Cool, healthy bowls for hot, humid days -

 

Who wants to turn their oven on these hot evenings?  

Not me that's for certain.  

I would prefer an easy to make, and eat, salad in a chilled bowl 

along with a glass of beautiful pale pink rosé.

Above, just a Caesar salad with additions - farm fresh boiled eggs, potatoes, 

radishes, finely chopped scallions. Homemade croutons and an extra

 crunchy slice of grilled bread rubbed with olive oil and garlic. 

I toss my croutons and sliced bread together in the same skillet for ease.

Tip: If you shop at LIDI try the cheese rolls from the bakery.

Just one will serve two and give you enough croutons, plus two slices,

and they are delicious. They are also fabulous for panini 

sandwiches, light and crispy - cheese and tomato with 

some fresh torn basil is my favorite.

Orzo with Roasted Vegetables

Oven roast your vegetables, chopped in 1" cubes, for about 30 minutes on a

 cooler day - preferably early morning when heat from the oven is tolerable.

I love eggplant, red and orange bell peppers, zucchini and red onion.

Boil and drain your pasta at the same time then by evening when constructing

your bowl, everything will be cool, no heat required. 

If you would like to have the complete recipe go here to Sprouted Kitchen

where Sara has adapted Ina Garten's original Roasted Vegetable Orzo recipe - and

 of course I then tweaked my own version. You will love what Sara comes up with in

 her kitchen, and if you don't already follow her, you should!

Happy days in a cooler Summer kitchen. . . . . . yes, today is

the first day of Summer!

A rather calm Thanksgiving. . . . . .

Here it is, the day before Thanksgiving and I actually feel relieved at having nothing

pressing regarding roasting, baking, setting, serving, cleaning, scrubbing, washing up.

You know, the myriad chores associated with producing a groaning table of food 

for others. Does that sound mean? Hope not. I am very thankful for very many things. 

Over the past 50+ years, in kitchens of my various abodes, I've produced those huge

meals requiring two days of preparation, followed by 24 endless hours in a hot kitchen.

My hair got frizzed from opening the oven while basting a big old bird I never 

tasted, all while trying to get the lumps out of the gravy with one hand and mashing 

rutabaga and butternut squash with the other.

I won't expound on the clean-up and dish washing late into the night, other than

to say thankfully my lovely man always insisted in helping with that part.

Don't get me wrong, I didn't mind the cooking, I love cooking, but these days I love it 

on a smaller scale.

Now, if not invited elsewhere - and I'd be only too happy to bring along a dish of 

something delicious - a restaurant is the place I want to be. Being a non-turkey eater 

I don't require a traditional Thanksgiving meal other than some great veggies, perhaps 

a nice portion of tasty meatless stuffing, cranberry sauce. . . . . . and the ultimate 

splurge for me, a slice of pecan pie with real whipped cream please!

 This morning. . . . . . . . calm, and quite delicious.

What did I decide to do early as I sipped my first coffee? As there's no big bird 

chilling in my 'frig requiring my attention, I baked a big batch of our now favorite 

muffins, The Mennonite Girls Can Cook carrot raisin beauties. 

See my recent post HERE for more on this fabulous recipe, and the link is there 

if you would like to make them. I measured all the dry ingredients last night 
making less work this morning.

The recipe makes 18 and they freeze very well. I store two to a bag

and freeze them until we pull them out for a morning breakfast or teatime snack.

Once again I used Trader Joe's lovely bag of mixed tricolor carrots - more interesting

than just orange. Tossed the remaining carrots, not required for the muffins, 

into a baking dish with a quartered red onion, a sweet red pepper, and olive oil, 

and now have a lovely roasted veggie dish to enjoy also.

Happy Thanksgiving preparation if you're the chef at your home. 

Hope you get some assistance and can then sit down and enjoy a lovely meal 

with family and friends on the big day.

The lowly carrot . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . is no more!

That somewhat ordinary, run-of-the-mill, bright orange 

vegetable has taken on a coat of many colors - and wow are 

they vibrant and fun to cook with.

I have always loved carrots, despite orange not being a favorite shade in the color wheel. 

My eyesight is pretty good for my age, carrots responsible? No prescription glasses 

required, but admit to using drugstore readers for close-up. 

I love red hair. Carrot-top toddlers make me swoon. 

Gorgeous natural red-headed teens with clear pale skin make me envious,

My own dark red, thanks to my colorist, I may probably live with until the end! 

When it comes to cooking, carrots take a bow in many, many of my recipes from 

soup to dessert. 

I always feel safe with carrots in a recipe - even a yummy sweet dessert seems healthy.

I  buy these carrots of many colors at Trader Joe's but have seen them in 

other grocery stores also.  

I often roast them along with other veggies such as butternut or acorn squash, 

pumpkin, parsnip, eggplant and tomatoes, with chopped shallots or red onion for

 great flavor and crunchy bits, all drizzled with olive oil, salt and pepper. 

I could make a entire meal of these veggies with a a slice of warm baguette 

to mop up the juices.

I love them for baking, especially these muffins. 

Best recipe is from that great blog, Mennonite Girls Can Cook - their 

Carrot Muffins are awesome, easy, and make a big 

batch of 18 so you can throw half in the freezer for the next week or more. 

I often prepare all the dry ingredients in a bowl the night before - add the 

freshly grated carrots and wet items in the morning and pop into the oven. 

In 20 mins. a lovely warm muffin for breakfast, and a still fresh one for teatime.

My teatime friends and family have enjoyed them too!

Happy in the kitchen days ahead now it's getting cooler.