Quick Cucumber, Tomato, Onion, and Radish Salad

Quick Cucumber, Tomato, Onion, and Radish Salad

It’s that time of year! No, not all the fresh summer produce salad recipes, but my quickie recipes for when we are headed to the coast again to go fishing and/or crabbing. Once again, we’ll be on another extended weekend trip so am posting this one early instead of Saturday.

We didn’t catch any halibut last trip, it was super-windy with 6-to-8-foot horrible wind waves and our bait wouldn’t stay on the bottom with all the rocking and rolling. Then I got seasick as hell, WAHHH! Hubby will attempt again this weekend, while I’ll stay behind and fish the calm river for salmon.

I was wanting to make a Panzanella salad out of what produce I had on hand, but last minute hubby couldn’t help with the prep of this and ran out of time to make the bread cubes since I didn’t have any stale bread on hand. So this is what I came up with. Lively, fresh, and delicious!

The cucumber came from a friend’s garden, the tomatoes from our own, and the radishes from the farmer’s market. The rest came from the store (organic as possible).

And this would also make a great side dish for a Labor Day BBQ or picnic! This no-mayo recipe makes it a snap to store and serve.

Quick Cucumber, Tomato, Onion, and Radish Salad

1 English cucumber, sliced and quartered (about 2 cups, can be more or less)
1 cup fresh diced tomatoes
1/2 cup diced sweet onion
1/2 cup diced radishes
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
2 teaspoons fresh-squeezed lemon juice
1 teaspoon rice vinegar, or plain white
1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley
Salt and ground black pepper, to taste

Prep all the ingredients, toss in a bowl and stir to combine. Refrigerate one hour or more. Serve with a slotted spoon. See? Quick and easy. Yumm!

Download and Print this Yummy Recipe!

 

Advertisement

Dehydrated Jalapeños

Dehydrated Jalapenos

This post is dedicated in loving memory to one of my cyber-foodie friends, who passed away on October 9th. I was a follower of his food blog REMCooks, and cybernetically he was one of the kindest and sincere bloggers who loved both his family and cooking with the greatest of passion. Richard McGary was also very passionate about any kind of chile peppers. He loved to cook with any type of chile, and his blog has many recipes made with a variety of spicy hot peppers.

The idea to dry the jalapeños that were harvested from my jalapeño plant this year also came about by another food blogger who actually got to meet Richard once for a weekend of food and fun, Mimi from Chef Mimi Blog. After roasting and freezing some batches of Hatch and serrano chiles, I thought it would be neat to also have some dehydrated chiles on hand for soups, stews, and salad toppings.

This is not really so much a recipe, but a method. Here is what I did:

Dehydrated Jalapeños

You can either harvest your own jalapeno plant, or simply buy some from the store. I actually had a mix of red (ripe) jalepeños, standard dark green ones, and some that were in the process of turning red left on my plant at harvest time. I like that I had the different colors for this.

My Jalapeño Plant

Make sure you wear latex gloves or plastic sandwich bags over your hands, and whatever you do, don’t touch your face or eyes in this process!

First I sliced all the peppers thinly into rounds. I didn’t bother de-seeding them, as most of the seeds will fall down into the pan in the drying process.

Jalapeño Slices

The pepper slices were then arranged on a parchment-paper lined baking sheet, and placed into an oven set at 180 degrees. You might want to do this on a day you can open your windows, as after about an hour the house will get pretty spicy! Which of course did not bother me at all.

Jalapeños at the Start of Drying Process

I left them in the oven until they were all completely dried out. This took about 2 1/2 hours. I would check them every half hour or so after the first hour to make sure they weren’t getting too crisp. You will want to make sure they are “dry” to the touch and have no wetness left in them at all.

