A Berry, Berry Good Summer

It was a Berry, Berry Good Summer here in West Virginia where we picked Black Raspberries week after week on our own Mountain Meadow Hill!  Those berries are gone, but there are still local berries at the Farmer's Market.  These blueberries were the one purchase I made at our work place market today!  The recipe is adapted from this month's Eating Well Magazine.

Cornmeal Blueberry Shortcake
(Serves 5)

Blueberries
1 1/2 cup Fresh Blueberries
4 tsp. Sugar
1/2 Lime, zest and juice
Heat in saucepan over medium heat for 8 minutes, stirring continuously.  Set aside.

Shortcakes
1/2 cup All Purpose Flour
2 Tbsp. Whole Wheat Pastry Flour
1/4 cup & 2 Tbsp. Whole Grain Cornmeal
4 tsp. Brown Sugar
1 1/2 tsp. Baking Powder
Dash Salt
Mix in mini food processor.
Cut in
2 Tbsp. Earth Balance Buttery Spread

In a bowl, mix 
1 Egg
2 1/2 Tbsp. Skim Milk
Add to food processor and pulse a few seconds.  Turn dough out onto cloth sprinkled with cornmeal.  Roll to 1/2 inch thickness.  Cut with biscuit cutter.

Place on a piece of parchment paper.  Brush cold skim milk across top of each biscuit and sprinkle with Turbinado Sugar. Place biscuits on paper onto preheated oven stone.  Bake at 400 degrees for 12 minutes.   Cool on rack.

Serve cut biscuit with blueberries and whipped cream.

Here's the "main" course:

The recipe for Greek Stuffed Chicken Breast is from the Lemon Bowl.
I tweeked it slightly for our senior needs. 

Greek Stuffed Chicken Breast
(Serves 3)

1 Tbsp. Pine Nuts
1 tsp. Olive Oil
1 Garlic Clove
2 cups Spring Mix
1 Tbsp. Fresh Dill
Zest & Juice of 1/2 Lemon
1 Tbsp. Gorgonzola Cheese
Chop in food processor.  

1 6oz. Chicken Breast
Pound thinly.  (See tutorial here) 
Spread pesto over breast to about 1/2 inch from edges.  Roll and place on baking sheet. Sprinkle with Mrs. Dash.  Bake at 350 until center of chicken reached 165 degrees.  (about 30 minutes)  Slice with electric knife. 


Those are tomatoes from our container garden and green beans from another local Farmer's Market.  The meal was delicious.  I have some for my lunch tomorrow and more desserts for the evening meal!

Turkey & Lentils Squash Basket

Farmer's Markets on Saturday and Wednesday make me happy, and today I'm featuring bounty so that I can restock tomorrow.  I've learned to not go to a Farmer's Market with a grocery list, rather go to find something unique.  These little round summer squash fit the bill!  I adapted a recipe from Clean Eating Magazine for tonight's fare.

Turkey & Lentils Squash Basket
(Serves 2-3)

2 small round Summer Squash
Remove stem and cook in simmering water to cover for 10 minutes.
Remove from heat.  Cut a slice from the top to make an easy to fill basket.  Scrape out and reserve flesh.  (I used a small scoop.)

1/4 cup Lentils
Cook in simmering water for 15 minutes.

6 oz. Turkey Breast Tenderloin, raw
Chop in food processor.
2 Spring Onions, sliced
In small skillet sprayed with Pam, brown turkey and onion.
Add diced squash flesh.
2 Red Tomatoes, cored and diced
2 Sprigs Fresh Oregano
2 Tbsp. Fresh Basil
Add to skillet and heat.
Stir in
Drained Cooked Lentils
Add
2 Tbsp. Gorgonzola Cheese, crumbled
1 Tbsp. Pepita seeds, crushed 

Fill squash boats with turkey-lentil mixture.  Place remainder of mixture around squash boats in a baking dish.  Bake at 475 degrees 10 minutes.

Our meal was served with fresh green beans.

