My garden runneth over with non-ripe vegetables. And sadly, the warm summer growing days are over. We have had frost a couple of nights now and so I was forced to pick everything.

Remember the movie Fried Green Tomatoes?  I love that movie.  If I had to rank my most favorite movies of all time it would be at the top of the list.  Along with the Princess Bride and the Wizard of Oz.  I am sure that there are others that I just can’t even think of right now.

The movie was what first introduced me to fried green tomatoes.  Before that green tomatoes were something that sat on your windowsill until they turned red or rotted.

Read the rest of this entry »

When I find a food that I like I tend to eat it over and over again until I am so sick of it I don’t want to even look at it for another decade or so. Hummus recently joined this illustrious list, which includes foods like stuffed peppers, peanut butter and honey sandwiches, and Hot Tamales (the candy).

This is my newest obsession. The sweet potato. No longer is it relegated just to Thanksgiving.

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I have been somewhat uninspired to cook lately. Want to know why? Could it be because I still do not have a working kitchen?

This is pretty much what my kitchen looks like right now, only my husband has finished putting the sink in. And the man making the template for the countertop has gone home. Thankfully, because I don’t need someone else to cook for around here. Read the rest of this entry »

Can you have too many quick and easy pasta recipes?

The answer is no, you can not. And you know what else… this recipe has no meat. Just for you Kristin. I love simple recipes like this that take advantage of the produce that is in season.

You will need:
1 lb pasta
bag of baby spinach
grape tomatoes, halved
olive oil
garlic, fresh or in a jar
freshly grated Parmesan cheese

If your bottle of extra virgin olive oil has an illustration of a young man picking olives, feel free to make all the inappropriate jokes you want about him being extra virginal.

I bought this jar of minced garlic solely because I liked the illustration on this one too. Aww, the little farm where my garlic was grown and then hand minced by kindly farmers, using methods that have been passed down for generations. That is what makes me feel better about being too lazy to mince my own.

Step One:.

Cook your pasta of choice. Drain and set aside.

Step Two:

Pour some olive oil into your big skillet. Then dump in your spinach.

Regarding the baby spinach, if you have never cooked fresh spinach before you need to know you will need much MUCH more of this than you think you will possibly want. The next time I make this recipe I am going to double the amount of spinach. But we are a spinach loving family.

A little side story, when we were eating dinner I mentioned us being like Popeye, and my children were all, “Who is Popeye?” And then I was sad that a cultural icon like Popeye the Sailorman has died a small quiet death. Where is the Spinach council? Although, the whole Popeye and Brutus fighting over Olive Oil was weird. And who was the father of her baby? Oh and there was the whole Popeye smoking like chimney. But see, these are things you have to consider when serving this to your children and promising it will make them strong JUST LIKE POPEYE!

Anyway, back to the recipe.

After a few minutes the spinach will have reduced to this:

After a few more minutes, this:

See? You will be all, “What happened to all my spinach? How will I ever get those freakishly large forearms with only this small amount of spinach.”

Step Three:

Toss in your pint of halved grape tomatoes and some garlic. I used about 1/2 tsp of the minced from the jar. I’d probably use 4 little cloves of the fresh garlic. You can use more or less depending on your personal taste and vampire repelling needs.

(Didn’t these used to be called cherry tomatoes? Why do all the stores and recipes call them grape tomatoes now? Is there some PC reason why they aren’t cherry tomatoes anymore? Are cherries offensive? Or are they different tomatoes? We could call them baby tomatoes, but that sounds so violent. Vegetarians don’t like that. Maybe we should be calling them those tiny little tomatoes.)

Step Four:

Heat thoroughly. The tomatoes will get soft and start to leak their tomato juice. After about five minutes it will be done.

Step Five:

Dump your pasta into the skillet . And mix well.

Note: I am STILL cooking on a camp stove.

Step Six:

Serve pasta. Grate cheese over each individual plate.

Enjoy!

Oh my. When I die and go to Heaven, shut-up you in the back, this is going to be served everyday.

Back in the days before I had to go gluten and dairy free this was one of my most favorite summer meals. I think out of all the foods I have had to give up, it is the only dish I truly miss. Read the rest of this entry »

(I will add photos later. I am still cooking my food for this weekend, but wanted to get the recipes up since I have had so many requests for the Fourth of July recipes. I am also cooking entirely on my outdoor grill. Have I mentioned here that we are in the middle of a kitchen remodel? We are at the point right now where we have no appliances. Woooo hooooo. Or something like that.)

Along with the potato salad it is a law that you must have pasta salad. Yes, really. I generally make more than one but this one is an old favorite stand-by that everyone loves.

