Garlicky Greens

There are probably so many ways to cook collard greens, but I always end up with this one.
It's just that good.
Savory, sweet, packed with garlic flavor. Enough said.
You can use this with anything from collard to beet to mustard greens, kale, spinach or swiss chard.

Garlicky Greens
- 2 c greens, diced
- 1/2 sweet onion, sliced thin
- 5 cloves garlic, sliced thin
- 1/4 sherry
- 1/4 broth
- 2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
- onion powder, garlic powder




Saute onions until soft, add garlic, stir, and when garlic is beginning to soften, add in sherry. Toss the diced greens into the pan and fold into the onions, then pour on the broth and Worcestershire sauce, onion and garlic powders, toss to mix, cover and simmer until greens are at your desired doneness.

Honey-Curry Carrots

Honey-Curry Carrots
- 1/2 bag baby carrots
- 1 tbsp butter
- 1 tbsp honey
- 1 tbsp curry powder
- fresh cilantro, chopped

In a frying pan, melt butter and then add carrots. When carrots have begun to soften, squeeze in the honey, season with the curry powder, and cook to desired doneness. Garnish with chopped cilantro.

Honey Butter Carrots with Tarragon

You know what's great about winter crops? You hardly have to do anything but pick them.

Big ups to winter crops out of my garden.
Especially for the love I didn't show them - I just dropped some seeds in the ground last fall and forgot.
Carrots, Swiss chard. Awesome
Went nice with some broiled fish.










HoneyButter Carrots with Tarragon
- 1/2 lb garden carrots, cut in rounds
- 1/8 c vegetable broth
- pinch salt
- 1 tbsp butter
- 1 tbsp honey
- 2 tbsp fresh tarragon, minced
Toss carrots into a frying pan with the vegtabe broth, cover and let cook until carrots have softened. Stir in the butter and then honey and continue to cook on low heat until most of the liquid is reduced. Sprinkle witht he tarragon, stir, and serve hot.

Beet Salad

This salad hails from my days spent as a Russian, and is only one of the many, many types of beet salads out there in that Slavic world.
This particular salad is called Vinagrette, and though like all salads it has many variations, its general components are usually the eponymous beets, apple, onion, cucumber, pickles, parsley or possible dill. I didn't have any pickles or cucumber, and no parsley, but I had beets, onion, apple and dill. You basically chop it all up, mix it all together, and let it marinate in a sweetened vinegar in the fridge until wanted for eating.
It keeps well, tastes good, and is probably full of vitamins.

Beet Salad
- 2 roasted beets, cubed (can used canned)
- 1/2 small sweet onion, diced
- 1/2 tart apple, diced
- fresh dill, chopped
- 1/4 c red wine vinegar
- 1 tbsp sugar

As said above, chop everything up, mix everything together, combine the sugar and vinegar and pour over top of the beet-apple-onion mixture, sprinkle with dill, stir it all up and stick it in the fridge to wait for you. Optionally, you can lightly dry-saute (w/out oil) the onions a bit to intensify their sweetness before adding.


linked up at Side Dish Saturdays over at Cinnamon Spice and Everything Nice

Red Onion Tomato Relish with Cilantro

This is like caramelized onions on crack.
Cilantro and alcohol infused tomato crack.

Red Onion Tomato Relish with Cilantro
- 1 large red onion, sliced thin
- salt
- 1/3 c rice vinegar
- 1/3 c brandy
- 1/3 c water
- 1 tbsp garlic powder
- 1/3 c sun dried tomatoes, julienne cut
- 1/2 bunch fresh cilantro, minced

In a cast iron skillet, heat olive oil and when hot, add your onions. Sprinkle with salt and stir. Next, pour in the vinegar and brandy, sprinkle with garlic powder, stir and let simmer covered until onions have become soft. Add the tomatoes and the water, stir and let simmer covered until onions are very soft, almost mushy, and liquid is absorbed. Remove from heat, stir in the minced cilantro, and enjoy over grilled fish or chicken.
I served this on grilled Mahi Mahi with Oven-Fried Green Tomatoes

