Roasted Beets with Barley, Greens and Feta

This is the last time I'm going to expend any more energy urging you to give beets a chance. I've already shared two of my favorite beet dishes here and here; if they weren't enough to convince you, I'm unsure that this dish will. Maybe you need to read my top 3 reasons to eat beets: 

1. They're pink! Or is it purple? Somewhere in between.
2. They're full of tons of vitamins and minerals, including folate, manganese, beta keratin, anti oxidants, and lots of fiber.
3. They taste good when you eat them. (especially when they've been roasted into sweet tenderness rather than pickled in a can). 

Are you convinced?  

Portobello Mushroom Burger

Grilling again, but this time we are going vegetarian. I really do love hamburgers almost more than any other food, but I decided to try something new and went with a portobello mushroom burger. I've had them before when I worked at a restaurant at Snowbird Ski Resort. I liked them, especially because at the time I was a vegetarian. Yes, hard to believe but I was a vegetarian for a while, 7 years in fact, but I digress....

Fish Tacos with Chipotle Cream

Last night we had some delicious fish tacos at our house. I purchased some tilapia from the local market for a few dollars, which was awesome. The flavor was light and fresh and perfect for a summer night. I threw the tortillas on the grill like the directions suggested and WOW! Turns out that grilling your tortilla shells takes them to a whole new level of smoky flavor goodness. I happen to have a top rack on my grill, so I just put them on there when the fish was about done, flipped them once, and voila, perfection. If you don't have a grill, try them in the broiler and I imagine it will enhance the flavor as well. The crisp corn, fresh cilantro, chipotle flavored sauce, and of course fresh lime juice truly made these tacos perfect. I would suggest putting  them on this weekends menu.

Caroline's Burgers

We have a lot of great recipes on this blog, some that I absolutely love. And there are so many different types of food that I just can't get enough of - for me that would mainly be Mexican and Italian dishes. But when all that is said and done I will always have to say that my favorite thing to eat is a good burger (or at least in the top 3). Specifically, a grilled burger; in my mind that is the only way to have a burger.

After many years of grilling burgers, I have, in my mind, perfected the ultimate summer burger. It is perfect because it is delicious, and I admit whenever I make them I get lots of compliments, so I think that I am not alone in thinking this is one fine burger.

Two Bean Corn Salad

Leave this salad layered and take it to a picnic, everyone will be impressed. This salad is loaded with healthy summer veggies making it a great summer stand-by. It works well as an appetizer paired with tortillas or as a side to grilled fish or chicken. I'm perfectly content eating it as my main course, actually. The flavors are light and simple and become stronger the longer the salad sits. A beautiful, nutrient rich addition to any meal.

Creole Chicken with Corn-Avocado Relish

I pulled out the grill this afternoon and made myself a very healthy, low fat, and tasty, tasty lunch. I have a long drive tonight and felt it was my duty to eat a good lunch. Actually, I had planned to make this for dinner last night, but ended up eating take out at 8pm instead...luckily this was an easy fix and worked as a lunch.

If you have never had Creole seasoning, go buy some. It is inexpensive and works well on chicken and fish. It is a bit spicy, due to the red pepper, but it isn't hot; hmmm does that make sense. Anyways, I paired the chicken with some fresh veggies and lemon juice. I cut my chicken into bite size pieces and ate it salad style. However, I would suggest serving it as a chicken breast with the relish on the side and top giving it a very fresh and summery,but sophisticated look. Try it and love it!

Apricot-Blueberry Rustic Pie

I never ate a whole lot of apricots growing up. I have an inkling that they were one of those fruits that my momma loathed...but that could be my imagination. I was reintroduced to them in dried form, replumped on the stove with a bit of sugar and water, and then topped with cream. Simply delicious.

These apricots were sneakily picked from my neighbor's tree. His house being vacant and the tree bursting with bright orange balls of goodness, I felt it was my civic duty to relieve the tree of some of its weight. The resulting galette was a perfectly summery, surprisingly juicy simple pie. 

Broccoli Salad

Enter the season of salads. It has been well over 90 for well over two weeks now, and even though my husband finally put our ac in the window, I can't bring myself to cook anything that takes longer than boiling water (I think my husband is hoping to escape forced vegetarianism by cooling our house down to a balmy 78, but he might end up disappointed unless I get a grill in the near future). I did have to briefly turn on the stove today, but it ended up being worth it.

My Auntie K is a pro at broccoli salad. Since she was so good at it, I can't remember my mom ever making it on her own; it was just understood that Auntie would be bringing it to any family gathering hosted during the summer. And believe me, it only lasted a few minutes on the table before my dozens of ravenous cousins snarfed it down. My pickiest sister (who doesn't like anything delicious aside from chocolate) would even occasionally have a bite. 
 

