Potato Salad

Happy 4th or July!! And happy belated Canada day! Both are a reason to celebrate, which makes me immediately think of BBQ's, which then make me think of hot dogs and potato salad! Don't worry I'm not making hot dogs, which leaves us with potato salad!!!

No potato salad is finished without a good helping of bacon and hardboiled eggs if you ask me. If you also ask me what kind of mayo I use in my potato salad you might be surprised to know it's Vegenaise. Yup. Vegan mayo + bacon + eggs = me bastardizing vegan food.

Whoops.

But really the stuff is super tasty, and the bonus is that if you leave the eggs and bacon out of half the recipe, your vegan friends can be happy to. So head on over to Food Fanatic and get the recipe for Skinny Potato Salad and fire up that BBQ!!!

What do you all have planned for the 4th? Or what did you do on the 1st if you're up north? :)




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Pickle me spicy!

I'm on a spicy kick around here and I like it! Pickled jalapenos can be kinda lame and dead looking in a jar... or you can make them yourself and have crisp delicious perfectly flavored heat! The more time they marinate the softer they will become, so if you like them crisp eat them up faster. I left all the seeds in with these... next time I'll leave some out so I get more flavor with less intensity :) Not that I'm saying I cried or anything...

This was my first try at pickling, have you pickled things or are you more of a sweet lover?

Pickled Jalapeños Recipe
recipe by Purple Foodie (check out her blog to learn the perfect pickling ratio)

330g jalapenos, whole or sliced
1 cup apple cider vinegar
1 cup water
1 tbsp peppercorns
2 bay leaves
3 cloves of garlic, lightly pounded
2 tbsp coarse sea salt
1 tbsp sugar

Pack the jalapeños in a glass jar.
In a saucepan, add the rest of the ingredients and simmer for about 5 minutes.
Pour the hot pickling liquid over the jalapeños and let it rest for a few hours. Shake it up a little so that the peppercorns are evenly distributed.
For a crunchy bite, you can start nibbling on them within a few hours. As for softer texture, let this sit for 4-5 days.
Keep refrigerated for upto two months or can it according to jar manufacturer’s instructions.

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Stuffin'

Here in the US we'll be celebrating Turkey Day tomorrow! To start celebrating early John made some healthy delicious stuffing to have with dinner. He's a fly by the seat of his pants cook so nothing here is measured exactly, but it will give you a good basis to recreate it!

How will you be celebrating Thanksgiving (if you are celebrating that is)? We're meeting up with my side of the family and we get to meet our new niece for the first time!!! Pictures to come!


John's Stuffin'
recipe by steph chows better half

12 slices whole wheat bread (toasted, cooled, then cubed)
1 white onion chopped
2 chicken sausages (cooked and chopped)
4 stalks celery chopped
1/2 cup chopped mushrooms
3-4 cloves garlic
3 carrots chopped
sun dried tomatoes
drizzle olive oil
few glugs red hot
poultry seasoning to taste
chicken stock - 2-3 cups

Saute onions, garlic, and other veggies in a pan with olive oil until tender. Throw cooked veggies and everything else into a gigantic bowl and stir. Leave your wife a note next to said bowl for her to find when she gets home from work asking her to bake it for you while you are at the gym, making sure to say please and thank you. Bake at 325 for about an hour or until browned on top. This is totally a test to see if any of you read the recipe... and yes this is exactly how it went down last night! :)

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Thanksgiving Side Ideas

A healthy Thanksgiving is impossible you say? Not if you ask me or Cathy from What Would Cathy Eat? She's actually hosting a Healthy Thanksgiving Challenge and asking fellow bloggers to chime in with their healthy ideas! You can check out her tips here.

For my contribution I went back to two of my favorite standbys... roasted brussels sprouts and fiesta dip... not together though... that would be kinda nasty...

