A Simple Salad Everyone Likes. . .

Yes, Everyone! Even my two Great Grandsons request this one!

several tiny or mini English cucumbers

5-6 green onions

1 med. tomato

~ increase the amounts if you're serving a big group

dry dill

your favorite dressing

Slice or chop the vegetables into a pretty glass bowl, if you're serving this right away, or into a refrigerator container. Sprinkle generously with the dill then add enough dressing to cover everything well.

This is best with a tangy yet slightly sweet dressing. Today I used one I put together the other day. It's sort of a cross between ranch and honey mustard, but everyone also really loves my Lemon EVOO Dressing. Mix and serve.

This will keep well in the 'fridge, covered, for 2-3 days
if it lasts that long . . . 😉 . . . Lin

Brown Rice and Quinoa Tabouli

Traditionally, Tabouli - a middle eastern grain salad - is made with bulgar wheat, tomatoes, parsley, garbanzo beans, onion, bell pepper and cucumber. At least that's what Mollie Katzen included in hers in her Moosewood Cookbook. That was my first introduction to this amazing salad. If you put 'Tabouli' in the search line here, you'll see about 15 of my variations. Most people would stop at one or two, but I'm always finding new ways to make this and I don't think there's ever been one I didn't like.

Prepare the brown rice and quinoa according to package instructions then put it into a big glass bowl. To that add the following:

chopped onion - as much as you like

a big grated carrot (not shown)
1/2c hemp hearts
1-3 big ripe tomatoes - chopped

2-3oz. finely chopped oil packed sun dried tomatoes
~ ~ you could omit this if you have enough fresh tomatoes
1 bunch Italian or curly parsley - chopped

1/2c each: lemon juice + single source EVOO
seasonings: black pepper, cayenne pepper, garlic salt

Mix well, cover and refrigerate. Be sure to gently toss each time before serving. This will keep well for several days in the 'fridge. I didn't add beans this time since I had sprouted lentils. They were a great substitution.

Top with sliced avocado, crumbled bacon or gorgonzola cheese if you want. Tabouli (Tabbouleh) is amazing, by itself, or as an addition to any lunch or dinner. . .Lin

Coconut Tomato-Vegetable Bisque (with compound butter parmesan biscuits)

SO many vegetables!

This is what I started with. If you substitute English cucumber for the squash, it's very similar to the ingredients for my Gazpacho!

I only roasted those shown on the cookie sheet: squash, purple onion, carrots, cabbage, small tomatoes and garlic. The others have more delicate or fresh flavors, and are best with minimal cooking. 

Drizzle with single source EVOO, season with your favorite vegetable seasonings then roast until golden at 350° for 20-30 minutes.

Meanwhile, cut up the other vegetables and saute on low heat, starting with the green pepper and celery.

Saute in 2T each:
Better Than Bouillon-vegetable, EVOO, water. After about 10 minutes, stir in the cut up grape tomatoes and green onions. When it begins to bubble again, cover and move off the burner.

Stir in the rough chopped roasted vegetables, the can of stewed tomatoes, 1-2t coconut or brown sugar.

Simmer everything an additional 10 minutes. Blend with an immersion blender until it reaches the smoothness you want. At the end, blend in some fresh basil, then stir in 1 or 2 cans of coconut milk. I used 2 cans this time.

I made some biscuits, in a muffin tin, to go with this. Crack open a can of 8 jumbos, cut each biscuit in 4 pieces putting 3 in each paper-lined muffin cup in a 12 tin. 8 will be bigger ones with 4 being smaller, having only 2 biscuit pieces.

Top each with about 1T grated parmesan-romano cheese. Drizzle with melted butter seasoned with garlic salt, pepper, Italian seasonings. Bake until the tops are nicely browned. If there is extra butter, butter the tops when they are cooled a bit. . .Lin

Buckwheat Tabouli

Did you know that buckwheat is gluten free? I sure didn't, and wouldn't have guessed that of something called buckWHEAT! 

As I've stated before, Tabouli is one of my absolute favorite salads. I've been making it ever since first discovering it in Mollie Katzen's 'Moosewood Cookbook' back in the 1970's, but with lots of changes over the years.

