I love burgers -- in fact burgers were the thing I missed the most when I was a vegetarian for 10 years. However, as I try to get back in shape after the 2nd baby (with little time to exercise because of the 1st and 2nd baby), burgers are not a great menu item. So, I've been making some healthy alternatives and last night's mushroom swiss turkey burgers were a great alternate.
This is the recipe I found online -
http://gastronomist.wordpress.com/2011/02/20/the-430-calorie-burger/
I used our George Foreman grill to make the burgers, which is great for having the turkey burgers be as lean as possible, but the mushrooms are the key. The mushrooms add back in some moisture that the burger lacked. When you put the swiss on top of the warm burger and then pile the hot mushrooms on top of that, the cheese melts perfectly.
I put mine on a whole grain roll with spicy mustard, red leaf lettuce, red onion and tomatoes. My husband prefers his no bun (so even less calories), so he ate just the patty topped with the swiss and the mushrooms. As for my toddler - he took a piece, licked it and gave it back (I did not eat it), so if you really wanted to cut calories and time, you could eat what he had for dinner: orange slices, raisins and whole grain goldfish.
I really recommend making some mushroom swiss turkey burgers. It was so popular at our house, that my husband wants them again tonight.
And while I'm on a mushroom kick, here's a preview of the recipe I'm going to try out tomorrow or Saturday. It was inspired by the sage that came in my farm share produce box and my love of mushrooms.
http://simplyrecipes.com/recipes/chicken_breasts_with_mushroom_sage_sauce/ - or Friday night's dinner.
Tuesday, November 15, 2011
Monday, November 14, 2011
Healthy Cooking - Mac N'Cheese
Here's a healthier and lighter take on homemade mac n'cheese (and much better than boxed mac n'cheese that is so processed). It was inspired by a recipe in Jamie Oliver's Meals in Minutes. I also like this recipe because it is much easier than traditional homemade mac n'cheese, which I always find so labor intensive. Easier and healthier. Win. Win.
A testament to how good this healthy mac n'cheese is that my husband even ate it (and had more than one serving, which means he liked it and wasn't just being polite). This is a big deal because he doesn't really like pasta and he never eats vegetables. With this, he ate both (and happily)!
I used tri-colored rotini pasta, which is one of my favorite types of pasta. I usually make pasta salad with it, but it worked very nicely for this recipe.
Ingredients:
1 box (12 oz-16 oz) of pasta (rotinia, penne, elbow macaroni or something similar would work best)
1 head of cauliflower (cauliflower has been really cheap lately, so I'm using it a lot and love it!!)
1 bag (9 oz) of shredded cheese (I used sharp)
1/2 cup (about) of sour cream, cream fraiche or plain yogurt (I used sour cream because that's what I already had on hand)
4 slices of whole wheat italian bread (day old is fine)
Here's what you do:
1. Quarter the cauliflower and put it in a large pot with your pasta
2. Cover with water and boil (for about 8 minutes - until pasta is cooked) - add some salt and olive oil to the water
3. Put the sliced bread (torn into pieces) in the food processor with the shredded cheese and some olive oil and pulse until you get a good breadcrumb consistency (you could also add herbs into the food process. Jaime recommends Rosemary, but I didn't have any fresh herbs, so I just made it without).
4. Drain the pasta and cauliflower with a bowl underneath your colander so that you can catch some of the pasta water.
5. In your roasting pan (mine was 9 x 9 because we have a small oven), put the pasta and cauliflower, mashing the soft cauliflower up a bit. Add about 1-1 1/2 cups of the pasta water and your sour cream/cream fraiche or yogurt. Taste and correct seasoning (you could add shredded cheese into this mixture as well if you want, but to keep it lighter, I didn't). You don't want it to be soupy, so keep that in mind when judging how much pasta water to add.
