Green Bean Sidedish Controversy

I had found a new recipe for a green bean salad that I wanted to take to Thanksgiving. I was only told to bring green beans. Not any specifics. So this recipe looked delicious. Only thing was that I didn't have a pretty serving bowl for it; most of our stuff is still in boxes. Hubby asked his mom, the hostess of our coming Thanksgiving feast, if she had a serving bowl for this new green bean salad. I only heard his end of the conversation, but suffice it to say... no green bean salad. So I guess I'm making the old standby green beans with cream of mushroom soup and french fried onions. Along with the mashed potatoes (which were "too lumpy" the last time), baked ham, and 2 pecan pies (1 gluten-free and 1 regular). Hope the rich sister brings something other than wine this year!

Do I sound bitter? Sorry. I'm not having a great week.

Hubby and I decided that on Friday, we'll make our own "Thanksgiving" dinner here ... with the stuffing **I** like, the new green bean salad, homemade not-from-a-box bread machine bread, and whatever ham is leftover from Thursday. I think we'll also make cinnamon-and-sugar pecans and walnuts.

Then we're going to spend Sat and Sun making even more homemade breads ... experiments, if you will. For the bread machine, or drop biscuits or skillet ... all completely from scratch.

I'm thinking the diet will start on Monday.

Hopefully, after Friday, I'll post recipes for some of our bread experiments, and, of course, the green bean recipe IF it turns out ok. It has mushrooms, red onion, walnuts, feta cheese, and a white wine vinaigrette. Served chilled. Can't wait! Yum!

Recipe: Rummed Blackberries

Rum is gluten-free and a great way to preserve those berries that are very available during the Summer. Here's how:

Ingredients:

fresh raw berries (blackberries, mulberries, etc.)

90-proof rum

white table sugar

Directions:

Wash the berries and drain thoroughly. Place in jars that you have a cover for. Add 1/2 cup white table sugar to 1 cup of strong 90-proof rum. Cover the berries in the jar with the sugar/rum mixture. Seal the jar tightly and store in a dark place. Do not use for at least one month for blackberries, two months for mulberries.

How to Use:

Spoon over pound cake or fresh homemade ice cream for a delicious treat.

Recipe: Yogurt with Oranges and Berries

Since berries are obviously in season now (didya see my last post?), it's time to post some berry recipes. Here's something I'll make for me and Tween (VHTS) tomorrow morning for breakfast:

Ingredients:
1 cup plain or vanilla goat (or cow) yogurt
1/2 cup canned/drained mandarin oranges
1/2 cup fresh blueberries
honey
cinnamon

Directions:
Layer the yogurt, oranges and berries in a pretty glass (see the pic). Top with a dash of cinnamon. Drizzle on a little honey. Garnish with granola or a mint spring. Yum!

Copyright (c) 2009 V P Lawrence-Williams

Recipe: Marinated Radishes and Cucumbers

This can marinade in the fridge for up to 36 hours. Tasty quick pickles!

Ingredients:

1 cup slices of radishes

1 cup slices of cucumbers

1/2 cup apple cider vinegar

1/4 cup water

1/4 cup chopped scallions (green and white)

1 tablespoons sugar

Directions:

Place the cucumbers and radishes in a mason (glass) jar with tight lid. Combine the rest of the ingredients and pour over radishes and cucumbers. Screw on lid and refrigerate about 12 hours, lighting shaking and mixing occasionally. When ready to serve, drain liquid, and serve with the onions sprinkled over the radishes and cucumbers.

Add white pepper to the marinade if desired.

Copyright (c) 2009 V P Lawrence-Williams

Recipe: Pasta with Artichokes and Feta

This is another simple dish. Hubby loves artichokes, and we use goat or sheep feta because his tummy doesn't like cow's milk products. Our garden produces the fresh parsley, and to change it up, sometimes I add fresh bunching onions (scallions) also from our garden.

Ingredients:

1 package of pasta, your choice

1 can or jar of artichoke hearts, drained

1/2 cup feta cheese

2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 tablespoon balsalmic vinegar

salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Boil the pasta. In a large mixing bowl (that you can serve in), combine vinegar, oil, parsley and salt/pepper. When pasta is ready, drain, add to the bowl and toss. Add artichoke hearts and feta, toss and serve.

Copyright (c) 2009 V P Lawrence-Williams

Recipe: Pasta with Black Olives

This is a really simple dish, especially if you have an herb garden. While I do give measurements, don't feel like you have to stick with them because I make it a little different every time, according to taste. Experiment with what YOU like!

