Quinoa is super easy to prepare (takes about 15 minutes), can be served sweet or savory and is chock-full of nutrients.

This pseudocereal:

• Is a complete protein — includes all nine amino acids — good choice for the vegan
• Is a close relative to the spinach, beet, chard and, if you can believe it, the tumbleweed families
• Was once considered “the gold of the Incas”
• Is good for heart related illnesses, post-menopause, migraines, cancer, asthma and gallstones
• Is NASA approved for space travel diet
• Can thrive in as little as three to four inches of annual rainfall

To get you cookin’ with quinoa, I’d like to share a recipe I concocted today. It’s made with red quinoa which has a slightly nuttier taste than the brown variety. If you like this recipe, you will love this one.

Fruit and Nut Quinoa

1/2 cup cooked quinoa (prepared according to package instructions)

1/2 Granny Smith apple, chopped

Small handful dried cranberries

1 Tbls toasted pecans, chopped

1 tsp organic brown sugar

Dollop of organic soy vanilla yogurt

Mix all ingredients together and enjoy! It’s that simple.

This would make a nice breakfast bowl or afternoon snack. To save time, prepare a large pot of quinoa at the beginning of the week and refrigerate. When you get hungry, take out enough for a serving then add whatever ingredients sound good to you: basil, tomatoes and feta drizzled with olive oil and balsamic vinegar; or black beans, fresh corn and salsa; or  –  this one sounds especially good to me — eggs, smoked cheddar cheese and green onions — talk about a good helping of protein!

Whatever you choose, make it fun, make it healthy. After all, we are only on this planet for a very short time.

We began the meal with Nicolle’s cream cheese filled pastries (she couldn’t find a traditional Moroccan cheese…imagine that!), carrots — which seem to be a Moroccan staple — and red peppers for pizzaz. These little triangular pillows were tasty and fun, especially because they made for good razzing material.

For the past three Wine and Honeys’ dinners, Nicolle has followed a pattern involving phyllo dough and cream cheese. Not exactly venturing out, but she is busy being a full time student and business owner, so we only gave her a little bit of a hard time. She took our light-hearted joking well and promised to break out of her shell for our next dinner which will include a “demonstration” from her significant other.

I will give you a hint as to what our next theme will be: it involves a little green cone-like fruit that is a main ingredient in a libation oft consumed by Nascar goers as well as yuppie hipsters.

Okay, one more clue. Norm Peterson might just give up the true identity of his wife, Vera, for an invitation to our next dinner meeting.

Back to Morocco.

After the appetizer, we enjoyed steaming bowls of Joanna’s pumpkin production. Her Moroccan Pumpkin Soup was to die for. Seriously! With the exception of Kim’s layered buttery pastry dessert, her soup was the rave of the evening. I would say the two tied in terms of tastiness.

Joanna’s soup was sweet, savory and comforting. With aromas of spice and squash, it was the perfect blend of goodness for a cool winter evening. She topped each bowl with finely sliced leeks which gave an unexpected freshness to the overall flavors. A keeper!

For the entree, I prepared a vegetarian stew served over red quinoa. Bite-sized pieces of butternut squash, carrot, tomatoes and onion were simmered to prefect tenderness in a light vegetable broth that was flavored with garlic and traditional Moroccan spices like saffron, Hungarian paprika and coriander. A fresh herbal kick was achieved with a garnish of freshly chopped cilantro and mint.

With all the squash (well gourds actually) that we consumed, I’m pretty sure we met our Cucurbita quota for the year!

Okay. Now for the dessert. First let me say that Kim must have been a Cordon Bleu pastry chef in her former life. She never ceases to amaze. For our special treat, she prepared a sextuple-layered pastry with custard. She added her own touch by blanching almonds, chopping them and tossing them in powdered sugar. A few sprinkles of cinnamon and voila, heaven!

Would you believe that Kim hand-cut a million circles of phyllo pastry to create the evening’s dessert? Well it seemed like a million. As the five of us gently cut into the light disks and buttery cream with our forks, a harmonized “ooh” could be heard. The flavor was rich, but not overwhelmingly sweet. Simply fabulous.

