So this one is very similar to some others I have made, but not completely the same. The thing about salads is you can play around with them and change ingredients to make it completely different or just different enough to make it not boring. So I played with ingredients and added a few I liked and changed a few for a different flavor. Just enough to break up the monotony. Feel free to play around with it as you like.
Mixed Greens with Fresh Veggies
1 head romaine lettuce
1 c baby spinach, loosely packed
1 cucumber, peeled, quartered, and sliced
1 c grape tomatoes
1/2 feta cheese
1 avocado, diced fine
croutons
balsamic vinegarette
Toss all ingredients together, serve with your favorite protein, or on its own. Feel free to add chicken or turkey or steak to your liking.
Monday, July 16, 2012
Tuesday, July 10, 2012
Summer Salads: Tortellini Pasta Salad
So here is a way to enjoy some great pasta without making the kitchen super hot. Not really on the low carb side, but pretty delicious and pretty light considering its name. You can kind of play with the ingredients and use veggies that you and your family like, but here are some of the flavors I used for my husband and I tonight.
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Tortellini Pasta Salad
1 pkg veggie "rainbow" tortellini (about 1 pound. I got mine at Costco.)
3 tbsp each olive oil and balsamic vinegar
2 tbsp finely chopped fresh basil
1/2 c feta cheese
1/4 c julienne cut sundried tomatoes
1/2 c black olives, sliced or quartered
1/2 c quartered artichoke hearts, drained
1/4 c diced roasted red peppers, optional
2 c peeled, deveined, and tail off shrimp (optional), or you can use chicken or turkey or ham
Cook tortellini according to pkg. Takes about 4 minutes if frozen, 2 if fresh. Drain and rinse immediately with cold water.
Whisk together balsamic vinegar and olive oil. Add basil to this mixture. Pour over pasta and toss well to coat all of the tortellini. Add feta, sundried tomatoes, olives, artichoke hearts, and peppers and toss well. Chill in the refrigerator.
Saute shrimp in skillet with a tiny bit of olive oil, til pink. I sprinkled it with a bit of cajun seasoning but that's just optional. Chill in the fridge til fully cooled, then just before serving toss into the salad.
Serve room temp or cold. Great for picnics too!
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Tortellini Pasta Salad
1 pkg veggie "rainbow" tortellini (about 1 pound. I got mine at Costco.)
3 tbsp each olive oil and balsamic vinegar
2 tbsp finely chopped fresh basil
1/2 c feta cheese
1/4 c julienne cut sundried tomatoes
1/2 c black olives, sliced or quartered
1/2 c quartered artichoke hearts, drained
1/4 c diced roasted red peppers, optional
2 c peeled, deveined, and tail off shrimp (optional), or you can use chicken or turkey or ham
Cook tortellini according to pkg. Takes about 4 minutes if frozen, 2 if fresh. Drain and rinse immediately with cold water.
Whisk together balsamic vinegar and olive oil. Add basil to this mixture. Pour over pasta and toss well to coat all of the tortellini. Add feta, sundried tomatoes, olives, artichoke hearts, and peppers and toss well. Chill in the refrigerator.
Saute shrimp in skillet with a tiny bit of olive oil, til pink. I sprinkled it with a bit of cajun seasoning but that's just optional. Chill in the fridge til fully cooled, then just before serving toss into the salad.
Serve room temp or cold. Great for picnics too!
Pasta with Ham and Peas
So this is not a salad. But I made dinner for some friends of ours tonight because they just had their baby on Friday last week and not having to cook after having a baby makes life a lot easier. I know this first hand because several people brought my husband and I dinner when we had our son about 4 months ago.
Anyway, my mom used to make something similar to this when I was a kid, and I always loved it. The great thing about this recipe is you can kind of play with it a little and change the vegetables in it if you like. And, it's fairly easy.
Remember how I told you we had baked a spiral ham last week for that lunch? Well here is a good way to use said leftover ham. It's also a pretty family friendly recipe--most of my siblings liked it too when we were growing up. So here goes!
Pasta with Ham and Peas
1 lb pasta of your choice (I used whole wheat shells, but it doesnt really matter.)
1 tbsp olive oil
1/2 onion, diced fine
1 c diced ham
3/4 c frozen peas
1 container garlic flavored Philadelphia cooking creme OR
1 container herbed spreadable cheese (like Rondele, Boursin, or something similar)
1/2 c milk, approximately
dash cayenne pepper
salt and pepper to taste
Cook pasta to pkg directions.