6. Top with breadcrumb/cheese mixture and cook at 425 degrees for about 8 minutes (until golden and bubbly).
Some tips - if you have a tea kettle, put the kettle on while you're prepping your cauliflower (quartering and talking the stalks and tough base off) and then pour the boiled/hot tea kettle water over your cauliflower/pasta. This way your boil time is shorter. I use this Jaime tip when making potatoes as well (or anything that calls for bringing water to a boil). It's easy and speeds things up a bit, which is nice when you are trying to cook quickly because you have a baby and a 2 year-old vying for your attention.
Also, I had a little bit of pancetta that needed to be used, so I put it in my 9X9 and threw it in the oven (top shelf) to cook up and then added it in the food processor with the bread and cheese, so you could add pancetta or bacon if you want (though, then it is less healthy). I only had one slice, so it didn't really add much bad. (Jaime recommends 8 slices of pancetta).
You could also just use pre-made breadcrumbs if you don't have a food processor and don't want to hassle, but it definitely tastes better when you make them yourself.
A testament to how good this healthy mac n'cheese is that my husband even ate it (and had more than one serving, which means he liked it and wasn't just being polite). This is a big deal because he doesn't really like pasta and he never eats vegetables. With this, he ate both (and happily)!
I used tri-colored rotini pasta, which is one of my favorite types of pasta. I usually make pasta salad with it, but it worked very nicely for this recipe.
Ingredients:
1 box (12 oz-16 oz) of pasta (rotinia, penne, elbow macaroni or something similar would work best)
1 head of cauliflower (cauliflower has been really cheap lately, so I'm using it a lot and love it!!)
1 bag (9 oz) of shredded cheese (I used sharp)
1/2 cup (about) of sour cream, cream fraiche or plain yogurt (I used sour cream because that's what I already had on hand)
4 slices of whole wheat italian bread (day old is fine)
Here's what you do:
1. Quarter the cauliflower and put it in a large pot with your pasta
2. Cover with water and boil (for about 8 minutes - until pasta is cooked) - add some salt and olive oil to the water
3. Put the sliced bread (torn into pieces) in the food processor with the shredded cheese and some olive oil and pulse until you get a good breadcrumb consistency (you could also add herbs into the food process. Jaime recommends Rosemary, but I didn't have any fresh herbs, so I just made it without).
4. Drain the pasta and cauliflower with a bowl underneath your colander so that you can catch some of the pasta water.
5. In your roasting pan (mine was 9 x 9 because we have a small oven), put the pasta and cauliflower, mashing the soft cauliflower up a bit. Add about 1-1 1/2 cups of the pasta water and your sour cream/cream fraiche or yogurt. Taste and correct seasoning (you could add shredded cheese into this mixture as well if you want, but to keep it lighter, I didn't). You don't want it to be soupy, so keep that in mind when judging how much pasta water to add.
6. Top with breadcrumb/cheese mixture and cook at 425 degrees for about 8 minutes (until golden and bubbly).
Some tips - if you have a tea kettle, put the kettle on while you're prepping your cauliflower (quartering and talking the stalks and tough base off) and then pour the boiled/hot tea kettle water over your cauliflower/pasta. This way your boil time is shorter. I use this Jaime tip when making potatoes as well (or anything that calls for bringing water to a boil). It's easy and speeds things up a bit, which is nice when you are trying to cook quickly because you have a baby and a 2 year-old vying for your attention.
Also, I had a little bit of pancetta that needed to be used, so I put it in my 9X9 and threw it in the oven (top shelf) to cook up and then added it in the food processor with the bread and cheese, so you could add pancetta or bacon if you want (though, then it is less healthy). I only had one slice, so it didn't really add much bad. (Jaime recommends 8 slices of pancetta).
You could also just use pre-made breadcrumbs if you don't have a food processor and don't want to hassle, but it definitely tastes better when you make them yourself.
