Revisiting Summer Salads

I don't know what the weather's like where you live, but it's hot here in Texas. So today we're going to revisit a couple of my favorite cool and refreshing summer salads.

First is Cucumber and Onion Salad. As soon as the weather turns warm, my husband starts asking for this. And I always have to add extra onion just for him.

Start by peeling and thinly slicing a cucumber or two. 

Put them into a bowl, then slice some onion, add that to the cucumbers and toss everything together.

Next, in a 2 - 4 cup measuring cup or medium bowl, mix 2 cups water, 1 cup vinegar, 1/4 - 1/2 tsp black pepper and sugar to taste. I usually add about a tablespoon, but you can start with 1 tsp and go up from there until you reach the desired amount of sweetness. For me, I'm simply looking to take the edge off of vinegar, not anything really sweet. Stir until dissolved and pour over onion/cucumber mixture.

Allow to sit for at least an hour before serving.

Avocado and Tomato Balsamic Salad is quickly becoming one of my go-to sides. I can whip it up in a flash and it's so delicious and healthy that I've been known to make a meal of this alone.

Simply cube the avocado and some tomatoes into a bowl. I prefer the flavor of grape tomatoes, so I just halve them. 

Then drizzle a little bit of olive oil over that, add several shakes of balsamic vinegar and a pinch of salt.

Gently toss everything to coat and that's it. You're ready to go. 

Fresh veggies and fruits are part of the beauty of summer. And while we can get many of these items year-round, they just taste better in the summer when they're fresh and, often, locally grown. 

What are some of your favorite summer salads/veggies?

Award-winning author Mindy Obenhaus is passionate about touching readers with Biblical truths in an entertaining, and sometimes adventurous, manner. She lives on a ranch in Texas with her husband, one sassy pup, countless cattle, deer and the occasional coyote, mountain lion or snake. When she's not writing, she enjoys spending time with her grandchildren, cooking and watching copious amounts of the Hallmark Channel. Learn more at mindyobenhaus.com

A Summery Splash of Color for January

A couple of weeks ago, right after our blizzard and snow days, I was craving tomatoes.

I don't know exactly what it was. Maybe I was tired of all the winter squashes and soups and stews (which I DO love), but I wanted something fresh and colorful, and, well, summery.

But every store had the same stock problem - pallid, sad-looking, more yellowish-orange than red spheres that were trying to pass as tomatoes.

I was resigned. No tomatoes for me.

AND THEN IT HAPPENED...

I happened on the most amazing looking, bright red, plump tomatoes.

I just knew I had to do something special with them.

I had some leftover chicken which I shredded. I tossed on some oregano, basil, and garlic.

Added the chopped tomatoes on top and topped with cheese. (Note the parchment paper? That was because last time, I lost half the cheesy goodness when it stuck to the pan.)

I like my cheese crusty, so I cooked it until it looked almost burnt.

There's a peek inside under the cheese crust.

While the chicken and tomatoes were cooking, I boiled up some cavatappi, then spooned the deliciousness on top.

So, do you crave summer dishes in winter and winter dishes in summer, or is it just me?

 I might be crazy, but I prefer to think I just like variety.

Caprese Salad to Beat the Summer Heat

Mindy here and we are definitely in the dog days of summer.

104 in the shade. :0

Then again, this is Texas, the Lone Star State. Home of longhorns, wind farms, oil wells... And heat and humidity. Not that any of that can diminish our Texas pride. So I can’t help but give you a glimpse of our new front doors that arrived last week.

Still, when it’s this hot, the last thing I want to do is cook. So we settled for caprese salad instead. I mean when something this good is so easy, not to mention cold, why not?

First, we need some yummy tomatoes. Like this Campari variety.

Very tasty.

 

Chop three or four of those babies and toss them together with some cubed fresh mozzarella.

Fresh mozzarella is the kind that comes in a ball, not a brick. Very soft with a mild flavor.

 

Then we add some chopped basil, a bit of olive oil, a pinch of sea salt, and some fresh ground pepper.

Toss it all up and voila!

Heaven in a bowl.

You know, even though I complain about the heat,

there's still plenty to enjoy here at the ranch. Like some creative photography on the pier.