While waiting for water to boil and pasta to cook, saute onions in olive oil til translucent, then add ham to the pan and cook til its browned around the edges and starts to render some of its natural fat. Stir in the cooking creme or spreadable cheese and add milk slowly til it thins out to a creamy sauce consistency. Reduce heat or turn completely off til the pasta is fully cooked.
Once pasta is cooked, drain and set aside briefly. Return the sauce to the heat, and add cayenne, salt and pepper,and peas, and then toss it all with the pasta. Add some parmesan cheese if you wish and then serve hot with whatever side you. Usually a nice big green salad works great since this dish is a bit on the rich side.
Enjoy!
Anyway, my mom used to make something similar to this when I was a kid, and I always loved it. The great thing about this recipe is you can kind of play with it a little and change the vegetables in it if you like. And, it's fairly easy.
Remember how I told you we had baked a spiral ham last week for that lunch? Well here is a good way to use said leftover ham. It's also a pretty family friendly recipe--most of my siblings liked it too when we were growing up. So here goes!
Pasta with Ham and Peas
1 lb pasta of your choice (I used whole wheat shells, but it doesnt really matter.)
1 tbsp olive oil
1/2 onion, diced fine
1 c diced ham
3/4 c frozen peas
1 container garlic flavored Philadelphia cooking creme OR
1 container herbed spreadable cheese (like Rondele, Boursin, or something similar)
1/2 c milk, approximately
dash cayenne pepper
salt and pepper to taste
Cook pasta to pkg directions.
While waiting for water to boil and pasta to cook, saute onions in olive oil til translucent, then add ham to the pan and cook til its browned around the edges and starts to render some of its natural fat. Stir in the cooking creme or spreadable cheese and add milk slowly til it thins out to a creamy sauce consistency. Reduce heat or turn completely off til the pasta is fully cooked.
Once pasta is cooked, drain and set aside briefly. Return the sauce to the heat, and add cayenne, salt and pepper,and peas, and then toss it all with the pasta. Add some parmesan cheese if you wish and then serve hot with whatever side you. Usually a nice big green salad works great since this dish is a bit on the rich side.
Enjoy!
Monday, July 9, 2012
Summer Salads: Mixed Greens and Turkey
OOPS! I forgot to take a picture before we devoured this one... haha.
This salad is kind of a mix of different things we like and using some of the leftovers we have from last week. Last Sunday, we blessed our sweet baby boy at church and then we had a big lunch party at our house for our family and friends that came to witness the special occasion. For the lunch party, I roasted an 18 lb turkey and we baked an 8 lb ham. We still have some of these leftovers, and we're working on using them up as quickly as we can. Tonight's salad served that purpose as well as helping us keep to our salad eating. It turned out pretty well and maybe you'll like it too!
Mixed Greens Salad with Turkey
1 small head romaine lettuce, chopped into 1/2 to 1/4 inch slices
about 2 c loosely packed baby spinach leaves, washed.
2-3 tbsp chopped roasted red bell peppers (I buy them in the jar, and then just do a rough dice)
3 tbsp julienned sun dried tomatoes (again, already jarred, packed in olive oil and usually garlic)
1/2 c feta cheese crumbles
1 c shredded roasted turkey (recipe found here if you need a fantastic one)
croutons to your taste
balsamic vinaigrette (we bought the Newman's Own brand this time, but you can make your own with olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper, and parmesan cheese. Some people like to add garlic powder or other herbs)
Toss all ingredients together in a large bowl. Serve with french bread on the side if you wish. Eat immediately, as once dressed the greens will begin to wilt and the croutons will begin to go soggy.
This salad is kind of a mix of different things we like and using some of the leftovers we have from last week. Last Sunday, we blessed our sweet baby boy at church and then we had a big lunch party at our house for our family and friends that came to witness the special occasion. For the lunch party, I roasted an 18 lb turkey and we baked an 8 lb ham. We still have some of these leftovers, and we're working on using them up as quickly as we can. Tonight's salad served that purpose as well as helping us keep to our salad eating. It turned out pretty well and maybe you'll like it too!
Mixed Greens Salad with Turkey
1 small head romaine lettuce, chopped into 1/2 to 1/4 inch slices
about 2 c loosely packed baby spinach leaves, washed.
2-3 tbsp chopped roasted red bell peppers (I buy them in the jar, and then just do a rough dice)
3 tbsp julienned sun dried tomatoes (again, already jarred, packed in olive oil and usually garlic)
1/2 c feta cheese crumbles
1 c shredded roasted turkey (recipe found here if you need a fantastic one)
croutons to your taste
balsamic vinaigrette (we bought the Newman's Own brand this time, but you can make your own with olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper, and parmesan cheese. Some people like to add garlic powder or other herbs)
Toss all ingredients together in a large bowl. Serve with french bread on the side if you wish. Eat immediately, as once dressed the greens will begin to wilt and the croutons will begin to go soggy.
