Wild Rice Salad
August 11, 2010 - Written by Diana
We knew there were going to be vegetarians at my son’s graduation party. I’ve been feeding his vegetarian friends whenever they came to visit. I don’t like picky eaters, people who don’t eat because something looks funny, or because it isn’t made the same way as their mom makes it. However, I do believe in accomodating dietary restrictions, and choices. These kids are not problem children and will find a way to help make things work, but for my son’s party I wanted there to food they would love, because I wanted them to know that they are always welcome and that I was thinking specifically of them. Don’t get me wrong, it wasn’t a hardship, this dish is really an easy to make no fuss dish. I quadrupled and changed up a recipe I found in Cooking Light – Kitchen Secrets for Quick and Easy Meals. This booklet ( thicker than a magazine) is packed with plenty of great tasting and looking dishes. I love the dill, green onion and feta combination, it’s fantastically delicious and fresh.
Wild Rice Salad with Chickpeas, Dill and Lemon
- 2 cups cooked wild …
Tweet This Post 
Plurk This Post 
Buzz This Post 
Delicious 
Digg This Post 
Ping This Post 
Reddit This Post 
Stumble This Post
Cumin’d Lentils and Carrots from The Heart Smart Diabetes Kitchen
May 20, 2010 - Written by Diana
This delicious idea comes from The Heart Smart Diabetes Kitchen recipe book, that I received to review. This is the first time I made lentils, and I am pleased to say I enjoy them a lot. My daughter isn’t so sure, my son and husband both liked it too. My mother is a fan of lentils (though we’d have to leave out the onions for her) so we may have it again this weekend. This dish was easy to prepare and took less than 45 minutes total to come together. Cumin’d Lentils and Carrots were a great side dish along with our NuWave Rosemary Chicken for dinner on Sunday.Ingredients:
- 1 1/2 tbs canola oil
- 1 cup diced carrots
- 1 cup diced onions
- 1 1/4 cups water
- 1/3 cup dried lentils
- 1/2 tsp ground cumin, divided
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp sugar
Directions:
Heat 1 tablespoon canola oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Cook carrots and onions 8 minutes or until richly browned, stirring frequently. Add water, lentils and 1/4 tsp cumin. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover tightly and simmer 25 minutes or until lentils are tender. Remove from …
Tweet This Post Plurk This Post Buzz This Post Delicious Digg This Post Ping This Post Reddit This Post Stumble This Post
Big Bowl of Whole Grainy Dinner Goodness
January 27, 2010 - Written by DianaTonight’s dinner was inspired by a store bought frozen lunch I had today. It had beans, whole grain orzo, dried cranberries, spinach and a little bit of cheese. I enjoyed it quite a bit and thought I would use it as inspiration to create my own big bowl of whole grainy goodness. Even though the barley and quinoa stuck to his braces, my son thought it was delicious. My husband also liked it a lot too. I know my daughter would have enjoyed it, and that she would have grabbed the leftovers thrown salad dressing over top and had it cold for lunch the next day. One thing I would have changed would have been to add in more chard. I dug through the snow to find what chard I could from the raised beds in the garden. I found some small leaves, only about 7 or 8, but it was enough to give it a little color and flavor. I just wish I had more. It’s so cool to go dig through the snow for chard in the middle of winter, but your fingers get awfully cold and you have to be careful that they don’t stick to the …
Tweet This Post Plurk This Post Buzz This Post Delicious Digg This Post Ping This Post Reddit This Post Stumble This Post
Roasted Apple and Butternut Squash
December 4, 2009 - Written by DianaHere’s a way the whole family will enjoy butternut squash and apple. I used a splash of orange, plus grated the rind and ginger. This was fabulous, fantastic, divine, delicious and good tasting. Butternut squash is so delicious and nutritious for you and such a great autumn food to serve. Apples go well with it, and the orange gives it sweetness without adding sugar.
I told my son to tell me it tasted wonderful, and after he tasted, he agreed. If you have kids that balk at squash, this is the way to serve it.
Ingredients:
1 butternut squash, peeled, seeded and diced
3 or 4 apples, peeled, cored and diced
1 orange peel – zested
1 tbs grated ginger
Olive oil for pan
Nutmeg
Directions:
I parboiled the squash so that the apple wouldn’t get mushy from baking too long. …
Tweet This Post Plurk This Post Buzz This Post Delicious Digg This Post Ping This Post Reddit This Post Stumble This Post
Gingered Carrots & Kohlrabi
November 15, 2009 - Written by Diana
Kohlrabi, kohlrabi, kohlrabi, kohlrabi, kohlrabi, kohlrabi, kohlrabi. There’s a joke that goes – If you say the name of something 7 times it’s yours for life, and then some girl says – John, john, etc. It doesn’t matter how many times I say kohlrabi, my mental picture doesn’t match up with that name and I go blank trying to remember. Kohlrabi is a nice crunchy vegetable, similar to a turnip, but tastes more like a cross between cabbage and turnips to me with a little bit of sweetness. My sister in law adds it to salads, or just peels and slices it up for people to chew raw. My dish was baked, bringing out another level of flavor.I peeled off the leaves, scraped off the skin and julienned the kohlrabi along with some carrots. I used my frozen ginger in this dish, which smells so wonderful when grating. I did all the mixing right in the baking dish, so it’s truly a one pot dish. Even though this would have served more , with my …
Tweet This Post Plurk This Post Buzz This Post Delicious Digg This Post Ping This Post Reddit This Post Stumble This Post
Savory Squash Fillo Bake
November 13, 2009 - Written by DianaI’ve been given the opportunity to sample some different types of organic (love it) fillo sheets from the Fillo Factory. When I’m shopping I first see if there is a quality product in the organic section. I’m thrilled that I can find fillo dough frozen that’s organic too. I used the organic spelt fillo dough for this recipe with some squash I bought at the farm stand. I’m not an expert with fillo dough. I use it and follow the rules about keeping them moist as best I can, but sometimes they fall apart. My fake out is to tear strips of fillo dough and layer them across the top nice and neat. My family loved eating the crunchy top and peeling it apart. I thought it was funny the way they pulled apart the layers.