Tabouli is a cold Lebanese salad usually made with bulgar wheat, but I love substituting other grains. Sorghum, Quinoa, Buckwheat, are all good gluten free options. Farro is another I've used, which is not gluten free. I'd like to try making it with rice, as well as an interesting combination of bulgar wheat and toasted vermicelli, popular in Palestine, that I discovered at an international market in the cities.

1c buckwheat

2c fresh cold water

Simmer this over low heat until all the liquid is absorbed. Gently stir in a couple tablespoons of a good single source EVOO to keep it from clumping.

Chop then put all the vegetables in a large glass bowl with the remaining ingredients.

5 tiny cucumbers

3 cloves of garlic

3 mini orange peppers

1 lg. Vidalia onion

1 lg. tomato

1/2 bunch flat leaf Italian parsley

1-2T Swad Coriander Chutney

~ (omit if you don't like cilantro)

Lowry's Garlic Salt and finely ground black pepper

1 can garbanzo beans - drained and rinsed

1 can black beans - drained and rinsed

1 can of corn - drained

Make a dressing with EVOO, lemon juice and a garlic vinaigrette. Pour over everything, add the cooled buckwheat and toss gently. This can be made ahead of time and refrigerated. . .Lin

Roasted Tomato - Vegetable Soup

Sometimes I get an idea for a recipe and it meets or exceeds my expectations. This was one o.f those times ☺️ It's not an exact recipe though, more just a photo illustration.

I had to slow-roast everything since I could not figure out how to get the oven temperature higher or lower than 350° on this fancy oven where I'm currently staying, here in Arizona.

I lost track of the time it took to get everything roasted properly, but as usually the carrots are the last to soften, so they were my guide. At that temperature, I'd guess the process took around an hour and a half, give or take a bit.

First scrub everything, then cut it all into big or medium chunks. Toss it all together in a big soup pot with a generous amount of good quality -single source- EVOO, a bit of garlic salt, lots of black pepper and whatever seasoning or herb blend you choose. 

Pour that onto a big sheet pan and roast until the carrots cooperate. Cool all this slightly, peel the tomatoes if you can, then put everything into a blender jar.

Pulse until rough-chunky or all the way to baby-food-smooth, whatever your preference for this particular soup happens to be today. Mine here isn't chunky but also not smooth, somewhere -just right- in the middle.

Pour this into that same big pot again. Rinse the pan and blender jar and add this water to the pot. Heat it to a simmer, taste and make any corrections in texture, viscosity and seasonings. More of everything? More water? Chicken soup base? Want it dairy free -?- then serve it now. 

If you want it a bit softer, and appreciate dairy, add heavy cream or a big spoonful of sour cream, just a little at a time until you get it right. Stir gently to combine everything and heat it back to a simmer before serving.

I had this with a piece of Cloud Bread and a fresh green side salad. . .Mmmm. Remember. . .it's always soup season. . .Even here in Arizona with the outside temperature at 91° . . 🥰 . . Lin

Guacamole, Avocado Spread - for toast or crackers

When you buy a bag of avocados that go from rock hard, to ripe, to lost in the 'fridge. . .well. . .you make guacamole!

4 very ripe avocados

1/2c mayonnaise

1T lemon juice

3T finely chopped green onions

1 finely chopped medium tomato

1t each: garlic salt, granulated garlic, smokey pepper seasoning

Peel and mash the avocados and combine with the mayonnaise, vegetables, seasoning and lemon juice.

If you're having this on toast, you can serve it now. Add an over-easy or medium fried egg if you'd like.

For a chunkier guacamole, add more onion and tomato. You could also add a can of drained corn and rinsed-drained black beans. Chopped celery hearts and greens could also be included. . .Lin

Another Chicken Cacciatore Redux. . .

I've been making Chicken Cacciatore since the the late '60's!
I would splurge, and buy a copy of Women's Day and Family Circle once a month when grocery shopping. Back when my $20.00 grocery budget bought 4 bags of groceries for the week, and 20¢ for each magazine seemed extravagant. . .Money well spent. I'd read them cover to cover!

I found a recipe for it in Family Circle - and loved it - each time. Even though I made it a bit different from the time before. Sometimes serving over linguine, sometimes over Uncle Ben's 20 minute rice. You know I can't follow someone else's recipe, much less make it the same way twice. So, this one is similar, to that first one of the early '70's, same ingredients, but also way different with additions and different techniques.

