Roasted red pepper salsa

Just thinking about this stuff makes me laugh. The kids practiced it over and over again and got the flavor and look down just right. (it's awesome) On competition day, I walk around while they're cooking instead of staring at them because I can't talk to them anyway, so it makes me more nervous to watch them not being able to say anything if I see something they need to do. I got back over to our station (my awesome family comes to watch every year and creates a big cheering section!) and everyone is asking me why they're burning the pepper and why the sticker is still on while they're "burning" it. Yes, it's okay to "burn" the pepper because they were roasting it, but NO, the sticker shouldn't still be on there! It was in prime view of our crowd and the judges and the first question the judges asked was about the sticker, too. Oops! Of course, something they've never done before and something they'll probably remember the rest of their lives every time they wash a pepper. Anyway, this was another thing I always hoped we had leftovers of. I took it home a couple of times and used it for chip dipping and one week I used it in my "Sunday soup" and it added great flavor. They came up with the flavor combination on their own and it was right on!

Roasted red pepper salsa

1 clove garlic, minced
3 tbsp honey
1/2 red bell pepper, roasted (have to roast the whole thing and just use half in your salsa or make a double batch)
1 tbsp red wine vinegar
1/3 tsp garlic salt
2 Tbsp fresh cilantro, chopped
1 Tbsp dried onion flakes
1 tsp lime juice
salt and pepper, to taste

Roast red bell pepper over open flame until blackened all around, then put it in a bowl, cover it tightly with plastic wrap, and set aside for ten minutes.

Combine honey, ground pepper, vinegar, garlic salt, dried onions, garlic and cilantro. Mix until combined.
Wash off the roasted red bell pepper until all the black skin is off.
Chop the peppers in long strips, then mince half the pepper and chop the other half. The minced half should be nearly pureed.
Add the peppers to the salsa, then the lime juice. Mix until combined. Serve cold or room temperature.



Spicy Garlic Sauce

This sauce is so good and so easy! The whole dinner I put together with it took right around 20 minutes from start to finish, which is obviously awesome.
The first time I made this sauce, we dipped blanced green beans in it and I loved it as a dipping sauce for green beans. The next time, we dipped shrimp in it and I think it is a nice spin on cocktail sauce that you could provide as an option or as an appetizer for an Asian inspried meal. This time, I served it over shrimp, broccoli, and whole wheat couscous and it was great as a meal! It is a little spicy, so tone it down if you don't care too much for spice. You can always add spice later but it's pretty difficult to tone down the spice after the fact!

Spicy Garlic Sauce

3 tbsp soy sauce (low sodium preferred)
1 tbsp rice wine vinegar
2 tsp sugar
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 tbsp fresh grated ginger (I forgot this one time and it was still great)
1 tbsp oil (sesame, vegetable, olive)
2 tsp chili sauce (Rooster sauce!)
2 tsp cornstarch, dissolved in 4 tsp cold water (I dissolved it in about 3 Tbsp instead)

Combine everything but the cornstarch slurry in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil, then reduce to simmer for two minutes. Stir in the slurry, then return to simmer until it's thick enough to coat the back of a spoon.

from Stephanie Cooks and Can You Stay for Dinner

White Barbecue Sauce

Norris makes some awesome pulled pork on the smoker. We have it at the lake frequently because it's a great meal that can be made ahead of time or during the day while we're out on the boat with no maintenance. He comes up with some great dry rubs and does a great job with the smoker! He smoked a boston butt again for us this weekend for our guests and I wanted to try a different sauce to go alongside the regular barbecue sauce. I really liked the sauce--tangy and a little spicy from the horseradish. It was also great mixed with regular barbecue sauce to kick the normal stuff up a notch!
This recipe does make quite a bit, so I would recommend starting with a half batch unless you're having a huge party!

White Barbecue Sauce

1 1/4 cups light mayonnaise
1/4 cup horseradish (I upped this to about 1/3 cup)
3 tbsp cider vinegar
juice of 2 lemons (I only used the juice of one and would use less next time)
salt and pepper to taste

Combine all ingredients and refrigerate for at least one hour before serving.

from Macaroni and Cheesecake, originally from Southern Living

Zucchini Jam

First I thought it would be fun to show a couple of pictures of my grandmas who I grew up cooking with. Gram and I were featured in the "Cooks of the Week" cookbook with a few recipes we loved to make together. Blarney Stones are still a family favorite every St. Patrick's Day! Granddad always let me make applesauce on days I was "sick", too:) Lots of fun cooking at their house!