Jalapenos Drying Out ~ This was about halfway through the process

When completely dried, I took them out of the oven and let them cool. I then poured the dried pepper slices into a cute half-pint jelly jar to store throughout the fall and winter. There! I’ve already used some in some black-eyed peas that I made for lunch one day. They rehydrate nicely when cooked in liquid, but would also be fun to add as a crunchy topping to taco salad.

And p.s. Richard, I hope you are in chile paradise wherever you are!

Southwest Taco Salad with Creamy Guacamole Dressing

Southwest Taco Salad with Creamy Guacamole Dressing

Ahhh, where oh where did the summer go? School starts this week in my neck of the woods and temperatures have gone from sizzling hot to almost frosty. But that shouldn’t stop anyone from enjoying this zesty and crunchy salad filled with summer bounty topped with a smooth avocado dressing.

We’ve just returned this weekend from nine glorious days camping and fishing at the beautiful Oregon coast. What a wonderful way to end the summer!

Southwest Taco Salad with Creamy Guacamole Dressing
Adapted from Southwest Salad with Creamy Avocado Salsa Dressing at Carlsbad Cravings

Creamy Guacamole Dressing

1 small avocado, peeled and roughly diced
1 small jalapeño, seeded, deveined, and roughly chopped
1/4 cup cilantro
1/4 cup plain Greek yogurt
1/4 salsa, homemade or store-bought (I used my Hatch chile salsa)
1/2 cup milk
2 tablespoons olive oil
Juice from 1 lime
Salt and pepper, to taste
1/4 teaspoon cumin

Southwest Taco Salad

Grilled chicken breast, sliced (or deli rotisserie)
Corn kernels from 1 ear of sweet white corn
Chopped/shredded lettuce of choice
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1/2 large red onion, chopped
1 cup cherry tomatoes, cut in half
1 15-ounce can black beans, rinsed and drained
1/3 cup roasted pepitas
1/2 cup grated pepper jack cheese
Creamy Guacamole Dressing
Tortilla chips, for serving

Creamy Guacamole Dressing

Add all of the Creamy Guacamole Dressing ingredients to a blender or food processor and blend until smooth and creamy. You will have to scrape down the sides a few times. Add additional milk, if needed, to thin to desired consistency. Chill in the refrigerator until ready to use.

Next, grill the chicken breast, if it isn’t already cooked.

Grilled Chicken

Remove the kernels from the ear of corn, using a Bundt-pan to catch the kernels, if you have one. (That’s a pretty cool tip I picked up from Pinterest.)

Cutting the Corn off the Cob

Add all the salad ingredients except dressing and chips to a large bowl. Toss to combine.

Southwest Taco Salad Ingredients

Add tossed salad to individual bowls, then top with guacamole dressing and serve with tortilla chips.

Download and Print this  Yummy Recipe!

 

 

Spicy Canned Tuna Ceviche

Spicy Canned Tuna Ceviche

I planned on making this for my Saturday lunch, but all sorts of errands got in the way. After a two and a half hour shopping binge trip at three stores, it was time to pick up my 16-year-old daughter from her 4-hour SkidCar course at noon (which I begrudgingly got up at 7:30 am on a weekend to take her to it). I had bought all the ingredients for this recipe, in addition to restocking our refrigerator with staples. Our freezer in the fridge went KAPUT a couple of weeks ago, and then the refrigerator side slowly went downhill until it barely kept milk cold enough to drink. We’d been “cooler camping” at our house for the last few days until our new fridge arrived and had to toss out a bunch of stuff. Thank goodness we have a chest freezer in the garage, as I would have been heartbroken to lose the rest of our quarter cow we bought last fall. Nonetheless, after all that shopping I didn’t have time to make this, let alone get the groceries out of the car before I had to pick her up! So we stopped at a local fresh Mexican food joint on the way home and I had a taco and she had a burrito.

For dinner last night, I made my staple summer-time grilled tortilla pizza! I marinated then grilled the chicken, tossed the tortilla on the grill, added pesto, artichoke hearts, the chicken, mozzarella and fresh basil from my herb garden.

