Caprese Salad with Reduced Balsamic Vinegar

I love this dish. Basil. Mozzarella. Balsamic vinegar. Oh, did I mention basil? Mmm!

Ingredients:

• ~ 3 Tomatoes (I buy the ones that come on the vine)
• 1 bunch basil
• ~2-3 ovoline balls of fresh mozzarella
• ~1/2-1/3 C. Balsamic vinegar, reduced
  
• Salt
• Pepper

Recipe:
1. Reduce the balsamic vinegar by initially bringing it to a boil over med to high heat. Once boiling, reduce to a simmer and watch carefully. Fully reduced balsamic vinegar is a thick, syrup like liquid. The final reduction will be probably 1/4 to 1/3 of the original volume you measured out.

2. Slice the tomatoes and mozzarella into slices of even thickness (~1/4 in. thick). Separate basil leaves from stems.

3. Arrange tomatoes, basil, mozzarella onto a serving platter, repeating the pattern (any way you like).

4. Drizzle with reduced balsamic vinegar.

5. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Grilled Lemon Pound Cake

This is a tasty summer treat! The base for the recipe is lemon pound cake. Change lemon ingredients to orange ingredients and you have a lovely orange pound cake. You can top with vanilla ice cream, grilled peaches or a fresh berry syrup. Raspberries or blackberries complement the lemon flavor nicely.

2 1/4 cups flour
1/4 cup lemon zest
1 tsp baking powder
2 sticks unsalted butter (at room temp)
2 cups sugar
6 eggs
1/4 cup milk
1/4 lemon juice
1 1/2 tsp vanilla

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Spray a loaf pan with nonstick spray.
2. Beat butter and sugar at medium speed for 2 mins. Add eggs one at a time. At low speed, beat in flour, lemon zest, and baking powder until well incorporated. Beat in milk, lemon juice, and vanilla.
3. Bake for about 1 hr 15 mins or until golden yellow and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Let cake cool for 20 mins. Unmold cake and let cool completely, about 3 hrs (or speed cooling up in fridge).
4. Light grill. Oil grill grate. Place slices of loaf on grill, turning once, until toasted, about 2 mins.

Grilled Peach Topping:
1. Slice peaches into 1/2 inch slices.
2. Oil grill grate. Place peaches on grill, turning once, about 2 mins.

Berry Syrup Topping:
1. Boil about 1/4 cup of water and 1 tsp of sugar. Add about 1/4 - 1/2 cup of berries (bruise them well). Constantly stir mixture and let boil for about 5 mins.
2. Place berry syrup in freezer for about 20 mins to cool completely and it should thicken slightly.

Fruit Pizza

A great summer time dessert that can be made for the 4th of July using red and blue fruits with the white cream cheese filling for a festive looking red, white and blue creation. Or use your favorite fruits anytime of the summer for a dessert that is light and airy but sure to please.

Serves 8-12

Ingredients

Dough:
1-18 oz. pgk. refrigerator sugar cookies or
2 cups flour
1/2 cup confectioner's sugar
1 cup butter

Cream layer:
1- 8oz. pgk. cream cheese
1/3 cup sugar
1 tsp. vanilla

Fruit topping:
4 cups of various fruits-strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, kiwi, grapes, bananas, peaches all work great- If bananas are used toss slices in 1-2 tsp. of lemon juice before arranging on cream cheese layer so they won't turn.

Directions

Crust: 2 choices-
1. 1-18 oz. pgk. refrigerator sugar cookie dough
2. Home made crust: Combine confectioner's sugar and flour in bowl, then cut in butter until crumbly, pat into ball.

With either dough (see above) press the dough onto an ungressed 12 in. pizza pan
Bake at 350 for 10-12 min, or until golden brown
Cool on Rack
Mix cream cheese with sugar and vanilla until smooth and creamy
Spread evenly over cooled crust
Arrange strawberries, raspberries, and blueberries in decorative design on top of cream cheese mixture (4th of July color scheme). I used strawberries, kiwi, bananas and grapes for a colorful and delicious combination
Refrigerate for a minimum of 1 hr
Slice and serve

French Toast with Blueberries

I love brunch. French toast is simple and fast. I like to keep the pieces warm in a 250 degree oven while I am cooking the rest. Today we topped them with fresh blueberries and powdered sugar and just a tiny bit of the syrup that was left in the bottle (real maple syrup of course).

