An Excellent Accompaniment

I think side dishes often get overlooked.

We focus on our main dishes, and then run out of time when it comes time for put out the side dishes.

Or we don't want anything to overshadow our main dish (the one we've slaved over and spent so much time planning) so we add a can of corn and some white rice.

(Well, maybe it is just me.)

As it turns out, the right side dishes can be both simple to make, and compliment your main dishes.  Take this Fresh Corn Salad for example.

Ingredients

• 1 cup walnuts
• 4 cups fresh corn kernels (from 4 ears), raw or cooked
• 2 jalapenos, seeded and thinly sliced
• 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• kosher salt and black pepper
• 1/2 cup crumbled Feta (2 ounces)

Directions

1. Heat oven to 400° F. Spread the walnuts on a rimmed baking sheet and toast until fragrant, 6 to 8 minutes. Let cool and roughly chop.
2. In a large bowl, combine the corn, jalapeños, lime juice, oil, walnuts, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Sprinkle with the Feta before serving.

Tip:
When cutting corn off the cob, place your cutting board in a rimmed baking sheet to catch flying kernels and juices.


This was so good, I could have it every night!  I love the combination of sweet and salty and spicy.  What is your favorite side dish?

Pin It

In the Garden: The Good, The Bad and the Ugly

OK - let's start off with "The Good"...

We harvested strawberries and peas this week!

Not a lot of either, but enough for some strawberries after dinner, a treat of which I never tire.

Total Harvest for the Week:  7.4 ounces
Total Harvest for the Year:  11 pounds, 12.2 ounces

And it looks like we'll have some variety next week.  The Chilean Sweet Peppers are just about ready...

... and a couple of jalapenos (hopefully spicy!)

The corn won't be ready for a while, but is looking fabulous!

And this pumpkin grows visibly every day - it's astonishing!

On to The Bad.  These are (or were) peas.  Before the stupid caterpillars.  We've sprayed and hopefully can salvage them.  They also got to the bell pepper plants.  Just when they were starting to come back.  Grr.  Why can't we ever get caterpillars or insects that want to eat weeds?!  That would solve quite a few problems.

And The Ugly?  Rose worm (I think) and rust.  Poor rose.  We're working on it though and, (as my FIL likes to say, roses are basically weeds anyway, so they aren't hard to grow) it will come back.  Eventually.

So there you have it.  On our way to harvest nirvana?  Gardening frustration?  A little of both?  Check back next week to see - in the meantime, check out An Oregon Cottage for her weekly Garden Party.

Also linked up with Daphne's Dandelion's Harvest Monday... hop on over and see what else is being picked this week.

Pin It

Sunday Snapshot - Water Fun, Old School

One of the things that you find out when you live near the beach, is that you don't go to the beach on holiday weekends.  Traffic is bad, it is crowded, people are rude... not much fun about those things.

That being said, what does one do for water fun on a hot summer afternoon if one doesn't go to the beach?

Slip -n- Slide of course!

Hope you all have a wonderful  holiday!

Pin It

What's For Dinner - Bobby Flay's Fra Diavlo BBQ and Steak

Wow - this sauce was amazing!  I'm glad I made extra, because I think it will make fantastic "ketchup" for burgers later in the week!

I thought it was also pretty easy to make. I put mine in my food processor before serving because I wanted it to be a bit smoother. I also used a chipotle pepper (from a can, not dried) place of the red pepper flakes. Both variations worked beautifully!

Hopefully later in the season, everything will be from the garden!


Ingredients

• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 Spanish onion, finely chopped
• 4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 1 tablespoon red pepper flakes
• 3 cups canned plum tomatoes, pureed
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• 1 cup dark brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons honey
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh oregano leaves
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley leaves
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil leaves
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Directions:
Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add onions and cook until soft, about 4 to 5 minutes. Add garlic and red pepper flakes and cook for 1 minute. Add remaining ingredients, reduce heat to medium-low and cook until thickened, about 35 to 40 minutes.

Serve with grilled steak - and enjoy!

Pin It

What's For Dinner: Tomato and Basil Sauce

I'm loving (!) having a ton of fresh basil!  So for dinner last night, I decided to make fresh tomato and basil sauce for our spaghetti dinner.  (well, fresh basil anyway... fresh tomatoes are a ways off... assuming we actually grow some...)

Here's how I made my sauce:


Tomato and Basil Sauce

Ingredients:

• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1 14 ounce can diced tomatoes
• 1 14 ounce can tomato sauce
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1/2 - 1 cup red wine (chicken broth also works here)
• 1 1/2 - 2 cups of fresh basil (about 2.5 ounces)
• pepper to taste

Directions

1. In a medium nonstick saucepan sprayed with cooking spray, saute the onion until soft.
2. Add the diced tomatoes and tomato sauce, and cook until heated through.
3. Add the sugar and wine and simmer for 15 minutes.  (you can add some more wine here if the consistency of the sauce is to thick for your taste)
4. Add the basil and simmer another 10 minutes.
5. Remove from heat and serve with your favorite pasta and some freshly grated Parmesan cheese.