Everyone stayed late visiting, planning our next dinner and finishing up the fabulous wine Kristen brought. She had really done her homework. Driving all around town to find the perfect vino, she came across several wine connoisseurs happy to recommend the just right selections for Moroccan food: a 2009 Hayes Ranch Moonlit Harvest Riesling for appetizers and soup, then a 2008 Maggio Old Vine Zinfandel for the entree.

Sated for the evening, we said our goodbyes and looked forward to meeting again.

Below is Joanna’s soup recipe and links to the others (Thank you Epicurious and about.com!):

Moroccan Pumpkin Soup

Ingredients

1 cup chickpeas, cooked

3 Tbls EVOO

2 leeks, white and light green parts only, thinly sliced

4 cups organic vegetable broth

4 cups organic pumpkin puree

3 Tbls organic agave syrup

2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp allspice

2 tsp Kosher salt

1 dash Tabasco

ground pepper to taste

Preparation

Heat oil in large saucepan.

Add leeks (reserved enough for garnish) and sauté until translucent, about 5-10 minutes.

Add broth, pumpkin, chickpeas, agave syrup, spices, salt and pepper. Heat to a boil.

Reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes.

Garnish with leeks and serve with warm crusty bread.

Links to other scrumptious recipes:

Moroccan Stew with Quinoa

Kefta – Pastry and Custard Sauce

Happy cooking!

When I was a young girl, my sister and I looked forward to the holidays because it meant we got to bake with my mom and her friends — just us girls, crammed into Florence’s small, farm kitchen cutting out cookies. Over the years, as new studies have surfaced about color (especially reds) and refined sugar, I have shied away from the standard sugar cookie. After some experimenting and refining, I came up with these little goodies: Organic Roasted Pecan Sables. My family loves the healthier alternative as does anyone else who tries them.

I made them a couple of years ago as a special treat for the guests who toured our garden for the annual California Native Plant Society Tour. Garden enthusiasts loved the nutty, subtle flavor of the oak leaf shaped cookies (I made more than three hundred!). For Valentine’s Day, I took heart-shaped cookies to my ceramics class and once again, they were a hit. (I caught one gentleman going back for thirds!) They really are that fantastic so I’ve decided to share my recipe.

Organic Roasted Pecan Sables

1 1/2 cup organic all purpose flour, sifted

3/4 cup finely chopped, roasted pecans

1/4 tsp fresh baking powder (If you use baking powder that’s been sitting for years, you won’t get a nice, light texture.)

1/8 tsp salt

1/2 cup organic, unsalted butter (room temperature)

2/3 cup powdered sugar*

goodly splash of vanilla extract

1 fresh, large egg yolk

Organic turbinado, or raw sugar, for sprinkling

Mix first four ingredients in medium bowl. In an electric mixer, beat butter, powdered sugar and vanilla until light and fluffy. Beat in egg yolk. A cup at a time, add the flour mixture to the butter mixture until well blended (scrape sides of mixing bowl regularly).

Shape dough into a disk and wrap in plastic. Chill for about 20 minutes.

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Line baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside. In small batches, roll dough onto a lightly, I repeat lightly, floured surface to about 1/4 inch thickness. Using a variety of cutters, cut out cookies.

Transfer cookies to the prepared sheet. Sprinkle with raw sugar.

Bake for approximately 20 minutes. Cool for five minutes before transferring to cooling racks. Once cooled completely, store cookies in an airtight container. You and yours should be able to enjoy these goodies for about four days.**

Enjoy!

*  I have searched all over town for organic powdered sugar, but alas, none exists. It is the only ingredient in these cookies that is not organic. I believe fresh, organic ingredients make all the difference in the quality of flavor. So, now’s a good time to go organic!

**  Disclaimer: These babies are addicting and will not last long. They tend to make their way out of the cookie jar in a flash!

We began with brie baked in a puff pastry. I wanted to do something different than the standard throw-the-brie-in-a-crust-and-call-it-good, so I added some fruity flare. First I sliced the brie in half crosswise and stuffed it with fruits, nuts and preserves. Because I didn’t have enough time to make the pastry from scratch, I picked up a couple of sheets from Trader Joe’s. Man I love that market!

