Apple Yogurt Salad

Louise over at Months of Edible Celebrations has one of the most entertaining food blogs around.  Every post, she culls through old cookbooks, researches food holidays, tells her readers about historical events and magically connects them to food.  If you've never stopped in for a visit, you must go, and soon.  You are in for a treat.

When Louise posted her challenge earlier this month -- to try out a recipe from a cookbook you own that corresponds with one of the October food holidays she spotlighted on her blog -- I knew I had to give it a go. 

We've got an apple tree

and I happen to have a few cookbooks  . . . and October, according to Louise, is Apple Month. 

So just in under the October wire, here is my apple contribution.  Not the grated apple pie I made, not the baked apples with custard sauce, not the applesauce or apple and cheese platters -- though they were all yummy.  But the recipe I'd like to share for Louise's cookbook party is this humble apple yogurt salad.  It's easy, tasty, and healthy, passing my test for a recipe that's a keepr.
Taken from this book, one in my collection that I really ought to use more, this delightful little dish serves 6, at about 100 calories apiece.

APPLE YOGURT SALAD

1/4 c. walnuts, chopped
2/3 c. plain yogurt
1 T. lemon juice
1/4 t. ground cinnamon
1 T. honey
2 large apples, peeled and thinly sliced
lettuce

Toast the walnuts at 350 degrees until lightly browned -- 5 minutes or so.  Stir together yogurt, lemon juice, cinnamon, and honey.  Toss sliced apples with yogurt mixture and serve on lettuce leaves.  Sprinkle with walnuts.

Homemaking in the Fall

Turns out sometimes you're too busy being productive at home to actually blog about being productive at home.  Like a squirrel gathering nuts, I have been nesting -- saying goodbye to the season past and preparing for the one to come.

There were the leaves collected and flattened and traced and turned into the cutest autumn towels ever.

Idea from this delightful book.

There were the home-grown tomatoes, transformed into oniony/Parmesan-y tarts, soup for the freezer, dehydrated disks, and juice, glorious juice.

There were the apples made into chips, dehyrated snacks, and a nice little side dish doused with a citrus-y dressing of orange juice, lemon juice, and diced red onion.

There was the eggplant --  itty bitty ones, to be sure, but enough for a quiche and lovely cracker spread and a couple other dishes I forgot to photograph ;)

And finally, the peppers.  Are they not gorgeous?

This year, rather than making pickled peppers, I opted for lots of slivering for the freezer, and a wee bit o' roasting.

To roast, just cut them in half and remove core and seeds, put them in the oven on a foil-lined baking sheet and broil for 10 minutes or so, until quite blackened, then sweat them out in a sealed zippered plastic bag for 20 minutes before peeling.

A bit of work, I'm not gonna lie.  But in the end, the roasted peppers, pureed with a clove of garlic and a bit of olive oil, circled around a platter of lettuce, hard-boiled eggs, salami, and tomatoes -- probably the best meal of the season.

Happy fall.

Y'all.

NOTE:  Instructions for roasting peppers came from an old issue of Cooking Light magazine.  Salad idea with the roasted pepper puree came from another old magazine clipping -- maybe McCall's?  Not sure.

Panzanella

And to think, until a couple years ago, I'd never even heard of panzanella, also known as bread salad.  Thanks to the wonderful world of blogging, this is now one of my favorite quick summertime meals -- especially once the home-grown tomatoes are flourishing.

Which they are. 

One of the things I love most about this recipe is I usually have all the ingredients on hand.  It takes less than a half hour to throw together. 

And it is delicious.

Did I mention how delicious it is?

In the book Real Simple Celebrations:  Easy Entertaining for Every Occasion, author Valerie Rains suggests that rather than freezing those hot dog and hamburger buns left over from summertime barbecues, you use them in this salad instead.  Brilliant idea.

Here are the instructions based on the recipe from the book:

PANZANELLA (BREAD SALAD)

2 hot dog or hamburger buns, cut into 1-inch pieces

2-4 tomatoes, chopped

1/2 red onion, thinly sliced

4 - 8 oz. crumbled feta cheese

1/4 c. thinly sliced basil

1/4 c. olive oil

1 T. balsamic or red wine vinegar

1/4 t. Kosher salt

1/8 t. black papper

Place cut up buns on baking sheet; bake at 375 degrees until lightly browned, about 10 minutes.  In large bowl, combine tomatoes, onion, cheese, and basil.  Add the oil and vinegar.  Season with salt and pepper.  Add the toasted bread and toss.

So is anyone else swimming in tomatoes?

Red Onion Preserves

I've made this recipe twice so far this summer, and there are more red onion preserves in my future, I can just feel it.  Kahuna's garden is going strong, and we have a plethora of onions, I tell you, a plethora. 

This tasty little condiment is wonderful on homemade pizza; as a side dish for grilled meats; and on open-faced sandwiches on toasted English muffins with melted Swiss cheese.  Yum.

The recipe is (slightly) adapted from a beautiful book called Cooking in the Moment:  A Year of Seasonal Recipes by Andrea Reusing.  I changed a couple of minor things, according to my taste and what I had on hand, so will post it here the way I made it.

