Recipe for Raw Beet Salad

This week’s home veggie delivery included some beautiful red beets.  Last time they were in the box, I roasted them and used them in salads and sandwiches. 

Today, I made a crunchy raw beet salad with an Asian vinaigrette.  You could switch out the vinegar and seasonings and make an Italian vinaigrette.  Or a Greek one.  I love versatile recipes!

Recipe for Zucchini Fritters

I made these a while back when I had all that lovely zucchini! 

They were quite good and I loved the combination of the fritter and the cucumber raita.  I’d like to keep working on this recipe to move away from frying (even though it is in olive oil…) so I’ll keep you posted if I can keep the crispy texture but use the oven somehow (any suggestions??)

Chicken, (or leftover Turkey?) Corn with Chiles, and Mushroom Quesadillas

Do you still have turkey leftover from Thanksgiving?  Substitute turkey for the chicken in this easy recipe.

I hate wasting food so sometimes a lot of bits and pieces accumulate in the freezer and fridge.   On Wednesdays I get my produce delivery so I try to clean out the fridge before it arrives in the evening which often means Wednesday’s dinner is leftovers.

Recipe for Spice-Crusted Salmon with Ginger-Cilantro Yogurt Sauce

Do you need to get back on a healthy meal plan after Thanksgiving?  This is the recipe to help you get started.  I had a beautiful piece of salmon for our fish night and had marked this recipe from Bon Appétit.  It’s a great work night recipe or any other night when you want to get dinner on the table in 30 minutes.  I’ve made only a very few changes from the original.

2 servings, each approximately 325 calories, 14 grams fat, 3.5 grams carbs, 45 grams protein

Weekly Wrap

I hope you have recovered from your Thanksgiving food coma!

Here's a wrap of this week's recipes and some links to great posts from fellow bloggers.

Monday-a wonderfully simple, yet elegant pie, I mean cake.  Don't wait for Thanksgiving to roll around again to try this. 

Nantucket Cranberry Pie (Cake)








Tuesday-easy entertaining.

Homemade Tortilla Chips

PICTURE THIS: Guava from our tree

"Vegetables are the food of the earth; fruit seems more the food of the heavens." Sepal Felicivant

Recipe for Sunset Potato Salad

HAPPY TURKEY DAY!

I hope you are having (or had) a great Thanksgiving.

When my kids (adult) were here from GA visiting us recently, we wanted to do a sunset picnic with them and some of our friends.  The sunsets here are amazing as you can imagine.  Heck, don’t imagine, here is a picture from that night! 

I wanted to do some tasty and easy sides that would hold up in the Maui weather.  Even though it is winter, the temps at sunset are still in the low 80’s.  My kids have hearty appetites so a potato salad was a good, filling option.  I concocted this recipe to avoid worrying about mayonnaise going bad.  Boy did it turn out flavorful!  It is also low calorie and low fat (assuming you eat a regular portion size!)

You could play around with the heat level if you wanted to but I loved the mild flavor of the chiles and the tang of the lime just as it turned out.  This makes a huge amount so you can definitely cut the quantities down if you're not feeding a crowd.

Recipe for Cucumber Raita Sauce

This is a super easy recipe: Cucumber Raita Sauce.  Excellent as a cooling accompaniment to spicy Indian or other food.  Great dip for various tidbits.  Most recently, I served this alongside veggie fritters (recipe to follow soon!)

Method for Homemade Tortilla Chips

We love to snack and so I’m always noodling over how to enjoy good food but at the lowest calorie count, without sacrificing great taste and satisfaction.  We’ve tried lots of tortilla chips, many with really healthy whole grains and good-for-you stuff.  I did want to try making some chips at home and these turned out pretty good.  Crispy, tasty, lower calorie than store bought and very inexpensive.  I think I'll try with flour tortillas next time instead of the corn.