I baked the brie until the crust was just right and served our ooey gooey appetizer with pink lady apples — not to sweet, not too tart. We gobbled up my creation, leaving not a trace of a crumb on the serving plate.

Next up was Kim’s French onion soup. I have never been much of a fan of this potent starter, but once I tasted her recipe, I knew it would be a keeper. I pushed my spoon through the golden crust and dove right into the aromatic broth below. The onions were cooked to the perfect tenderness and were sweet and savory.

Kim used a vegetarian base instead of the standard beef broth which made for a light contrast to the cheesy topping. She added just enough black pepper to bring out the flavor of the onions and base. Everyone knew they would make this special soup again and said so.

My nose was quite happy when Kristen’s entree, Boeuf Bourguignon, found its way to the table. She said she had gone back and forth about what to serve the tender cubes over: mashed potatoes, rice, noodles? She finally opted for buttered noodles with fresh parsley. Perfect!

The meat fell apart with the touch of my fork and melted in my mouth. Kristen used Prather Ranch Organic Beef so I shouldn’t have been surprised by its tenderness. She used tomato puree and paste in the base, something I had never thought of before. It added a freshness to the traditional dish. Quite enjoyable!

Nicolle made ice cream puffs for dessert. Although she has been busier than you can imagine (she just opened a coffee house downtown), Nicolle mustered enough strength to attempt constructing the puff pastry from scratch. It didn’t work out, but that’s okay. She gets an A+++ for trying!

Instead, she used a prepared crust from the market. Once baked, she stuffed a scoop of vanilla iced cream between two pieces of puffed pastry. To finish the creamy delight, she drizzled chocolate syrup over top. The individual treats looked lovely, were fun to eat and had a nice, rich flavor.

Throughout the meal, we sipped the lovely French wine that Joanna contributed to the meal and talked about everything that we had missed in one another’s lives over the past weeks. I won’t go into details here, but let’s just say you never know what topics will make their way to the table when good friends get together.

Happy cooking, happy dining and happy drinking to you and yours.

Cheers, and enjoy the recipes below!

Baked Brie with Fruit and Nuts

Ingredients:

1/2 cup chopped dried apricots

3 teaspoons chopped pecans, toasted

1 tablespoon raspberry jam

1 Tbls apple juice

1 8.5 ounce Brie round

2 sheets frozen puff pastry, thawed

1 egg

1 tablespoon milk

Apples for serving

Preparation:

Heat oven to 400. Butter an oven stone.

Toss the apricots with apple juice and let sit for a few minutes, allowing some of the juice to absorb. Stir apricots into the toasted pecans and raspberry jam.

Slice the Brie in half crosswise and evenly spread the filling across the cut surface of the bottom half. Replace the top half of the Brie, cut side down.

Trim the edges of each pastry sheet to form two circles. Carefully place the filled Brie on the center of one pastry circle. Gather the edges of the dough on top of the Brie. Place the second pastry circle on top of the Brie and tuck the edges under the wrapped Brie. Beat the egg and milk and brush it over the surface of the pastry.

Place the wrapped Brie on the stone and bake for 35 to 40 minutes or until the pastry is golden brown.

Remove Brie from oven when appropriate and allow to cool on the counter for 10 – 15 minutes. Serve with Pink Lady or Granny Smith apples.

Makes an excellent French appetizer for about 6 – 8 people.

Vegetarian French Onion Soup

Kim’s Vegetarian French Onion Soup

1/4 Cup Butter + melted butter for baguette

2 1/2 (7-8) Onions, peeled, halved and thinly sliced

1 Quart  Vegetable Broth

1 1/2 Cups White Wine

2 Cups Cheese, Swiss or Gruyere, shredded

1 Tbsp. Thyme, finely chopped

Baguette sliced

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Brush both sides of sliced baguette with butter. Place on baking sheet. Bake, turning once until just crisp, about 4 minutes on each side. Remove and set aside. Break into crouton size pieces once cool.

Melt butter in a large pot over medium heat. Saute onions until deep brown, about 25 minutes. Stir in broth, wine and thyme. Season with salt and pepper. Cook until heated through.

