Light and Summery

Matt and I have been having an adverse reaction to spaghetti sauce, and really, cooked tomatoes altogether. Pizza is no longer an appealing option so it has been a fun challenge for me to find fresh tomato sauces that taste good, are comforting, and easy on the digestive system. A few weeks ago I found a large amount of dill for a great price at the farmers market. I had so much leftover that I had to go digging around on the Internet to find another recipe to use up the rest! Luckily, I found one that matched our needs and I've made it twice this week. I'd use fresh parsley and dill if you can, it makes all the difference. I think next time I'll add another clove of garlic, and maybe some cooked chicken too, right before serving. This would also taste excellent with homemade pesto and/or grilled shrimp! You could even dice the tomatoes a little more and serve on baguette slices - bruschetta!

Fresh Tomato Dill Pasta
from Cooks.com

Ingredients:
3 1/2 c. diced ripe tomatoes (about 1 1/2 lbs.)
2 tbsp. minced parsley
1 1/2 tsp. dill weed
2 tsp. finely minced shallot or green onion
1 clove garlic, minced
2 tbsp. olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
8 oz. thin pasta noodles (such as linguine, angel hair or spaghetti), cooked

Directions:
In medium bowl, combine tomatoes, parsley, dill, shallot and garlic. Gradually stir in olive oil.

For best flavor, let sauce sit at room temperature for 30 minutes to 1 hour. When ready to serve, add salt and pepper; toss with hot cooked pasta.

Makes 2 to 4 servings (about 3 1/2 cups sauce).

I present: Awesome Sauce

I made this BBQ sauce the other night, and yes, it is awesome. This is my variation of a sauce recipe found on recipezaar.com, as I can best remember it (I adjusted while cooking to get the flavor just right):

4 cups tomato sauce
2 cloves of garlic (minced)
1/4c onions (finely chopped)
1/4c + 1T soy sauce
1/4c + 1T brown sugar
1/2t mustard powder
1t cayenne
2t morrocan spice mix (Ras al Hanout listed below. You could also do 1/2t each cinnamon, corriander, cumin and black pepper and it would probably come close)
1T oregano
2 Bay leaves

Bring all to a boil and then simmer for 30 min. Done.


Ras al Hanout from Gourmet, 1998

* 1 teaspoon ground cumin
* 1 teaspoon ground ginger
* 1 teaspoon salt
* 3/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
* 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
* 1/2 teaspoon ground coriander seeds
* 1/2 teaspoon cayenne
* 1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
* 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

Wisk together and keep in an airtight jar. Great for a spice rub, or for pumping any dish that requires cumin flavor.

Spicy Thai Peanut Sauce

Hello friends old and new!

Thanks Cindy for inviting me to the blog! Here is one of my favorite recipes. This is a fantastic Thai peanut sauce- good for noodles and vegetables- and I bet there are other things you could use it on. I always make a double batch and use it in different ways over several days. This is an easy one to adapt- more spicy, less spicy, more sweet, less sweet- depending on how much brown sugar or red pepper you put in.

Ingrediants:
3 T chunky peanut butter
3 T milk or water
1/4 cup soy sauce
2-3 T brown sugar
1 clove garlic
2 t crushed red pepper (or to taste)
1 t lemon juice
1 bay leaf

Stir together peanut butter and milk or water to make a paste. Mix everything else in and let stand several hours to blend flavors. Remove the bay leaf before serving.

Serve over hot pasta and steamed or stir fried vegetables. I basically just go to the store and pick out fresh vegetables that will be an appealing mix of colors, that I like, and that look good. This recipe is fun because you can change it in all sorts of ways. I have put chicken in this- but I don't really like it- you might! :)

Enjoy!

The Joy of Squash

I'm finally jumping on the bandwagon, inspired by previous posts, and ready to strut my stuff in the kitchen alongside the rest of the Cooking Kama Sutras.

After making the most of all of my Thanksgiving leftovers, I made a quick run to Costco this past weekend to pick up a couple of things. Much to my delight I discovered a new item in stock: Fresh Butternut Squash Ravioli. The package describes it as "Ravioli stuffed with a rich blend of Butternut Squash, Sage and Fesh Cheeses." I definitely wanted to give this a try! Our Costco also carries a fresh Spinach and Cheese Ravioli that is delicious, and I was hoping this flavor would turn out to be an equal hit. Indeed it was!

My dilemna, however, was this: What kind of sauce should I pair it with? Truth be told, I am not much of a tomato sauce enthusiast. So, this did not sound like a match that would help accentuate the flavor of the squash. A cream sauce of some sort would probably have been good--the package itself provides a recipe for mushroom alfredo; however, I didn't have the ingredients for such an option. Instead, I scavenged around and came up with a homemade sauce of sundried tomatoes, garlic, basil and spinach, cooked in olive oil. It turned out to be quite tasty, as these are all some of my favorite ingredients!

Here is a picture of the sauce in its final stages of cooking:

The entire meal was relatively quick and easy to make. The pasta itself cooks in 4-5 minutes, and the sauce took about 10 minutes. All of the ingredients I used in the sauce were in "ready to use" form, so this minimized any preparation time. I used Julienne Sundried Tomatoes (the kind that come in an oil-packed jar), and fresh cubes of Crushed Garlic Cloves and Fresh Chopped Basil (available from Trader Joes in the frozen section--see photos at the bottom of this post), and fresh chopped spinach that I had stored in a ziplock bag in the freezer--and I simply mixed them all together in an Olive Oil base.

