Asparagus Mimosa blooms with color and rich flavor

This was just as pretty as it was healthy—a very nice touch to Hubby’s birthday dinner this past weekend. Asparagus Mimosa—doesn’t it just sound appealing? The name relates to the fact that the grated hard-cooked eggs have the look of yellow mimosa blossoms, according to the original recipe source.

The diced smoked sausage was an added extra to the fresh asparagus that had been cooked in boiling salted water, drained, and then plunged into ice water to make it crisp-tender.

We enjoyed this dish served both hot and cold. It was a great accompaniment to the grilled-chicken main course (more on that later this week). A little hot sauce (I used Tabasco) was the perfect crowning touch.

Asparagus Mimosa

1 pound fresh asparagus

1 teaspoon cider vinegar

1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil

1/8 teaspoon kosher salt

1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 grated hard-cooked egg

2 tablespoons sautéed finely diced spicy smoked sausage (I used turkey sausage)

1 teaspoon chopped fresh chives

hot sauce

Trim fresh asparagus. Cook in boiling water to cover 1 to 2 minutes or until crisp-tender. Drain. Plunge asparagus into ice water; drain. Toss with cider vinegar, olive oil, salt (I used salt substitute), and pepper. Place on a serving platter; top with grated hard-cooked egg, sausage, and chives. Serve with hot sauce. Makes 4 servings. (Source: Southern Living, April 2013)

Fresh Veggie Pizza a healthy alternative for Pizza Night

Friday night usually lends itself to being pizza night, since that’s frequently the time a little pizza-adoring munchkin visits our house on a routine basis. But how to make that pizza a healthy one is a constant challenge.

I loved running across a recipe for Fresh Veggie Pizza. Whole-wheat crust and some favorite veggies as a topping made it a wonderful choice.

Yellow squash, zucchini, mushrooms, Roma tomatoes, and green peppers first were sautéed in olive oil before I piled them on the prepared pizza dough that had baked in the oven for several  minutes to set it. 

Mozzarella and grated Parmesan went on as the top layer before the whole thing returned to the oven for about 15 minutes. The finished product was a pizza success story!

Fresh Veggie Pizza

1 pound frozen whole wheat or white bread dough, thawed (I used refrigerated pizza crust)

2 medium zucchini or summer squash, sliced

1 medium yellow, red, or green sweet pepper, chopped

1 tablespoon olive oil or cooking oil

1 1/2 cups sliced fresh mushrooms

2 green onions, sliced (about 1/4 cup)

2 plum tomatoes, sliced

1 (8-ounce) can pizza sauce 

1/2 cup pitted, coarsely chopped green or black olives

1 cup shredded mozzarella, provolone, or Monterey Jack cheese

1/4 cup grated Parmesan or Romano cheese

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. For dough: Place thawed bread dough on lightly floured surface; let it rest 10 minutes. Roll into a 12-inch round on a lightly floured surface. Build up edges slightly. Transfer pizza circle to a greased baking sheet. Using the tines of a fork, prick dough over entire surface. Bake about 8 minutes or until crust is set but not browned. Meanwhile, for veggies: in a large skillet cook and stir zucchini or squash and sweet pepper in hot oil for 3 minutes or until crisp-tender. Add mushrooms and onions. Cook and stir 2 minutes more or until just tender. Remove from heat. Stir in tomatoes. Spread pizza sauce on hot crust to within 1 inch of edge. Using a slotted spoon, spoon zucchini mixture over sauce. Top with olives. Sprinkle with mozzarella and Parmesan. Bake about 15 minutes or until crust is brown and cheese is melted. Makes about 6 servings. (Source: www.recipe.com)

Grape and Feta Salad is naturally sweet and vitamin-loaded

This salad just about emptied the refrigerator, in a totally wonderful way. Green leafies, fruit, veggies—all things good for you, with a lively topping of nuts and vinaigrette dressing woven around it. Grape and Feta Salad is one of our best-ever, to my way of thinking.

I was looking for a different kind of salad that would use a bunch of fresh radishes that were lying around the vegetable bin and needing to be used in a food dish. I did an Internet search for salads using radishes and turned up Grape and Feta Salad, which called not only for my radishes but the contents of several other partial containers of items that awaited use.

Other than the perquisite chopping time, this vitamin-loaded salad was quick to prepare. Need to fill out the Easter menu with a colorful and nourishing side dish? This will do it for you.

Grape and Feta Salad

1 head iceberg lettuce, rinsed, dried, and torn into bite-sized pieces (I substituted red-leaf lettuce)

1 head leaf lettuce, rinsed, dried, and torn into bite-sized pieces (I substituted torn spinach)

2 carrots, sliced

8 ounces broccoli florets, chopped

5 radishes, chopped

3 roma (plum) tomatoes, diced

1 pound red seedless grapes, sliced

1 cup sliced almonds

1 5/8 cups crumbled feta cheese

1 cup Greek vinaigrette salad dressing (your choice of prepared, low-fat dressing)

In a large serving bowl toss together the iceberg lettuce, leaf lettuce (or substitutions), carrots, broccoli, radishes, and tomatoes. Place the grapes on top. At this point if you wish, you may chill the salad until serving time. Just before serving sprinkle in the almonds and feta cheese. Toss with the salad dressing to taste, if desired. Makes 8 servings. (Source: allrecipes.com)

Black-Bottom Pumpkin Pie, served lovingly

The way to my Hubby’s heart during the recent season for honoring our beloved ones wasn’t a dessert of strawberries (he’s allergic) or cherries (he doesn’t like) or anything red-themed. Just give him something pumpkin-y, thank you. He doesn’t mind that pumpkin is more often associated with that Other Holiday.

