Mango Salsa

This summer my family took a trip to Wyoming for, what I would consider, our first 'real' family vacation. We drove over 17 hours one way to visit my brother and his family in Northern Wyoming. They chauffeured us all over the landscape taking us to really some cool places. One of the days we did the 'tourist' thing and spent the day in Cody, Wyoming; walking the main street and visiting all the shops.
One of our favorite little shops was the "Wyoming Buffalo Co." A specialty shop filled with products 'Made in Wyoming.' They had all kinds of sauces, jams, sausages, cheese, salsas... all made in Wyoming from local small businesses. The best part was the samples! We could sample the BBQ sauces, syrups, salsas... even the sausage! We tried buffalo and venison sausage...yummy!
My favorite salsa (because of course, I'd choose to buy something hot!) was a mango-habanero salsa. So delicious. It was spicy and sweet at the same time. So good. The only problem? It came in a 2 cup mason jar and I'm nearly out all ready! The other problem?

It's a 17hr drive to Wyoming to get some more!
So, I did what I usually do. I came up with my own version. This salsa was different than my Super EASY salsa. This salsa had a more cohesive consistency (if that makes any sense)...and the veggies were soft like it had been cooked. So that's what I did. I was totally winging it as I had not ever attempted a cooked salsa before. But I have to say, I really liked it. The only problem? This one didn't last very long either! Time for another batch ;)



What You'll Need:
1 Tbs olive oil
Half an onion, diced
1 ripe mango. Peeled and diced. (Check out this site on how to cut and dice a mango.)
2 jalapenos, diced. Leave the veins and seeds in tact if you want the heat. (You can use a habanero if you're brave enough! I just didn't have any on hand). 
1 small (8oz) can crushed pineapple
1 15oz can diced tomatoes (blended)
¼ tsp ground cumin

What You'll Do:
Heat the oil in a medium sized sauce pot.
Add the diced onions and cook and stir over med-high heat until caramelized.
Add the diced mango and jalapenos. Cook and stir until the jalapenos begin to soften.
Add the crushed pineapple. Stir. Lower the heat and simmer.
While the pot is simmering, place the diced tomatoes in a blender and give them a quick spin just to crush them. Add the blended tomatoes to the sauce pot. Add the cumin. Stir. Cover and simmer for 10-15 mins. Remove from heat and allow to cool in the pot. Store in an air tight container in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks. If it lasts that long!

(Almost as good as Papa Jerry's) Steak Picado

This time of year (baseball/softball season) always reminds me of old times spent at the ball park in Fallon, NV and long, lost friends and family made there. One of those people that I considered family was Papa Jerry; and one of the best memories of summers in Nevada was softball tournaments. Especially the Mike Llamas Memorial Tournament. Every August, for several years (I'm not quite sure if the tradition has continued) the tournament was held to raise money for a scholarship fund and keep Mike's memory alive. Papa Jerry (Mike's dad) could always be found at the park cooking up some of his famous Steak Picado during the tournament. Forget the hot dogs and nachos. Everyone wanted a burrito from Papa Jerry!
I've tried for years to duplicate the flavor and consistency of Papa Jerry's Steak Picado. I'm sure this recipe is nowhere near as awesome but it does taste pretty yummy! It makes a great burrito, steak-bowl over rice, or even a delicious topping for a plate of nachos.

What You'll Need:
2 Tbs oil
2 lbs steak, cut into 1-1½" pieces (you can find 'picado' meat in the meat section at some grocery stores. Saves tons of time!)
2 medium potatoes, peeled and diced
1 cup onions, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 can Rotel diced tomatoes and green chiles
1 can petite diced tomatoes
1 Tbs chili powder
1 tsp cumin
salt and pepper to taste

What You'll Do:
Heat the oil in a large sauce pan over high heat. Place the diced onions in the hot pan and saute until they are soft. Add the diced potatoes and cook and stir for about 5 minutes. Add the chopped steak and let cook until the meat is browned. Add the garlic and stir. Add the Rotel and the diced tomatoes and stir. Add the spices and stir. Cover and simmer for about 10 minutes on low. Serve hot in tortillas, over rice or on top nachos.