Ingredients:

1 package of pasta, any kind

1 can whole black olives, pitted, drained

1/4 cup olive oil

1 clove garlic, minced or crushed

2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh oregano

2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar

salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Cook pasta. While cooking, in a large mixing bowl, combine the vinegar, oil, garlic and oregano. Add olives. Drain pasta and add. Toss and serve.

Copyright (c) 2009 V P Lawrence-Williams

Recipe: Poached Pears with Apricot Syrup

Here's a little something I experimented with for a simple dessert.

Ingredients:

1 can pear halves in syrup

2 tablespoons honey

4 tablespoons apricot jam

2 pats butter

Directions:

Add butter to skillet set on low-medium. As it melts, add pear halves (with juice/syrup). Mix the apricot jam/preserves with honey and add to the skillet. Let cook (poach) for 10 minutes, stirring to make sure the syrup doesn't burn. Turn the pears over to cook on the other side... for another 5 minutes or so.

Serve one pear half, scooped-side up, on a pretty little plate, with a small dollop of sour cream (or cream cheese) on top, and drizzled with the apricot/pear/honey syrup. Sprinkle with chopped nuts if desired. Delicious!

Copyright (c) 2009 V P Lawrence-Williams

Recipe: Pocket Potatoes

I found these mentioned in one of the "Little House" books, and looked up how it was actually done. They didn't use foil (just roasted in coals), but here's an adapted version for modern days:


Ingredients:
white potatoes or sweet potatoes
aluminum foil
roaring fire


Directions:
Clean potato and wrap in foil. Scrape some of the fire's coals to the side, and bury the potatoes in them. Turn occasionally. Cook about 45 minutes (you may see some steam come out). Check by poking with a clean sharpened twig or knife - the middle will be soft/tender.


Here's the beauty of this. When they are done, don't eat yet. Let them cool just until they can be handled, then slip into your pockets. These used to be hand-warmers. Use while out preparing your garden, or traveling (like they did - horse and buggy), or just out taking a walk. In the 1800's, children who walked those long distances to school would keep one in each pocket to help them stay warm, then eat them for lunch.


Serve with butter, as desired.

Recipe: Mud Apples

Going back to the pioneer theme, here's a recipe... well, more of instructions ... of how to bake an apple with just a fire and mud. Native Americans used to do this ... more or less.

Ingredients:
1 large apple
thick mud
roaring fire

Directions:
Apply a thick coat of mud (about an inch thick) around the apple. Once you have some coals in the fire, scoop some off to the side. Carefully bury the mud-coated apple in the coals. "Bake" for about 45 minutes - long enough to dry the mud and cook the apples. Carefully scrape away the coals and take out the mud apples. Knock the dry mud off of half, discarding that side of the apple skins. That leaves a kind of bowl. Spoon up the pulp for a delicious treat.

Recipe: Stewed Pumpkin

I went down to do laundry the other day and realized we still had quite a few winter squashes left over from our harvest last Fall. They include a couple of pumpkins. So it got me thinking... what to do what to do.. besides the typical pumpkin pie. Here's an easy recipe for stewed pumpkin - in the crockpot!

Ingredients:
1 medium sized pumpkin
4 cups water
1 stick butter (or lactose-free equivalent) in small chunks
1 -2 tablespoons of cider vinegar
1- 2 teaspoons of pumpkin pie spice
1 teaspoon salt

Directions:
Take the rind off the pumpkin, and clean out the innards. Cut into chunks and add to the crockpot with the water. Cook on high for 8 hours, until the pumpkin meat is tender. Add the rest of the ingredients to the crockpot and stir until well combined. Cook on low for 2 hours. Adjust spices to taste.

Pumpkin Pie Spice:
I buy this already made at Vitamin Cottage, but it also comes in tins in the spice section of a regular grocery store. You could also make your own from ground ginger, nutmeg, cloves, cinnamon. Use amounts of seasonings to your preference.

Copyright (c) 2009 VP Lawrence-Williams

Recipe: Roasted Garlic

I had such a craving for roasted garlic the other day that I made a special trip to the grocery store just to get some fresh bulbs. Here's how to do it:

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
2. Peel the outer skin from the garlic bulb but make sure the skin around the individual cloves stay put.
3. With the root end on your cutting board, slice the top 1/4 off the bulb. This will expose the cloves. The root end will keep the cloves all attached together.
4. Place the garlic head (bulb) on a sprayed piece of aluminum foil. (Some people use small pieces of aluminum in a muffin pan so they won't move around.) It's okay to place more than one bulb per piece of foil. Drizzle the bulbs with some olive oil, using your fingers to ensure the garlic bulb is well coated. This will prevent burning.
5. Cover with more aluminum foil. Bake for 30-35 minutes, or until the cloves feel kinda squishy and soft when pressed.
6. Allow to cool slightly. Use a small sharp knife to slit the skins around each clove. Squeeze the roasted garlic cloves out of the skins.

