Grilled Summer Vegetables

The husband and I can be a bit of picky eaters when it comes to veggies, which leads to us eating far fewer vegetables than we should. But one of our favorite ways to incorporate more vegetables into our diets is by grilling them. The grill brings out the sweetness in the veg, similar to oven-roasting, while the burning charcoal imparts a nice smokey flavor into the food.

Usually, I just slice up the vegetables and sprinkle them with some salt and pepper, and maybe a drizzle of olive oil, before grilling em up. This time, I decided to make up something of a simple marinade to add some pizzaz. The lemon and lime juice adds a bright note to the veggies, without overpowering them.

The best part of this dish is that it works with whatever veggies you have on hand. The husband loves broccoli, so I threw some florets in for him, but you can easily leave them out. Onion slices would be delish, as would carrots or asparagus. Make it your own, but make it soon!

Grilled Summer Veggies
Source: A Cooking in Cucamonga Original
Printable Recipe

Ingredients
about 1 pound of summer squash (I used 1 yellow crookneck, 1 patti pan, and 1 round squash I don't know the name of)
1 medium head broccoli, stems trimmed and discarded
2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
juice of 1/2 a lemon
juice of 1/2 a lime
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
heavy shake salt and pepper

Directions
Prepare a charcoal grill for direct heat.
Slice the squash into planks or into bite-sized chunks.

Combine the squash and broccoli florets in a large bowl or Ziplock bag. Pour the remaining ingredients over the vegetables and stir or shake to combine.

Once the charcoal is medium hot (I usually cook my meat first, then the veggies, so the charcoal is at the appropriate temp) and the coals are glowing, but there aren't any flames, place a grill pan over the center of the grill. Pour the veggies into the grill pan and cook until the veggies are soft and slightly charred, about 5 minutes. Shake the grill pan and stir the veggies as they cook to ensure all the vegetables cook evenly.

Remove from heat and serve.

Turkey Dumplings with Sesame Dipping Sauce

I love making these turkey dumplings for a weekend meal, though I think they'd be great as a party appetizer as well. Making filling comes together quickly, as does cooking the dumplings, but filling and sealing the wonton wrappers takes awhile, so be sure to give yourself plenty of time.

This is a great recipe for a low-carb diet, which makes me love it even more! If you're vegetarian you can easily omit the turkey and add in 1 cup of spinach leaves, or shredded carrots and diced bell peppers.

Turkey Dumplings with Sesame Dipping Sauce
Source: Adapted from Reverse Diabetes-Holiday Issue
Printable Recipe

Dumpling Ingredients
1 pound ground turkey
6 green onions, thinly sliced (white and green portions)
one 8-ounce can water chestnuts, drained
8 teaspoons reduced-sodium soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
2 teaspoons fresh ginger, grated
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
48 wonton wrappers

Dipping Sauce Ingredients
1/2 cup low-sodium soy sauce
2 Tablespoons sesame oil
4 teaspoons rice vinegar
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 cup thinly slices green onions, plus additional for garnish

Dumpling Directions

Brown the ground turkey in a skillet until cooked through. Drain off any fat.

Combine the turkey, scallions, water chestnuts, cilantro, soy sauce, ginger and pepper in a medium bowl. Mix well to combine.

Bring a large pot of water to boil.

Working with several wonton wrappers at a time, while keeping the remainder loosly covered with a damp cloth, start filling the wontons. I find it easiest to hold the wrapper in one hand and add about a 1/2 teaspoon to a teaspoon of filling to the center of each wrapper. Dip your finger in water and moisten the edges of the wonton wrapper. Fold the wrapper in half, over the filling, and press the edges together to seal. Set aside and keep covered with a damp cloth. Repeat with the remaining wonton wrappers and filling.

Add the dumplings to the boiling water (it's best to work in batches) and cook until they float to the surface--about 3-4 minutes.

While the dumplings are cooking, make the dipping sauce. In a small bowl, whisk together the soy sauce, sesame oil, vinegar, sugar, and scallions.

Remove the dumplings from the water with a slotted spoon, draining off excess water. Serve with dipping sauce and a sprinkle of chopped green onions.

Blackberry Cranberry Sauce

This was the second year that the husband and I hosted Thanksgiving dinner in our home--we like the tradition of inviting our families over and cooking a big meal for everyone. Last year, I made the majority of the meal, but asked each of our families to bring a dish as well. This year I decided to make the entire meal myself, which gave me the chance to try out some new recipes.