First off fiesta dip is the perfect appetizer, serve it with whole wheat pita chips or with bite sized raw veggies (celery is perfect for scooping). Or serve it as a first course over a bed of spinach, no dressing required! You'll be amazed at how many people inhale this stuff.


Now onto the main course. Roasted sprouts! Never fear these are not the boiled horrible smelling bland kind of your childhood. These are brought to a new tasty level with a very simple ingredients and a quick pop in the oven. If you try one new thing before the year is over, make it these, I promise you will be presently surprised.

Your turn what healthy things are you making for thanksgiving??

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Slaw

The first thing I think of when I have a head of cabbage in the house is coleslaw. I'm not a fan of cooked cabbage but serve it be me raw and I'm on board! Our household isn't a big mayo fan so we do a spicier route.

Celery carrots, red peppers, cabbage, red onion, apple cider vinegar, italian dressing, red hot, celery seeds, honey... the amounts... not a clue since John is the maker of this badboy in our house :)



He's also the one who "styled" the photo since tastespotting keeps rejecting me for composition... John said if he did it they would accept it... will keep you updated :)
What's your favorite way to serve up some slaw?

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Eggplant and Garlic Sauce

Another thing we got copious amounts of in our CSA were this tiny tiny baby eggplants. What does one make with tiny eggplants?eggplant and garlic sauce! I also used a whole head of fresh garlic that also came via the CSA. mmmm garlic!!! I didn't really follow a recipe for this so here's an eyeball overview of what I did.

Probably 12 or so mini eggplants cut into rings or halved and cut into rings
1 onion sliced
1 head of garlic, chopped
1 fresh jalapeno chopped
oyster sauce
soy sauce
tiny bit of corn starch to thicken the sauce
brown rice
hot chili oil

First heat up the chili oil and saute the onion and garlic until nicely browned. Add in the eggplant and jalapeno until soft and cooked through. Add in oyster and soy sauces and toss to coat, if you want a thicker sauce add a little bit of corn starch. Cook brown rice according to directions and serve!

What's your go to eggplant recipe? Normally mine is eggplant parm, but these seemed to tiny to bother with the fuss of making it.

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Summer

Even though it's September and the kids are back in school I still felt the need to make this very summer style salad. I've been eating it as a side dish, on sandwiches as the main event.. pretty much on everything, it's just that good!


Delicious and simple as simple can be: tomato, thinly sliced cucumber, crumbled feta, a splash of red wine vinegar, and a little seasoning in the form of oregano and black pepper. Perfection.

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A new twist of mashed potatoes

I was very excited when I got the chance to try Sabra Hummus on the house via the Foodbuzz Tastemaker program! The even better part is they asked us to come up with a fun cocktail party use for the hummus. Not one to take the normal route John and I got to brainstorming ideas.

We ping ponged many a recipe back and forth but in the end we decided on this one... Mashed potatoes... steph chows style. Now for a cocktail party a simple scoop in a bowl wouldn't do the trick.. something fancier, and easily portable...

Enter in the vintage cookie press that was my Nana's, a tiny dessert glass and mini spoon, and we were ready for business!

Mashed yams with hummus anyone? With all of the flavors of hummus Sabra offers it would be easy to customize this to anyone's tastes. For us we went with the roasted red pepper variety. The recipe couldn't be simpler, and the creamy delicious texture is the perfect bowl of home style comfort.

Mashed Potatoes steph chows style
recipe by John aka steph chows husband
serves 2
2 yellow yams, you can use orange ones too
1/2 c - 3/4 cup roasted red pepper Sabra hummus

Boil yams for 10 minutes. Remove from water and mash with a potato masher (or use a food processor) add in hummus and mash some more. Serve warm... seriously that's it... and you are going to LOVE it!! LOVE IT!

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Spicy Green Beans

In another attempt to use up the copious amounts of veggies we get every week in our CSA John made some delicious spicy cashew green beans... when asked how exactly he made them... he simple gave me a shoulder shrug. HA so... no recipe... but MAN they were good!

