Garden Bounty, Summer 2012

Zucchini cakes (Photo credit: foodiesathome.com)

It's been quite some time since I've posted anything on my blog, over a year!  I guess that's what happens when life gets in the way ...


We've been quite busy in the garden this summer, all of our plants seem to be growing like crazy.  We have the biggest potato plants I've ever seen, and our cucumbers just keep coming.  I've already given a bunch away and still have plenty in the fridge, along with a couple of jars of pickles. 


One thing I've made a couple of times this year are Zucchini Cakes, which is a recipe I found on the Food Network by Sandra Lee: Zucchini Cakes Recipe . The recipe calls for a cup of "baking mix" which she gives the recipe for at the bottom, but I substitute Biscuik and it works just fine.  I've found that the 1/4 cup of oil called for in the recipe is a little excessive in my nonstick pan; just use enough to coat the bottom of the pan, they actually brown better when not swimming in oil.  


Tonight, Michael and I had a delicious vegetarian meal of new potatoes, Italian green beans, leftover squash casserole and zucchini cakes - all from the garden.  It was outstanding and light, perfect for a no-fuss weeknight meal.  We even topped it off with some fresh watermelon (from the Ingles garden!).


I made Zucchini Bread again (you can find it under "zucchini" on the right-hand side).  I always love this recipe, the taste is just a little different than your run-of-the-mill zucchini bread because of the lemon zest, poppy seeds, crystallized ginger and curry.  You can leave all those "optional" ingredients out of the recipe but it just wouldn't be the same.

The Tastiest 2-Ingredient Dessert!

Another Weight Watchers recipe that I found to be super-delicious is Moist Cherry Angel Food Cake. This cake is so easy that even if you're a dodo in the kitchen, you can make this!

Ingredients:

1 Box Angel Food Cake Mix

1 can Light Cherry Pie Filling (or Blueberry)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a 9 x 13 cake pan. Mix the cake and pie filling together; pour batter into the cake pan and bake for about 30 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean. Batter will rise while baking, but then settles down after you remove it from the oven. Place the pan on a cooling rack; cut into 24 pieces when cooled. Each piece is 3 points.

Crunchy Asian Chicken Salad

I found this recipe in Pampered Chef's "Make it Fresh, Make it Healthy" cookbook, which is new this spring. I modified it just a bit, since preparing a salad for 6 people when there are only 2 in the house is more than I can eat without getting bored with it -- so I adjusted it for 4 servings. Since I'm now on the Weight Watchers Points Plus Program, I'm always looking for new recipes that are low in points but very filling.

Ingredients

1/3 cup(s) rice vinegar

2 Tbsp creamy peanut butter, without salt

2 Tbsp low-sodium soy sauce

1 Tbsp canola oil

2 tsp toasted sesame oil

1 Tbsp sugar

2 tsp ginger root

1 clove(s) garlic clove(s), pressed

1/3 tsp black pepper

1 1/2 cup(s) Napa cabbage, shredded

1 1/2 cup(s) romaine lettuce, chopped

1 cup(s) shredded red cabbage

2 medium scallion, sliced thin (both green and white parts)

3 small (about 9 oz) uncooked boneless, skinless chicken breast

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp black pepper

2 medium orange(s)

3 serving(s) Wonton Strips (found in the Produce Section with the croutons)

Instructions

Season the chicken with salt and pepper and grill on a George Forman grill or something similar. Set aside.

For the dressing, whisk together vinegar, peanut butter, soy sauce, canola and sesame oils, sugar, gingerroot, garlic and plack pepper until blended; set aside. Combine cabbage, lettuce and onion together; toss to combine and set aside.

Slice the chicken into thin strips and toss with about 1/4 c. of the dressing. Gently toss the rest of the dressing into the lettuce mixture. Split into 4 servings; top each serving with oranges, chicken and wonton strips.

I'm on the Weight Watchers Bandwagon!

Image via WikipediaYep -- I'm one of the slew of people who have hopped on the Weight Loss Bandwagon at the beginning of the year. I've been dieting for most of my adult life - I have yet to get to a weight that I feel comfortable with. Why is that? I have a few opinions, the most plausible being that I -- along with about 70% of the U.S. -- am totally addicted to sugar and empty carbohydrates!