Fresh Basil in Herb Garden

I made this and other tortillas pizzas all last summer. If you want the recipes, click here —> Grilled Tortilla Pizzas.

Fresh Grilled Chicken, Artichoke and Pesto Tortilla Pizza

p.s. You are asking yourself, what is a SkidCar course? It’s an amazing driving course using a special car and hydraulics to teach someone how to drive on ice and snow (or how to get out of a skid on any surface), even if there is no snow on the ground! My daughter will get a 30% discount on insurance now, we checked with our company. Win-win, and I’ll feel more secure now when the snow flies again in the winter with her driving skills. I arrived about 5 minutes early and got to see my daughter go into several “skids” and safely recover from them! For information on that course (not available in all areas) click here —> SkidCar course).

And yes, I made this great lunch today, finally. It was every bit as delicious as I expected it to be, and my husband said he really like it a lot! Now on to the recipe!

Spicy Canned Tuna Ceviche
Credit for this goes to Gina for Canned Tuna Ceviche at Skinnytaste.com

2 tablespoons minced red onion
1 to 1 1/2 limes, juiced (about 1/8 cup)
1 teaspoon olive oil
1 can chunk white albacore tuna packed in water, drained
2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro (or parsley)
1/2 to 1 jalapeño, deseeded and minced
1 medium seeded plum tomato, finely diced
Dash of Sriracha sauce (optional)
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Romaine lettuce leaves, for serving
Sliced avocado, for garnish
Tortilla chips, for garnish

Fresh Ceviche Ingredients

In a medium bowl, combine the red onion, lime juice, and olive oil. To that, add the tuna, cilantro, jalapeño, tomato, and Sriracha, if using. Taste and add salt, pepper, and more lime juice, if needed.

Ceviche Ready to Chill

Gosh I’m a messy cook! Cover and refrigerate for a minimum of 20 minutes. Serve on a bed of romaine lettuce leaves garnished with slices of avocado and tortilla chips. A wonderful light summer lunch salad!

Spicy Canned Tuna Ceviche

Download and Print this Yummy Recipe!

Shaved Asparagus Salad with Feta and Peas

Shaved Asparagus Salad with Feta and Peas

This is a beautiful spring salad inspired by my wonderful foodie blogging friend Seana over at Cottage Grove House. She inspires me to make a lot of wonderful and healthy dishes. I didn’t have great hopes that my somewhat picky family would enjoy this, but I enjoyed the flavors of this immensely! “I like my asparagus steamed with butter,” said hubby. “It was OK, but there wasn’t much dressing on it,” said daughter. My daughter was at some event when I made this and wrapped a bowl and left it in the fridge for her for later. The lemon juice and oil was in a separate container next to it. She didn’t add any dressing to it! Ahhh, such is the life when introducing new foods and flavors. Nonetheless, I am sharing this recipe for you in hopes that others might see the bright flavors you could enjoy with such a salad.

Shaved Asparagus Salad with Feta and Peas
Adapted from Cottage Grove House recipe

1 bunch asparagus, washed and well-dried (tough ends removed)
1/4 cup green peas, fresh or frozen and thawed
1/8 cup (2 tablespoons) pine nuts
2 ounces feta, crumbled
1 big handful Spring Mix lettuce
Juice from half a lemon
Extra virgin olive oil
Ground black pepper
Sea salt

Shave the asparagus into ribbons using a vegetable peeler by holding the base of the stalk with one hand and running the peeler down to the tip. Leave the tips whole to add to the salad. Rotate the asparagus 90 degrees each time you shave, until each stalk is shaved through. (Hint: buy the thicker asparagus, it’s much easier to shave.)

Bowl of Shaved Asparagus

Toss the asparagus ribbons with the peas, pine nuts, feta, and Spring Mix lettuce.

