Cranberry Crunch Salad

My first post in a while! I thought Thanksgiving would be the perfect time to dust off the ole laptop and share some yummy recipes. We all love the traditional holiday recipes that we grew up with but sometimes it's nice to mix it up a little. So.... what's up with the weird jello fruit salads that our moms always make? Don't get me wrong, I love my Mom's "Coronado Fruit Salad" (despite it's opaque mint green color and questionable mixture of heavy cream, pineapple chunks and horseradish) and gobble it up every year but it's time for an update!

This salad is a healthier, refreshing combination of fresh cranberries, apples and nuts that offers the palate-cleansing we crave... without being a scary gelatinous blob :-) Happy Thanksgiving y'all!

Cranberry Crunch Salad

Ingredients

• 1 package (12 oz) fresh cranberries
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 1 envelope unflavored gelatin
• 1 cup freshly squeezed orange juice
• 1 small apple, cored and chopped
• 1/2 cup chopped celery
• 1/2 cup chopped pecans or walnuts

Directions

1. Wash cranberries and drain. Chop coarsely in food processor. 
2. In a large bowl, combine cranberries and sugar. Let stand 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
3. Chop the celery, apple and nuts.
4. Sprinkle gelatin over orange juice in small saucepan. Let stand for 1 minute. Stir over medium heat until gelatin is completely dissolved (about 1 minute).
5. Add gelatin mixture, apple, celery, and nuts to cranberries. Mix well.
6. Turn combined ingredients into a 1 quart mold or 9x9 casserole dish. Refrigerate until firm or overnight.

Makes 8 servings.

Mr. Sprouts

My brother Russ has never been able to escape his nickname of Mr. Sprouts, even to this day so this recipe is dedicated to him! (get it... Russell Sprouts...)

Anyhoo, this recipe have very quickly become my favorite veggie side dish. I fell in love with them when I had them at Shane's moms house when she had us over for family dinners. I never liked them growing up but somehow the flash frying of the brussels sprouts creates this amazing char-grilled flavor. Plus this dish is served warm so it's more satisfying than a salad during the winter months. Super easy too. Cheers to you, Mr. Sprouts!

Caramelized Brussels Sprouts

Ingredients

12 oz fresh Brussels sprouts

½ of a lemon

2 tbsp olive oil

Sea salt and fresh ground pepper

Directions

1.    Place Brussels sprouts in a large skillet and cover with ½ cup of water. Season with salt and pepper. Cover and heat over medium until most of water is evaporated and sprouts are almost done but not quite. This takes about 8 minutes. Add more water if pan becomes dry before sprouts are ready. I usually have to taste test sprouts for desired crispness.

2.    Uncover, crank up heat to medium high and pour olive oil over sprouts. Do not stir. Cook for another 5-7 min until sprouts are golden brown on underside. Monitor to make sure they don’t overcook.

3.    Remove from heat. And place in serving dish. Season again with salt and pepper and squeeze lemon juice over sprouts. Serve with lemon wedges.

She's gone country

Hey y'all,

This is my most favorite BBQ side dish -- easy and delicious. I made it for a BBQ I am going to today. I Laurelize it up a little bit by using sweet & spicy Southwestern-style mustard or spicy dijon to add kick but it's good no matter what kind of dijon you use. To cut back on cals you can skip the "add bacon grease" to dressing option and use light mayo. But don't skip the bacon altogether, that's just not very Texan :-)

Texas Country Potato Salad (a la Paula Deen)

Ingredients

6 strips bacon

1 pound small red potatoes, unpeeled

2 green onions, sliced

1 boiled egg, chopped

1/4 cup mayonnaise

1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

Salt and pepper

Directions

Cook bacon until crispy. Drain, reserving a few tablespoons of the grease, and crumble. Set aside.

Slice potatoes into bite size pieces and place in a large saucepan. Cover with cold water. Add some salt and place over medium-high heat. Bring to a boil and cook until the potatoes are tender, about 15 to 20 minutes. Drain and let the potatoes cool

In a separate bowl, mix mayonnaise, Dijon mustard, few tablespoons of bacon grease, salt, and pepper for dressing.

Toss potatoes, onion, and egg in dressing. Add bacon. Serve chilled. 

Salsa Recipes

I'm not feeling clever today, so no catchy titles.  :)  However, I did make two batches of salsa recently - one regular tomato salsa, one tomatillo.  The tomatillo is similar to the sauce in the recipe here; the red salsa is one I like to use in my chilaquiles recipe...which will follow at a later date.  However, since it's salsa, you obviously can use it on anything!  These are both great basic recipes that you can tweak as you like, but I absolutely love the deep color and flavor the Ancho chiles add to the salsa. I also make homemade chips from store-bought corn tortillas, which are much more delicious and healthy.

