by jphilo | Jul 18, 2012 | Recipes
In the past couple months, I’ve spent a significant portion of my days in waiting rooms. Age has taught me that rather than being frustrated by the hours wasted, it’s better to read the magazines I never have time to read otherwise.
Sometimes the new mindset has positive rewards, like today’s recipe for a non-dairy fruit smoothie. It was first published in Family Circle, I think the August 2011 issue. (Obviously, that waiting room wasn’t concerned about the freshness of their reading matter.) The recipe caught my eye because it calls for sherbet rather than yogurt – a wonderful substitute for smoothie lovers who can’t do dairy. Here’s the recipe with the original ingredients in parenthesis following my substitutions.
Non-Dairy Fruit Smoothie
1 banana, sliced
1/4 cup blueberries, fresh or frozen
1/4 cup sliced strawberries, fresh or frozen
3/4 cup almond milk (3/4 cup milk)
1/2 cup pomegranate-blueberry-grape juice or some similar combination
1/2 cup raspberry sherbet (1/2 cup pineapple sherbet)
Place all ingredients in blender and mix until all ingredients are liquified. Pour and enjoy. Serves two.
Now it’s your turn to play with this basic recipe to suit your taste buds. Leave a comment about the tasty changes you’ve made.
by jphilo | Jul 11, 2012 | Recipes
This summer, the weather’s been hot, hot, hot and dry, dry, dry. But that hasn’t affected the number of cucumbers and onions finding their way into our CSA share each week. So I’ve been using my favorite cucumber salad, passed down from Grandma to Mom to me and my siblings, quite a bit lately.
The recipe’s been around much longer than my recipe criteria have been, but it meets all of them. It is easy, healthy, inexpensive, non-dairy, and it keeps well. In fact, this salad gets better and better for several days after it’s made. I try to make it at least 8 hours before serving so the flavors can meld and the vinegar has time to pickle the vegetables a little.
Cucumber-Onion Salad
1 medium cucumber, peeled and sliced thinly
1 onion, sliced into thin rings*
1/2 cup white vinegar
1/2 cup water
2 teaspoons sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon coarse black pepper
Place vegetables in a small serving bowl. In a smaller bowl or measuring cup, mix vinegar, water, sugar, salt and pepper. Stir well and pour over vegetables so they are completely covered with liquid. Cover tightly and refrigerate until ready to serve. This salad can be stored for several days or a week in the fridge.
*I used red onions, which is why the salad looks so pretty in the picture, but any type of onion is fine.
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by jphilo | Jul 4, 2012 | Recipes
We were on the road so much last week I hardly had time to cook, let alone try a new recipe. So today, for readers still unsure of what to fix for a Fourth of July meal, here’s a rerun of our current favorite summer grilling recipe. It meets all my criteria since it’s easy, tasty, healthy, and makes decent left overs.
We had it for supper Monday night, for the first time with fresh oregano from my new herb garden. Oh my, oh my, oh my, was that delicious. So give it a try and leave a comment about how it goes over at your house.
Greek Salad with Grilled Shrimp
1 head romaine lettuce chopped (or an equal amount of other greens)
2 sweet peppers, chopped
1/2 medium onion, chopped
1/3 cup kalamata olives, pitted
1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese
(The original recipe called for two chopped tomatoes and a chopped cuke)
Toss all together in bowl and put in refrigerator. Then prepare the shrimp as follows.
1 pound raw shrimp, shelled and with tails off
1 1/2 teaspoon olive oil
1 teaspoon cajun or creole seasoning
Toss shrimp with oil and seasoning. Thread on skewers and grill for 1 – 2 minutes per side, until shrimp is done. Put on a platter.