Grilled Steak and Watermelon Feta Salad

I recently had dinner at a restaurant (BJ's), but I won't mention any names (BJ's) and had the worst service on the face of the planet (BJ's)! I hate it when that happens! Especially because there was a new salad on the menu (at least, it was new to me) that sounded delicious and I was excited to try. When my salad finally came I was delighted! It looked delicious! Then about 5 seconds later another server showed up at the table with the entrées... What?! I was so mad... I wanted my salad but I wanted my entrée and I was the only one who had ordered a salad. Sigh.... I handed the salad back to the server and ate my dinner with the rest of the table. Man, was I bummed! I wanted that salad! So what did I do? I made my own the following night at home! Ha! Take that anonymous restaurant with crappy service (BJ's)!

I didn't get to try the salad at the restaurant as reference so I have no idea if mine turned out the same. In fact, I know it isn't the same because I made a few variations from the salad listed on the menu. I added thinly sliced, grilled steak, toasted sunflower seeds, and a balsamic vinaigrette dressing instead of the honey vinaigrette dressing on the menu. It was DE-lish-Us!

I've included a recipe for the Balsamic Vinaigrette here as well. Of course, you can always use bottled...but homemade is so much fresher.

One Serving of Salad

What You'll Need:
2 cups mixed greens (You can use whatever you like most. I like the Spring Mix with arugula, red leaf lettuce, endive, etc. and I add a little chopped romaine as well.)
1/2 cup bite size watermelon cubes
1-2 Tbs coarsely chopped/sliced red onions
1-2 Tbs crumbled Feta cheese
1 tsp toasted, salted sunflower seeds
2 oz thinly sliced strips of grilled steak (you can use an inexpensive cut of meat for this. Marinate the meat in some balsamic vinegar, olive oil, pressed garlic clove, and brown sugar for at least an hour before grilling and slice thin before serving)
1/4 cup balsamic vinaigrette (more or less to taste)

What You'll Do:
Grill the steak how you like it... I prefer medium. Chop the watermelon and onion and set aside. Place the salad greens on a plate or salad bowl, layer the rest of the ingredients and finish with the balsamic dressing.

Balsamic Vinaigrette

What You'll Need:
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1 Tbs honey
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp garlic salt
1/4 tsp ground pepper
3/4 cup olive oil

What You'll Do:
Place all ingredients in a screw-top jar or 'shaker cup.' Shake to combine. I noticed the longer I shook the more 'frothy' the dressing got. (Is that even a word? The dressing got thicker! lol) Taste and adjust the seasonings if necessary. Especially if you like it more or less sweet.
Cover and refrigerate. Shake before use.

Pasta and Mushroom Wine Sauce

 I hesitate to call this a Marsala Wine Sauce because I didn't use Marsala wine...so we'll just call it a "Mushroom Wine Sauce." I wanted to make a sauce similar to the one I love from my favorite Italian restaurant and decided to just use one of the white wines I had at home. I had a Riesling and a Moscato and went with the Moscato because of the similar sweet qualities that I taste in a Marsala sauce. It turned out AH-mazing! 

My kids are with family for a couple weeks for summer vacation so this was my opportunity to cook something they wouldn't usually eat. They don't like anything with big hunks of onion, or mushrooms for that matter. This should be a fun couple weeks for me in the kitchen. I can make all the spicy, oniony, garlicy, crazy creations I want!

What You'll Need:
 3 TBS Olive Oil
1/4 cup onion, sliced
1 TBS garlic, chopped ( I used 3 cloves of garlic, pressed)
1/2 pound mushroom, sliced
3 TBS flour
1/2 cup white wine
1 ½ cups beef stock
salt and pepper to taste

What You'll Do:
Add olive oil to a heavy, hot saucepan. Add onions, garlic, and mushrooms. Saute until the mushrooms are tender. Add flour, stir to coat the veggies, and cook about 1 minute. Deglaze the pan with the 1/2 cup wine. Add the beef stock and cook until the sauce thickens.  Serve over baked chicken breast or pasta. (Or both!)