This one was really fun. First time ever making a roux to thicken it, or adding kalamata olives, or serve it over gluten free, brown rice and millet ramen noodles! Mmmm!

So here it is, my latest rendition of the original Family Circle's Chicken Cacciatore. 

I started with a package of rotisserie chicken, only using 1# for this recipe! If you roast your own, let it cool enough to touch. Separate it into meat and another container of the skin, bones and tendons. Use that to make bone broth.

I froze all the skin, tendons and bones, shown here, on the right, and will use that for future bone broth.

24oz. baby portobello mushrooms

1 yellow and 1 orange bell pepper
5-6 sm. yellow onions
1 whole bulb of garlic, cut in half, horizontally

I roasted the mushrooms separately from the other vegetables. Slice them, spread on a big baking sheet, drizzle them with a good quality, single source, EVOO (extra virgin olive oil). Season with salt, pepper and Italian seasonings. Chop, oil and season the vegetables. 

Roast everything in a 375°-400° oven, moving them and flipping if possible, so everything develops a bit of a char on all sides. Roasting pulled a lot of liquid from the mushrooms! Shown in the mug. I used a turkey baster to remove it before combining with the vegetables. It's a wonderful flavorful Mushroom Broth! Use it!

While the vegetables are roasting, make a golden roux, using 1/2c butter and 1/2c all purpose flour. I only used part of this, freezing the rest to thicken future soups, etc.

In a big pot, mine holds 6+ quarts, combine the following:

12oz. bone broth - mine was made previously

1 28oz. can diced tomatoes

5 bay leaves

mushroom broth

1-2t brown or coconut sugar

12oz. your favorite red pasta sauce

Gently stir all this together, with the roasted vegetables. Simmer 15 minutes or so. I kept one onion raw and added it now for a little different onion flavor and texture. When adding the garlic, squeeze the cloves out of their papery coverings  Cut them up a little.

Add the chicken and:
1c+ Kalamata (dark red-purple) olives

Simmer 5-10 minutes then check the flavors.
Add chicken soup base, or salt and pepper if needed, to wake up the flavors.

Cook as many blocks of ramen as you need. This is a wonderful, gluten-free, wheat pasta alternative I found at Costco. When cooked it's a lot like slightly curly angel hair pasta. I just love it! It's great in soup.

Since I'm not serving this until Sunday, just visualize how it will look plated, accompanied by a big green salad! This last photo shows everything simmered and ready to eat. It will taste even better with additional reheating. 

Be Bold! . . Be Adventurous! . . Happy Cooking! . .😁. . .Lin

Yet Another Red Bean-Quinoa Tabouli 😃

3/4c dry quinoa 

1c small dry red beans

Cook those according to directions then combine them in a big glass bowl with the following:

1/2 bunch - 1 bunch Italian flat leaf -or- curly parsley

1/2 - 1 med. rough peeled cucumber

2 grated carrots

3 big garlic cloves

4 green onions

2 ripe tomatoes

1/2 - 3/4c EVOO

1/4c white wine vinegar

zest and juice of 1 lemon

a little fresh snipped Genovese basil 

fresh ground black pepper

cayenne pepper

garlic salt

Chop, slice all of the above. Combine and let stand an hour or so to blend the flavors. Serve with chopped-sliced Kalamata olives, sliced avocado and crumbled feta cheese.

This is one of THE healthiest salads you can ever serve the people you love! Make it often! . .Lin

Crunchy Cowboy Caviar Salad

Dressing:

1/2c white balsamic vinegar

1c single source EVOO

juice of 1/2 lemon 

1t pure cane sugar

1/2t each: salt and pepper

Combine these in a jar with a top and shake well.

Salad:

1 15oz. can black beans

1 15oz. can corn

Drain both cans. Rinse the beans well, drain again, then combine with the following chopped vegetables in a medium size bowl.

2 peeled Bay Produce tomatoes

1/4 lg. orange pepper

1/4 lg. green pepper

2 stalks celery

1/2c-2/3c purple onion

1 lg. clove crushed, minced garlic

1/2 bunch Italian flat leaf parsley

6-8oz. Manchego cheese cut in small cubes

Toss, pour on enough dressing to coat everything well. I used a little less than half of the bottle. Cover the bowl and chill a couple hours.  This will keep well for several
days in the 'fridge. Toss again before serving. . .Lin

Zucchini and Vegetable Curry

I love zucchini! I recently bought some in its prime. . .3-1/2# of it! I made zucchini fritters a while ago and my family loved them, so that will definitely happen again. For now, I decided to cook some to have over black beans. It was a good idea!