The Fillo Factory Fillo Sheets should be defrosted and placed flat, covered with a damp towel to keep from drying out.
I used:
2 yellow acorn squash
2 delicata squash
…
Tweet This Post Plurk This Post Buzz This Post Delicious Digg This Post Ping This Post Reddit This Post Stumble This Post
Purple (Cauliflower) Risotto
November 8, 2009 - Written by DianaI made a Purple Risotto, I kid you not. It had flecks of different color purples from dark blue purple on down to lavender. If you have kids that love new colorful meals, this would such a cool dish for them to try. My son, my husband and I all thought it was scrumptious, and we’d eat it again. Actually we will, because there are leftovers.
My husband and I went to Lynd’s Fruit Farm just outside of Columbus. We’ve been going there for apples in the fall plus other fun things. This was the last weekend of the sale tent and we didn’t want to miss out. They have such cool things available like purple cauliflower, purple broccoli, purple Brussels sprouts – okay, not purple brussel sprouts – just green, pumpkins, gourds and apples. While we were there, we actually got to be part of an apple tasting. One gentleman said they were trying out a new apple and we should taste 4 different types and rate where they landed on a piece of paper. After we placed the apples on the paper in the proper like/dislike square (it was a range), he marked where …
Tweet This Post Plurk This Post Buzz This Post Delicious Digg This Post Ping This Post Reddit This Post Stumble This Post
Mini-Peppers stuffed with Bulgur and Mini-Yellow Squash
October 12, 2009 - Written by Diana
At the store today, they had bags of mini-peppers for sale. It was a specialty item in the fresh produce department. Funny thing, I’ve got mini-peppers that I picked right from my garden. I wanted the baby-peppers (I’m sure that specialty item will be out soon) to get a little bigger, so we picked most of what was left including the mini-size. I also had some mini-yellow squash in the garden, but I didn’t see any of those in the store. I could own that market. Stuffed Mini-peppers make a great side dish. The bulgur, along with squash, some fresh herbs from the garden, topped with pine nuts and feta, had a very earthy yet nutty flavor. This side is a keeper, but if you want it as a main dish, just upsize the ingredients with a full size pepper, squash, etc. My son even loved it.…
Tweet This Post Plurk This Post Buzz This Post Delicious Digg This Post Ping This Post Reddit This Post Stumble This Post
Italian Sausage, Tomato & Cabbage Stew(p)
September 24, 2009 - Written by DianaThis stew is one of the best combinations for using up the veggies in your garden. The cabbage, potatoes and tomatoes all came from the vegetable garden. I would have had onions too, if my daughter hadn’t pulled them and thrown them into the composter with the weeds. The garlic, onions and sweet italian sausage (bison) all came from the farm market. The rest I had in the cabinet. It didn’t take long to prepare and was ready as soon as the cabbage was wilted enough. Lots of great flavor in this meal, you’ll love it.
Ingredients:- 1 lb sweet Italian sausage
- 1 onion sliced in half and then into slivers
- 2 cloves garlic smashed
- 8 small potatoes scrubbed and sliced in half
- 1 /3 head of cabbage rough chopped
- 2 cups whole tomatoes and juice – smooshed
…
Tweet This Post Plurk This Post Buzz This Post Delicious Digg This Post Ping This Post Reddit This Post Stumble This Post
Lemongrass-Basil Yellow Squash and Potatoes
September 1, 2009 - Written by DianaIs there another name for yellow squash? I only know it as yellow squash, but it’s so tasty I think it deserves a nicer name. Since it’s major harvest and put up time, soccer season, football and band season, I find my dinners are rather lackluster and repetitive. I have lots of stuff, but my inspiration is waning as I think about my days and evenings ahead. Last night though, I had my Yellow Squash and Potatoes out, trying to decide what to do and then it hit me – Lemon Grass and Basil are just sitting in the herb beds waiting to be used. Well not so much the basil since the Japanese beetles have been munching away at it, but I’ve flicked them into the soapy water bath. Best way to take care of those things is with a bowl of soapy water. I do tend to use a lot of the same ingredients over and over, because they come from our garden. I keep expecting my son to say – No Not Chard AGAIN!!! and run off screaming into the night, but so far he hasn’t.
Anyway, this tasty side dish was divine with our steak …
Tweet This Post Plurk This Post Buzz This Post Delicious Digg This Post Ping This Post Reddit This Post Stumble This Post