Not to mention another gorgeous sunset.

Yep, when I've got things like this to help me beat the heat, I'd say life at the ranch suits me just fine.

Speaking of ranches, have I mentioned my latest release? This is the first book in my Rocky Mountain Heroes series and, as of today, it’s available on Kindle and other e-book versions, as well as paperback.

Isn't that a great cover?

Now it's your turn.

What's your favorite hot-weather dish?

Mindy Obenhaus lives on a ranch in Texas with her husband and the last of her five children. She's passionate about touching readers with Biblical truths in an entertaining, and sometimes adventurous, manner. When she’s not writing, she enjoys cooking and spending time with her grandchildren. Learn more at www.MindyObenhaus.com 

What to Cook when the Temps are Cooking?

It's hot!

Really hot.

Since I had a meat thermometer out the other day, I decided to check the temp in my kitchen - 95degrees

Which is just my wimpy way of explaining why there's really not much cooking going on at the moment. The heat wave and the fact that I was at a writing workshop for teachers for the past two days.

But we still have to eat.

Honestly, I'd probably rather eat a bowl of cereal -

This one was on sale for $2.99 last week. It's already one of my favorites, but load it with a pile of fresh blueberries??? Oh yum!

It's really kind of scary how many blueberries I have eaten in the past few weeks!


But man (or woman) cannot survive on cereal alone, no matter how tasty.

So I've done a few quick meals this week that gave me nutrition and taste without a lot of oven time.

The first is similar to one I've done before. I had the most amazing plum tomatoes from the farmer's market plus my basil, so what better to do than fresh pizza.

All I did for this was hollow out a loaf of Italian bread - you don't have to but I like the crust better than the doughy part.

 

I sprinkled shredded cheese and garlic powder on the bread, then added some oregano and fresh basil leave. I topped it with those luscious tomatoes.

The concoction went into the oven just long enough to melt the cheese. DIVINE.

Oh my goodness!  I could eat this stuff all day!

In fact, I made it again tonight on mini pitas instead. I left the tomatoes off one.

Fenny's hoping I'll drop a shrimp.

But last night we were in the midst of crazy storms so I was late cooking. I sure didn't feel like cooking when I had to close the kitchen windows on top of the 95 degree h


Saved by the leftovers.

I made fried haddock for my husband a week ago. Brilliant me thought I would forego my usual egg batter and try the milk soak that Ruthy described for fried onions.

Nope. Didn't work. Made a mess.

I had more of the haddock so I fried that up normally for him and saved the rest in the freezer.

So one night when I had no culinary inspiration whatsoever, I  remembered that haddock. I took it out, added some pre-cooked shrimp from COSTCO, covered with a breadcrumb topping, some lemon and butter, and stuck under the broiler for a few minutes. Soooo very good.

If it wasn't summer, I probably would have paired it with rice or noodles, but this was perfectly light just as was.



Nice things about summer -

When I'm in Maine, I love summer sunrises. But this year, stuck in the city, I'm really appeciating all the vivid summer sunsets. The camera really doesn't do the brilliant sky justice.

This doesn't even begin to capture the colors, but I took it through my window so not too bad,

 

 

 

 

 

Sunrise in Maine.

 

 

Revisiting Bruschetta

Clear liquid diet.

Each of those words is fine by themselves, but together, they spell TORTURE. Especially when you have a food blog to write.

So we're going to revisit one of my favorites today. One that has me drooling all over my keyboard and I can guarantee I will be making this again very soon.

One way you can tell it's been a while since this original post is that Danielle has now been married to the boyfriend mentioned for three years.

Where does the time go?

* * * *

Saturday night my daughter's boyfriend joined us for dinner. Since Danielle was making her famous lemon chicken pasta, I opted to prepare the appetizer and dessert. But what would be a good appetizer. Something Italian. The mind wandered to my container garden brimming with basil and ripe tomatoes.

A-ha!

Since all of this transpired at the grocery store, I grabbed a loaf of french bread and headed for the checkout line.

Y'all, this was SO good. As in, I-could-make-a-meal-out-of-this good. Ruthy, the carbs were totally worth it.