Meatless Monday: Falafel & Moussaka

We're loving the fresh vegetables we're picking from our container gardener.  The cucumber, tomatoes, parsley and sweet pepper here all were fresh picked off the deck!  The falafel recipe is similar to the one we make at work though there we cook our own garbanzo beans. I use the cooked, frozen variety without added salt.  Here's how I made mine:

Falafel
(Serves 3)

1 cup Garbanzo Beans, cooked
1 small Spring Onion
1 clove Garlic
1 Tbsp. fresh Parsley
1/2 tsp. Ground Cumin
1/4 tsp. Ground Turmeric
1/4 cup Wheat Germ
1/8 tsp. Mrs. Dash
1 Egg
Mix all ingredients in food processor.  Shape into patties.  Grill until warm, about 4 minutes per side.  Serve with Cucumber relish:

1/4 cup Greek Yogurt
1 small Cucumber, peeled and diced fine
Mix

The Lebanese Style Moussaka was inspired by Clean Eating magazine.  I made mine with 4 petite round green striped Eggplants I purchased at the Farmer's Market.

Moussaka
(Serves 3)

2 cups diced and peeled Eggplant
1 clove Garlic, diced
1 Spring Onion, diced
1 tsp. Canola Oil
Toss oil and vegetables.  Roast at 450 degrees for 10 minutes.
Remove from oven and turn oven temperature to 350 degrees.

Heat in pan:
1 tsp. Olive Oil
1 clove Garlic, minced
1 Spring Onion, sliced
4 diced Tomatoes, medium size
1/4 tsp. Allspice
Dash Cinnamon
1 sliced Sweet Pepper
Mix with eggplant.  Roast at 350 degrees for 15 minutes.  Serve over Brown Rice.

That's 1/2 Purple Plum, sliced in the center of the plate.  (Very juicy!)

Have a great week!
     

Ridge Repast

We found a great spot close to home today to picnic as tomorrow we have a chance to get together with all the kids!  Chestnut Ridge Park, off the Cooper's Rock exit of I-79 is managed by the county.  Our menu today featured:

 Beef, Peppers & Onion Flatbread Wraps

Red, White & Blue Potato Salad

Red, White & Blue Veggie Relishes

Purple Grapes

The potatoes were grown by DeBerry Farms in Oakland, Md. I purchased the white cucumber in the relish from Kathy of Evans Knob Farms this morning.  The purple pepper was from Mockingbird Hill and the tomato was from our own back porch!  

Here's the potato salad recipe:

Red, White and Blue Potato Salad

(Serves 4)

12 Red, Yukon Gold and Blue Potatoes (7 assorted sizes)

Scrub and cook in boiling water.  Remove from water according to size when done.  Peel when cool.  Dice.  Add diced celery and tomato.  Toss with cooked salad dressing.

Cooked Potato Salad Dressing

2 Tbsp. Sugar

1/2 Dry Mustard

1 1/2 Tbsp. Flour

1 beaten Egg

1/4 cup Water

2 Tbsp. Vinegar

Combine sugar, dry mustard, flour and egg in double boiler.  Cook until thick.  Remove from heat.  Stir in water and vinegar.  Return to heat to thicken.

In place of a double boiler, use 2 pans that fit together, heating water in the bottom pan and the ingredients in the top pan.

Beef, Peppers & Onion Flatbread Wrap

I've posted the Arab Bread Dough recipe before and it can be found here.  I made the dough last night, kneaded it and let it sit about 45 minutes at room temperature before placing in the refrigerator overnight.

I cooked the roast beef in the crock pot after work yesterday too, cooking for about 4 hours on low.  The roast was a piece of sirloin tip roast.  After chilling overnight, I sliced it thin with an electric knife and shredded it when placing on the dough.

Here's the method:

Remove dough from refrigerator.  On a floured board, divide dough into 4 pieces.  Roll each piece into rectangles, about 8 X 6 inches long.  Leaving an inch of dough exposed on each side of the rectangle, layer as follows:

2-3 oz. shredded roast beef

Red and Yellow Peppers, sliced thin

Carmelized Onions

3 Tbsp. Shredded Swiss Cheese   

Fold edges of dough over.  Pinch edges together.  Let rest for 20 minutes.  Bake in 450 degree oven 12 minutes, then on broil for another 2 minutes until the top of each wrap is brown.  Cool.  Refrigerate if not eating within a view hours.

Here's our perfect picnic spot:

 After lunch, we walked the trail around the pond.  People were fishing, camping and swimming.  There were even paddle boats.  This was a great place to spend a summer day!