Mix together the juice from 1/2 lemon, 3 tablespoons olive oil, 1 teaspoon dried oregano, and freshly ground black pepper to taste. Drizzle over lettuce mixture and toss well. Divide equally among 6 plates. Arrange shrimp on top and serve.
by jphilo | Jun 27, 2012 | Recipes
Two summers ago, the weather was perfect for growing basil, and the fragrant herb was coming out our ears. So I dug out a basil pesto recipe my sister had given me a few years before and put it to good use. We froze oodles of pesto and for the past two years have used it instead of tomato sauce on pizza, as a spread for sandwiches, and tossed with pasta.
It. Was. Delicious.
Already this summer’s another banner basil year, so I dug out the recipe again, did some research, and came up with a non-dairy version. No was is this dairy allergy gonna keep me from enjoying the spicy spread. So, here’s the non-dairy version of the basil pesto recipe originally posted on this website in August of 2010.
It. Is. Delicious.
2 cups packed basil leaves
3 cloves garlic
1/4 – 1/2 cup olive oil
pinch of salt
1/4 cup pine nuts or walnuts
1/4 cup bread crumbs (be sure the bread is made without milk or milk products like whey)
Pour oil in blender. Peel and slice garlic cloves into oil. Blend well. Add nuts and salt. Blend well. Add basil gradually, blending well between additions. When thoroughly blended, pour into a bowl. Add cheese and stir well. Use immediately or freeze in small plastic containers or ice cube trays. Once frozen pop out the pesto cubes and store a tray’s worth in a quart freezer bag.
*For those on a gluten free diet, omit the bread crumbs and double the amount of nuts.
Note: The picture above is a triple batch.
by jphilo | Jun 13, 2012 | Recipes
This week’s been a bust, at least as far as finding time for cooking and blogging goes. So today, I’m posting an updated recipe for Honey-Oatmeal Muffins that originally ran in January of 2011. It was a favorite with readers then. It was also a favorite with a couple friends who did yard work for us this past weekend. The least we could do, after they slaved in the sun and heat for a few hours, was offer them food and drink.
Here are my updates to the original recipe, which is posted below. First, I now add 1/4 cup milled flax seed to every batch. Second, I still use buttermilk for Hiram’s muffins, but mine are now made with sour rice milk. (Sour by adding 1 tablespoon vinegar per cup of rice milk and let sit for 20 minutes.)
Honey-Oatmeal Muffins
1 egg, beaten 1/3 cup corn oil
½ cup honey 1 cup buttermilk
1 cup whole wheat flour ¾ cup white flour
1 cup oatmeal ½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder ½ teaspoon baking soda
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a medium bowl combine beaten egg, oil, buttermilk and honey. Stir. Mix the dry ingredients together and add to liquid mixture. Stir by hand until dry ingredients are moistened, but batter is still lumpy. Line muffin pan with muffin papers. Spoon batter into cups until they are ¾ full. Bake for 20 – 25 minutes until the edges turn golden brown. Serve them warm. Or let them cool and store in gallon freezer bags. Makes one dozen.
by jphilo | Jun 6, 2012 | Recipes
Hiram’s health issues put the kabosh of our annual trek to Idaho Family Camp in July. I’ve been thinking about the good food we’ll be missing this summer. My favorite meal is Sunday morning brunch, which is an extravaganza of homemade sweet rolls, fresh fruit plates, and egg bakes.
Perhaps it’s just as well we won’t be there this year, as I’m not sure my non-dairy will power is great enough to resist the egg bakes quite yet. Maybe by July 2013, the recently begun desensitizing treatment will have kicked in, and I’ll be able to indulge once again…in moderation. Until then, I hope you and your family enjoy this Sunday Morning Brunch Egg Bake recipe.
Sunday Morning Brunch Egg Bake
The night before brunch, cook:
1 pound chopped bacon, OR
1 pound crumbled sausage, OR
1 pound cubed ham
Grease a 9 X 13 pan and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. Then line pan with:
6 – 8 slices of bread with crusts removed
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
Sprinkle meat over cheese, then mix together:
1 dozen eggs, lightly beaten
1 cup milk
Pour eggs and milk over bread, cheese, and meat.
Refrigerate overnight. Bake at 325 degrees for 1 hour or until done.
