With the summer bounty at our farmers market, plus a rainy grey day, soup was on the table for lunch today!

2 pints of mixed heritage cherry tomatoes, sliced and quartered if on the bigger side

a good splash of Extra Virgin Olive Oil

a good splash of White Balsamic vinegar

1/4 cup sliced red/green pepper

1/4 of a red onion, sliced

season with salt and pepper

Add to a pan and roast at 400 degrees in an air roaster oven for 30 minutes.

While roasting prep the other vegetables:

1 cup mixed green and yellow beans, cut to 1 inch pieces

3/4 cup chopped yellow zucchini squash - 1/4 inch thick pieces

3 small/medium sized swiss chard, stems chopped, and slice the greens into ribbons

big handful of chopped basil

4 cups chicken stock - homemade or store bought

Add the vegetables to a pot and lightly steam until tender.

When the roasted tomatoes and peppers are done, add 2 cups of the chicken stock to a food processor then the roasted veggies and blend until smooth. OR Add in the 2 cups of chicken stock to a dutch oven then the roasted veggies and blend with a stick blender until smooth. Pour in blended veggies and remaining 2 cups of chicken stock to the pot and add in the drained, lightly steamed vegetables, a big handful of chopped basil, season with salt and pepper, and turn on low to heat bringing to a light simmer.

Serve with fresh bread of choice or grilled cheese.

 

This is a lovely side dish to have with any main dish or lunch, especially in summer.  While not a big fan of sweet coleslaw, there is a bit of sugar in this recipe, but it is not overpowering at all, and by all means add more if that is to your taste.  The dressing makes about 3/4 cup, and in this recipe we used 1/4 dressing for the coleslaw, so leftovers can be used again on just about any salad you make.

DRESSING:

1/2  cup Mayonnaise

2 tsp. Dijon mustard

1 tsp. fresh lemon juice

1 Tblsp. White vinegar

1 1/2 tsp. white sugar

1/2 tsp. ground celery seed

1/2 tsp. paprika

fresh cracked pepper

COLESLAW:

1 1/2 cups finely sliced, shredded green cabbage

rounded 1/2 cup finely sliced red cabbage, or a bit more if you prefer

1 small to medium grated carrot

2 green onions, diced

Whisk up all the ingredients listed in the dressing recipe and set aside.

To a bowl, add the green and red cabbages, grated carrot and green onions, tossing with a fork to combine.  Pour in 1/4 cup of the dressing, mixing well.  Refrigerate 1- 2 hours before serving.

With the number of chili recipes on this blog, I realized I never seem to make chili the same way each time.  Guess I love playing with flavors, textures of food, lol, and chili offers a perfect opportunity to do just that.  This chili was simple to put together, yet there is definite complex flavors going on.  In this recipe you can certainly play around with different peppers depending on the heat you like.  We always do mild, but this chili offers a nice "smokey" flavor with the extra cilantro added.

1 Tblsp. Extra Virgin Olive Oil

1 lb. ground beef (I like to mix my ground beef - 1/2 lb. lean, 1/2 lbs. extra lean)

1 medium onion chopped

2 large garlic cloves, minced

1 celery stalk with leaves, chopped

1/4 of a red pepper, diced

1/2 of a green pepper, diced

1 small can, 5.5 oz. of tomato paste, plus 1 can of water

1 can tomatoes and green chilis like Rotel

salt to taste, 1 Tblsp. chili powder, 1/2 tsp. smoked paprika, 1 tsp. garlic powder, 1 1/2 tsp. cumin, 1 tsp. dried rubbed oregano

one 14 oz. can of black beans, drained and rinsed

huge handful of chopped fresh cilantro

grated cheddar cheese

tortilla chips, on the side

Heat up a dutch oven on low medium heat with the EVOO.  Add in the onion, garlic, peppers, celery saute for 5 minutes.  Then add in the ground beef, breaking up with a spoon to brown well - about another 5-6 minutes.  Sprinkle in the seasonings, then pour in the can of tomatoes with green chili, tomato paste with water, stirring well to combine.