Ladle soup into heatproof serving bowls. Top each bowl with croutons and sprinkle with cheese.

Bake until cheese melts and soup is bubbly.

Easy Boeuf Bourguignon

3-4 slices thick cut bacon, cut into matchsticks

olive oil

a slotted spoon

3 lbs. premium beef stew meat, dried with paper towels

salt, pepper, and flour

2-4 cloves crushed garlic

1 large onion, coarsely chopped

1/2 lb. mushrooms, quartered

2 c. beef broth

1 15 oz. can tomato puree

1 tbls. tomato paste

1 1/2 c. full bodied red wine

1/4 c. flour

1 generous tsp. herbes de Provence

1/2 c. chopped fresh parsley

It’s best to begin by preparing all of the ingredients before you start because you will need to work quickly to get it in the pot ~ then it basically cooks itself!

In a large bowl combine the broth, tomato puree, tomato paste, wine, flour, and herbs. Whisk to combine( I use a hand blender here so that there are no clumps ~ it works beautifully!). Set aside.

Saute the bacon in a Dutch oven or large pot over medium heat until crisp and golden. Remove with a slotted spoon to a large bowl. Add the beef in batches,1/3 at a time, to the pot and cook until well browned on all sides( if the pot is too crowded the meat will steam, not brown). Remove with a slotted spoon and add to the bacon in the bowl. Repeat until all of the meat is browned (you can add a little olive oil to the pot here if necessary). Set aside.

Add onion to hot pot and sauté until golden. Add mushrooms and garlic and continue cooking a few minutes more. Remove to a medium bowl and set aside. Return meat to pot with the slotted spoon and sprinkle with salt, fresh pepper, and a little flour. Toss to coat.

Pour the broth and wine mixture as well as any accumulated juices from the beef over the meat. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer for one hour. Add reserved onions and mushrooms. Stir, cover, and cook one hour more. Remove lid and continue to simmer for 30-45 minutes or until beef is very tender and sauce is thickened. Adjust seasonings to taste and add chopped parsley.

Serve with buttered noodles or mashed potatoes. This recipe can be made up to two days ahead ~ it’s actually better this way!

Notes: The bacon is optional. It gives some depth of flavor I think, but you can omit it using only olive oil to brown the beef and sauté the vegetables if you prefer. Also, if you wish you can add sliced carrots during the browning of the vegetables; they make a great addition.

Ice Cream Puffs

Ingredients:

puff pastry dough pre-cut

fudge or chocolate syrup (I used the Holy Kakow chocolate sauce…so yummy!)

ice cream (I used french vanilla.)

Bake puff pastry according to instruction on box. Allow to cool then cut in half. Spoon chocolate or fudge into center of bottom half of pastry. Scoop ice cream on top of fudge. Cover with top half of pastry. Drizzle chocolate over top of pastry.

A few weeks ago, I wrote about my plant friend, Citrus medica, or Buddah’s Hand. I planted it a few years ago and, although most of the time he has had a pretty easy go of it, he nearly died at the hands of Jack Frost a year or so ago. Thankfully, he (Long Duck Dong, named after my favorite character on the 80s flick Sixteen Candles) made it through and this year produced three beautiful fruits that smell like heaven and taste just as good.

When you first look at the fruit, you might be repulsed. Or, you may, if you have a creative mind, find all sorts of ways to incorporate it into your life. This year, I decided to candy it. Below is my simplified version of the not-so-common treat. If you can get your hands on one of these freaks of nature, candy it, use it as an air freshener or shock an unsuspecting stranger by placing it up your sleeve just before you shake their hand. Either way, have some fun with it and enjoy!

Candied Buddah’s Hand with a Touch of Vanilla

First, you either have to be brave enough to grow one of these frost sensitive buggers, or you need to find yourself a specialty market that sells them. You will need three for this recipe.

Second, cut off all the fingers.

Third, chop the fingers into little bitty pieces.

Place the pieces into a pot and cover with 2 cups water and 2 cups sugar. Now add some vanilla and stir it all together.

Bring to a boil, stir, reduce heat and simmer uncovered for about an hour. The water, sugar and vanilla mixture will reduce to a syrup. You will know when the pieces are at the candied stage when you can do the ice water test and get “threads”. These threads of sugar will eventually dissolve into the water.