In my family, we traditionally have spiced cranberries for Thanksgiving dinner, and the husband's family likes the whole jellied canned cranberries, but when I saw these blackberry cranberries posted on Annie's Eats, I knew I wanted to give them a try.

While I was making them, I have to admit, I was skeptical. They tasted odd and too sweet to me at first. But after chilling in the fridge overnight they were fabulous! The cranberries still had a bit of a bold, spiced flavor, but the blackberries added a nice texture and sweetness. I'd definitely make these again in the future.

Note: I doubled the recipe because I like lots of leftovers on Thanksgiving. The recipe below is the original, non-doubled, amounts.

Blackberry Cranberry Sauce

Source: Annie's Eats

Printable Recipe

Ingredients
12 ounces fresh cranberries
2 cups blackberries
1 cup sugar
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon allspice
2 teaspoons cornstarch
2 Tablespoons water

Directions
Place cranberries in a medium saucepan. Add water to the pan, just under 1-inch deep (berries do not need to be completely covered.)

Heat over medium-high heat until the berries begin to pop. Cook a few minutes more, until most of the skins have popped.

Gently stir in the blackberries, sugar, salt and allspice.

In a small bowl, combine the cornstarch and water and whisk together until smooth. Add the mixture to the pan with the berries and stir to incorporate.

Bring the cranberry mixture to a boil, then reduce the heat to medium and cook until the sauce has thickened. (I cooked mine for about another 10 minutes or so.) Smash the berries a bit while you stir, leaving some berries intact for a chunkier texture.

Remove from the heat and allow the mixture to cool. The sauce will continue to thicken as it cools. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Red Snapper with Tomatillo Salsa

Following Phase One of South Beach has not been easy...I feel like the list of things NOT to eat is miles long, and the approved list of foods is teeny tiny. The results have definitely been worth it so far, but I do have to admit, I fell off the wagon a bit recently....I ate a McRib over the weekend and a Whopper on my way to class last night. oops. :/ So I guess Phase One will extend an extra week for me, to make up for those "cheats".

Back to this recipe. I needed something tasty and non-chicken based for a Phase One meal, so I turned to fish. The husband loves fish, and even though I love sushi, I am really picky about cooked fish. I don't like it to taste fishy and the texture needs to be firm and flakey, otherwise it just totally grosses me out. I'd had macadamia nut encrusted halibut at a restaurant back in September and thought it was a nice mild fish, so when I saw this original recipe (it calls for halibut) I figured we'd give it a try.

Unfortunately, fish has seasons (did you know this? I didn't) and apparently halibut is not in season in October/November. The fish monger at my local Henry's told me if I could find fresh halibut (I don't like buying bags of frozen fish either. yuck) it would be crazy expensive, and then steered me towards the red snapper fillets. I didn't feel like piling up the charcoal and manning the grill, so I cooked the fish under the broiler-yum!

I loved the tomatillo salsa too. This was my first time trying a tomatillo and I will definitely be making this chunky salsa again soon.

Red Snapper with Tomatillo Salsa
Source: Adapted from Kalyn's Kitchen
Printable Recipe

Ingredients for the fish
4 red snapper filets (about 1 pound total)
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon chile powder
1/2 teaspoon Spike seasoning
1 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon fish rub

Directions for the fish
Turn the broiler on to high.

Combine all of the ingredients, except for the fish, in a small bowl and mix together.

Spray a piece of foil with non-stick spray and lay the fish on top. Rub the mixture over the tops of each piece of fish.

Broil for about 2-3 minutes per side, or until the fish is just cooked through and is flaky. Serve with the tomatillo salsa.

Salsa Ingredients
5 medium-large tomatillos, husks removed, chopped
one 3-ounce can diced green chiles (I used the fire roasted chiles)
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/3 cup red onion, minced
1/2 cup cilantro leaves, chopped
1/3 cup lime juice, or to taste
1/2 teaspoon dried, crushed jalapeno (optional)
salt and pepper to taste

Salsa Directions
Combine all ingredients in a medium bowl and toss. Refrigerate for 30-60 minutes to allow flavors to blend.

Toss again before serving.

