Perfect summer recipe… ROASTED CORN SALAD!

Roasted Corn Salad, recipe by Cooking Light

This has been a favorite in our house for many years now, it’s quick to make and takes full advantage of all mother nature has to offer… you can make it your own by tossing in anything else that sounds tasty. The recipe calls for white balsamic vinegar, I used regular and it was fine. This salad side dish goes well with anything, and is best served at room temperature or warm. Often times I’ll make it early in the day so the house stays cool, then just take it out of the fridge for a little while, that works! This is a recipe from Cooking Light magazine… tasty!

Here’s the link to where it’s easy to print, otherwise, below is the recipe… ENJOY! ROASTED CORN SALAD   (Cooking Light)  YIELD: 4 servings (serving size: 3/4 cup)

Ingredients

  • 3 cups fresh corn kernels (about 6 ears)
  • 1 tablespoon vegetable oil, divided
  • Cooking spray
  • 2 tablespoons white balsamic vinegar
  • 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
  • 1 cup chopped seeded tomato
  • 1/2 cup chopped red bell pepper
  • 1/2 cup chopped green onions

Preparation

  • Preheat oven to 425°.
  • Combine corn and 1 teaspoon oil in a jelly-roll pan coated with cooking spray. Bake at 425° for 20 minutes or until browned, stirring occasionally.
  • Combine 2 teaspoons oil, vinegar, mustard, salt, and black pepper in a medium bowl; add corn mixture, stirring well. Stir in tomato, bell pepper, and onions. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Cooking Light
JULY 1998

Catch you back here tomorrow!

A fabulous fresh ROSEMARY dry rub… grill today!

Image: http://en.wikipedia.org

Ahhh Rosemary… a heavenly spice that we see planted around Charleston, SC as shrubs in some cases… it grows easily and is tasty in many ways. Today, I’m going to share a dry marinade (rub) that I got out of Williams-Sonoma GRILLING cookbook about ten years ago. It’s one we’ve made many times and it’s a keeper!

DRY MARINADE FOR LAMB, BEEF and CHICKEN:
Rub the meat lightly with oil before coating with the marinade. Made with fresh herbs these marinades keep (tightly covered) up to 3 days in the refigerator. If made with dried herbs, they’ll keep several weeks, in an airtight container in the cupboard.
2 tablespoons chopped FRESH rosemary OR 2 teaspoons  DRIED rosemary
2 large cloves garlic, minced
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
finely grated zest of one lemon or lime
 
Mix ingredients together in a small bowl, after you lightly oil the meat pat on the dry rub. Grill to perfection. Your eyes will bug out of your head. It truly will be that good!
 
Catch you back here tomorrow!

Basil, my most used herb…

Image: HerbGardening.com

Basil is such an all purpose herb. I use it lots, not only in spaghetti sauce, but in salads and sandwiches. Basil is easy to find and just as easy to grow. I buy a small plant at the grocery store for a few bucks and it turns into a massive bush. Don’t let it flower, cut the leaves before that happens and USE IT! Make pesto, make a sandwich on a baguette with fresh mozarella, tomato and basil piled high, it’s so refreshing… another idea is a caprese salad… slice fresh tomatoes and some fresh mozarella. I put it in a plate alternating the mozarella and tomato with some basil tucked beside each, drizzle with a little olive oil, a light sprinkle of S&P and whoa! You have yourself the most delightful little salad!

ENJOY!
Catch you back here tomorrow!

[Recipe]: Blueberry Pie… FULL of antioxidants, right??

Oh what a beautiful sight this is! Don’t you agree? I read an interesting article from the Blueberry Council (www. Blueberrycouncil.com) regarding all the good things that blueberries do for our bodies… after reading this and after walking through Whole Foods and seeing that blueberries were on sale I took it as a sign… A sign to make a nice “healthy” blueberry pie… ok, not sure about the healthy part, but I’m thinking it couldn’t have been too bad? First some blueberry facts, then a quick and easy blueberry pie recipe… Oh, I’m telling you that pie was so good… it’s almost time for another! I feel like my antioxidant level is low (hee hee)… unfortunately, I took a picture of the pie BEFORE I cut it, but never got around to snapping a photo afterwards… darnit! Live and learn… hmmm, a sign to make another pie?

