Simple Summer Squash Recipe

One thing about blogging that continues to amaze me is how I can ask a question and within minutes receive answers from readers. It is such a fun reminder that there really ARE people out there reading and they actually care enough to take a moment to talk to me! That is just so fun.

This is exactly how I got this recipe. I wrote a post bragging and giddy about my garden harvest, and ended it with asking you all what to do with my overgrown summer squash. I got quite a few great ideas, but the first commenter was Megan from Just The Scraps, and her simple preparation of summer squash really appealed to me. I tried it last night and I was so happy with how it turned out! My 3 daughters and little niece all ate it and enjoyed it. Thank you so much, Megan, for commenting and sharing how you make summer squash.

This is more of a “method” then a recipe, or a “no recipe” recipe.

Megan’s directions from her comment:
Try cutting the squash in bite sized pieces. Melt some butter in a pan and add some minced/chopped garlic. Stir in the squash and cover, so it can steam a bit. Stir occasionally until it reaches desired tenderness.
I sliced mine pretty thin and took out most of the seeds because my squash was overgrown and the seeds were large and tough. It only cooked for about 5 minutes once I put the lid on, and was perfectly tender.
I added salt and pepper. Simple!

Here is another suggestion from her:
Last night I made kabobs with chicken, sausage, and chunks of zucchini, on the grill. Sprinkled it all with some salt and pepper. DELISH!
This post is linked to:
Saturday Night Special @ Funky Junk

Gardening/ RECIPES/ Sides

Harvest

For those of you who have been gardening forever, or those who are just not interested, please bear with me as I FREAK OUT ABOUT GARDEN SUCCESS!
I’m a newbie gardener and have so enjoyed the process, and EATING the outcome.
See that big tomato? We ate it tonight on BLT sandwiches. Mid-sandwich, my husband looked at me and said “wow, that is one goooooood tomato!” It is ridiculous how happy a compliment on my tomato made me, he’d be a smart man to keep complimenting my tomatoes!:)
See that monster cucumber I am cradling in my right arm? It’s huge and yellow. Not sure it is edible, we were out of town for a few days and came back to that beast hanging on the vine. Anyone know if it will taste good?
I’ve had a hard time catching my squash while they are still young and tender. It seems like one day they are babies and the next day they are too big! I’m planning on using my food processor to chop up the big ones, then freezing them in 2 cup portions to make a zucchini type bread. I love to grill the tender, young ones-I just got to get on top of harvesting regularly!
So what do I do with all these cucumbers besides making pickles, and raita? Does anyone have any good summer squash recipes?
To view my square foot garden, click here.
This post is linked to:
Gratituesday @ Heavenly Homemakers
30 Minute Blog Challenge @ Steady Mom
Saturday Night Special @ Funky Junk

Meals/ RECIPES

Italian Salsa Cruda (Raw Tomato Sauce)

Lately, I have been really into finding and making authentic recipes from all different types of cuisines. This recipe caught my eye because I have a lot of fresh basil and parsley growing my my garden, and in another week I will have a whole bunch of ripe tomatoes. One of my favorite flavor combinations are garlic, basil and tomatoes, so I knew I would love this recipe. It comes Teresa Giudice’s new cookbook “Skinny Italian.” If you recognize her name, it might be because she is on the show “Housewives of New Jersey.” (and just because I know of her cookbook does not mean I am admitting to watching the show!:) Ok, maybe I have once or twice..). She comes from a large Italian family, so her recipes are authentic, but not your usual, heavy, Italian fare. She uses fresh herbs, olive oil, garlic, and sometimes peppers for flavor, so you won’t even miss the typical 2 inches of melted cheese on top! I promise!

The key to this recipe is using quality ingredients. Vine ripened tomatoes, olive oil that actually comes from Italy, (very important, so sweet and mild), FRESH basil and parsley, and freshly shredded Parmigiano- Reggiano cheese.

Parmigiano Reggiano is authentic Parmesan cheese, made in Italy and aged to perfection, at least 18 months. It has a deep, nutty flavor that just makes this dish. It is more expensive, but because the flavor is so wonderful, you don’t have to use much of it and it will keep in your refrigerator for at least a month if tightly wrapped.

If you skimp on the quality of your ingredients, this dish WILL NOT be the same. Buy the good stuff!

Italian Salsa Cruda
3 large, ripe tomatoes, seeded and cut into 1/2″ dice
1/3 cup fresh parsley, chopped
1/3 cup fresh basil, chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1/3 cup parmigiano-reggiano, grated

Toss all but cheese together with your hands–like the Italians do!
Let stand for 30 minutes.
Serve over noodles, or on toasted slices of baguette. Top with cheese.