Tuesday, November 1, 2011
Learning to Cook Chicken
I never really was into chicken - eating it and certainly not cooking it. I was a vegetarian for ten years, from age 12 to 22, so when I really started cooking myself, I wasn't cooking meat. Even after I started eating meat , I still didn't cook it very often, and I almost never cooked chicken.
However, I've been on a major cooking kick lately and have been cooking more and more for my family. My husband LOVES chicken. He eats it almost nightly, so I've been learning to cook chicken and have been glad to be able to feed us free range, organic chicken, rather than having him pick up take out chicken for himself on a nightly basis.
So, I'm going to dedicate a few posts to chicken - the meat I used to fear (and not like very much) that I have discovered I do like - when I cook it.
To start, I'm going to share an easy, oven-based chicken preparation inspired by the preparation used in Jamie Oliver's Proper Chicken Caesar Salad. This chicken is very good (and very easy) and there are basically just four ingredients. Instead of an ingredient list, I'm just going to put ingredients in all caps.
1. Take 4-6 CHICKEN THIGHS (I used boneless, skinless thighs) and season, lightly, with sea salt and black pepper.
2. Take SOURDOUGH, FRENCH BREAD OR CIABATTA (day old or fresh works fine) and tear into bite-sized pieces (enough to line your baking pan).
3. Line a baking pan (that has been sprayed with cooking spray) with the torn bread and lay chicken thighs on top of the bread.
4. Drizzle with OLIVE OIL and mix the olive oil around (so that it gets on the thighs and bread). After mixing the olive oil, make sure the thighs are resting back on top of the bread.
5. Cook chicken (and bread underneath) at 400 degrees for 45 minutes.
6. Top chicken with PANCETTA and cook for an additional 15-20 minutes.
The result is delicious chicken. The bread is perfect as croutons tossed in a salad and the pancetta is great tossed in your salad as well (tear the pancetta into smaller pieces).
I used this chicken in a Caesar salad (that I also put the bread/croutons and pancetta in).
On another night, I prepared chicken the same way, but this time used chicken breast tenders and ended up cutting up the chicken and using it as a pizza topping (for delicious chicken pesto pizza) and I put the pancetta and croutons into a side garden salad to go with the pizza.
Yum. Yum. Yum. Easy. Easy. Easy.
I'm starting to think I don't have to hate chicken -- eating it or cooking it and love having control over the type of chicken our family eats.
However, I've been on a major cooking kick lately and have been cooking more and more for my family. My husband LOVES chicken. He eats it almost nightly, so I've been learning to cook chicken and have been glad to be able to feed us free range, organic chicken, rather than having him pick up take out chicken for himself on a nightly basis.
So, I'm going to dedicate a few posts to chicken - the meat I used to fear (and not like very much) that I have discovered I do like - when I cook it.
To start, I'm going to share an easy, oven-based chicken preparation inspired by the preparation used in Jamie Oliver's Proper Chicken Caesar Salad. This chicken is very good (and very easy) and there are basically just four ingredients. Instead of an ingredient list, I'm just going to put ingredients in all caps.
1. Take 4-6 CHICKEN THIGHS (I used boneless, skinless thighs) and season, lightly, with sea salt and black pepper.
2. Take SOURDOUGH, FRENCH BREAD OR CIABATTA (day old or fresh works fine) and tear into bite-sized pieces (enough to line your baking pan).
3. Line a baking pan (that has been sprayed with cooking spray) with the torn bread and lay chicken thighs on top of the bread.
4. Drizzle with OLIVE OIL and mix the olive oil around (so that it gets on the thighs and bread). After mixing the olive oil, make sure the thighs are resting back on top of the bread.
5. Cook chicken (and bread underneath) at 400 degrees for 45 minutes.
6. Top chicken with PANCETTA and cook for an additional 15-20 minutes.
The result is delicious chicken. The bread is perfect as croutons tossed in a salad and the pancetta is great tossed in your salad as well (tear the pancetta into smaller pieces).
