Zucchini Stir-fry

Zucchini has always fascinated me. Left raw, it leaves me cold and cooked too much, it's mush. For a long time I've made a stir-fry zucchini dish that would go from perfect to the afore mentioned mush in an instant. It has onions, tomatoes, and zucchini cut into slices and I've experimented with many different incarnations.

After eating a similar dish at the Getty Center for lunch last week I came up with what I think is a winner. The squash held up quite nicely and was still nice and firm the next day for lunch.

Recipe

Two small zucchini squash sliced in 3/4 inch slices
1/2 sweet onion sliced in wedges
1 cup sliced Crimini mushrooms*
1/4 cup pesto without cheese
1 Roma tomato, quartered seeds removed

I made a quick pesto with about a cup of fresh basil, chopped garlic, salt, pepper and enough olive oil to make a paste.
I cut the squash in circles at least 3/4 of an inch wide. This way I could get some "color" on the zucchini without cooking it to death.
I cooked the onions and mushrooms separately, removed them from the pan to saute the squash with the pesto. Then, when it was just barely cooked, I tossed back the onions and mushrooms and quartered Roma tomatoes. This only gets a very quick stir to heat the tomatoes and blend the flavors. Off the heat I tossed in some Parmesan cheese and served.

Asparagus...a great side dish

This is easy and so good especially now that asparagus is coming into season. Well at least it is in my area...it will in your area soon I'm sure.

I got rid of the woody ends of the asparagus then blanched the asparagus. Julienned a red pepper, then sauteed the pepper with some thinly sliced garlic in a bit of olive oil. Make sure the asparagus is well drained. Put asparagus in the same pan that you sauteed the pepper and garlic and a bit more olive oil, salt and pepper to taste... Voila!!!

Kitchen of Love

Skinny Gourmet and Kaylyn
Please accept my apologies for not including the link for WHB...chalk it off to
senility, I think in all actuality I had too much on my plate.

Coriander (Cilantro seed)
The book of The Arabian nigh ts tells a tale of a merchant who had been childless for 40 years and but was cured by a concoction that included coriander. That book is over 1000 years old so the history of coriander as an aphrodisiac dates back far into history. Cilantro was also know to be used as an "appetite" stimulant.

Now did you know that???


.Pop on over to Mel Cotte who is holding a fun Valentine event.

My entry is this super easy and tasty salad, serve with a good grilled steak, some nice italian crunchy bread and a full bodied red wine and you are good to go.






Garbanzo, Tomato, and Cilantro Salad
with Lime and Chile Dressing ***

1 can garbanzo beans (chickpeas), rinsed well
4-5 tomatoes, diced in 1/2 inch pieces I use Roma's
1/2 cup green onion, sliced
1 cup (1 large bunch) cilantro, washed, dried, and chopped coarsely

Dressing:
2 T fresh lime juice
2 T extra-virgin olive oil
1/4 tsp. ground Chipotle chile powder (you could substitute hot sauce if you don't have ground Chipotle)
1/2 tsp. ground cumin
zest from one lime
salt, fresh ground pepper to taste

Drain beans into colander and rinse until no foaming remains. Let drain well. Mix dressing ingredients, then put beans and dressing into a plastic container with a snap-on lid and shake a few times. Let beans marinate in dressing one hour or longer.

Dice tomatoes, place in colander with a small amount of salt and let tomatoes drain 10 minutes while you dice onions and chop cilantro. Combine marinated beans with dressing, tomatoes, green onion, and cilantro and stir gently until well combined. Season with salt and pepper to taste and serve immediately.

***I must give credit to Kayln's Kitchen for this adapted version of her salad.

A side dish for snacking

While cruising around other food blogs I noticed a lot of snacks to be made for the Super Bowl. Some go all out with unbelievable food and presentation. Won't be doing that this year but we are not shy of snacks. I did come upon some ideas however. And one thing that kept popping into my mind was Pico de gallo Nothing like a good mexican condiment to go with your beverage of choice, such as maybe your favorite beer.

Ingredients
* 6 medium tomatoes diced ~I use the Roma
* 1 medium onion diced
* 1/4 cup fresh cilantro chopped.
* 2 to 4 fresh serrano or jalapeño seeded and minced fine***
*juice of one lime
*Salt to taste

Put all ingredients in a bowl, mix well. Let set a few minutes. You will find a lot of variations on the internet if you google pico de gallo. You can also can use the pico de gallo for cooking and a garnish.

Serve with your favorite tortilla chips and the very best green gold AKA guacamole. My guacamole is simple, peel avocado, mash with a bit of lime juice, serve. An if I am your guest make a lot cause I love guacamole and pico de gallo.

Now I gotta go make some more cause my sweet husband found it and had said condiment for lunch..........whoa is me!!!