Guacamole Salad

The husband and I recently invited my parents over to celebrate my dad's 65th birthday. All 4 of us a big fans of babyback ribs, so I immediately planned to BBQ 3 racks of ribs as the main course. But when it came to the sides, I wasn't sure.

I didn't want to go the traditional route of corn and potato salad, so I kept browsing recipes until I hit upon this guacamole salad. I knew it would be the perfect pairing to our ribs. It was really really good! I bought my avocados a few days before making the salad in order to give them time to get ripe; they were perfectly smooth and creamy, with that faint bacon-y taste that Hass avocados sometimes have.

I added a roasted passilla pepper to the mix to give everything a smokey flavor and tie the salad into the main course. I loved the way the whole things turned out and even at a bowl of the leftovers for lunch the next day.

Guacamole Salad
Source: adapted from Pink Parsley
Printable Recipe

Ingredients

1 passilla pepper
1 pint cherry or grape tomatoes, quartered
1 large red bell pepper, seeded and cut into large chunks
1 (15-ounce) can black beans, drained and rinsed
4 green onions, white and green parts thinly sliced
1 jalepeno, seeded, minced
zest of one lime
1/4 cup freshly squeezed lime juice
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper
1 clove garlic, minced
1/4 teaspoon ground dried jalapeno (you can sub cayenne)
2 ripe Hass avocados, cut into large chunks

Directions

Roast a passilla pepper until the skin is blackened. (I roast mine over the flame on the stove). Let the pepper cool, then peel off and discard all of the charred skin. Deseed the pepper and cut it into large chunks.

Combine the first 7 ingredients, including the roasted pepper, in a large bowl.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the lime juice, olve oil, salt, pepper, and dried jalapeno. Pour this dressing over the salad and gently toss, coating all of the vegetables.

Add the avocado just before serving.

Toss and taste before serving; you may want to add a bit more salt at this point.

Hummus

The husband and I are still on our health kick, though I think it is becoming more of a lifestyle than just a phase. We've both improved in our running abilities, we've been keeping our commitment to run at least 3 days a week (the husband actually works out about 5 days a week!), and we're starting to see some results on the scale. I even ran my first 5K recently, finishing in 32:47 and 310th out of 1,000 runners (and 27th in my age group)!

Showing the husband my superior running skills after running my first 5k.

All of this healthy living has also affected my cooking; We've been trying to eat healthier at home and limit the amount of baked goods and sweets, replacing junky snacks with fruit and baby carrots.

One of our favorite healthy snacks is hummus and I've been buying it by the truckload from Fresh & Easy. Since we not only like to be healthy, but we also like to save money, I decided to try making hummus myself; A can of garbanzo beans is less than 75 cents and homemade ensures that there's no funky additives or weird processing.

Even with the added step of making my own tahini, this homemade hummus was incredibly easy and tasted fabulous! The husband was skeptical, but after a bite, and then another, followed by a few more, he became a believer. We like to eat our hummus with carrot sticks....well, the husband also likes to make hummus sandwiches...but you could spread it on pita, dip crackers in it, or use it as a spread for turkey sandwiches. How do you eat your hummus?

Hummus
Source: adapted from Annie's Eats
Printable Recipe

Ingredients
1 15.5 ounce can garbanzo beans
6 tablespoons tahini (see note at bottom for homemade tahini)
4 Tablespoons lemon juice (about 2 lemons)
1/4 cup water
2 Tablespoons olive oil
1 large clove of garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cumin
1/4 - 1/2 cayenne, depending on your heat preferences

Directions
Process the garbanzo beans, garlic, salt, cumin and cayenne in a food processor until ground, about 15-20 seconds. Scrape down the sides.

With the machine running, add the lemon juice and water through the food tube. Scrape down the sides and process for another minute.

With the machine running, add the tahini and olive oil through the food tube, continuing to process until the hummus is smooth and creamy. Scrape down the sides as needed.

Store in a covered bowl in the refrigerator until serving.

Tahini
1/2 cup sesame seeds
1/4 cup olive or vegetable oil

Directions
Toast the sesame seeds on the stove in a large pan over high heat. Stir them gently as they toast to keep them from burning.

Once sesame seeds are golden brown, pour them into the bowl of your food processor. Add half the oil and process until crumbly.