I used this chicken in a Caesar salad (that I also put the bread/croutons and pancetta in).
On another night, I prepared chicken the same way, but this time used chicken breast tenders and ended up cutting up the chicken and using it as a pizza topping (for delicious chicken pesto pizza) and I put the pancetta and croutons into a side garden salad to go with the pizza.
Yum. Yum. Yum. Easy. Easy. Easy.
I'm starting to think I don't have to hate chicken -- eating it or cooking it and love having control over the type of chicken our family eats.
Tuesday, October 18, 2011
Soup Week - Soup #3 - TPP Soup (Turnips, Potatoes and Pears)
I'm a few days past the official "week" of soup week, but I had to share today's soup inspiration. TPP soup may sound a bit odd to some, and I was a little worried about trying to make a soup with these key ingredients, but I also thought it just might work -- and it did. This soup is smooth and tasty. It is definitely one of my most creative and unusual recipes/soups, but was inspired by the items in my Farmshare box. I had lots of pears and some turnips, so I decided to try it all together in a soup.
Ingredients:
1 white onion (diced)
2 russet potatoes (diced, I didn't peel them, but you could)
3 pears (diced and peeled-make sure pears are ripe and soft)
4 turnips (diced, I didn't peel them, but you could)
1-2 pats of butter (or so)
About 4 cups of chicken stock (I used homemade, but you could use store bought or use vegetable stock to make it vegetarian).
1 tsp cinnamon
2-3 tsp thyme
2 tsp curry powder
Salt and pepper to taste
1. In a large, heavy, thick-bottomed pot, melt the butter. then add the onions and cook until translucent about 5 minutes. Next, add the diced turnips and potatoes and stir to coat with the butter (add more butter, if necessary. I did).
2. Pour in enough chicken stock to just cover potatoes, turnips and onions. Bring to a simmer, then reduce the heat to low - adding salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the turnips and potatoes are tender, about 15-20 minutes.
3. Add pears and the rest of chicken stock and spices and stir. Bring to boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 10-15 more minutes, until all vegetables are tender. (This is the part where the soup starts to smell amazing because of the spices).
4. Puree in food processor or blender.
5. Enjoy!!
Ingredients:
1 white onion (diced)
2 russet potatoes (diced, I didn't peel them, but you could)
3 pears (diced and peeled-make sure pears are ripe and soft)
4 turnips (diced, I didn't peel them, but you could)
1-2 pats of butter (or so)
About 4 cups of chicken stock (I used homemade, but you could use store bought or use vegetable stock to make it vegetarian).
1 tsp cinnamon
2-3 tsp thyme
2 tsp curry powder
Salt and pepper to taste
1. In a large, heavy, thick-bottomed pot, melt the butter. then add the onions and cook until translucent about 5 minutes. Next, add the diced turnips and potatoes and stir to coat with the butter (add more butter, if necessary. I did).
2. Pour in enough chicken stock to just cover potatoes, turnips and onions. Bring to a simmer, then reduce the heat to low - adding salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the turnips and potatoes are tender, about 15-20 minutes.
3. Add pears and the rest of chicken stock and spices and stir. Bring to boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 10-15 more minutes, until all vegetables are tender. (This is the part where the soup starts to smell amazing because of the spices).
4. Puree in food processor or blender.
5. Enjoy!!
Thursday, October 13, 2011
Soup Week - Soup #2 - Taco Soup
This Taco Soup is really, really easy and really perfect for leftovers. It also takes very little dishes -- I make mine in my crockpot. It can be made vegetarian or with meat. I'll give you the run down on what I dumped in my crockpot this time, and give examples for swap outs. It's great for a busy week because you can literally dump and turn the crockpot on and it will be done. Plus, the soup can be used as a great baked potato topper as well.