Add the drained/rinsed black beans, and fresh cilantro.  Lid on, turn down to a low simmer, cooking for for 1 hour, stirring occasionally.  Check for seasons and adjust if necessary, serve topped with cheddar cheese, and tortilla chips on the side.

This is an easy pasta dish to put together, and is lovely for lunch or dinner.  With a leftover bowl the next day it can also easily be turned into a pasta salad with some chopped spinach added in.

8 ounces small pasta shells

1 small shallot sliced

salt and pepper to taste

2 Tblsp. Extra Virgin Olive Oil

12 cherry tomatoes, halved

6 asparagus spears, cut into 1 inch pieces

5 Tblsp. fresh pesto

1/4 - 1/2 cup reserved pasta water

Parmesan cheese

Heat up a pot of water to cook the pasta.  While pasta is cooking, heat up a large pan with the EVOO, on low medium heat.  Add in the shallot and asparagus, sauteing about 5 minutes. Then add in the tomatoes and continue to saute.

Pour in 1/4 cup pasta water, season with salt and pepper and add the drained cooked pasta, tossing to coat.  Remove from the heat, and add the pesto, and grated Parmesan cheese, mix well.

Serve along side any main dish, or have as a meal on it's own.

 

 

 

 

 

 

With this recipe, we used a 3 quart slow cooker.  Each slow cooker seems to have it's own unique heat.  In determining the cook time, I would recommend using a 3 quart slow cooker.  This lovely side dish was cooked in 2 hrs. and 15 minutes.  It makes a nice lunch with a salad, or a lovely side dish to any Mexican flavoured main dishes.  Adding sliced avocados, salsa, plain yogurt are nice accompaniments.

2 tblsp. Avocado oil

3/4 cup long grain basmati rice, well rinsed

1 small shallot, diced

1/4 of a green pepper, diced

2/3 cup diced tomato

14 oz can of black beans rinsed well

1-2 tsp. chili powder, 1 tsp. cumin, 1 tsp. garlic powder, 1 tsp. salt

1 1/2 cups plus 2 tblsp. warm water

Plug in the slow cooker, and preheat on low.  Heat up a saute pan on low medium heat with the Avocado oil.  Add the vegetables and saute 5 minutes.  Add in the seasonings and rice, and saute for another 3 minutes.  Transfer the rice vegetables to a slow cooker, add in the black beans and pour in the water.  Stir gently lid on and cook on low for 2 hrs. 15 minutes.

 

 

I saw an article in our local newspaper showcasing Coronation Salad.  Having never heard of this recipe I discovered there are many versions of Coronation Salad, a salad that has layers of flavors, and a salad that is versatile in how you want to present it.  This is my version, which really is 2 salads in 1.  A rice and vegetable salad topped with the curry chicken salad.

Rice Salad:

1 cup Basmati rice rinsed well and cooked

2 chopped green onions

3/4 cup diced peeled cucumber

1/4 of a small yellow pepper, diced

1 celery stalk with leaves diced

2 seeded roma tomatoes, diced

2/3 rounded cup frozen peas

handful of chopped flat leaf Italian parsley

salt and pepper to taste

juice of 1/2 a large lemon

4 Tblsp. Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Once your rice is cooked, set aside to cool.  Prepare all the chopped vegetables and measure out the frozen peas.  Once the rice is cooled add in the vegetables, peas, parsley and toss with a spoon.  Pour in the lemon juice, EVOO, and season with salt and pepper.

Chicken Curry Salad:

3 chicken breasts - I cooked them in the air fryer, but use your preferred method of cooking

1 1/2 Tblsp. plain low fat yogurt

3 rounded Tblsp. mayonnaise

1 1/2 tsp. marmalade

3 1/2 rounded tsp. Madras curry powder - or more to taste

juice from a fresh wedge of lemon

chopped almonds

steamed fresh asparagus to plate on the side

Once your chicken is cooked and cooled, cut into small cube size pieces, and set aside.  In a bowl, combine the rest of the ingredient except the almonds.  Whisk well.  Add the chicken pieces to the curry dressing and mix well.  Sprinkle the top with chopped almonds.