I decided to join Weight Watchers, partly because I had 3 friends who had already joined and I thought it would be good to have some buddies going through the same ups and downs. I also had heard that the program has been totally revamped and was very easy to follow. Mostly I joined because I needed to be accountable to someone other than myself.

I followed the program - mostly to a T -- and ended up losing 5.8 lbs my first week - HOORAY! It's definitely a psychological boost when you see a healthy weight loss your first week, I'm definitely motivated to continue following the program and counting my points. The Weight Watchers website is great; it keeps track of all my points for the week as well as my weight. It definitely makes it pretty easy to stay on the plan.

I noticed that if I kept foods in the house that I could eat and still stay on plan, it was that much easier. I did go out to lunch once and dinner once but was able to stay within my points. They encourage you to use your weekly extra points but I only used about 1/2 of the 49 points.

I'm pretty motivated to stay on the program and will report any new recipes or tips that I come up with.

A Taste of Fall

Image via WikipediaWhat says fall more than something made with pumpkin? Our church is participating in the Waynesville Cookie Tour again this year, and I thought I would try something different. Everyone seems to love anything made with pumpkin, so I found this recipe. I confess I haven't made them yet but I will be experimenting with the recipe this week. I would love to find a way to make a tasty cookie that is not filled with butter and sugar. In this recipe, I plan on cutting the amount of butter in half (and will be using I Can't Believe It's Not Butter Baking Sticks), and using Splenda for some of the sugar in the recipe. I'll report back after I've made the cookies with a modified list of ingredients, and any tips that might be helpful. Here is the original recipe:

2 cups butter

2 cups sugar

2 eggs

2 tsp. vanilla extract

2 cups fresh (or canned) pumpkin

4 cups flour (sifted)

2 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. salt

2 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 tsp. allspice

2 cups raisins

1 cup chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Mix all dry ingredients in a separate, smaller bowl. In a large bowl, blend butter & sugar, add eggs one at a time, then add vanilla (do this with a mixer). Fold in pumpkin. Add the dry ingredients in thirds, blending well each time, fold in nuts and raisins. Drop dough by one-inch balls onto a greased cookie sheet, bake for 15 minutes or until lightly browned on the bottom. Makes LOTS of cookies!

Fresh Tastes of Summer!

Image via Wikipedia

Oh, the delicious flavor of a cucumber fresh-picked from the garden; you just can't beat it. We finally got a couple of cucumbers ripe enough to pick, as well as some yellow squash - which I suspect we will be picking for the next few weeks.

Since the tomatoes aren't quite ready yet, I had to purchase a few greenhouse tomatoes at the supermarket today to go along with the cucumbers. One thing I love about this season is the simplicity of preparation -- simply slice the tomatoes and the cucumbers, and serve them with just a dash of salt and pepper. In the words of Rachael Ray, YUM-O!

We haven't had much luck this year with zucchini. Michael planted four plants from seed, but they all have withered away. We may get a few zucchini out of them but certainly not as many as we had last year. The yellow squash, on the other hand, will be quite plentiful this year. My favorite way of preparing yellow squash is to cut up an onion and 3 or 4 small yellow squash into chunks, saute in olive oil, add some fresh thyme, salt and pepper, and let it all simmer for about 10 minutes until lightly browned. The flavors really come through in this dish.

I hope you enjoy some fresh summer experiences for yourself - definitely worth a little extra effort.

Garden Bounty

This week has brought on much progress in the garden. The lettuce is going to start to bolt soon, so it has to be picked - but we have much more growing as you can see from some of the pictures. The tomatoes, squash and peppers all have fruit on them, the corn is starting to grow nice and tall, and the chard and kale are in full swing.

Tonight for Father's Day, we'll have some chicken on the grill with fresh snap peas and a nice big salad with some of the romaine lettuce from the garden. I'm sure Michael will be pleased.

For more garden photos, here is the link to my Facebook photos:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2068726&id=1144844382&l=634f5aec24

Gardening Season is upon us!

Image via Wikipedia

Hooray, things are finally starting to happen in the garden! So far we have all this planted:

Lettuce

Garlic

Strawberries

Potatoes

Peas

Carrots

Beets

Swiss Chard

Kale

Broccoli

Basil

Zucchini

Yellow Squash

Peppers

Tomatoes

Cucumbers

Radishes

Dill

Tarragon

Lemon Balm

Chamomile

Hard to believe that we have so much planted in our tiny little backyard, but that's the beauty of Square Foot Gardening! Since we only need a few of each plant (ok, so we have 80 garlic plants but who's counting???) it makes sense to devote one or two squares to each plant. The method is amazing and it WORKS!

