Cool Southwestern Salad

While this is the first time I've made this specific recipe, I've certainly made variations on this theme before. The version I'm giving you tonight is a good base for you to play around with. I've suggested some variations below.

This salad is refreshing, zesty and flavorful without being overbearing or overly familiar. You can take that and work wonders with it. A few suggested additions or substitutions are:

- jicama, mango, or watermelon chunks instead of the radish
- diced jalapeno or cayenne pepper for added spice
- omit the lettuce and serve as a salsa/dip instead of a salad
- halved grape tomatoes
- diced chives or green onions
- cilantro instead of parsley
- any type of bean instead of black (pinto, garbanzo, cannelini)
- diced cucumber
- grated zucchini

I think you get the idea. The possibilities are endless here.

Cool Southwestern Salad
adapted from Real Simple Magazine
serves 3

INGREDIENTS:

1 small head romaine lettuce, chopped
1 15-ounce can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 ear corn, kernels cut off the cob
1 avocado, chopped
3 or 4 radishes, diced
1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
salt and pepper
tortilla chips for garnish

DIRECTIONS:

1. In a medium bowl, combine beans, corn, avocado, radishes, and parsley. Drizzle with oil and lime juice, and season with cumin, salt and pepper. Mix well.

2. Serve over individual beds of the romaine. Garnish with tortilla chips.

Enjoy!

Canadian Bacon and Broccoli Stuffed Potatoes

In need of comfort food at its finest and easiest? Here you have it. Big baked potatoes loaded with broccoli, cheese, and a bit of bacon (Canadian, that is) really hit the spot when you need a soothing supper.

These don't require a lot of comment - there's nothing overly decadent here, in spite of what your taste buds will tell you when you take a bite. Use good quality cheese, and don't overcook the broccoli, and you'll be golden.

Canadian Bacon and Broccoli Stuffed Potatoes
adapted from Rachael Ray's Big Orange Book
serves 2

INGREDIENTS:

2 large baking potatoes
1/2 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
salt and pepper
cooking spray
3 pieces of Canadian bacon (or turkey bacon)
1 small head of broccoli, cut into florets
3/4 cup vegetable broth
1 scallion, thinly sliced
1/2 cup shredded sharp cheddar

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat toaster oven (or oven) to 425. Line a rimmed baking sheet with foil. Scrub the potatoes and pierce them several times, then place on the baking sheet. Drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Bake for 40 minutes, or until potatoes are tender. Set aside to cool.

2. While the potatoes cool, spray a skillet with cooking spray and cook the Canadian bacon over medium heat for about 3 minutes per side, or until browned. Let cool, then dice the bacon and set aside.

3. In the same skillet, bring about an inch of water to a boil and salt it. Blanch the broccoli for about a minute or two, just to take the edge off. Drain and put the broccoli in a bowl. Add the diced Canadian bacon, broth, and scallion.

4. When potatoes are cool enough to handle, cut in half length-wise and scoop out most of the potato flesh, just leaving enough to maintain a thin shell. Add the potato flesh to the bowl with the broccoli and stir it up to combine. Add about half the cheese and stir. Fill the potato skins with the mixture, dividing fairly evenly among them. Sprinkle with remaining cheese and bake for 5 minutes, or until cheese is melted and bubbly. Serve.

A balanced meal stuffed inside a beautiful vehicle - the potato. Enjoy!

Healthier Cobb Salad (CEIMB)

It's Thursday, and time for another Craving Ellie in my Belly recipe! This time it was a Cobb salad. I do like Cobb salad generally, but I have to say I can see why it's not for everyone. There are usually lots of decadent flavors mixed together, and it could get ugly really quickly.

Well with Ellie, you can count on her finding a more disciplined and less decadent version of the salad, without losing the variety of flavors. The dressing is a little odd, and I wasn't sure whether I liked it or not at first. But as I worked my way through the salad, it started to grow on me. Also, I served it up salad bar style, since there are a lot of toppings and not everyone in this house likes all of them.

And a note about the blue cheese - yes, it's pungent, but as Ellie always says, strong cheese are better for you because you can use less of them.

