This is unbelievably tasty despite or maybe due to the simplicity of the ingredients! A perfect pre-dinner salad that you can make quickly or even ahead of time.
My neighbor gives me bags of lemons from her prolific lemon tree from time to time.
This time, before I start squeezing & freezing I remembered a simple carrot salad I’d just read about in La Tartine Gourmande. I noticed the book at the library and quickly photocopied a few recipes from it.
Try this!!! I mean it.
All you need:
The amounts in this recipe serve about 4 people. I would definitely double it next time but I was hand grating…
INGREDIENTS:
4 large carrots, peeled
1 TBSP flat leaf parsley, chopped (I used Italian parsley as that’s all I had)
2 TBSP chives, chopped
Vinaigrette:
sea salt & pepper
1/4 c fresh lemon juice
1 garlic clove, minced
6 TBSP olive oil
Grate the carrots and place in large bowl. In a separate smaller bowl, combine the vinaigrette ingredients in the order listed, whisk together and pour over the carrots. Combine well with spoon. Cover & refrigerate. Dress with the fresh herbs just before serving.
Maddie ate 3 bowls in rapid succession and then asked if she could take some to school the next day. There were no leftovers.
Phew! The holidays kicked my butt this year. How did my parents do this? Better yet, WHY did they do it??
Although I try to post only the best of my kitchen attempts, here are some of my absolute favorites from last year. I mean the ones I crave & want to make again & again.
Happy New Year to you!!
1. Gardener’s Pie (vegetarian version of Shepherd’s Pie): This is always a huge hit. I took it to a Christmas pot luck this year and got so many compliments from vegetarian & non vegetarians alike.
2. Best Coffee Cake in the World There are no surprising ingredients in this but it’s simply delicious. Perfect for a special brunch or to warm up a chilly Sunday morning.
3. Kermit Smoothie (green smoothie) Want to sneak a handful of spinach into your family’s gullets? Try this! So yummy, easy & fun.
4. Blueberry Lara Bars. A healthy, yummy & portable snack. Perfect for hiking or just to carry in your purse (or man purse) to keep the munchies at bay.
5. No Knead Bread. If you’ve never made bread before I strongly encourage you try this one! It takes less than 5 minutes to prep and is so rewarding! There’s something wonderful about the smell of bread baking in your home.
6. Glory Bowl. After the holidays many people (ahem, THIS person) feel compelled to eat a little, shall we say, “lighter?” Although this dish contains many light elements the rice & dressing make it so satisfying. I had serious doubts about it when my dear friend Kinga recommended it but now it’s one of my favorites. Try it!! I mean it, really! I wouldn’t put it up here if it weren’t super yummy.
7. Red Velvet Cupcakes. Make these for Valentine’s Day! Or use green food coloring and make them for St. Patrick’s Day.
8. Simple Caesar Salad. This is a cheater’s version of caesar salad. Oh garsh sometimes I crave caesar salad so much but don’t want to get involved with raw eggs & anchovies etc. This is a satisfying remedy when you’re short on time. Now that I make this I find most restaurant salads disappointing. Totally reminds me of an ex boyfriend’s mom (who happened to be an excellent cook) answering the waiter’s “How is everything?” with a tragic look followed by her New York accented, “Mine’s bettah.”
9. Chocolate & Butterscotch Chip Cookies. After trying many recipes, I have to say that these are my favorites for both simplicity & results. Because of the cornstarch they end up a bit pale and can trick you into thinking they aren’t done but they are soooooo sooooooo sooooooo (sooooo) good. Every time I make them I have to double the recipe b/c of all the greedy hands snitching them off the cooling racks (G!!!).
10. Vegetable Pot Pie. I just realized I have a few “best _____ in the WORLD” recipes. Do I exaggerate? Or am I just hungry? Anyway, this pot pie was a sleeper hit! I always loved pot pies. From the nastiest to the high end restaurant ones. But I was tired of paying $5.00 for a tiny Amy’s vegetable pot pie, plus I thought I could feed more than 1 person with a lot less packaging. This recipe takes almost 3 hours to make but is TOTALLY worth it! YUM.
11. Broccoli Gribiche. Last year I started making some dishes from Heidi Swanson’s “Super Natural Every Day” and this was one of the hits. I seriously didn’t make ONE bad dish from that cookbook and still use it every week. This is a surprisingly hearty, satisfying yet tasty meal that can be a main or side. The simple ingredients make it a no-brainer!
12. Moscow Mule. Alcohol is a good way to end a list/night/year so here is a simple, tasty drink that we enjoyed time & again mostly during the summer. Our friend Trish introduced us to them last June when we stayed at her house in Denver. We drank them all summer. Not all day but you know what I mean.
I hope you enjoy these recipes & for all the best to you in 2013!
Here’s a REALLY easy cookie recipe for when you have NO TIME.
I just made these this morning for our daycare’s caroling at the convalescent home. Totally forgot I was going to make them until around 8AM. D’OH!