• 2 eggs
• milk
• cinnamon
  
• splash of vanilla
• 4-6 slices of bread (depending on how much they soak up and how much milk you add)
• butter
  
• blueberries
  
• powdered sugar
  
• maple syrup
  

Blend the eggs, milk, cinnamon and vanilla in a shallow bowl. Dip the bread on both sides into the egg mixture, soaking well. Place bread onto a hot, buttered skillet and cook to browned on both sides, flipping as appropriate. Serve with butter, berries, powdered sugar, syrup, or whatever you want.

Tomato Arugula Sandwich

This was a quick simple sandwich that was full of flavor and very satisfying. I made it on Vollkorn bread from Macrina Bakery, which is my new favorite bakery. Vollkorn is a hearty bread with whole grains and seeds but it is sweetened with honey and molasses. The arugula came from my CSA and was spicy and peppery and really made the sandwich. The tomato was an large heirloom. I toasted the bread lightly, spread a layer of herbed goat cheese, added a thick tomato slice and some arugula.

Cherry Tomato Coucous

For a side dish to dinner this week, I decided to make a dish from one of my favorite food websites. It was easy, quick, and delicious.

recipe from 101cookbooks.com

3 C couscous
1/2 basket cherry tomatoes, halved or quartered
1 med. cucumber, peeled and cut into 1/4" pieces
1 C cooked chickpeas
1 lemon, juiced
1 lime, juiced
~1/4 C EVOO
salt, to taste
pepper, to taste
1/3 C basil or cilantro, chopped
1/3 C goat cheese

• Cook the couscous
• In a large bowl, combine tomatoes, cucumbers, chickpeas, citrus juice, EVOO, salt, pepper
• Add couscous to veggies, mix together
• Top with basil/cilantro and cheese
  

Servings: 4-6 (mine probably made around ~8 servings (see below))

I modified the ingredients and made a LOT of this dish
- Approx. 4 C. couscous
- Used one basket of cherry tomatoes
- 1 can (~15 oz) of chickpeas
- Added basil to veggies before couscous (but would still add the cheese last)

Next time I make this recipe, I think I will leave out the cucumbers and perhaps add another bean (e.g. black beans).

Zucchini and Basil Muffins

I have an excess of zucchini so have been searching for some recipes to make use of it. This is a savory muffin and doesn't have much sugar in it at all. I used soy milk and a 50/50 blend of white flour and whole wheat so they were probably a little denser then the original recipe. I don't think the basil came through much in the final product so I think I would add a little more next time. These are best warm right out of the oven and definitely benefit from reheating (I just popped them in the toaster oven for a few minutes). I had dreams of making them into savory little sandwiches but they would have been tiny. These are muffins so be careful not to over mix. Just blend the wet and dry until just combined and then add the zucchini and basil.

recipe from Just Hungry

• 2 large eggs
• 3/4 cup milk
• 2/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 2 1/2 cups flour
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 2 tsp. salt
• 1 Tbs. baking powder
• 2 cups grated zucchini (about 2 medium zucchini)
• 2 Tbs finely julienned fresh basil leaves
• 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan or similar hard grating cheese

Blend the eggs, milk and oil in a large bowl. In a second bowl blend the dry ingredients. Add the dry to the wet and stir until just combined. Stir in zucchini and basil.

Fill greased muffins tins about half full. Sprinkle with cheese. (I put the muffins in the oven for 5 minutes before I added the cheese to let the heat level out the batter a little).

Bake in 425 degree oven for 20-25 minutes.