Oven-Fried Green Tomatoes

So many green tomatoes.
must. not. waste.
Oven-Fried Green Tomatoes
- green tomatoes, sliced in 1/2'' rounds
- 1/2 c panko bread crumbs
- 1/4 regular bread crumbs
- 1 tbsp garlic powder
- 1 tbsp Parmesan cheese
- 1 tbsp smoked paprika
- 1 tbsp Old Bay seasoning
- 1 egg

Preheat oven. Slice tomatoes. Crack egg. Beat egg. Combine all dry ingredients.

Put your baking sheets in the oven to get hot, and meanwhile dump the beaten egg onto a plate and half of the bread crumb mixture onto another plate, and now you're set up and ready to start dipping. Dip the sliced tomatoes in the egg, let excess drip off, and then toss it in the bread crumbs, to coat on each side. Bake for 10 minutes and then give them a spray with cooking spray before flipping and cooking on the other side for about 5 minutes. When brown and crispy, remove from oven and serve immediately. Ketchup is optional, seconds are not.

Tomato Basil-Bean Salad

beans, vegetables, garlic, spices.
side dish galore
Tomato Basil-Bean Salad
- 1 can Great Northern beans, rinsed and drained
- 2 medium vine tomatoes, chopped
- 1/2 large zucchini, chopped
- 1/2 red onion, diced
- 10 leaves fresh basil, sliced
- 2 cloves garlic, pressed
- 1/8 c balsamic vinegar
- sea salt to taste

Rinse and drain beans and put in a bowl with the chopped tomatoes. Heat olive oil in a frying pan, and add in your diced red onions. When onions have browned/caramelized, add in the chopped zucchini and cook till the zucchini has just begun to soften, then transfer to the bowl with the tomato and beans. Throw in the sliced basil and then toss it all together with the pressed garlic, vinegar and salt. Allow the salad time to cool/marinate in the fridge before serving.

Roasted Butternut and Cranberry Salad

Butternut Squash and cranberries belong together. And who are you to get in the way of the universe?

Roasted Butternut and Cranberry Salad
- 2 small butternut squash
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tbsp cinnamon
- 1 tsp ginger
- 1 tbsp brown sugar
- 1 large sweet onion, sliced thin
- 1/8 c brandy
- 1/8 c balsamic vinegar
- 4 leaves fresh sage, minced
- 1 tbsp powdered thyme
- 1/2 pckg dried cranberries

Preheat oven to 375. Cut the ends off of the squash, peel and then slice into cubes, about 1 inch in size. Toss squash with olive oil and then the cinnamon, ginger and brown sugar. Spread squash out on two aluminum foil-covered baking trays and roast for 30 minutes, or until tender.
Meanwhile, in a skillet, saute onions in olive oil and when soft add in the brandy and balsamic vinegar. Stir in cranberries and cook until liquid is absorbed.
In a large bowl, add roasted squash, sauteed onions, minced sage, thyme and sea salt, and toss to combine. Let the salad sit out or in the fridge for a least an hour before serving so flavors have time to combine. Stir before serving and enjoy.

Green Beans in Balsamic Butter

This is a good way to enjoy green beans, hot or cold.

Green Beans in Balsamic Butter
- 1 lb fresh Green Beans
- 2 shallots (or 1/2 sweet onion), minced
- 1/4 Balsamic Vinegar
- 1 tbsp butter

Steam Green Beans until aldente, remove from pot and set aside. Saute shallot/onions in a small saucepan with a little olive oil until soft and translucent. Add vinegar, bring to a boil, and then reduce to simmer until all of the vinegar has absorbed into the onions and there is almost no liquid left in the pan. Stir in the tablespoon of butter, transfer mixture to a bowl and let cool in the fridge until ready to use.
Before serving, heat a skillet with cooking spray, add beans and then Balsamic Butter, and toss to coat beans until heated through. Serve immediately, and enjoy.