 While my other grandparents lived two hours away, we got to see them almost as often! We would always spend time with them in the summer (normally camping in their RV) and see them a lot during the year as they would drive up for almost all of our games. I was the luckiest kid on the field/court with all four grandparents in attendance at almost everything! (and they all still come to as much as they can!) We also cooked with my grandma, but we liked to sew with her more. My favorite thing she makes is fried okra every August...I eat more than my fair share!
She called us to see if we wanted to make zucchini jam, and while at first I thought that sounded pretty strange, it sounded fun, too. We went down this week and made zucchini jam---you cannot tell at all that there is zucchini in it since you use apricot jello. It tastes like apricot jam, which I love! It took less than two hours from start to finish to make two big batches of this and clean up. Not bad for a canning project!

Zucchini Jam

6 cups grated zucchini

6 cups sugar
2 Tbs lemon juice
1can 10 0z crushed pineapple drained
2 pkg Apricot gelatin 30z

Combine one cup water and zucchini. Bring to boil for eight minutes.
Add sugar,jello,pineapple,and lemon juice and stir to combine.

Bring back to a boil for 8 minutes, pack in jars, and seal.


Light Cucumber Ranch Dressing

Thank you for all of your notes about my last post. It was really therapeutic for me to write, and I knew I wanted to write it for myself, so I figured I would share. Thanks for your positive responses, thoughts, and prayers for our family.

I finally got back in the kitchen a bit today and found another winner from Skinny Taste. I prepped veggies and salad greens to bring for lunch each day and this is the dressing I'll bring in a separate container. It's slightly tangy, good and garlicky, and will leave you with dragon breath! (especially if you add the extra clove of garlic like I did) Just share with your lunch buddies and nobody will notice your breath:) I made what Kath calls a Hugh Jass salad, which cracks me up every time.

Light Cucumber Ranch Dressing

(for Nutritional information, go to Gina's site)

1/2 cup lowfat buttermilk (I used 1 1/2 tsp vinegar plus milk to equal 1/2 cup and let sit for five minutes before using. Otherwise I would just waste the rest of the buttermilk)
1/4 cup light mayonnaise
1/4 cup fat free Greek yogurt
1 small cucumber, peeled and seeds removed
3 tbsp fresh parsley
1 clove garlic (used 2)
1/4 cup chives or scallions (my chives are raging in the pot outside, so I used chives)
juice of 1/2 lemon
1/8 tsp garlic powder (omitted)
1/4 tsp fresh ground pepper
1/4 tsp salt

Combine all ingredients in a blender. Chill.
Makes 1 3/4 cup/7 servings

Mango Pepper Salsa

Continuing with our Mexican fiesta on Sunday, I made some chicken quesadillas with a mango pepper salsa to top them. The quesadillas weren't anything exciting, but the salsa was excellent!

Bonnie has made something similar to this before, but I couldn't remember what she put in it. I went searching and the National Mango Board (as well as lots of other sites) had a great recipe for mango salsa! This is so fresh and cool tasting and goes great with a spicy quesadilla!

Mango Pepper Salsa

1 mango, chopped

1/2 red bell pepper, chopped

~2 tsp lime juice

salt and pepper to taste

~2 tbsp cilantro, minced

~1 tsp jalapeno, minced (optional)

dash of cumin

Combine all ingredients and refrigerate until ready to use.

Green Goddess Dressing

When I took my first bite of this salad, I said "it tastes like a garden"!! This dressing is full of fresh, bright flavors and a little goes a long way. I had never had Green Goddess before, but now I know I will be having it again! My salad has red peppers (you can probably find those peppers in almost every recent dinner meal--always on special at our local grocer!), chicken, cucumbers, mixed field greens, and BLUEBERRIES!! I love the little sweetness that the blueberries add to a salad (they're also really good with balsamic vinegar-based dressings).
I got this recipe from Macaroni and Cheesecake, and it's an original Ina Garten recipe. I didn't have anchovy paste, so I know I missed out on a layer of flavor, but I have bad memories of anchovy paste, including the tube bursting from the back end and going all over my clothes and hands and smelling like it for about 24 hours. yuck. I'm sure the anchovy paste would add a great depth to your flavor if you are up for it!