First the facts:

Blueberries have only 80 calories/cup, and are virtually fat free.

They’re an excellent source of Vitamin C.

Blueberries are a great source of fiber.

Blueberries contain substances that have antioxidant properties… antioxidants help neutralize free radicals which are unstable molecules linked to the development of a number of diseases including cancer, cardiovascular disease and other age-related conditions such as Alzheimer’s Disease. According the USDA database of antioxidant activity of selected foods, blueberries rang among the highest on a per serving basis. Substances in blueberries called polyphenols, specifically anthocyanins that give blueberries their blue hue, are the major contributor to the antioxidant activity of blueberries! Thank you Blueberry Council for your information!

Now… on to the recipe. I tried a simple recipe out of Better Homes and Gardens cookbook. I used more blueberries than it called for which was why mine was a tad on the runny side. These were sweet blueberries, so I could have used even less sugar. I don’t care for cinnamon in my blueberry pie, it’s a deal breaker… so I used a tiny bit of lemon zest. I like it pure… just blueberries! I didn’t have time to make a pie crust, so I used a Pillsbury pie crust that you buy in the refrigerated section at the grocery store. It’s closest to homemade, I won’t use any other. HOWEVER, if you have a good crust recipe and the time… good crust always trumps store bought, even if it is close…

Because mine was a tad runny (and partially because I couldn’t wait for it to cool, hee hee) I went ahead and scooped out about ½ cup of juice, put it in a container and the next week we had a small scoop of vanilla ice cream with heated blueberry sauce on top… YUM!

Ok, ok… quit talking… now the recipe!

BLUEBERRY PIE

1 double crust pie crust (store bought or homemade)

5 cups blueberries (fresh or frozen)

2/3 – 3/4 cup sugar (depending upon how sweet the blueberries are)

3 tablespoons flour

2 teaspoons (I used maybe one if that) finely shredded lemon peel

Directions…

Prepare the pie crust. Line a 9” pie plate with half the pastry.

In a large bowl combine the sugar and flour. Stir in blueberries and lemon peel. Gently toss berries until coated. (If using frozen blueberries, let mixture stand for 45 minutes or until fruit is partially thawed but still icy.)

Transfer berry mixture to the pastry lined pie plate. Trim bottom pastry to edge of pie plate. Now place top crust on filling and seal. Crimp the edge together. Cut slits in the top to allow steam to escape.

To prevent overbrowning, cover edge of pie with foil. Bake in a 375˚oven for 25 minutes (or 50 minutes for frozen fruit). Remove foil. Bake another 25-30 minutes (watch it closely, mine doesn’t take this long), OR until filling is bubbly and pastry is golden brown. (Always a good idea to place it on a foil lined cookie sheet in case it bubbles over).

Cool on wire rack (good luck to ya!)

Hope you enjoy! Catch you back here tomorrow!

PANERA update… (thank you Mollly!)

Image: PaneraBread.com

An update from a reader on the Panera Chicken Soup debacle… apparently, when you speak someone actually IS listening (woohoo to Panera for that!)… This was a comment on a previous post from Molly (thank you Molly!!):

Has everyone seen that they are making changes to the soup to make it more like the old one now! I hope “heartier with more noodles and carrots” basically just means bringing back the old one? Anyway, here is what is currently posted on the Panera Facebook page by Dan Kish, Panera’s head chef:

“I’m Dan Kish, Panera’s head chef. I want to update everyone on some new developments with our all-natural Chicken Noodle Soup. We are closely monitoring the conversations on this tab and all conversations on our Facebook page, as well as listening to what our guests are saying in our bakery-cafes. While we’re happy to know that many of you like the change in our soup, we do understand that some of you preferred our old recipe.

We believe that continuing to provide great soups to our guests means remaining flexible and open to suggestions. While we remain committed to our new low-fat all-natural recipe that many of you have commented on, we wanted to act on the suggestions from many of you to make the Chicken Noodle Soup heartier with less broth and more noodles and carrots.