This was super-fresh and delicious.  I cannot wait (and I hope I am not jinxing my tomato growth by saying this here) until we have fresh tomatoes out of the garden to use for this recipe!

Pin It

Frozen and Delicious

We had our first frozen delight of the season over the weekend - mango frozen yogurt!

Frozen yogurt is quite simple to make.  Fruit, honey and yogurt.

Puree the fruit, add the yogurt and honey.  And a bit of vodka to keep it from getting too hard in the freezer.  Put it in the ice cream maker.

Get the ice cream maker started...

... and let it go until it is frozen, a bit like this.

Serve right away, or put in a freezer safe container and store until you are read to eat it.  It's pretty tasty - if you decide to store it in your freezer, don't tell anyone it's there.  You might not find it there when you need it. It's a good tip.

Here's the recipe.  I made a peach frozen yogurt with the same recipe (substituting peaches for the mango of course) and served them together with raspberry sauce for our Sunday Dinner dessert.  Yum!  Nothing much better than homemade ice cream... er... frozen yogurt... on a hot summer evening!

Mango Frozen Yogurt


yields 4 servings

Ingredients:

• 2 cups peeled, pitted, & chopped very ripe mango
• 1 1/2 cups plain nonfat Greek yogurt
• 1/4 cup honey
• 1/4 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 1/2 Tbsp vodka, optional (this is used to keep the frozen yogurt a bit softer in the freezer)

Directions:

1. Place the chopped mango into a food processor and puree until smooth. Add in the remaining ingredients and puree until well-mixed.
2. Chill mixture in the refrigerator until cold.
3. Freeze according to ice cream maker manufacturer’s instructions.
4. Serve immediately as soft serve, or spoon into a freezer-safe container and place in freezer until “ripened” (hardened).

Pin It

Menu Planning

I can't wait to try some of these recipes!  I sure look forward to the long weekend where we've got a bit of extra time to cook.


Wednesday:  Spicy Shredded Beef Tacos
Thursday:  Spaghetti with Meat Sauce
Friday:  Steak with Bobby Flay's Fra Diavlo BBQ Sauce and Cherry Peppers in Vinaigrette
Saturday:  Chipotle Mango BBQ Chicken
Sunday:  Grilled Chicken Sliders and Apricot Chutney Spread
Monday:  4th of July Fare - Hamburgers, Grilled Sweet Corn and Watermelon
Tuesday:  Embellished Pizza


Linked here:  Organizing Junkie

What's on your table this week?

Pin It

Meeting One of Our Favorite Authors

Monday night The Mr and I had the opportunity to meet James Rollins, one of our favorite authors.  He's touring with his new book, The Devil Colony, and was speaking and signing books at a local bookstore.  We've read all of his books, and have been eagerly waiting for the latest one to be released (it was supposed to be released last summer, but didn't actually come out until last week).

Before the book signing, he gave a short talk and then answered some questions.  He's a pretty funny guy - I think it would be fun to have dinner with him!

We were there with quite a crowd.

But James took plenty of time with each person there.

And spent time talking to each of us, answering any questions that he hadn't addressed in his pre-signing talk.

And he posed for pictures too.

He signed as many books as folks brought to him (!) but we only brought the two latest.  The Doomsday Key...

... and The Devil Colony.

We haven't had time to start the latest book yet, but we're looking forward to some reading time this weekend.

We had quite a lot of fun - definitely worth the time we stood in line.  Have you ever gone to a book signing?

Pin It

Tuesday Garden Party - Plants Like Sun!

We are really starting to see things happen in the garden this week. This has been such a stark contrast to last year (no sun, cool weather, no produce) that it is as if we had never had a garden before!

Do you see this guy? He's an actual tomato!

A couple of Santa Fe Grande peppers are getting close to being ready.

And this (among the weeds) is a blossom on the watermelon plant!  We've got a few of them, though there are hard to spot with the all of the vines.

We've got at least 46 ears of corn growing right now.  Not bad for a crop we never really expected to grow.  I know I go on and on about the corn, but it is incredibly satisfying to watch!

The sweet peppers that had the slug infestation are finally beginning to thrive.

And the first of the pumpkins formed over the weekend!

I can't imagine what next week will bring.  Any ideas?  Check back next week to see - in the meantime, check out An Oregon Cottage for her weekly Garden Party.

Pin It

Harvest Monday: June 27, 2011

What a fun week we had in the garden! Though we did have a number of strawberries, we love them! And...

... we also had a Chilean Sweet Pepper!

And a bunch of peas!

Total Harvest for the Week:  9.1 ounces
Total Harvest for the Year:  11 pounds, 4.8 ounces


We'll get the last of the radishes, some more strawberries, some more Chilean Sweet Peppers and more peas. Maybe even a few hot peppers!


Linked up with Daphne's Dandelion's Harvest Monday... hop on over and see what else is being picked this week.

Pin It