Here's what you'll need:

• A baguette or loaf of crusty french bread, sliced
• 2 large cloves of garlic, cracked away from the skin
• extra virgin olive oil
• 3 small tomatoes, halved and seeded
• 20 fresh basil leaves
• coarse salt
• ground pepper

I don't have a lot of pictures, because I was so eager to get this made I kept forgetting to take the pix.

Chop seeded tomatoes and place in a small bowl. Pile your basil leaves about ten at a time, roll into a log and thinly slice. Add to tomatoes. Drizzle with a bit of olive oil. Add salt and pepper to taste. A pinch of each will generally do.

Set aside.

Preheat broiler to high. You can also grill the bread, if you prefer. Place bread slices on a broiler pan. Toast bread on each side under hot broiler. Be sure you keep an eye on it. It can go from nothing to black in no time if you get distracted.

Remove from oven and drizzle with olive oil. I used my Mr. Misto and misted mine so the coating would be lighter. Then rub toasts with cracked garlic. I didn't think this would do much, but it really added a nice kick of flavor.

Top toasts with tomato/basil mixture.

Don't they look pretty?

This was so easy and so...well, like I said, yummy. It was light and refreshing on a hot Texas eve. I can hardly wait to make it again.

What's growing in your garden and how do you plan to use it?

* * * *

Yep, I definitely see this on the menu later this week.

I CAN'T WAIT!

Quick Dinner for a Hot Summer Night

Last week something (I don't even remember what) went wrong and I was suddenly stuck for a quick meal using whatever I had on hand.

Uh oh.

Then I had an idea!!!!!

I remembered how we were all wowed by Mary Connealy's quick lasagna using cottage cheese. Hmmm. I had some of that. Maybe I could improvise!

Tomatoes?   Check

Basil?    Check

Spaghetti?    Check

Garlic?   Of course. I always have my favorite freeze-dried garlic on hand.

Cottage Cheese?  Check

This was perfect because A) it was hot and B) I didn't really feel like cooking and this was quick and tasty.

All I had to do was cook the spaghetti, then briefly stir-fry the tomatoes, garlic and basil.
I drained the spaghetti, tossed it into the wok with the tomato basil mix, stirred in the cottage cheese to warm, and serve.

I also happened to have a fabulous multi-grain baguette to go with it. I could have added a salad, but I didn't. ;)


There you have it - carbs, veggies, and protein in about ten minutes.



So what are your go-to meals in a hurry?  Isn't it nice to have Yankee Belle friends like Mary Connealy to fall back on in an emergency?

BLT Chicken Salad

Stop the presses!

The rain has ceased, the clouds have parted and there are once again blue skies over Texas. God has rewarded our patience with what is shaping up to be a nice string of absolutely gorgeous days. And get this, there's not a 90 degree temp in sight. In June, in Texas, that's virtually unheard of. But I will most definitely take it.

Now that things are feeling a little more like summer, though, I'm having an easier time wrapping my brain around the idea of  salads as a meal. Call me weird, but I just don't enjoy salads as much when it's cold/cool outside. I want warm things when it's cold.

One of my all time favorite sandwiches has to be a BLT, with lots of bacon and some nice juicy tomatoes.  But since I tend to steer away from bread, sandwiches are few and far between at my house. So with a little thinking (I'm sure you could smell the smoke), I figured out a way to satisfy my craving, while keeping things low in carbs, yet with lots of good protein.

Let me introduce you to the BLT Chicken Salad.

Is your mouth watering yet? Kav, I'm sure yours will be once you finish mentally picking off all of the meat. ;)

This is easy. Start with a nice bed of lettuce and top it with a grilled chicken breast that's been cut into bite-sized pieces. Now add a little tomato and some decent sized chunks of cooked bacon.

Easy peasy.

I don't know about y'all, but I love my BLT sandwiches slathered with mayo. So to add some plain old ranch dressing to this mix would not do. After all, I'm trying to replicate a BLT.

So here's what I came up with. A little mayo (approx. 2T), some garlic powder (not too much, just enough to add a little flavor), salt and pepper to taste. 

