Recipe: Southwest Greek Salad

One of the favorite dishes my family enjoys during those hot summer days is Mum's Southwest Greek Salad.  We had it the other night, so I thought I would share the recipe with all of you.

You'll need a can of black beans, a can of corn, sweet peppers, a Walla Walla onion, pine nuts, romaine lettuce, grape-sized yellow and red tomatoes.

For the dressing, you'll need 1 tablespoon of mayo, 1/4 cup of milk, fresh parsley, fresh cilantro, fresh thyme, and chives. 

Cut the grape-sized yellow and red tomatoes into half.

Drain the black beans and corn and rinse them thoroughly with cold water.  Afterward, slice the sweet peppers and dice onions.  Dice the onions as finely as possible.  You'll want about 1 cup of sliced sweet peppers and about 2 tablespoons of diced onion.

Now put everything in a big bowl.

Top with about 1/4 cup pine nuts.

Finish off with a light layer of crumbled feta cheese.

For the salad dressing chop up the parsley, thyme, cilantro, and chives.  Mum puts it in a mini processor to get everything finely chopped.  Mix the 1 tablespoon of mayo and the 1/4 cup of milk until thorough blended.  Add the herbs and mix until everything is fully incorporated.  We prefer our salad dressing lighter and more runny, so if you prefer your salad dressing thicker - add mayo until you get the right consistency.

Enjoy! If you try this salad, please let me know what you think.  The salad is a great treat.

Happy Monday!

Recipe: Crab and Cucumber Salad

A great summertime treat my family loves is Crab and Cucumber salad.  It is fresh and cool, especially on these hot summer days, and it is one of those dishes that can serve as a nibble or a meal.  Even better, it is quick to make - less than 10 minutes if you have all the ingredients at the ready.  So, I thought I would share the recipe with you...

All you need is an English cucumber, 1/4 cup of finely diced celery, a 2 tablespoons of finely chopped Walla Walla sweet onions, 2 teaspoons of finely chopped parsley, 8 ounces of chopped crab meat, and 2 tablespoons of mayo (though you may want more - depending on your preferred consistency).

Make sure you crab meat is cooked and cold.  We typically put it in the fridge for about an hour before preparing the mixture.  Peel the cucumber, then split in half.  Core out the seeds to create little cucumber boats.  Next mix your chopped onion, celery, parsley, crab meat, and mayo (adding little dollops of mayo until you achieve your preferred consistency).  Then fill you cucumber boats with the mixture and enjoy.

We do this salad in a variety of ways... using cucumber boats, chopping the cucumber and mixing it in with the crab mixture, or cutting the peeled cucumber into thin circles and putting a dollop of the crab mixture on top (much like an appetizer).  Whatever form you like, it is good stuff!

If you make this recipe, come back and tell me how you liked it.  And Tweet me a photo of your creation on Twitter.  You can find me here:  @bsmpblog.  I cannot wait to see your photos!

Happy Monday!

Recipe: Crab Dip

Many moons ago, I worked for a company that specialized in seafood.  The plant I worked at manufactured surimi (imitation crab meat), and did a lot of research and development.  While there, I got to indulge in a crab dip that was made by one of my co-workers using the surimi the company made.  It was so good, I got the recipe from her and brought it back to Mum.

After some trial and error, Mum tweaked the recipe so it suited the Fam's tastes.  In fact, my cousin Becky loves the stuff and always seems quite happy when Mum brings it to family gatherings.  So, I thought I would take the opportunity to share it with you...

Chop 1/2 of dill pickles

Chop 1/4 cup of onions

Add 1 cup of mayo

Add 8 oz. of soft cream cheese

After thoroughly mixing the mayo and cream cheese, add the pickles and onions.

Chop the imitation crab meet into loose, smaller chunks.

Add the imitation crab meet into the bowl.  Don't forget to add the chives.

Mix everything well.

Here is the recipe below.  Make sure to let me know how you like the crab dip when you try this recipe.         

Crab Dip

1 lb of imitation crab meat (surimi)
1/2 chopped dill pickles
1 tablespoon chives
1/4 cup finely chopped onions
1 cup mayo
8 oz. softened cream cheese

Mix the mayo and cream cheese thoroughly.  Add the chopped pickles, chives, and onions.  Finally, roughly chop the crab meat and add into the mixture.  Mix thoroughly and chill for one hour.  Serve with crackers and/or pita chips.