Recipe for Nantucket Cranberry Pie (Cake)

What’s Thanksgiving without some cranberry recipes?  I came across a recipe for Nantucket Cranberry Pie, something I’d never heard of.  The recipe sounded super easy and looked yummy, although there were several references to how messy it was to eat but worth the mess for the flavors.  Oh, and it’s a cake not a pie.

Something New: Recipe Round Up

Aloha and Happy Friday dear Readers!

Well, the blog has been live since the end of August and I'm enjoying the heck of sharing recipes, food experiences and chit-chat with you.  I'm going to be trying some new ideas on the blog now and then, so feel free to let me know whether they are working or not!

PICTURE THIS: Well, I'll be...I would have never guessed!

I never knew that brussel sprouts grow on stalks like this!

Recipe for Easy Basic Tomato Sauce

Everyone has their own tomato sauce recipe (or store bought) that they can count on time after time.  Here is my homemade sauce.

Recipe for Mini-Quiche

We went on a three night Staycation  recently, so before we left, I wanted to use up some of the perishables in the fridge.  I had some zucchini, spinach and mushrooms that needed to be used.  Looking through my “recipes to try” folder, I found this recipe from The Food Network.  It seemed adaptable to what I had on hand and I thought whatever didn't get eaten before we left could go in the freezer.  They defrosted nicely and are great reheated in the microwave for about 15 seconds.

So essentially, here is another make ahead healthy breakfast idea. No reason why you couldn’t also serve these as lunch or dinner with a nice large salad.

Recipe for Double Chocolate Zucchini Brownies

Remember the 5+ pounds of zucchini I spoke about yesterday?  

Here’s another recipe I made using shredded zucchini.  Brownies are hard to “healthify” but these turned our really good, very moist, and much better nutritionally than traditional brownies.  And, you get some veggie and whole wheat in your sweet treat!

Makes 24 brownies. 160 calories, 7.5 grams fat, 23.5 grams carbs, 1.5 grams protein

Traditional brownie recipe with butter and double the sugar: 248 calories and 11.2 grams fat

Recipe for Toasted Oats and Zucchini Mini Muffins

Some of you may be thinking “why is she giving us a recipe for zucchini muffins?  The season is over and we’ve moved on to winter squash.”  Well, maybe where you are but here on Maui and at other warm weather locations we are still getting an abundance of zucchini!   Right now I have over 5 pounds of beautiful green squash to use.  You could substitute grated pumpkin or carrots if you aren’t fortunate enough to have zucchini on hand!

My kids were on their way to visit from Georgia so I wanted to have some quick snacks or breakfasts already made so we could grab and go.  I also wanted them to be relatively healthy.   As you know, I’m a big believer in oats, enjoying my overnight oatmeal many mornings.  I thought some zucchini and oat muffins would be great to have and would help me use up some of the zucchini.

PICTURE THIS: Hibiscus from our back yard

"I perhaps owe having becoming a painter to flowers."  Claude Monet

Recipe for Spinach and Herbed Cheese Bundles

Here in Hawaii, pūpū refers to an appetizer, canapé , or hors d’oeuvre and folks go to happy hour for “pūpū and drinks”.  Our neighborhood hosts occasional pūpū parties where we get together with neighbors to eat, drink and “talk story”.  Here is what I took to a recent pūpū party, inspired by the lightened up creamed spinach I made a while back.  These turned out nicely puffed, lightly crisp and flavorful.

Recipe for Parmigiano-Reggiano Lace

 

These are an easy and elegant accompaniment to a salad or bowl of soup.  Or serve them plain or rolled into a cylinder shape for an appetizer to go along with a nice glass of wine.  You can also make them larger and drape them over an upside down small ramekin.  Once they cool and set, you have an individual edible salad bowl. 

Recipe for Roasted Broccoli con Pomodoro

Why roasted broccoli?  Do you ever get in a rut with what you're cooking?  I do.  With our weekly veggie delivery and a conscious effort to get more veggies in our diet, I've gotten in the habit of steaming almost everything.   Which in and of itself isn't bad.  Steaming is one of the best ways to keep calories down and retain the most nutrients.  But, it gets boring!