So his crown-jewel dessert was Black-Bottom Pumpkin Pie, which Hubby has proclaimed must be on the dessert table for all holidays from now on. How can you beat a crust of crushed graham crackers, gingersnaps, and pecans, with a layer of chocolate chips and toffee bars over that?

Then, the filling—a pumpkin cream layer, much like that of a banana cream or coconut cream pie. A whipped topping, with maple syrup stirred in, crowned the whole thing—chocolate shavings added.

Love at first sight, and then the second, and during multiple servings thereafter.

Black-Bottom Pumpkin Pie

1/2 cup chopped pecans

1 cup cinnamon graham cracker crumbs

1 cup crushed gingersnaps

1/2 cup butter, melted

1 cup semisweet chocolate morsels

2 cups whipping cream, divided

2 (1.4-ounce) chocolate-covered toffee candy   

     bars, finely chopped (such as Heath bars)

3/4 cup sugar (or sugar substitute)

1/3 cup all-purpose flour

2 large eggs (or 1/2 cup egg substitute)

4 egg yolks

2 cups milk (I used skim)

1 cup canned pumpkin (I used 1 cup fresh pumpkin puree)

1 tablespoon vanilla-bean paste (vanilla extract may be substituted)

1/2 cup maple syrup

garnish: semisweet chocolate shavings

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Bake pecans in a single layer in a shallow pan 8 to 10 minutes or until toasted and fragrant; stir halfway through. Cool 10 minutes. Stir together graham cracker crumbs, next 2 ingredients, and toasted pecans until blended. Press crumb mixture on bottom, up sides, and onto lip of a lightly greased 10-inch pie plate. Bake at 350 degrees for 10 to 12 minutes or until crust is lightly browned. Transfer pie plate to a wire rack and cool completely (about 30 minutes). Microwave 1 cup semisweet chocolate morsels and 1/2 cup whipping cream in a small microwave-safe bowl at high 1 minutes or until melted. Stir at 30-second intervals. Spoon chocolate mixture over bottom of pie crust; sprinkle candy bars over chocolate mixture. Cover and chill 1 hour or until chocolate mixture is set. Meanwhile whisk together sugar and flour in a heavy 3-quart saucepan; add eggs, egg yolks, and milk. Whisk until blended. Cook over medium heat, whisking constantly, for 8 to 10 minutes, or until a pudding-like thickness is achieved. (Mixture will just begin to bubble and will hold soft peaks when whisk is lifted.) Remove from heat; whisk in pumpkin and vanilla-bean paste. Transfer to a bowl. Place heavy-duty plastic wrap directly on warm filling (to prevent a film from forming); chill 30 minutes. Spoon pumpkin mixture over chocolate; cover and chill 8 to 24 hours or until filling is firm. Beat remaining 1 1/2 cups cream at high speed with an electric mixer until mixture is foamy; gradually add syrup. Beat until soft peaks form. Spread or pipe over pie. Garnish if desired. Makes 6 to 8 servings. (Source: Southern Living, November 2012)

Simmering sweet potatoes spice up this beef stew

Sweet potatoes seem to be the current darlings of foodies, so no surprise that something so standard as beef stew gets a sweet-potato infusion. This spicy version was wonderful indeed.

Cubed butternut squash also was a new (to me, at least) stew ingredient. I even threw in a little leftover zucchini. We let Spicy Beef Stew with Sweet Potatoes cook overnight in the slow-cooker. What an amazing aroma greeted us the next morning! Stew for breakfast? We were tempted but waited (barely) until later in the day.

The magazine source featured a recipe for Herbed Biscuits to accompany the stew. Partners in paradise, I’d say. This made a tough-to-beat combination that we just loved.

Spiced Beef Stew with Sweet Potatoes

1 (6-ounce) can tomato paste

1 (32-ounce) container beef broth (I used lower-sodium variety)

1 (3-pound) boneless chuck roast, trimmed and cut into 1 1/2-inch cubes

3 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1 1/2 teaspoon salt (or salt substitute)

1 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 pounds small sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed

2 sweet onions, cut into eighths

2 cups cubed butternut squash (about 1 pound)

2 cups frozen whole-kernel corn, thawed

2 celery ribs, sliced

4 garlic cloves, minced

2 teaspoons ancho chile powder (I used regular chili powder)

1 teaspoons smoked paprika

1 teaspoon dried thyme

Whisk together first 2 ingredients until mixture is smooth. Sprinkle beef with flour, salt, and pepper; toss to coat. Cook beef, in batches, in hot oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Stir occasionally, 10 to 12 minutes or until browned. Place in a 6-square slow cooker. Add sweet potatoes, next 8 ingredients, and broth mixture. Cover and cook on high 6 to 7 hours or until tender. Makes 8 servings. 