Simple Sweet and Sour Chicken

This is one of those "go-to" recipes in my repertoire. It's super easy to make, comes together quickly and everybody loves it. It's nothing like the Chinese restaurant version of sweet and sour chicken but is tasty just the same. And a much healthier version without all that breading and oil from frying the chicken.

What You'll Need:
1-2 Tbs. olive oil
1 medium yellow onion
1 red bell pepper
1 green bell pepper
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 cup chopped carrots (I cheated... I bought a bag of precut slices at Trader Joes)
3 chicken breasts
1 can diced tomatoes
1 small can pineapple tidbits
1/4 brown sugar, packed
1/4 cup ketchup
1/2 tsp ground ginger
2 Tbs soy sauce

What You'll Do:
Using a large sauté pan, heat 2 Tbs olive oil over high heat. I prefer the pan be nice and hot before I even put the chicken in the pan. I want it to sizzle as soon as I place the chicken. Gives it a better sear and color. Cook the chicken until nearly cooked all the way through. (4-5 minutes each side). Remove the chicken and set aside. You don't want to fully cook the chicken in this step or it will be over cooked in the finished dish. Reserve the oil in the pan.

Place the chopped onion, bell peppers, carrots and crushed garlic in the hot pan and stir fry 2-3 minutes until the onions begin to soften, cooking and stirring consistently. Add the can of diced tomatoes and pineapple. Stir until combined and let simmer 2-3 minutes.

Add brown sugar and ketchup and stir. Add soy sauce and ground ginger and stir. Chop the chicken breasts and return the chicken to the pot. Stir. Cover and let simmer about 5 mins. Serve over hot rice.

Piña Colada Muffins

It's getting warmer and already I'm excited about the fresh fruit of summer. I LOVE Pineapple. It is the sweetest, most delicious fruit in my opinion. There's nothing like cutting into a pineapple and taking that first juicy bite while you're cutting because you can't wait for the finished product. The canned stuff just fails in comparison. The flavor is just not the same. Fresh is always best.
That being said, canned is really convenient in cooking. I never buy the stuff packed in syrup however. Always look for packed in water or in its own juice.
The inspiration for this crazy creation was just that.. a can of pineapple. I wanted to make something for breakfast for my girls that was creative and different. I opened the pantry and stood there for awhile... searching... what to do, what to do... saw the can of pineapple. Hmm.. pineapple upside down breakfast cake? Nah... they wouldn't eat it. A bag of coconut... ah... now we're getting somewhere. Do I have any bananas? Yup.. Yes! That's it! Piña Colada Muffins.. they'll think its funky and fun!
And they did. They loved them and the muffins turned out moist and delicious because of the extra fruit in the mix.
What You'll Need:
This recipe is a variation on a previous post for muffins. The ingredients are the same... just a couple of additions:
1 ripe banana
A can of crushed pineapple
1 cup shredded coconut

What You'll Do:
Prepare ingredients according to the directions in the previous post.
Add 1/2 cup of coconut to the dry ingredients and set aside. When mixing the wet ingredients, begin with mashing a banana in a bowl. Add the crushed pineapple and the rest of the wet ingredients. Add the wet ingredients to the bowl of dry ingredients and mix until just combined.

Fill muffins tins 2/3 full with batter. Use the other 1/2 cup of coconut to top each muffin.
Bake for 20 mins at 350º.

Zuppa Toscana

♫ ♪ "Oh the wind is lashing lustily
And the trees are thrashing thrustily
And the leaves are rustling gustily
So it's rather safe to say...
That it seems that it may turn out to be
It feels that it will undoubtedly
It looks like a rather blustery day, today
It sounds that it may turn out to be
Feels that it will undoubtedly
Looks like a rather blustery day today" ♪ ♫

Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day

It's been a rather blustery day today in the AV and all day long it's felt like a soup kind of day. While at the grocery store in search of all things green, I found some really beautiful and vibrant red chard. I couldn't wait to use the chard in some form for dinner and this soup came to mind.