RED ONION PRESERVES
2 T. olive oil
4 medium red onions, thinly sliced
1 garlic clove, minced
sea salt
1 c. dry red wine
1/4 c. red wine vinegar
1/4 c. honey
2 t. ground coriander seed

In a medium-sized pot over low heat, cook olive oil, onions, garlic, and a sprinkling of salt, covered, for about 10 minutes, until onions get soft.  Add wine, vinegar, honey, and coriander and cook, uncovered, for about 20 more minutes at medium or medium-low heat.  The liquid should start to get syrupy.  When it's done, put into jars and use as needed.  Reusing says it should keep for a few weeks in the refrigerator and I agree.

You can cut this recipe in half to give it a try; you'll end up with one small jar.  I'm thinking I will freeze some of this to use later in the year.

So how does your garden grow? 

Citrus Shrimp Salad

There have been so many outstanding food experiments lately here at the castle, it's hard to decide which to share first.  From main dishes to fudgy desserts, veggie offerings to salads -- sometimes the kitchen is just on a hot streak.  And all we can do is eat up with a smile on our faces and napkins in our laps, ready to dab our faces prettily when we're done.
This salad, loaded with shrimp, grapefruit segments, cucumber, and edamame (which you can find in the frozen food section), and sprinkled with toasted sesame seeds, works beautifully as a side dish or a light main dish.  A three-cup serving is about 400 calories. 
The recipe comes from an outstanding publication my mother-in-law sends us called Nutrition Action Healthletter.  Though not a recipe magazine, each issue is packed with readable and informative articles on the latest health and nutrition research. 
And sometimes?  There are even some amazing recipes in there.
Go here, all ye shrimp lovers, to the March 2010 issue to find this outstanding Citrus Shrimp Salad recipe.  Scroll down to the third recipe and announce to your tastebuds it's time to enjoy.

Today's Quiz

When your hobby is trying new recipes, you never know when you'll pounce upon an unexpected gem.

You also never know when you'll wind up with some . . . let's just say, less than spectacular results.

The last couple weeks have been bulging with mediocre results.

See if you can spot which of the following dishes was my favorite, the one I'll be making again. 

Was it this dried apricot/fresh rosemary yeast bread?

Was it these Scottish shortbread cookies, made with cornmeal?

Could my favorite be this retro chicken and rice casserole, topped with those '50s standbys, cream of mushroom soup and onion soup mix?

Maybe the favorite was these lemon custard cups, recipe from my great-great grandma Hattie.

What do you think?  Could the best of the bunch be this "light" recipe for fresh cranberry and lemon scones topped with powdered sugar?

Or could it be these ever-so-humble peachy carrots, a 3-ingredient recipe where carrots are simply heated with jelly and a bit of butter and served?
I'll give you a minute to think.
La la la la la.
Do you have your answer?
Give you a minute more.  La la la.
OK.  Time's up.
The dried apricot/rosemary bread was definitely interesting.  But the rosemary overpowered the apricots, and I couldn't figure out whether to eat it for breakfast or with dinner.  Dried apricots in bread is a wonderful idea, but I won't be pairing them with rosemary next time.  Pass.

Shortbread -- I've never tasted a shortbread I didn't love.  Until now.  The cornmeal in this made it dry as dust.  The bulk of these, sadly, ended up in the garbage.

On to the retro casserole.  I had high hopes for this one, onion soup mix being one of my favorite dip ingredients.  Also in its favor, the recipe came from a cute little booklet put out by the Republican Congressional committee eons ago, which even included a recipe for "General Eisenhower's Beef Stew." Alas, my California representative from way back when let me down.  It needed the extra zip of teriyaki glaze just to give it enough flavor to be edible.  Sorry, Mr. Congressman.

How about these  lemon custard cups?  While these were mighty tasty, I couldn't be sure I cooked them all the way as great-great grandma Hattie didn't give very explicit instructions on that front.  They were souffle-like on top, pudding-like on the bottom -- more like a pudding cake than custard.  With some tweaking, I bet they'd be good.  But as is, I was a little nervous that perhaps I was eating raw eggs.  Yikes.

Cranberry scones -- more like cake than like scones.  Not that there's anything wrong with cake.  I just wanted scones.  Sigh.

So have you guessed yet?  The very best recipe I've made in the last two weeks, the one I'll be making again?  It's Peachy Carrots, from The Four Ingredient Cookbook.  Who'd have thought such a simple little recipe would surpass the others?  Here's the recipe, and I will save you all that time-consuming experimenting.

You're welcome.

PEACHY CARROTS

1 lb. package of carrots (the authors recommend you slice and cook them; I simply took a 12-oz. bag of petite carrots and used them whole, without pre-cooking)
1/3 c. peach preserves (I used peach pit jelly I had made over the summer)
1 T. butter

In small skillet or saucepan, combine all ingredients and cook over medium heat until heated through.  That's it.  Sweet and yummy and pretty darned simple.

Winter's coming

We are in winter preparation mode around here.  Step one:  Get these very green Roma tomatoes picked before they freeze on the vine; wrap them in newspaper, as shown here, so they'll ripen up.

Step two: Start pulling out tired gift bags emblazoned with random store logos and see if you can spruce them up with scrapbook supplies languishing under the bed because you last worked on your scrapbook in 2002.

Step three:  Get so inspired by your own creativity that you start splattering paint on brown paper lunch  bags.

Follow that with a raid on your grandma's button box.

Proceed with an episode of glitter.

Or two.

At which point you realize you have perhaps gone a little too far in winter preparation mode while completely neglecting to make any actual food for dinner.

Green tomatoes, anyone?

NOTE:  For more great ideas, go check out Works for Me Wednesdays at We Are THAT Family blog.