Herbed Biscuits

1/2 cup cold butter, cubed

2 cups self-rising flour

2 tablespoons chopped fresh chives

2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil

1 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

1 cup buttermilk

Use pastry blender or fork to cut butter into self-rising flour until mixture resembles small peas. Add chives, basil, and pepper. Add buttermilk and stir just until dry ingredients are moistened. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead lightly 3 or 4 times. Pat or roll dough to 3/4-inch thickness; cut into squares to form 15 biscuits. (I used a round biscuit-cutter.) Place on a parchment-paper-lined baking sheet. Bake at 425 degrees for 15 minutes or until biscuits are golden. Makes 15 biscuits. (Source: Southern Living November 2012)

Sweet Potato Fruit Salad made a sweet menu item on Hearts and Flowers Day

Blame it on flu season. But several Valentine’s Days ago Hubby and I made a pact. After waiting for service for nearly an hour in a crowded restaurant lobby in which we were shoulder-to-shoulder with countless potential flu germs, we decided then and there: no more restaurant meals on Hearts and Flowers Day.

We’d either do take-out or cook and dine at home. Valentine’s Day falls smack-dab in the middle of a highly germ-rife time of year. I began collecting recipes for a dine-at-home Valentine meal for 2013.

As I searched for a salad, I couldn’t pass up this one: Sweet Potato Fruit Salad. I never had encountered the idea of adding cooked, cubed sweet potatoes to a standard fruit (ambrosia-type) salad. This recipe was featured on an old calendar that I recently had been given.

The tossed items are ensconced in a beautiful cinnamon/brown-sugar/sour cream dressing. This menu item was a true love gift for Hubby, who adores sweet potatoes and would be happy to have them added to most anything served.

Sweet Potato Fruit Salad

3 medium sweet potatoes, cooked, peeled, and cut into 1/2-inch cubes

2 bananas, sliced

2 apples, dced

1 (8-ounce) can crushed pineapple, drained and juice reserved

1 1/2 pounds (2 cups) seedless grapes, cut in half

2 oranges, sectioned

1 (3 1/2-ounce) can coconut

1 (8-ounce) carton dairy sour cream (I used fat-free)

3-4 tablespoons brown sugar

1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Combine first 7 ingredients except reserved juice; toss gently. Set aside. Combine sour cream, brown sugar, and cinnamon. Add 1 to 2 tablespoons reserved juice to reach desired serving consistency for dressing. Serve over salad. Chill until time to serve. Makes 10 servings. (Source: Texas Utilities Electric Company calendar, 1986)

Veggie Gumbo—lucky? For sure, tasty

Who says dining for luck has to be reserved for celebrating the new year? How about for celebrating a new month? As February kicked off, we decided to try this Lucky Veggie Gumbo. Those reportedly lucky black-eyed peas were, of course, present—mingled with diced tomatoes, green chilies, brown rice, okra, and other veggies and seasonings.

This can be served as a main course, although we also enjoyed it as a side for meat loaf one day and baked chicken the next. In this dish, the okra addition was of the frozen variety, but yesterday’s springlike temps in our area remind us that gardening days (and the promise of our own okra growing outside) are just down the road.

Lucky Veggie Gumbo

1/2 tablespoons olive oil

1/2 cup chopped onion

1/2 cup green bell pepper, chopped

1/2 cup chopped celery

1 1/2 cups vegetable broth, fat-free (I subbed lower-sodium chicken broth)

2 cups cooked brown rice

2 cans black-eyed peas, drained and rinsed

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 (14.5-ounce) can diced tomatoes, drained and rinsed

1 (4-ounce) can green chilies, drained and rinsed

1/2 cup frozen okra

1/2 teaspoon paprika

1/4 teaspoons cayenne

3/4 teaspoon cumin

 1 teaspoon lemon juice

Heat olive oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Cook the onion, pepper, and celery until they are tender. Pour in the vegetable broth, rice, black-eyed peas, garlic, diced tomatoes, green chilies, and okra. Bring to a boil; reduce heat to low. Simmer until desired thickness is reached. Add spices and lemon juice. If mixture is too thick, gradually add water. Makes 6 1-cup servings. (Source: Chickasaw Nation Nutrition Services)

A sweet start to the new year—Sweet Potato Soup

A heartwarming first course for any meal—or a meal in itself, as it was for Hubby and me—that’s our appraisal of Sweet Potato Soup. Golden, smooth, and comforting, this dish truly bowled us over, just as the recipe in the magazine stated it would for diners.

A couple of large sweet potatoes, some chopped onion, and a cup of apple cider, along with reduced-sodium chicken broth, formed the basis of this creamy soup. Some sour cream with fresh lime juice added were swirled into the soup for a finishing touch.

Hubby adores anything featuring even a hint of sweet potato, so when I told him this dish was about to be placed in front of him, his anticipation of dinner got kicked up significantly. We served it with crescent rolls spread with cranberry butter, a past creation. All this made for a great early January dinner.