The butternut squash was deliciously sweet smooth, and I loved the particular combination of pairing it with the taste and texture of the sundried tomatoes. The leftovers today were equally tasty! Here is the finished product:

Sundried Tomato and Garlic Sauce with Spinach and Basil

(Measurements are approximate.)

Heat 1/4 cup of olive oil in a skillet on Medium heat

Add the following ingredients:

• 2 cloves of garlic (I used 2 frozen cubes of crushed garlic from Trader Joes)
• 2 teaspoons of fresh chopped basil (I used 2 cubes of frozen chopped basil from Trader Joes)
• 1/4 cup of julienne sundried tomatoes (oil packed)
• 1/4 to 1/2 cup of chopped spinach

Keep the heat turned down to a simmer in order to avoid oil splatter. Warm on stove until pasta is ready.

Basil and Garlic cubes (each packaged separately; cilantro is also available):

Fishy Wishy

Inspired by going to Yoga first thing Sunday morning and our friend Rian coming over that night (who also happens to be a great cook), I decided that fish and veggies would be a great way to start off a healthy week. I went to the store and spent a pretty penny on fresh Alaskan Cod which was worth every cent. As a side dish, I tried Cindy's recipe for Fresh Corn Cakes which fitted the menu perfectly.

Unfortunately, I realized we were out of basalmic vinegar so I couldn't make the sauce. However, I just salt and peppered both sides of the fish, and it tasted just fine. If you do make it with the vinaigrette, please let me know what you think.

Fillets and Spinach with Balsamic Vinaigrette
from Better Homes and Gardens

Ingredients:

1 pound fresh or frozen skinless haddock, cod, or other fish fillets, 3/4 to 1 inch thick
4 cups baby spinach leaves, trimmed
1 medium onion, cut into thin wedges
3 tablespoons olive oil or cooking oil
1 medium red or yellow sweet pepper, cut into thin strips
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon black pepper
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon honey

Directions:

1. Thaw fish, if frozen. Rinse fish; pat dry with paper towels. Cut fish into four serving-size pieces, if necessary. Set aside. Place spinach in a large bowl; set aside. In a large skillet cook onion in 1 tablespoon of the oil over medium heat for 5 to 6 minutes or until tender and slightly golden. Add sweet pepper; cook and stir for 1 minute more. Remove from heat. Stir onion mixture into spinach; transfer to a serving platter. Set aside.

2. Meanwhile, sprinkle fish fillets with salt and black pepper. In same large skillet heat remaining 2 tablespoons oil over medium-high heat. Add fish; cook for 4 minutes. Carefully turn fish. Reduce heat to medium; cook 3 minutes more or until fish begins to flake when tested with a fork. Place fish fillets on top of wilted spinach; cover to keep warm.

3. In a small bowl stir together the balsamic vinegar and honey. Add to skillet. Cook and stir until heated through, scraping up any browned bits. To serve, spoon balsamic vinaigrette over fish and spinach.

Makes 4 servings

The ties that bind

Ok, I admit. I'm a lazy cook. The quicker the better, but not necessarily fast food (though In And Out is right up there when Matt and I are so inclined). As much as I love to cook, I want to be in and out in about 45 minutes. For this reason, I never make my own spaghetti sauce until now. I was tired of all the choices on the shelf and wanted to make my own. Except I didn't know where to look!

When I got engaged, I was thrilled with one of my presents that I still carry with me. A recipe notebook filled with recipes from my 2 cousins, Aunt Sharon, and Grandma Betty. Full of things I never thought of, or dishes that I wondered as a kid "how did they do that?" I love making these dishes, it's a connection that I feel when cooking Grandma's Soup, putting together Sharon's Lasagnae, or the aching temptation over Lisa's Cinnamon Rolls.

Last night, I decided in honor of our blog, to create one of Staci's tempting dishes. It's her famous spaghetti sauce, which I absolutely adore. When mom died last year, she came over with about 10 tupperware dishes full of this wonderful red sauce. The double batch easily makes more than enough to put away and freeze for later, for those nights you're too tired to cook but are trying to save money and don't want to order in.

Here's to you, Staci, and all the other fabulous women in my family that have and continue to teach me how to love and live, especially in the kitchen!

Cousin Staci's Spaghetti Sauce

Seasoning Mix:

1 T instant minced onion (I chopped my own)
1 T parsley flakes
1 T cornstarch
2 t green pepper flakes
1 1/2 t salt
1/4 t instant minced garlic (I crushed one garlic clove)
1 t sugar
3/4 italian seasoning

Sauce:

1 lb lean ground beef or italian sausage
2 (8 oz) cans tomato sauce (I used diced tomatoes)
1 (6 0z) can tomato paste
2 cups water or tomato juice
Seasoning Mix
1 jar spaghetti sauce (for double recipe)

Directions:
Brown meat, drain grease, add tomato sauce, paste, juice/water, and sauce (if making double receipe). Stir in seasoning. Simmer 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Staci's note: I make double recipe and freeze the remaining in "gladware" for easy dinners!