed to be used up).

Crostini

2 long thin baguettes of crusty French or Italian bread
1 large whole clove garlic
2-3 tbsp olive oil

Slice the bread at an angle into 1/4 inch slices, and then place on baking sheet.  Brush with oil, and bake for about 10 minutes at 375 degrees.  When done baking, let cool slightly and then rub each slice with the garlic clove.  Set aside.  (You'll want to do this close to serving time so it's still warm when you serve)

Goat Cheese Topping

8 oz goat cheese
2 tbsp basil Pesto, homemade, or store bought
1/2 c pine nuts

In a mixing bowl, combine goat cheese and pesto, and beat with hand mixer on low til combined, then whip til smooth and fluffy.  Toast pine nuts over medium heat, watching carefully and tossing occasionally so they don't burn.  Let pine nuts cool, and then stir into goat cheese mixture.  Refrigerate til ready to serve.

Veggie Bruscetta

1 tbsp butter
1 medium zucchini, diced fine
1/2 onion, diced fine
1 eggplant, diced fine
4 oz white mushrooms, chopped fine
1/2 tsp minced garlic
1 beefsteak tomato, or 4 small tomatoes, diced
1/2 c water

Melt butter in a large skillet.  Add onion and sauté til almost caramelized over medium heat(takes about 10 minutes, once they are cooked through, if you continue to cook and stir consistently, they will turn a light yellow color and begin to caramelize).  Add zucchini and a pinch of salt and continue to cook.  Add garlic, and stir well to combine, and cook for 1-2 minutes.  Add half the water, and cover for 5 minutes to let zucchini steam and become tender.  Add eggplant and another pinch of salt, sauté into the mixture, and then add the rest of the water to steam the eggplant.  When all water is evaporated again, add mushrooms, and then finally tomatoes.  Let simmer for about 10 minutes, letting extra liquid evaporate and the flavors to blend together.

To serve:  I spread some of the goat cheese on half of the bread slices, and then left the other slices free to be topped with other things, but we found when we ate it, we liked the goat cheese spread on the toast, and then to spoon on the veggies on top.  Of course, the artichoke dip was good too.  :)

What do you do with ALL of that ZUCCHINI?!

So, being an LDS member who has been encouraged to have a garden since I was born, zucchini has always been the curse from September.  It's a doorbell ditch gift that nobody celebrates.  We always had to find inventive ways to use it before it went bad.  So this is how Mom came up with this recipe...she was trying to find other ways to get her kids to eat the stuff.  Oddly enough, even though I didn't like zucchini as a kid, I like it now, and this recipe has A LOT to do with it.   I hope it has the same effect for you!

Zucchini Fritters

5-6 c shredded zucchini, squeezed dry (the stuff holds a lot of liquid, needs to be wrung out after you shred it)
1 c breadcrumbs
1 c parmesan cheese
1 tbsp onion powder
2 tsp garlic powder
pinch each of salt and pepper
2 eggs
1/2 c flour

Mix all ingredients together until well combined.  Heat griddle over stove top or use electric stove.  Grease it well, and then spoon the zucchini mixture like pancakes onto the griddle, and cook until golden, then flip.  I recommend heating the oven to about 175 degrees, so they stay warm while you cook them all.  You'll have to do them in batches of about 5 at a time.  Makes about 25 medium sized fritters, or 40 small ones (for snacks or party appetizers).

Serve warm with ranch dressing, cream cheese, cottage cheese, or just butter and salt and pepper.

What's a Falafel?!

Well....I am here to tell you what it is and how wonderful it really is.  We had it for dinner last night, and it was divine!  Okay, okay, I will tell you what it is.... it's a pan fried patty made from chickpeas (otherwise known as garbanzo beans) and vegetables and other yummy stuff.  You put it in a pita pocket with hummus and all kinds of fresh veggies and tahini sauce.....oh, heavenly!  I am also including a recipe I have for Spinach Hummus.  So branch out of your meat and potatoes box and try something different!  I am sure you will enjoy it!!

** I borrowed this falafel recipe from my friends Damaris and Steve, and the hummus recipe was given to me by my friend Julia.  Both are delicious**

Falafel

¾ c sliced green onions

½ c sliced celery (forgot to get this, turned out alright anyway...but probably would be better with the celery)

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 can (15 oz) garbanzo beans, drained  (I used all garbanzos, but I can see why the recipe uses pinto now that I have made them.  Both ways turned out great!)

1 can (15 oz) pinto beans, rinsed, drained

1 egg

2 T flour

2 t lemon juice

½ t salt

½ t ground cumin

¼ t pepper

Heat small skillet; spray with nonstick cooking spray.  Cook and stir onions, celery and garlic until tender;  remove from heat.  Process beans in food processor until smooth.  Combine bean mixture, egg, flour, juice, salt, cumin and pepper in a large bowl; stir in cooked vegetables.  Form mixture into about 24 patties.  Heat large skillet and pour in a couple tablespoons of vegetable oil.  Cook patties over medium-low heat until lightly browned, about 5 min per side.