These changes may take a month or so to begin to make their way into each bakery-cafe. We’ll be sure to let you know when it’s available throughout the country so you can stop by and ask for a sample. In the meantime, we respect how passionate our fans are and appreciate you telling us how you feel. We are listening. ”

Woooooo-hooooo!!!!

Wooooo-hooooo is right Molly… let’s hope! If nothing else, it’s a step in the right direction! THANKS SO MUCH FOR YOUR UPDATE!

Catch you back here tomorrow!

Http://almostdailypic.wordpress.com !

GINGER… todays cancer prevention tip…

Image: Prevention.com

Big, beautiful ginger. Ok, so ginger doesn’t win any beauty contests, but what it does to your body is all good stuff. This is straight from an article from Prevention Magazine, “Edible Healing: Food Cures for Cancer” . Here goes…

GINGER

Fresh ginger, or gingerroot, is a powerful anti-inflammatory that combats certain cancer cells and helps slow tumor growth. A ginger infusion can also alleviate nausea from chemotherapy or radiotherapy.

How to Use It: Add grated fresh ginger to a vegetable stir-fry or fruit salad. Or, make an infusion by slicing a 1-inch piece of ginger and steeping it in boiling water for 10 to 15 minutes; drink hot or cold.

Oh, there is nothing better than fresh ginger. It livens up a stirfry, oooh, the shrimp and broccoli stirfry… the steak, mushroom and bok choy stir fry… just to name a few (click on names for recipes). It’s FABULOUS in green tea… any time I’m under the weather I make green tea with sliced fresh ginger, let it steep for a while, then add honey and lemon. Mmmm, good!

These Thursday cancer tip posts are dedicated to my mom… going through chemo right now, bless her heart. Thoughts and prayers always appreciated! She’s a strong lady! I love you mom!

Catch you back here tomorrow…

For dinner tonight… chicken pita with tzatziki!

Chicken Pita with Tzatziki

This is such a quick and fabulous meal! Perfect for those hot days when you want to get out of the kitchen as quickly as possible. You can also add whatever you like, add onions, olives, cheese, you could use steak instead of chicken, endless possibilities, so see what you have hanging out in your fridge and toss this together, sit down and enjoy!!

CHICKEN PITA WITH HOMEMADE TZATZIKI

2 Chicken Breasts (boneless/skinless)
1-2 T Lime Juice (more or less to taste)
2 Fresh good pitas
1 Tomato, chopped

Tzatziki: 1 cucumber, greek yogurt, some garlic, fresh or dried dill and a splash of lemon juice.

In a skillet with olive oil (or canola) sauté the chicken, when its close to being done cut it up (while it’s still in the pan) into bite size pieces (I use scissors, it’s much quicker), then continue to cook until just about done. Squeeze the lime juice over the chicken in the skillet, and cook until absorbed. This makes the chicken turn a beautiful golden brown color. You can also throw in some onions if so inclined..

Finely chop up a cucumber with seeds removed, add to plain greek yogurt with fresh or dried dill and a splash of lemon (squeeze a wedge). You can use a microplane to get a little (or a lot) of garlic added, stir it together and set aside while you assemble the pita.

I like the pita heated. It’s not necessary, just a personal preference. I heat the pita wrapped in wax paper and a tiny sprinkle of water and put in microwave just until warm. Take it out and place one pita on each plate, put chicken on top, cut up tomatoes, a spoonful of tzatziki, some black pepper and a sprinkle of dill. 
Oh la la….  ENJOY!

Catch you back here tomorrow!

Pomegranate Juice… Seriously good stuff!

Image: Prevention.com

Pomegranate juice. Seriously? WHO KNEW? This is some seriously good stuff! Most of us know it by the brand POM, but many brands are now available. Today’s cancer tip is from a great magazine article “Edible Healing: Food Cures for Cancer” by Prevention Magazine!

Pomegranate Juice

This juice, which tastes like raspberries, has been used in Persian medicine for thousands of years. Its antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties are well confirmed; studies show it can substantially reduce the development of even the most aggressive prostate cancers (among others). In addition, drinking it daily slows the spread of an established prostate cancer by more than 50%.

How to Drink It: Have 8 ounces daily with breakfast.

Well mom, today is treatment #3, nine more to go… we’re in the single digits now, woohoo!