Easy-Cheesy Swiss Chard

These days, Swiss Chard is pretty ubiquitous, but for those of you who don't know, it's a green, like spinach, only better. It has a mild flavor and lends itself to everything from pasta to salads, and is just as enjoyable straight up.
One of my favorite ways to eat it is how my mom has always made it, mixed with sauteed onions, cooked down in broth, and finished off with feta cheese that gives it a salty, butteriness that is, well, delicious!

Cheesy Swiss Chard
- 1 bunch swiss chard, chopped
- 1 medium sweet onion, sliced thin
- 4 cloves garlic, sliced thin
- salt and pepper
- 1/4 c cooking sherry
- 1/4 c vegetable broth
- splash of Worcestershire sauce
- 1/2 c reduced fat feta cheese

Saute Onions in Olive Oil, salt and pepper until translucent, then add garlic and chopped swiss chard stems.
Pour in the sherry, and then put in all of the chopped greens. Pour in veggie broth and Worcestershire sauce and use tongs to bring the greens on the bottom to the top, repeating continually as the greens cook down. Cover and let simmer, mixing occasionally for about 5 minutes or until greens are dark in color and tender. Drain most of the liquid in the bottom and stir in the feta before transferring to a bowl and serving.

Charred Zucchini Salad

This is an original recipe of mine, and one of my favorites not just because I made it up, but also because it's freakin delicious!

Every summer I grow way too many Zucchinis and have to figure out what to do with them. In the past I've made stir frys, fritters, breads. I've pickled them, stuffed them, even eaten them raw.

And then I came up with this salad. It requires a little bit of forethought, just for the needed marinating and chilling prior to serving, but the final product is well worth it.

Deep and savory, yet refreshingly light, this salad gets all its freshness straight from the garden. It is simple goodness and a consistent crowd pleaser at summer barbecues. This is a recipe for your recipe books. Give it a try, you'll be happy you did.

CHARRED ZUCCHINI SALAD

(serves 4)

- 2 medium zucchinis, sliced in 1/2 inch rounds

- 1 small red onion, peeled

- 1 c garden cherry tomatoes

- fresh basil, chopped

- 1/4 c asiago, shredded

dressing

- 1/8 c Balsamic Vinegar

- 1/8 c Balsamic Hot Sauce

- 2 tbsp olive oil

- 1 tbsp dried Basil

- 1 tbsp dried Oregano

- 1 tsp Black Pepper

Marinate sliced zucchini and the whole onion in dressing for at least 3 hours. Turn on grill and spray with cooking spray. Grill zucchini, basting with dressing as it cooks, until charred on one side, then flip, and remove from grill when charred on the other side. Cook and baste onion until soft and tender, remove from grill, and let cool before slicing into thin strips. In a bowl mix zucchini, onion, and quartered cherry tomatoes with chopped basil, cover and let sit in fridge, letting the flavors combine until cool. Top with shredded asiago before serving, and get ready to take all the delicious credit (except for inventing it!).
This Awesomeness was shared on;
Seasonal Saturdays on Bella Vita's Blog

Craisy Good

The key to good cooking is enjoying it, and I take more pleasure in cooking for others than cooking for myself. Although making a salad isn't quite what I called cooking, when Mom wanted a salad for dinner, I happily took advantage of the opportunity to play. She declared the end result delicious and crazy good (read craisy good), high praise for a simple steak salad.

Craisy Steak Salad
- chopped romaine
- fresh thyme, chopped
- 1/4 sweet onion sliced thin
- 1/4 orange bell pepper, sliced thin
- 1 leftover corn on the cob
- 6 oz leftover filet mignon (or other steak)
- handful craisins
- handful crushed walnuts
dressing
- 1/4 c red wine vinegar
- 1 tbsp walnut oil
- 1/4 c casis liquor
- 1 tsp stone ground mustard
- 1/4 tsp ground thyme
- 1/2 tsp honey

Lightly saute onions till just soft then add a splash of brandy and remove from heat. Heat leftover steak till just warmed on the outside and soft again, but not heated through. Cool and slice thin. Mix chopped romaine with chopped thyme and bell pepper. Top corn sliced off of the cob, onions, steak, craisins and walnuts, dressing, and finally crumbled blue cheese.