Summer Salad Series
Okay my fellow bloggers, friends, and readers. I have decided to take on a new project here on Recipes to Live By. This time I plan to keep it going at least for the rest of the summer (the next 7-8 weeks). Here's what I plan to do:
Last week after cooking for 30 people and having all of them come over for lunch after our son's blessing at church, we decided it is too dang hot to cook every night of this summer. We have also decided that the two of us (the hubby and I--baby actually is on the small side and still needs to gain but all he eats is formula these days...) could stand to lose a few pounds. Pregnancy, premature delivery, eating out during the NICU days, etc has kind of gotten us off the bandwagon of eating very healthily and we think it's time to pick ourselves back up and get going again. Hopefully this will also help me get my blood sugar back into gear, too. Low carb, high vegetable and fiber, and protein is the goal here. (not Atkins, mind you, just carb conscious, and using "smart carbs")
Thus was born the idea of eating salad for dinner about 4 times a week. We're going to be trying all kinds of salads and dressings and combinations of ingredients. I am going to try hard to stay away from the potato salads and those summer picnic salads (if you know what I mean) just because they aren't my fave and they don't really meet the goal of this project. I will be trying to do different flavors and definitely be using fresh ingredients. We'll probably be "visiting" all different places on this adventure: Greece, Italy, Mexico, Asia, etc.
I hope you'll follow me on this journey, and even give suggestions or comments on the way. More than that, I hope you feel inspired to try some of them too! Here we go!
Last week after cooking for 30 people and having all of them come over for lunch after our son's blessing at church, we decided it is too dang hot to cook every night of this summer. We have also decided that the two of us (the hubby and I--baby actually is on the small side and still needs to gain but all he eats is formula these days...) could stand to lose a few pounds. Pregnancy, premature delivery, eating out during the NICU days, etc has kind of gotten us off the bandwagon of eating very healthily and we think it's time to pick ourselves back up and get going again. Hopefully this will also help me get my blood sugar back into gear, too. Low carb, high vegetable and fiber, and protein is the goal here. (not Atkins, mind you, just carb conscious, and using "smart carbs")
Thus was born the idea of eating salad for dinner about 4 times a week. We're going to be trying all kinds of salads and dressings and combinations of ingredients. I am going to try hard to stay away from the potato salads and those summer picnic salads (if you know what I mean) just because they aren't my fave and they don't really meet the goal of this project. I will be trying to do different flavors and definitely be using fresh ingredients. We'll probably be "visiting" all different places on this adventure: Greece, Italy, Mexico, Asia, etc.
I hope you'll follow me on this journey, and even give suggestions or comments on the way. More than that, I hope you feel inspired to try some of them too! Here we go!
Monday, May 21, 2012
Sushi Time: California Roll
We decided to start small and simple and learn to make California Roll first. We figured since that is using the imitation crab sticks and avocado and cucumber, it would be an easy one to try out, and if we were successful with that we could move on to more complicated recipes. So that is why I named this post as a sort of a beginning of a category, because I honestly would love to try making a spicy tuna roll or some other kind after the success we have had with this California Roll. I wish I had thought to take tutorial type pictures because this recipe is very simple as far as ingredients, but a bit trickier with the process/technique. Instead of my own tutorial pics, I will link you all to a very helpful YouTube video we found and used last night. The above picture is an actual picture of my finished product from last night.
Go here for the tutorial video of how to put everything together if you can't understand what I will be giving as directions. And now for the recipe...
California Roll Sushi--makes 6 rolls, or 48 pieces
Sushi Rice (recipe below)
1 avocado, sliced (I also recommend sprinkling a bit of lemon juice on it to prevent discoloration)
1 cucumber, quartered, seeded, and sliced into thin strips length wise
9 imitation crab sticks
1 pkg Nori seaweed (it's the dehydrated seaweed sheets, found in the Asian section of your grocery store)
optional: toasted sesame seeds, tobiko (fish roe)
for serving: pickled ginger, wasabi paste, and soy sauce. All of these should be in your Asian section of your local grocery store.
Tools needed: sushi mat, plastic wrap, and you may want some cooking spray so the rice doesn't stick to your hands, and a good sharp knife.
Sushi Rice recipe
4 c rice
4 c water
4 tbsp sugar
4 tbsp rice vinegar (unseasoned, and it's in the Asian section.)