So...I've been trying to branch out and tonight I put together a simple but very tasty Italian flavored dish.  The flavor of the roasted broccoli is amazingly complex, intense, and almost sweet.  The addition of garlic, tomato, and a small amount of good cheese creates a perfect dish!

I'm committed to trying to be more creative with my veggies.  How about you?

Recipe for Light Pumpkin Cheesecake Parfaits

Here’s a rich, creamy pumpkin cheesecake parfait with a third of the calories and only 10% of the fat of the “regular” recipe.  A great “light” way to end a holiday meal.

Makes 4 generous servings each 289 calories, 6 grams fat, 52 grams carbs , 11 grams protein (you could make 6 more modest servings)

832 calories, 66 grams of fat, 66 grams carbs, 11 grams if made with full fat products

PICTURE THIS: The Argentine Lakes District, Bariloche, Argentina February 2010

"The world is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page."

St. Augustine

Recipe for Spicy Peanut Chicken Whole Wheat Pizza





This is an interesting combination…spicy peanut sauce, left over from my Grilled Asian Peanut Pork Tenderloin recipe, chicken, cheese, cilantro and scallions.  It’s sort of Thai flavored, although you could really up that by mixing in some Thai fish sauce, but I like it just as written.  If you like more heat, throw on some red pepper flakes.

I made up a batch of my Whole Wheat Pizza Dough last week, so I pulled one dough ball out last night into the fridge to defrost.  You could also use regular pizza dough or a Boboli.

I tried something new, rolling the dough out on parchment paper on top of the pizza peel and sliding the pizza onto the pizza stone using the peel and paper (recommended in the King Arthur Whole Wheat Cookbook).  It made it a lot easier!  I pulled the paper out after 3 minutes because I wanted to be sure the stone had direct contact with the crust for maximum crispness, but it could probably be left in the whole time.

Recipe for Sweet Potato Frips and Pesto Dipping Sauce

What’s a frip you ask?  Sorta between a fry and a chip.  Sweet potatoes slices are great done in the oven, but often they steam more than brown and although they taste good, they don’t give that satisfying crispy fry or chip sensation.

I’ve found rubbing each piece of sweet potato with oil and spreading them out with lots of room on baking trays helps.  Cooking them until they are browning but not burned around the edges, gives you a crunch as you bite into them.  No, they aren’t like real fries or chips but pretty good none-the-less.  

Recipe for NCLS Beef and Veggie Slow Cooker Stew

Last week, the SF Giants were contending for the National League Championship Series title.  They won!  And on to the World Series they went...long time coming.   I put this pot of healthy and delicious beef and veggie stew on in the morning and took it over to our friends house that evening where we all cheered on the Giants.  Was it our cheering?  The stew?  Not sure, but they did win, so I'm honoring that in the title for this easy crock pot recipe.

Recipe for Grilled Asian Peanut Pork Tenderloin

I promised you some more marinade/grill recipes so I hope you’ll enjoy this Grilled Asian Peanut Pork Tenderloin recipe.  The first time I had peanut sauce that I really remember was at a little Asian bistro in the Marina District of San Francisco.  I could have drunk it, it was that good!   Not too long after, I went to a cooking class conducted by James Beard nominated writer Hugh Carpenter of Napa, California.  He is the inspiration behind many of my marinades and wok recipes (which I haven’t shared with you.  Yet.)

PICTURE THIS: Happy Halloween!!

Recipe For Creamed Spinach Lightened Up

Creamed Spinach Lightened Up

I’m always intrigued by a “light” recipe.  Gina’s blog has some great ideas.  I saw her recent post for lightened up creamed spinach and used it for my inspiration.  It’s an easy recipe that came together quickly (so quickly I almost forgot to take pictures!)

The taste was very creamy and rich.  At only 100 calories per serving, go ahead-indulge and enjoy.  Thanks Gina!

