The benefits of backyard gardening all personified in one cereal bowl

No, I’m not being a blog slacker by posting for today’s entry a photo of my breakfast cereal.

I have plenty of good recipes yet to share with you. Even as recently as last night I was preparing from garden-fresh ingredients an amazing recipe—a concoction I can’t wait to feature in this spot.

But nothing communicates the joy of gardening as much as does this gorgeous assemblage shown in the photo at left. Two fresh just-from-the-tree peaches and two plump blackberries, straight in from the vine, symbolize the greatest aspect of walking right out my patio door and instantly bringing breakfast indoors. Absolutely nothing like it!

All the way home from our trip out West, Hubby and I speculated about what would be ready to pick after we had been away for a period of time. Would the birds already have had a feast with our peaches and left none for us to enjoy this year? Would the tomatoes already be beyond the pale? Would we be arriving too late and thus miss out on some goodies that peaked while we were away? We didn’t even discuss our new blackberry and blueberry vines that we had planted brand-new this year, because we figured we were at least a year away from enjoying any of their yield.

Yet even in under the cover of darkness that overlay our garden as we prowled around during our evening arrival we could see spots of blushing pink literally covering our closest and best peach tree. Picking a couple revealed a healthy crop that, if we got busy and hustled, hadn’t been discovered by birds yet. We brought in a handful of peaches and promised to bring in the rest on the morrow.

But wait! What was that on the blackberry vines on which we expected nothing? Several plump blackberries almost the size of walnuts already had burst forth—and we hadn’t thought this was their year. Wahoo! So the next morning—the cereal bowl shown above. Peaches and black-berries over my shredded wheat cereal with skim milk poured all around—I was like a proud parent. I savored that freshness all the way to the last cereal bite.

The experience was satisfaction personified—the perks that await those who wait . . . and those who garden. Count me as one happy newfangled gardener!

Mango-cilantro salsa makes terrific topping for Grilled Chicken Tacos

Trying to clean out the refrigerator before the trip back home to Texas from visiting our son and his family in the West always is a challenge. I struggle to gauge our time that remains in our stay with what foods I can’t leave behind and need to use up before we travel. We have a “grandparent” house that we occupy during our regular visits. Deciding what foods will keep in the fridge throughout the next few months and what definitely is perishable always is a juggling act. The fresh mango and fresh cilantro absolutely were in the “perishable” category.

In my recipe folder was an entrée for Grilled Chicken Tacos, which I believe would make a fabulous Memorial Day dinner menu item, if you still don’t have yours picked out yet for today. The chopped mango and cilantro, added to a container of already prepared salsa and chipotle hot sauce, provided a wonderful, tangy topping for the grilled chicken tenders that were encased by the flour tortillas. Toppings were Mexican cheese, shredded spinach, fat-free sour cream, and avocado.

You’ll never sample a more healthy or more unusual taco stuffing than this one from the pages of a recent Southern Living magazine. This recipe made just enough for a couple of meals before we packed up to say goodbye to loved ones and headed home.

The whole process of preparing, cooking, and assembling occurs lightning-quick (we served with some fresh corn on the cob), so print this one off and head to the grocery right now! You still have time to let Grilled Chicken Tacos make you a super-star for your Memorial Day evening get-together!

Grilled Chicken Tacos

3 tablespoons olive oil

2 tablespoons lime juice

4 teaspoons salt-free chicken grilling seasoning (I used Mrs. Dash brand)

1 1/2 pounds chicken breast tenders

1 (8-ounce) container fresh salsa (your favorite brand)

1 large mango, peeled and chopped

1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

2 teaspoons chipotle hot sauce

6 (6-inch) fajita-size flour tortillas, warmed

toppings: shredded Mexican cheese, shredded spinach, chopped avocado, fat-free sour cream

Preheat grill to 300- to 350-degrees (medium) heat. In a zip-top plastic freezer bag combine first three ingredients. Add chicken and turn to coat. Seal and chill for 10 minutes; turn once. Meanwhile combine salsa and next three ingredients. Cover and chill until ready to serve. Remove chicken from marinade; discard marinade. Grill chicken, covered with grill lid, for 6 minutes on each side or until done. Serve in flour tortillas with mango salsa and toppings. Makes 4 to 6 servings.

Always on the hunt for creative ways to prepare carrots—found one!

Imaginative, quick ways to prepare that healthy but prosaic side dish—the carrot: I’m always on the lookout for them. As I’ve blogged about before, I’ve had a passion for carrots ever since I was a wee sprout propped up on seat cushions to dine at Dallas’ Wyatts Cafeteria on its legendary carrot-raisin-pineapple salad. 

Everyone knows the nutritive benefits of this bunny food—beta carotene, which benefits the eyes; helps for diminished risk of heart disease; boosts to healthy skin, hair, and bones; great source of fiber, to name just a few plusses.