Scrape down the sides. Add the rest of the oil and continue processing until the sesame seeds form a paste (this took me about 2 minutes or so). Scrape down the sides and under the metal blade periodically.

This will yield a scant 6 Tablespoons of tahini.

Summery Fruit Salad

I'm back with a healthy recipe, here people. Consistently inconsistent, right?

I made this refreshing fruit salad to keep as a quick snack and easy healthy lunch item for week day lunches. I actually meant to include jicama in it as well, but forgot to pick some up at the store. The husband requested grapes be included, but they were super expensive for some reason, and they didn't actually look that great, so I opted to leave them out this time. But that's the great thing about fruit salad, you can really just throw in whatever you want: pineapple, grapes, oranges, papaya, whatever.

I decided to use a squeeze of lime juice instead of dressing to keep the salad simple and healthy, as well as let the flavors of the fruit shine through. The lime juice gives all the fruit a nice tang and the basil adds an interesting savory-sweet depth of flavor.

Summery Fruit Salad
Source: A Cooking in Cucamonga Original
Printable Recipe

Ingredients
1/2 a small seedless watermelon
1 pound strawberries
2 pints blueberries
2 kiwi
1 champagne mango
4-5 small basil leaves
juice of 1 lime

Directions
Rinse all fruit well. Remove the strawberry stems, peel the kiwi and mango, julienne the basil, and cut the watermelon into chunks.

Toss all of the fruit together in a large bowl with the lime juice. Refrigerate until it is time to serve.

Zucchini Fries

As soon as I saw this recipe for zucchini fries I immediately bookmarked it as something I wanted to try right away. While these are nothing like potato french fries, of course, they are so yummy. The panko gives the zucchini a crispy crunchy coating and the oven roasting brings out a slightly sweet flavor in the zucchini itself.

Zucchini Fries
Source: Adapted from Le Petit Pierogi
Printable Recipe

Ingredients
3 zucchini, cut into sticks
3 eggs
4 Tablespoons milk
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 1/2 cups panko breadcrumbs
4 Tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
2 teaspoons season salt
salt
pepper


Directions
Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Line a baking sheet with foil and top with a wire cooling rack. Spray the rack with non-stick spray.

Assemble 2 shallow bowls and one large ziplock bag.

Mix together the season salt, pepper and flour in the ziplock bag.

In the 2nd bowl, whisk the eggs and milk together.

In the 3rd bowl, combine the panko and Parmsean cheese. Season the zucchini sticks with a light sprinkling of salt and pepper.

Add a quarter of the zucchini sticks to the flour mixture and shake to completely coat with flour. Remove the zucchini sticks from the bag and dip them, one by one, in the egg mixture, followed by rolling in the panko until coated.

Place on the cooling rack, side by side, and repeat until all of the zucchini sticks are coated and breaded.

Bake for 20 minutes until golden. Serve with ketchup or marinara sauce.

Homemade French Fries

I recently made burgers for dinner and wanted to serve a side of fries with them, as well. I remembered oven-baked fries on Annie's Eats, so of course I headed over to her blog and pulled up this recipe.

These fries take a bit of time, but they are worth it. They came out really crisp and tasty; the husband even said they were better than fast food fries. I think he was lying, because oven fries will never be as good as McDonald's fatty goodness, but I'm glad he thought they were good.

You could easily change the seasoning on these to suit your mood: season salt, cajun seasonings, garlic salt, etc. I dipped my fries in mustard, while the husband reached for a bottle of ketchup (yuck!).



Homemade French Fries
Source: Adapted from Annie's Eats
Printable Recipe

Ingredients
2 russet (baking) potatoes
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
salt and pepper

Directions
Pre-heat the oven to 475 degrees.

Scrub the potatoes clean and slice them into thin wedges. (You can peel them first, but I like mine with the skin on.)

Soak the potato wedges in a bowl of hot water for 20 minutes. Drain the water and place the potatos on paper towels, for about 10 minutes, to absorb excess water.

Dry the bowl you soaked the potatoes in, pour in the oil, and add the potatoes. Season with salt and pepper; toss or shake to ensure all the potatoes are evenly coated.

Place a cooling rack on baking sheet and place the potato wedges in one layer on the cooling rack. Cover the baking sheet with foil and bake for 5 minutes.

Remove the foil and bake for an additional 10 minutes. Turn the potato wedges over and bake for 10-15 minutes, or until the wedges are golden brown and crispy.

