Brussels Sprouts - 2 ways

Brussels Sprouts
Olive oil
garlic, pressed
salt
panko
lemon juice & zest
Toss BS with olive oil, garlic, salt and panko.  Roast at 400 for approx. 20 min. Toss with lemon juice and zest before serving.

Brussels Sprouts
Olive oil
salt
equal parts spicy mustard & agave nectar
Toss BS with olive oil and salt. Roast at 400 for approx 20 min.  Halfway through, brush sprouts with the mix of mustard and agave.

Baked Pineapple

My sister in law, Erin introduced this recipe to our family.  It is soooooo good with ham!

6 slices of bread, cubed
20 oz. can of crushed pineapple in juice
1/2 c. of butter, softened
1/2 c. sugar
3 eggs

Preheat oven to 350°.

Beat butter and sugar until smooth. Add eggs and beat until combined. Add pineapple (juice and all!) and mix well.

Placed cubed bread in a greased square pan. (a double batch will fit in a 9×13 pan.) Pour the pineapple mixture over the bread cubes, making sure all the bread is covered in liquid. The goal is to have just enough bread to soak up most of the liquid without having any pieces totally dry. If you still have a lot of liquid left, add more bread cubes. (The final consistency should be something like french toast, not soup!)

Bake uncovered at 350° for about 50 minutes to 1 hour, or until cooked through and lightly brown on top.

Better Green Bean Casserole

I titled this "Better" because it is so much better than the cream of mushroom/french fried onion version. Our sister-in-law Shannon made this for Thanksgiving a couple of years ago.

2 Tbsp. butter
2 Tbsp. all-purpose flour
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. white sugar
1/4 c. onion, diced
1 c. sour cream
3 (14.5 ounce) cans French style green beans, drained (Shannon used fresh)
2 c. shredded cheddar cheese
1/2 c. crumbled buttery round crackers
1 Tbsp. butter, melted

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Melt 2 Tbsp. butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Stir in flour until smooth, and cook for one minute. Stir in the salt, sugar, onion, and sour cream. Add green beans, and stir to coat. Transfer the mixture to a 2 1/2 quart casserole dish. Spread shredded cheese over the top. In a small bowl, toss together cracker crumbs and remaining butter, and sprinkle over the cheese. Bake for 30 minutes in the preheated oven, or until the top is golden and cheese is bubbly.

Veggie Cheese Egg Bake

Our sister-in-law Erin made this for the family when we went away together for Thanksgiving a couple of years ago. It is a great thing to make for a big group of people because you can do it ahead of time and then put it in the oven in the morning.

3 c. shredded cheddar cheese
3 c. shredded mozzarella cheese
1/2 c. sliced mushrooms
1/3 c. sliced green onions
1/2 c. chopped red and green peppers
1/2 c. flour
1 3/4 c. milk
8 eggs
pepper, to taste

optional - cooked, chopped breakfast meat of choice

Preheat the oven to 350. Lightly spray a 9x13 baking dish with cooking spray. In a large bowl, combine cheeses. Sprinkle half the cheese mixture on the bottom of the pan. Lightly spray skillet with cooking spray, heat over med-high heat. Add mushrooms, green onion, and red and green peppers, cook until veg. are tender and soft, about 5-8 minutes. {if using meat, add cooked meat to cooked veggies}. Spread vegetable mixture over cheese, top with remaining cheese. In large bowl, combine flour, milk, eggs and pepper. Pour over the top of cheese. Bake for 35-40 minutes or until mixture is set and lightly browned. Let stand at room temperature for 10-15 minutes before cutting into squares.

Beets with Goat Cheese & Walnuts

Until my neighbor Laurie introduced me to this way of eating beets a couple of years ago, we never ate them. Now we eat them all the time!

Baby beets, cooked and sliced
Goat cheese rolled in herbs, crumbled
Chopped walnuts

I buy beets in the refrigerated section of Trader Joe's

Sweet Potato Casserole

This is my Aunt Dianne's recipe. We make this for Thanksgiving and maybe a couple other times a year.