In other words, if your mother said eat them and you did everything possible to avoid her counsel, you were WRONG. We grow too soon old and too late smart.

But how to add diversity to the orange veggie? The Chickasaw Nutrition Services, ever on a quest to help people dine more healthfully, gave me a recipe card for Balsamic Roasted Carrots. I love the simplicity of the plan: roast some sticks of quartered carrots in the oven; toss the carrots in an olive oil-and-balsamic vinegar mix before roasting. Roasting about 15 minutes in the oven leaves the carrots cooked to a slightly crunchy/tender but not overly mushy stage.

Actually, these tasted as good chilled as they did warm. I can imagine making these in advance of a picnic and refrigerating them to serve as you would a marinated carrot salad alongside chicken nuggets. See, I’ve returned to my roots: carrot salad—the food that got this whole carrot thing started for me in the first place!

Balsamic Roasted Carrots

8 carrots, medium, peeled, cut in half and then quartered lengthwise (3 1/2 cups)

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 tablespoon Balsamic vinegar

1/4 teaspoon salt (or salt substitute)

1/4 teaspoon pepper

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Cover a roasting pan with foil. In a bowl combine all the ingredients; toss to coat. Place coated carrots in the pan and roast for about 15 minutes. Toss occasionally until caramelized and slightly tender. Makes 4 1/2-cup servings.

A-A-A-A, what begins with A? Asparagus-Avocado Soup saves a hot-weather day

Ah, asparagus! The vegetable of the month in Prevention magazine—and me with a goodly handful of asparagus recipes to try. So look forward to even more green (besides what’s posted from earlier this week) in this and future blog postings.

Prevention touts asparagus as supplying insulin, a special fiber that helps the “good” bacteria in the digestive tract. It has anti-inflammatory and antioxidant benefits and is considered to be one of the world’s healthiest foods. Prevention featured seven quick recipes to showcase this wonder veggie; I chose recipe #7 (the perfect number) to prepare—Asparagus-Avocado Soup, because it called for two of my faves and sounded as though it would be a wonderful combination.

Into the food processor went 8 ounces of cooked asparagus and a chopped avocado, along with cold water, fat-free sour cream, fresh lime juice, and chopped cilantro. The resulting soup had the texture of gazpacho, but the addition of asparagus made the dish a little more mellow than that cold soup.

 Served with a scoop of fat-free sour cream and a sprinkling of cilantro on top, it was a delicious hot-weather lunch treat with a few chips on the side for munching.

Asparagus-Avocado Soup

8 ounces asparagus

1 chopped avocado

1 1/4 cups cold water

1/4 cup reduced-fat sour cream plus extra for garnish

2 tablespoons chopped cilantro plus extra for garnish

2 tablespoons fresh lime juice

Cook asparagus. Add to blender with chopped avocado, cold water, sour cream, chopped cilantro, and lime juice. Puree until smooth. Season to taste. Ladle into 4 bowls and top each with 1 tablespoon sour cream and a few sprinkles of chopped cilantro. Makes 3 1/4 cups.

First a chicken bit, then a . . . what? Do grapes belong on kebobs? Yes!

“Why don’t we ever grill outdoors?” has been Hubby’s complaint for a long time now. Seems as though grilling items end up being cooked atop the countertop grill—or we simply choose some other grill-less entree. Finally a food item that intrigued me required him to shake off the dusty cover of the patio grill and fire that baby up.

The recipe called for the combination of skewered grapes and chicken bits. I’ve grilled many combos that have seen many veggies as well as fruit slices lined up in rows alongside chicken on skewers—but never grapes. Plus this called for a flavorful overnight marinade—lemon and garlic mixed with other spices. The recipe, from “Celebrating a Healthy Harvest”, specified large green grapes. My produce section had only the smaller ones; I believe this would have been more tasty with the substantial, large grapes—I also am not sure why green grapes were specified, since I think red one would be terrific as well.

Nevertheless the outcome of this recipe was wonderful. Marinated overnight the skewered items had time to absorb the citrusy-garlicky flavor of the marinade. Best of all Hubby’s grilling itch was scratched for the moment, although the experience prompted both of us to ask ourselves why we didn’t do this more often.

Well, we’re off and running now. After all (approaching summertime) and outdoor grilling go hand-in-glove like . . . well, like grapes and chicken bits.

Grape and Chicken Kebobs

1 pound skinless, boneless chicken breasts

1 3/4 cups large seedless green grapes

2 tablespoons cooking oil

2 tablespoons reduced sodium chicken broth

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1 teaspoon dried rosemary

2 teaspoons grated lemon zest

1 large garlic clove, minced

1/2 teaspoon salt (or salt substitute)

freshly ground black pepper

In a resealable bag or container mix marinade ingredients. Slice chicken into 3/4-inch chunks. Add chicken and grapes to marinade; refrigerate for 4 to 8 hours or overnight. Preheat a grill to medium-hot (375-degrees). Soak 8 eight-inch bamboo skewers in water for 15-20 minutes. Alternate chicken pieces and grapes onto skewers. Start with a chicken bit and end with a grape on each skewer. Grill the kebobs until the chicken is cooked through; turn them every 2 minutes. Makes 8 pieces, 4 servings.

