April 19, 2010
When I visited my dad’s, Farmer Darrell’s, this past weekend I left with a bag full of swiss chard. As I was looking for some interesting way to cook it, different from my usual, stand by way, I ran across a bunch of creamed spinach recipes. So I thought I would try a creamed spinach recipe and sub chard for the spinach. I don’t remember the exact recipe, but this is how I made it.
Creamed Chard
1 big bunch of Swiss Chard, chopped in 1 inch strips
2 T butter
1/2 onion, chopped
1/2 cup cream
2 T parmesan cheese
pressed garlic (I used 3 cloves)
salt and pepper to taste
Directions:
Wash and shake all of the excess water out of the chard. Grab a stalk at the bottom where the leaf starts and pull the stalk, like a zipper. The leaf should rip apart pretty easily from the stalk. Do this to all of the leaves.
Melt the 2 tablespoons of butter in a pan over medium heat and then add the chopped onion. Put on low heat and cook onion for 15 minutes, stirring a couple of times, until the onion is a nice light brown color.
Add the garlic, cream and chard, parmesan cheese, salt and pepper and cook covered over medium heat for about 3-5 minutes, stirring a couple of times.
Remove the lid, increase the heat and cook until the cream is reduced and thickened slightly, stirring regularly. Cook until the desired reduction, however long that takes. Just don’t burn it or let it get too mushy!
This was so good!
[ 2 Comments ] Posted on 04.19.10 under Swiss Chard/Beet Tops/Kale
Summer Squash One Pot Meal
June 08, 2009
This original recipe is supposed to be baked. But, I am trying to not turn on my oven so I will be making this recipe on the stove top. First, I will fry up the potatoes with diced onions in a few tablespoons of olive oil. Next, add a jalapeno, some pressed garlic, a bunch of yellow squash and cubed leftover chicken. Maybe after that I’ll add some basil, spinach and cherry tomatoes for some color. Voila, simple dinner plans!
If I remember to take pictures I’ll post them tonight and tell you how the meal goes over with the family.
P.S. It was good…all my peeps liked it. Yay! Even my potato hater liked the potatoes in it. 
[ 6 Comments ] Posted on 06.08.09 under Recipes, Zucchini & Summer Squash
Summer Squash Soup with Basil and Parmesan
April 03, 2009
I ran across this recipe today from a book I checked out at the library called Keep It Seasonal by Annie Wayte. The recipes are mostly fancy smancy, simple, yet expensive that just don’t fit with our lifestyle. But then I saw this one and it looked really good, especially because we will have summer squash in abundance pretty soon and anything with cream in it tastes good! So I thought I’d add it here to my recipes before I forget about it.
Summer Squash Soup with Basil and Parmesan (approximate recipe and directions)
3 lbs zucchini, diced (that is approximately 3-5 zucchinis, depending on size)
3 shallots…or 1/2 an onion
1 clove of garlic
3 cups chicken stock (homemade stock is by far better than canned)
1 cup heavy cream
1 bunch fresh basil leaves, chopped
1 bunch fresh mint, chopped
8 T grated parmesan cheese
salt & pepper to taste
Directions: (paraphrased)
Saute the zucchini in olive oil for 12-15 minutes and then add the garlic and shallots or onion. Saute 5 more minutes.
Add the chicken stock, bring to a boil and then simmer for 5 minutes. Blend part of the mixture and add it back to the pan.
Add the cream, basil, mint, parmesan and salt and pepper to taste.
Sounds simple and yummy!
[ 5 Comments ] Posted on 04.03.09 under Zucchini & Summer Squash
Cooking Beet Tops/Swiss Chard/Kale Tutorial
December 31, 2008
Yesterday, I had a hankerin’ for sauteed greens. I thought my beets and swiss chard could definitely use some thinning and so I picked enough to cook up. Then I washed them up really well, like 5 times, because trust me, gritty greens are no good.
I like a lot of garlic so I pressed 4 cloves of garlic with my new handy dandy Kuhn Rikon garlic press that I just got for Christmas, along with a couple of tablespoons of olive oil into a skillet that has a lid. Saute the garlic for a minute and then turn the stove to about 3 or low-medium heat and put the greens in with the lid on. The water left from washing the greens will be enough to steam them.
Cook for about 15 minutes or however long it takes to get the greens to where they aren’t crunchy. I like mine where they are bright green yet cooked to where they are very soft. Add some salt and pepper or a pat of butter, a squeeze of lemon and yum!
Even my 11 year old son…
and my 3 year old daughter like it.
Amazing and oh so good for you!
[ 3 Comments ] Posted on 12.31.08 under From My Garden, Swiss Chard/Beet Tops/Kale
Jalapeno Dip Recipe
October 17, 2008
I’ve been getting a bunch of jalapenos off my pepper plant lately and my husband mentioned that I should make Jalapeno Poppers. I made the kind that you bake with a piece of bacon wrapped around the middle, but my oh my, that is time consuming…especially when my jalapeno peppers are not as giant as the jalapenos at the store. So I came up with a compromise which is a take off of the Jalapeno Popper Spread recipe from allrecipes.com.