Catch you back here tomorrow!

Also… http://almostdailypic.wordpress.com !

English Pea Salad, recipe from Paula Deen’s sons…

English Pea Salad

This recipe is courtesy of Paula Deen’s son’s, (AKA “The Deen brothers”). It was featured on her Food Network show Paula’s Best Dish’s, the All in the Family episode. I didn’t see it, my mom told me she tried this recipe and got rave reviews. Everyone wanted the recipe. THAT’S the kind of thing I like to take somewhere. Once you throw it together, put it in a pretty dish and off you go! (OK, some of you may have noticed, I didn’t put it in a pretty dish, but I was taking this to a neighborhood get together on a very warm evening, so I put it in a stainless bowl and then placed the stainless bowl inside a larger stainless bowl filled with ice, I topped it with plastic wrap and a thick towel to keep the heat out. So much for my pretty dish, ugh. Might want to take printed recipes with you or a link to the online version (click HERE , easy to print), otherwise, here you go…

English Pea Salad

Ingredients

  • 4 slices bacon
  • 1 (10-ounce) package frozen peas, thawed and drained
  • 1 cup shredded Cheddar
  • 2 hard-cooked eggs, peeled and chopped
  • 3 tablespoons mayonnaise
  • 2 teaspoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
  • Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Directions

In a large skillet, cook the bacon over medium heat until crisp. Transfer to a paper towel-lined plate to drain. Let cool.

In a medium serving bowl, combine the bacon, peas, cheese, and eggs. Stir in the mayonnaise, lemon juice, and salt and pepper, to taste. Serve immediately or refrigerate until ready to serve.

Catch you back here tomorrow!

http://almostdailypic.wordpress.com !

Who knew green tea did THIS MUCH?

Image: Amazon.com

This weeks cancer prevention tip… GREEN TEA. WHO KNEW IT COULD DO THIS MUCH? This information is from a fantastic article I read in Prevention magazine, “Edible Healing: Food Cures for Cancer “.  An absolutely fantastic article and one that everyone should read. If you don’t subscribe to Prevention magazine, you may want to consider it. It’s inexpensive and provides so much useful information… click HERE to subscribe (this isn’t a paid advertisement… wish it was, but they have no idea who I am).

While researching for this post I ran across this neat glass mug with infuser by TEAVANA, it’s called “JOLI”. If interested HERE is the link… also sold at Amazon.com.

A Health-Boosting Beverage

Green tea is rich in compounds called polyphenols, including catechins (and particularly EGCG), which reduce the growth of new blood vessels that feed tumors. It’s also a powerful antioxidant and detoxifier (activating enzymes in the liver that eliminate toxins from the body), and it encourages cancer cell death. In the laboratory, it has even been shown to increase the effect of radiation on cancer cells.

Japanese green tea (sencha, gyokuro, matcha, etc.) contains more EGCG than common varieties of Chinese green tea, making it the most potent source on the market; look in Asian groceries and tea shops. Black and oolong teas, commonly used to produce popular tea blends such as Earl Grey, are less effective because they’ve been fermented, which destroys a large proportion of their polyphenols. Decaffeinated green teas, which retain the polyphenols despite the process of decaffeination, are also an option if you’re sensitive to caffeine.

How to Drink It: Sip 2 to 3 cups a day within an hour of brewing. Green tea must be steeped for at least 5 to 8 minutes–ideally 10–to release its catechins, but it loses its beneficial polyphenols after an hour or two.

OK mom, 2 treatments down and 10 to go… you can do it! Whoot whoot!

Catch you back here tomorrow…

Also… http://almostdailypic.wordpress.com !

Morning Glory Muffins… Just what the doctor ordered!

Morning Glory Muffins

Sometimes you need a quick and satisfying breakfast, not something that takes too long… it’s nice to be able to grab something and head out the door! These muffins are good alone, or paired with a fruit smoothie or a greek yogurt, mmmmm. They are filled with good things BUT they don’t taste “healthy”. The good thing about this recipe is that you can put whatever fruit you like in it… I made it pretty much as the recipe indicated. I used greek yogurt because it’s what I had (which boosts the protein a weee bit), I didn’t have wheat germ so I just added more flax. Next time I’ll probably use dried apricots or cherries instead of pineapple since the pineapple is so sweet… fresh blueberries would also be good! We eat some and freeze some, they’re great heated in the microwave for a few seconds!