Sweet Potato Soup

2 tablespoons butter

1 medium onion, chopped

2 garlic cloves, minced

5 1/2 cups reduced-sodium fat-free chicken broth

2 pounds (about 2 large) sweet potatoes, peeled and chopped

1 cup apple cider (I used light apple juice)

1 teaspoon minced canned chipotle pepper in adobo sauce

1 teaspoon salt (or salt substitute)

2 tablespoons fresh lime juice

1/2 cup sour cream (I used fat-free sour cream)

2 teaspoons fresh lime juice

Melt butter in a large saucepan over medium-high heat; add onion and sauté 5 to 7 minutes or until tender. Add garlic; sauté for 1 minute. Stir in broth and next 4 ingredients. Bring to a boil; reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer 20 minutes or until potatoes are tender. Process mixture with a handheld lender until smooth. (If you don’t have a handheld blender, cool mixture 10 minutes and process, in batches, in a regular blender until mixture is smooth. Return to saucepan and proceed with next step.) Cook potato mixture over low heat, stirring occasionally, 5 minutes or until thoroughly heated. Stir in 2 tablespoons lime juice. Whisk together sour cream and 2 teaspoons lime juice. Ladle soup into bowls. Drizzle each serving with sour cream mixture. (I added a sprinkle of crushed red pepper as a garnish.) Makes 8 cups. (Source: Southern Living December 2012)

Those New Year's black-eyes are stars in this hearty dish

Never has a new year been ushered in with such a grand serving of black-eyes. The black-eyed pea addition to this sumptuous dish, Southern Italian Chicken Soup, helped give it Hubby’s vote for our best New Year’s Day menu ever.

The black-eyes had plenty of good, healthy company: chicken chunks, diced tomatoes, carrots, celery, fresh okra (that garden okra stowed away in the deep-freeze finally can get its winter chance to shine), and cheese-filled tortellini were other components to this hearty winter soup that made 8 servings.

Best of all it was quick: no slow-cooker, no dreary hours of toiling in the kitchen. Southern Living magazine’s December issue recommended this dish for a laid-back holiday get-together that would be minus the fuss. Definitely company-worthy, or, as in our case, for just the two of us—Southern Italian Chicken Soup will be a favorite from now on.

Southern Italian Chicken Soup

1 large onion, diced

1 celery rib, thinly sliced

2 carrots, chopped

1 garlic clove, minced

3 tablespoons olive oil, divided

6 cups chicken broth

1 (15.5-ounce) can diced tomatoes

1 teaspoon dried Italian seasoning

1/4 teaspoon dried crushed red pepper

4 (6- to 8-ounce) skinned and boned chicken breasts

1/2 teaspoon salt (or salt substitute)

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

2 cups sliced fresh okra

1 (15.5-ounce) can black-eyed peas, drained and rinsed

1 (9-ounce) package refrigerated cheese-filled tortellini

freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Sauté first 4 ingredients in 2 tablespoons hot oil in large Dutch oven over medium-high heat 3 to 5 minutes or until ingredients are tender. Stir in broth and next 3 ingredients; bring to boil, stirring occasionally. Reduce heat to medium and simmer, stirring occasionally, 10 minutes. Meanwhile sprinkle chicken with salt and black pepper. Cook in remaining 1 tablespoon hot oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat 5 minutes on each side or until lightly browned. Cool slightly (about 5 minutes); cut into 1-inch pieces. Add okra, black-eyed peas, and chicken to Dutch oven. Simmer, stirring occasionally, 10 minutes or until okra is tender. Add tortellini and cook, stirring occasionally, 3 minutes or until tortellini is done. Serve with Parmesan. Makes 8 servings. (Source: Southern Living December 2012)

A little light feast in this green-bean dish

I certainly know one recipe that, Lord willing, will be on my Thanksgiving table.

We test-drove Green Beans with Lemon and Garlic last night for dinner. The recipe showed up in my most recent Sam’s Club flyer. The feature was called “The Light Feast” and recommended ways to eat healthy over the holidays without giving up great taste.

Fresh green beans are stir-fried until tender/crisp and then tossed with lemon juice, salt, pepper, maple syrup, and garlic. The toasted nut and lemon-zest topping go on at the end.

Hubby and I agreed: what a great new way to prepare green beans! The toasted nuts give it a Thanksgiving-y twist; the lemon makes it light, and the maple syrup stirred in just does what maple syrup is supposed to do. This recipe’s a keeper!

Green Beans with Lemon and Garlic

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 pounds green beans, trimmed and cut into 1-inch pieces

2 tablespoons lemon juice

3/4 teaspoon sea salt 

1/2 teaspoon ground pepper

2 tablespoons maple syrup (I used sugar-free syrup)

4 cloves garlic, minced

zest of two lemons

1/3 cup pecans, chopped and toasted

In a large skillet heat olive oil over medium heat. Add green beans and cook until beans are still crisp, about 10 minutes. Add lemon juice, salt, pepper, and maple syrup. Add garlic and cook for 1 minute longer. Transfer to a serving dish and garnish with lemon zest and toasted pecans. Serve hot. Makes 6 servings. (Source: SamsClub.com/healthy living)

Cinnamon Stewed Apples—will do these more often!

Want to get your fall groove on? This simple dish will do it for you.

Six apples (the recipe calls for Granny Smith, but I used whatever kind was in our most recent farmer’s market pickup) peeled and chopped with some spices, apple juice, and brown sugar simmered on the stove for 45 minutes. That’s all! The result smelled beautiful, looked great, and was a perfect side dish for whatever else I was serving. It accompanies pork, ham, chicken—or even chicken salad. Sounds like an odd combination, that latter item, but chicken salad is what was for dinner over the weekend. The stewed apples were just terrific with it. My bet is that they’d taste as good straight from the fridge as they do warmed on the stove.