This evening I picked a whole bunch of romaine lettuce leaves - I now have more than enough lettuce for the next few days. The beauty of lettuce is that you pick only the outer leaves and the plants just keep producing. And the taste is outstanding to say the least. We have a lot of strawberries that will be ready to pick in the next week or so, so I will be making a wonderful salad with all that romaine and some fresh strawberries. I'll make a viniagrette similar to a raspberry viniagrette - but with strawberries -- to splash on the salad. You don't need much and the taste is so fresh!

Don't forget to check out my husband Michael's blog; he's a certified Square Foot Gardening Instructor and knows his stuff. http://afewsquarefeet.com/

Middle Eastern Chickpea Stew

This recipe was definitely a winner. I had seen it on a website (Eatingwell.com) earlier this week and was just waiting for the opportunity -- and the time -- to make it. It's economical, vegan and very hearty. Served with a salad and some pita bread, you've got a great, healthy meal.

6 servings, 1 1/2 cups each | Active Time: 30 minutes | Total Time: 1 hour 25 minutes

Ingredients

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

3 medium onions, halved and thinly sliced (about 3 cups)

2 teaspoons ground cumin

2 teaspoons ground coriander

1 cup orange juice

4 cups reduced-sodium chicken broth, or vegetable broth

2 15-ounce cans chickpeas, rinsed

3 cups peeled and diced sweet potato, (about 1 pound)

2/3 cup brown basmati rice

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro

Preparation

1. Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium heat; add onions and cook, stirring often, until tender and well browned, 10 to 12 minutes. Add cumin and coriander and stir for about 15 seconds. Add orange juice and broth. Stir in chickpeas, sweet potato, rice and salt. Bring to a boil; reduce heat to a gentle simmer and cover. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the rice is tender and the sweet potatoes are breaking down to thicken the liquid, about 45 minutes. Season with pepper. (The stew will be thick and will thicken further upon standing. Add more broth to thin, if desired, or when reheating.) Serve topped with cilantro.

Nutrition

Per serving : 317 Calories; 5 g Fat; 1 g Sat; 2 g Mono; 3 mg Cholesterol; 58 g Carbohydrates; 12 g Protein; 9 g Fiber; 362 mg Sodium; 461 mg Potassium

3 1/2 Carbohydrate Serving

Exchanges: 3 1/2 starch, 1 1/2 very lean meat

More Bean Burgers

Image via Wikipedia

I started to make a White Bean Burger recipe that Michael had emailed me from a NY Times website, but the white beans I was saving in the fridge had gone bad, so I needed to improvise since the weather was bad outside and I wasn't about to head to the store. I had some pinto beans left over from the other night so I used them instead. With a little cumin powder, I gave the original recipe a Southwestern spin. Here's the recipe:

Ingredients:

• 1 yellow onion, finely chopped
• 2-3 cloves garlic, chopped
• 2/3 cup carrot, shredded
• 1/4 cup parsley, finely chopped
• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• 2 tsp ground cumin
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
• 2 cups pinto beans (I used dried beans that I had cooked a few nights earlier but canned beans would work just fine).
• 3 Tbsp lemon juice
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• 1/2 cup fresh breadcrumbs (or 1/2 cup dried, unseasoned)
• 1/2 tsp ground sage or thyme

Directions:

Heat 1 Tbsp olive oil in a skillet; add the onion and saute over medium heat for about 5 minutes until tender and lightly browned. Add the carrot and garlic, then sprinkle the cumin, salt and pepper over the vegetables and cook for another minute or two until the carrot has softened. Remove from heat.

Place the beans and lemon juice in a food processor and pulse until they have a mashed consistency with a few chunks of bean still present. Transfer to a medium bowl and add the vegetables, parsley, herbs, breadcrumbs and egg; mix together until just until blended - do not overmix. Form into six patties and place on a foil-lined cookie sheet that has been sprayed with cooking spray. Cover with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator for 1/2 hour to an hour.

Heat a skillet over medium heat and add enough olive oil to cover the bottom of the pan; add the burger patties but don't crowd the pan. Cook slowly, only turning once so that the burgers don't fall apart. These are delicious served with salsa, or even chow chow -- with our without the bun!