This post is linked to:
Show Off Your Stuff @ Fireflies & Jellybeans

RECIPES/ Sides

Teriyaki Pasta Salad Recipe

I posted a recipe awhile back for Veri Teriyaki Bowtie Spinach Salad. It is an awesome recipe, and I’ve made the dressing from the recipe just to use on lettuce salads because my kids love it so much. I wanted to make a pasta salad and happened to have some of the dressing in my refrigerator so I decided to use it to make a pasta salad. I served it to guests and got a thumbs up, so I thought I would share it with you!

Teriyaki Pasta Salad

Cook:

1 lb. bowtie pasta

according to directions. Drain and rinse with cold water until cooled.

Add:

Misc. Vegetables, chopped, {1-2 cups total}- according to taste.

{Broccoli, Carrot, Red, Orange, or Green Pepper, Tomatoes}

Make Dressing:
Dressing:
1 cup oil ( I used canola, wondering if olive oil or coconut oil would taste mild enough for this)
2/3 cup white wine vinegar (didn’t have any, used rice vinegar-was great!)
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
2/3 cup Soy Vay Teriyaki sauce (or any brand-I recommend Soy Vay b/c there is no HFCS in it)
5 Tbs sugar (I used rapadura-pure cane sugar)

Put all dressing ingredients in a jar, and shake. {or put in a bowl and whisk)
Pour dressing* over noodles & toss. Refrigerate until cool.
*I only used 1/2 the dressing, and saved the rest for lettuce salad

********

Italian Pasta Salad

I make another version of the above recipe, but with an Italian twist. It is one of my favorites, I’ve been making it for years.
The pasta and veggies are the same as above, (could add cucumber & cauliflower & peas) but the dressing is bottled Italian dressing + red wine vinegar, to taste. (about 1 cup of dressing to 1/4 cup of red wine vinegar, I usually just add the dressing and vinegar from the bottle, eyeball it and taste) I like to add shredded Parmesan cheese. (1/2 cup)

I will be making one of these 2 versions for our family 4th of July get together. It is a perfect dish to make ahead because the flavors get better after they refrigerate for awhile.
this post is linked to:
Tasty Tuesday @ Balancing Beauty & Bedlam

How-Tos/ Meals/ RECIPES

Simple 5 Minute Tomato Sauce (for pasta or pizza)

**This was originally posted 10/09.

I make this recipe at least once a week. We stretch it out over two meals-1/2 for speghetti & 1/2 for homemade pizza. We love it!
I do not miss the over- priced, usually way too sweet, pre-made jar sauces AT ALL! I love that this is not much more work then opening a jar, but makes the house smell like I have been cooking all day!
I found the recipe here at 101 Cookbooks. She writes an excellent post about this simple sauce. She explains that this is not the sauce you are looking for if you are wanting a meat-filled hearty sauce (although we sometimes add some ground beef and it tastes great!) This is a fresh, light, pure tomato sauce, and IT IS GOOD! I usually buy whole -grain pasta because it is full of fiber, protein and iron, (the brand I used in the pictures below has 7 grams of protein and 6 grams of fiber in a 2 oz size serving) which is very important especially when eating a meat free meal, and it keeps my family full much longer then the white stuff. There is nothing worse than kids begging for food a half hour after dinner!
I use this recipe when we make homemade pizza, it is so fresh and yummy. I grew herbs this summer and the pizza we made with fresh mozzarella and this sauce and shreds of fresh basil….mmm… to die for! I have also made pasta dishes with this sauce and added a splash of heavy cream at the end with some some peas and parmesean cheese, and turned it into a whole different, super creamy, luxurious dish.

The last time I made this sauce, I accidently bought a can of diced tomatoes, so that is why I got out the hand blender, my family does not like chunks! I make a few other changes to the recipe. I go easy on the red pepper flakes, as my girls don’t like spicy. If I have lemons on hand, I’ll use them, but if I don’t I’ll add a splash of lemon juice from the bottle, it is amazing how just a touch of acid really brightens up the flavor. If I do use zest, I find the zest of a whole lemon is a bit too much lemon flavor for me, so I half it. I also add about a Tbls of sugar if my tomatoes are too tangy. Depending on how much water the tomatoes have in them, you may need to simmer the sauce down a bit if it looks a little watery, which turns the 5 minute sauce into a 10 minute sauce- no big deal.
I make sure I keep an eye out for canned, crushed tomatoes on sale and stock up when they are. As she says in the recipe below, the brand of tomatoes is VERY important. There is a huge difference in taste, so go for the good brands. I think the same goes for the olive oil, buy the best you can afford, the more expensive italian brands are so worth the extra money because they are sweet and have no after taste.
Give this sauce a try! It may become your go- to, always- have- the- ingredients- on- hand, simple meal as it is ours!

