Recipes

Roasted asparagus with lemon-oregano aioli sauce

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“P1100858” by alicson is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

Source: epicurious.com

Ingredients:

  • 2 lbs asparagus, tough ends trimmed
  • 1 lemon, halved, 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice, ½ teaspoon grated lemon peel
  • 4 tblspoons olive oil
  • 1 c mayonnaise
  • 2 tspoon chopped fresh oregano
  • 1 garlic clove minced

Aioli sauce: Whisk mayonnaise, oil, oregano, garlic, lemon juice, and lemon peel in small bowl to blend. Season aioli sauce to taste with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Can be made 2 days ahead. Cover and chill.

Asparagus: Preheat oven to 425°F. Place asparagus spears on cookie sheet covered in foil. Toss asparagus with oil, salt, pepper. Roast until tender, about 8 mins Arrange asparagus on platter. Place bowl of aioli in center for dipping and serve.

How to Roast and Freeze Tomatoes and Chiles

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By: Nella Mae Parks

70871406_2471169952948011_6319468639992938496_oAll tomatoes and peppers are easily roasted and frozen. In the winter you can thaw them out to make fresh-tasting salsa, tomato sauce, chili, and soup.

Tomatoes: Wash, cut out core at the top for large tomatoes. Cherry tomatoes can be roasted whole. Place whole tomato with core hole down in casserole dish. Drizzle with olive oil. Bake at 400 deg 30 mins or until tomatoes begin to break down in shape. Cool. Put, tomatoes w/ juice in freezer bags, wipe bag closure clean, freeze.

Chilies: Wash, cut in half and remove seeds and white veins if you don’t want them too hot. Place in casserole greased with olive oil. Bake 400 for 20+ min or until soft. Cool and put in freezer bags. Wipe bag closure clean, freeze.

Tip: Stack your bags flat in the freezer when you put them in to freezer. You can get more in if they are stackable.

Late August Coleslaw

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By: Nella Mae ParksIMG_3718.JPG

Ingredients:

  • Half lb of shredded cabbage
  • 2 ears of corn, cooked
  • 1 bunch (8) green onions
  • 2 medium cucumbers
  • 1/8 c mayonnaise
  • 4 T white wine vinegar, rice vinegar, or white vinegar
  • 1 T sugar, salt & pepper to taste.

Cook corn in boiling water 8 min. Cool, cut cooked corn kernels from cob and separate in a bowl. Peel cucumbers if skin is bitter, coarsely chop, add to bowl. Add shredded cabbage, thinly chopped green onions, and rest of ingredients. Mix very well to coat vegetables. Taste. Add more mayo and/or vinegar, salt, pepper to taste.

Swiss Chard Lasagna

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Modified from Martha Stewart

Ingredients:

3 Tbsp olive oil; 1 med. onion; 5-6 leaves Swiss chard; 1 med. zucchini; salt; 4 cloves garlic; ½ t red-pepper flakes; 4-5 fresh tomatoes with juices; 8 lasagna noodles; 4 c mozzarella, shredded.

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 375. Cook onion in 1 Tbsp olive oil, until soft, (4 min.) Stir in chopped chard, sliced zucchini cook until tender, (2 min.) Transfer to a plate. Cook 1 Tbsp oil, garlic, pepper flakes 30 seconds. Add tomatoes with juices and simmer, until thickened, (3 min.) Season with salt. Spread ½ cup tomato sauce in the bottom of 8-inch square baking dish. Cover with 1 layer lasagna noodles, ¾ cup sauce, 1/3 of chard mixture, 1 cup cheese. Repeat layering twice. Top with remaining noodles, sauce, and cheese. Loosely cover with foil. Bake 30 min. Uncover, bake 15 min.

Ribboned Zucchini Salad

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IMG_1384Modified from epicurious.com

Ingredients:

2 pounds zucchini; 1 t salt; 2 T olive oil; 2 t lemon zest; 2 t fresh lemon juice; 2 t Dijon mustard; 1 t anchovy paste; ¼ t black pepper; 4 c lettuce mix; ½ c fresh basil leaves; ½ c mint leaves; 12 black olives, pitted & thinly sliced; ½ c candy sweet onion, thinly sliced.

Preparation:

Cut zucchini lengthwise into 1/8-inch-thick slices. Sprinkle zucchini with salt and toss to coat. Let stand 5 minutes, then rinse under cold running water. Transfer zucchini to a clean kitchen towel and let stand 5 minutes more. Whisk together oil, zest, juice, mustard, anchovy paste, and pepper in a large bowl. Add zucchini, lettuce, herbs, olives, and onion and toss to coat. Serve immediately. Does not keep once dressed.

Basil Mojito

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IMG_3852.JPGFrom epicurious.com

Ingredients:
3-4 fresh mint leaves, chopped; 3-4 fresh basil leaves, chopped, 1 T sugar, 3 T fresh lime juice, 1.5 ounces (3 T) light rum, Chilled club soda or seltzer water, Ice

In a tall glass with back of a spoon or muddler crush mint and basil with sugar and lime juice until sugar is dissolved and stir in rum. Add ice cubes and top off drink with club soda or seltzer water.

Stir drink well and garnish with mint, basil, and lime.

Roasted Beet Salad

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IMG_2476From epicurious.com

Ingredients:

  • 4 beets, leaf and root ends removed
  • 1/3 cup chopped walnuts
  • 1 T balsamic vinegar
  • Freshly ground black pepper
  • 1 T olive oil
  • 2 ounces feta, goat or other soft cheese

Instructions: Heat oven to 400°F. Wash beets and remove root end and leaves. Keep leaves! You can stem them and eat them later! Wrap each beet in foil as you would baking potatoes. Roast until soft, about 1 hour. Cool slightly; remove foil. Rub off skins with fingers. Cut beets into wedges. Put beets and nuts in mixing bowl. Season with salt and pepper. Add oil and vinegar; toss. Divide among plates; crumble cheese on top.

Kale Chips with Sea Salt

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Ingredients:

¼ lb kale leaves, 1 tsp olive oil, ¼ tsp Nella Mae’s spruce tip salt or sea salt

 

Heat oven to 450F. If using a bunch of kale, cut the leaf off either side of the stem and cut into large bite-sized pieces, then wash and dry very well. Bags of Nella Mae’s kale are already pre-washed and pre-dried. Put washed, dried kale in a mixing bowl with oil and salt and mix with your hands. Place a sheet of parchment/wax paper on a cookie sheet and lay kale out on it. Turn oven off. Put cookie sheet of kale in oven for 15 minutes to bake. Chips should be crispy and similar to potato chips. If they are not crispy, put them back in the oven for 5 minutes.

Small-Batch Pesto

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67599201_2351954151536259_1289012628621885440_oIngredients:

  • 2 cups leaf  Italian basil
  • 2 cloves garlic or 2 garlic scapes
  • 2/3 c olive oil
  • 1 t sea salt or kosher salt
  • ½ c Parmesan (optional)
  • ¼ c Pine nuts or walnuts (optional)

Blend basil (leaf & stem), garlic, and nuts with enough olive oil to make it blend well. Add remaining oil, cheese, and salt and pepper once basil is well blended. Blend into smooth paste. Keeps in the fridge for up to a week in airtight jar. You can also freeze pesto in bags or an ice tray and store cubes in a freezer bag. Cubes are quick and versatile. Use pesto to dress pasta, quinoa, pizza or any hot entre or cold salad. Use as a spread for bread or toast bread with pesto, tomato and Parmesan for bruschetta.