Summer Lasagna, Green Bean Salad & Zucchini Muffins

What fun I'm having buying little bits of this and that produce at the Farmer's Markets and trying seasonal recipes.  The Summer Lasagna, from Laura's Lean Beef, uses squash instead of noodles.  Because I buy petite products, and managed to "loose" one of my squashes, I added 2 tiger eggplants as well.  Here's my version:

Summer Lasagna
(Serves 4-prepared in a 6 X 8 inch baking dish)

1/4 # Lean Ground Beef
1/2 cup Diced Tomatoes, canned without added salt
1 Spring Onion, diced
Brown ground beef with tomatoes and onions.  Cook until most of the liquid has evaporated.   Add
1/2 ear of Corn, cut off the cob

Spray baking dish with Pam.  Line with:
1 layer sliced Zucchini
Top with
Beef, onion, tomato, corn mixture
Follow with a layer of 
Yellow Squash, sliced
Shredded Zucchini Squash
1 cup Cooked Spring Mix (water squeezed out)  
2 tbsp. Fresh Basil Sprigs

Mix
1 Egg
1/4 cup Ricotta Cheese, part-skim
1 ounce Swiss Cheese, shredded
Spread mixture over the top of the lasagna.  Top with:
Peeled, sliced Eggplant
Sprinkle on top:
Wheat Germ

Bake at 375 degrees for 20 minutes.  Garnish with:
2 Tbsp. Swiss Cheese, shredded
2 Mini Sweet Peppers, sliced

All to sit 5 minutes before cutting.

The Green Bean-Tomato Salad with Herbs was posted on Kitchen Daily. I'd purchased a tri-color bean bag from a local farmer, and cut the herbs and tomatoes from my own container garden.

Green Bean-Tomato Salad with Herbs
(Serves 3)

1/2 # Green, Yellow and Purple String Beans
1/2 tsp. Dry Mustard
1 Tbsp. Red Wine Vinegar
1 tsp. Olive Oil
1 Plum Tomato, chopped
2 Tbsp. assorted Fresh Herbs, snipped
Cook green beans.  Mix vinegar, mustard and oil.  Pour over beans.  Stir in tomato and herbs.  Chill.

The Zucchini Muffins with Maple Nut Streusel Recipe is by Back to the Book Nutrition.  The recipe makes small, very soft muffins that are sure to please.  Here's how I made it:

Zucchini Muffins with Maple Nut Streusel
(11 muffins)

1 Egg
1/4 cup Honey
Beat in electric mixer.

Stir together dry ingredients in a separate bowl:
1 cup & 2 Tbsp. Whole Wheat Pastry Flour
2 Tbsp. Flaxmeal
1/2 tsp. Baking Soda
1/2 tsp. Baking Powder
1 1/2 tsp. Cinnamon

Mix wet ingredients in another bowl:
2 Tbsp. Earth Blend Buttery Spread, melted
1/4 cup Applesauce, unsweetened
1 1/2 tsp. Pure Vanilla Extract
1 1/4 cup Zucchini, with skin, shredded   

Alternately stir in dry, then liquid ingredients with egg-honey mixture.  Do not overmix.
Portion into muffin tin sprayed with Pam.  Top with Streusel:

Streusel
1/4 cup Whole Wheat Pastry Flour
1/4 tsp. Cinnamon
1 1/2 Tbsp. Maple Syrup
1/4 Tbsp. Pecan Meal
Mix.  Cut in:
2 Tbsp. Earth Blend Buttery Spread 

Bake at 325 for 20 minutes.

What an awesome lunch I'll take tomorrow with leftovers!          
 

 

Meatless Monday: Chickpeas Curry & Cauliflower Brain

I love all the small unique vegetables I find at the local Farmer's Markets.  This little squash and petite cauliflower were perfect for we little senior citizens!  The Chickpea Curry dish was inspired by Food Network Magazine.  I liked it because it included okra-another vegetable I purchased from a local farmer.  I skipped the chicken, and added the interior of the squash boat.  Here's my version:

Chickpea Curry
(Serves 3)

3 Plum Tomatoes
1 Green Onion
1 inch piece Ginger, peeled
1 mini Sweet Pepper
Squash removed from the interior
1 tsp Curry Powder
Chop ingredients in mini food processor.  Heat 1 tsp. Olive Oil in non-stick pot and add tomato mixture.  Cook, stiring often, until darkened and paste-like, 10 to 12 minutes.  