Asparagus Salad Ready for Spring Mix and Dressing

Drizzle the lemon juice and olive oil over all, and season with fresh ground pepper and salt, to taste. Serve immediately.

Download and Print this Yummy Recipe!

Perfect Potato Salad

Perfect Potato Salad

This is a recipe that my husband adapted over the years from my 1981 Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook. He is the one that usually makes this to take to potlucks or to serve with his awesome barbecued pork ribs, but this weekend I offered to take the helm and cook them myself. (I still let him cook the ribs, he is the BBQ King in this household.)

Fall is in the air, and this was potentially our last grilled meal for the season. At this time of year, the snow can fly at any time. But today was a beautiful, sunny fall day with just a hint of crispness in the air. It was a perfect day for this Perfect Potato Salad!

Perfect Potato Salad
Adapted from Creamy Potato Salad, 1981 Better Homes and Garden Cookbook

5 to 6 medium potatoes, peeled
2 tablespoons vinegar
2 teaspoons celery seed
2 teaspoons mustard seed
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 cup diced celery
1/2 cup diced onion
1 1/4 cups mayonnaise
Mrs. Dash, or salt, to taste
Ground black pepper, to taste
2 hard-boiled eggs, sliced thin
Snipped chives (optional garnish)

Cook the potatoes in boiling salted water for about 30 minutes until you can pierce with a fork, but don’t let them get mushy! You want the potatoes slightly firm. Rinse under cold water, drain, then add to a large bowl. Cover and refrigerate for several hours up to overnight.

Cold Chilled Potatoes Ready to Chop

Meanwhile, hard boil the eggs until done, about 15 minutes. Dunk in cold water, then refrigerate for several hours up to overnight.

Vinegar Mixture and Chopped Potatoes

In a small bowl, combine the vinegar, celery and mustard seed, and sugar. Cover and refrigerate for several hours up to overnight. I prepped the potatoes, eggs, and vinegar mixture the day before.

Potato Salad Ingredients Ready to Combine

A few hours before serving, chop the potatoes into bite-sized pieces and add back to the large bowl with the chopped celery and onion. Stir in the mayo to the vinegar mixture then toss with the potatoes lightly to coat, then season with Mrs. Dash or salt and ground pepper to taste, Arrange sliced eggs over top and garnish with snipped chives. Cover and chill thoroughly.

p.s. No, this is not the kitchen from my other house. The condo kitchen happens to have the same color granite as our rental kitchen did!

Download and Print this Yummy Recipe!

French Challenge #3 ~ Salads

OK my foodie friends, I’ve dredged up my French Challenge #3 post because way back I ended up in a tie and then life got busy and then, well, you know. So while we are still in limbo from closing on a house, I have a perfectly good (but small) kitchen to cook in now. I’m reviving this post and starting the count all over. Help me out! Which one of these recipes should I make for the the French salad??? Please comment on this repost instead of the original and then I can start a new count. Many thanks!

anotherfoodieblogger

French Classics Cookbook

This is not only a post about my French Challenge going on, but to also say it’s been a challenging week at home with some personal family issues, hence no cooking blog this week. No new recipes or much cooking going on in this household besides microwaving and such, but we are slowly getting back on track. I hope to get you some new recipes after we get over this bump in the road of life.

Now, I present to you three dishes from the third chapter of my French cookbook. I had challenged myself to make at least one dish from each chapter, and this chapter is Vegetables and Sides. I found all the vegetable recipes to be quite simple, and one of them only had two ingredients so I wasn’t much challenged by that! So I picked three of the salads that at least expanded…

View original post 110 more words

Grilled Beer-Butt Chicken and Tortilla Pizzas

Grilled Pesto Chicken Margherita Pizza

I just love grilling season! Today I present to you several scrumptious selections for summertime suppers. (How’s that for alliteration?) Two of my main attractions are not really recipes, but methodology, as the ingredients and seasonings are entirely up to you.