Easy Primavera

I have basically decided that you can't go wrong with fresh veggies cook gently and serve with a starch (whether it is spaghetti, couscous, quinoa, etc). Topping with a little bit of cheese and fresh herbs doesn't hurt either. This recipe was supposed to be a primavera but I am not sure if it is. Roma beans are wide a flat and came in my CSA but any bean or vegetable substitution should work well.

inspired by a recipe in my CSA which was inspired by a recipe that she couldn't remember who to credit

Ingredients:

• small onion, diced
• two zucchini/summer squash, quartered and sliced
• a handful of Roma beans, ends trimmed, snapped into bite sized pieces
• two cloves garlic, minced
• handful of cherry tomatoes, quartered
  
• 1/3 cup fresh herb of your choice (cinnamon basil, basil, summer savory) minced
• olive oil
• spaghetti
• freshly grated parmesan (I actually use pre-shredded asiago)
  
• salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

• boil water and make some spaghetti
  
• sauté onion with olive oil
• add squash, beans, and garlic, until crisp tender
• add salt and pepper here or later (or both)
  
• when pasta is almost done add tomatoes for a minute or two and then add herbs
  
• put pasta in a bowl, top with veggies, and sprinkle with cheese

Tomato Sauce

8oz can whole tomatoes
1/4 cup green pepper
1/4 cup onion
1/4 cup carrots
4 cloves garlic
EVOO
salt, pepper, italian seasoning to taste

Finely chop green pepper, onion, carrots, & garlic and sauté in EVOO. Puree tomatoes and add to vegetable mix. Cook over medium heat stirring occasionally. Season to taste.

This is really easy (especially if you have a blender or food processor). It tastes better than sauce from a jar and there is far less sugar than sauce from a jar. I boiled all the water off to almost make a paste and used as the sauce on a vegan chicken sandwich.

Dinner Rolls

Rachel made these for Easter this year. They were light and fluffy. The original recipe calls them 'unbelievable rolls' and they are pretty unbelievable. Pictured here are the pretty ones, it took a little while to figure out the proper technique to get the nice smooth round finish (see below). Luckily they still tasted great no matter how they looked. Take note when making these about the prep time, the need to rise for about 30 minutes three times.

recipe from allrecipes.com
3/4 cup milk
3/4 cup water
1/2 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
5 teaspoons active dry yeast
5 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup margarine, melted

Heat milk, water, sugar and salt over medium heat
Remove from heat and mix in eggs and yeast*
Put flour into a large bowl and make well in center
Poor in liquid mixture, do not stir, and let sit for 20 to 30 minutes, covered
Add melted butter and mix well (hands work fine here or likely a wooden spoon)
Add more flour if sticky (I'm pretty sure it was very sticky)
Cover and let rise for 20 to 30 minutes
Shape the dough into the rolls** and let rise again for ~30minutes
Bake rolls in a 400 degree oven for 15 minutes, or until done (rolls will be slightly browned)

* If the liquid is too hot when you add the yeast, it will kill the yeast. Lukewarm to warm is probably the best.
** To create the "nice smooth round finish" roll dough into a ball. Turn the roll "inside out" by pushing up from the bottom, through the middle, while pulling out and down to "tuck under" the top of the roll.

Cream Cheese Frosting

cream cheese frosting. goes well with chai cupcakes but the possibilities are endless. helps if the cream cheese and butter are at room temperature. this amount should frost 24 cupcakes or 72 mini ones.

2.5 cups powered sugar
4 oz cream cheese
2 oz butter
splash of vanilla

mix in food processor until smooth and delicious

Chai Cupcakes

Here is a recipe for very delicious chai tea cupcakes. I brought them to a wedding and they were a big hit. When my sister and I made them we made mini cupcakes and they took about 17 minutes to bake. The regular sized ones took longer but I didn't keep track of exactly how long. They are really good with cream cheese frosting. The original recipe called for cow milk but I have made them with almond and soy milk and it turned out fine.

Chai Tea
5 chai tea bags
1 1/2 cup milk

Chai Spice Blend (I tend to use whatever spices I have around)
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp gr cardamom
1/2 tsp gr ginger
1/2 tsp gr clove

Cupcake
2 3/4 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 sticks butter - room temperature
2 cup sugar
4 eggs
1 tsp vanilla

Directions:
1. heat/boil milk and tea bags on medium heat for 2 minutes
2. mix dry ingredients and spices
3. beat butter,sugar, and vanilla. beat in one egg at a time
4. alternate chai milk and flour into butter sugar mix in 3 batches

bake at 350 degrees until done

makes 24 regular size cupcakes or 72 mini ones

*These cupcakes have one raspberry as a garnish on each.