So, my ingredients this time were:
1 cup (about) of ground turkey (leftover from tacos a few nights before)
1 can of red beans
1/2 cup of black bean soup (or you could use 1 can of black beans)
1 cup or can of white beans (or whatever other bean you like - chili beans, garbanzo beans, etc. I had some white beans leftover from another recipe)
1-1 1/2 cups of corn (I used frozen corn that I had shaved off the cob when corn was in season and cheap. You could also use 1 can of corn, if you wanted).
1-2 cans of diced tomatoes (or fresh tomatoes, 1-2 cups, depending on how tomato-ey you want it).
1 packet of taco seasoning
I just dump all of these items in the crockpot and a few hours later you really do have a great soup. Just add salt and pepper to taste.
Garnishing with this soup is key - it's a great way to use up the crumbs at the bottom of a tortilla chip bag and anything you would top a taco with, is great on this soup, notably shredded cheese, avocado, sour cream, diced red onions, etc.
I also topped a baked potato with the soup one night, which was also quite good.
For swap outs, I recommend any ground beef you have or leftover fajita meat or even shredded chicken. It's also a great vegetarian soup in which I just up the amount of canned beans (usually putting two of kidney and two of black because those are my favorites. My mom usually adds frozen green beans as well.) You might also need to add more taco seasoning, if you make an extra full pot of it.
Enjoy!!
So, my ingredients this time were:
1 cup (about) of ground turkey (leftover from tacos a few nights before)
1 can of red beans
1/2 cup of black bean soup (or you could use 1 can of black beans)
1 cup or can of white beans (or whatever other bean you like - chili beans, garbanzo beans, etc. I had some white beans leftover from another recipe)
1-1 1/2 cups of corn (I used frozen corn that I had shaved off the cob when corn was in season and cheap. You could also use 1 can of corn, if you wanted).
1-2 cans of diced tomatoes (or fresh tomatoes, 1-2 cups, depending on how tomato-ey you want it).
1 packet of taco seasoning
I just dump all of these items in the crockpot and a few hours later you really do have a great soup. Just add salt and pepper to taste.
Garnishing with this soup is key - it's a great way to use up the crumbs at the bottom of a tortilla chip bag and anything you would top a taco with, is great on this soup, notably shredded cheese, avocado, sour cream, diced red onions, etc.
I also topped a baked potato with the soup one night, which was also quite good.
For swap outs, I recommend any ground beef you have or leftover fajita meat or even shredded chicken. It's also a great vegetarian soup in which I just up the amount of canned beans (usually putting two of kidney and two of black because those are my favorites. My mom usually adds frozen green beans as well.) You might also need to add more taco seasoning, if you make an extra full pot of it.
Enjoy!!
Monday, October 10, 2011
Soup Week - Soup #1 - Carrot Soup
I've been making a lot of soups lately. It seems appropriate as it's finally starting to feel like Fall here in SoCal. What's interesting about soup is that I always used to think I didn't like soup, until I started making my own soups. I had really only eaten soup out of can, and that I don't like, but I love making my own soups (and eating them!).
My latest new soup was created through a recipe blunder. My first attempt to make a carrot soup (motivated by a farmer selling me a bunch of carrots for basically $1) went awry, but my "fix" resulted in a soup that was rather delectable. I based my attempt on this recipe. It was not the recipe's fault that my soup didn't turn out. The problem came when I decided to add my own choice of spices (mainly because I didn't have on hand the herbs/spices recommended in the recipe). I added cumin, curry powder, thyme and then put in some cayenne pepper (for a little kick, or so I thought). I wasn't really measuring any of these, but was just eyeballing.
Apparently, I used too much cayenne because the soup was so spicy that it was not really edible. But, my "fix" led me to create a smooth carrot soup with a lot of depth of flavor and with protein. I added a white bean puree to it. So, here's how I did it.