Important: Do not cook the mixture until it reaches the “soft ball” stage. This is where you drop syrup into the water and it hardens to the point where you can roll it into a cute little ball. This syrup is over-cooked and will more than likely cause you to pull a tooth trying to get off your teeth. If you over-over-cook the syrup, you will get to the “hard ball” stage. Don’t go here. It is possible you might break a tooth with this stuff.

Once your mixture has reached the thread stage, remove the pot from the heat and allow it to sit and cool for about an hour.

At this point, your Buddah’s Hand is ready to stop swimming around in the sweet syrup and dry off.

With a slotted spoon, remove the pieces from the syrup and place in a colander where they can drain completely. Reserve the syrup and use in adult beverages or in iced tea. I suppose you could also drizzle some over ice cream as well. Get creative people!

Place pieces onto a rack and allow to dry overnight. I used a pizza screen and my candy dried perfectly. See how lovely it looks in the early morning light — like little pieces of sunshine.

Once your candy pieces have dried completely, place them in small mason jars and refrigerate. I will used mine to snack on and will throw some into salads like my Broccoli Salad. Instead of using golden raisins, I will use these gems to add a sweet-tart kick to the dish.

Makes enough to fill three small canning jars.

But really, low quality food, including ill treated beef, is no laughing matter. Approximately 97% of beef sold in the U.S. is feedlot cattle. This means that only 3% of the beef consumed today is raised humanely and healthily on grass. Some argue that raising grass-fed beef is no gentler on the environment than feedlot beef; they argue that the negative effects on the soil and water supply is the virtually the same. If this is true (and I’m not fully convinced yet), I choose the beef that, although not perfectly gentle on Mother Earth, will be gentler on, and healthier for, my body.

Beef being raised near my home

According to the website Eat Wild, The #1 Site for Grass-fed Food and Facts, “A major benefit of raising animals on pasture is that their products are healthier for you. For example, compared with feedlot meat, meat from grass-fed beef, bison, lamb and goats has less total fat, saturated fat, cholesterol, and calories. It also has more vitamin E, beta-carotene, vitamin C, and a number of health-promoting fats, including omega-3 fatty acids and “conjugated linoleum acid” or CLA.” Yes!

Because I have been a vegetarian most of my life, making the decision to eat meat was a difficult one. But once I found sustainably grown beef, I began serving it to my family one night per month. Pretty soon we were consuming it about every two weeks. Now my family gets beef once per week in the form of shredded beef tacos, chili or stew. And all of our beef comes from Prather Ranch in Macdoel, Ca., just a few hours north of where we live.

What sets Prather apart from other farms and ranches is their “deep understanding of the importance of low stress cattle handling, responsible stewardship of the land and a desire to provide a stable and satisfying life for those who work on the ranch.” All elements that are important to my family.

Recently, my friend Carrie and I had a conversation about responsible eating and she wondered how she could afford to feed her family of four with a “more expensive product” like Prather Organic Beef. I told her to add more veggies into her weekly menu. Cut meat to two or three nights per week instead of the usual six or seven. This way, she can spend a little more moolah on quality, healthy beef and her family won’t feel like they are giving up meat completely. On the other nights, she can serve vegetarian entrees.

There are endless ideas for hearty and satisfying vegetarian meals. Check out vegetariantimes.com where you will find a wide range of recipes to serve your family. Or visit your local library and borrow a vegetarian cookbook. Also, many cities have vegetarian clubs that meet one night per month for a potluck meal. You will meet other socially conscious people and will be able to test your mad veggie cooking skills. Another benefit: you can sample a wide range of tasty, nutrient-packed foods.

Big bowl of vibrant veggies...just add dressing!

Something else that I mentioned to Carrie was making the choice to buy other responsibly grown foods such as organic dairy and eggs. I shy away from anything other than organic when it comes to animal protein. The grocery bill does add up quickly when shopping this way, so I have reduced the amount of organic vegetables that I buy — but I’m selective.

