Scrambled Eggs with Onions and Tomatoes

This morning I had a little extra time before running out of the house so I decided to try an old favorite my mom used to make for us growing up.  We made these for breakfast once in a while but often had this as our dinner dish – especially on Sunday nights. 

Ian and I try to buy local cage free eggs whenever possible.  The yokes give the dish more color and they taste so much better.    Plus, this time of year the tomatoes are at their best!  This makes enough for 2 people for breakfast.  Increase the quantities according to how many you’re serving.

2 tbsp olive oil

½ onion, diced

1 tomato, diced

4 eggs, beaten in a bowl

Grated parmesan cheese to taste

Put the olive oil in a frying pan and add onion.  Cook the onions until translucent, add tomatoes and continue to cook.  When the tomatoes are heated through, add the eggs and some parmesan cheese and continue to cook the mixture until the eggs are done but not overcooked.  Add a little extra parmesan cheese at the end and serve.

Baked Beans

Hurricane Irene is working its way through Vermont today so yesterday I decided to put my mom’s baked bean recipe on the menu for this evening.  I love these baked beans.  You can cook them on the stove top but I have this fabulous All-Clad slow cooker that does most of the work for me.  When it comes to comfort food, there’s nothing better than putting a meal together and not having to keep an eye on it. 

Cooking time for baked beans does vary depending on how fresh the beans are, etc.  In my slow cooker, I usually let them go for 6 to 7 hours on low.  I do stir them after about 4 to 5 hours so that the beans on the bottom don’t turn to mush.  The molasses goes in at the very end with an extra one-half hour of cooking time after its added. 

I serve them with brown bread and hot dogs (which aren’t terribly healthy, but tasty).   The days are getting shorter and I find myself craving these types of food more often.

2 lbs dried soldier beans

1 onion chopped into large chunks

½ lb salt pork

¼ cup ketchup

2 tsp dry mustard

1 ½ cup brown sugar

¾ cup maple syrup

½ - 2/3 cup molasses

Soak the beans overnight in cold water.  Parboil them with 1 tbsp baking soda until the skin cracks when blown upon.  Drain the beans.  Place the onion on the bottom of the pan and place the beans on top.   Mix the rest of the ingredients except for molasses and stir into beans.  Add enough water to cover the beans.  About ½ hour before serving, stir in the molasses.

Eggplant Parmesan

Yesterday Ian and I had were in Concord, New Hampshire and paid a visit to his favorite farmstand, Dimond Hill Farm.  I love the end of summer when everything is available for harvest and they had a huge selection of fresh fruits and veggies.    We were headed home so we loaded up on fresh corn, tomatoes, green beans, eggplant, garlic and some fresh peaches and sugar plums. 

Summertime is the only time I make eggplant parmesan.  You just can’t beat the taste and firmness of eggplant any other time of year.  This recipe comes from the Moosewood Restaurant Low-Fat Favorites cookbook with some of my own adjustments. 

3 medium sized eggplants, cut crosswise into ½ inch slices

3 eggs

2 cups bread crumbs

1/3 cup grated parmesan cheese

1 clove garlic, minced or pressed

1 jar Bove’s Mushroom and Wine Sauce

1 cup grated mozzarella cheese

1/3 cup extra parmesan cheese

Preheat the oven to 350.

Slice the eggplant and set aside.  In a large bowl, beat the eggs.  Place the breadcrumbs, 1/3 cup of parmesan cheese and garlic in another large bowl. 

Dip the eggplant in the egg and then coat them with the bread crumb mixture on both sides.  Place on a baking sheet covered by foil (you can use a cooking spray if you prefer) and bake for 20 minutes on each side. 

Spread about 1/3 of the sauce on the bottom of a large glass baking dish and layer the eggplant at a diagonal.  Top with the remaining sauce and sprinkle with the mozzarella and final 1/3 cup of parmesan cheese and bake about 30 minutes. 

NOTE:  When I was searching  Google for a photo to insert I came across one of Eggplant Parmesan Panini.   Guess what we’re having for leftovers today!!!