Green Goddess Dressing


1/2 cup light mayonnaise
1/2 cup light sour cream
1/2 cup chopped green onions (used chives from my back porch instead!)
1/4 cup chopped flat leaf parsley
1/4 cup chopped cilantro (Ina's original calls for basil rather than parsley/cilantro, which I think would be AWESOME!)
juice of 1 lemon
1 clove chopped garlic
1 tsp anchovy paste
1/4-1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/4-1/2 tsp ground black pepper

Chop all herbs. (I'll admit it, I didn't chop anything--just tossed it all in the Magic Bullet and it did the work for me). In a blender (or MB!), combine all ingredients and blend until you reach a smooth consistency. Taste and adjust seasonings as needed. The dressing should be kind of a creamy avocado color.

from Macaroni and Cheesecake

Salad Dressing

Another simple salad dressing that's hardly a "recipe", but if you're still eating dressing from a bottle, come on over to the other side! All you need is a few ingredients and a mason jar!!

Simple Salad Dressing

1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1 tbsp brown sugar
2 tsp lemon juice
~1/4 tsp Key West seasoning (combo of lemon peel, basil, and garlic mostly)
salt and pepper to taste
Combine all ingredients in jar. Screw lid on TIGHTLY and shake it up!!! Store in fridge for about a week.
In dog news, can you tell that they really get along well??? :) Not a hug!!

Buttermilk Ranch Dressing

I think almost everybody likes ranch. I know we like it in our household! I have tried the fat free varieties and have wound up throwing away whatever food I put it on because it just tastes so fake. This light homemade ranch dressing has a great rich flavor that develops over a few days. I tried it on Sunday right when I was making and admittedly almost threw it away. When I tried it on Tuesday, I loved it! It just needed time for the flavor to develop!

Buttermilk Ranch Dressing

3/4 cup light mayonnaise

3/4 cup light sour cream

1 tbsp olive oil

1 tbsp lemon juice

about 1 cup buttermilk

1 small bunch chives

small handful parsley

1 clove garlic, chopped

a couple sprigs of fresh dill, or about 1/2-3/4 tsp dried

1/2 tsp kosher salt

freshly ground black pepper

Combine all ingredients in a food processor or blender (another thing the Magic Bullet was good for, except I could only fit about 1/3 of the recipe). Taste and adjust seasonings to your taste. Store in refrigerator.

from Annie's Eats (originally from The Gourmet Cookbook)

Simple Southwest Dressing

This dressing is spicy and sweet with the contrast of lime and chili powder. Simple to put together with ingredients you probably already have, and great on top of a salad topped with that shredded Mexican chicken! This dressing will make enough for about 3 salads, unless you're a heavy user of salad dressing!

Simple Southwest Dressing

from Real Simple

1/3 cup light sour cream
juice of 1 lime
1/4 tsp chili powder
1/4 tsp salt

Whisk together all ingredients. Serve!

Pesto

Before you look at this picture and wonder why I made green ice cubes, hear me out!
I love pesto and I loooove the smell of basil. It's so fresh and earthy and I love making things with it. My basil plants pretty much died when I was gone for a week and are just coming back, but Amber shared a bunch of hers with me and I was overly excited about it. Since my basil doesn't live all year round outside, I like to make cubes of it in ice trays. When you are ready for 1 cube (or the whole bunch), you can just thaw them out and have fresh pesto!
Pesto can be used in so many ways. I plan on making a grilled chicken with pasta, peas, and pesto soon. It's also great in place of mayonnaise/mustard on a sandwich. It's excellent as a spread on pizza or crusty bread, too! This recipe comes from Cooking Light, and if you click the link, they offer a bunch more suggestions for it. Any way you try it, I hope you enjoy it!