Hubby’s query was, “Why don’t we do these more often?” Good question. The recipe can double easily and will keep in the refrigerator about a week. The sauce may appear thin when you remove the dish from the stovetop, but on standing it thickens nicely.

An apple a day (or a serving of these spicy stewed apples) keeps the what’s-for-dinner doldrums away. At least that’s my take on the old apple saw.

Cinnamon Stewed Apples

6 cups chopped peeled Granny Smith apples (about 2 pounds)

1/2 cup packed brown sugar (can use brown-sugar substitute)

1/4 cup apple juice

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/8 teaspoon salt

Combine all ingredients in a large, heavy saucepan. Cover and cook over medium-low heat 45 minutes or until apple is tender. Stir occasionally. Let stand 5 minutes. Makes about 2 cups. (Source: www.myrecipes.com)

Grilled tomato sandwich yummy to the last Goud-a bite

A grilled-cheese sandwich always will be one of my great loves. Give me a grilled cheese for lunch and I’m a happy camper any day. If I can’t figure out what to order on a restaurant menu, grilled cheese is my default button. 

The AARP magazine (one of the benefits of being that “certain age” is that you get to read this classy publication) recently featured an upscale G.C. that takes a healthiness detour. It combines grilled tomatoes with shredded Gouda over whole- wheat bread sautéed in olive oil. The Tomato and Gouda Grilled Cheese Sandwich is touted for its health benefits because it says cooked tomatoes have more healthful antioxidants than do raw ones. 

This made a wonderful lunch option for us. I was happy to eat it open-faced without the top layer of bread. This menu item was ready in minutes and was yummy to the last Goud-a bite. 

Tomato and Gouda Grilled Cheese Sandwich

1 medium vine-ripened tomato, cut into 1/4-inch thick slices (I used several Roma tomatoes)

3 ounces Gouda

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for brushing the bread

Kosher salt (or salt substitute) and freshly ground black pepper

4 slices whole-wheat bread

In a large sauté pan over medium-high heat, add the oil; swirl to coat. When the oil is hot, add the tomato slices; season tomatoes with salt and pepper. Cook until softened, 1 to 2 minutes per side. Transfer the tomatoes to a plate. Use oil to brush the bread on both sides. Set 2 or 3 tomato slices onto 2 of the bread slices. Grate Gouda over the tomatoes; top with the remaining bread. Wipe out the sauté pan and place it over medium-high heat. When the pan is hot, add the sandwiches; cook until the bread is golden brown, about 2 to 3 minutes. Turn the sandwiches over and grill to brown on the other side, another 2 to 3 minutes. Serve immediately. Serves 2. (Source: AARP The Magazine, September 2012)

A garden-fresh hot-dog topping to remember

I’m probably not the only one who has been trying to squeeze the last bit of life out of summer before fall sets in. Not that we wouldn’t like to jettison the summer temps that surged again late last week to turn Labor Day weekend into another oven. But the foods of summer—I wouldn’t mind keeping them around a while.

I saved my upscale hot-dog recipes for the holiday weekend that we just observed. “Build a Better Hot Dog” was the theme of a recent Southern Living feature that taught everyone how to dress up the average frankfurter.

Among the four dress-ups proposed I liked best the Greek-style version because it called for some garden-fresh elements—cucumber, lettuce (I used spinach), red onion, and tomato, along with fresh dill. A creamy sauce with Greek yogurt as its base accompanied a marinated salad-like topping. The recipe called for sun-dried tomato chicken sausages, but I used a simple turkey frank and a hoagie bun.

Previously Hubby might have turned his nose up at the thought of hot dogs for supper, but he consumed these eagerly and asked whether he could split a second one with me. In his mind this was a feast. I echo what the magazine reported—it was frankly delicious.

Greek-Style Dogs

1 (7-ounce) container 2-percent reduced-fat plain Greek yogurt

2 tablespoons light mayonnaise

1 tablespoon grated cucumber

2 teaspoons chopped fresh chives

1 teaspoon chopped fresh dill

1/2 teaspoon lemon zest

2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice

salt (or salt substitute) and pepper to taste

4 sun-dried tomato chicken sausages (I used turkey franks)

reduced-fat hot-dog buns

toppings: shredded romaine lettuce, thinly sliced red onion, diced tomato, diced cucumber, bottled Greek dressing

Stir together yogurt, mayonnaise, grated cucumber, chives, dill, lemon zest, lemon juice, salt, and pepper. Cook sausages according to package directions. Place sausages in buns. Top with yogurt mixture, lettuce, red onion, tomato, cucumber, and Greek dressing. Makes 4 servings.

Sweet Potato Cornbread—just thinking about it spices up the day

The okra is in. If anyone can bear the heat to undertake it, snipping some of the baby okra outcroppings is a ready task out there among the okra rows. We just had to dine on fried okra for dinner to celebrate a few (a very few. No one wanted to linger in the 109 degrees.) of the new arrivals.