This is a recipe from Cooking Light Magazine… and it’s a winner, I’ve made it several times. If you want to get to the MyRecipes.com website click HERE where you can print it quick and easy, otherwise… here’s the recipe…

Morning Glory Muffins

 YIELD: 18 servings (serving size: 1 muffin)

Ingredients

Cooking spray

1 cup whole wheat flour (about 4 3/4 ounces)

1/2 cup all-purpose flour (about 2 1/4 ounces)

1 cup regular oats

3/4 cup packed brown sugar

1 tablespoon wheat bran

2 teaspoons baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup plain fat-free yogurt

1 cup mashed ripe banana (about 2)

1 large egg

1 cup chopped pitted dates

3/4 cup chopped walnuts

1/2 cup chopped dried pineapple

3 tablespoons ground flaxseed (about 2 tablespoons whole)

 Preparation

Preheat oven to 350°.

Place 18 muffin cups liners in muffin cups; coat liners with cooking spray.

Lightly spoon flours into dry measuring cups, and level with a knife. Combine flours and next 5 ingredients (through salt) in a large bowl; stir with a whisk. Make a well in center of mixture. Combine yogurt, banana, and egg; add to flour mixture, stirring just until moist. Fold in dates, walnuts, and pineapple. Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups. Sprinkle evenly with flaxseed. Bake at 350° for 20 minutes or until muffins spring back when touched lightly in center. Remove muffins from pans immediately; cool on a wire rack.

Charlotte Moore, Toronto, Cooking Light
JULY 2007

Check out my photo blog at http://almostdailypic.wordpress.com – catch you back here tomorrow!

Bowen’s Island… where you either like it or you don’t!

 

 It’s funny when you look at this picture. If this were anywhere else on earth it would be deemed a catastrophe. But for some reason it just WORKS and works perfectly at Bowen’s Island seafood restaurant… (I guess that’s why it’s in so many magazines!) where the motto is something like YOU EITHER LIKE IT OR YOU DON’T… ha ha… no kidding. This isn’t where we ate this year, they built a new building, where you can still write on the walls, but it is a little more refined… no paint or anything, but it’s big and the food is delicious! I noticed since my last Bowen’s Island post that the link to their menu no longer works… hmmm. I’ll have to see what I can do about that! This is the building closest to the water (right on the water) where I believe they have parties, charity functions, as well as other functions. It’s very “Bowen’s”… unique, likeFolly Beach. Nothing dressy, but hey, the food is beyond fantastic and you see people there who have just woken up (quite possibly after a looooong winters nap?), dressed for church and everything in between. Someone sent me a comment asking if they serve oysters in months that don’t have an “R”. We were there in May and YEP, they were serving oysters. Another commenter mentioned that things have changed since that rule was in place long ago… who knew? Thanks to those of you who keep me up on things! Catch you back here tomorrow!

If you get a chance, check out my photo blog at http://almostdailypic.wordpress.com !

Pecan Chocolate Chip Cookies – THESE are seriously fabulous!

Image: MyRecipes.com

Whenever I make these cookies and take them somewhere, people go nuts! Seriously… These are too good, and when I give out the recipe, NO ONE can believe they’re “light”. This recipe is from Cooking Light magazine. Make no mistake, part of what makes them so light is the serving size (one). With 81 calories, 3 grams of fat, 1.4 gm saturated fat, and 0.5gm fiber you have to be careful to not eat more than one (or two), but if you exercise a lot and can burn off what you eat… by all means, have at it! I love the cookie dough (I’m aware of the safety issues… to me, the dough is worth risking my life for taking a wee bit of a risk… I’m happy to report that in my little world there is no calorie content in the dough UNTIL IT IS BAKED… (and if you believe that I have swamp land, I mean a deep water lot for sale, hee hee).

