Today's Harvest

Today's harvest is.....a bunch of green onions! I clipped these out of a pot in my container garden. I washed them, then chopped them. I'll be using them tomorrow for dinner in Roasted Zucchini with Green Onions, Feta Cheese and Basil from Kalyn's Kitchen. I'm serving this with oven baked, marinated chicken thighs.

Pinto Beans with Garlic

I had some pinto beans in the freezer, left over from a batch I made earlier this year. A last minute dinner dish was in order, so I did a quick google search, and came up with this recipe for Pinto Beans and Garlic from About.com. I made the following changes to the recipe:

• I added 1 extra chopped celery stalk


• Used canned diced tomatoes instead of paste


• 1 tsp of chili powder. The chili powder I have is from The Spice House, and it has a nice kick to it. We like our chili mild, so a teaspoon did the trick.


• I also added 3/4 c. water.

The result was a nice chunky bean dip! I served it with rice, scoopable tortilla chips and grated cheese. The verdict: a delicious, easy meal to prepare. It is a great vegetarian recipe, and a good way to use those beans in your food storage!

Here is the recipe the way I made it:

3-4 cups of cooked pinto beans

1 onion, chopped

1 red pepper, chopped

2 carrots, grated

2 stalks of celery, chopped

1/2 tsp basil

3 cloves garlic

1/4 tsp thyme

1/2 tsp celery seed

1 tsp chili powder

1 can diced tomatoes

olive oil

dash pepper

Begin by adding a tablespoon or two of olive oil to a large pot. Saute the onion, pepper, and celery until onions are translucent. Add the the remaining ingredients, and simmer. Stir frequently on medium-low heat until beans are soft and beginning to break down. Serve with rice. Chips and cheese optional, but they really add to the meal.

Rachael Ray's Creamy Asparagus and Ham Soup

I'm on a few of Rachael Ray's mailing lists, and usually just delete the email. Today, however, I noticed that there was a recipe for soup using asparagus. I just happened to have a bunch of asparagus, and had some ham in the freezer left over from Christmas (Honey Baked Ham). I decided to give it a try. It turns out that we all really enjoyed it. I didn't have any new potatoes, so I make up a cup of instant potatoes from my food storage and used that instead. You can go here to see the recipe in full, on Rachael Ray's website. The picture above is from her website as well. I forgot to take one, but our soup looked exactly the same. I even served it with a similar looking bread! It was delish!

Broccoflower Salad for St. Patrick's Day

Looking for something green to eat today besides green cookies or cupcakes with artificial coloring? Serve a Broccoflower Salad with dinner tonight. Actually, this salad is great any time of the year, but the color is perfect for today. I made mine up today for lunch, and served it on a green leaf lettuce. First, finely chop a head of broccoflower into pieces no bigger than 1/2". I only use the flowerettes. This is what it should look like, below.

I found some Brussels sprouts in the vegetable bin in the refrigerator. After washing, I cut off the ends, and thinly sliced them. You can use a mandoline, or can cut them with a sharp chopping knife. If you don't have Brussels sprouts, don't sweat it! I needed to use mine up.

This is what it looks like after adding the 10 small sliced Brussels sprouts.

Next, wash a couple of celery stalks. I cut them in 3 pieces lengthwise, then chopped them up.

If you have bacon, cook up 4-6 pieces until crisp. Cool, then chop into small pieces. I rarely have bacon on hand, but I do keep bacon bits in the fridge. I added about 1/2 c. If you want to keep this meatless, omit the bacon, or use a substitute bacon product.

Looking good! You are going to love this salad!

At this point, rummage through your fridge. I added a couple of teaspoons of hot spicy mustard left over from a cheese/cracker gift pack at Christmas. Add up to 1 c. mayo, 1/8 c. Parmesan cheese (I grated mine into the bowl, you can use whatever you have on hand), 1 TBSP sugar (or not...I didn't), 1 tsp salt, 2 tsp pickle juice (just drained some off from my bread and butter pickles) and 1 TBSP dried onion. You can add 1/4 c. sunflower seeds and 1/2 c. raisin if you like. I added the sunflower seeds, but forgot to add the raisins. Bummer.

Don't be afraid to experiment with what you have on hand in the way of condiments and add-ins. Mix it all together, and serve on a lettuce leaf as a main dish or just serve it as a side with your other food items. Enjoy!

Roasted Asparagus With Honey Dill Vinaigrette

I purchased a copy of Where Woman Cook March/April/May 2011 issue. There are some delicious recipes to try in the magazine. Tonight, I cooked up the roasted asparagus with honey dill vinaigrette. It was amazing. I had a portabella mushroom, sliced zucchini and sliced onion that I cooked in the vinaigrette when I had finished cooking the asparagus. I pan sauteed them instead of grilling them. Very nice! I served plates full of vegetables for dinner, along with a salad. Perfect meal.

Here is the recipe for the Honey Dill Vinaigrette:

1/4 c. olive oil
2 TBSP honey
1 TBSP lemon juice
1 TBSP Dijon mustard
1 TBSP fresh dill (or 1 tsp dried)
Pinch of sea salt
Freshly ground pepper to taste

I had about a TBSP of Dijon left in a small container, so I added everything else to the mustard. You need to shake it up until it is mixed well. Then, use this as a marinade for your vegetables. Roast on the grill, or on a grill pan.

Favorite Garden Spots!

I'm putting my garden together for the season. This year will be bigger and better. Hopefully it will be more productive as well! I was doing some blog hopping, and came across some pictures that gave me garden envy. Hope you'll love them too! The first one I found on HGTV website. I love how lush that raised bed looks.

A pot of lettuce seedlings from HGTV website. Here is one from Hazelbloom, and I just love how she turned a small corner of the yard into a garden spot. Here is a raised bed garden from Better Homes and Gardens. My garden is full of pots...a container garden. I'll take some pictures tomorrow.

Roasted Vegetable and Pesto Sandwich

I was doing a little blog hopping when I came across a post for a roasted vegetable and pesto sandwich. I just happened to have all of the ingredients, so I decided to give it a go. WOW! What great flavor and it is wonderfully nutritious as well. Can't beat that! Here is what the finished product looked like... Since I didn't want to fire up the grill, I decided to pan roast the veges on my trusty vintage cast iron griddle. It is so well seasoned that I don't have to use much olive oil. I did use my mandoline to slice the zucchini the long way, and to make the other vegetables (red pepper, portobello mushroom and onion) uniformly sliced.

I forgot the onion, and had to "roast" it separately. I was going for caramelized sweet onion. It turned out really nicely.

I put about a level tablespoon of pesto on each side of a 100 calorie Oroweat sandwich thins.

I bought the pesto at Costco...don't have much basil in the garden this time of year.

I put the pan roasted veges on the sandwich thins...

Next, I put a few small, fresh mozzarella balls on the sandwich (microwaved for 15 seconds to get them to melt a bit). I'm not kidding, the first bite was heavenly :) . I mean, look at this baby!

This is my new favorite lunch item! And Weight Watcher friendly, too!

Hungry yet?