May 9th, 2008
Don’t forget…
This side salad is tangy and delicious, and would be a good base for a whole-meal salad in the summer time. We had it last night as an accompaniment to my favorite trout with mushrooms and some leftover cheesy scalloped potatoes. The flavors worked great together!
Spring Greens with Pesto Vinaigrette
Spring mix or herb mix greens
Tomato, chopped
Artichoke hearts, drained and quartered
Equal amounts of basil pesto and either balsamic or red wine vinegar
Extra pine nuts to garnish, if desired
Other additions can be made to the basic salad; these are just the ones that we used last night. I think snow peas, in season, would be a terrific addition too. Wisk the pesto and vinegar together and toss with the salad ingredients. There!
Image: Wikimedia Commons
Busy Family Meals
Two weeks of dinner menus to streamline your planning!
You Too Can Enjoy The Sonoma Lifestyle
Eileen shares somes delicious and nutritious Mediterranean-style recipes.
Creating Family Recipe Books
Mary Emma Allen, at Home Biz Notes, explains how you can develop creating family recipe books into a home business.
The Karmic Kitchen
Go take the unofficial “pantry poll” at the Karmic Kitchen!
Simple Summer Cupcakes
Top summer cupcakes with candied flowers
Here’s a beautiful, fast grilled meal to get your grilling instincts honed up! This recipe comes via the Hearth, Patio, and Barbecue Association. Visit their website for more fabulous grilling ideas!
Ribeye Steaks with Fresh Tomato Tapenade
(Courtesy National Cattleman’s Beef Association)
2 beef ribeye steaks, cut 1-inch thick (about 12 ounces each)
2 teaspoons course ground black pepper
1 teaspoon salt
Fresh Tomato Tapenade
1 cup cherry or grape tomatoes, cut in half
1 can (2-1/4 ounces) sliced ripe olives, drained
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil
3 tablespoons shredded Parmesan cheese
1. Press pepper evenly onto beef steaks.
2. Place steaks on grid over medium, ash-covered coals. Grill, uncovered, 11 to 14 minutes for medium rare to medium doneness, turning occasionally.
3. Meanwhile combine Fresh Tomato Tapenade ingredients in small bowl.
4. Season steaks with salt, as desired. Top each steak evenly with Fresh Tomato Tapenade.
Makes 2 to 4 servings.
Tags: easy recipes, family meals, healthy cooking, healthy eating, healthy recipes, meal planning, quick recipes, recipes, Thirty Minute Meals
The Superfood Cookbook (Complete Idiot’s Guide)
Variety is the keyword in this cookbook. The authors admit that even though there is a long list of foods they’d consider to be “superfoods”, they’ve decided to concentrate on a smaller list. Nutrition information is interspersed with recipes, some of which look pretty good. Many of them are also quick and easy, and they mostly focus on ingredients that you’ll be able to find easily too.
This is a wonderfully flavorful stew, equally good as a OAMC recipe or as an immediate meal!
Vegetable and Beef Guinness Stew
2 t canola oil
1 lb beef stew meat
14.5 oz can beef broth, low salt
12 oz bottle of beer (Guinness Stout preferred)
1 large Yukon gold potato, cubed
2 medium turnips, peeled and chopped into 1/2″ cubes
Leek, thinly sliced
2 medium carrots, sliced into 1/2″ pieces
3 thyme sprigs, or 1 t dried thyme
Bay leaf
Salt and pepper
1/4 c water
2 T flour
1 T lemon juice
1 t sugar
1/4 c fresh parsley, chopped
More thyme sprigs for garnish (optional)
Heat the oil in a large sauce pan or pot. Brown the beef, cooking for about 5 minutes. Add the broth through black pepper, and bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 20 minutes (to freeze) or until vegetables are tender if serving immediately, stirring occasionally. Discard the bay leaf and thyme sprigs (if fresh thyme is used).
In a small pan, mix the water through the sugar with a whisk. Slowly add some of the stock from the soup into the flour mixture, stirring constantly. Bring to a gentle boil, adding more stock, and cook for a few minutes until slightly thickened, stirring constantly. Remove from heat, stir into the soup, and stir in parsley.