For more than half the year I had been saving a recipe for the perfect accompaniment to fried okra: Sweet Potato Cornbread. With two cups of cooked mashed potatoes and pumpkin-pie spice, this bread just had to be delightful. I had imagined all the spicy goodness emerging from the oven as it baked and the aroma infiltrated every corner of the house.

The addition of self-rising cornmeal, eggs, sour cream, and butter guaranteed that the bread would be moist and not have the dryness that sometimes is a turnoff with cornbread. A dash of sugar substitute would deliver just a touch of sweetness. The recipe said hands-on time was 15 minutes—an easy food item to prepare, compared to the end-result enjoyment.

A new season of okra never went on the table amid such fanfare. Sweet Potato Cornbread and fried okra made for a Southern summer dinner experience; we just loved the flavor and moistness of this substantial bread.

Sweet Potato Cornbread

2 cups self-rising white cornmeal mix

3 tablespoons sugar

1/4 teaspoon pumpkin-pie spice

5 large eggs

2 cups cooked mashed sweet potatoes (about 1 1/2 pound sweet potatoes)

1 (8-ounce) container sour cream

1/2 cup butter, melted

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. In a large bowl stir together first 3 ingredients; make a well in the center of mixture. Whisk together eggs and next 3 ingredients; add to cornmeal mixture. Stir just until moistened. Spoon batter into a lightly greased 9-inch square pan. Bake at 425 degrees for 35 minutes or until golden brown. Makes 6 servings. (Source: Southern Living January 2012)

Surprise salsa looks great on the table--and it does surprise!

It was a surprise, all right—cantaloupe, watermelon, mango, red onion, cilantro, jalapeno, mint, and cucumber? All in one salsa?

I was enjoying Southern Living’s recent contest for readers to submit their very best summer side dishes. The contest included a “Best Surprise” category: something off-the-wall and unexpected that took the appraisers by storm.

The winning reader submitted her version of a “Sweet, Salty, and Spicy Watermelon Refresher”. She stated that the dish is a rehydrater on summer days and helps cleanse the palate from barbecue or other picnic fare. I had to try and see.  

We served this with grilled chicken at our July 4th luncheon. It made volumes and literally was as tasty a week later (having been refrigerated in an airtight container) as it was on firecracker day. I didn’t have the jicama called for but was able to locate everything else to toss into this colorful mix. And talk about a beautiful presentation on the table!

A winner by my estimation; I love surprises.

Sweet, Salty, and Spicy Watermelon Refresher

1/4 cup fresh lime juice

1 tablespoon turbinado sugar

2 tablespoons fresh orange juice

1 jalapeno or 2 serrano peppers, seeded and minced

1/2 teaspoon sea or kosher salt

1/4 teaspoon dried crushed red pepper

1 small red onion, diced

1/2 cup coarsely chopped fresh cilantro

2 tablespoons coarsely chopped fresh mint

1 small seedless watermelon

1 small cantaloupe

2 English cucumbers

1 jicama

2 mangoes

Combine lime juice and next 5 ingredients. Place red onion, cilantro, and mint in a large bowl. Dice watermelon and cantaloupe into 1-inch pieces; add to bowl. Peel and dice cucumbers, jicama, and mangoes; add to bowl. Stir in lime juice mixture. Cover and chill 20 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste. Makes 10 to 12 servings. (Source: June 2012 Southern Living)

Peach cake takes a delightful tumble—and sets world on its right side

Nothing sets the world more delightfully upright  than does a peach upside-down cake.

When we were in our Hawaiian Paradise a few weeks back (sigh—such a memory!), a mango upside-down cake that we were served caught my fancy and went on my cooking wish-list. Since right now we have more peaches than we do hairs on the head, I decided to spring for a peach version before I recreated the mango variety (which I fully intend to do down the road).

This recipe recommended making the cake in a 10-inch cast-iron skillet, into which you pour the mix and bake in the oven. My skillet is at our place at the lake and not at the ready, so I used my largest cake pan to house the batter. Things worked just as well. The recipe also calls for the seeds from 1 vanilla bean. I know this would have been delicious, but no time to round up a vanilla bean. One Internet site said an emergency sub is 2 teaspoons vanilla extract for 1 vanilla bean—a good suggestion.

The resulting dessert ended up being part of Hubby’s Father’s Day fare; he was happy to see the fresh peaches he hauled in off peach tree #4 being put to good use. The cake tumbled out cleverly from the cake pan. We plunked some sugar-free whipped topping on it and had ourselves a peachy good time.