Classic Pesto

from Cooking Light

4 cups basil leaves
2 Tbsp pine nuts (or walnuts)
2 garlic cloves, peeled
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 tsp salt
~1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/2 tsp lemon juice (optional)

Combine all ingredients in food processor. It should be a runny paste consistency. (is that even a good descriptor??:) Add olive oil as needed. I don't like mine super thick, so I tend to add a little more olive oil. Don't add too much at one time or it will just taste like olive oil and you'll miss the other bright, fresh flavors! I like to add the lemon juice to brighten the flavor a little, but you don't have to! Taste it pre-lemon juice and add it if you feel it needs it.

EDIT:
I went to a demonstration at the farmer's market today and learned a different perspective. The chef said that he blanches his basil leaves (basically dip in boiling water then shock in ice cold water), cuts them up a little, puts them in ice cube trays, pours water over them, then freezes them. That way he has fresh basil that he can use whatever way he wants all year round. He also said he never freezes his pesto with the oil and parmesan cheese already in it, which is something I haven't heard before. I will try both ways and see which way works better!! Sounds like a good idea though, so the oil and cheese and fresh in the pesto when you are ready to use it!


Country road, take me home...
This is our "bored" activity--driving around in the country with the dogs in the back dreaming of living in the boondocks with our own pond. We see some pretty hilarious things, like the peacocks I have previously mentioned. Last night we saw a random really short bulldog standing on the side of the road staring at us. Missed the picture, but it made me laugh for a while!

Creamy Italian Dressing

This is a wonderful dressing! It is tangy with a bit of a kick and goes great with any veggies. i served it with a salad of romaine, carrot shreds, and cucumber chunks. It would be great with chicken as a main dish salad, also. You can use full fat versions of the mayonnaise and sour cream, but as I noted below, lighter options work just great. I went the easy way with the croutons and bought some Texas Toast Ceasar croutons from the store, which were really good for store bought croutons!! Our guests really enjoyed this meal also.

Creamy Italian Dressing

1/4 cup white wine vinegar
1 tbsp lemon juice
2 tbsp honey
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 tsp Italian seasoning
1/2 tsp dried parsley
1/2 cup light mayonnaise
1/4 cup light or fat free sour cream
3 tbsp grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 to 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper, depending on taste preferences

Whisk together vinegar, lemon juice, honey, garlic, Italian seasoning, and parsley. Stir in mayonnaise, sour cream, Parmesan cheese, salt, and cayenne pepper.

adapted from Bonnie

Salsa

Every year for 8th grade open house, my lovely coworker and I try to make some food to draw people in to tell them about our program. This year, we served baked chips with homemade salsa. I love love love this stuff!!

Salsa

1 16 oz can of diced tomatoes
1 can of rotel (however hot you want!)
1/2 jalapeno
3 cloves garlic
handful of cilantro
juice of half of a lime

Toss it all in your food processor, blend it around, and serve! I like it chilled or not, doesn't matter to me!

Asadero Cheese Sauce

This is so simple but so tasty. Great on top of that rice or I'm sure also good on many other things, including beans.

Asadero Cheese Sauce

2 servings

¼ cup whole milk

¼ cup heavy whipping cream

2 slices Asadero cheese

Slowly heat whole milk and cream over low heat. Add in cheese slices and let melt, whisking to combine. Serve hot.

Apricot Balsamic Vinaigrette

I made this a separate post so it would be easier for me to search for later, because I think I'll be using this recipe again! I am already brainstorming to decide what else it would be good on...

Apricot Balsamic Vinaigrette

(for pork chops...or whatever you want to put it on!)

3 T extra virgin olive oil

1/2 cup 100% apricot fruit jam

1 t dijon mustard

2 t balsamic vinegar



Heat olive oil in a small saucepan over medium low heat. Add remaining ingredients, heat and mix thoroughly. Pour 2 Tbsp of sauce over each pork chop.



This is around 150 calories to add to your chop cals.

Cranberry Apple Chutney

This "chutney" (cranberry sauce!) was a hit at our Thanksgiving table. We also sold it for treats at school to teachers to pretend like they made their own, and even our principal came by after to compliment on it.

This is so good we were eating it with a spoon, on top of our turkey, straight from the fridge, and wherever else! We were thinking how good it would be on a turkey sandwich, but it didn't make it that far:) This would be great for any meal!