Curry Chicken Salad

When I started this blog, I promised myself that I’d make posts on a regular basis but the past few weeks have been a little insane to say the least, hence nothing new until now.  Busy life = easy recipe. 

This curry chicken salad is a great August meal.  It’s easy to pull together and has a lot of different textures which when mixed with curry gives a new twist on the same old chicken salad recipe we always rely on.  

1 rotisserie chicken, skin and meat removed from bones and chopped

3 stalks celery, chopped

3 scallions, chopped

¾ cup Cranraisins

½ cup light mayonnaise

1 ½ tsp curry powder

½ cup slivered almonds, toasted

Combine the mayonnaise and curry powder in a bowl and let it rest in the refrigerator.  Prepare the chicken, celery, scallions and Cranraisins and mix them in a bowl.  Add the mayonnaise mixture a little at a time until you have the desired texture you want.  Mix in the almonds, then refrigerate. 

Raspberry Cake

Growing up, every year my mother would ask me what I wanted for my birthday cake.   Being born in July made it perfect timing for one of my favorites -- Raspberry Cake.  This is a very moist cake with a naturally colored pink frosting that is absolutely delicious.   Thanks Mom!!

If you’re wondering about finding sour milk the easiest  way is to take some fresh milk and mix with a little white vinegar or some lemon juice.   

2 cups flour

1 ¼ cup sugar

3 eggs

1 ½ tsp baking powder

½ cup Crisco shortening

¾ cup sour milk

½ tsp baking soda

1 tsp vanilla

1 tsp salt

1 tsp cinnamon

1 cup raspberries

Sift together dry ingredients.  Blend Crisco and sugar.  Add eggs, one at a time.  Add flour alternately with sour milk and vanilla.  Add raspberries.  Fold into a 9" x 13" oblong pan or two round 9" cake pans and cook at 350 for 30 to 40 minutes in the oblong pan or for 30 to 35 minutes in the round pans.

Frosting:

1/3 cup unsalted butter, softened

3 cups confectioners’ sugar

1 tsp vanilla

3 tbsp pureed raspberries (seeds removed)

2 to 3 tbsp hot milk

Cream butter.  Blend in confectioners’ sugar and pureed raspberries and add the hot milk.  Add vanilla.

Chicken and Peppers in Vinegar Sauce

I found this recipe in Parade Magazine a little over a year ago.  It has everything I love in it and makes a tasty and visually pleasing entrée.  In my food files, I have my mom’s “fried” chicken which I’ll share with you at a later date.   It’s not a typical fried chicken but it’s where I was first introduced to the combination of cooking with vinegar and chicken so when I saw this recipe I knew it was a keeper. 

The original recipe calls for bone-in, skinless chicken thighs.  Obviously the thigh meat has less of a tendency to dry out but it does have a lot of fat in it so I substitute chicken breasts instead.  If you do use chicken breasts be sure not to overcook the meat.

Everyone I’ve made this chicken dish for has asked for the recipe and I’m sure you’ll get the same response!!!

3 tbsp olive oil
4 pieces of boneless, skinless chicken breasts (or 8 thighs)
2 tbsp olive oil

1 large red bell pepper, stem and seeds removed, thinly sliced
1 large yellow bell pepper, stem and seeds removed, thinly sliced
1 large orange bell pepper, stem and seeds removed, thinly sliced
4 cloves garlic, chopped
1 tbsp tomato paste
1 cup balsamic vinegar
2 tbsp clover honey
2 cups low-sodium chicken stock or broth

Heat 3 tbsp of the oil in a large frying pan.  Cook chicken until golden brown (about 4 minutes on one side), turn over and continue cooking (about 3 minutes on the other side). Remove the chicken to a plate.

Add 2 tbsp more oil to the pan with the garlic and peppers and cook, stirring occasionally, until the peppers are slightly soft (about 5 minutes).  Stir tomato paste into pepper mixture and then add the vinegar and cook until reduced by half.  Stir in the honey and broth, cook for 5 minutes. Return the chicken and accumulated juices to the pan. Cook until the chicken until done and remove the chicken to a platter. Cook sauce until slightly reduced, about 5 minutes, pour over the chicken and serve with some rice and a fresh salad.