For example, I know that strawberries, apples, broccoli and lettuces are all prone to high levels of pesticides and herbicides, so I buy only organic here. Other produce like potatoes, onions, avocados and cantaloupe bear little residue when tested, so I buy conventional here.

For a quick reference list of “must be organic” produce, check out this great link offered by PBS titled “The Dirty Dozen and the Clean 15.” Print a copy and take it with you to the market until you have it memorized. This way, you can make discerning choices at the market. Your pocketbook will thank you for being mindful and so will your family.

Happy cooking!

For fun, here is a link to a Portlandia episode called “Is it Local?” I do have a good sense of humor about my obsessive eating habit.

PS, Carrie says she doesn’t like cooked veggies. Here is a quick and simple raw veggie dish to help her say no to ill-treated beef and yes to vibrant veggies!

Raw Broccoli Salad

4 cups broccoli florets

1/8 cup minced red onion

2 Tbls local honey

2 Tbls organic plain yogurt (Greek is good too!)

3 Tbls sunflower seeds

3 Tbls golden raisins or candied Buddah’s Hand

Trim broccoli, removing stems and leaves. Finely chop florets. Set aside.

Mix remaining ingredients in bowl. Add broccoli and toss to coat. Chill and serve. Yum!

Note: Sometimes I add a handful of Feta cheese for a little pizzaz.

Over the years, the term “fondue” has been generalized to include ingredients other than just cheese. Chocolate, caramel and oil, with the latter being used to cook pieces of meat called fondue bourguignonne, are all considered fondue today. Either way, serving fondue was, and still is, the hip thing to do.

Being the hip chicks we are, the honeys thought it would be fun to have a fondue-themed dinner night. Typically, when we prepare a meal, the hostess provides the main course, while three others bring their respective dishes: appetizer, soup or salad, and dessert. One honey brings a bottle (or two) of wine and the other gets to take the night off. Our dilemma was trying to figure out how we would split fondue responsibilities. And, we wondered if it could really be considered a meal. Turns out it can be when you prepare it four different ways.

Joanna and Nicolle made the heavenly cheeses and Kristen and I made desserts: chocolate and caramel fondues. Kim provided the vino.

The evening began with four of us carpooling to Joanna’s house, an oasis snuggled into a forest of huge oaks, manzanita and vibrant green lawns. Her friendly puppy greeted us at the door and we made our way to the kitchen where we began preparing dinner.

While Kim uncorked the wine, a lovely Toasted Head Chardonnay, the rest of us busied ourselves chopping, stirring and chatting. Once the food was ready for the table, we went back and forth about how to light the fondue burner.

Evidently, when Joanna tried to light hers earlier, she almost lost an eyebrow. Needless to say, we were hesitant about setting it aflame again. Bravely, with an outstretched arm, Joanna moved closer to the table and lit the thing. Soon, we were all perched around the table, anxious to dip and sip.

Joanna’s fondue was more traditional, made with quality Swiss cheeses and Kirsch. She served it with crusty bread, sauteed button mushrooms, steamed asparagus and brussels sprouts. We all agreed the button mushrooms were the best accompaniment. Nicolle’s creation was a super-creamy herbed parmesan served with soft bread, broccoli, red peppers and sliced mushrooms. The mushrooms were good with this one, but the bread was even better. Both cheeses were a hit!

For dessert, Kristen made the most decadent caramel! Being the creative person she is, she brought the funnest ingredients to dip into the bubbly caramel: popcorn, pretzels, apples, pineapple and pecans. There were mixed reviews on which dippers made for the best combo — they were all so good!

I made a rich chocolate fondue flavored with cocoa liqueur and served it with strawberries, bananas, marshmallows and chopped roasted hazelnuts. The favorite, of course, was dipped strawberries. Rolled in hazelnuts, it was like having a sundae on a stick!

As if all the rich food wasn’t enough for one night, Joanna brought out a sweet treat that none of us had heard of: a liqueur that she had brought back from Europe. It was a creamy little number called Advocaat, made from eggs, sugar and brandy. By this time, the mood was beginning to feel very European.

We finished off the night with a glass of Moscato as we settled back into our chairs talking about dogs, horses, food and life. Our dinner was complete and it turns out that fondue night was our funnest yet!