No pictures – no time. These are winners from The Pioneer Woman. You only need one bowl. You are done making them from start to finish within about 20 minutes. They are chewy, tasty & yummy. The only change I made was to use the turbinado raw sugar to roll them in but if you don’t have it you can use plain sugar too.
A simple recipe that’s simply delicious!! Spicy & chewy – not your run of the mill holiday cookie.
Ingredients
1 c sugar
¾ c Crisco
¼ c molasses
1 egg
2 c flour
2-1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger
½ tsp ground cloves
¼ tsp ground cardamon
¼ tsp salt
turbinado sugar for coating the cookies (regular sugar works too!)
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350.
Mix sugar, Crisco, molasses & egg together until well combined.
Add dry ingredients, stirring until combined. (If you don’t mind two bowls – you can whisk together your dry ingredients first in a separate bowl.) I did it all in 1 bowl and they came out perfect!
Roll tbsp sized balls in your hands, the roll through a plate of turbinado sugar (or regular sugar if that’s what you have!). Place on cookie sheet leaving ample room for spreading.
Bake for 9-11 minutes or for 1 minute after cracks appear on top of them.
Notes
Makes between 30 and 36 cookies depending how big you make them.
Here’s a healthier potato for the holidays. It’s still soooooo tasty!! Even if you can’t bring yourself to forgo mashed potatoes (I can’t) - try these this winter. They’re a cinch!
You’ll need:
INGREDIENTS:
12 small round potatoes
olive oil
salt to taste
black pepper to taste
rosemary (yes, you guessed it – to taste)
These are VERY simple.
Preheat oven to 450.
Set a medium-large pot of water to boil.
Add 2 generous pinches of salt to the water.
Ok, now add the potatoes carefully, carefully so nobody gets hurt. Boil them till the potatoes JUST get tender. You should be able to stick a fork in them without too much trouble. Immediately drain them at that point.
Drizzle olive oil across a cookie sheet (make sure it has sides!) & brush to cover. Place the potatoes down as you would cookie dough – with plenty of spreadin’ space around them. Using a potato masher, gently push down on them, flattening them somewhat.
They need to still be in one piece when you are done. Drizzle or spray olive oil over the tops of them. Sprinkle salt & pepper to taste as well as the rosemary.
Bake for 20-25 minutes or until they are browned and slightly crispy at the edges.
Until recently I always bought the pre-made pie crusts. After hearing how easy it is to make a pie crust, I tried it. It IS easy!
Try it this Thanksgiving. It will add about 10-20 minutes to your pie making (depending how lackadaisically you go about these things…) and is sure to impress.
At first I was slightly worried because all the recipes I found suggested using a stand mixer with a paddle attachment. But then I thought about Ma on Little House in the Prairie and wondered how she used her Kitchen Aid with no outlets in her kitchen. I realized it IS possible to make a pie crust w/out a $300+ kitchen tool. Thanks, Ma!
All you need:
1-1/4 c all-purpose flour
1 TBSP sugar
1/4 tsp salt
8 TBSP cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
3 TBSP cold water
NOTE: This will make enough dough for ONE bottom crust. If you’re making a pie that needs a top crust, double this recipe.
Whisk together the flour, salt & sugar.
If you have a stand mixer, use your paddle attachment to combine the butter with the dry ingredients.
Here’s what your butter should look like:
I used this pastry cutter that my dear friend Nina gave me:
(She gave me that about 10 years ago and didn’t know what it was until I started cooking recently. Thanks, Neen!)
Keep cutting the butter into the dry ingredients until the butter is in pea-sized pieces.
LOVE that shadow across the ingredients! Of course the one day my kids were out was DARK & rainy. Perfect for food pix.
Now drizzle in the water while kneading.
If your dough is “dry” and/or not coming together, add a little more water but go very sparingly on that. I added about another 1/2 TBSP
If you have the stand mixer, you can use your paddle attachment and mix until dough JUST comes together. I simply kneaded with my hands (which explains the lack of pictures). Then form dough into a ball, wrap in plastic and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.
Quick & easy pie crust containing NO Crisco! Impress your guests! Impress your hosts! Impress yourself!
Ingredients
1-1/4 c all-purpose flour
1 TBSP sugar
¼ tsp salt
8 TBSP, cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
3 TBSP cold water
Instructions
Whisk together flour, sugar & salt in either your stand mixer bowl or just a large bowl if you don’t have a stand mixer.
Add cold butter pieces & cut them into the dry ingredients either with your paddle attachment on your mixer or with a pastry cutter.
Drizzle water in and combine or knead until dough JUST comes together.
Form dough into a ball & cover in plastic wrap.
Refrigerate for 30 minutes before rolling.
Properly wrapped, dough can be frozen for up to 2 months.
Notes
This makes enough dough for ONE bottom crust. If your pie also needs a top crust, double this recipe.
2.2.8
Placed in a freezer Zip-loc, pie dough can be stored in the freezer for 2 months. If you need it that week, you can make it a day or two ahead and keep in the refrigerator. Make sure it is wrapped properly so it doesn’t dry out.
Tomorrow: how to make a pecan pie with this dough!