2 tbsp salt (yes, I said TBSP--that's a TABLESPOON, not a teaspoon. It's the right amount.)
Rinse your rice in a strainer til the water runs clear. You'll want to swirl the rice around in the sieve or strainer in cold water, and just keep running the water over it til it runs clear and you cant see any white starchy stuff in it. Then put it in your rice cooker and add the 4 cups of water and set to cook til its done. When it's done cooking, immediately transfer it to a large glass bowl. Mix your vinegar, sugar and salt together in a small bowl, and microwave the mixture for 45 seconds. Stir to make sure its all dissolved together, then pour that over your rice, and stir the rice to make sure every grain is coated in the vinegar mixture. Let stand to cool to room temp, takes roughly half an hour. This is a good time to prep your veggies and set up your sushi station.
Wrap your sushi mat in plastic wrap so it is covered on both sides. Place a sheet of the Nori seaweed on the mat. When your rice is cooled to room temp, then spread it onto the seaweed sheet and press down so it sticks. Cover the whole sheet with the rice in a thin layer. Sprinkle with toasted sesame seeds if you like, if not, then just flip your seaweed over so the rice is facing down.
Cut 3 of the crab sticks in half, and leave the other 6 sticks in tact.
Place your avocado slices in the bottom center of the seaweed, then cucumber above it, and then lastly the crab sticks (take 1 1/2 of the sticks) above the line of cucumber. (see video for a clearer image of this description) Using the mat, roll the sushi up and as the mat is rolled around the sushi roll, move the mat so it doesnt get rolled into the sushi roll. (I hope this makes sense--again, see video for clearer image/demonstration) Continue to roll it til the whole thing is rolled into a log shape. If any of your ingredients from the center are coming out of the roll, tap the ends to push it all back in.
With a sharp knife cut the roll in half, and then each half in half, and then each of the quarters in half again to make 8 pieces. Repeat process again til you have completed all 6 rolls. Serve with wasabi paste and pickled ginger. Enjoy!
Tuesday, May 8, 2012
Lemon Curd
Alright, this is a rare thing that most people in America have no idea about, but my family LOVES it. Pretty much everyone I have talked to has had a lemon bar/lemon square so they have eaten lemon curd before, but they have never known what it was, just this delicious lemon stuff on top of a shortbread crust. But it has much more potential than just for that.
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Last week Bountiful Baskets had an add-on of a 38 lb box of lemons for $21. I suggested to my mom that we split the box and make some lemon curd which is one of her favorite toppings for toast. Or make lemonade concentrate, or just frozen lemon juice in ice cube trays for later use, or pie or whatever we wanted. She said that was a good idea and today we got my sister to join us for a day full of canning a bunch of lemon curd. Mom also did a few ice cube trays of lemon juice, and some candied lemon peel for later use. All in all it was a pretty successful day.
So, anyway, back to the original subject, our recipe of the day. Lemon curd is a custard like lemon jam. It's spreadable gold in my book, delicious on toast, pancakes, waffles, gingerbread, scones, english muffins, or even as a filling for lemon cake (or cupcakes for that matter). It's also commonly used in baked form on lemon bars as mentioned before. The only difference between the lemon bars and the curd in the jar is that you just mix everything together and pour it over the crust and it bakes in the oven for the bars, and for the jarred stuff you cook it on the stove til it thickens and then pour it into canning jars and then process it to seal the lids. So imagine lemon bars flavoring on your toast in the morning. Yup, you got it, it's DELICIOUS!
Here's how you make it. We tripled the batches to make it go faster, and made about 26 jars for the 3 of us to split up and take home. Trust me, you'll want the triple batch, it makes about 5 jars and it's worth the work.
Lemon Curd
juice and zest of 9 lemons (about 3 cups juice)
3 sticks of butter
1 pinch salt
3 cups of sugar
9 egg yolks
3 whole eggs
Zest your lemons with a microplane or fine grater or citrus zester. Then roll lemons on the counter to loosen the juice inside, and cut them in half to juice them. This is where an electric citrus juicer comes in very handy because it really makes things go faster. My mom has a juicer attachment for her Kitchen Aid and we just hooked it up and it made it go really fast. You'll want to use a sieve over whatever bowl or measuring cup you use for the juice (we used one of those Pyrex measuring pitchers) so it catches the pulp and seeds. Once you have gotten all of the lemon halves juiced, measure to make sure its roughly 3 cups of juice, then add your zest to the juice. Set aside.
