Oh-My-Goddess Dressing

Still waiting for most of our tomatoes (only sungolds have ripened for us so far), but we've had plenty of cukes and the herbs keep growing, so..... goddess dressing for our steak salad w/garden cucumbers. oh my!

1/2 cup plain yogurt
1/4 cup sour cream
1/4 cup mayo
1/2 cup packed garden herbs (I used oregano, basil, thyme, sage and rosemary)
2 cloves garlic
1 slice lemon
salt and pepper (not too much--this is so flavorful already)

Food process and chill until ready to use.

Caprese Pasta Salad

A great, easy pasta salad w/ingredients that everyone (at least everyone w/any common sense) likes:

1/3-1/2 cup olive oil (depending on how much coating you like on your noodles)
1/8-1/4 cup balsamic (how much zing do you like?)
a couple spoonfuls of pesto (optional)
1 clove garlic (or more!)
salt and pepper to taste
1 pound pasta (farfalle or orechiette work well)
1/2-1 pound fresh mozz, diced
1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved or quartered
1 cup basil leaves, julienned

Combine oil, vinegar, pesto, garlic salt and pepper in a big bowl. Add cooked pasta, mozz, tomatoes and basil and toss. Enjoy!

Recipes from the Garden: Ham and Leek pizza

I found some volunteer leeks growing rampant in the vegetable garden (so that's what those giant, globular flowers were last summer). I got rid of most of them to make way for tomatoes and cukes, but left a few, hoping they will self-seed again this summer.

Anyway, I sauteed a vidalia onion w/the white parts of the leeks and some garlic for about 20 min, then topped the pizza w/red sauce, mozz, the onion mix and ham and the green parts of the leeks. It was a good spring-but-not-quite-feeling-like-spring-because-it-won't-stop-raining meal.

Yummy Granola Mix

Oven: 325

Mix:
2 cups oats
1/4 cup flaxseed or wheat germ
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp salt
1/4 cup sunflower seeds or soy nuts

Mix:
1/3 cup oil (or 1/2 for more clumps)
1/3 cup honey (or 1/2 for more clumps)
1 tsp vanilla

Pour wet ingredients into dry ingredients. Mix well with hands, forming clumps.

Bake 10 minutes. Add 1/3 cup nuts and 1/3 cup coconut. Bake 10 minutes more.

Remove and cool. Add dried fruit and choc chips, if desired.

Pizza--the Joy of Adam

This is basically the Joy of Cooking pizza dough recipe tweaked by me based on my dude-in-law Adam Shopis' research and teachings.

Mix 2 1/4 tsp. yeast in 1 cup hot water.

In Kitchen Aid bowl:
3 1/2 cups flour
1 Tbsp Salt
1 Tbsp Sugar
2 Tbsp Olive Oil
Mix with wooden fork or paddle attachment on low.

Add yeast/water. Add between 1/4-1/2 cup more water. Mix with fork until it starts to come together.
Then use bread hook attachment and mix on medium low for 10 minutes. Dough should stick to bottom of bowl but not sides. Add water or flour accordingly if necessary.

Coat large bowl with oil. Form dough into a ball and put in bowl. Cover tightly with lid or plastic wrap. Let rise 60-90 minutes in a warmish place. Sometimes I start the dough in the oven for 10-15 minutes with the oven light on, but you will have to remove it in order to:

PREHEAT THE OVEN TO IT'S HIGHEST SETTING FOR ONE HOUR. If you have a convection oven, use that setting. Make sure the pizza stone is in there on the lowest rack.

Make your pizza as usual, but if you've preheated properly, the pizza should only take 4-7 minutes so WATCH IT VERY CLOSELY until you know how quick your oven is going to cook your pizza.

The great thing about this dough is you really can't screw it up too badly (and believe me I've tried). It's going to be soft, crispy brown on top with crust bubbles and it is always delicious. Mangia!!!!

Sardines with Capers and Pasta

I bought a package of sardines in olive oil a couple months back after having read that they're a safe and sustainable source of Omega 3s (not to mention cheap). But, they lingered in my cupboard because I did not know what the heck to do with them. I looked for recipes online, and the majority of them were dips, not something I'm overly interested in. So, I decided to try the following, and really really liked it. My husband liked the taste but not the smell. My 21 month old daughter liked the flavor of everything together, but wasn't a big fan of the fish itself. I'm going to make it a couple more times, and fully expect everyone to be on board by the third try. Let me know what you think!