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KC Masterpiece BBQ Sauce

Through the Foodbuzz Tastemaker program I got to try a bottle of KC Masterpiece BQ sauce on the house! Or course I've been pouring it all over grilled chicken and veggies (it is summer after all!)

John has been using it... lets just say... on everything...
Exhibit A:


Yup that's corn. The man doesn't use butter + salt + pepper like a normal person... he uses BBQ sauce, and I must admit it was pretty darn good! Give it a try, it's not as scary as it looks :)
How do you dress up your corn?

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3 Ingredient Recipe

I'm a big fan of quick easy side dishes, especially ones that help use up all those CSA veggies we've been getting. In this past month's issue of Real Simple they had a whole section on 3 ingredient recipes, this one caught my eye since it involved bok choy (one of the things I happened to find in last week's basket).

I picked up this cilantro from the Rochester Public Market. For those of you who don't live here, it's an amazing open air farmers market open all year long. This is about half the bunch and it cost a grand total of $1.50. Plus the farmer told me how he pulled it out of the ground just that morning, you seriously can't get any fresher than that. (The market actually won a nationwide contest for America's favorite farmers market in 2010!)

Next time I make this I want to add something else... I'm not sure what though. John agreed that it was missing something... there was no pow... but maybe we just like super bold food.

Boy Choy and Pineapple Slaw
Recipe from Real Simple Magazine June 2011
4 cups thinly sliced baby bok choy
1 cup fresh cilantro leaves
2 cups thinly sliced pineapple
3 tbs olive oil
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/4 tsp pepper to taste

Toss together and let sit 15 minutes before serving.

Any suggestions on what you'd add to really make this sing?

PS. Don't forget about my awesome Clearly Fresh Bag giveaway!

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Pumpkin Garlic Knots - vegan

Heaven. That is what these things are, pure, heaven. I've had these pumpkin garlic knots bookmarked for what seems like a year now. I first saw them on (never home)maker and knew I had to make them... what took me so long to actually do it?? I have no idea.. but all I know is I'll be making them again soon for sure. Hmmmm actually maybe I'll bring them to the potluck I'll be heading to in VT next weekend... hmmmmmmm

ready to go into the oven

I made these to go along with dinner last night for Mother's Day. We had John's parents over (we would have had mine over too.. but they live out of state *sad face* ). On the menu along with these were a mustard BBQ pork tenderloin, roasted root veggies, asparagus, and a chocolate cake for dessert. (and for those of you who caught that... John didn't eat the pork, I made him cashew chicken chili instead, yup I'm a good woman to him)


I am totally smitten for this recipe and I think you will be too. Next time I'm going to sub 1/2 whole wheat, will let you know how it goes! As written these are amazingly buttery (without butter!) and so very tender. Love love love love love. (I may have eaten 4... ok I'm lying.. 5 last night - I know that goes against the moderation thing... but hell they are THAT good)

Pumpkin garlic knots
recipe by (never home)maker

What you'll need . . .

* 1 cup warm water
* 1 envelope active dry yeast
* 2 tablespoon agave nectar
* 1/2 cup canned pumpkin
* 2 tablespoons olive oil
* 1-1/2 teaspoons coarse kosher salt
* 3-1/2 cups unbleached bread flour (I used King Arthur)

First, you'll need to make the dough: (for step by step pics, head on over to their recipe here)

STEP 1:
Pour the warm water into a medium bowl and whisk in the yeast. Let sit until frothy -- about 10 minutes. Then add your agave nectar, olive oil, and pumpkin -- whisk until smooth.

STEP 2:
Whisk together the flour and salt in a large bowl. With you fist, make an impression in the center -- a "bowl" that's big enough to pour your wet ingredients into. Then pour in your wet ingredients.