I mixed that up, then decided it was too thick for a dressing, so I thinned it with just a little bit of milk and tasted it. Something still wasn't quite right. For a dressing, it needed a little zing. So I added just a tiny splash of vinegar. 

Perfect!

Naturally, I forgot to take a picture of the dressed salad. But let me tell you, it was divine. All the flavors, without any of the guilt. 

(Insert angels singing)

I may never go back to another BLT sandwich again. 

What's your favorite sandwich? Have you ever thought about turning it into something else?

Revisiting a Favorite Warm Weather Dish

Spring is still springing here in Texas, as evidenced by the flooding rains we've had in recent weeks. After a five year drought, I am happy to say that many of our lakes now full and the grass is greener than its been in years. And I haven't had to turn on the sprinkler once.


Best of all, I once again have fresh basil growing on my patio. You know what that means. Soon, I'll be able to enjoy one of my favorite dishes whenever I want.


Typically, a caprese salad is a slice of fresh mozzarella cheese topped with a tomato slice and a basil leaf, drizzled with a little olive oil and sprinkled with some coarse ground black pepper. However, there are times when I want to make a meal of this amazing combination.


First, we need some yummy tomatoes. Like these campari tomatoes. Very tasty.

 

Chop three or four of those babies and tossed them together with some cubed fresh mozzarella. Fresh mozzarella is the kind that comes in a ball, not a brick. Very soft with a mild flavor.

 

Then we'll add some chopped basil, a bit of olive oil, a pinch of sea salt, and some fresh ground pepper. Toss it all up and voila!

A light and refreshing lunch that's not only easy, but oh so delicious.

 

I may have to fix this sooner than later, because my mouth is watering just thinking about it.

What's your favorite warm weather dish?

Gourmet Pizza with Sun Dried Tomatoes, Spinach, Feta, Artichoke Hearts

Hello, everybody! The Fresh Pioneer is back and I've got a fun pizza recipe that takes a lot of odd ingredients you probably don't have in the pantry but it's WORTH the splurge, especially if you can't get to the next town where an actual pizza parlor is! We don't have any bad weather here at all, but as usual, it takes an act of Congress to get us out to a restaurant. So, sometimes it's just easier to recreate that delicious pizza we're craving at home!

 Now, this might be diet pizza. I have no idea. It has thin crust so maybe that counts for something, but if we're looking at fat and calories, this is NOT pizza that will make you skinny. (Of course, I'm not sure there is a pizza that fits that description.)

You'll need:
thin and crisp pizza crust (or make your own)
baby spinach
feta cheese
sun dried tomatoes
artichoke hearts
white pizza sauce (I usually make my own but I saw this one on sale and decided to try it)
mozzarella cheese

 We love this little pizza recipe book. We've used a lot of great ideas from it like...

 Artichoke and Tomato Focaccia. I love focaccia. If I could see in my chest, I think my heart would be made out of focaccia. But the kids don't, so we usually do regular pizza crust.

 This one I tried and loved but again... not a hit with the little people, so there was also a big cheese pizza on the table.

 I never took a photo of this when I made it. I think my thought process was something like, "FOOD! EAT FOOD." But, here's the picture from the recipe book.

 So, for this pizza, prewarm the oven to 425F. Spread on the white pizza sauce. (Note, I wasn't a real fan of this. It seemed too sour for a garlic sauce. I like my white sauces sort of Alfredo-y.)

 Sun dried tomatoes, chopped and drained.

 MMMMM... Artichoke hearts, in brine. I want to eat the bowl of them.

 Layer the spinach on the pizza.

 You don't have to be so geometric but hey, we were all talking and I think we were doing more talking than cooking so the fact I took fifteen minutes to put on spinach leaves didn't seem to matter.

 Layer on a bit of mozzarella. Add the sun dried tomatoes.

 I didn't cut the artichoke hearts because hubby is not a fan. The bigger they are, the easier they are to pick off.

 Drain and crumble the feta. (My life has gone sideways!)

 Bake for approximately 10-12 minutes or until the edges are very crispy.

Ta-dah! With a salad on the side and some fresh veggies, I was a happy camper and I didn't even have to put on nice clothes and drive across the state line!

I hope everyone is having a good weekend and a prayerful Lent!