Red Potato and Tomato Salad

 

Isn't this a pretty salad?

Not your average potato salad....

but it's not trying to be.

I originally saw a version of this recipe on the Food Network.

With a few tweaks I made it fit for my family.

Why not try it yourself.

Your family may like it too!

This is how I made it.

I scrubbed a pound and a half of small red potatoes.

I cut the potatoes into bite-size pieces, put them in a saucepan and covered them with water. I boiled the potatoes until just tender ~ about 15 minutes. (The potatoes should not be too soft, or they will get mushy and become more of a mashed potato salad.)

 While the potatoes were cooking I gathered the remainder of the ingredients; 1 pint of grape tomatoes, 2 tablespoons of capers, lemon zest, salt and pepper, flat leaf parsley, a shallot, and olive oil.

I prepared the ingredients by rinsing and draining the capers, zesting the lemon, slicing the grape tomatoes in half, chopping the flat leaf parsley, and dicing the shallot.

When the potatoes were done I drained them and put them in a bowl with the tomatoes, capers, lemon zest, parsley and shallots. Then I doused it with extra virgin olive oil and sprinkled salt and pepper on top. I gave it a good stir to distribute all the ingredients and tasted it until I was happy with the amount of salt and pepper and oil. I refrigerated this for about an hour so this would be a cold salad, but it tasted good warm too!

I served it with my Lemon Ginger Fish and Vegetables in a Packet recipe. It was a tasty and colorful addition to the plate.

This is the official recipe for Red Potato and Tomato Salad adapted from Giada De Laurentiis' recipe on the Food Network:

1 pound baby red potatoes, quartered or halved depending on size

1 pint grape tomatoes, halved

1 scallion, thinly sliced

1 tablespoon flat leaf parsley, chopped

2 tablespoons capers, rinsed and drained

zest of 1 large lemon

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

salt and pepper

Boil potatoes until just tender; drain.

In a large bowl, combine first 7 ingredients.

Stir to combine.

Add salt and pepper to taste. 

Serve warm or cold.

What is the taste tester's bottom line?

GoodMan and I really liked this recipe. It doesn't take the place of a mayo-based potato salad, but it's really not meant to. It is a good, fresh-tasting, colorful side dish.

The bottom line: This recipe goes into the "keeper" file. I'll keep this in mind for potlucks, summer picnics, and simple dinners.

Lemon Ginger Fish and Vegetables in a Packet

 This is a lovely fish dinner...

 Cod seasoned with lemon and ginger on a bed of green beans, 

and orange and yellow peppers.

As a side dish I made a potato and tomato salad (I'll post that recipe soon.)

The fish and veggies bake in a parchment paper packet.

Each serving is wrapped in it's own packet,

which makes it kind of like a present you open up for dinner.

This is how I put them together...

 I gathered the ingredients: fish fillets, green beans, red and orange sweet peppers, shallot, ginger, salt, pepper, lemon and flat leaf parsley.

I preheated the oven to 375 degrees, then I cleaned and chopped the vegetables.

 I cut a piece of parchment paper large enough to cover the fish and veggies, and layered the green beans, sweet peppers, shallots and about 1/4 teaspoon ginger (I use the ginger in a tube rather than grate fresh ginger).

 I put the fish fillet on top of the vegetables, sprinkled salt and pepper on the fish, then layered the flat leaf parsley, slices of lemon, and a pat of butter.

 I wrapped up the packets like big pieces of fishy candy...no need for tape or other types of closure. Then I put them in the preheated oven and baked them for 30 minutes.

When they were done I put one packet on each plate and let each person open their own packet. We did end up taking our fish and veggies out of the packets and put them on plates, but they can be eaten right out of the paper packets.

I served our fish with a potato and tomato salad for extra color and texture.