Next month, we will spend the night out on the town dining with our new foodie friend, Bonnie. I am excited to welcome Bonnie as our final member. She is kind, gentle and, from what I hear, a fabulous cook.

Nicolle’s Parmesan Fondue and links to recipes used:

Parmesan Fondue

Parmesan Fondue Sauce:

1 ½ c Parmesan cheese

2 packages cream cheese

1 tbsp. dried basil

1 tsp. garlic powder

1 c milk

Heat on high until melted, stirring occasionally. Once melted, turn heat to warm.

Dippers:

Mushrooms, sliced

Parmesan and herb bread, sliced into cubes

Broccoli, steamed

Red peppers, sliced

Links:

Cheese Fondue

Caramel Fondue

Chocolate Fondue

Happy cooking!

You’re going to love, love, love the bag. This one is from their Nature Collection. Here is what Chico Bag has to say about their handy dandies:

“The large forty pound carrying capacity and shoulder length straps of the bag make it the ideal companion for any day trip or shopping outing. Like all ChicoBag™ styles, the Nature Collection bags stuff into an integrated pouch and weigh only two ounces. The perfect reusable shopping bag to keep in your purse or glove box, making it impossible for single-use bags to ever sneak up on you again!”

Don’t feed the Bag Monster, Fredrick. Use the heck out of your Chico Bag!

I will contact you shortly for shipping info. Thanks for playing.

When my family took a trip to Italy this summer, we ate more of this than I dare to admit. It was dreamy and I haven’t tasted anything like real Italian _____ since. Okay, this is way too easy.

Here is how this will work: you comment, telling me what these mountains of frozen treats are and what your favorite flavor is, and I will enter your name in a drawing. I will leave this posted for a week or so, then, once I have more than a few of names to toss in the hat, I will commission my son to pull a name and voila, someone wins a handy Chico Bag. I will contact you via email to collect pertinent shipping info.

If you don’t know what this is (really?), go to my other blog, nature-drunk.com, and enter to win a Chico Bag there. All you have to do is be the first to correctly ID an orange flower.

One recent afternoon, I found myself in the kitchen walking back and forth from pantry to refrigerator, from refrigerator to pantry, confused about what to do for dinner. I needed a side dish for a pasta I make regularly: creamy linguini with garlic and arugula.  Something simple and fresh seemed appropriate, but I didn’t want to serve the same old chopped greens salad.

With beautiful lemon cucumbers and vine-ripe zebra striped tomatoes from the farmer’s market, I decided to prepare a salad similar to one my nana used to make. You know the one: tomatoes, onion, cucumber and vinegar sprinkled with course salt — a staple salad at her house during summer months. This sounded good, but I wanted to change mine up a bit. I wanted to give it a little zest.

Basil is still in its full glory in my garden, so I snipped a bunch and placed the stems in cool water until I was ready to chop the fragrant herb. I looked around the kitchen contemplating what else would accent the flavors of the tomatoes and cukes. Hmmm. A Granny Smith apple, perhaps? Yes, and lime.

Now I needed a dressing. Not too heavy of course or it would be overwhelming. I grabbed some Pacific Sun EVOO and a light balsamic vinegar then tossed them in. The blend accented the ingredients perfectly. The result was a sweet-tart salad with a nice combination of textures.

To some, this salad may sound a little weird at first, but if my son liked it enough to gobble up seconds, it must be good!

Apple, Cucumber and Heirloom Tomato Salad

Ingredients

1 zebra striped tomato

2 lemon cucumbers

1 Granny Smith apple

Basil

Juice from 1/2 a lime

Pacific Sun EVOO

Good quality light balsamic vinegar

Preparation

Gather your ingredients.

Core and chop the tomato and apple. Peel and dice the cucumber.

Throw ingredients into a small bowl. Chop the basil and add to bowl. (Don’t you just love my Fire and Light?)

Drizzle on the lime juice, olive oil and vinegar, then toss with other ingredients.

Voila! You have a fresh and fruity, green and yellow salad. Makes about four servings.

Enjoy!

Note: You could add feta cheese crumbles and chopped toasted pecans to up the flavor intensity.