I wouldn't call it a copy cat recipe because it's not exact, but this soup is loosely based on the soup by the same name at that Italian-American restaurant we all know and love with the grapes in it's logo. Which is really an odd choice for their logo considering the name speaks of olives in a garden. ;)

What You'll Need:
1lb. sausage
1 large baking potato, diced into bite size pieces
½ large onion, diced
1 large garlic clove
2 cups swiss chard or kale, chopped (vein removed)
2 cups chicken broth
2 cups milk
2 Tbs flour
salt and pepper to taste

What You'll Do:
Break up the sausage and place in a large sauce pot over med-high heat.
Cook, stirring occasionally, until the sausage begins to brown.

While the sausage is browning, chop and dice the onion.
Add to the sausage.
Add minced or freshly pressed garlic clove.
Cook, stir occasionally, until the onion begins to soften.

While the onion and sausage are cooking, chop the potato and add to the pot.
Stir to incorporate and cook for 1-2 mins over med-high heat and reduce heat to low.

While the potato is cooking, wash and chop the chard, removing the vein.
Stir all ingredients and add the chicken broth and 1 cup of milk.
Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Cover and simmer for 10 minutes.

While the soup is simmering, make a 'slurry' with 1 cup of milk and 2 Tbs. flour.
You can use a 'blender cup' or just blend it together in a cup using a fork or small whisk.

Increase heat back up to med-high and add the slurry to the soup.
Bring to a boil.
Once the soup reaches a boil it will thicken slightly.
Cook and stir for 1-2 mins until soup is thick and bubbly.
Serve hot!

Thai Noodles

Actual conversation:
"What do you want for dinner?"
"I don't know, what do you want for dinner?"
"I don't know."
"What do we have?"
"I don't know."

How many times a week does that conversation take place in your home? It happens A LOT in mine! Sometimes I am just uninspired.. and tired of the same old thing. Sometimes I don't know what to make and I go to the pantry for inspiration and just come up short. But sometimes... sometimes I find something like peanut butter that inspires me! I saw the peanut butter and thought Thai! I went to the computer and found a recipe that looked easy enough and went to work.

I made a few changes (like I always do)... add this, eliminated that.. and the dish that resulted was AH-mazing! The kids loved it and everyone went back for seconds. ºÜº

What You'll Need:
1 box of Fettuccini or Linguine noodles
2 Tbs. oil
1 lb. Chicken breast (I used 4 small breasts)
2 cups shredded cabbage
½ cup shredded or julienned carrot
½ cup chopped celery
½ cup chopped green onions
¼ cup soy sauce
¼ cup brown sugar
½ cup chicken broth or water
2 Tbs. sesame oil ( you can substitute vegetable oil as well)
½ tsp chili sauce (such as Sriracha)
1/3 cup creamy peanut butter

How to Make It:
Heat 2 Tbs oil in a large sauté pan over med-high heat. Once the pan and the oil are hot, and the chicken breast and cook until done, about 5 mins on each side. Remove from pan and set aside. Lower flame to medium and add the veggies. Stir fry until the cabbage begins to soften. Add the soy sauce, brown sugar, chicken broth or water, sesame oil, chili sauce and peanut butter to the pan. Mix and stir until all ingredients are incorporated. Lower the flame to low. While the sauce is simmering, chop the chicken into strips, add to the pan and stir. Add the noodles are stir until coated well with sauce. Serve immediately.

Jambalaya

 Hey, it's only a week late.. sigh. Life gets busy and homework and dishes and laundry and so many other things try to steal my time. Last week was Mardi Gras and we had a delicious pot of Jambalaya to celebrate. We don't observe Lent in our home, but it was fun to commemorate an old Louisiana tradition like "Fat Tuesday" by making a Cajun dish even my grandma Ruth would love.
Of course, like most of my cooking, I didn't follow all the rules of an authentic Jambalaya ...I added "a little bit of this, a little bit of that" to mix it up a bit and I omitted the ham hock (personal choice.. and a funny story! Let's just say that 4+ hours of cutting up hundred of pounds of ham roasts once, ruined ham for me. I can't stand the smell or the taste of it anymore). I also added tomato bisque soup to closer resemble a jambalaya I had at a restaurant.  That being said, there as many variations on jambalaya as there are for gumbo, or even chili. Each family typically has it's favorite recipe. This recipe isn't a family recipe, although I wish I had my grandma's jambalaya recipe. This is a "Smack Yo' Momma" take on a traditional recipe by Eula Mae Doré, a well known Cajun cook in Louisiana who worked for the family that created and produces Tabasco brand hot sauce. Eula Mae is the 'Cajun Julia Child' in my eyes.