STEP 3:
Start pulling everything together with a spatula. When you can no longer mix, use your hands to start kneading the dough. Keep kneading -- and adding more flour as necessary -- until you have a ball that's elastic, but not sticky.

STEP 4:
Lightly oil another large bowl and put your dough ball inside it -- flipping over once to coat both sides (again -- lightly) with oil. Cover with a damp towel or plastic wrap and let rise for 2 hours. Once the dough has risen, preheat your oven to 425 degrees F, put in a pizza stone (you may use a pan, too, but it works best with a stone), and divide the dough into two equal pieces. If you're planning to use the other half the next day, just put it in a large Zip-Lock bag and store in the fridge. You may also freeze the dough for up to three weeks.

STEP 5:
To create the garlic knots -- just take off sections of dough (about the size of two tablespoons, if that makes sense) and roll them into a snake shape. Then tie that snake in a knot. Set aside and continue with the rest of the dough. Once you've made all your knots, put them on your stone (or on your pan) and let bake until golden brown on the tops (anywhere between 10 and 15 -- or more -- minutes, depending on how big your knots are).

STEP 6:
While you're waiting, in a large bowl mix together 1/3 cup olive oil with 3 to 5 cloves of minced garlic . . . as well as some salt, pepper -- and if you're feeling cheesy, Parmesan or nutritional yeast -- to taste. There's really no right or wrong mixture, just what you like. Feel free to taste test. When the knots are done, dump them into the bowl and mix well to coat. (I just used a drizzle of olive oil, no where near 1/3 of a cup)

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Tuna Bow Tie Salad

Everyone has all sorts of memories from their childhood. I've got tons of good ones, especially ones involving my Nana...

see even then I was constantly eating...

Some memories though are not so amazing. On my list of not amazing is tuna bow tie pasta salad *bleh* I remember it being a fixture at family picnics (it was probably served at the picnic pictured above!), and I remember hating it. I'd be much happier eating a burger or hot dog, maybe a little ambrosia salad, but tuna bow tie salad.. ugggg pass that one right along.

John had mentioned at some point that the only use for bow tie pasta was in this very dish... so I assumed that meant he liked this dish. So what do I do? Go and make this up thinking he's going to be all excited to eat it... WRONG.

So now I have a batch of this stuff and neither of us want to eat it... want some? Don't I make it sound so good? :)

Tuna bow tie salad
recipe made up from my very bad memory (Check out my mom's comment to see how it was really made back in my childhood!)

1/2 box whole wheat bow tie pasta (cooked, drained, and cooled)
2 cans white tuna packed in water, drained
1/2 cup frozen peas (actually I think moms version had broccoli maybe? and probably come celery and carrots.... maybe)
2 Tbs-ish italian salad dressing of choice
few glugs red hot (I'm positive that wasn't in mom's version)
salt/ pepper/ celery seeds to taste

Mix it all together, toss in the fridge.. and bring it to a picnic.. where I will NOT be eating it :)


What's one thing you always hated that was a fixture in your family meals? Or you know.. you can tell me something you love too, no need to be negative :)

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Pretty Potato Side Dish

This weekend wasn't very eventful. We worked in the yard (the winter totally killed ours, how about you?) After what felt like 8 hours we gave up on it and called it a day. Other exciting things included painting John's man cave, looking into sofas, and lots of laundry.. we sure do know how to live on the wild side... Please tell me you all did something more exciting??

Anyway, on a totally unrelated note, sometimes side dishes can be so boring and colorless... enter in these crazy easy potatoes! Simply cubed up with some onions, a good helping of rosemary, black pepper, a little sea salt and olive oil. Toss and you are good to go!

Chop up into equal size pieces:

1 large yam
3 medium red skin potatoes
1 medium onion

Drizzle with olive oil

Add rosemary, black pepper, sea salt to taste.

After mixed together dump onto a tin foil lined pan, roast at 350 tossing around every 10 minutes. Roast for a total of 35-45 minutes or until browned.