Peach Upside-Down Cake

Parchment paper

4 medium peaches (about 1 1/2 pounds) unpeeled and cut into 1/3-inch-thick wedges

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice (about 1 large lemon)

1 cup cake flour (be sure to use cake flour and not self-rising)

3/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1 1/4 cups granulated sugar, divided (I used sugar substitute)

3/4 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature and divided

1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar

1 vanilla bean (or 2 teaspoons vanilla extract)

2 large eggs (or 1/2 cup egg substitute)

1/2 cup sour cream (I used fat-free)

sweetened whipped cream (or sugar-free whipped topping)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. (This helps with cleanup.) Toss peaches with lemon juice. Sift together flour, baking powder, and baking soda. Cook 1/2 cup granulated sugar in a 10-inch cast-iron skillet over medium heat, stirring occasionally with a wooden spoon, 10 minutes or until sugar melts and turns a deep amber color. Remove from heat. Immediately add 1/4 cup butter. Stir vigorously. Spread caramelized sugar to coat bottom of skillet evenly; sprinkle with brown sugar. Arrange peach wedges in concentric circles over sugar mixture, overlapping as needed. Split vanilla bean lengthwise; scrape out seeds into bowl of a heavy-duty electric stand mixer. Beat vanilla seeds and remaining 3/4 cup granulated sugar and 1/2 cup butter at medium speed until all is smooth. Add eggs, 1 at a time; beat until blended after each addition. Add sour cream. Beat until blended. Gradually add sifted flour mixture. Beat at low speed just until blended; stop to scrape bowl as needed. Spoon batter over peaches in skillet; spread to cover. Place skillet on prepared baking sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 40 to 45 minutes or until cake is golden brown and a wooden pick inserted in center emerges clean. Cool in skillet on a wire rack 10 minutes. Run a knife around edge to loosen. Carefully pour out any excess liquid (if you have any excess) from skillet into measuring cup and reserve. Carefully invert cake onto a serving plate; drizzle with any reserved liquid. Cool slightly (about 10 minutes). Using a serrated knife, cut cake into wedges. Top with whipped topping, if desired. Serve immediately. Makes 8 to 12 servings. (Source: Southern Living June 2012)

You can't be crabby with this peachy peach-crab dish

In my eternal quest for ways with peaches, I believe I stumbled on the most-unusual ever when I found the recipe for Crab Salad with Peaches and Avacados.

A smooth layer of fresh peaches puréed and tossed with honey forms the essence of peachy goodness for this unique salad. A crabmeat mixture that has been zested up with jalapeno, lemon zest, and lemon juice lies on top of the peach layer, with avocado chunks in-between.
Arugula, or in my case, spinach leaves, were sprinkled around the edges.

This made a cool summertime dinner dish, with the coolness growing more welcome as summer heats up. I love being able to walk through my kitchen without a heatwave from the oven knocking me in the face as I approach. No-bake dinners are much-desired these days.

Crab Salad with Peaches and Avocados

1 pound fresh jumbo lump crabmeat

2 tablespoons lemon zest

1 tablespoon mayonnaise

1/2 teaspoon dry mustard

5 tablespoons fresh lemon juice, divided

1/2 jalapeno pepper, seeded and finely diced

1/4 cup finely diced celery

2 green onions, chopped

kosher salt and freshly ground white pepper to taste

5 to 6 medium peaches (about 1 3/4 pound) unpeeled and coarsely chopped

1 tablespoon honey

3 medium avocados, diced

 arugula

Pick crabmeat and remove any bits of shell. Whisk together lemon zest, next 2 ingredients, and 1 tablespoon lemon juice. Fold in jalapeno pepper, next 2 ingredients, and crabmeat. Use a rubber spatula to fold in. Season with kosher salt and freshly ground white pepper to taste. Stir together peaches and remaining 4 tablespoons lemon juice. Reserve 3 cups peach mixture. Pulse honey and remaining peach mixture in a food processor 8 to 10 times or until smooth. Season puréed peach mixture with kosher salt and freshly ground white pepper to taste. Spoon 1/4 cup puréed peach mixture onto a chilled plate. Place a 3 1/2-inch round cutter in center of peach mixture on plate. (a clean, empty tuna can with both ends removed may be used instead.) Spoon one-sixth of diced avocados and 1/2 cup reserved chopped peach mixture into cutter. Pack each layer firmly and sprinkle with kosher salt and freshly ground white pepper to taste. Top with about 1/2 cup crab mixture. Carefully remove cutter from plate. Repeat procedure with remaining puréed peach mixture, avocado, chopped peach mixture, and crab mixture. Arrange desired amount of arugula around each layered salad; serve immediately. Makes 6 servings. (Source: Southern Living June 2012)

Fried Green Tomatoes take the edge off waiting on those vines

What to do when the tomato vines are loaded with mouth-watering tomatoes but they’re all the color of St. Augustine grass? If God didn’t love Fried Green Tomatoes, he would have made the red ones first.

Waiting out the green-into-red ripening cycle, I grabbed the Fried Green Tomatoes recipe from my new Cooking on the Home Front cookbook that I mentioned having bought at the Pearl Harbor gift shop earlier this month. In WWII days victory gardens were the source of many meatless meals. Clearly a plate of Fried Green Tomatoes was a dinner-table staple then as homemakers everywhere (not just in the South, although this typically is thought to be a Southern dish) got creative with their produce.

I love these crispy fried slices of green, especially as they’re smeared in ketchup. I used whole-wheat bread crumbs (day-old bread whisked in a blender) for my first batch but switched to Panko (Japanese bread crumbs) for the second. That switch made them extra-crispy.

We couldn’t get enough of these; the next day, we dived into the leftovers and ate them cold straight out of the refrigerator. The tomatoes on our vines don’t seem to be in a big hurry to ripen, so I imagine plenty more Fried Green Tomatoes will be destined for our table.