Recipe: Veggie Quiche

Are you looking for a fabulous treat to celebrate Valentine's Day? Well, I've got the one for you! Even better? It doesn't have to be Valentine's Day to enjoy it!

My family loves this quiche.  Even better, we love veggie quiche.  Here is the tried and true recipe we use.  It's easy and a crowd pleaser.

First, put the tablespoon of EVOO into a fry pan and add the peppers, mushrooms, onions, red onions, and spinach.  Heat until the spinach is wilted and the remaining veggies are cooked through.

Once the veggies are cooked through, put them in a bowl to cool.

While the veggies are cooling, prepare your pie crust by molding it into the pie pan.

Make sure you poke the pie crust with a fork to create holes for the steam build up to escape and for the pie crust to cook evenly.

Once the veggies are cooled, add the 2 cups of Egg Beaters and pour into the pie pan.

Pinch the excess pie crust to prevent the egg mixture from spilling out.

Top with cheese and chives, and pop into the pre-heated oven for 30 minutes or until the eggy mix is firm in the middle and the pie crust is golden brown. 

We usually serve the Quiche with a salad - if served for lunch or dinner - or turkey sausage - if served for breakfast.  But however you serve it, it is a sure-fire, easy-to-make dish you will make for years to come.

Veggie Quiche

1 cup chopped Spinach leaves
3/4 cup diced red, yellow, and orange bell peppers
4 oz can of mushrooms
1/2 cup shredded cheese (use your favorite - we use Colby Jack)
1/4 cup diced red onions
1 teaspoons chives
2 cups of Egg Beaters
1 tablespoon Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO)
1 Pillsbury Pie Crust

Put the EVOO in a fry pan, put on medium-high.  Add peppers, mushrooms, onions, red onions, and spinach in a pan and heat through until the spinach is wilted.  Once this is done, put the veggie mix into a bowl to cool.  In the meantime, place the pie crust in a pie pan and mold it to hug the pan.  Take a fork and poke the bottom of the crust multiple times.  This will help with making sure the pie crust cooks evenly and does not rise.

Once the veggies have cooled, add the 2 cups of Egg Beaters and mix. Pour egg and veggie mixture into the prepared pie pan.  Top with chives and cheese.  Bake in oven on 350 (pre-heated) for 30 minutes or until firm in the middle and pie crust is golden brown.

Recipe: White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies

I have been staying indoors a lot lately.  There are multiple reasons why, and they are all tedious and only yawn worthy, so I won't bore you with the details.  However, the benefit of staying indoors is I get a hankering for baked goods.

One of the delicious goodies recently whipped up in my kitchen are these beauties... White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies.  They were so good; they didn't last long.  So, I thought I would share the recipe with all of you...

White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies

1 cup butter
1 1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
12 oz. white chocolate chips
1 1/2 cups chopped macadamia nuts

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.

Cream together butter and sugars until you have a fluffy paste.  Add the eggs and vanilla to the mixture and mix until fully incorporated.  Blend in flour, baking soda, and salt.  Once all combined, mix in the white chocolate chips and macadamia nuts into the batter until everything is fully incorporated.  Next, you will drop a teaspoonful of the battery onto an ungreased cookie sheet (preferably on parchment paper).  Bake for 10-12 minutes.  Makes approximately 2 1/2 dozen cookies.

If you try to recipe, come back here and let me know how it turned out.  These beauties are definitely a luxury on the old diet, but they are so worth it.

Happy Monday!

Recipe: Easiest Dessert Ever!

Are you looking for a quick and easy dessert? I have the dessert for you!  This is a dessert that Dawn and I do every-so-often, and it is the simplest dessert to make.  It's our Monkey Cinnamon Cake.

All you need is Pillsbury Cinnamon Rolls (2 canisters), Pam, a non-stick packing dish, and that's it!  Here we go...

Open your Pillsbury Cinnamon Roll canister and pull the pre-cut cinnamon rolls out.  Be sure to set aside the little plastic cup of frosting.  Take those cinnamon rolls and quarter each of them.

 

Then lightly spray the non-stick pan.  You'd think it would be fine to just leave the non-stick pan as is, since it is a non-stick pan but it isn't.  Your cake will glue itself to the pan if you don't use a light (very light) layer of spray.