20oz. green and yellow zucchini

8oz. mushrooms - any kind you like

1-2oz. sun dried tomatoes

1/2 lg. purple onion

2-3oz. EVOO

Sauté everything 10-15 minutes, covered, then add:

14.5oz. stewed tomatoes and juice - cut up, whatever seasonings you like. Today I sprinkled on Rosemary Seasoning, and some Vindaloo for a little curry kick. . .Lin

Garden Salsa Guacamole

Finely chop all the vegetables into a large glass bowl.

1/2 skinny orange bell pepper
3 or 4 small avocados
6oz. salsa verde (green salsa)
2-3T fresh lemon juice
1 med. tomato, peeled
3T sour cream
garlic salt + black pepper

Peel, chop and mash the avocados then add the remaining chopped vegetables. Gently stir everything together.

Serve with breadsticks, tortilla chips, seedy crackers or spread on toast. . .Lin

Simple Chicken Stew

Wash, dry and cut the chicken into bite size pieces. Sauté and stir it over medium heat, to create a little browning which will seal in the juiciness and add a lot of flavor to the stew. 

24oz. boneless skinless chicken

a little finely chopped onion

3-4T butter

Lowry's Seasoned Salt and pepper

Chop and add the carrot, celery and onion. Sauté with the chicken 10 minutes. Add the 28oz. can of diced tomatoes and liquid, simmer another 15 minutes. Scrub, quarter and slice a regular and Japanese purple sweet potato and add them to the pot.

Cover and simmer over very low heat an hour. Check the vegetables from time to time. Everything will be ready when the vegetables are cooked the way you like.

This is another recipe that will taste better reheated in a day or so. Cold Weather Cooking . . . I love it!

If, like me, you're in love with cream based tomato gravy, add 2/3 to 1 cup of sour cream to the cold stew before reheating. Stir it in, then slowly bring everything to a low simmer for 10 minutes before serving. . .Lin

Corn Bean & Chicken Chili

To start, sort and rinse 1+ cup of mixed beans, using only those of similar size.

In a 2 quart pan, cover them with fresh cold water and bring to a boil. Drain, rinse in cold water and repeat the boil process several times. Soak in fresh cold water overnight. Or use 3 cans of rinsed, drained beans.

1# bite size pieces of chicken thigh meat

1/4 lg. purple onion - chopped

3T single source EVOO

In a 5 quart pot, 'sizzle' the chicken, onion and EVOO, while stirring. Reduce heat and continue to stir and sauté until the chicken turns white, then add the following chopped vegetables, spices, etc.

3/4 lg. purple onion

2c chopped celery

2 chopped kale leaves - rib discarded

28oz. can petite diced tomatoes

28oz. can crushed tomatoes

28oz. fresh cold water 

1# frozen corn

1t coarse sea salt

2T ground cumin

2T turbinado sugar

1t AZ Smoked Garlic Chipotle

1t Little's Chili Lime Seasoning

1t Penzeys ground black pepper

Simmer everything gently for an hour, covered, stirring occasionally. This made almost a full 5 quarts. Later I'll make cornbread to go with it for lunch after church tomorrow. . .Lin

Venison Stew

A sweet family friend, recently gave me a quart of venison he canned. Ohhh, what a special gift for A Foodie! I made it and then it was gone before I had a chance to take a photo of the finished stew, but it was excellent!

This was pretty straightforward. I started with carrots, potatoes, celery, onion and garlic. I was so excited to make this, I don't remember now how much of each I used. I quartered, and chopped everything into bigger pieces, sautéed them all in a little EVOO then added a 16oz. can of diced tomatoes. This was simmered, covered for 40 minutes over low heat. Then I added half the jar of venison and liquid. It was quite salty, so other than some black pepper, I didn't season this further.

This was so good! I still have half a jar of venison left. I'll probably make it into stroganoff in the next few days. . .Thanks Jason! . .Lin

Goat Meat and Vegetable Curry Stew

2-1/2# smoked goat chops

fresh ground black pepper

3 bay leaves

Put the chops, bay leaves and pepper in a 5 quart pot, and cover with cold fresh water. Bring to a low simmer, cover and cook for 2 hours. Scoop out the meat and let it cool an hour. Chill the cooking liquid. When the meat is still just barely warm, separate it from the bone, outer fat and gristle. 