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Eating paper

Have you guys heard of kale chips? I've seen them being made all over the place but never gave them a try until recently. They are super simple. Wash the kale, rip up into bit size pieces, toss with a little olive oil, sea salt, and pepper. Bake at 350 until crisp.


I liked them! I gave John one and he asked my why oh why was I feeding him green paper, and if it was ok if he didn't eat any more. HA So there you have it, one says tasty... the other says paper, I'll let you make them and decide for yourself what you think :D

It's a fiesta!

First off, if you haven't already go sign up for the jam exchange!!! Ok now onto other chow news...


Fiesta Dip is the best thing ever, no really it is. I love the stuff and find myself making it for John and I even when there is no party in site! It's so simple, chop up some things mix it up and let it marinate over night. You can drain it and serve it as a dip, or you can leave it in its sauces and use it like a very chunky salad dressing :) That's what I've got for you today.


Fiesta Dip over baby spinach leaves. Perfect! Actually if you ask John he'll say "umm where's the protein??" so in his case this is more of a side to a turkey burger or something. I say the beans are protein... but he doesn't' agree they are ENOUGH protein. silly man.


Fiesta Dip
1 can black eyed peas
1 can shoe peg corn
1 red pepper diced
1 green pepper diced (John doesn't like green so I use orange...)
1 red onion diced

Rinse and drain beans and corn

Add: 2 tbs Tiger Sauce (secret ingredient) a MUST (it's near the ketchup in Wegmans... if you have Wegmans near you)
3/4 cup white sugar (I use 1/2 cup splenda)
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
1/4 veg oil (I used about 3 Tbs instead)

Mix and let stand overnight.

Drain liquid before serving with tostito scoops or other veggies or cucumber slices for dipping. Or don't drain it and serve over spinach leaves like I did above!

Asian almond slaw

Is it friday yet? Really?? WOOHOOO! We were supposed to get a snowicane... a snow storm and hurricane mixed together. So far not so much... this is a picture from Thursday morning... I'm writing this Thursday evening so it's rather possible when this posts I'll be burried under the snowicane... lets cross our fingers and hope it's not too bad :)


This dish has nothing to do with snow... I love an asian twist on cole slaw. My go to recipe is a tasty PB sauce for sure... but what if we mixed it up and used almond butter instead? The result... delicious!

Almond Asian Coleslaw
1/2 head green cabbage chopped into thin strips
2-3 carrots, sliced into thin strips using a vegetable peeler
3 Tablespoons almond butter
2 Tablespoons low sodium soy sauce
2 Tablespoons rice vinegar
2 Tablespoons light brown sugar
Sprinkle top with sesame seeds

Chop and slice cabbage and carrots and place in a festive bowl. In a small bowl blend together almond butter through brown sugar. Once your sauce is all incorporated, pour over cabbage/carrot mixture and toss to coat. Refrigerate until ready to serve, then sprinkle with sesame seeds.

This stuff tastes even better the next day after it's had time to marinate.

B is for Broccoli

Do you hate or love veggies? I'm a picky veggie eater, they have to be done right or I wont eat them. John just hates them, (yeah that's right "mr I eat healthy" doesn't like veggies) But I make him eat them anyway... so sweet of me right?

I'm always looking for quick and easy side dishes to add along with dinner. I found this one from Cooking Light and figured I'd give it a go! Only change I made was to add some sesame seeds into the mix.


The flavors weren't as intense as I thought they would be... 3 cloves of garlic and red pepper flakes?? I think steaming them at the end somehow lessened the intensity. Next time I'll add even more garlic and pepper flakes :)

Sesame chicken with bok choy

So this is another recipe from Real Simple. They say it takes 25 minutes... I think it took even less actually. Perfect weekday meal, or quick weekend meal. I have to say the chicken was a bit bland, but mix it up with the side and it's good to go! I also added brown rice (the 10 minute boil in the bag kind) because the side would be a bit skimpy without it... at least for my big appetite! So follow this recipe... except cut up the chicken, and once it is cooked, toss it into the pan with the bok choy and dump in a bag of brown rice.. now we're cookin!

oh why hello there little jalapeno round, would you like to set fire to my mouth now?? (they said to use a red jalapeno... I couldn't find any... sure would have added a nice pop of color though!)