The official recipe for Lemon Ginger Fish and Vegetables in a Packet
(quantity of each item varies depending on the number of packets you're making)

fish fillets
green beans, trimmed
red and yellow sweet pepper slices
shallot, thinly sliced
grated ginger
salt and pepper
lemon, sliced
flat leaf parsley
butter

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Cut parchment paper into squares large enough to envelope one serving of fish and vegetables.
Layer vegetables on the paper. First green beans, then peppers and shallots. Add the ginger and mix to distribute the ginger throughout the veggies.
Put fish fillet on top of vegetables.
Sprinkle with salt and pepper.
Put lemon slices on top and add flat leaf parsley.
Put a pat of butter on the top.
Wrap parchment paper around the fish and veggies and twist the ends to seal.
Put on a baking sheet and bake for 30 minutes.
Serve individually and let each person open their own packet.




What was the taste tester's bottom line?
  GoodMan enjoys fish...and he especially enjoys eating a healthy fish recipe...so this was right up his alley. He did suggest that I mix the ginger throughout the veggies next time so he doesn't bite into a "pocket of ginger", but otherwise he was very enthusiastic about this recipe.
  As usual, fish is not my first choice for dinner. But I could eat this again, so I guess that is as good a recommendation as any fish dinner can get from me.


The bottom line: I will make this again. I would like to try this with other kinds of fish.

Pico de Gallo Crostini

Okay, I know Pico de Gallo is a Mexican condiment

and Crostini is an Italian appetizer,

but they go so well together...

Multicultural is good!

Just a note before we go on...

Nothing in this recipe is homemade, 

more like home-assembled.

And sometimes those are the best kinds of recipes!

This is a great light meal (I mean light as in not heavy, not light as in low calorie). It works well for us as a Sunday evening meal since we usually eat our large Sunday meal right after church. Recently I made these crostini and served them with a fresh vegetable salad and some watermelon chunks ~ I'm rushing springtime, but it tastes sooo good! GoodMan and I don't like wine, but in my imagination this would be a perfect dinner with a glass of wine...somebody try it and let me know if I'm right!

This is how I make (assemble) them:

I start by preheating the oven to 400 degrees. Then I slice a loaf of "good" bread (not gummy white bread ~ this loaf is a crusty Italian bread, but it would be good with any firm bread).

 I brush both sides of the slices with olive oil, and then put them in the oven.

I toast the slices for about 5 minutes on each side (watch carefully, the undersides brown before the tops).

As I said, I did not make any of the ingredients, I simply assemble them. For the assembly I gather a container of pico de gallo, which is a fresh salsa made with fresh tomatoes, onions and some type of chilies. I find mine in the produce section of the grocery store. These days most grocery stores carry a fresh pico de gallo. I also get a package of Philadelphia whipped cream cheese chive and onion flavor. I buy the 1/3 less fat so these must be healthy!

First, I spread the warm toasts with the chive and onion flavored cream cheese, then I spoon the pico de gallo on top...

That's it! It's that easy. I would encourage you to eat them while they are still warm...but...

These two leftover pieces were eaten cold...and it didn't seem to matter!

This is the recipe for Pico de Gallo Crostini

one loaf of bread sliced about 1/2 inch thick
olive oil
1 package of soft cream cheese, chive and onion flavor
8 oz of fresh Pico de Gallo

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. 
Lay bread slices on a cookie sheet and brush both sides with olive oil.
Bake about 5 minutes, or until golden brown on under sides of the bread.
Flip the bread over and allow the other side to become golden, approximately another 5 minutes.
While still warm, spread cream cheese on toasted bread slices.
Spoon Pico de Gallo on the top of the cream cheese.
Serve while still warm.

What is the taste tester's bottom line?
I've been making this for a few years and I never have leftovers for more than a couple of hours. These go fast! I like the level of spice in the Pico de Gallo I buy at my local Meijer store, but I bought some in Texas that was too hot...I just chopped an extra tomato and brought the heat level right down.


The bottom line: Pico de Gallo is a Mexican condiment and Crostini is an Italian appetizer...My family likes being multi-cultural!! 

Do you have an easy "assembly" recipe? If so, please share!

"Almost Elvis" French Toast

It was a snowy Saturday morning in February.

One of the few Saturdays we didn't have little people around.

And I wanted to try a new breakfast recipe.

I asked GoodMan, "Want to try something new for breakfast?"