Recipe for Roasted Vegetable and Cheese Omelet

I'm trying to expand my repertoire of veggie cooking methods beyond my go-to steam and season routine.  So, this past weekend when the TV was on and I was only half way paying attention to whatever was on, I pulled out a bunch of fresh veggies from my weekly Kula Fields delivery.  I chopped them up, seasoned them, tossed them around in a little oil and roasted them up in the oven.  We’ve enjoyed them for dinner twice (just reheated in a pan on the stove top the second time) and I’ve made a veggie omelet twice.  Don’t you love cooking once and eating twice (or more!)

Recipe for Three Cheese Mini Macs Adapted from Food and Wine Magazine



Three Cheese Mini Macs from Food and Wine

We were hosting a pot-luck cookout for a bunch of our friends and I wanted to have something homey on the menu.  The ladies stick mainly to healthy eats as I do but we also like a treat, especially if it is portion controlled like these delicious little bites of mac and cheese from Food and Wine. 

These mini macs were pretty easy to make.  The blend of 3 kinds of cheese made them, well, really cheesy.  I made them ahead and then popped them back in the oven to warm up as the burgers and chicken were coming off the grill. 

Recipe for Overnight Oatmeal: Three Days, Three Ways

Are you eating all the whole grains you can?  Are you?  We’re trying to do our best and a delicious bowl of oatmeal is a great start to the day.  I have high cholesterol, so I am doing myself a favor every morning I eat oatmeal because it is a great way to naturally lower my "bad" cholesterol.

When I lived in chilly San Francisco, a hot bowl of oatmeal was great.   I used to make it in the microwave with milk for a creamy hot breakfast in about 5 minutes (as long as I didn’t boil it over and have to clean up the microwave before work).

Here on Maui, even the mornings during fall and winter aren’t quite "hot bowl of cereal" kind of mornings but I still love oatmeal and am still doing everything I can to naturally manage the cholesterol (it is working pretty well, BTW). 

I don’t know when I first saw a recipe for overnight oatmeal, I’m sure it was on a South Beach chat board or the like.  It is a great recipe for warm weather and you can heat it up quickly (without any boil overs) if you prefer it that way (or during the middle of winter!).  Such a versatile recipe too.  You can use whatever milk/yogurt combination you like, or no yogurt (increase the milk).  Add in different nuts, or add in fruit, dry or fresh.  Experiment!  Let me know what you come up with.

PICTURE THIS: Perfect Maui Tomato

"It's difficult to think anything but pleasant thoughts while eating a homegrown tomato." - Lewis Grizzard

Recipe for Chopped Caprese Salad

I hate wasting food so I’m always looking for ways to use up bits of this or that in our day to day meals.  I made a caprese salad inspired pizza yesterday that was reeeallly good and still had half the heirloom tomato, some basil, and some of the mozzarella left from that meal.

I had an open face breakfast sandwich with mozzarella and tomato grilled on half a thin sandwich bun.  It was a lovely fresh start to the day and surprisingly filling and satisfying.  The rest of the tomato, along with another regular tomato, and some of the mozzarella were used to make this twist on a traditional caprese salad.

So easy! Because of the shape of the heirloom and the fact that I had it and a more traditional tomato to use, instead of slicing I chopped everything in to small bite size pieces. Dressed it lightly with some fine ribbons of basil, salt and pepper, good EVOO and balsamic vinegar and we had a delicious “left-over” salad to go with a meal.

I know you have been creative using left over ingredients-what was your most ingenious creation?
Printable Recipe

Recipe for Quick and Easy (and Tasty) Whole Wheat Caprese Pizza

Aloha!
Well it is pizza night, and the last ball (small one) of dough was pulled from the freezer last night.  Time to crank up the bread machine and make some more.

My whole wheat pizza dough recipe is here.  But this would also be good on a Boboli pizza crust.   Tonight's inspiration was the hubby's favorite salad-Caprese.  The heirloom tomatoes were on sale, and who could resist!   Some pesto as a base, good moz, and some spinach for added veggies, basil of course, and a squirt of balsamic to finish it off.  Magnifico! 