Cranberry Apple Chutney

Makes about 2.5 cups

1 cup cranberry juice
2/3 cup fresh cranberries
2/3 cup chopped granny smith apples
Juice from ½ of a lemon
1/3 cup dried apricots, coarsely chopped (optional--use more apples or cranberries otherwise)
2/3 to 1 cup sugar
¼ tsp salt
1/8 tsp red pepper flakes
½ cup chopped walnuts, lightly toasted

Combine juice, apples, lemon juice, sugar, salt, and red pepper flakes in a heavy saucepan. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to simmer for 5 minutes. Add cranberries and apricots and simmer until thickened and with a syrup consistency, about 15 more minutes. (add in up to 1/3 cup more sugar here if necessary) Stir in chopped walnuts.

mashed together from a variety of sources, starting with Epicurious

Creamy Poppyseed Dressing

Molly showed off her pretty chicken and strawberry salad, and it reminded me again how much I like that combo (remember this Parmesan Stuffed Chicken with Melted Strawberries? mmm....) and I especially like it in salads. My parents were coming to town, so I needed to make a quick light lunch so we'd be full but still have room for the steakhouse celebration later for my grandparent's 55th anniversary!!

I may have mentioned this before, but I have been slowly working my way into thinking mayonnaise isn't quite as disgusting as I thought it was. But, nutritionally, it's still pretty disgusting (I know, I know, there's fat free also!). I have been trying to use plain nonfat yogurt in recipes lately to add moisture and creaminess, and it worked perfectly in this dressing. I browsed some different options and ultimately decided to make my own version of the creamy poppyseed dressing.

Creamy Poppyseed Dressing

1/4 cup plain nonfat yogurt
1/4 cup light mayo (or do all yogurt)
1/4 cup white vinegar
2 T sugar
3 T Splenda
2 t poppyseeds
Combine and let chill.
I served this with a salad of mixed greens, sliced strawberries, chicken (chopped and sauteed in a tiny amount of olive oil plus S+P), and croutons.

LOOK!! Even my dad liked it! (well, he ate it anyway!) And Norris ate it too...double man approved!

We are currently about knee deep in moving boxes. We should probably be elbow deep by now, but instead of packing we are celebrating our last weekend in the house with a fish fry! Norris caught and filleted the fish, I am making homemade hushpuppies, tartar sauce, and chocolate butterscotch cookies, and we are making coffee can mint juleps! Packing can wait, right?.... :)

Avocado Dip

I was really craving some good guacamole last week, but thought I'd better at least try to find a slightly healthier version. Ashlee had the perfect recipe for me. She suggested serving this as a dip with sweet potato fries, which sounds awesome. I had a snack of it with bagel chips, which was really good too. I think it would be good with cucumbers dipped in it too. Last night I had it as a salad dressing on my salad of greens, strawberries, crushed bagel chips, and grilled chicken. It was awesome! It kept well in the fridge for about four days before I had to throw out the last little bit (browning avocado).

Avocado Dip

Avocado Dip:
1 Haas avocado
1/2 cup plain lowfat organic yogurt
2 tbsp. light sour cream
1 jalapeno, seeded and chopped
2 scallions, white and light green part only, chopped
1 lime, juiced
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Place the avocado, yogurt, sour cream, jalapeno, scallions, and lime juice into a blender or small food processor.
Blend for 1 minute or until you have a smooth paste.
Season with salt and pepper, to taste.

Barbecue Sauce

This is the BBQ sauce for the brisket, but I bet it would be good on anything...

Barbecue Sauce

Emeril Lagasse
Yield: 5 cups


4 cups ketchup
1 c finely chopped yellow onions
½ c Steen’s 100% pure cane syrup (I used dark corn syrup, couldn't find Steen's)
½ c dry red wine (I used cooking wine...we were at school!)
2 T fresh lemon juice
2 T Creole mustard (spicy brown)
2 T dark brown sugar
1 T minced garlic
1 T minced jalapenos
1 T Worcestershire sauce
1 t hot pepper sauce
1 t salt
½ t cayenne

Combine all ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Stir to mix well. Use immediately, or store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.