Here we are in south Texas where it's beautiful just to stay
indoors with the a/c cranking and looking out the window at the bay and
wondering when it will start to cool down. Gardening is out of the question
with it being so hot and humid. Maybe a lazy day at the pool will make summer
more tolerable. In the meantime, I've been thinking about some easy recipes for
summer. Here are a few that might make your summer meals a little healthier and
tasty!
CAROL’S SANGRIA
This
recipe is my sister's wonderful sangria that is great with Tex-Mex on a hot
summer night.
Ingredients
½ cup
sugar
¼ cup brandy
½ cup orange juice
Orange slices
Lime slices
Strawberries
Bottle of either white wine or red wine
½ cup sparkling wine or sparkling water
Fresh mint springs
Mix together and put into a pitcher
with ice. Serve in tall, frosted glasses if available. Add a few sprigs of fresh mint!
BOUDRO'S FAMOUS GUACAMOLE
Boudro's
is on the River Walk in San Antonio.
They make this at your table, and it is the best guacamole I have ever tasted.
http://www.boudros.com/
Ingredients
Juice of
1/4 of an orange
Juice of 1/2 a lime
1 avocado seeded and scooped out of skin
2 Tbs roasted and charred Roma tomatoes diced
1 ea Serrano pepper roasted seeded and diced
1 Tbs medium dice red onions
1 tsp chopped cilantro
coarse ground salt to taste (sea salt is better)
Squeeze
juices into bowl. Add avocado and coarsely chop. Add onions, roasted tomato, Serrano
and cilantro fold into avocado mixture. Add salt (more is better). Result
should be crudely chopped not mashed. That’s it.
Note: I
found this comment online. "This is by far the best guacamole I've ever
had. I asked our waiter about it and he said for the roasted tomatoes + Serrano
peppers, you chop up 10 tomatoes to 1 Serrano pepper and roast it over a fire.
Then use that mixture for the 1/2 cup of chopped tomatoes in the recipe.
Alternatively, I assume you could use 1 tomato and 1/10 pepper...if you want to
figure out what that is."
This is
great when served with a brisket and chips!
Ingredients
2
(15 ounce) cans beans, drained and rinsed, can use black beans, pinto beans, or
a mix
2 cups frozen whole kernel corn, cooked
3 firm tomatoes diced (if you prefer you can also peel and seed, but I prefer
not too)
1 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
2 to 4 fresh jalapenos, finely chopped (if you prefer you can also seed the
peppers)
½ cup chopped onion, either a sweet yellow such as 1015 or purple onion
2-3 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
¼ cup fresh lime juice
Salt to taste
Freshly ground pepper to taste
3 avocadoes, peeled, pitted and diced
Combine all ingredients
except for the avocadoes, cover and chill for a few hours. Before serving, toss
in the avocadoes. Be sure not to cut up the avocadoes until right before you
get ready to serve the salsa. Serve with tortilla chips.
LINDA’S GOURMET DEVILED
EGGS
This is a new spin on an old recipe.
Ingredients
6 to 8 eggs, hard-boiled
1/3 cup mayonnaise or Ranch Dressing or mix of both of these
1 teaspoon horseradish
1 teaspoon Balsamic Vinegar
1 teaspoon stone ground Dijon Mustard
½ teaspoon Kosher Salt
½ teaspoon freshly ground pepper, black or white or both
Paprika
Options:
-Add 3 to 4 pieces fried bacon crumbled. Add some to mixture and saving a
little to top on the eggs.
-Add 3 or 4 green onions finely chopped. Add some to mixture and saving a
little to top on the eggs.
-Add a little black caviar on top.
Cut eggs lengthwise and remove yolks; mash yolks with
remaining ingredients. Refill into egg whites and sprinkle with paprika. Chill
and serve.
BARBRA'S
CAULIFLOWER SALAD
My
neighbor and friend, Barbra Fox, made this for one of our Rockport Herb &
Rose Study Group's meetings. Very good! Great dish to take to a pot-luck dinner!
Ingredients
Sauce:
6
heaping tablespoons of Hellman's Mayonnaise
2
heaping tablespoons of powdered sugar
1
1/2 teaspoons of horseradish
Vegetables:
1
head of cauliflower
1
red bell pepper
1
bunch of bulb onions
3
ribs of celery
1
can of black olives, thinly sliced
20
green olives, thinly sliced
*3
Roma tomatoes, chopped
Mix together all ingredients
except for tomatoes and put into a large plastic bag and refrigerate at least
overnight. Right before serving, *add 3 Roma tomatoes.
Additions and/or variations for
the salad. Here are just a few suggestions.
•
Finely chopped red onion
•
Broccoli
•
shredded cabbage
•
Any color bell pepper
•
Hot peppers (capsicums) for more heat
•
Shredded or thinly sliced cucumbers
•
Shredded or thinly sliced carrots
•
sliced green onions
•
roasted peanuts
•
Bean sprouts
•
Fresh herbs, any that you like
We
were discussing that you can use just the sauce for coleslaw. And I was
thinking that you could make it as an oriental salad by substituting the
horseradish for wasabi (possibly using less depending on your heat level) with
a little soy sauce and pouring it over some oriental vegetables such as
parboiled sugar snap peas, parboiled snow peas, shredded or thinly sliced
cucumbers, shredded or thinly sliced carrots, sliced green onions, roasted
peanuts, bean sprouts, etc.
CHILLED ASPARAGUS SALAD WITH GINGER DRESSING
This is a
great dish to take to pot luck dinners or serve as an appetizer. Everyone loves it!
Dressing:
¼ cup
white wine vinegar
2
teaspoons Dijon
mustard
3
tablespoons minced crystallized ginger
1 teaspoon
soy sauce
¼ teaspoon
salt
¼ teaspoon
freshly ground white pepper
1/8
teaspoon wasabi
½ cup
canola oil
Blend all
ingredients except oil in a food process; with machine running slowly add
oil. Cover and refrigerate.