Then toss all your quarter cinnamon rolls into the pan, put it in the oven at 350 degrees for 20 minutes, but you may need to cook it for an extra 5 minutes to ensure it is sufficiently golden.

Once it is cooked, pull it out of the oven and sit it aside for about 10 minutes to cool.  When it is cooled, simply take those plastic cups of frosting and stir them until the frosting is soft and drippy - though, I sometimes add 3-4 teaspoons of milk to make it drippy enough.  Then you're ready to cut and eat!

 

It is a dense cake with just the right amount of sweet and cinnamon.  That's our Monkey Cinnamon Cake... Enjoy!

Recipe: Black Bean Casserole

We're finally in San Jose, California - checked into our hotel and settled in for the next four days.  By the time you read this, we'll be exploring San Jose a little but anxious to go to the opening event for BlogHer 2014.  So, in the spirit of fun... I thought I would share one of my favorite recipes.

One of my all-time favorite dishes is Black Bean Casserole.  It's one of those comfort food dishes that is perfect for warming you from the inside out.  And, it's vegetarian!

Recipe: White Chocolate Macadamia Cookies

We did a little baking over the weekend, so I thought I would share the recipe of one of the goodies we produced.  These fantastic little cookies work wonders in this household because Dawn is allergic to chocolate, so her cookie selections are limited.  Typically, if we make a cookie that has chocolate in it, we have to make another cookie that has no chocolate in it.  While normally, one would think "Yes! Two types of cookies!" we doesn't necessarily need all those cookies laying around - begging to be eaten (at least "begging" in our own minds).  So, this cookie is one of the great compromises for us.

And, yes... I've already eaten quite a few (and have the sugar rush to prove it).

White Chocolate Macadamia Cookies

1 cup (2 sticks) of no salt butter - softened

1 1/2 cups granulated sugar

1 cup brown sugar - packed

2 eggs - room temperature

1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

3 cups unsifted flour

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. salt

2 cups (on 11 oz bag) of white chocolate chips

1 1/2 cups Macadamia nuts - chopped

Preheat oven to 350 F.  Cream butter and sugars until fluffy.  Add vanilla and eggs, one at a time, and beat well.  Blend in flour, baking soda, and salt.  Stir in chips and nuts.  Drop by teaspoon onto ungreased cookie sheets.  Bake for 10-12 minutes.

Recipe: Shrimp Linguine

One of the things I love about autumn is the food.  Those warm, comfort dishes that make us toasty from the inside out.  A dish that is sure to please is Shrimp Linguine.  It is light enough to eat all year around, but we especially love it in the autumn.  

Even better?  It takes less than 20 minutes to make.  Here is how you make it...

Take one box of linguine noodles and put them in a pot of boiling water.  I use the whole grain noodles, and I always add a few drops of olive oil to keep the noodles from sticking.  You'll want to cook these noodles until they are Al Dente (firm but not hard).

While the noodles are cooking, cut up 1/4 cup of red onions and put them in a fry pan with about 3 tablespoons of butter.  If you like onions, you can add more but since I'm not a fan of onions - I keep it minimal.  I'm always concerned the onions will over-power the other components of this dish.  Cook until they are translucent.

Then add about 5 tablespoons of a nice extra virgin olive oil (EVOO).  The one I used for this recipe is Kaldi which is a Greek olive oil.  It has a slight fruity taste to it.

Take a pound of shrimp (I use the jumbo sized prawn shrimp) and pull off the tails.

Add the shrimp to the EVOO, butter, and onions.  Make sure the shrimp is on medium-to-low heat, so the shrimp doesn't over-cook.

Make a herb mixture of rosemary, thyme, parsley, and chives.  Roughly cut the herbs.  I like herbs, so I use a tablespoon of each. 

Add it to the shrimp about 1 minute before the shrimp is thoroughly cooked through (and done).  By now, your noodles should be done.

At the last minute, squeeze half a lemon onto the shrimp before turning off the heat.

Plate the pasta then add the shrimp including all the juices the shrimp cooked in.  Top with freshly ground Parmesan.

The final step... sprinkle with white truffle oil.  Keep in mind, this oil goes a long well so be conservative when adding it to the dish.  Top with a little freshly ground pepper, and serve.

Hope you enjoy the dish.  Let me know if you try it out and how you like it.