Ingredients:
2 Tbs oil
1 chicken breast
1 lb beef hot link sausage, chopped
1 small onion, chopped
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1 stalk celery, chopped
2-3 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
1 - 15oz can diced tomatoes
2 cups chicken broth
1 can cream of tomato soup (or preferably tomato bisque soup if you can find it)
1 tsp Cajun seasoning (if you don't have any on hand you can use 1 teaspoon salt, 1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, and 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper)
½ lb. cleaned, deveined shrimp, tails removed
½ lb. langostino or crawfish (I found these at Trader Joes... absolutely delicious! Tastes like lobster)
½ cup chopped green onions
1 tsp-Tbs hot sauce such as Tabasco (I used Sriracha... it's my favorite)

Directions:
Heat oil in large sauce pot. Add the chicken breast once the pan and the oil is hot and cook until done. Set chicken breast aside.
 Add sausage pieces to pot and cook and stir until heated through and just beginning to brown. Remove sausage and set aside.
Add onion, bell peppers, celery and garlic to the pot scraping the bottom of the pot to loosen any browned bits.
While onions and peppers are cooking, chop the chicken breast and return the chicken to the pot. Add the cooked sausage as well. Stir to combine.
Add the diced tomatoes and stir.
Add the chicken broth, soup and seasoning. Bring the pot to a boil. Reduce the heat to low, cover the pot and simmer for 10-15 minutes.
Add the shrimp, langostino, green onions and hot sauce. Stir. Cover and simmer 2-3 minutes or until the shrimp is cooked.
Serve over rice.

Chocolate Vegan Cupcake

Cocoa's from the earth, right? Ok, great... then these surprisingly moist and delightfully chocolatey and delicious cupcakes are "Daniel Fast Friendly!"

Ingredients:
1 cup soy, almond or coconut milk
3/4 cup sugar
1/3 cup oil
1 tsp cider vinegar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup cocoa powder
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350º F. Line a 12-cup muffin tin with cupcake liners and set aside.

In a small bowl, mix the milk (soy, almond or coconut) and the vinegar and set aside for a few minutes to curdle.

In a mixing bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder and salt until combined.

In a small mixing bowl, whisk together the  sugar, oil, and vanilla. Add the milk and vinegar.
Add the wet ingredients to the dry, mixing until just combined.

Pour the batter into the prepared cups, filling each about 2/3 full.

Bake for 17-20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a cupcake comes out clean.

Let cool completely on a wire cooling rack before frosting with dairy-free frosting of choice.

Vegan Cupcakes

Like I mentioned in my previous post, my daughter (and some friends, I'm finding as well) are "Daniel fasting." This recipe is a great solution to the snack or sweet cravings during a fast. NO animal or dairy product whatsoever!

The original recipe is just a basic vanilla cupcake recipe, but it's easily adaptable to create a Carrot Cupcake or even CHOCOLATE. YUM!




Ingredients:
1 cup soy or almond milk
1 tsp apple cider vinegar
1¼ cups whole wheat flour
2 Tbs corn starch
¾ tsp baking powder
½ tsp baking soda
¼ tsp salt
1/3 cup oil (such as grape seed or olive oil)
¾ cup sugar
1 Tbs vanilla extract


Directions:
Preheat oven to 350º. Line muffin pan with cupcake liners.

Place the tsp of vinegar into 1-cup measuring cup. Pour soy or almond milk over the vinegar and set aside for a few minutes to allow to curdle.

In a large mixing bowl, mix the flour, corn starch, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. In a small bowl, mix the milk, vinegar, oil and vanilla extract. Add to dry ingredients and mix until no lumps remain.

Fill cupcake liners two-thirds full and bake for 20-22 minutes.