To assemble the Coronation Salad, add the rice salad to a bowl, then place a generous amount of the chicken curry in the middle of the rice salad with fresh steamed asparagus on the side.  A salad packed full of flavor, making a great lunch or dinner.

 

 

 

Each night I ask...what to cook tonight??  We had tacos the night before, with this recipe here.  There was about 1 cups worth of taco meat sauce left in the fridge.  With the high costs of groceries, well truthfully inflation overall everywhere, I refuse to throw away good food.  With a few pantry/fridge staples this recipe came together easily enough and was mighty tasty.

Quite often I will cook enough for 4 (there are 2 of us in our household now) and have the leftovers the next night.  This recipe here, worked perfectly for 2.

By the way, with the black beans, I froze the remainder in the canned sauced/water they came in, in an airtight container to use another day.  This made a great dinner, but would be lovely for lunch too and came together in about 30 minutes.

1/4 stalk celery, with leaves finely diced

good handful of fresh cilantro minced with the stems

2/3 cup black beans, rinsed well, separate in half in a bowl and mash one half of beans with a fork

398 can diced tomatoes drained, but reserve liquid

1 cup leftover taco meat sauce

1/4 cup frozen organic corn

1 tsp. chili powder, salt and pepper to taste

grated cheddar cheese

slices of avocado

corn chips

To a sauce pan, add the drained tomatoes with 1/3 cup of juice, celery, corn, cilantro, chili powder, and salt and pepper. Bring to a lite simmer, with lid on and simmer 15 minutes.

Add the beans and meat sauce plus 2-3 Tablespoons of reserved tomato liquid.  Mix well and simmer on low for another 5-10 minutes.

Serve with a topping of grated cheddar cheese, and avocado and corn chips on the side.

 

 

This was a healthy, mighty flavorful vegan/vegetarian stew.  There are a lot of options you could use with this recipe in terms of vegetables: carrots, broccoli, peas, red pepper, cauliflower, spinach to name a few.  I used what I had on hand so by all means adjust this recipe to suit your own needs/tastes.

While we made this Vegan/Vegetarian it could easily be made with chicken stock and cut up chicken breasts - again lots of flavor.  Plus the added tumeric with the ginger gives a good immune boost especially when in the depths of freezing winter.  There is nothing better than a good curry during winter.  Any way you make it, a hearty, healthy lunch or dinner.

2 Tblsp. Avocado oil

1 small onion, diced

2 minced garlic cloves

1 tsp. finely minced ginger

1/4 cup diced green pepper

1 stalk of celery, sliced on diagonal, and add minced leaves

3 small swiss chard leaves and stalk, finely sliced in ribbons

2-3 roma tomatoes, diced

3/4 lb. diced potatoes, we used red fingerling - any potato that holds up well steamed/simmered

1 cup vegetable stock, divided

1/2 tsp. tumeric, 3 tsp. Madras curry powder, salt to taste

big handfull of finely chopped fresh cilantro, and fresh basil

400 ml can full fat organic coconut milk - guar gum, sugar free (we use this brand)

398 ml. can organic chick peas, drained and rinsed well

1 Tblsp. potato starch

Heat up a large pan/braiser with the Avocado oil on low medium heat.  Add the onion, garlic, ginger, green pepper and celery to the pan.  Saute until fragrant and the onions are translucent - about 4 minutes.  Then add the swiss chard, tomatoes, tumeric, and Madras curry powder, salt and continue to saute until the swiss chard starts to welt.  Pour in 3/4 cup vegetable stock, potatoes and stir to combine.  Turn down to low and lid on keep on a low simmer stirring occasionally for the next 15-18 minutes until the potatoes are fork tender.

Next add in the fresh cilantro and basil, and drained chick peas mixing well.  To the remainder 1/4 cup of stock add 1 Tblsp. potato starch stirring to incorporate.  Add to the curry dish stirring well, then pour in the coconut milk, again stirring well until it begins to thicken.

Keep on a low simmer for 5-10 minutes stirring throughout, and serve hot over cooked rice.