I feel like a bad niece in confessing that being too lazy to dig up my aunt's phone number resulted in this being my very own concoction. But I think I've done a pretty good job replicating the flavor, aside from 1 minor change: I substituted some of the mayo for plain yogurt, but I don't think anyone would be able to tell the difference (I just can't stomach the idea of consuming a whole cup of FAT in one bowl). As far as the salad itself goes, you can pretty much add/omit things as you like. My aunt always added cheddar cheese to her salad, but I did not. I've also had it without almonds or with grapes instead of raisins. Have fun with it!

Deviled Eggs

We used to have neighborhood barbecues almost every Sunday during the summer. It was great. Always informal and friendly; bring your own meat and something to share. One of our neighbors claimed that the only thing she knew how to make really well was deviled eggs...so that's what she always brought. And they were quite delicious. Since then, any time I make/see/eat them, I think of that old neighbor.

There's just something about deviled eggs that screams summer. No picnic is truly complete without them. And are there ever really enough? Never. My husband says he has an insatiable appetite for them. It's always a battle to keep his paws out of my eggs while I'm making them. As soon as one lands on the plate, it somehow ends up in his mouth, unless of course I defend my territory with a swift whack of a spoon....or a knife. 

Summer Lemon-Garlic Grilled Chicken

I have been so excited to have some sunshine this week, that I just had to have dinner on the back deck. And what better dinner to have in the outdoors, as the sun is setting, than some citrus infused grilled chicken; serve it alongside a fresh vegetable salad and watermelon (what you may have figured out is that I love watermelon, or as Kelly would say I heart watermelon; it is so, so good). While the marinade for this chicken only takes a few minutes to put together it is important to actually use it as a marinade, meaning, do what you can to marinade the chicken for at least 3 or 4 hours, if not overnight. I would suggest putting it together at lunch, throwing it in the fridge, and then pulling it back out when you are ready to grill. Double or triple the batch and make enough for a backyard barbecue with your friends.

Cottage-Cheese Egg Salad

Summer time means it is time for picnics. This egg salad recipe is a healthier variation on your typical egg-salad using cottage-cheese for moisture rather than mayonnaise. It is not quite as tangy as you may be used to, but the dill adds a fantastic flavor and the celery adds a nice crunch. Put this egg salad on some good quality whole-wheat bread, add a slice of watermelon, and you have yourself a well rounded picnic lunch.

Tomato Cucumber Salad

Last week Caroline and I were trying to think of a good side to go with this fish dish when we decided to post this recipe (which I sometimes don't consider to be a real recipe because it's ridiculously easy). But we both had a sneaky suspicion that we had posted it before. We spent the next several minutes perusing through our blog trying to find this salad..and couldn't find it. So naturally we decided to put it up since everyone should have a quick go-to salad.

But then this morning I accidentally set this to post in 2008 rather than 2009, went hunting for it on our blog history, and found the same recipe (with minor variations) posted just this past June! The horror of a duplicated recipe!

I decided to leave it up for two reasons: (1) The pictures are much better on this one than the one from June. (2) It's a good salad and you may have forgotten about it or never tried it on the original posting. So here's your chance!

Tomato Cucumber Salad
Recipe by Kelly
Pictures by Caroline

Serves 4

1 medium cucumber, very thinly sliced
2 medium tomatoes, cut into 1 inch chunks
2 tablespoons red onion, thinly sliced
3-4 tablespoons apple cider vinegar*
1 tablespoon freshly chopped basil
salt and pepper, to taste

1. In a medium bowl, mix all ingredients together. Stir well and let sit 5-10 minutes. Serve.

*If you find the flavor of the vinegar to be too strong, add 1 tablespoon water. You can also use white vinegar, though I prefer the apple cider.

Potato Salad

I can't believe that summer is almost over and I'm just barely posting a potato salad. What was I thinking? Who makes potato salad in the fall? No one! I guess those of you in a more southern climate may have a few more weeks of bbqs and picnics. The rest of us will have to settle for Labor day.

Anyway. Growing up, my best friend's mom used to make this salad for every "family" (meaning their family plus me or one or two of my siblings) picnic event. She has told me her recipe dozens of times, but I can never seem to make it quite as good as she does. This recipe is a mustard and pickle-free version, which may seem un-American because it is; the author was born and raised in Norway!


Potato Salad
Recipe by Ingunn Andresen
Picture by Kelly

6 medium red potatoes, boiled, peeled, and chopped into large chunks
3 stalks celery, chopped
8 oz Canadian bacon, chopped
1/2 small onion, chopped
3 hard boiled eggs, chopped
1/2 cup mayonnaise*
salt and pepper, to taste**

1. In a large bowl, mix potatoes, celery, bacon, onion, eggs, mayonnaise and salt and pepper.
   
2. Chill and serve.
   

*Reduce mayo if you like a drier salad; Add mayo if you like it wetter.
**Make sure you taste before you salt! The Canadian bacon adds quite a bit of salt, so be careful before adding more.