Variation:

Vegan Carrot Cupcakes

Increase the flour to 1½ cups
Increase baking powder to 1 tsp
Add 1 tsp nutmeg and 2 tsp cinnamon to the dry ingredients.
Add ½ cup shredded carrot and ½ cup nuts (such as pecan or walnut) to the prepared batter.


Frosting option:
What's a cupcake without frosting? You can easily make a vegan frosting option by using 1 Tbs of coconut oil, 1 cup of confectioners flour (or more to desired consistency) and 1 tsp of soy or almond milk. Add 1 tsp of vanilla extract if desired. Blend together in a small mixing bowl until smooth.

Pumpkin-Apple Curry Soup

My daughter recently began a "Daniel Fast" in which you eat only items 'from the earth.' Fruits, vegetables, and unprocessed grains. Technically, you're not supposed to eat any animal product, such as meat and dairy items. It's been a bit of a challenge to feed her and help her keep her commitment to the fast when she is so stinkin' picky! We've made a compromise a couple of times and allowed a dairy item here or there in order to make something she'd actually eat.
While trying to come up with ideas for her, I remembered having made this soup for my husband after he had a tooth pulled. It has a smooth texture, a 'sweet and sour' quality because of the apples,  and just a hint of curry.
We love curry and Indian spices in this house, so this soup is always a hit. I've added other veggies to this recipe before and even added chopped, cooked chicken once and the family still loved it. When adding other veggies like carrots or even chicken, I don't puree the additions. I add them after pureeing the soup.

You can also make the serving size smaller if you're cooking for one or two. Just divide the ingredients in half. It will make about three nice size bowls of soup when reduced.

Ingredients:
4 apples - peeled, cored and chopped into small pieces (Not Granny Smith... choose a sweeter, red apple like Macintosh or Fuji)
1 Tbs butter (Use olive oil for a "fast friendly" option)
1 small yellow onion - finely diced
2 cloves garlic
1 Tbs curry powder
1 tsp ground cumin
1 - 15oz can pumpkin puree (NOT the pumpkin pie mix! I made that mistake once... did not turn out so good!)
4 cups chicken broth (if you'd like to keep the recipe vegan or "fast friendly" use vegetable broth)
1 cup water (to thin soup as necessary)
1 tsp sugar (optional)


Directions:
Melt butter in a large saucepan over medium heat.

Add onion, garlic, curry, and cumin; sauté, stirring often, for 2-3 minutes or until onion just begins to soften.

Stir in apples and sauté, stirring often, for about 5 minutes or until the apples are soft.

Add the pumpkin and broth. Bring to a boil, stirring often. Cover, and reduce heat to low. Simmer for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Puree soup with a hand-held mixer or in a food processor or a blender.
**(Caution: Soup will be hot! Hold the lid of the food processor or blender as the heat can cause the lid to burst!)
Return soup to saucepan; reheat, covered, over low heat.

Cucumber Bread

Yesterday's post for Cucumber Dip was a solution for some cucumbers that were on the verge of getting lost in the abyss of the veggie drawer. I grated two cucumbers and still had plenty of cucumber left over after making the dip. When I looked at the bowl of grated cucumber it reminded me of zucchini and I had a thought. Why not use this just like zucchini and make some bread?! Sure... Why not?! What's the worst that could happen? I'd end up throwing the cucumber out if I didn't use it anyway... So why not give it a shot?
I modified my banana bread recipe a little bit to accommodate for the extra moisture in the cucumber and it worked! It not only worked, it was moist and delicious!





Ingredients:
1/2 cup or 1 stick butter
1 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1/2 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp corn starch
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp nutmeg
2 tsp cinnamon

Directions:
Measure one cup of grated cucumber. Squeeze out the excess water and set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, beat the butter and sugar until combined. One at a time beat in the eggs.

Add the cucumber and blend. Add the milk and vanilla and blend.

In a medium bowl, mix the flour, corn starch, baking powder, baking soda, salt, nutmeg, and cinnamon. Mix on low speed until combined.

Spread evenly into greased muffin, bread or bundt pans.

Bake muffins for 25 mins and bread or bundt for 45 minutes at 350 degrees.