Serve with ketchup, or mustard, as I prefer. :)

Thyme for Beer Potatoes

Ok, I'll admit, that was a cheesy title, but I couldn't think of anything better. Don't worry though, these potatos taste amazing and make up for the lame name. And the best part? They're super easy and they're cooked in beer.

What more could you ask for?

Thyme for Beer Potatoes
Source: Adapted from Martha Stewart
Printable Recipe

Ingredients
12 ounces beer
1 pound red potatos, scrubbed clean and quartered
1-2 teaspoons fresh thyme
1 teaspoon dried rosemary, crushed
sprinkle salt
heavy shake of pepper
water

Directions:
Bring just enough water to cover the potatos to a boil. Once the water is boiling, add in the potatos and the bottle of beer. Boil until tender.

Drain the potatos and toss with salt, pepper, rosemary, and thyme.

Grilled Stuffed Potatos

I am a pretty laid back wife when it come to Valentine's Day. I love celebrating Christmas, birthdays, and our anniversary, but for some reason I am just not that into Valentine's Day. I don't think it has to do with the "commercialization" of the holiday (umm, hello, Christmas is super commercialized, but I still love it), but maybe it's just that it was never a big deal for me growing up.

The thought of waiting around forever to get a table at a restaurant, only to overpay for sub-par service and food I can do a better job of making myself, makes me want to just stay home. Which is what we did this year. No flowers, no cards, just a couple of lobster tails grilled up on our patio and served with these potatoes. The perfect accompaniment to our understated holiday.

And I wouldn't have it any other way.


Grilled Stuffed Potatoes
Source: Cooking in Cucamonga Original
Printable Recipe

Directions
2 baking potatoes
1/4 cup of shredded cheddar cheese
1/2 tablespoon sour cream
1/4 cup chopped green onions, white and green parts
1 tablespoon butter
salt and pepper

Toppings
sour cream
bacon
green onions

Directions
Wash and scrub the potatoes, making sure to get all the dirt off the skin. Pierce the potatoes several times with a fork and then microwave them for 8 minutes, or until for tender.

Cut each potato in half lenghtwise and scoop out all the flesh, being careful to keep the skin in tact.

In a medium bowl, combine the potato flesh with the remaining ingredients and mash together.

Spoon the potato mixture back into the skins, filling each skin completely.

Grill the potatoes for about 10 minutes, until the skin is crispy and the flesh is warmed.

Top with sour cream, bacon, and additional green onions.

Pizza Bites

The husband and I were invited to a Super Bowl party at his new boss' house this year. The boss and his family are huge Saints fans, so they went with a New Orleans theme, serving up gumbo and red beans and rice, which were fabulous! But, when the husband informed me that we needed to bring an appetizer to the party with us, I knew it wouldn't be football without pizza, and turned to this recipe from Annie's Eats.

Everyone was really impressed, and the small bites made it easy to eat these without making a mess. One word of caution though, don't use a ton of dough for each bite, unless you like really bready pizza. Less is more here.

Football season may be over, but these would work just as well at a March Madness party, a baseball game, or even some hockey. :) I plan to make these the next time we host a party at our house, no matter what event we are celebrating.



Pizza Bites
Source: Adapted from Annie's Eats
Printable Recipe

Ingredients
Olive oil dough
turkey pepperoni
mozzarella cheese, cut into 1" chunks
Parmesan cheese
dried basil
olive oil

Directions
Pre-heat the oven to 400 degrees.

Spray a 9 x 13" pan with non-stick spray.

Grab a small chunk of dough and flatten into out a bit into a round disk. Place a piece of pepperoni on top of the dough, top that with a piece of cheese, and top with another pepperoni.

Wrap the dough up and around the pepperoni, sealing the edges and forming into a ball. Place in the pan and repeat with the rest of the dough.

Brush the dough balls with olive oil, sprinkle with dried basil and shredded Parmesean cheese. Bake for 25-30 minutes, until the dough is golden and the cheese is lightly browned.

Serve with homemade tomato sauce for dipping.

Red and Bleu Mashed Potatoes

I love bleu cheese and am always looking for new dishes to incorporate it into. I had a hunk of bleu in the fridge, left over from making buffalo bleu cheese pizza recently, and rather than let it go bad, I immediately thought about adding it into mashed potatoes.