It conforms to the trifecta of a good recipe:

1) Easy.
2) Can be made in advance, actually it is preferable to make it the day before so that the flavors can meld together.
3) Loved by everyone.

1 (16 ounce) package of pasta, I like to use the tri-color ones

can black olives, chopped
1 small yellow onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
16 ounces mozzarella cheese, cubed*
cherry tomatoes, halved
1/4 pound Genoa salami, cut into bite sized pieces
1/4 pound pepperoni, pizza style, cut into bite sized pieces

3/4 cup olive oil**
1/2 cup balsamic vinegar**
ground black pepper to taste**

(fresh mozzarella is delicious, but you can use the regular kind too)

(*you can substitute your favorite Italian dressing instead. Buy an extra bottle to leave on the buffet table for people who want to add a little more zing to their pasta salad.)

Cook the pasta.

Drain the pasta and run under cool water.

Toss all the ingredients together in a bowl.

Refrigerate until your guests arrive.

In the warmer weather I am always on the look out for things to make for dinner which don’t require: a) lots of time spent in the kitchen, b) slaving away over a hot stove, and c) running out to the grocery store. Basically recipes that allow be to make something yummy in spite of my over all laziness. Read the rest of this entry »

This is one of the easiest recipes I have made in recent days. And it was well received by everyone, even those who say they don’t like black beans. But really do. They just like to say that they don’t to watch my eyeballs explode out of my head like projectile rockets.

We are in the thick of little league here. Games, practices, more games, it is never ending. Finding foods to make for dinner is a challenge. It is tempting to let them eat at the snackbar (well not very tempting for my wallet) or to serve things like hot dogs when we get home. But with a little extra effort, while they take their showers, I can serve a nutritious meal.
You will need:

Don’t you love how the bag of shredded cheese calls itself Fancy? What exactly makes it fancy I wonder?

2 packages flour tortillas (corn for those who can’t eat flour, or who prefer corn)
2 lb ground beef
2 cloves minced garlic
2 15 oz cans black beans
2 cups jarred salsa
3 tsp ground cumin
Shredded cheese

Ooops, this escaped the photo some how. In addition to the above ingredients, you need a large jar of salsa.

Onions in the Handy Chopper from Pampered Chef. And no I don’t work for them or get any sort of kickback for constantly mentioning this thing. I just really love it.

Chop up the onion, or have one of your little indentured servants do it. Put it in the pan and saute it until it is clear. This doesn’t take very long. Dump the ground beef and minced garlic into the pan and stir it around until the beef is browned.

Drain the excess grease from the pan if you have some. Then pour in your drained and rinsed black beans. Add the spices and salsa.

Add a small amount of water, maybe 1/2 cup. Turn the heat down low and cover the pan to allow it to simmer. This will heat up the beans and make them softer.

While this is going on take your tortillas and wrap them in tinfoil. Place in center of oven set to 350.

Put some bowls of shredded cheese on the table for everyone to garnish themselves.

Spoon filling down the center of the warmed tortilla, garnish with cheese. Roll up and eat.

Yes, I served it on paper plates. Because I am so KLASSY, with a K.

But doesn’t it look delicious, like you want to take a bite? And I don’t mean that cute chubby baby hand (He is too a baby. Shut up.)

Serve with a side of (mostly decorative) baby carrots so you can feel even better about yourself.

Have you ever noticed how quiche is always a staple at brunch? All it really is is scrambled eggs baked in a pie crust. And yet it seems so much more fancy schmancy, like you went through a lot of trouble for your guests.

But why does quiche have to be a breakfasty food? We are going to be eating ours tonight for dinner with a large green salad and a crusty baguette. I will also be at the baseball field (I KNOW, what a surprise! because I haven’t been there every other night this week!) until 7:00pm and this is perfect for staggered meal times. And will require nothing of me to get it on the table. Everything will be done in advance.

I used to love quiche. Back before I found out I was allergic to everything that is not cardboard. So technically I probably still do love quiche, I just love living more. Read the rest of this entry »

I am almost embarrassed to post this recipe. Almost. But in an effort to keep it real I am going to anyway. Because I realize that there are just some days and nights that are so busy, cooking entirely from scratch is a near impossibility.

Right now we have entered baseball season at our house. To give you an idea of what this means, I had to get a dedicated baseball calendar because my regular calendar DID NOT HAVE ENOUGH ROOM.

Oh sorry, was I shouting?

On the practical side this means that night after night I have to come up with meals that are quick. I try to limit cold cuts to once a week.

Also, my children told me I should post this recipe because they love it. And I maintain that it has to be better for you than fast food. Read the rest of this entry »