Marinated Vegetable Medley

It's no secret that I look for new ways to incorporate more fruits and vegetables in my diet.  This is one I especially like and I think you will too.  While there are canned vegetables in the list, I prefer, as far as possible to use fresh.

Choose any 5 of the following:

1 can green beans, drained

1 can asparagus, drained

1 can carrots, drained

1 jar artichoke hearts, drained

2 cups fresh mushrooms, sliced

1 cups cherry tomatoes

2 cups sliced fresh summer squash

2 cups sliced cucumbers

2 cups (1 small head) cauliflower florets

2 cups (1 bunch) broccoli florets

2 medium green bell peppers, sliced

1 small red onion, sliced and separated into rings

Marinade:

1 cup vegetable oil

1/2 cup white wine vinegar

1/2 cup sugar

1 tablespoon dried Italian herb seasoning

2 teaspoons dry mustard

1 teaspoon salt

Combine your choice of vegetables in a large bowl.  Combine the marinade ingredients and pour over the vegetables.  Toss well.  Chill, covered, overnight.  Drain and arrange on a platter for serving.

The nice thing about this recipe is it can be different every time you make it.

Old-Fashioned Chicken and Dumplings

Few things are more Southern than Chicken and Dumplings.  This recipe comes from one of my Annual Southern Living cookbooks - if you are a serious cook (even if you aren't!), you need these cookbooks. . . Really.  I have a handful of these and use them frequently.  I've never been disappointed.  I think it is the buttermilk in this recipe that makes it stand above the crowd.

1 whole (2 1/2 to 3 lb) whole chicken

2 celery stalks, roughly chopped

2 medium carrots, roughly chopped

2 quarts water

2 1/2 teaspoons salt

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

2 cups all purpose flour, plus more for work surface

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

3 tablespoons Crisco

3/4 cup whole buttermilk

Place chicken, celery, and carrots in a Dutch oven; add water and 2 teaspoons of the salt.  Bring to a boil over high; cover, reduce heat to medium-low and simmer about 1 hour.  Remove chicken from broth and let stand until cool enough to handle, about 15 minutes.  Remove and discard skin and bones and cut into bite size pieces.  Bring broth to a boil over high heat, add pepper.

Meanwhile, combine flour, baking soda, and remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt in a large bowl.  Cut in Crisco with a pastry blender - or use your fingers - until mixture resembles coarse meal.  Add buttermilk, stirring with a fork until dry ingredients are moistened.  Turn dough onto a well-floured surface and knead lightly 4 or 5 times.

Pat dough into 1/2 inch thickness.  Pinch off dough in 1 1/2 inch pieces and drop into boiling broth.  Reduce heat to medium-low, cook, stirring occasionally, until desired consistency, about 8 to 10 minutes.  Stir in chicken.

Garnish servings with chives, if desired.

Avocado Toast

There are multiple ways to make Avocado Toast and over the years, I have made it several different ways.  Here is my new favorite!

Start with 2 thick slices of your choice of bread.  I prefer a whole wheat, multi-grain variety.  After toasting the bread, brush with olive oil.

Chop or mash a peeled avocado.  Pour hot sauce over it.  Chop 2 or 3 cherry tomatoes.  Combine the avocado, hot sauce, cherry tomatoes, and a sprinkling of feta cheese.

Delicious!

Buttermilk Pie

Buttermilk Pie is truly Southern!  Try it!

1 1/2 cups sugar

3 tablespoons all-purpose flour

6 tablespoons butter, melted

3 large eggs

1 1/2 cups buttermilk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/4 teaspoon grated nutmeg (optional)

A 9 inch unbaked pie shell

Preheat oven to 325.  Beat the sugar, flour, melted butter in a small electric mixer bowl for one minute.

Reduce mixer speed to low and beat in eggs, one at a time.  Continue beating for 30 seconds or until light.  With mixer still at low speed, add the buttermilk, vanilla, and nutmeg.  When thoroughly combined, pour the mixture into the pie shell.

Slide the pie onto a baking sheet and bake on the middle oven rack for about an hour and 10 minutes, or until puffed, nicely browned, and a cake tester inserted halfway between the edge and center comes out clean.

Can be served warm (after cooling on a rack for 30 minutes) or at room temperature.

The filling will fall but this is as it should be.  Cut into small pieces - the pie is rich! 

Fruit Pizza

I've made several different Fruit Pizza recipes.  They are all colorful and inviting.  I like this one best.  The crust, in my opinion, makes this one stand out among the rest!

Crust

1/2 cup butter, softened

1/4 cup brown sugar

1 cup flour

1/4 cup rolled oats

1/4 cup chopped nuts

Mix all ingredients together and press into bottom and sides of a pie pan.  Bake at 350 about 8 minutes.  Cool.

Topping

1 cup sour cream

1 small container Cool Whip

Selection of colorful fruits (example:  strawberries, blueberries, kiwi fruit, pineapple chunks)

Combine sour cream and Cool Whip.  Spread on cooled crust.  Arrange fruit over this in an eye appealing pattern.

Red Wine Chicken

This one comes from my Steve and Kathy Doocy's The Happy Cookbook.  If you don't have this one, you need to get a copy.  It is full of really great tasting recipes along with a lot of fun to read stories from Steve and Kathy's family.