This is especially tasty when spread on crispy buttery bread. Or mash with a fork to use for cooking or adding to salad dressings. Or mix with sour cream to top baked potatoes. Or add to a little parmesan cheese, butter and pasta.

FYI: The big "whole" is the bulb, and the individual parts are called "cloves. Some people (yes, including the past me) get these mixed up.

Alternate: Instead of using the oven, you could roast it in the foil on a grill. The aroma it gives off sometimes flavors other foods on the grill.

Copyright (c) 2009 VP Lawrence-Williams

Recipe: Ramen Noodle Salad

Are you stocking up on Ramen noodles? They are cheap and very easy to prepare -- especially in this salad! Here's a salad you can make with your pantry's givings with a little help from your garden:

Ingredients - Salad:
1 head of lettuce (or 4 cups greens)
6-8 green onions/bunching onions
1 6-ounce can mandarin oranges
1/2 cup dried celery dices (rehydrated)
1/2 cup toasted slivered almonds (toasted)
1 3-ounce package of Ramen noodles, uncooked & crumbled

Ingredients - Dressing:
1/4 cup vegetable oil (or avocado or walnut or olive oil)
3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
seasoning packet from noodles *
sugar/salt/pepper to taste

Directions:
Chop green onions. Tear lettuce into bite sizes, then wash and spin dry greens. In a large bowl that can be covered, mix together the greens and green onions with the mandarin oranges and rehydrated celery dices. Cover and refrigerate. Blend together dressing (seasoning to taste). Just before serving, add to the salad the dressing, almonds and noodles.

* I use only half of the seasoning packet because it's very high in sodium (bad for my blood pressure).

Copyright (c) 2009 VP Lawrence-Williams

Recipe: Preserving Turnips

If you read the posting on March 10 about growing turnips, now you want the info on preserving them.

As you thin the plants, eat the washed thinnings in salads, or steam with onion and served with ham/ham hocks.

A lot of people just prefer the turnip greens, and leave the turnips to rot. Turnips are a good low calorie source of vitamin C and fiber. Turnip greens contain large amounts of vitamin A and especially large amounts of lutein which has been shown to help prevent cataracts and cardiovascular disease.



Eating Fresh:
Greens:
- cook like spinach, serve with vinegar or tobasco sauce
- add to a stir fry at the very last minute

Turnips:
- boil and mash like potatoes
- slice and serve with butter and seasonings to taste. Don't overcook.
- cook in stew or soup
- slice and serve raw VERY YOUNG turnip roots


Preserving - Short Term:
Greens:
- Freeze like spinach

Turnips:
- Store whole roots in refrigerator for a few weeks
- See recipe below for Purple Pickled Turnips

Preserving - Long Term:
Greens:
- Freeze like spinach

Turnips:
- Slice thinly (use a mandolin for same-size slices). Marinate in soy sauce, season to taste, and dehydrate until crispy. This is the recommended way to preserve turnips long-term.

The following recipe is to preserve the turnips short term. After a lot of research, I couldn't find pickled turnips for long-term storage.

Purple Pickled Turnips:

Ingredients:
5 pounds of turnips
1 can sliced beets (keep juice!)
Brine (see below)
1 chili pepper, halved
salt to taste

Directions:
Make brine with 1/3 parts boiled water to 2/3 parts white vinegar, and add salt to taste. Clean turnips and cut in half. Then cut each half into thick slices. Place turnips, beets and beet juice (important!) into a large jar. Cover with brine. Add the chili pepper. Refrigerate until turnips are completely pickled - able to tell if turnip is pink in the middle when cut. May take about a week. Will laste in refrigerator for a few weeks.

Copyright (c) 2009 VPLW

Recipe: Fried Corn and Black Beans

Just discovered this recipe, and with a little tweaking to fit our pantry and taste-buds, it's a keeper!

Ingredients
1 can chicken broth
1/2 cup dried onion dices
1/2 cup dried carrot dices
1/2 cup dried celery dices
1 tablespoon dried garlic granules
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1 cup water
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1 can corn (we like white but yellow is cheaper)
1 can black beans, drained/rinsed
oil/salt/pepper to taste

Directions:
In a large skillet, add chicken broth plus the onion, carrot, celery, and garlic; allow to rehydrate for 15-30 minutes. Add rest of ingredients and turn on heat to medium. Cook until almost all of the liquid is gone and everything is fried and tender. Be sure to stir to avoid sticking. Can be served on top of cooked rice or noodles.

p.s. when I serve something like this, picky eater boy, aka VHTS, always chooses something else, like peanut butter and banana gluten-free sandwich or cashew nuts with a pear. He doesn't like so many ingredients, especially touching. Would rather have plain corn, then separately a few beans. Go figure!