In a double boiler, or a pot of water with a heat proof bowl over top of it, melt the butter. Add sugar and salt and stir together, and then add lemon juice and zest. Whisk over medium low heat til sugar is dissolved and mixture is heated through.
Separate your eggs (the first 9) and whisk the yolks with the 3 whole eggs til they are lemony in color and uniform. When the lemon mixture is dissolved and heated through, add approximately 1 cup of the lemon sugar mix to the eggs and whisk vigorously while slowly pouring in the lemon mixture. Once the eggs and lemon juice are together, and mixed well, add the whole thing back to the lemon juice and sugar on the stove, and continue to cook and stir for about 15 minutes til the mixture thickens to the consistency of honey and it looks glossy.
Take your canning jars out of your canner (a large pot that processes canning jars) and carefully ladle the curd into half pint jars and then top the jar with a lid and ring and screw on tight, and then flip it over onto a towel on the counter or table to seal. Let stand for about an hour til the lid is sealed tight (when you press the center it shouldnt go down or make a clicking sound). Store in a cool place for up to 2 years.
Spread on toast, english muffins, cake, banana bread, brownies, shortbread cookies, whatever you want. You could pipe it into the center of cupcakes too if you want. Or on pound cake or gingerbread cake. Delicious!
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Last week Bountiful Baskets had an add-on of a 38 lb box of lemons for $21. I suggested to my mom that we split the box and make some lemon curd which is one of her favorite toppings for toast. Or make lemonade concentrate, or just frozen lemon juice in ice cube trays for later use, or pie or whatever we wanted. She said that was a good idea and today we got my sister to join us for a day full of canning a bunch of lemon curd. Mom also did a few ice cube trays of lemon juice, and some candied lemon peel for later use. All in all it was a pretty successful day.
So, anyway, back to the original subject, our recipe of the day. Lemon curd is a custard like lemon jam. It's spreadable gold in my book, delicious on toast, pancakes, waffles, gingerbread, scones, english muffins, or even as a filling for lemon cake (or cupcakes for that matter). It's also commonly used in baked form on lemon bars as mentioned before. The only difference between the lemon bars and the curd in the jar is that you just mix everything together and pour it over the crust and it bakes in the oven for the bars, and for the jarred stuff you cook it on the stove til it thickens and then pour it into canning jars and then process it to seal the lids. So imagine lemon bars flavoring on your toast in the morning. Yup, you got it, it's DELICIOUS!
Here's how you make it. We tripled the batches to make it go faster, and made about 26 jars for the 3 of us to split up and take home. Trust me, you'll want the triple batch, it makes about 5 jars and it's worth the work.
Lemon Curd
juice and zest of 9 lemons (about 3 cups juice)
3 sticks of butter
1 pinch salt
3 cups of sugar
9 egg yolks
3 whole eggs
Zest your lemons with a microplane or fine grater or citrus zester. Then roll lemons on the counter to loosen the juice inside, and cut them in half to juice them. This is where an electric citrus juicer comes in very handy because it really makes things go faster. My mom has a juicer attachment for her Kitchen Aid and we just hooked it up and it made it go really fast. You'll want to use a sieve over whatever bowl or measuring cup you use for the juice (we used one of those Pyrex measuring pitchers) so it catches the pulp and seeds. Once you have gotten all of the lemon halves juiced, measure to make sure its roughly 3 cups of juice, then add your zest to the juice. Set aside.
In a double boiler, or a pot of water with a heat proof bowl over top of it, melt the butter. Add sugar and salt and stir together, and then add lemon juice and zest. Whisk over medium low heat til sugar is dissolved and mixture is heated through.
Separate your eggs (the first 9) and whisk the yolks with the 3 whole eggs til they are lemony in color and uniform. When the lemon mixture is dissolved and heated through, add approximately 1 cup of the lemon sugar mix to the eggs and whisk vigorously while slowly pouring in the lemon mixture. Once the eggs and lemon juice are together, and mixed well, add the whole thing back to the lemon juice and sugar on the stove, and continue to cook and stir for about 15 minutes til the mixture thickens to the consistency of honey and it looks glossy.
Take your canning jars out of your canner (a large pot that processes canning jars) and carefully ladle the curd into half pint jars and then top the jar with a lid and ring and screw on tight, and then flip it over onto a towel on the counter or table to seal. Let stand for about an hour til the lid is sealed tight (when you press the center it shouldnt go down or make a clicking sound). Store in a cool place for up to 2 years.
Spread on toast, english muffins, cake, banana bread, brownies, shortbread cookies, whatever you want. You could pipe it into the center of cupcakes too if you want. Or on pound cake or gingerbread cake. Delicious!
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