Add
1 1/2 cups Water
Bring to simmer.  Add
1 cup Fresh Okra, sliced
2 Tbsp. Fresh Cilantro, chopped
Cook 5 minutes.  Add
1 cup Garbanzo Beans (I use the cooked frozen version without salt)
Heat 10 minutes.  Fill squash boat to serve.

The baked cauliflower item was featured by the Dannon Chef at the Premiere Culinary Clinic I attended in July.  It was nicknamed "Cauliflower Brain".

Cauliflower Brain
(Serves 6)

1 small Cauliflower
Cut off bottom so that cauliflower will sit flat.

Mix 
1/2 cup Plain Greek Yogurt
1 tsp. Curry Powder
Spread over top of cauliflower.  Sprinkle with
Wheat Germ
Bake at 375 degrees for 30 minutes.
Cut like a cake!

This will make a delicious accompaniment to my lunch this week! 
      

Panoramic Picnic

We had quite a view on our picnic today at Jennings Randolph Lake.  Our menu today:

Wild Salmon

Lentils

Wild & Brown Rice Salad

Diced Peaches

Black Raspberry Rhubarb Cream Pie Parfait

Our picnics are cold plates I make the evening before.  The Rice Salad recipe is adapted from USA Rice.

Wild & Brown Rice Salad

(Serves 3)

1/3 cup cooked Wild Rice

2/3 cup cooked Bron Rice

I first cooked the wild rice for 35 minutes and added the instant brown rice (without seasoning) for 5 minutes more.

6 dried Apricots, diced

1 mini Sweet Pepper, diced

1 Tbsp. Gorgonzola Cheese, crumbled

2 Tbsp. Orange Juice

1 tsp. Olive Oil

1 Tbsp. fresh squeezed Lemon Juice 

Mix with drained rice.  Refrigerate.

Serve over

1 1/2 cups chopped Spring Mix 

 I purchased and baked 1/2 # portion of Wild Salmon sprinkled with Mrs. Dash, then garnished with Fresh Lemon.  The lentil dish is inspired by Canadian Lentils. 

Balsamic Lentils

(Served 3)

1/3 cup Lentils

1 clove Garlic, peeled and diced

In small saucepan, cover the lentils with a couple inches of water and the garlic.  Bring to a simmer over medium heat.  Cook for 40 minutes, until the lentils are tender.  Add:

1 Celery Stick, diced

1/2 Carrots, shredded

1 Spring Onion, diced

Drain and stir in:

1 Tbsp. Balsamic Vinegar

Chill 

Yesterday we picked the last of our Black Raspberries on our Mountain Meadow Hill.  The parfait recipe was inspired by Clean Eating. I always like a recipe I can use Ricotta Cheese as it's very hard for me to use a whole container of it!

Black Raspberry Rhubarb Cream Pie Parfait

(Serves 4)

2 stalks Rhubard, diced in 1/2 inch pieces

1 1/2 cups Black Raspberries

2 Tbsp. Sugar

1 Tbsp. Cornstarch

Mix and bake in toaster oven 20 minutes.

Crust (for 6)

1 cup Whole Wheat Pastry Flour

1/4 cup Pecan Meal

Whisk together.

 

2 Tbsp. Olive Oil

Add and stir until combined.

 

2 Tbsp. Honey

Add and stir until combined. 

2 Tbsp. cold Water

Add and stir until combined.  Mixture will be sandy.  Press into 8 inch square pan sprayed with Pam.  Bake in 350 oven 20 minutes.  Cool.

Cheese Mixture

(Serves 4) 

2/3 cup Ricotta Cheese, part skim

1 Tbsp. Honey

Mix with whip.

To assemble parfait, break 1/6th mixture crumbs first into bottom of dish.  Add cheese mixture, then fruit mix.

My Kamera Kitchen buddy, Bob, whose idea it was to combine the picnic here on our way to visit my aging parents.  We brought them something to eat too!  Have a great week.