Ingredients:
6 carrots (sliced)
Olive oil (or grapeseed or avocado oil), salt, black pepper
Vegetable Stock (probably 6-8 cups between the carrot and white bean puree - I always just eyeball my stock and don't measure)
1/2 white onion (diced)
6 garlic cloves (1/2 for carrot puree and 1/2 for white bean puree)
1 tsp each of cumin, curry powder, thyme
cayenne pepper to taste
1/2 cup dried white beans (or 1/2-1 can of white beans)
1. If you don't use organic carrots, then I recommend peeling them. If you do use organic, then you don't really need to peel them. Slice them into rounds, then toss the carrots with olive oil, salt and black pepper and spread them out on a baking sheet. Add 2-4 cloves of garlic to roast with the carrots as well. Broil for about 15-20 minutes (I stirred them up and turned them about halfway through)
2. Sautee onions in olive oil (I did this in my stock pot, so that I didn't dirty any extra dishes).
3. Add stock (probably 3-6 cups, it will depend on your carrots - you want to make sure you have a nice ratio to puree it) to onions and bring to a boil. Add carrots and garlic from oven and simmer until carrots get soft.
4. Put in food processor (or blender) and puree. Set aside and make white bean puree.
Since I used dried beans, I'll include instructions here for using dried beans, but you can also use canned. (First, you need to soak the white beans in water overnight the night before. Then, I bring the beans to boil in vegetable stock and then simmer for a few hours until they are soft. It usually takes about 3-4 hours with the white beans. I do this in my cast iron dutch oven and think it works really well and that the beans taste much better than canned).
5. Sautee garlic and add white beans with vegetable stock (make sure the white beans are covered with vegetable stock. You want to have enough stock to be able to puree them). Simmer for about 3-5 minutes.
6. Puree white beans, streaming in olive oil as you do (to taste).
7. Mix the two purees together.
This soup really is delicious. I think it could be a good choice for Thanksgiving (you'd probably need to make more. This is really 4 servings, max). It's a nice soup that is not expensive at all to make, but is an enjoyable Fall-inspired dish.
Wish I had pictures as it is a really pretty soup, but the friend I shared the soup with -- well, we enjoyed it so much that I forgot to take a picture.
Oh - I think it would be great to garnish it with diced avocado, caramelized onions or toasted almonds.
Taco soup recipe coming soon!
My latest new soup was created through a recipe blunder. My first attempt to make a carrot soup (motivated by a farmer selling me a bunch of carrots for basically $1) went awry, but my "fix" resulted in a soup that was rather delectable. I based my attempt on this recipe. It was not the recipe's fault that my soup didn't turn out. The problem came when I decided to add my own choice of spices (mainly because I didn't have on hand the herbs/spices recommended in the recipe). I added cumin, curry powder, thyme and then put in some cayenne pepper (for a little kick, or so I thought). I wasn't really measuring any of these, but was just eyeballing.
Apparently, I used too much cayenne because the soup was so spicy that it was not really edible. But, my "fix" led me to create a smooth carrot soup with a lot of depth of flavor and with protein. I added a white bean puree to it. So, here's how I did it.
Ingredients:
6 carrots (sliced)
Olive oil (or grapeseed or avocado oil), salt, black pepper
Vegetable Stock (probably 6-8 cups between the carrot and white bean puree - I always just eyeball my stock and don't measure)
1/2 white onion (diced)
6 garlic cloves (1/2 for carrot puree and 1/2 for white bean puree)
1 tsp each of cumin, curry powder, thyme
cayenne pepper to taste
1/2 cup dried white beans (or 1/2-1 can of white beans)
1. If you don't use organic carrots, then I recommend peeling them. If you do use organic, then you don't really need to peel them. Slice them into rounds, then toss the carrots with olive oil, salt and black pepper and spread them out on a baking sheet. Add 2-4 cloves of garlic to roast with the carrots as well. Broil for about 15-20 minutes (I stirred them up and turned them about halfway through)
2. Sautee onions in olive oil (I did this in my stock pot, so that I didn't dirty any extra dishes).
3. Add stock (probably 3-6 cups, it will depend on your carrots - you want to make sure you have a nice ratio to puree it) to onions and bring to a boil. Add carrots and garlic from oven and simmer until carrots get soft.