I also made a couple of changes due to personal preference, but the spirit of Ellie's version is still there. So here it is in all its glory, a healthier and yet every bit as flavorful version of Cobb salad.

Healthier Cobb Salad
adapted from Ellie Krieger's Healthy Appetite (2007)
serves 3

INGREDIENTS:

cooking spray
2 slices Canadian bacon
1 hard-boiled egg, chopped
3 cups romaine lettuce, coarsely chopped
1 cup watercress, thick stems removed
1 large tomato, diced
1 small avocado, diced
1/4 cup crumbled blue cheese
1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
1/2 tablespoon lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon dijon mustard
1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
pinch salt and pepper

DIRECTIONS:

1. Spray a small skillet with cooking spray and cook the Canadian bacon over medium-high heat until browned and heated through. Set aside to cool slightly while you prepare the other ingredients, then chop.

2. Put the romaine and watercress together in a large bowl. Set out separate small bowls of the bacon, egg, tomato, avocado, and blue cheese with small spoons for serving.

3. In a jar or salad dressing shaker, combine oil, vinegar, lemon juice, dijon, Worcestershire, salt and pepper and shake to combine. (Or whisk in a small bowl). Pour over the lettuce and cress and toss to coat. Serve salad with toppings on the side.

You can, of course, serve it in the more traditional form with the toppings in stripes across the top of the greens, but I like the element of choice. Enjoy!

Corn and Sweet Potato Chowder

Summer is not necessarily the time for soup, but it is the time for excellent sweet corn. And there is something fantastic about corn chowder. This is a slightly more exotic variation of corn chowder, with chunks of sweet potato, and saffron cream stirred in. This is no cafeteria food, my friends.

This is best with really flavorful, quality corn, so hit up your farmers market for this one. You can amp up the flavor if you cook bacon first and saute the onions in the bacon fat instead of olive oil. Or, a sprinkle of red pepper flakes would add an extra zing.

Pick a cool summer night and make an excuse for soup. It's worth it.

Corn and Sweet Potato Chowder
adapted from Stonewall Kitchen Favorites
serves 3-4

INGREDIENTS:

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1/2 large onion, chopped
1 red or yellow bell pepper, seeded and chopped
1 small sweet potato, peeled and chopped into small chunks
salt and freshly ground pepper
1/2 tablespoon flour
2 cups low sodium vegetable broth
3 large ears fresh corn, husked and kernels cut off
1/2 cup heavy cream (or milk, but you'll lose texture)
1/2 teaspoon crumbled saffron
handful chopped parsley

DIRECTIONS:

1. In a large soup pot or Dutch oven, heat the oil over low heat. Add onion and cook, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes. Add the bell pepper and cook, stirring, for 2 minutes. Add sweet potato, season with salt and pepper (generously), and cook for 8 minutes, stirring occasionally.

2. Stir in the flour and cook for 2 minutes. Raise heat to high, stir in the broth, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover, and cook for about 10 minutes or until sweet potatoes are just tender when pierced.

3. In a small saucepan, heat the cream and saffron over low heat for about 5 minutes, until just simmering. The cream should be turning yellow. Try not to let a skin form on top. (If it does, just stir until it goes away).

4. Add saffron cream to the chowder and stir in the corn. Heat over low heat for 5 minutes. Season to taste. Serve topped with parsley.

Enjoy!

Pasta alla Vodka

I went through a phase where I simply had no choice; if I went to an Italian restaurant that had a pasta with vodka sauce, I had to order it. Despite the name, it does not taste like a cocktail. But vodka sauce translates into a delicate pink colored, creamy tomato sauce. It's decadent and delicious without being too rich or heavy. And in my opinion, it's particularly good when it's spicy.

Here is a spicy version of vodka sauce that is quick and delicious, with a sophisticated flavor bound to please a discerning dinner guest. Sometimes simplicity is the best way to go.

A note: you don't want juicy tomatoes here, so after you dice them put them in a mesh strainer in the sink for a few minutes to let the excess juices drain away.