3 c. mashed sweet potatoes (6 large potatoes)
1/2 c. white sugar
3 eggs
1/2 stick butter
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 c. milk
1 Tbsp. vanilla

Combine and put in dish. Then top with the following mixed:

1 c. brown sugar
1/2 stick melted butter
1 c. chopped pecans
1/2 c. flour

Bake at 350 for 45-50 minutes.

Asparagus with Capers & Pine Nuts

This recipe comes from a cookbook that our friends Bethany & Quenton gave us as a wedding gift: Simple Italian Cooking (Williams-Sonoma). This is pretty much the only way we eat asparagus and we eat it quite a bit. Even our kids love it!

1 bunch of asparagus, ends snapped off
1/4 c. pine nuts, toasted
salt
4 Tbsp. butter
Juice of 1 lemon
1/4 cup capers, drained
fresh grated parmesan cheese

Toast the pine nuts and set aside. In a deep frying pan, add water to a depth of 2-3 inches. Bring to a rapid bowl over high heat and add the asparagus and some salt. Reduce the heat and boil gently, uncovered for about 5 minutes - make sure you don't overcook them, you want them a little bit firm. Meanwhile, in a small saucepan, over medium-low heat, melt the butter, add the lemon juice and capers, cook for a couple of minutes. Drain the asparagus and plate, pour the lemon caper sauce over them along with the pine nuts. Serve with fresh grated parmesan cheese. Serve immediately.

Strawberry Spinach Salad

Another great salad from our friend Carla that we have made countless times.

Fresh spinach
Fresh strawberries, sliced
Red onion, finely chopped
Candied pecans
Dressing:
2 Tbsp. olive oil
2 Tbsp. red wine vinegar
4 ½ tsp. sugar
½ tsp. dill weed
1/8 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. garlic powder
1/8 tsp. dry mustard

Balsamic Thyme Tomatoes

Donna made this for us during one of our trips to RI.

1 tsp. olive oil
2 c. grape tomatoes, halved
2 Tbsp. balsamic vinegar
1 Tbsp. fresh thyme
1/4 tsp. kosher salt
1/8 tsp. black pepper
Toasted slices of Italian bread

Heat olive oil over med-high heat. Add tomatoes, cook 4 min, stirring once. Remove from heat, add in vinegar and sprinkle w/ seasonings. Bake at 350 for 15 min. Serve with toasted Italian bread.

Spinach Dip

I'm not sure where we got this recipe - probably the back of the Knorr vegetable dip packet. But anyway, there are a lot of spinach dip recipes out there and this is the one I like best.

Knorr Vegetable dip
1 c. mayo
16 oz. sour cream
1 box frozen chopped spinach
water chestnuts
Pumpernickle Bread bowl

Bethany's Cranberry Sauce

Before I had this version of cranberry sauce, I thought the only kind was the canned jellied kind (yuck!). I love this version - a must-have for Thanksgiving dinner.

1 c. sugar
1 c. water
3 c. whole fresh cranberries (one 12 oz. bag)
1/2 c. dried cherries

Rinse the cranberries in a colander and remove any remaining stems. Set aside.
Mix sugar, water and cherries in a medium saucepan over med. high heat. Stir until sugar dissolves, bring to a boil, add cranberries. Return to boiling then reduce

heat and boil gently for 10 minutes stirring occasionally. Remove from heat. Cool completely at room temperature, sauce will thicken. Refrigerate.

Vodka Tomatoes on a Stick

Another one that Lizzie invented. Do not skip the celery salt! Also, you must get all ingredients in your mouth at the same time to experience the full effect!

grape tomatoes
vodka
green olives (stuffed w/ pimento or garlic)
celery
celery salt

Pierce grape tomatoes several times each (end of a cutco knife works well), soak in vodka. On a long toothpick, string tomatoes, garlic stuffed olive and 1" chunk of celery. Sprinkle whole batch with celery salt.

Nectarine Salsa

Our sister-in-law Shannon introduced us to this great homemade salsa!

4 nectarines
3 tomatoes
½ small red onion
Juice of 1 lime
½ jalapeno
Cilantro

Black Bean & Corn Salsa

When our friends Bethany & Quenton lived near us for 4 wonderful years, we had many get togethers with them and Kyle & Kim. We are all friends from college days and it was always a great time when we got together. More often than not, Bethany brought along a big bowl of this stuff.