Copyright (c) 2009 VPLW

Recipe: Garden Fruit Salad

Simple fruit salad from ingredients you can mostly grow yourself!

Salad Ingredients:
1 cantaloupe
2 cups red grapes
1 cup walnuts

Directions:
Prepare fruit: peel the cantaloupe, seed it, and cut into cubes. De-stem and wash grapes. Add cantaloupe, grapes and walnuts into a coverable serving dish. Prepare dressing (below), pour over fruit and nuts and refrigerate covered for 2 hours before serving.

- - -

Dressing Ingredients:
1/2 cup mild oil (canola or vegetable or walnut)
2 tablespoons honey
1 teaspoon prepared Dijon mustard
3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
1 teaspoon lime juice
2 cups freshly picked raspberries

Dressing Directions:
Combine all ingredients except berries in a blender and process briefly to emulsify. Add berries and process until liquidy. Check seasoning. Add salt or other seasonings to taste. Does well with this salad or a green salad.

Alternate: Feel free to use whatever fruit and nuts that you have growing.

Copyright (c) 2009 New View Group, LLC

Recipe: Delicate Asparagus

A gentle way to make a side dish, whether with asparagus or green beans or sliced zucchini...

Ingredients:
1 pound fresh asparagus
1/4 cup olive oil
3 tablespoons lemon juice
salt/pepper to taste
1/3 cup green can parmesan cheese

Directions:
Clean and trim asparagus. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Place asparagus on sprayed/oiled baking sheet. Drizzle with olive oil and lemon juice. Add salt and pepper to taste. Sprinkle with cheese and bake at for 15-18 minutes. Ready when vegetable is crisp but still tender.

Copyright (c) 2009 New View Group, LLC

Recipe: Green Beans with Almonds

This is a simple recipe to dress up a casual meal. If you have canned beans, use about 4 cans, or 1 quart of home-processed beans.

Ingredients:
1 16-ounce package frozen green beans
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup honey
1/2 cup slivered almonds
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
2 teaspoons lemon juice
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
Toast almonds (place on cookie/baking sheet and roast at 350 degrees F. for several minutes until just barely lightly browned. Combine water, honey and lemon juice. In a medium sized baking dish, add all ingredients and bake for 45 minutes until beans are tender.

Alternative: Can add all ingredients to a large sheet of aluminum foil, fold over, and grill until beans are tender. Yum!

Copyright (c) 2009 New View Group, LLC

Recipe: Peachy Sweet-Taters

Ingredients:
5 sweet potatoes, cut into chunks
1 can peach pie filling
2 tablespoons almond, walnut or vegetable oil

Directions:
Grease bottom and sides of crockpot with oil. Place chunked sweet potatoes in crockpot. Add pie filling and mix well. Cover. Cook on low for 3-4 hours until potatoes are cooked through.

Alternate:
If no fresh sweet potatoes are available, open a few cans of "yams", drain and use those. This will cut the cooking time down considerably.

Copyright (c) 2009 New View Group, LLC

Recipe: Fried Green Tomatoes

Do you still have some green tomatoes from your Summer's harvest? Here's a recipe to help you out:

Ingredients:
-fresh green tomatoes
-cornmeal or corn/masa flour
-salt/pepper to taste
-vegetable or peanut oil

Directions:
Slice the tomatoes about 1/4 inch thickness, and spread on baking sheet, end to end. Sprinkle a little salt over the tomatoes. Stack more and salt more until all tomatoes are sliced and salted. Let sit at room temperature (or in the refrigerator) for at least six hours to allow the salt to take out the moisture from the tomatoes. Mix flour, and salt/pepper to taste in bowl. Coat each tomato slice with flour mixture. Place on clean baking sheet and let sit for 30 minutes. Then heat oil in medium skillet to medium high. Carefully place tomatoes into the oil. Brown tomatoes on one side, then carefully turn and brown on the other side. The tomatoes are done when they are golden brown. Remove to a paper-towel-lined place (to drain).

Variation: Substitute regular flour for the corn flour. Can also add preferred spices to flour mixture before coating.

Copyright (c) 2009 New View Group, LLC

Recipe: Cranberry-Sauced Beets

Very colorful side dish!

Ingredients:
1 can cranberry sauce
1 cup orange juice
2 tablespoons honey
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 jar beets (NOT pickled)

Directions:
Mix all ingredients (except beets) and heat until well combined. Add beets and warm through.

Copyright (c) 2009 New View Group, LLC