Fried Green Tomatoes

6 large green tomatoes

1 tablespoon sugar (or sugar substitute)

1/2 teaspoon pepper

1 teaspoon salt (or salt substitute)

1 egg, well-beaten (or 1/4 cup egg substitute)

1/2 cup bread crumbs

Wash tomatoes; cut into 1/2-inch slices. Soak slices for 1 hour in cold salted water. Add sugar, pepper, and salt to the beaten egg. Dip each tomato slice in mixture and then in bread crumbs. In skillet fry on both sides in hot oil (I used extra-virgin olive oil) until tomatoes are brown. Makes 6 servings.

  

Warm Pear Salad makes a grand entrance at garden party

A new definition of garden party was born. For Father’s Day our daughter and I pooled the yield of our respective summer gardens to honor the fathers in our midst—a really memorable way to celebrate that dad-honoring day.

What a colorful table as fresh yellow squash, zucchini, onions, corn, and peaches were served in various dishes! 

My contribution was Warm Pear Salad with Walnuts and Parmesan Cheese, made with pears from our abundant pear tree. This year our faithful pear is trying to out-produce its garden-mate, the prolific peach. I plunked some sliced fresh pear slices into a skillet and sautéed them in butter and sugar until they were tender. 

The pears then were tossed with spinach, toasted walnuts, Parmesan cheese shavings, and a honey-mustard vinaigrette. It brought back memories of a Warm Pear Salad that an innovative chef served us only a few weeks ago during our joint family vacation in Hawaii. I was happy to attempt to recreate his dish on the U.S. Mainland and bring back happy memories of our visit.

Warm Pear Salad was just the right combination of sweet, salty, nutty, and leafy. It helped make some dads (other diners, too) pretty happy.

Warm Pear Salad with Walnuts and Parmesan Cheese

2 tablespoons white wine vinegar

1 tablespoon honey

1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

 juice of half a lemon

1/4 teaspoon salt (or salt substitute)

1/4 teaspoon pepper

1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

4 pears—peeled, cored, and cut into 1/3-inch slices

2 tablespoons butter

2 tablespoons sugar (or sugar substitute)

pinch of salt (or salt substitute)

1/2 cup walnuts, chopped

Parmesan cheese, shaved to garnish

8 cups mesculun greens, washed and dried (I used fresh spinach)

In a small bowl combine vinegar, honey, mustard, lemon, salt, and pepper. In a small saucepan melt butter over medium-high heat. Toss the pear slices in the sugar and add to melted butter. Sauté pears until they are slightly caramelized but still firm. Add 3 turns of cracked black pepper and a pinch of salt. Remove pears from pan; keep warm. Add walnuts to the pan; toss in the remaining butter to coat and warm through. Toss greens in enough vinaigrette to coat them. Divide the greens among the plates. Top with the pear slices and walnuts. Shave some Parmesan cheese on top. Add extra vinaigrette if desired. Makes 4 servings. (Source: www.thedragonskitchen.com)

Cucumber-and-tomato pasta trendy dish recalling earlier time

I couldn’t get it off my mind. All my life I had heard my mother and others of her generation speak of victory gardens, ration books, meatless meals, and shortages during the World War II years. My mother even worked as a ration-board clerk. As I grew up, stories of how the American cook had to stretch the food supply and be ingenious in the kitchen were legendary.

Just a few days back Hubby and I were on a vacation tour to Pearl Harbor in Honolulu. In the gift shop was the book, Cooking on the Home Front: Favorite Recipes of the World War II Years, by Hugh and Judy Gowan. Someone actually had put on paper a collection of those penny-pinching recipes that my mother and those who lived through those times mentioned. 

All during my trip through the USS Arizona Memorial, the USS Missouri, the Bowfin Submarine, and other stops at the Pearl Harbor site, I thought about the cookbook. Then, at the very end of the tour, I returned to the gift shop, purchased it, and brought it home.

Here’s the first of those recipes for me to prepare. The topping of well-seasoned, diced cucumbers, red onions, tomatoes, and fresh parsley was so delicious, no one thought about the absence of meat. This dish was good hot or cold. (We had it as leftovers the second day.) I remarked to Hubby that this kind of veggie pasta seemed more like a trendy dish that one would cook today than a meal that would have been common 70 years ago. 

For a moment I caught a glimpse of how the homemaker of my mother’s era felt she was part of the pull-together effort that the Pearl Harbor museum described. 

Cucumbers with Pasta

1 pound cucumbers

1/2 cup chopped red onions

2 tablespoons chopped parsley

1/4 cup olive oil

1-1/2 pounds tomatoes

1 teaspoon minced garlic

1 tablespoon chopped basil

1 pound spaghetti

1/2 teaspoon salt (or salt substitute) 

pepper

2 tablespoons white wine vinegar

grated Parmesan cheese (I used shaved Parmesan)

Peel and seed cucumbers. Dice the flesh into 1/4-inch pieces; toss with 1/2 teaspoon salt (or salt substitute), 2 tablespoons white wine vinegar, and a dash of pepper. Let set for 20 minutes; drain. Peel, seed, and dice tomatoes; combine with cucumbers, onions, garlic, herbs, and olive oil. Boil spaghetti in several quarts of water until done. Toss the hot spaghetti with the cucumber and tomatoes. Sprinkle with grated Parmesan cheese. Makes 6 servings.