Five Minute Tomato Sauce

I’m very particular about the tomatoes I use in this sauce. Look for canned crushed tomatoes, some cans you will come across will say “with added puree” – this is also fine. I avoid diced tomatoes, pass on pureed, and skip whole tomatoes as well. Avoid the crushed tomatoes with added herbs, seasonings, etc. You want pure crushed tomatoes if possible. I also look for organic crushed tomatoes which can be tricky, I often come across the Muir Glen brand, it has added basil in it – that one is actually fine. The San Marzano crushed tomatoes are great as well. Any leftover sauce keeps well in the refrigerator for three or four days.

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 1/2 teaspoons crushed red pepper flakes
1/2 teaspoon fine grain sea salt
3 medium cloves of garlic, finely chopped
1 28-ounce can crushed red tomatoes
zest of one lemon

Combine the olive oil, red pepper flakes, sea salt, and garlic in a cold saucepan. Stir while you heat the saucepan over medium-high heat, saute just 45 seconds or so until everything is fragrant – you don’t want the garlic to brown. Stir in the tomatoes and heat to a gentle simmer, this takes just a couple minutes. Remove from heat and carefully take a taste (you don’t want to burn your tongue)…If the sauce needs more salt add it now. Stir in the lemon zest reserving a bit to sprinkle on top of your pasta.
Makes about a quart of tomato sauce.

This post is linked to:
The Girl Creative

Drinks/ HEALTH/ RECIPES

Masala Chai-An Indian Beverage To Die For!

I am sitting here is absolute Chai heaven. Seriously. I’m so happy about this recipe that I am smiling stupidly at this computer screen, and I keep taking my fingers away from the keyboard to take another sip–this post could take awhile because of this tasty distraction. It is sooooo good!

I have made 2 different Chai recipes in the last 2 days. I liked the first one, but now that I have tasted this second one, I know I have the Chai Tea recipe that I hoped to find. I’ve had Chai tea on my brain ever since a Friday night a few months back, when I stopped at one of our local Indian Restaurants.

The restaurant is called Taj Mahal. I walked in to order take-out on a Friday night. It was fairly late, so they were not busy. The owner greeted graciously in his heavy Indian accent, took my order, and motioned to the bar showing me where I could sit and wait. He headed toward the back, and before the door shut behind him I saw him grab a pan in an empty kitchen, which excited me, because it meant that he would be the one cooking our meal. A few moments later, he returned with a teacup in one hand and a pan in the other. He had made a complimentary cup of Chai Tea for me to drink while I was waiting. I watched him pour the contents from the pan into my cup using a fine mesh strainer sitting atop of it. As the pan emptied, towards the bottom were all kinds of interesting shapes and shades of loose tea, seeds, and pods; browns and greens. I was intrigued, excited and touched by this man’s kindness.

cardamom pods

Needless to say, that cup of Chai was authentically amazing, and I have craved another ever since. This is SO much better then the Chai concentrate that you can buy in a box. There is no comparison! I am quite pleased that it only took a couple of tries to find a recipe that comes very close to the cup of Chai that I drank at Taj Mahal.

The recipe comes from Sabra @ One Life To Eat. It is a blog I just recently discovered on the basics of Indian cooking. I can’t wait to explore her blog more, as I would love to learn how to cook Indian food!
I loved this post she wrote about Masala Chai. She talks about memories of her father making it in the mornings and evenings, and some history of Chai tea. She also had this to say about the different ways it can be made:

Every Indian you talk to will probably also have his / her own favorite method of preparing Chai. Variations include brewing the loose tea leaves in boiling water, brewing them in milk, brewing tea leaves along with spices (known as Masala Chai) and brewing the chai with pieces of ginger (known as Ginger or Adrak Chai). Some like their chai weak, some like it strong. Some like more milk, some less.

Her process is simple and detailed at the same time. Hers is thicker and flavored with ginger & vanilla.
I think it is perfection and my search for a Chai recipe ends here!