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Sardines in Olive Oil, Lemon, and Capers over Pasta

Saute a chopped onion or a few shallots over low heat in a generous amount of olive oil. After the onions have softened a bit, add a clove or more of chopped garlic. Continue to saute over low heat until the onions are translucent. Add the capers, with some of the pickling juice, and the juice of one lemon, and allow it all to heat up together. Add two or more cans of sardines packed in water or olive oil, and allow them to heat through. I recommend the olive oil packed sardines. They have a better look and texture. Add your cooked pasta, salt and pepper to taste, and toss them all together, breaking up the sardines a bit. I used whole-wheat angel hair pasta. The sauce was definitely able to stand up to the whole wheat. You may want to add some of the saved pasta water here. I didn't the last time I made it, but will the next time since I think it'll improve the "sauciness." Sprinkle with fresh chopped parsley and Parmesan and serve!

Oatmeal: From yuck to yum!!

Here is a great idea from our guest blogger, Jim: 

I never liked Oatmeal. As a kid I remember my Grandma or Aunts trying to convince me to like it by covering it with sugar. My Dad would try to get me to like it by putting maple syrup on it. Sleepovers at friends houses would run up the risks of being served instant oatmeal. To me, it just seemed like yesterdays cereal, warmed up a bit with some raisins thrown in. 

From College on I never had to deal with oatmeal. Might sit across from someone in the cafeteria shoveling warm paste into their mouth, but that was about it. As soon as I was out of the dorms, and to this day, regardless of who I lived with, I was the cook, chef or primary destroyer of food goods in all households and oatmeal was not in my arsenal. 

About 15 years ago I read a fitness and health book written by a guy named Bill Phillips. In his book he talked a lot whole grains and unprocessed (or less processed) foods. I was struck by the idea that forcing my body to work harder by digesting whole grains I could almost get some free exercise by just eating. Oatmeal was at the top of his list of healthy whole grains. 

To be clear, he was talking about WHOLE OLD FASHIONED OATS. Not the packages with sugar and malt in them, and not even 1-minute oat, which he explained were whole oats that had been further pressed and perforated or cut down into smaller pieces to make them absorb liquid quicker. That secondary processing did make them cook quicker, but it also was robbing your body of the chance to get that extra 'exercise' of breaking them down. 

It struck me that the less I cooked them, the more my body would have to work to digest them, and this is how I came up with the way I cook oatmeal. Steeping instead of boiling yields a light fluffy oatmeal instead of soup or paste. I love it because it is very quick and easy to do before school, requires no planning as you can always come up with a variation based on what you have in your kitchen, and my girls will eat it a few times a week with no protest. 

1.5-2.5 cups liquid * 

3 cups whole old fashioned oats (eyeball this. after a few tries you will figure out how many oats to add so all the liquid is absorbed.  you need a lot less liquid than you think.  if there is too much liquid left, you can strain it out)

pinch salt 

unsalted nuts (optional) 

raisins (optional) 

sugar (optional) 

* water is the most healthy choice, but produces a finished product too bland for me so I use milk (skim or vanilla soy) or 1 cup juice (apple, cranberry.)   Liquid combos that work: water and cranberry or apple, soy milk and cranberry or just milk.  Don't try cow milk and juice...train wreck!

Take a big saucepot and put it on high heat. Add all 3 cups of liquid and pinch of salt bring to boil uncovered. As soon as the liquid starts to boil add the oats and stir for 30 seconds or until all oats are wet, then cut the heat and cover with a tight lid. 

Let oatmeat steep for 5 minutes (covered) then fluff with fork and serve. For my girls I garnish with what they call a "sugar spoon" which is a teaspoon pressed into the top of their oatmeal filled with sugar. 

Variations: 

When adding spices I add them right after I add the liquid to the saucepot. Raisins or other dried fruit I add right after the oats, just before I kill the heat and cover the pot. Nuts I add right at the end of the steep (the cover and let steep for additional minute or two.) 

Apple Pie - Use apple juice as your juice, add cinnamon with the salt and add an apple finely diced when you add the oats. 

Gingerbread - Use cranberry as your juice and add nutmeg, clove, all spice, cinnamon and ginger with the salt. (you can really amp this one up by replacing 1 cup of liquid with coffee or expresso. Being a complete cheapskate I use the coffee left over from the prior day. 

Cranberry - Use cranberry as your juice and add dried cranberries (or Craisins) with the oats and pecans at the end.

 

I can't wait to try this!