We’ve been grilling beer-butt chicken for many years, and every time we do we are always, ALWAYS, so pleased with how tender the meat is and how yummy-crispy the skin turns out. Seasonings of choice this time included fresh tarragon and sliced lemons. My tarragon plant has gone gangbusters once again, towering at about 18-inches tall and a foot wide. I told hubby to mince the leaves from a couple of sprigs (stalks?) for the outside seasoning and then also stuff the chicken with a couple more whole stalks with the lemons.

We rounded out the meal with some homemade dill potato salad and fresh corn on the cob, also cooked outside on the grill’s propane stove ring. And, of course, we ate outside on the deck under gloriously sunny skies. (At least for the first night of grilling. The next evening was another story.)

Dilled Potato Salad

Grilled Beer-Butt Chicken

1 whole chicken
1 12-0unce can of beer, any kind
Vegetable oil
Seasonings, herbs, fruit of choice

Wash the chicken thoroughly inside and out and pat dry with paper towels. Rub the chicken all over with vegetable oil, then season generously with seasonings and herbs of choice. Stuff the inside of the chicken lightly with more herbs and some slices of fruit. You can use lemon, lime, orange, or even apple! But don’t stuff too much in there because remember you have a can of beer that goes up in there too.

Drink half the beer (or poor down the drain if you don’t drink alcohol) then place it on the counter. Take the chicken and grab it by the legs, and shove it right over the beer can until it’s about halfway inserted into the cavity and the legs can touch the counter. Ta-Dah!

Tarragon and Lemon Beer-Butt Chicken

Preheat the grill on high for about 15 minutes, and then turn the inside burners off so that you will be cooking with indirect heat. For charcoal grills, move the coals to the outside perimeter of the grill after they are burning red. Lay a pan or a sheet of foil in the middle under the grate to catch drips. Now carefully pick the chicken and the beer can up, making sure the can doesn’t slip out.

Place the beer-butt chicken on the center of the grill, arranging the legs to make a tripod so that it balances upright. Cover the grill and cook indirectly for about and hour, maybe a little more, depending on your grill’s heat.

Removing the Chicken from Grill

Remove from the grill, take out the can, and place the chicken on a platter and let rest for 10 minutes before carving. Serve with sides of choice.

Winner Winner Chicken Dinner

If you have a small family like me, we always have leftover chicken when we cook a whole one and I’m always faced with the dilemma of how to use the leftover chicken. I had been wanting to try my hand at grilling a pizza but for some reason it intimidated me. What on earth was I thinking??? Grilled pizza is easy-peasy, especially when you use flour tortillas for the crust. I’m a huge fan of thin-crust pizza and flour tortillas make the best thin crust I think I’ve ever had.

Pesto Chicken Margherita Pizza

My husband thought the idea of grilled tortilla pizza was a little strange, so he opted to eat the same meal from the night before from the leftovers. My daughter jumped right in and made herself a traditional pepperoni pizza, while I on the other hand went for a chicken Margherita-type pizza. Let me tell you it was divine! I gave my husband a bite and he was so surprised how good it was. In fact, we are going to use up the last of the chicken tonight and grill pizzas again! This time I’m also going to make a taco-style pizza in addition to the chicken. Just think of the endless possibilities!

Grilled Tortilla Pizzas

Traditional Pepperoni
10-inch flour tortilla
Marinara sauce (from a jar or homemade)
Pizza-blend shredded cheese
Pepperoni slices

Grilling the Pepperoni Pizza

Pesto Chicken Margherita Pizza
10-inch flour tortilla
Pesto sauce (I used store-bought)
Fresh mozzarella cheese
Shredded cooked chicken
1 tomato, sliced
Fresh basil, ribboned

Preheat grill to medium heat. Spray or lightly brush one side of the tortilla with oil, then grill oil-side down for about 3 minutes. Remove from grill and lightly oil the other side of the tortilla. Spread sauce of choice on the cooked side of the tortilla, then top with cheese and other toppings. Place back on grill, cover, and cook until the cheese is melted, about 5 minutes. Remove, slice, and serve immediately. Molto deliziosa!