To make 2 mugs of Chai – You will need:

A medium sized saucepan
A small sieve
4 heaped teaspoons Red Label or Society tea, available at any Indian store **I used loose Darjeeling
1 inch piece of ginger root
6-7 cardamom pods, slightly opened

3 tbsp sugar (I used processed white sugar, going to try pure cane sugar next time)
1/2 Vanilla stick (optional) (I used a splash of pure vanilla extract, added it at the very end)
1.5 cups water
1.5 cups whole fat milk

Method:

Heat water to a boil in the saucepan
Add the tea leaves, cardamom pods and ginger root and allow to brew on medium heat till the water turns a golden brown color
Add the milk and reduce heat to low. Add the vanilla stick and sugar at this stage. Mix well
Allow the tea to boil gently and thicken on low heat for about 10 minutes. Keep an eye on the saucepan as the Chai may boil over
Turn off the heat and let the liquid rest in the saucepan for 2-3 minutes. This lets the temperature of the liquid come down a bit
Pour through a sieve in your favorite mug. (*or mason jar:))

Do not be intimidated by the exotic ingredients. I took a quick trip to my local health food store, where they have bulk bins for the Darjeeling tea and the cardamom pods. I had ginger root in my freezer, and everything else on hand. I personally think whole milk is a must to achieve the creamy texture. My only complaint about this recipe is that it doesn’t make more! I would love to double or triple it and keep it in the refrigerator for a couple of days. My first cup was hot, but now I am drinking it over ice and OH. MY. YUM!
This post is linked to:
Get Your Craft On @ Today’s Creative Blog

Father's Day/ FUN/DIY/ Holidays/Parties/ Homemade Gifts/ RECIPES/ Sweets

Butterscotch Bars For Father’s Day

Butterscotch Bars–

5 ingredients.

5 minutes to make.

25 minutes to bake.

=35 minutes for a simple, thoughtful and yummy Father’s Day gift.

My father-in-law loves Oatmeal Scotchies (ya know, the oatmeal cookies with the butterscotch chips in them?). They are super good, but he is pretty health conscious, so I thought I would try something a bit different with healthful ingredients in mind, but still with a buttery, butterscotch flavor. I’ve been eyeing this 5 ingredient recipe for Butterscotch Bars from Heavenly Homemakers for awhile now, and hoped they would taste as good as she made them sound. Well, of course they do–after all, it is a Heavenly Homemakers recipe, and she never disappoints.

Now, when I say healthful, I do not mean eat- a-whole-pan-in-one-sitting kind of healthful. They do have a cup of butter in them, so they are not low calorie. What I mean is that they are made with healthful ingredients that are not artificial, and contain ingredients that are beneficial to the body. (example-fiber from the whole wheat flour, protein from the eggs)

My husband was heading out the door to meet his dad and brother for dinner and a movie, when I stopped him and pleaded for him to wait a few minutes so I could finish up the bars. I got that look from my husband, the look that said “you know my dad is a stickler for punctuality, please hurry!” Well, my patient husband waited for me to package these pretty, and in turn was 5 minutes late to dinner on Father’s day. Oops. 🙁 Hopefully a little package of still-warm-from-the -oven Butterscotch Bars will make it all ok. 🙂 I dearly love my father-in-law, and I am so very thankful for his influence on my husbands life, my life and my children’s lives. I love you, Don! (I’m smiling. It is good he does not read my blog, that PDVA -public display of verbal affection-would make him roll his eyes. You know the type, tries to be grizzly on the outside but everyone knows he is teddy on the inside-love it)

To be quite honest, I am feeling pretty overwhelmed with gratitude on this Father’s Day. I have been so blessed to have an amazing husband who is such a great dad to our girls, a super loving, giving and involved father-in-law, and my own daddy, whom I know loves me, has done so much for me, and reads my blog despite most of the content being of little interest to a guy like him-now that is love, huh? (miss you dad, hope you are having a GREAT time in Wisconsin!) I. AM. BLESSED.

On to the recipe…
it is easy and really yummy. It is bursting with buttery goodness and a bit on the gooey side–yum. I’m wondering if it would be just as good with a little less butter in it. I may try that next time.

Easy Butterscotch Bars
1 cup butter, melted
11/2 cups sucanat (pure cane sugar)
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
11/2 cups whole wheat flour

Stir butter and sucanat together. Add eggs and vanilla, mixing well. Add whole wheat flour and mix until well combined. Pour batter into a 9×13 inch pan ( I greased mine) Bake 350 degrees for 25 minutes.

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