Pasta alla Vodka
adapted from The Williams-Sonoma Cookbook
serves 3

INGREDIENTS:

3 medium sized, ripe tomatoes, seeded and diced
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 large clove garlic, very thinly sliced
2 tablespoons vodka
salt and freshly ground pepper
pinch of red pepper flakes
1/2 pound dried short cut pasta (penne, farfalle, etc.)
1/4 cup heavy cream
handful fresh flat-leaf parsley, coarsely chopped

DIRECTIONS:

1. Bring a medium pot of water to a boil and salt it. Cook the pasta until al dente, according to package directions.

2. Meanwhile, heat oil in a large frying pan over medium heat. Add garlic and saute until just starting to turn golden, 1-2 minutes. Add vodka (carefully!) and cook until reduced by half. Add diced tomatoes and season to taste with salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes. Let it simmer, uncovered, for 5 minutes or so.

3. When pasta is done cooking, drain it and add it to the frying pan. Add cream and stir until sauce is cohesive and pasta is coated in it. Taste and adjust seasoning. Serve topped with parsley.

Enjoy!

Green Bean and Radish Salad

The best way to cook is to start with the ingredients. This may sound like an obvious statement, but many of us (myself included) have a tendency to pick a recipe, and then go out to buy all the ingredients that are not already in our pantry. This has to stop! A big part of why I joined a CSA program was to force myself to work the opposite way - start with fantastic fresh ingredients, and figure out what to make with them.

My sister gave me some beautiful green beans and radishes from the CSA that she recently joined, and I decided to turn them into a simple and delicious salad. I'm planning to make pasta for dinner tonight (recipe to be posted later this week) and thought we'd need something refreshing and crisp to go alongside it. The beans and radishes called my name.

This salad is ridiculously easy; it really doesn't even need a recipe. It's more a jumping off point - use whatever vinegar, nuts, or other flavorings you like. But the idea is that when you have fantastic fresh veggies, the best thing to do is eat them raw or just blanched, with just enough seasoning to keep things interesting. It's minimal effort cooking, folks.

Green Bean and Radish Salad
serves 2

INGREDIENTS:

salt
1 lb. slender green beans, trimmed and cut to 2" lengths
handful fresh radishes, trimmed and thinly sliced
2 tablespoons sliced almonds
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
1/2 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

DIRECTIONS:

1. Fill a high-sided skillet about 2 inches with water and bring to a boil over high heat. Salt the water, and add the green beans. While they cook, prepare a large bowl of iced water and keep it nearby. Cook green beans for no more than 2 minutes, just enough to get them to crisp-tender. Scoop the beans out and immediately plunge them in the ice water. Let sit a few minutes, then drain them.

2. Dry off the beans slightly with a towel and toss with radish slices, almonds, vinegar, oil, and a pinch of salt to taste.

Enjoy!

Banana Zucchini Muffins

Here I go with my crazy muffin combinations again. Knowing how delicious both banana bread and zucchini bread are, it seemed only natural that a banana zucchini muffin would be a beautiful thing. I compared multiple muffin recipes and came up with a hybrid that seemed like it would do the trick. And it does, my friends. It does.

This muffin is incredibly moist, with a delicate flavor and a great deal of comfort value. It is not super sweet, so it feels like breakfast rather than dessert. It is also jam-packed with nutrition, and you'd never even know.

Banana Zucchini Muffins
makes 12

INGREDIENTS:

1/3 cup vegetable oil
1/3 cup unsweetened applesauce
2 eggs
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups white whole wheat (or all-purpose) flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 cup shredded zucchini, moisture squeezed out
2 ripe medium bananas, mashed

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 375. Line a muffin tin with reusable (or not) muffin cups or grease and flour the pan.

2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the oil, applesauce, eggs, brown sugar, and vanilla.

3. In a large bowl, combine flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon. Make a well in the center and add the wet ingredients. Stir until just blended. Then stir in the grated zucchini and mashed banana.

4. Divide the batter among the 12 muffin cups (an ice cream scoop works well). Bake for 20 minutes, or until golden brown and a toothpick inserted in a muffin comes out clean. Let cool about 5-10 minutes, then remove from pan and eat!

Enjoy!