Journey to Juicy Tomatoes

Well, we got up at 3 am on Thursday, took off at 6:50 am, flew for 13 hours, and arrived at 5 am THURSDAY morning. But don't get me wrong, gaining a day didn't exactly make me feel spry. 16 of 36 hours in one position is an excruciating experience of a mild, but itchy claustrophobia, sporadic charlie horses, and the spinning sensation of sleep deprivation.And the food wasn't any better... (witness puddle of eggs + prepack 'sandwich' w/ 1 slice ham. 1
slice cheese)
Thanks to the garden babysitting skills of my buddy Paulington, though, I had a bunch of fresh tomatoes waiting at home for me, and sliced them with some sweet onion and basil and topped them with Balsamic Pepper Sauce, for a nice, fresh pick me up.
Mom got some corn and cooked up steaks for a nice, rounded out meal to help us recover strong.Garden Tomatoes with Basil

2 to 3 Vine Tomatoes, sliced
1/2 medium Sweet Onion, sliced thin
Fresh Basil, chopped
Roland Basalmic Pepper Sauce

Layer tomatoes and onions and top with chopper basil. Dress with pepper sauce or Balsalmic Vinegar and ground pepper.

Serve cold. Keeps for 1 day.

Garden of Ethan

I keep saying this, but there's nothing like cooking from the garden. I love creating my dinner around what I have available and it's always extra cool to be eating food that YOU cooked from food that YOU grew!
So yesterday, when I saw that my beans had finally decided to grow, I started thinking about how I could showcase them, to keep it simple but to accent their natural taste...I first, I thought about simply seasoning this mix of Green Beans, Wax Beans and Purple Beans with some lemon and dill, but I wanted to serve them along with Pork and some noodles that already had dill... What to do? I needed something flavorful but simple. and that would compliment my other dishes...
And then it came to me; couldn't I steam the beans in something other than water? Sure! So could I steam them in wine, no, better yet in sherry? Why Not? And couldn't I also throw in some fresh Rosemary sprigs to infuse it all? Absolutely!

Rosemary-Sherry Infused Garden Beans
-Fresh Green Beans, trimmed
- 1/4 c water
- 1/4 c cooking sherry
- 3 sprigs fresh rosemary

Pour water into the bottom of a pot, insert the steaming rack, then put in the rosemary and then the beans on top of the rosemary. Steam beans until crisp but tender, then transfer immediately to a bowl and serve.
These are very lightly flavored, centering mostly on the goodness of the bean itself, but the sherry ads a slight sweetness and the rosemary flavor does come through.

variations: use this same idea for any vegetable with any steaming liquid and any herb (for example, I have steamed Cauliflower in curried vegetable stock...)

RATATOUILLE not RATatouille

Before the movie, no one had ever heard of Ratatouille, and still, the word probably only conjures images of a rat in a chef's hat in most people's minds.
But I grew up on Ratatouille and know what the REAL stuff is; a delicious, thick melange of vegetables, stewed and cooked down in wine. Mom would throw in everything from onions and peppers to eggplants and zucchinis, and like most things mashed together in wine and herbs, the finished product was always better than the sum of its parts.
So when I went out in the garden the other day and found, among my usual plethora of zucchini, some ripe eggplants and tomatoes, I knew what I had to do!
RATATOUILLE
- 1 vidalia onion, diced
- 2 to 3 small or 1 large eggplant, peeled+diced
- 4 cloves garlic, sliced thin
- 1 small to medium zucchini, sliced
- 1 yellow bell pepper, sliced thin
- 2 vine tomatoes, diced
- 1 to 2 tbsp tomato sauce or tomato paste
- 1/4 c white wine
- dried oregano, dried basil, crushed red pepper
- fresh basil, fresh oregano (minced)
- capers