Roasted Tomato & Ancho Salsa

Ingredients:

--8 roma tomatoes

--1 large yellow onion

--2-3 large jalapenos (depending on how spicy you want it)

--3 large cloves of roasted garlic (instructions below)

--3 large dried Ancho chiles

--1 cup cilantro

--2 tbsp lime juice

--1 tbsp Mexican chicken bouillon

--1 tbsp oregano

--1 tbsp cumin

--Salt to taste

Directions:

1.  To roast garlic: Peel the papery skin off a whole head of garlic; drizzle the top with olive oil and wrap in foil.  Roast in the oven at 400 degrees for 45 min to an hour, until the head is soft.  (I do this ahead of time.)

2.  Cut the stems from the Ancho chiles and shake free the seeds; place the chiles in a bowl of HOT water and allow them to soften.  Check them periodically to be sure the WHOLE chile is softening; sometimes you may need to turn them or freshen the hot water.

3.    While the Anchos are softening, pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees. 

4.  Spray a cookie sheet or baking pan with non-stick spray.  Stem, seed and halve the jalapenos.  Cut the onion into 1" slices.  Place the onion, jalapenos and roma tomatoes on the baking pan; roast in the oven until the tomato skins split and the vegetables start to char.  Remove from oven.

5.  Peel off the tomato skins and discard.  Remove the remaining seeds from the Ancho chiles.  Combine the ingredients and blend in a food processor.  Add salt to taste (everyone's taste varies!) and serve with homemade chips.

I prefer to serve this salsa warm; it kinda reminds me of Pappasito's salsa.  Sooooo good! 

Homemade chips:

1.  Take a baking sheet and coat with non-stick spray. 

2.  Cut corn tortillas into small pieces (I make two cuts each way, like a tic-tac-toe board).

3.  Place pieces on baking sheet and spray tops with non-stick spray.

4.  Bake in oven at 400 degrees until golden brown - remove immediately to prevent burning.

5.  While hot, lightly salt the chips with sea salt.  Allow to cool.

Tomatillo Salsa

Ingredients:

--2 Anaheim peppers

--1.5 lbs tomatillos

--1/2 cup cilantro (I used a bit more 'cuz I love cilantro)

--1.5 tsp cumin

--1 tsp oregano

--2 tbsp Mexican chicken bouillon

Directions:

1.  Preheat oven to broil on high (400-450 degrees).

2.  Peel the skins from the tomatillos and wash thoroughly.  Halve/stem/seed the Anaheim peppers.

3.  Line a pan with tin foil, coat with cooking spray, and broil the Anaheim peppers until they are charred, about 5 minutes.  Bundle up the tin foil after roasting to contain the chiles; let them sit for 15 minutes.

4.  Arrange tomatillos on the same pan and broil until they are charred, about 15 minutes, turning once.

5.  Combine tomatillos, Anaheims, and remaining ingredients in a food processor and serve.

Ravioli Ramekins

This has quickly evolved into one of my FAVORITE recipes.  The method below is the absolute best way to make it, so please try it this way first.  However, it also is a very forgiving and versatile recipe; you can substitute various types of pasta and cheese, and also add your own touches (bacon, peppers, etc.) to make it your own!  This is based on a recipe from my Le Creuset cookbook; as usual, I have tweaked it to cut some of the fat and calories and fit my taste.  The actual recipe calls for homemade pesto, too, but their recipe is VERY garlicky; I'm no alliumphobe, but that was even too much for me and my husband! (Yes, I Googled the word for "fear of garlic".) 

(This picture is a variation on the recipe below, using penne pasta)

Ravioli Gratins

Ingredients (some volumes are estimated):
--3 oz reduced-fat goat cheese crumbles
--3 oz reduced-fat mozzarella cheese, shredded
--3 oz reduced-fat Parmigiano Reggiano or parmesan cheese, shredded
--3/4 cup skim milk
--2 oz pine nuts
--10 oz cheese ravioli (I use Buitoni whole-wheat 3-cheese ravioli)
--4 oz prepared pesto with basil (I use Buitoni pesto with basil)

1.  Boil a pot of lightly-salted water and pre-cook the ravioli for 1 minute.
2.  Preheat the oven to 400 deg F.
3.  Coat 4 ramekins with non-stick cooking spray.
4.  Layer the ingredients (divided evenly) in each ramekin as follows:
--Bottom layer:  Ravioli, mozzarella, pine nuts, pesto, splash of milk
--Middle layer:  Ravioli, goat cheese, pine nuts, pesto, splash of milk
--Top layer:  Ravioli, and top with Parmigiano Reggiano
5.  Bake, uncovered, for about 10 minutes, or until the tops are a golden brown.

I usually serve this with a baked chicken or pork chop and some asparagus.  One thing I want to try and haven't is to make this as a casserole with the chicken IN the dish, like thin slices baked into the casserole.  It is one of our faves now, so enjoy!