Pesto Chicken Margherita Pizza Ready to Grill

Last night when we were grilling, the sun was still out but we were overshadowed by thick plumes of smoke from two wildfires that burst out about 6 miles east of us in the forest. My thoughts and prayers go out to the firefighters for their safety and to all the evacuees who must be so frightened about the possibility of losing their homes.

View of Two Bulls Fire from our Back Deck

 

 

 

Memorial Day Menu Ideas

American Flags for Memorial Day~ photo courtesy of Peter Griffin ~ Link below to image

Photo courtesy of Peter Griffin

We’ll be out of town this Memorial Weekend for a special birthday present concert for our daughter. So instead of a new recipe I thought I’d share some past recipes for mains and sides you can grill or prepare over this very special weekend. Please don’t forget to think about and thank the families of fallen soldiers this weekend and Monday, and attending a Memorial Parade or visiting a veteran’s grave would make it very special!

Memorial Day Menu Ideas

(Click on photos to go to recipe. I apologize but my older posts don’t have the handy-dandy printable PDFs with them…)

Fajita Bar Party

Why not throw a Fajita Bar Party? Prep in advance and enjoy a stress-free gathering! 10-minute grill time and guests can build their own fajitas.

Grilled Chicken Fajitas

 Grilled Foil Packets

Here are a couple of foil packet ideas that can be mixed and matched! One of our favorite go-to grilling recipes.

Grilled Sausage and Vegetables in Foil Packet

Grilled Sausage and Vegetables Foil Packet

 Grilled Turkey Sausage, Broccoli, and Cauliflower Foil Packets

Foil Packets Ready to Close and Grill

 Pepperoni Pasta Salad

This is my top-viewed and pinned post, with over 25,000 views to date. WOW! (I must admit it is delicious, and feeds a crowd!)

Pepperoni Pasta Salad

New Potato Salad with Lemon, Dill, and Chives (No Mayo)

You’ll want to double or triple this if feeding more than four. A sure crowd-pleaser and is not as temperature-sensitive to sit out for awhile since there is no mayo in it!

New Potato Salad with Lemon, Dill, and Chives

Spicy Skillet Corn with Tomatoes and Bacon

Fresh corn on the cob cut off and cooked up quickly with some yummy seasonings, tomatoes, and bacon! Bacon optional, but why not? (Just sayin’…) AND, if your grill isn’t already in use, why not grill up that corn then throw in the skillet? Ohhh, I have to do that…

Spicy Skillet Corn with Tomatoes and Bacon

French Challenge #3 ~ Salads

French Classics Cookbook

This is not only a post about my French Challenge going on, but to also say it’s been a challenging week at home with some personal family issues, hence no cooking blog this week. No new recipes or much cooking going on in this household besides microwaving and such, but we are slowly getting back on track. I hope to get you some new recipes after we get over this bump in the road of life.

Now, I present to you three dishes from the third chapter of my French cookbook. I had challenged myself to make at least one dish from each chapter, and this chapter is Vegetables and Sides. I found all the vegetable recipes to be quite simple, and one of them only had two ingredients so I wasn’t much challenged by that! So I picked three of the salads that at least expanded my horizons. Which is a nice change of pace from the Cassoulet dish I made a few weeks ago, which stretched me for sure!

Please comment which dish you’d like me to make for my next challenge by the end of Sunday, May 18. I found the longer voting times really didn’t increase the votes, so let’s just get it over with, huh? Here are the choices:

Dill and Caper Potato Salad

Dill and Caper Potato Salad

Salade Nicoise

Salade Nicoise

Warm Lentil and Chorizo Salad

Warm Lentil and Chorizo Salad

You can comment on both Facebook or down below in the comments. Thank you so much for your help!