Heat olive oil in a cast iron skillet then add onions. Season with salt and pepper, then stir in the eggplant and once eggplant begins to soften, add the garlic. Throw in your sliced peppers and zucchini, and lastly the tomatoes. Season with dried spices, add the wine, and simmer until most of the liquid is absorbed. When liquid is gone and the mixture looks thick, stir in your fresh herbs and the capers, remove from heat, and let sit covered for five minutes or so to let the flavors combine before serving.
This dish goes great with everything from meat to fish, or even over rice as a vegetarian meal in its self.variations: everyone seems to have their own take on ratatouille; some stew it, some bake it...whatever. for me, the essential idea is to cook down vegetables in wine. it should always be herby and should always have SOME tomato, but the veggies are up to you: try adding carrots or summer squash, jalapeno or whatever you have on hand...

Salaad

This is a post for posting's sake, but nevertheless...
Salad is salad...right? WRONG!
Salad is what you make it; as boring or exciting as what you put into it. For me, the key to a great salad is contrasts: soft and crunchy, sweet and salty, chunks and shreds, base flavors and spices...
I like to add pickles to my salad, be they sweet gherkins, sweet peppers, beets, okra, mushrooms, onions... And I also like a mix of greens, especially romaine and baby spinach. Finally, my last beef with salad is that I like everything chopped up, so that it mixes well and gets equal access to the dressing. There's nothing good about having a giant leaf of iceberg with a small mushy, uncut cherry tomato and a carrot that you can't seem to get on your fork...
So go ahead, make a salad, but let go and have fun. The best thing about them is that you can put anything in; no rules, just have fun.Sweet and Savory Spinach Salad
- romaine, chopped
- baby spinach, chopped
- 2 small pickled beets, sliced thin
- 1 scallion, sliced thin
- 1 carrot, shaved
- 1/3 can Great Northern Beans
- leftover Cucumber Salad
Make a base of greens, top with beets, scallion, carrot, beans and cuke salad in that order. Pour juice from leftover cukes over salad, toss, and enjoy.
(Pair with BBQ of choice or just enjoy it on its own)

When Life Hands You Cucumbers

I LOVE gardening. There's nothing like eating vegetables that you picked yourself out of your own garden. However, it's often hard for me to keep up with the bounty, especially the Zucchini, which seems to grow faster than I can pick it.
This year, however, it's not just the Zucchini going gangbusters out there, but a new culprit...Cucumbers, and lots of them!

I picked five of the beauties yesterday, and there's still six more out there!

So, what to do, you ask???????

Actually, I knew right away: When Life Hands You Cucumbers, Make Cucumber Salad!

This is a German-inspired cucumber salad with a few little tweaks that I added. Sweet, savory, cool and refreshing, this is a perfect accompaniment for everything from pork chops to burgers to crabcakes, or simply as a snack on a hot day.

Cucumber Salad with Sweet Onions

Sweet Onions

- 1/2 c fennel, sliced thin

- 1/2 vidalia onion, sliced thin

- 1/4 c apple cider vinegar or red wine vinegar

- 1/4 sugar

- splash of pickled beet juice

- 5 whole cloves

Cucumber Salad

- 3 large cucumbers, peeled and sliced thin

- salt

- 1/2 c white vinegar

- Ground Mustard, Ground Thyme, Black Pepper, Caraway Seed

- Fresh dill, chopped

Usually this salad is made simply with red onions, but I had a better idea. Instead of red onion, I had Vidalia onions, and took the opportunity to add some complexity to the salad's simple flavors.