The bleu cheese was the perfect addition! My friend's husband mentioned that he doesn't like bleu cheese, but thought these were wonderful. As tempting as it may be to add more bleu to these potatoes ( I know, I wanted to, too), don't. Restrain yourself. You will thank me later, I promise. The bleu adds a nice understated flavor, almost like a faint aftertaste, that combines fantastically with the roasted garlic flavor.

I woke up the next morning after our dinner party and immediately pulled the leftover potatoes out of the fridge to reheat for breakfast. *sigh* Just as good as the night before.

I can't wait to make these again.



Red and Bleu Mashed Potatoes
Source: Inspired by Relish
Printable Recipe

Ingredients
8 to 10 medium red potatoes
5 cloves garlic
3 tablespoons crumbled bleu cheese
1 stick butter
1 cup milk or cream
Salt and pepper, to taste

Directions
Wash the potatoes, but do not peel. Boil them for about 20 minutes, or until fork tender. Meanwhile, roast the garlic cloves in the oven. Or you can add them to the boiling potatoes to cook.

Once the potatoes are tender, remove them from the water. Place in a large bowl, and mash with other ingredients until fluffy.


Yield: 4 to 6 servings

Guacamole

My aunt and uncle live in Fallbrook, which is known for growing avocados, and they have several avocado trees on their property. We used to drive down to visit them on Saturdays when I was a kid, and if avocados were in season, they'd send us home with a big bag of 'em. My mom would then make a batch of guacamole for us to snack on.

I don't see my aunt and uncle as often anymore and it's been a long time since they've given my parents avocados, but I still love guacamole. One of the many benefits of living in southern California is the ability to get avocados for a decent price. They were recently on sale in my grocery store, so I scooped a bunch up, and whipped up a batch of guacamole for our dinner party. At the end of the night, there was only one big bite left, so my friend grabbed a chip and finished off the dip, before washing the bowl for me!

Guacamole
Source: Cooking in Cucamonga original
Printable Recipe

Ingredients
4 avocados, cut in half
1 teaspoon garlic salt
1 tomato, diced
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
Juice of 1 lime
1 jalapeno, diced (optional)- remove the white membrane and seeds it you don't like a lot of heat
a lot of pepper

Directions
Scoop the avocado flesh into a medium bowl, including the large seeds. (The seeds help prevent the avocado from browning quickly.) Squeeze the lime juice over the avocado.

Add the tomato, garlic salt, cayenne pepper, and jalepeno. Mash into the avocado, leaving it slightly chunky.

Serve with your favorite chips and enjoy!

Spinach and Artichoke Dip

My mom made this restaurant style dip as an appetizer for Christmas dinner and everyone quickly gobbled it up. When I began planning the menu for my recent dinner party, I immediately emailed my mom, asking for this recipe.

The recipe calls for 10 ounces of Alfredo sauce, but I could only find 15 ounce jars. I didn't feel like measuring it out, so I just dumped the entire 15 ounces into the mix. The dip came out creamy and wonderful, and not overly Alfredo-y.

I baked this about an hour before my guests arrived, and then turned the oven down to 225 degrees and left the dip in to keep it warm. Once my friends showed up, they quickly scooped it onto their plates, and devoured it with pita chips and tortilla chips. Even the toddler loved it!


Spinach and Artichoke Dip
Source: my mom
Printable Recipe

Ingredients
4 cloves garlic
1 (10 ounce) package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained
1 (14 ounce) can artichoke hearts, drained and chopped
1 (10 ounce) container Alfredo- style pasta sauce
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1/3 cup grated Parmesan
1/2 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Place garlic in a small baking dish. Bake in the preheated oven 20 to 30 minutes, until soft. Remove from heat. When cool enough to touch, squeeze softened garlic from skins.

In an 8x8 inch baking dish (I used my deep dish pie pan), spread the roasted garlic, spinach, artichoke hearts, Alfredo-style pasta sauce, mozzarella cheese, Parmesan cheese and cream cheese.

Cover and bake in the preheated oven 30 minutes, or until cheeses are melted and bubbly. Serve warm with pita chips.

Serves 12.

Sausage Stuffing

When I was a super sophmore in community college I asked my journalism professor to recommend some Cal State schools that had good journalism programs and were far away from home. He named Cal State Northridge, Cal State Long Beach, and San Francisco State; I immediately settled on SFSU because it was the furthest from home.

