On August 8 of each year, American cooks and gardeners celebrate …
photo courtesy national calendar day dot com
Vegetarian
Cooking with Addie: Grilled Cheese Zucchini Bites with Salsa
Cooking with Addie posts will come up periodically and are designed for older kids or teens learning to cook. Not a kid? Cook this anyway!!
Addie
Grilled Cheese Zucchini Bites with Salsa probably will be thought of as a SNACK, Addie. Maybe a
- starter, (UK terminology)
- an hors d’oeuvres (French version–scroll down for definition) or
- an appetizer (USA)…
…something you’d serve before dinner if you’re hungry or if there’s company and some drinks are being served. I think they’d also be good as a meal–perhaps with other fresh vegetables and whole wheat crackers or maybe in addition to turkey rolled up in tortillas if you’re really hungry. However you might want to serve them, I think you’ll be happy because this is fun food. While I sometimes want chips, I often would rather eat veggies. These crispy bites kind of hit the sweet spot that wants crunchy, but hopes for healthy, too. You may feel the same way. My zucchini bites could also be made topped with mozzarella or Parmesan cheese, in which case you might use a marinara or even pizza sauce for the dip. Continue reading
Basil Green Bean Salad with New Potatoes (…and other green bean favorites)
{Printable recipe for Basil Green Bean Salad with New Potatoes)
I really love, love what I have thought of as my best green bean dish, which is Lemon Green Beans. There’s little to it and I make this A LOT. It’s probably my most used “recipe” because people memorize it at my dinner table: “Cooked green beans stirred up with lots of salt, pepper, and grated lemon rind with a little crushed red pepper and olive oil.” Great summer snack, too. I just leave a bowl on the counter. Keeps me from raiding the chips. Sometimes. ALL ABOUT COOKING GREEN BEANS HERE.
Pasta Primavera Soup (Spring Vegetable Soup with Pasta)
If you’re lucky enough to live in places where spring vegetables were planted weeks ago, you could already have a crop of spinach or green onions or asparagus. Our past-frost date in Colorado Springs hasn’t yet arrived; it’s June 1 – June 10. For the first time, I’ve snuck a few things in early, but am nightly ready to rush out to bring pots in or run into the yard like a crazy woman throwing blankets over newly-planted beds. (We have upcoming lows of 32 F this week, for instance.)
Grilled Veggie Tacos with Salsa-Ranch Dressing
Did you eat too many chocolate eggs over the weekend? A bit more ham than you planned on? Have a refrigerator full of boiled eggs? (Scroll to bottom for a scrumptious idea on that.)
Meatless Mondays: Curried Lentil Soup with Fresh Greens
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| Originally published three years ago, April 2, 2014 on my dinnerplace.blogspot.com site. |
Once, while visiting my sister, I said, “How about some lentil soup?” (I knew I was cooking dinner.) She shuddered and made as if to retch, all the while saying, “I love lentil soup, but…” Turns out that years ago, when she was still cooking for her family, a very large and delicious kettle of the soup went uneaten by anyone except by her. Days went by, the soup remained, she kept eating until….well, you might get the picture. Continue reading
Meatless Mondays: Lentil and Wild Rice Salad with Poached Eggs
Despite the fact that I’m a vegetable-crazy person, I often forget to put up a post for Meatless Mondays. I nearly always eat vegetables with eggs or, more often with egg whites, (the dogs get the yolks) for breakfast…
Above: Sauté spinach a minute or two in a teaspoon or two olive oil in a small, nonstick skillet with a little red onion or shallot, crack egg whites only (2-3) evenly on top, season with salt and pepper, and cover, cooking until whites are opaque. Garnish with salsa.
…but rarely write a recipe or post as the meals seem so simple–like the egg white and spinach omelet above.
Here are a few I have written and posted:
Friday Fish: Fish and Shrimp Stew with White Beans
A little fresh red bell pepper provides a different garnish here.
Each year as a cook and food blogger, I take advantage of the fact that I’m a faithful person observing Lent who needs to get a little more fish in her life. (I am a progressive Christian– a lifelong Presbyterian worshiping with the United Church of Christ.) Continue reading
Sheet Pan Dinner: Shrimp and Vegetable “Stir Fry”
It’s a snow day. I don’t currently have a paying job–this isn’t to say I don’t work– but I’m still thrilled to think I needn’t go anywhere and perhaps could be excused from accomplishing anything. Too many years of kids in the house or teaching makes me stand up and cheer when the school closings begin. Usually I spend the day in the kitchen with a big pot of soup bubbling away –and I’m about to do that after I’m done with the blog– but today a little perking dream took life.
The neighborhood girls out for a stroll out front…
Cauliflower Casserole with Gruyère Cheese–Make and Freeze (Right After You Donate to Your Local Food Pantry!)
Food bloggers, too, are in recovery-from-election mode. Skip down to recipe if need be.
In our difficult, name-calling, post-election country, our American world appears divided–though not shattered–by fear, unhappiness, anger, and misunderstanding. (The entire world is divided not just by politics, but between those who have food and homes and those who don’t.) As we move toward our usually happy day of Thanksgiving, we feel left and right, liberal and conservative, blue and red, educated and unscholarly, open and closed, Fox and MSNBC, Rush Limbaugh and NPR… I don’t feel as if we are split as much by religion (though some might not agree) if only because I drank the “justice for all and freedom of religion” kool-aid and do not want to believe any government of mine would pit one religion against another. The issue of race is, it seems, more complicated. A mix of cultures and religions is who we’ve always been and always will be, though; it’s the beauty and at times the ugliness of the United States. Right now it’s ugly. The train left the station long ago about this being a Christian country. And, truthfully, while Dave and I remain firmly entrenched, working and worshiping within a progressive protestant Christian community, the majority of people we know don’t even worship. Anywhere. (Though worshipers are still largely and sadly divided by race.) The believing who go to mosque, synagogue, or church regularly are, more and more, the faithful fewer–perhaps under 25% of our population. How could religion be key here? Hmm. When I hear, “The evangelicals are back in power,” I can’t help but wonder. Continue reading