Serve in Pitas or flat bread w/ cucumber, tomato, thin sliced onion, sliced red pepper, and/or anything else that sounds good.

Spinach Hummus

1 can garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed

1 10-oz box of frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry

1/4 c tahini

2 tbsp garlic (about 6 cloves.....haha I really like garlic, so I go crazy)

3 tbsp lemon juice (about equal to one lemon worth)

2 tbsp olive oil

1/4 tsp salt

pepper, to taste (I used a dash)

Process in your food processor, starting with beans and garlic and spinach.  Add tahini and oil and lemon juice, then salt and pepper.  Continue to process til smooth and creamy.  Can be made up to 2 days ahead, kept in a tightly covered container in refrigerator. 

**Assembling your falafel:  Cut a pita bread in half, and separate to make pocket.  Spread hummus inside, then add tahini, veggies, and then a falafel patty.  My in-laws enjoyed adding some of the leftover tzatziki sauce I made for the gyros, but thats not really traditional.  I had sliced a red pepper, some tomato, cucumber and some thin sliced red onion.  You can use whatever floats your boat.  Once stuffed to capacity, stuff your face with it!   Haha.  It's tasty, you'll love it!!

Scentsy party treats, part 2

I also made this for the party, and it turned out really well, which was not really a surprise, but I guess I wasn't completely confident it would be such a hit.   Good for me, huh?   Very simple and I usually have the ingredients on hand, so that was the good part.  You can serve it with crackers, chips, veggies, whatever.

Cream Cheese Ranch dip

2 8-oz blocks of cream cheese, softened
2 tbsp ranch seasoning (I used Hidden Valley powder mix)
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp dried dill weed

In mixer, beat cream cheese well til whipped (makes it light and airy).  Add ranch seasoning and blend well til combined, then add garlic powder and dill as you continue to blend. 

I also made this for St. Patrick's Day and dyed it green with food coloring.  Kind of a fun thing to do, and you could probably dye it any color you wanted for whatever occasion.  Or maybe have a couple small dishes with different colors for Easter.

BBQ Meatballs

From my mother in law, or more specifically, the ad she found in the paper on Sunday, here is a recipe for BBQ meatballs. The recipe came from the company that makes frozen meatballs, so I am going to have to create my own recipe for that here, and I hope you enjoy! You could do this in the crockpot too, but you would have to either use frozen meatballs from the store, or make them ahead and bake them first, then add to the sauce in the crock pot.

p.s. I am so sorry for not posting recently, I havent really had any inspiration lately and I need some more ideas. So it will be a bit slow in the next little bit. thanks for your patience with me!

BBQ Meatballs

1/2 lb ground beef
1/2 lb ground pork (or sausage)
1 tbsp Worchestershire sauce
1/2 c oatmeal or breadcrumbs
1 egg
1 tsp garlic powder
1/4 c finely chopped or grated onion (or onion powder)
salt, pepper
1 12 oz jar of grape or current jelly
1 c Famous Dave's BBQ sauce

Combine meats, W. sauce, oatmeal, spices, and egg with hands til well mixed. Form into meatballs, bake for 15 to 2o minutes in a 13x9 baking dish. Meanwhile, blend jelly and bbq sauce in saucepan with whisk, over low heat. Add sauce to meatballs, bake another 15 minutes. If using crockpot, remove meatballs from oven and add to preheated crockpot. Add sauce, combine, to coat well. Set crock pot to LOW setting, so it barely simmers.

Cathy serves this with warm garlic toast, but you could also do this meatball sub style on a hoagie roll, or with rice or something, or of course on its own for a party snack (I think that's the purpose, it was in the Superbowl Sunday paper).

**NOTE**
--You dont have to use Famous Dave's BBQ sauce, but we like it anyway, and that's what the recipe uses. You could go buy pre-made frozen meatballs and I wont be offended, but this is what I would do.

--Preheating your crockpot is very important in this. I am pretty sure I mentioned why in the clam chowder recipe, but I will go over it again here. If you add hot food to a cold crockpot, it shocks the ceramic and it can crack from the shock. make sure you set your crockpot to the low setting right about when you put the meatballs in the oven, so when you transfer its already had time to heat up properly. The opposite applies for cold food and a hot crockpot--never add cold food to a hot crockpot, because it can crack it.

Sweet Potato and Parsnip Chips To Die For!

I love these chips, and we got the idea from Alton Brown on Food Network. Jeff and I love to watch Good Eats, and this was something we decided to try out. On the show, Alton actually made these with parsnips, and we decided to mix the two vegetables up. Super simple and you'll be surprised how quickly they disappear!

3 sweet potatoes
3 parsnips
2 quarts vegetable oil, for frying
seasoning salt, or salt and pepper to taste.

Slice potatoes and parsnips very thin, using mandolin or "salad shooter" or similar tool. Fry in batches, 1 1/2 minutes in deep fryer (or on the stove using thermometer) at 375 degrees. Do not cover with lid! Season generously with salt and pepper.

If you don't have a deep fryer and are doing this on the stove, watch the pot very carefully and keep children out of the way. Also make sure you have a fire extinguisher for emergency.