I do make a few modifications, ALTHOUGH they’re perfectly fine as the recipe indicates. Here are some of the changes I’ve made throughout the years.Leave out the brown sugar. OOPS… it happened once and I thought they turned out BETTER. But the difference between it being there and NOT being there is barely noticeable  (therefore why waste the extra calories?).I use regular chocolate chips instead of mini. I didn’t care for the mini chips, they were, ahhhh, TOO MINI… I like a hefty bite of chocolate not a tiny smear where you THINK you may have just gotten chocolate (or maybe not)…I usually use walnuts and I don’t always toast them. One reason, I’m almost always in a hurry. Another reason, I forget about them until I smell them burning. Soooo, since nuts are good for you I use a generous amount, usually a few handfuls. Same with chocolate chips… I put a few handfuls… I buy good chocolate chips, free of allergy causing soy and other miscellaneous ingredients that takes away from the flavor of the chocolate. I also use dark chocolate chips…I usually (not always) make the cookies SMALLER. I like them bite size. No crumbs that way, boy do I have things figured out or what? You just have to watch them closely because they won’t always take as long to bake. I think you tend to eat less when you think, HAVE I JUST EATEN FIVE COOKIES? When in reality it was probably 2.5… a way I mess with myself, ha ha…Lastly, I use a Silpat cookie sheet liner instead of parchment, but either way it’ll work just fine! Give these a whirl, I do believe they’ll quickly become your favorite! Click HERE for the recipe from MyRecipes.com where you can easily print (as well as see the full info on nutritional info) or see below…

 Oatmeal, Chocolate Chip, and Pecan Cookies

These easy drop cookies are crisp on the outside and slightly chewy on the inside. Chocolate minichips disperse better in the batter, but you can use regular chips.

YIELD: 3 dozen (serving size: 1 cookie)

Ingredients

  • 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour (about 5 1/2 ounces)
  • 1 cup regular oats
  • 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 3/4 cup granulated sugar
  • 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
  • 1/3 cup butter, softened
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 1 large egg
  • 1/4 cup chopped pecans, toasted
  • 1/4 cup semisweet chocolate minichips

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350°.

Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour and next 4 ingredients (through salt), stirring with a whisk; set aside.

Place sugars and butter in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at medium speed until well blended. Add vanilla and egg; beat until blended. Gradually add flour mixture, beating at low speed just until combined. Stir in pecans and minichips. Drop dough by tablespoonfuls 2 inches apart onto baking sheets lined with parchment paper. Bake at 350° for 12 minutes or until edges of cookies are lightly browned. Cool on pans 2 minutes. Remove cookies from pans; cool on wire racks.

Julianna Grimes and Ann Taylor Pittman, Cooking Light
DECEMBER 2007

Catch you back here tomorrow! If you get a chance, check out my photo blog at http://almostdailypic.wordpress.com !

Tasty Greek yogurt I adore…

 Owwiiieeee… Chobani Greek yogurt! Have you tried it? You’ve heard the hoopla, better for you, more protein, yada yada… but have you TASTED IT? Absolutely delicious. Even the plain (especially when mixed with a cut up cucumber and some green onion… oh heavens!)… give it a try if you haven’t already! They have lots of flavors to choose from!

Catch you back here tomorrow… if you get a chance, check out my photo blog at http://almostdailypic.wordpress.com !

Image via Chobani.com…

Kitchen Aid Mixer -A biscotti-makers dream come true!

Kitchen Aid Artisan Mixer

The Kitchen Aid Artisan mixer is a biscotti-makers dream come true… no kidding! The first few times I made biscotti I only had a hand mixer, so that worked for the first part of the recipe. Then it says to stir by hand… What?! It’s like stirring glue mixed with cement, are you serious? Then I had to call in the big guns… well, ahem, he does have a name… “HEY FRED… PLEASE COME AND STIR THIS FOR ME“… ha… it was kind of like having a nice mixer BUT one that talked back… hmmm… then came the Kitchen Aid mixer… throw the ingredients in and hear it roar… I love this thing! I like my counters clean and cleared off, however this mixer gets used enough that it has the privilege of staying put! Did I mention how great this mixer is, ha ha??

Of course it’s good for everything, not just biscotti, it was just necessary for biscotti!Hey, enjoy your day! Catch you back here tomorrow! Image via Google.com