Now you need to know, every morning 
GoodMan eats a special cereal mix he creates

...EVERY morning.

Well, that's not exactly true...

Once in a while he'll eat eggs ~ but not often.

Being a good sport, and knowing I'm trying
 new recipes for my blog, he said okay...
until he saw me gather the ingredients... 

With wide eyes he asked, "What are you making?"

I rambled as I responded, "Did you know Elvis used to like peanut butter and banana sandwiches?"...(with pickles ~ but don't tell GoodMan). And I asked him to imagine he was at a bed and breakfast and this was the special breakfast they served...and anyway...

~At this point he knew 
there was no getting out of it...

He rolled his eyes...
then agreed to be my taste tester.

(The man is a saint!)

The first thing I did was make two peanut butter and banana sandwiches on whole wheat bread.

I added a tablespoon of butter to my frying pan and turned the stove on medium high.

I beat two eggs and a splash of orange juice in a dish and added a pinch of nutmeg and a pinch of cinnamon.

I dipped the sandwiches in the egg mixture and then put them in the heated fry pan.

 I let them cook on one side until golden brown. It took about 3 minutes.

 I flipped them over and cooked them another 2 minutes or so ~ watching to make sure they didn't get too brown.

I served them with additional banana slices, some raspberry and blueberry syrup and a tall glass of milk.

And this is the result!

Recipe for Almost Elvis French Toast:

4 slices whole wheat bread (stale bread works best)

3 tablespoons peanut butter

3 bananas

2 eggs, beaten

2 tablespoons orange juice

pinch of nutmeg

pinch of cinnamon

1 tablespoon butter

berry flavored syrup

Spread peanut butter on four slices of wheat bread. Slice 2 bananas to cover two of the slices of bread. Put the other two slices of bread on top of the banana slices to make a sandwich.

In a dish, mix the beaten eggs and the spices.

Melt butter in a fry pan over medium high heat.

Dip the sandwiches in the egg mixture and then put them in the fry pan.

Cook on one side for about 3 minutes, or until golden brown. Turn over and cook on the other side about 2 more minutes or until that side is golden. Watch carefully to make sure they do not over cook.

Serve sliced in half with the remaining banana sliced over the top. Provide berry flavored syrup as topping.

What is the taste tester's bottom line?

GoodMan thought I was a little heavy handed with the peanut butter (as if there could be such a thing!), but he had no trouble finishing his breakfast. I thought it was good, especially with the berry syrup. It was a lot to eat, but as you'll notice by the last photo, we were up to the challenge.

The bottom line ~ If this had been served at a bed and breakfast I would have been impressed, and I would have been telling all my friends about it. Because this is so rich I will save this recipe for a special occasion (and I'll make sure to use less peanut butter in GoodMan's portion).

  

It's A Dud!

At the beginning of this blog

I made a promise...

Here, let me quote it for you,

"My friends can always count on me to share the great recipes I've found and keep it real when I find something that doesn't work."

When I made that promise I didn't realize how hard

it would be to write up a blog post 

on something that didn't pass the "thumbs-up" test.

Well, I guess it had to happen sometime.

Here is the first dud...

I'm sure there will be more. 

And you can count on me to fess up.

This recipe was for taco cups. The general idea was to use crescent dough formed in a muffin pan to use as the tortilla. I filled the cups with all the usual players; seasoned ground beef, lettuce, tomato, cheese, sour cream, avocado, and salsa. The taste testers were unanimous ~ no one liked the crescent cups. I think it's because they are not crunchy and they have a subtle sweetness. Tacos are not always crunchy, but the tortilla is usually either bland or somewhat salty.

I have all the pictures I normally take for step-by-step instructions, but that seems a little silly at this point. Instead of putting all that information onto this post I'll spend time making another tab for my front page. This one will be titled "It's A Dud". Hopefully as this blog continues there will be few posts under that heading, but I've been cooking long enough and had my share of duds so I know they can't all be "thumbs-up" recipes.

What's the craziest recipe you've ever tried? Did it work? Or was it a dud?