***try one fresh pepper first in the pico de gallo in case you find two peppers to warm for your taste. Remember that the ribs inside the pepper is where the heat is as well as the seeds. So do what you will when chopping your peppers. I do not use garlic but some do. This does not stay too long in the fridge a day or so.

Brussel Sprouts

Now don't turn up your nose like I used to. I also understand that brussel sprouts are one of the healthiest foods. just try this very, very easy method.





About 1 to 1 1/2 lb brussel sprouts
3 cloves of chopped garlic
sea salt
fresh ground pepper
extra virgin olive oil

Method

clean the brussel sprouts by cutting off the ends and any icky looking leaves, then cut the brussel sprout in half. Put all the sprouts in a bowl to coat with the extra virgin olive oil, salt and pepper. Place said sprouts on a baking sheet lined with foil. Sprinkle the sliced garlic to inter mix with the sprouts. Now if y'all are not garlic lovers leave it out. Place the baking sheet with the sprouts in a hot oven 400* is good, for about 25-30 minutes. Keep an eye on them cause they can burn quickly depending on your oven temp, so when you peek on them shake the pan a bit. You want them browned to give you the nutty flavor but not burnt to ruin the taste.

Serve immediately. You may also add crispy bacon or pancetta when sprouts are completed. I didn't take a photo of the completed sprouts cause dinner was ready and these are not good cold.


As a side note...
If you want to add a bit of zing to your mashed potatoes next time, add about a 1/4 cup of shaved manchego cheese adds an amazing flavor.

Hope your Thanksgiving, if celebrated, was wonderful. Now on to the Christmas holidays. Do remember to come back often, cause this family has some amazing goodies to share.

I've solved our dependency on foreign oil

In my attempt to keep cholesterol at bay I'd read about the health benefits of barley. Seems like barley is beneficial in any form, from whole grain to flour. My soup repertoire contains a great Beef Soup that includes barley, and was enjoyed by my family, so serving it as a side dish seemed logical.

Barley doesn't have much flavor on it's own and is better cooked in broth, I choose chicken. For this dish I used:

• barley
• pile of chopped fresh spinach
• smaller pile of grated Parmesan cheese
• smallest pile of chopped parsley
• Mrs. Dash

This was mixed together and I felt the top was lacking so about the same amount of cheese mixed with breadcrumbs on the top and dotted with butter. Into a hot oven covered with foil for about 15 minutes then foil off for about 10. This pleased my dearly beloved, he loves spinach, and I felt it was quite tasty. Some of the barley got a bit crunchy on the top. Crunch/cheesy, fits my requirements for food.

Let's have a bit of back story on barley and caution, I will use big scienc-y sounding words.

The reason it's so good for lowering cholesterol is it feeds the "good" bacteria in the lower intestines. When these helpful bacteria ferment barley's insoluble fiber, they produce a short-chain fatty acid called butyric acid, which serves as the primary fuel for the cells of the large intestine and helps maintain a healthy colon. Whew, stay with me. Also, the sugar in barley is what ferments in beer making those lovely bubbles, burb. Excuse me.

Did ya notice I used "ferment" a few times in that last paragraph? Well that's what those lovely little pearls of barley do, ferment in your body and barley doesn't care if you are making beer or just eating better, it's gonna make gas, and lots of it. Forget ethanol, use barley! I think I'm switching to barley flour bread, it's safer.

All kidding aside, barley is good for fighting colon cancer. If you'd like to see some other health ideas, visit Mele Cotte's Event, Fighting Cancer. The deadline is April 9 so watch for some yummy recipes and ideas by the 13th.

Ciao, bella: guest chef Teri

In January we attended a birthday celebration for some dear friends. It was hosted by the younger daughter and son-in-law but both daughters were involved in the planning.

The two birthday people and family will be off for a Tuscan vacation in the spring so the theme was Italian. I was really taken by one of the side dishes and asked the cook to be a guest chef here on PBE.

Here is Teri's amazing menu and sorry if I left anything out. It was abbodanza!

Pasta with breadcrumbs
Eggplant fritters w/yogurt lime sauce
Tortellini kebabs
Arugula salad
Marinated Italian sausage with peppers, olives and cheese.
Sweet and Sour Onions

Sweet and Sour Onions

2 Bags of frozen pearl onions (I like to get some of the liquid out of the onions first in a big skillet)

In a separate pot to reduce
4 Tbsp of butter
5 Tbsp of sugar
1/2 cup of balsamic vinegar
2 Tbsp of champagne vinegar
salt and pepper

Melt butter and sugar together to dissolve sugar. Add vinegars. Salt and pepper to taste. Let this all reduce down to a syrup like consistency and poor over hot onions in skillet. Let flavors marry in the skillet for 20 mins on low to medium heat.
Can be made ahead of time for you dinner party!