Once the holiday season rolled around, my parents wanted me to come home for Thanksgiving, but I did not want to make the long drive home, so I opted to visit a friend in Santa Cruz instead. Well, it's a good thing I didn't try driving home to my parent's house; my car wound up breaking down on a narrow windy road in the Santa Cruz Mountains. Thankfully, I had AAA at the time, so I called them for a tow, packed up my pumpkin pie, and was towed back to my friend's house in San Jose.

That was one the the best Thanksgivings ever. And my friend's mom made the best stuffing ever, filled with chunks of browned sausage.

Sausage Stuffing
Printable Recipe
Source: my friend's mom

Ingredients
1 pound raw sausage, casings removed (I use turkey sausge)
a bunch of bread
4 ribs celery, chopped
1 large onion, diced
4 cloves of garlic, diced
1 stick of butter
4 cups chicken broth
a palm-full of chopped fresh sage
1-2 tablespoons dried sage
a palm-full of chopped fresh oregano
1-2 teaspoons poultry seasoning
2 teaspoons pepper
a sprinkling of garlic salt

Directions:
Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees.

In a large bowl, tear apart the bread into chunks. I used about 2 to 2 1/2 loaves of French bread. Stale bread works best, and don't be afraid to mix it up. I used a few pieces of chili-fleck sourdough bread, a chunk of whole wheat bread, a large loaf of French bread, and a long skinny baguette.

Cook the sausage on the stovetop, using a wooden spoon to break it into chunks. Once it is browned and cooked all the way through, add it to the bread.

In the same pan used to brown the meat, sautee the onion, celery, and garlic with the butter. Cook until soft and fragrant. Add it to the bread and meat mixture.

Season with all the seasonings and herbs. Use your hands to throughly mix everything together.

Move the stuffing into a greased 9 x 13" casserole dish. Pour the brother over the top. Turn the stuffing over a few times to ensure that it is well mixed.

Bake for about 35-45 minutes.

Note: I make this the night before Thanksgiving, so all I have to do is pop it into the oven for a few minutes and re-heat on the big day.

Buffalo Potato Wedges

These are a great football snack. They do take about an hour, start to finish, but if you start chopping potatos during the pre-game shows, you'll have your snack by the end of the first quarter. They are spicy, so make sure you have a bowl of bleu cheese dressing and a beer handy!

Note: the following recipe easily serves 4-5 people. You can halve it if there are just two of you.

Buffalo Potato Wedges
Source: Adapted from Love Delicious
Printable Recipe

Ingredients
5 baking potatos
1/2 cup buffalo wing sauce
1/2 cup butter
salt
pepper
garlic powder
olive oil

Directions
Pre-heat the oven to 375 degrees.

Wash the potatos to remove any dirt. Slice into wedges (I prefferred thinly sliced, but thick works too), but don't peel the skin.

Place the wedges on a greased cookie sheet, in one layer. Spray or brush with olive oil (just a thin coating is fine). Sprinkle generously with salt, oepper and garlic powder.

Cook the potato wedges for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, melt the butter in a bowl and then mix in the buffalo sauce.

After 30 minutes, remove the potatos from the oven. Now is a good chance to try one and see if it has enough salt, pepper, and garlic powder for your tastes. If not, season again. Then, drizzle the wing sauce and butter mixture over the wedges. If you like them really spicy, put a thick coating over each potato. Otherwise, a heavy drizzle will do.

Return them to the oven and bake for an additional 15 minutes. If your wedges are really thick (pver 1/2"), you may want to cook them for an additional 5 minutes.

Serve with bleu cheese dressing to dip, and an icy beer.

Touchdown!

Paco's Pepper Snacks

I had the best class schedule ever my senior year of high school: English, Economics/Civics, Teacher's Assistant, Swim Team, Foods, and something else. My favorite class was of course foods. I even TA'ed for the class 2nd semester...yeah, I TA'ed 2 periods that semester. I loved high school!

My friends always joked and asked if I was taking Foods 5.

I don't know if I really learned much in my Foods class, but I do remember loving to eat everything we made. This recipe is one we made in that class; its since become a Thanksgiving staple in my house. It is expected that I will make these appetizers, as well as brie and roasted garlic, or it just isn't Thanksgiving. I baked some for my in-laws last Thanksgiving, and now they are fans as well.