Serve immediately, garnished with thyme sprigs, or freeze for later. To serve after freezing, let it thaw overnight in the fridge or place directly into a crock pot or sauce pan and heat slowly and gently. Heat until the potatoes and veggies are tender.
Image: MorgueFile
Tags: easy recipes, family meals, healthy cooking, healthy eating, healthy recipes, meal planning, quick recipes, recipes, Thirty Minute Meals
I was fortunate to be one of the winners of a free bag of coffee on Earth Day, being given away by my friends Peggy and Jennifer over on Tree Hugging Family. No, they didn’t give me the coffee because they love me so much (although I hope they do!), but because I was a good girl and entered their contest.
And the contest worked: from now on I’ll be ordering at least some of my coffee from Zabar’s! The taste of the coffee is delightful, especially for times when you want a lighter roast coffee…mellow and smooth. And Zabar’s has been certified by the Rainforest Alliance, who work worldwide to protect the rain forest while also ensuring sustainable livelihoods of people who depend on rain forest land.
Tags: easy recipes, family meals, healthy cooking, healthy eating, healthy recipes, meal planning, quick recipes, recipes, Thirty Minute MealsWhy choose your Colombian coffee from the Rainforest Alliance? Because with every purchase of Rainforest Colombian coffee, you are “voting” with your dollar. The Rainforest Alliance works to conserve biodiversity and ensure sustainable livelihoods by transforming land-use practices, business practices and consumer behavior. Companies, cooperatives and landowners that participate in their programs meet rigorous standards that conserve biodiversity and provide sustainable livelihoods.
Well, maybe not in New England, but at least in the rest of the country :-)
According to the Hearth, Patio, and Barbecue Association, it’s time to fire up that grill! The HPBA has made some wonderful guides available on their website, including one that covers the all-important task of getting the grill ready to use!
Grill-amentals of Grilling: A Complete Consumer Guide to Year-Round Grilling is the ultimate grill guide filled with tips and helpful information on all things grilling, including:
* Getting the Grill Ready
* Party Planning –Preparation & Tips
* Grilling Etiquette and IQ
* Sizzling with Safety
* Food Handling Safety Tips
* Easy Grilling Clean-up Tips
* Grilling Recipes (includes meat, fish, appetizers, fruit and desserts!)
This is a an easy salad that is amazingly good. Make sure you get the pear vinaigrette dressing to serve with it…it makes the salad!
Cranberry Blue Cheese Salad
Herb and spring greens mix
Dried cranberries
Pecan halves
Blue cheese crumbles
Pear vinaigrette dressing
Combine, toss, dress, and eat. That’s it!
Tags: easy recipes, family meals, healthy cooking, healthy eating, healthy recipes, meal planning, quick recipes, recipes, Thirty Minute MealsAfter taking a look at my recipe for Baked Trout with Mushrooms, which I shared last week, my friend Eileen told me about her mother’s fabulous recipe for baked mahi-mahi. Even better, she was willing to share it with us! Thanks Eileen and Jean :-)
Oven Baked Mahi-Mahi (Dorado)
Serves 4
Preheat oven to 450
2 T. butter
4 mahi-mahi or other firm white fish filets
4 onion slices
1/2 t. seasoned salt
1/4 t. pepper
On the stove top, melt the butter in the same pan you will bake the fish. Dredge the filets (both sides) in the melted butter. Season with the salt and pepper. Dredge the onion slices in the same manner and lay one slice atop each filet. Bake at 450 for 10 minutes per inch (of thickness).
I like to serve this with boxed scalloped potato mix with these changes for extra flavor and so that it can be baked alongside the fish:
Box Directions:
2-1/3 c water
2/3 c milk
2 T butter
400 for 25-30 min
Mine:
2 c water
1/3 c sour cream
2T butter
400 for 20-25 min
Meal Planning for the Family on the Go
Written by Cyndi Lavin [email] for b5media.
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