When well chilled, scrape the fat off the cooking liquid (bone broth) and strain several times through a colander, strainer and finally a piece of thin cloth. You'll use some of this to create the sauce for this stew, the rest can be refrigerated or frozen and used in a future soup.

I ended up with more meat than I expected, 18oz, which I put in a narrow, deep container. Then I added 2-3T white balsamic vinegar, 1/3c EVOO, fresh ground pepper, and several good shakes of Roasted Garlic and Herb Seasoning. Stir gently to coat all the meat, cover and refrigerate several hours or overnight, stirring or shaking gently, once or twice during that time.

Put the well marinated meat into a 4 quart heavy-bottomed pot. Sauté just enough to evaporate any remaining liquid and get the meat browned a bit, using a little of the cooking liquid to keep it from sticking. Then transfer it to another clean container. 

Sauce:

1/2 purple onion

3 lg. cloves garlic

1½" cube fresh ginger

1t alderwood smoked salt

1-2T beef soup base

1-2T smoky cumin

1/2T ground cinnamon

1-2T medium curry powder

14oz. diced tomatoes

Combine the sauce ingredients in a blender jar. Pulse, adding 2c of the well strained bone broth, blending it all until chunky-smooth. 

1 purple onion

2 red mini peppers

3 carrots

3 celery stalks

14oz. diced tomatoes

10 little potatoes*

2T EVOO

Peel the onion, scrub the vegetables, quarter the potatoes and cut the carrots and celery in chunky pieces. Add them to the pot with the EVOO. Sauté and stir a few minutes, until the vegetables are snapping and releasing their scents. Pour in the sauce and simmer 30-45 minutes. Check the flavors and make any adjustments.

Add 1 teaspoon of brown sugar to cut the acidity, if you feel that's needed. Stir in the meat, cover and simmer another 10 minutes. Again, check the flavor and add anything you feel it needs. Serve hot and steamy in nice soup bowls. . .Lin

*Potato Options. . .

...Chop and boil the potatoes separately. Mash them, then serve the stew over mounds of mashed potatoes.

...Pour the stew into a loaf pan, top with mashed potatoes and bake until bubbly, like Shepherd's Pie.

...Eliminate the potatoes completely, if you want, and serve this over cooked linguini pasta, or rice.

Thanksgiving Turkey Vegetable Noodle Soup

BONE BROTH:

1 big turkey carcass

Pick over the whole thing. Break up the bones and put those, the skin, neck and other extra body parts in a big pot with some carrot, celery, onion, salt, pepper, bay leaf and any other seasonings you like.

Put the meat aside for the soup and other recipes. Make a little bowl if the 'icky' edibles you don't want to use, for your dogs. Simmer the bones, skin and the broth vegetables, stirring occasionally for a couple hours.

Cool, scoop out all the solids, save the carrot and celery for your dinner or chop that up for your dogs. Pour this through a strainer throwing away anything it catches and chill the rest. After 8 hours or so, scrape off the fat. Use that, throw it away or add it - a little at a time - to your dog's dry food.

THE SOUP:

Sauté the fresh vegetables shown here, with garlic and pepper, for your soup. Wait on the soup base, frozen peas and green onion tops, until the end.

When the vegetables are crisp-tender, add the bone broth and simmer a half hour. Stir in a couple tablespoons of powdered soup base and check the flavor. The ground pepper here is very strong, so mine ended up way too peppery. At this point I added stewed tomatoes from a 28oz. can. ONLY the tomatoes, cut up, saving the juice for another recipe. I also stirred in 1c sour cream. This was to correct the pepperiness, but it also added a really nice dimension to the soup.

I cooked 8 oz. thin spaghetti -separately- for those who aren't gluten sensitive, to add to their bowl. For those who are, they can eat it as is, without the pasta. You could also cook and add a recipe of white, brown, or wild rice.

Every soup is an adventure! Even having cooked as many years as I have, I'm often surprised by the results. This turned out well though.

Have fun with it. . .Be Adventurous. If something unexpected happens. . .Change The Plan! . .Lin