Bok Choy Salad

Bok choy salad has to be one of my most requested recipes (I think Lindsay could live off of it)!  It’s a great, refreshing salad with a lot of different textures and goes with just about everything.  This is the perfect time of year to find bok choy at your local farmer's market.

I was searching the web to check out other recipes and found a lot of them don’t bake the ramen noodle mixture.  I can’t imagine not, but watch it closely because the noodles will burn if you leave them in the oven too long (I’ve had my share of disasters).  You can adjust the bok choy and onion depending on how many people you’re feeding but the noodle mixture and the dressing makes enough for multiple salads so you should have plenty.

3 heads of baby bok choy -- chopped

½ sweet onion -- chopped fine

Crunchies:

Preheat oven to 450

½ cup sunflower seeds (roasted)

½ cup slivered almonds

¼ cup butter -- melted

3 pkgs ramen noodles -- crumbled (toss out the flavor pack)

Mix together and bake until golden brown -- be careful not to burn

Dressing:

3 tbsp of low sodium soy sauce

¼ cup cider vinegar

½ cup sugar

½ cup oil

Mix together right before serving.

Tex-Mex Bean Salad with Creamy Salsa Dressing

Here’s a recipe I found from Weight Watchers a few years back.  We so often think that Weight Watchers food has no flavor or that you have to be trying to lose weight to eat it but this recipe is packed with taste (of course, as with anything, it’s all about moderation).  I love the combination of beans, corn and avocado.  I’m not a big fan of cilantro (I’m in that percentage of the population that says it tastes like soap) so I leave it out.  Haven’t made this in a while but I will be soon.

1/3 cup fat-free salsa (medium or spicy)

3 tbsp reduced-fat sour cream

1 tbsp apple cider vinegar

 2 cans of black beans (drained and rinsed)

1 cup grape tomatoes, halved

1 cup corn (I microwave frozen kernels but you can use fresh or canned)

1 avocado, diced

½ cup diced red onion

½ cup fresh cilantro (or less to taste)

In a large bowl, stir together salsa, sour cream and vinegar until blended.  Add the beans, tomatoes, corn, onions, avocado and cilantro and toss gently. 

You can serve this with lettuce and tortilla chips and sprinkle it with some pepper jack cheese or just serve it as is.  It goes great with chicken or a burger from the grill!

A couple of months ago I was looking for something to bring my dad for lunch that was not only easy to make but wouldn't take a lot of prep time to serve up once we arrived. 

I found this recipe on the Perricone website:  www.perriconerecipes.com.  I did make some edits according to what I use (i.e., rotisserie chicken instead of cubed, cooked chicken breasts), but the basic recipe is still intact. 

What I like best about it is that it uses lemon juice and olive oil instead of mayonnaise.  It’s since become a permanent part of my recipe collection and with this summer heat; I’ve been making it a lot (I actually have some in the fridge right now)!

 
I never use salt in any of my recipes even though I’ve included it in the ingredients.  Who needs salt when you have Romano cheese, artichokes, red onion and lemon juice.  This recipe has plenty of flavor on its own and we can all live with less salt in our lives.  

Chicken-Walnut Salad with White Beans and Artichokes

Ingredients
meat from one rotisserie chicken, cubed

3/4 cup thinly sliced red onion

3 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil

3 stalks of celery, sliced

1/2 cup walnuts, chopped

1 cup of artichoke hearts, quartered

1/3 cup freshly grated Pecorino Romano cheese

1/3 cup fresh lemon juice

1 cup canned cannellini beans

10 cherry tomatoes, halved

3 tbsp. chopped fresh parsley

salt and pepper to taste

Preparation
In a large bowl, gently toss chicken, onion, celery, walnuts, artichoke hearts, tomatoes, greens and herbs.  Add the olive oil and continue to toss until ingredients are lightly coated with the oil.
Add lemon juice, toss lightly.  Add the grated cheese, salt and pepper and continue to toss lightly until the cheese is evenly distributed.

Serve with greens and lemon wedges

Enjoy
!!!