Cabbage, Leeks, Limas, Lemons? A star is born with this winning, fresh combination

Not easy being green? At least EATING green is easy when you help yourself to this recipe for Cabbage with Lemons and Limas (and Leeks, too). This suggestion sprang from our hometown newspaper, The Dallas Morning News, in its food feature section, which recommended to readers, “Paint your plate with produce.” 

Cabbage, the star of this dish, is high in vitamins A, K, and C, and is rich in fiber and folate. Cabbage has calcium for sturdy bones, antioxidants to keep cancer away, and even contains protein. Best of all, one cup of cooked cabbage contains only 33 calories. Who can argue with that? 

Combining the green all-stars of cabbage, limas, and leeks (I used the leeks in place of onions in a recipe because I had some leeks on hand) was most unusual; adding the lemons for seasoning was a good idea (remember that I’m still rich in fresh lemons from my visit to the West). Since lemons are bright with acidity, they bring up the good flavor of the cabbage and banish the “cabbage-gone-bad” taste and aroma. In other words the lemony-fresh aroma is all you smell when this dish is cooking.

I like the touch of grated Parmesan on top—makes it seem like more of a veggie casserole in its little casserole dish. Best of all was the addition of the sprig of fresh thyme.

Anyone who thinks cabbage is flavorless will have another thought after digging into this tasty, easy-to-prepare menu item. We loved it and were sorry to see the last bite disappear from our serving bowl.

Cabbage with Lemons and Limas

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 onion sliced fine (I substituted 2 leeks, sliced fine)

2 cloves garlic, minced

4 cups cabbage, shredded or thinly chopped

juice of 2 lemons

2 cups cooked large limas, well-drained

1 teaspoon lemon zest

1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves (roughly 1 sprig)

salt substitute and pepper to taste

grated Parmesan for garnish

In a large stock pot heat oil over medium-high heat. Add sliced onion and minced garlic. Stir to coat vegetables in oil; cook for about 3 minutes until garlic and onion just soften. Cover and reduce heat to low. Cook for 20 minutes to let vegetables carmelize. Raise heat to medium. Add shredded cabbage and lemon juice. Toss gently; allow cabbage to wilt. Cover and cook for about 10 minutes or until cabbage is tender. Add limas, zest, and thyme, Stir and heat about 5 minutes. Season with salt substitute and pepper; serve with a sprinkle of grated Parmesan. Makes 6 servings.

Little bites of carrot-cake heaven in this "lighten-up" recipe

I adore carrot cake but know the gooey cream-cheese frosting that’s part-and-parcel of it somewhat defeats the purpose of all the carrots’ nutritional value. I loved the fact that in its “Lighten Up” feature recently Southern Living produced a lighter version of a traditional carrot cake recipe; this included a frosting utilizing the 1/3-less-fat (such as Neufchatel) cream cheese. But it still seemed too much. Besides, who needs a whole cake sitting around as a temptation? 

This same magazine feature also offered this option: carrot cake muffins—identical recipe but in a muffin format that included the addition of pecans (and golden raisins, too, which I opted out of). Muffins could be enjoyed and then frozen and reheated for later dining. The recipe called for three cups of grated carrots and an 8-ounce can of crushed pineapple, drained.

I wondered whether the muffins without the frosting would be stand-alone good or a little bland. I shouldn’t have been concerned. The muffins were majorly moist and sweet and were like dining on mini-carrot cakes. By themselves they made a great Sunday-morning breakfast or as an add-on to my usual breakfast cereal. 

Southern Living tub-thumped its recipe with the headline, “You can thank us later, when your mouth isn’t full.” Via the Internet I can tippy-type my thanks even with my mouth full, which it indeed was this weekend as I enjoyed these bites of carrot heaven.

Carrot Cake Muffins

2 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 cup granulated sugar (I used sugar substitute)

2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon salt (or salt substitute)

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

1/4 cup vegetable oil

2 large eggs (or egg substitute)

2 egg whites (or egg-white substitute)

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

3 cups grated carrots

1/2 cup chopped toasted pecans

1/2 cup golden raisins (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place about 15 paper baking cups in muffin pans; coat baking cups with cooking spray. In a large bowl combine first 5 ingredients; in the center of mixture make a well. Whisk together pineapple and next 4 ingredients; add pineapple mixture to flour mixture. Stir just until dry ingredients are moistened. Fold in carrots and pecans. Spoon batter into baking cups. Fill cups about 2/3 full. Bake as directed. Cool in pans on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature. Makes about 15 muffins.