Jalapeno Popper Dip/Spread
2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
1 cup mayonnaise
1 (4 ounce) can chopped green chilies, drained
2 oz. canned diced jalapeno peppers, drained (I used 1/2 cup of my fresh jalapenos, seeded and chopped)
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese or shredded cheddar
5 slices of cooked bacon, chopped or crumbled
1/2 t dry ranch dressing mix
1 t Worcestershire sauce
Bake at 400 degrees for about 20 minutes if you’re using the fresh jalapenos. You can microwave this for 3 minutes if you’re using the canned jalapenos.
Serve with crackers, veggies, or whatever.
[ 1 Comment ] Posted on 10.17.08 under Peppers
Indian Okra
October 06, 2008
This is my new favorite way to eat okra.
Indian Okra
A pound or so of okra
Butter, maybe 4 T
Onion, chopped
1 t cumin
1 t ginger, fresh is good
1 t coriander
1/2 t tumeric
Salt & pepper to taste
Directions:
Cook the onion in the butter until it’s translucent then add the okra and the rest of the spices. Stir and then cook over medium low heat covered for approximately 20 minutes.
It’s different, but tasty.
When do these things give up? Out of 8 plants, 4 of them being a lot smaller than the others, I can get 1 pound of okra every 2-3 days. Two to three pounds of okra per week for 2 months is a lot of okra…when does it end?
[ 2 Comments ] Posted on 10.06.08 under From My Garden, Okra
What I did…
September 04, 2008
with the okra.
Cut it up…
Dredged it in cornmeal, flour and salt and fried it…
Tasty!
[ 1 Comment ] Posted on 09.04.08 under Okra
Squash Casserole
July 21, 2008
Here’s a squash recipe that sounds very interesting yet really good, but I haven’t tried it yet.
Squash Casserole
- 3 lb. yellow summer squash
- 2 carrots
- 2 onions
- 1 can cream of chicken soup
- 1 cup sour cream
- 1 small jar diced pimiento (or I would use some garden peppers)
- 1 stick butter
- 18 oz. Pepperidge Farm stuffing mix
Wash and slice all vegetables except onions. Put all in a large sauce pan or Dutch oven, salt to taste, and cover with water. Boil until tender. Add onions, drain, mash together, and cool. (I think I would probably just saute them up real soft and not boil them in water…ewww)
Mix soup, sour cream, and pimiento. Add to vegetables and mix well.
In a skillet, melt the butter and mix in the stuffing mix. Spray a 9×12 pan with cooking spray. Spread bottom with 1/2 of the stuffing mixture. Spread the vegetable mixture on the stuffing, then cover with the remaining stuffing mixture.Bake at 375°F for 45 minutes.
Let me know how it is if you try it before me!
[ No Comments ] Posted on 07.21.08 under Recipes, Zucchini & Summer Squash
BLT’s
July 11, 2008
So what do you do with a big plate of tomatoes?
BLT’s of course!
This is what we had for lunch yesterday…
Yum!
[ 6 Comments ] Posted on 07.11.08 under Recipes, Tomatoes
Tomato Vegetable Garden Soup
July 10, 2008
I was trying to figure out what we were going to have for dinner yesterday and I had a bunch of tomatoes, zucchini, eggplant and basil to use. So I made soup. Now, we ate it hot, but we will eat it cold next time like gazpacho because it’s hot, hot, hot out and hot soup is not very appealing when it’s 108 degrees out. We were all sweating after we ate it.
The measurements are all approximate because I eyeballed everything and my recipe was doubled to feed all 7 of us.
Tomato Vegetable Garden Soup
4 C Chicken Broth (homemade is much tastier than store bought)
2 C Tomato Sauce (I used my homemade tomato sauce made with the tomatoes from my garden)
1 small Zucchini, diced
2 cloves Garlic, minced
1 small Onion
2 T Honey or to taste (optional…my tomatoes were very acidic from my garden and needed this)
1/2-1 small Eggplant
Salt, to taste
Pepper, to taste (or use a hot pepper)
1-3 tomatoes, diced, depending on the size of tomatoes…use as many as you want if you are growing them! Use ‘em up!
Basil, a very large handful if you grow your own (I LOVE basil)
Directions:
Start heating up the chicken broth and then place the onion and eggplant in the food processor. Whiz them up unless you really like the texture of whole pieces of eggplant and onion in your soup. (My kids didn’t even know that eggplant existed after I blasted it in the Vitamix.) Add the eggplant mixture into the chicken broth along with the rest of the ingredients except the basil. Cook on medium heat for 20 minutes or so and then add the basil and cook for a few more minutes.
I served this with cheese toast, made in my on the counter toaster oven, and fruit. Quick, (after I enlisted the help of my children for grating cheese, picking basil and chopping), easy and healthy!
[ 1 Comment ] Posted on 07.10.08 under Eggplant, Recipes, Tomatoes, Zucchini & Summer Squash