 6 slices bacon, cut into one inch pieces

6 garlic cloves, thinly sliced

one pound button mushrooms, halved

2 large yellow onions, cut into one inch chunks

3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, halved horizontally

salt and pepper

2 large potatoes, peeled and quartered (I used baby potatoes, unpeeled)

1 pound baby carrots

2 cups red wine 

1 teaspoon herbes de Provence

2 cups chicken broth

1/3 cup flour

In a Dutch oven, cook the bacon over medium high heat until crispy.  Remove and set aside.

Add the garlic, mushrooms and onions to the pan with the bacon far and saute until they start to brown on the edges, 8 to 10 minutes.  Remove the vegetables to the plate with the bacon.

Sprinkle about 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper on the chicken.  Lay in the pan and cook until nicely browned on both sides, 12 to 15 minutes total.

Return the vegetables and bacon to the pot.  Add the potatoes, carrots, wine, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and the herbes de Provence.

In a small bowl, combine the broth and flour and stir until smooth.  Pour the mixture into the pot and stir.  Bring to a boil.  Reduce the heat to a simmer, cover, and cook until the chicken is done and the sauce is thickening, 30 to 35 minutes.

Season to taste with salt and pepper and serve.

Pear Pecan Bundt Cake

Anyone that follows my blog knows I like bundt cakes. . . one pan, no layers to spread frosting over, just drizzle the glaze when the cake is completely cool!  And my Lodge Manufacturing cast iron bundt cake pan gets a lot of use.

3 cups flour

2 cups sugar

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup plus 2 tablespoons vegetable oil

3 large eggs at room temperature

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 Bosc pears, cut into 1 inch pieces (about 2 cups)

1 cup chopped nuts

Glaze

1 1/2 cups confectioners sugar

3 tablespoons water (or enough to get right consistency)

Preheat oven to 350.  Spray tube pan with Bakers Joy spray.

In a large bowl, sift together the flour, the sugar, the baking soda, and the salt, making a well in the center.  Stir in the oil, the eggs, and the vanilla.  Stir in the pears and the pecans.  Spoon the batter into prepared pan.  Bake for 60 to 70 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.  Let cake cool in the pan for 20 minutes.  Remove from pan onto a wire rack.

Once cake is completely cool, in a small bowl (I use a pyrex measuring cup because the pouring spout makes it easy to spread the glaze) stir together the sugar and water until smooth.  Drizzle over cake.

Sweet Potato Bread with Buttermilk Lime Frosting

I make a lot of different quick breads, probably a half dozen or more recipes.  This one is quite unique.  It can be served with or without the frosting. . . but include the frosting!

Salted butter for greasing the pan

1 3/4 cups self rising flour

1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/8 teaspoon ground cloves

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 1/3 cups light brown sugar

1 cup mashed roasted sweet potato

3/4 cup vegetable oil

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

3 large eggs, at room temperature

Frosting

2 1/2 cups sifted powder sugar

2 tablespoons buttermilk

1 tablespoon fresh lime juice

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

pinch of salt

lime zest

Preheat oven to 350.  Grease a loaf pan with butter, set aside. 

Combine flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, baking powder, cloves, and 1/2 teaspoon salt in a large bowl.  Whisk together brown sugar, sweet potato, oil, and 1 teaspoon vanilla in a separate bowl.  Add eggs, one at a time to brown sugar mixture, whisking to combine after each addition.  Slowly add brown sugar mixture to flour mixture, whisking constantly until well combined.

Transfer batter to prepared loaf pan.  Bake on middle rack in preheated oven until a wooden toothpick comes out clean, about one hour.  Remove bread from oven; cool in pan on a wire rack for 15 minutes.

Prepare the icing:  Whisk together powdered sugar, buttermilk, lime juice, 1/2 teaspoon vanilla, and pinch of salt in a medium bowl until smooth.

Remove the bread from pan, and cool on wire rack.  Drizzle bread with frosting while the loaf is still warm.  Top with zest.

Soooo good!

Linguine and Sun-Dried Tomatoes

I love sun-dried tomatoes!  Here is a quick and easy pasta recipe you'll love.

16 oz. package of linguine

7 oz. jar sun dried tomatoes in oil

1/4 cup pine nuts

3 garlic cloves, minced

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

4 oz. package crumbled feta cheese

2 tablespoons thin fresh basil strips

Prepare the linguine according to package directions.

Drain the tomatoes, reserving 2 tablespoons oil.  Cut the tomatoes into thin strips.

Heat pine nuts in a large skillet, over medium-low heat, stirring often, 5 minutes or until toasted and fragrant.  Remove the nuts from skillet.

Increase heat to medium, and saute garlic in 2 tablespoons reserved oil and olive oil in the skillet one minute or until garlic is fragrant.  Stir in tomatoes and remove from heat.

Toss together tomato mixture, hot cooked pasta, feta cheese, and basil in large bowl.  Sprinkle with toasted pine nuts.

Mmmm. . . delicious!

A throw-together vegetable stir fry!

I have tons of recipes for anything I want to make and more. . . but sometimes it is fun to just go out on a limb and see what you can come up with.  That's what I did tonight.

I brought home a lot of "stir fry stuff", well that was what I wrote on my shopping list!  I began by heating up my cast iron wok, adding a small amount of oil in it. . . letting that heat up. . . then I added chopped garlic and fresh ginger.  After that cooked for a minute or two, I added broccoli, orange bell pepper strips, baby corn, and mushrooms.  When that had cooked a bit, I added homemade stir fry sauce, stirred it around, then covered the wok and let it simmer a bit.  I served it over brown rice.  It turned out great!  When making stir fry, go easy on the sauce.  It can be overpowering if you add too much.