Asparagus:
2 pounds
fresh trimmed asparagus (can use either green or white or a combination of the
two.)
Blanch the asparagus by placing them into boiling
water for 1 or 2 minutes, depending on how crisp you like your asparagus. Remove them and immediately plunge them into
ice water to stop the cooking process.
Drain and chill in the refrigerator.
Or steam the asparagus until it is tender
crispy. Remove them and immediately
plunge them into ice water to stop the cooking process. Drain and chill in the refrigerator.
Large
lettuce leaves or fresh field greens, tomatoes, avocados.
Serving:
Black
& white sesame seeds, toasted for just a minute or so to release the oils
Lettuce
and/or wild greens
Arrange
the lettuce on a good size chilled platter, then put the wild greens on top of
the lettuce, then arrange the asparagus on top and drizzle with the
dressing. Sprinkle with both the roasted
black and white sesame seeds. Add a
little ginger to the plate for garnish.
You can also add some cherry tomatoes for color and/or sliced avocados.
SPINACH, DILL & STRAWBERRY SALAD
Dressing:
½ cup
extra virgin olive oil
¼ cup red
wine vinegar
¼ cup
sugar
2 cloves
minced garlic
¼ teaspoon
salt
¼ teaspoon
ground pepper
¼ teaspoon
dry mustard
¼ teaspoon
onion powder
Whisk oil,
vinegar, sugar, garlic, salt, pepper, dry mustard and onion powder until
blended, and then cover and chill at least 2 hours.
Salad:
2 pounds
fresh spinach, torn & coarse stems discarded
1 bunch
green onions, chopped
½ cup
toasted slivered almonds
1 pint
strawberries, hulled and sliced
¼ cup
chopped fresh dill
Toss
spinach, green onions, almonds, strawberries and dill in a salad bowl and just
before serving pour dressing over salad and toss.
*More recipes for quina.
TOASTED ALMOND AND CITRUS QUINOA
People who aren’t crazy about the texture of whole grains may delight in
quinoa. Its tiny round grains have a slight flavor that can be described as
“vegetable caviar.” Quinoa has a bland but pleasant flavor that is enhanced by
the addition of flavorful broth or other ingredients. One half-cup serving
contains 3.5 g of fiber.
1 cup uncooked quinoa
1 1/2 cups cold, fresh water, broth, or stock
1/4 teaspoon salt (if unsalted broth is used)
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 tablespoon cold-pressed olive oil
1/2 teaspoon organic lemon zest
1 teaspoon organic orange zest
3/4 cup parsley, chopped
3 chopped scallions, including green tops
1/4 cup toasted, slivered almonds with skin
Rinse the quinoa in cold water until it’s no longer sudsy. Drain
well through a strainer. (Depending on whether you buy your quinoa packaged or
in bulk, it may have been pre-rinsed, but it’s best to rinse anyway, because
unless the bitter saponin that coats the grain has been thoroughly removed,
your recipe will be ruined.)
In a 1-quart pan, bring the water to a boil. Stir in the quinoa
and salt. Reduce the heat to low/medium; cover and cook for 15 minutes. Remove
the lid and quickly boil off any remaining liquid. Scrape the grain into a
serving dish. In a small bowl, whisk
together the lemon juice, oil, and zests and stir in the remaining ingredients.
Add the mixture to the cooled quinoa, stir, and serve chilled or at room
temperature.
ASIAN CHICKEN AND ORZO SALAD
I served
this cold for a wedding shower, and everyone loved it.
Recipe
courtesy Paula Deen
Prep Time:
10 min
Cook Time:
20 min
Serves: 12
servings
Ingredients
- 1 (9-ounce) package
frozen sugar snap peas
- 1 (16-ounce)
package orzo, cooked and drained (can substitute with rice)
- 1 cup water
chestnuts, drained and chopped
- 3 cups diced cooked
chicken (store-cooked rotisserie chicken is good)
- 3 green onions,
chopped
- 1 medium red bell
pepper, diced
- 1/2 cup vegetable
oil
- 3 tablespoons rice
wine vinegar
- 2 tablespoons soy
sauce
- 2 teaspoons hoisin
sauce
- 1 (2-ounce) package
slivered almonds, toasted (1/2 cup)
Cook sugar snap peas according to
package directions; drain well.
In a large bowl, combine sugar snap
peas, orzo, water chestnuts, chicken, green onion, and red bell pepper. In a
small bowl, whisk together oil, vinegar, soy sauce, and hoisin sauce. Pour over
orzo mixture, tossing gently to coat. Stir in toasted almonds. Cover and chill until
ready to serve.
Options:
- Used both fresh
sugar snap peas and fresh snow peas; can add celery, carrots, asparagus,
edamame, fresh spinach, 8 oz of mushrooms, etc.
- Doubled the green
onions.
- Added two cloves of
minced garlic.
- Added spicy stir
fry sauce along with the hoisin sauce in equal amounts.
- Doubled the
dressing recipe and added 1 tablespoon each of sesame oil and chili oil;
substitute mayo for the oil
- Grated ginger and
red pepper flakes
- Substituted
unsalted peanuts for the almonds.
- Added finely
chopped jalapeño to the dish.
- Added freshly
chopped cilantro right before serving.
- Cucumber instead of
water chestnuts
- Can substitute rice
or quinoa for orzo.
* More recipes for quinoa: http://www.marthastewart.com/921782/quinoa-recipes and
http://www.foodandwine.com/slideshows/quinoa-recipes
Also when I made the above quino, I added fresh oranges and a balsamic vinaigrette for more flavor!