Tasty Tenderloin of Pork with Naan and Tangy Sauce

Recently, I made a version of Alton Brown’s Pork Wellington, a fairly easy and very tasty meal.  Our normal way to eat pork tenderloin however, is grilled with various marinades and/or rubs.  This is the first time I’ve actually written the recipe down, I usually wing it!  You can marinade for an hour or all day.  For a new twist, I served the pork on grilled store bought naan with a tangy sauce (I’m looking for a recipe to make naan at home). 

I hope you’ll try this!  I’ll be sharing more marinades and grilling ideas with you soon.  Would love to hear your favorites for the grill.

Gougères with Whole Wheat Flour

There is a group of courageous bloggers/cooks who are cooking a recipe a week (I think that is how it is going) from Dorie Greenspan’s new book Around My French Table.  You can follow along here.

I’m not committing to the series, but I was intrigued by their first recipe, gougères, French cheese puffs.   A friend was recently in Paris and mentioned on Facebook that she had some which brought back memories of the cheesy puffs eaten on my last trip to Paris.  The next day, I came across the FFwD group and their first recipe.  So, Cathi, this one’s for you!

PICTURE THIS: In Vino Veritas

Grapes, Colchagua Valley, Chile February 2010





Wine makes daily living easier, less hurried, with fewer tensions and more tolerance. -  Benjamin Franklin

Great Guacamole!

A few days ago, I finally ripened up a couple of avocados that I had sitting around.  I've been enjoying the avocado salad dressing I made and today I made up a quick batch of guacamole for our cocktail time snack.  (Check out the salad dressing post for how to ripen avocados).

This is super easy, very tasty and satisfying.  You can use fresh deli salsa in place of the tomatoes and onion if you'd like.  Just be sure to drain it really well.   I keep the seed from the avocado in the container to help keep oxidation at bay (it doesn't hurt anything if it oxidizes, but it is more appealing to have nice bright green/yellow guacamole rather than dull brown).

BTW, I had this cilantro for over 2 weeks.  I kept meaning to use it but...  I clipped half an inch off the bottom of the stems and stuck the rest in a glass of water in the fridge and changed out the water every 4-5 days.  This works well for most herbs, especially if they are pretty fresh when you get them.

Lighten Up Pumpkin Muffins

I like to have lazy Sunday mornings reading the paper and drinking coffee (who doesn't?!).  A few weekends ago, I came across a recipe for "Skinny Pumpkin Muffins" in Parade Magazine in our local island paper.  Since the transitions between seasons are very subtle here on Maui, Pumpkin Muffins sounded like just the thing to help get us in the "Fall" mood.  I have been looking for pumpkin puree for 3 weeks (not that unusual-"gotta wait for the boat") so when I found some today, I grabbed a few cans and promptly came home and made these muffins.

Avocado Dressing

Two very firm avocados had been sitting on my counter for a week…hmmm.  Well first I needed to ripen them up so into a paper bag they went for another week, yep another whole week on the counter in the paper bag.  This morning, ta-daaah!  Soft avocados.

I recently had a very fun “BLT salad” at one of our favorite Maui Restaurants, Merrimans Kapalua.  I commented to the waiter about the dressing and he said it was made with buttermilk and avocados.  So, I thought I’d give making it a try and it turned out to be very tasty. 

The great thing is that this is a 3 ingredient recipe-you could definitely doll it up some but I liked the simplicity.  Now, I’m on a quest to find recipes I can use it with besides the obvious, salads.  Let me know if you have some ideas!

Slowcooker Cuban Beans and Rice

Extra post today! My blogging friend Steph at The Cheapskate Cook asked me to participate in her Beans and Rice series.  Check out her blog for some frugal recipes and tips!  Here was my contribution-Cuban Beans and Rice cooked in the slowcooker.