My dad recently came over to watch football with my husband, so I figured I'd whip up a batch for them to munch on. In less than 15 minutes, cheesy goodness is ready to eat!

Note: I have no idea how my teacher got the name for these snacks, but I've just gone with it.

Paco's Pepper Snacks
Source: My high school foods teacher
Printable Recipe

Ingredients
1 eight ounce package cream cheese
1 can diced ortega chilis
2 tubes Pilsbury crescent roll dough
1/2 cup-1 cup shredded cheese (I used the pre-shredded bag of Mexican blend)
1-2 teaspoons tabasco, optional (I omit this)

Directions:
Pre-heat the oven to 375 degrees.

In a medium bowl, mix together all of the ingredients, except the crescent roll dough. Make sure it is well combined, without any lumps of cream cheese.

Open the crescent roll tubes and unroll the dough. Pull apart into 4 rectangles, but do not seperate into triangles. Squeeze together the seams of the triangles, forming a solid rectangle.


Spoon the filling onto each rectangle, spreading into an even layer all the way to the edges.


Roll the rectangles up, gently sealing the seam.


Using a serrated knife, gently cut each roll into 3/4" thick rounds. Lay each round flat on a greased cookie sheet.



Cook for 10-12 minutes, or until the dough is golden. Let cool for at least 5 minutes before moving to a platter.



Makes about 4 dozen bite-sized appetizers.

Black Bean and Corn Salsa

The name "salsa" is misleading in this recipe. This is not really a salsa, or even a garnish; It is more of a side dish. It's a great summery addition to a bbq or burgers, and can be made even better by using fresh corn over canned. If you can find flavorful tomatos in the winter (that don't cost an arm and a leg), this would be a great addition to dinner throughout the year.

This is incredibly easy to double, but if you do so, don't double the cumin, or it will overpower the other flavors.

This is another recipe from my mom; I am unaware of the original source.

Black Bean and Corn Salsa
Printable Recipe

Ingredients
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 tablespoons lime juice
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• ½ teaspoon each salt and pepper
• ½ teaspoon cajon seasoning
• 1 can of corn, drained
• 1 cup chopped tomatos
• 1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
• ½ cup green onions, diced (including the green tops)
• 1 jalepeno, minced (seeds and pith removed if you don’t want a lot of heat)
• 2 tablespoons finely chopped cilantro

Directions
Combine the first 5 ingredients together in a small bowl. Whisk until well combined. Set aside.

Combine the remaining ingredients in a large bowl. Toss to combine. Pour the liquid mixture over the salad, and stir well to fully incorporate dressing.

Chill in the refrigerator for at least an hour to allow flavors to meld. (Tastes even better if allowed to sit overnight.)

Tzatziki Dip

I have been receiving several cucumbers in my CSA (community supported agriculture) baskets lately, including a really long, striped cucumber. I have no idea what this type of cucumber is called, but look at how big it is!


My husband doesn't like cucumbers, so I am limited in their use. But I do LOVE me some tzatziki dip after discovering it at Trader Joe's a few years ago, and I have been craving it lately, so what better to do with the gargantuan cucumber? Make some dip! This is great on pita chips, pita pockets, pretzel chips, or as a veggie platter dip. It's a SUPER easy and tasty treat, especially in the hot summer days.

I asked one of the girls on The Nest for her recipe and then modified it to my tastes. I've posted my recipe below, but check out The Rookie Chef for her recipe.

Tzatziki Dip
(also known as cucumber and yogurt dip)

17.25 ounces Greek Yogurt (about 2 1/4 cups)
1 cucumber
Juice of 1 lemon
6 cloves garlic, diced
salt and pepper to taste

Cut the cucumber up into thin slices (no need to peel the cuc first). The first time I made this I used my box grater to get super thin slices. You could also use a food processor. However, a knife works fine....don't worry about getting them super thin.

Squeeze out the liquid from the cucumber slices.

Combine all ingredients together in a small bowl and stir until totally mixed. Taste your dip and add more salt, pepper, lemon, garlic as preferred.

Refrigerate for at least an hour to meld all of the flavors together. Serve cold with pitas, veggies, pretzels, or whatever you like to dip!