Marinade
1/4 c. olive oil
1 c. sugar
3/4 c. cider vinegar
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
1 Tbsp. water

Put all ingredients into a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil and stir until sugar is completely dissolved. Set aside to cool and continue with bean mixture

2 cans black beans, drained and rinsed
1 can pinto beans, drained and rinsed
2 cans white shoepeg corn, drained
1 green pepper, chopped fine
1 medium red onion, chopped fine
3 celery ribs, chopped fine
3 to 5 jalapeno peppers, seeded and chopped
6 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped juice of one lime
1/2 c. balsamic vinegar

Put into large bowl. Pour marinade over bean mixture and toss to coat well. Rerigerate several hours before serving, overnight is best. Serve with tortilla chips or Fritos scoops.

Lemon Green Beans

This is a Martha Stewart recipe. Another very simple way to cook green beans, simple seems to be best when it comes to veggies. I love these in the summer.

1 lb. fresh green beans
1/2 lemon – juice & zest
1 1/2 Tbsp. olive oil
1/2 tsp. salt

Steam green beans 15 min. Toss w/ olive oil, lemon juice & salt. Sprinkle w/ lemon zest.

Garlic Green Beans

Finally posting a recipe from my friend Kim, who is an amazing cook. I am realizing through this process that I don't have many of her recipes, probably because she always makes these incredible desserts when we get together and I'm too intimidated to try making them. She is a fantastic pie maker...anyway, I digress...here is her very simple, but very delicious way of making green beans.

Steamed fresh whole green beans (al dente)
Olive oil
2 - 4 cloves minced garlic
garlic salt and fresh ground pepper to taste

heat oil in the pan, add garlic for a couple of minutes, add steamed green beans and toss to coat. Add the garlic salt and pepper and serve immediately.

Marcello Salad

Elizabeth had this in a restaurant and started making it for our family. Definitely a summer favorite!!!!

fresh mozzarella
chunks of ripe tomatoes
large black olives
fresh basil leaves
garlic, minced
olive oil
salt & pepper

as much of each of these ingredients as feels right to you!

Heirloom Tomatoes with Garlic Oil

I saw this in a magazine (not sure which one) and it is so basic but so good!

3 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil

3 cloves garlic, thinly sliced

2 lbs. heirloom tomatoes, sliced

coarse salt & pepper

chives, snipped

1/4 c. fresh basil, slivered

Heat olive oil and cook garlic for about 10 minutes. Drizzle over sliced tomatoes and sprinkle with salt, pepper, chives and basil.

Tabbouleh

Another summer dish from Donna. We have gone to RI the past 3 summers and every year we come home with a bunch of new great recipes!

1 c. bulgar wheat

1 1/2 c. boiling water

1/4 c. fresh lemon juice (2 lemons)

1/4 c. olive oil

3 1/2 tsp. kosher salt

1 c. minced green onions

1 c. chopped mint leaves

1 c. chopped flat parsley

1 cucumber, unpeeled, seeded & diced

2 c. cherry tomatoes, cut in half

1 tsp. fresh pepper

Place bulgar in large bowl, pour in boiling water, add lemon juice, olive oil and 1 1/2 tsp. salt. Stir and allow to stand at room temperature for about 1 hour. Add the rest of the ingredients. This is best if marinated in the refrigerator for a couple of hours.

Goop

Jon grew up on this recipe. We usually only make this if we have a large crowd coming over to help us eat it!

1 box Acini de Pepe pasta
¾ c. sugar
2 large cans mandarin oranges, drained
1 can crushed pineapple, drained
1 can pineapple tidbits (reserve juice)
1 Tbsp. flour
1 egg
16 oz. cool whip
½ bag mini marshmallows

In a small pan, heat juice from 1 can pineapple, add flour, sugar, egg, heat until thickened, remove from heat and add lemon juice. Mix with cooked pasta and let stand for 2 hours, then add fruit and mix with cool whip and marshmallows. Best if refrigerated for a couple of hours.