In a small saucepan I briefly cooked the fennel, just to soften it a bit, then added the vinegar, sugar, beet juice and cloves, brought it to a boil and then poured it over the sliced onions into a jar. I let this sit for a day before I made the salad, to let the color and flavor soak into the Onions.Next day, I sliced the cucumbers thin, tossed them with salt and let them drain in a collander for 20 minutes. Then I rinsed them with cold water, patted them dry and put them in a bowl and topped with chopped dill. In a small saucepan I heated the vinegar with the seasonings until the sugar was dissolved then removed from heat to cool. When the liquid is cool, pour it over the cucumber, stir and let marinate in the fridge for at least two hours, stirring occasionally before serving. Ten minutes before you want to serve, remove the cloves from the onions, strain, toss them with the cucumbers and enjoy! (Will keep in the fridge for a few days)

Asian Slaw, Lurking Sri Racha Style

Yesterday I'd been planning on a zucchini dish for the veggie dish to a BBQ. Problem is I got distracted by a motorcycle ride, and didn't have time to marinate and grill and cool the zucchini afterward...
Nevertheless, like a ninja, I scoped the scene, made my attacks, and the kitchen never knew what hit it. I had zucchini, peppers, onion, and some cucumber needing to be used, and I used them... punched them in the face with a sweet and savory dressing, lit them on fire with a healthy dose of Sri Racha hot sauce, and tossed 'em around a little bit just for fun!

Spicy Asian Slaw with Cool Cucumber
- 1 medium zucchini, sliced thin

- 3 sweet bell peppers (red, orange, yellow) sliced thin

- 1/2 sweet onion, sliced thin

- sesame oil

- powdered ginger

vinagrette:

- 1/8 c Rice Vinegar

- 1/8 c Mirin (sweet sake wine)

- splash Ponzu sauce (or soy sauce)

- 1 tbsp sugar

- 2 tbsp crushed garlic

- cilantro puree

- squeeze of lime juice

- Sri Racha to taste

* shaved cucumber

Coat onions in a few shakes of Sesame Oil and ginger. In another bowl add zucchini and then microwave the peppers for 30 seconds, just to soften them a little before mixing them with the zucchini. In a measuring cup, microwave the liquids in the vinagrette just to warm them to dissolve the sugar and crushed garlic in them. Squeeze in Cilantro Puree, and mix well before pouring over the Zucchini and Peppers and tossing. Add your marinating Onions and once combined, squeeze a spiral of Sri Racha over everything (add more or less depending on if you're a wimp or not) then toss until everything is well mixed.

Finally, shave the cucumber with a vegetable peeler and lay the slices over-top of the slaw, but don't mix it in, so that it will retain it's own flavor for a cooling effect. Sprinkle the top with fresh chopped cilantro and refrigerate before serving.

When ready to serve, toss everything, cucumber included, and enjoy with some beer, white wine, or a gin and tonic...

Lemon-Garlic Asparagus

Last night, Mom and I agreed again that there is nothing like fresh Asparagus. The only trick is to not to overcook it. Like my Garlic Spinach recipe, this dish keeps it simple, using only garlic, salt, and lemon to accent the natural sweetness in the Asparagus.

Lemon-Garlic Asparagus

- 1 bunch jumbo (fat) asparagus

- 1 clove garlic, pressed

- splash of vegetable broth

- squirt of lemon juice

-pinch of salt

Coat a skillet with cooking spray, toss in Asparagus, and saute/brown briefly on all sides. Add vegetable broth and pressed garlic and cover, so that the Aspargus becomes tender. When the liquid is evaporated, add lemon juice and salt, toss with tongs, remove from heat, and serve.

Cauliflower-Leek Puree

This recipe harks from my familie's days on the Atkins diet. Although it's no replacement for mashed potatoes, that doesn't mean it's not damn good! The subtle cauliflower flavor comes through really strong, and is complemented well by the leek. You can make it as cheesy as you want and add any herbs and spices that come to hand. Trust me, you'll like it.
Cauliflower-Leek Puree
- 1 head cauliflower, chopped
- 1 large leek, sliced
- 4 cloves garlic
- 2 wedges spreadable cheese (french onion or swiss flavor)
- 1 tbsp butter (optional)
Boil Cauliflower, Leeks, and Garlic in water until tender. Strain and blend in a food processor with cheese, butter if desired, and any spices you want to add until smooth or your desired texture. Transfer back to pot, heat, and enjoy.