4. Put in food processor (or blender) and puree. Set aside and make white bean puree.
Since I used dried beans, I'll include instructions here for using dried beans, but you can also use canned. (First, you need to soak the white beans in water overnight the night before. Then, I bring the beans to boil in vegetable stock and then simmer for a few hours until they are soft. It usually takes about 3-4 hours with the white beans. I do this in my cast iron dutch oven and think it works really well and that the beans taste much better than canned).
5. Sautee garlic and add white beans with vegetable stock (make sure the white beans are covered with vegetable stock. You want to have enough stock to be able to puree them). Simmer for about 3-5 minutes.
6. Puree white beans, streaming in olive oil as you do (to taste).
7. Mix the two purees together.
This soup really is delicious. I think it could be a good choice for Thanksgiving (you'd probably need to make more. This is really 4 servings, max). It's a nice soup that is not expensive at all to make, but is an enjoyable Fall-inspired dish.
Wish I had pictures as it is a really pretty soup, but the friend I shared the soup with -- well, we enjoyed it so much that I forgot to take a picture.
Oh - I think it would be great to garnish it with diced avocado, caramelized onions or toasted almonds.
Taco soup recipe coming soon!
Thursday, September 22, 2011
Cherry Tomato Salsa
At the end of summer (through September, if you live in California or some other parts of the country as well), cherry tomatoes are overflowing at farmer's markets and vegetable stands.
At our Swapmeet this past Sunday, I got a huge bowlful for practically nothing (for $5 I got at least 2 pounds of grapes, 2 pounds of cherry tomatoes, 5 onions and probably 16 carrots) - what a deal.
Of course, since I love tomatoes, I ate some of the cherry tomatoes by the handful, but I also made a sweet (and delicious) cherry tomato salsa.
Ingredients:
2 cups cherry tomatoes, sliced in half or quarters (depending on the size)
1/2 of a red onion (diced)
1/2 of a green bell pepper (diced)
1 small jalapeno pepper (diced)
black pepper and salt to taste
I threw all of the ingredients in my food processor (a blender would work well) and that was that. I typically add cilantro to my salsa, but didn't have any. With a sweeter salsa, though, I found that I didn't miss the cilantro nor the fact that I used such a small jalapeno (it was super, duper tiny - wish I had a photo to prove it.)
Simple, quick and delicious. The only negative to the salsa was that it caused me to eat way too many chips and that I devoured it before I got a good picture.
Coming soon -- roasted carrot soup made with the abundance of carrots I got. I promise to take pictures, since I know that is one of the best parts of food blogs.
At our Swapmeet this past Sunday, I got a huge bowlful for practically nothing (for $5 I got at least 2 pounds of grapes, 2 pounds of cherry tomatoes, 5 onions and probably 16 carrots) - what a deal.
Of course, since I love tomatoes, I ate some of the cherry tomatoes by the handful, but I also made a sweet (and delicious) cherry tomato salsa.
Ingredients:
2 cups cherry tomatoes, sliced in half or quarters (depending on the size)
1/2 of a red onion (diced)
1/2 of a green bell pepper (diced)
1 small jalapeno pepper (diced)
black pepper and salt to taste
I threw all of the ingredients in my food processor (a blender would work well) and that was that. I typically add cilantro to my salsa, but didn't have any. With a sweeter salsa, though, I found that I didn't miss the cilantro nor the fact that I used such a small jalapeno (it was super, duper tiny - wish I had a photo to prove it.)
Simple, quick and delicious. The only negative to the salsa was that it caused me to eat way too many chips and that I devoured it before I got a good picture.
Coming soon -- roasted carrot soup made with the abundance of carrots I got. I promise to take pictures, since I know that is one of the best parts of food blogs.
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