Sesame Chicken With Gingery Bok Choy
Recipe from Real Simple

Ingredients

• 2 large egg whites
• 1/4 cup sesame seeds
• 1/4 cup plus 1 teaspoon cornstarch
• kosher salt and black pepper
• 8 small chicken cutlets (1 1/4 pounds total) (I cut mine into 1 inch cubes)
• 4 tablespoons canola oil
• 1/4 cup low-sodium soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger
• 2 teaspoons sugar
• 6 heads baby bok choy (about 1 pound), quartered
• 1 jalapeno (preferably red), sliced (seeded for less heat, if desired)
• For my version (1 bag boil in bag brown rice)

Directions

1. In a bowl, whisk together the egg whites, sesame seeds, ¼ cup of the cornstarch, ½ teaspoon salt, and ¼ teaspoon pepper. Dip the chicken in the batter and shake off the excess.
2. Heat 2 tablespoons of the oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add half the chicken and cook until golden brown and cooked through, 2 to 3 minutes per side; transfer to a plate. Repeat with 1 tablespoon of the remaining oil and the remaining chicken.
3. Meanwhile make boil in bag brown rice according to direction...
4. In a small bowl, combine the soy sauce, ginger, sugar, 1 tablespoon water, and the remaining teaspoon of cornstarch.
5. Heat the remaining tablespoon of oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the bok choy and cook, turning, until just beginning to soften, 1 to 2 minutes. Add the soy sauce mixture and jalapeño and cook until the liquid has thickened slightly and the bok choy is tender, 3 to 4 minutes.
6. Toss the chicken and rice in with the bok choy and serve.

Salmon With Warm Lentil Salad

I'm always looking for quick dinner ideas for John and I. I read this one Wednesday night and it's what we had for dinner Thursday, yup it looked that good :) The warm lentil salad calls for arugula... for some reason Wegmans was out, so I picked up a bunch of asparagus, steamed them up, and cut them into 1 inch pieces to toss in the salad... wicked good!! I'd say skip the arugula and make it with asparagus if I were you :D

Oh and since John likes more flavor with his salmon I did a quick hot wing marinade on his piece, mine was just a little sea salt and pepper. I cooked it up on the G.Forman grill (with skin on - I take it off after it's done cooking) instead of skinless and in a pan like the recipe calls for. Quick and oh so tasty!


Salmon With Warm Lentil Salad
recipe from Real Simple
serves 4

Ingredients

• 1 cup green lentils, rinsed
• kosher salt and black pepper
• 2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon olive oil
• 1 1/4 pounds skinless salmon fillet, cut into 4 pieces
• 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
• 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
• 1/4 red onion, chopped
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
• 1 bunch arugula, torn (about 4 cups) (my substitution: 1 bunch asparagus steamed and cut it into 1 inch pieces )
• 1 lemon, cut into wedges

Directions

1. Bring 4 cups water to a boil. Add the lentils and 1 teaspoon salt and simmer, stirring occasionally, until tender, 20 to 25 minutes; drain.
2. Meanwhile, heat 1 teaspoon of the oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Season the salmon with ¼ teaspoon each salt and pepper and cook until opaque throughout, 4 to 5 minutes per side.
3. In a large bowl, combine the vinegar, mustard, onion, parsley, the remaining 2 tablespoons of oil, and ¼ teaspoon each salt and pepper.
4. Add the lentils and arugula (or asparagus) to the vinaigrette and toss to combine. Serve with the salmon and lemon wedges.