Lemony Zest :: Kim Lewandowski

Archive for the ‘Food blogging events’ Category

I saw Rachael Ray make this on her “30-Minute Meals” show once, and it looked really good. So I made it, and it is really good It’s full of healthy ingredients and is a delicious way to use extra corn if you grill too much. The original recipe doesn’t call for zucchini, but I had about a third of one left in the fridge so I diced it and tossed it in.

The red onion and parsley are from our garden this year, and the jalapeno is one I froze last summer. We had an abundance of jalapeno and Szechuan peppers last year. I put the extra jalapenos on a cookie sheet, froze them, and put them in a freezer bag, so I could thaw and use them through the year. And I dried the Szechuan peppers; as soon as I run out of store-bought red pepper flakes, I’m going to chop these in the food processor to make my own.

Maque Choux

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil, 1 turn of the pan
1/2 red onion, chopped
1/2 cup chopped zucchini
1 jalapeno, seeded and finely chopped
1 small red bell pepper, seeded and chopped
4 ears grilled corn on the cob, kernels cut off
A sprinkle sugar
Dash cayenne pepper
Salt
2 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup chopped parsley
2 ripe avocado
1 lime, juiced

Heat a skillet over moderate heat. Add 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil (1 turn of the pan), chopped onion, jalapeno and red bell pepper. Saute 2 or 3 minutes. Combine corn with peppers and onions. Season with a sprinkle of sugar, a dash of cayenne pepper and salt. When mixture bubbles, reduce heat to simmer. Cut butter into pieces and stir into corn mixture. Allow mixture to simmer and cook until creamy, 5 to 7 minutes. Spoon maque choux into a serving bowl, sprinkle with parsley and serve.

This is great with grilled chicken.

This is my contribution to Grow Your Own, the food blogging event that celebrates growing and preparing our own food. It was originated by Andrea of Andrea’s Recipes and is hosted this time by Playing House.

My sister-in-law, Jennifer, is of Lebanese descent and when we were visiting one time, she showed me a cookbook she had – “Kibbee ‘n’ Spice and Everything Nice: Popular and easy recipes for the Lebanese and American Family,” by Janet Kalush. I was looking through it and talking about how much I like to try new things, and she gave me the book right there. Thanks again, Jen!

She also mentioned that kibbee is one of her favorite foods; I hadn’t heard of it before, but I tried it at Azar’s, a local Mediterranean restaurant, and liked it a lot. So I finally tried making it myself.

This is a variation of Lebanon’s national dish. The traditional way to make kibbee is to make the meat mixture shown below, then make another meat mixture to use as a filling; then the kibbee is baked or fried. I skipped the filling (this extra step is probably why I hadn’t made it earlier) and grilled them instead. You have to be very careful when grilling these; the bulghur wheat makes them a bit fragile. But it works!

btw, Dan kept calling it Kibbee and Bits, so here we are: Kibbee with bits of grilled potato

Kibbee Patties (spiced ground beef or lamb with bulghur)

1 cup finely ground bulghur wheat
1/2 medium onion, or one small onion
3/4 tsp. kibbee spice (see below)
2-1/2 tsp. salt
1 lb. finely ground beef or lamb
2 rounds of pita bread
tzatziki sauce (cucumber/yogurt sauce)

Kibbee Spice
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. ground allspice
1 tbsp. crushed dried mint (I used fresh mint from the garden, then dried it in the toaster oven at 200 degrees for 15 minutes)
1-1/2 tsp. ground black pepper

Combine thoroughly in a small bowl; transfer to a spice bottle and keep in a cool, dry place.

For Kibbee

Rinse the bulghur wheat in cold water twice and drain. Cover by half an inch with fresh water and let soak. Finely mince the onion in a food processor. Transfer to a bowl and add the kibbee spice and salt; combine thoroughly. Add the ground meat to the bowl and mix completely by hand.

Squeeze excess water from the bulghur wheat and add to the meat mixture. Mix by hand until well blended. Add ice water if necessary, to maintain a soft consistency.

Form meat into eight 3-inch patties, and press in the center with your thumb to form a dimple. Grill 3-4 minutes on both sides until cooked through.

To serve: Serve kibbee patties over tzatziki sauce or in pita pockets. To serve in pita pockets, briefly grill pita rounds to warm them a bit; cut in half. Put a few tablespoons of tzatziki sauce in each pita half and place two kibbee patties on top of sauce. Serves 4.

This is my contribution to Grow Your Own, the food blogging event that celebrates growing and preparing our own food. It was originated by Andrea of Andrea’s Recipes and is hosted this time by Andrea herself.

If you count the cucumber in the tzatziki, I used three ingredients from my garden in this meal: cucumber, onion and mint.

Kibbee patties ready for grilling

Kibbee with tzatziki sauce and grilled potatoes

As you can see, we have lots of really big cucumbers coming in right now, so I’ve been looking for new recipes to use them in. I came across this “Spicy Chinese Cucumber Salad” recipe that sounded really good and decided to try it. Delish!

It could use a bit more seasoning, but we liked it. Dan was worried it would be too vinegary, because I *love* vinegar-soaked cucumbers, but this had only a few tablespoons of rice vinegar, which is less acidic than the white vinegar I usually use, and other ingredients as well. It turned out very good, but I think I will double the chili-garlic sauce next time.

Spicy Chinese Cucumber Salad

1 large cucumber
1/2 tsp salt
2 tbsp rice vinegar, to taste
2 tsp sesame oil, to taste
2 tsp sugar, to taste
2 tsp soy sauce, to taste
1/2 tbsp chili paste, to taste (optional)
2 tsp sesame seeds, toasted

Wash and then peel the cucumber skins in alternating stripes (or peel completely or not at all). Slice the cucumbers in half lengthwise and scoop the seeds and pulp out with a spoon. Slice the cucumbers into 1/4-inch pieces. Sprinkle the cucumber slices with the salt and toss to coat evenly. Cover and place in refrigerator for an hour.

After an hour, squeeze the cucumber slices of as much liquid as possible with your hand. In a medium bowl, combine the cucumber with the rice vinegar, sesame oil, and sugar. Add a little soy sauce and mix the salad. Taste and add more soy sauce until you reach the desired saltiness. Stir in the chili paste and serve cold; it will taste even better if you let it marinate overnight in the fridge. Just before serving, sprinkle with sesame seeds

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This is my contribution to Grow Your Own, the food blogging event that celebrates growing and preparing our own food. It was originated by Andrea of Andrea’s Recipes and is hosted this time by Graziana from Erbe in Cucina (Cooking with Herbs). The roundup of all the tasty recipes is here.

I just wanted to bookmark this page – it’s a round-up of Homemade Holiday Gift Ideas. I may want to use some of these later this year

Homemade Holiday Gift Ideas

This is one of my favorite potato salads to make – it’s delicious and good for you, and one of the main ingredients came from our own garden: the peas.

Ever since we started a vegetable garden many years ago, we’ve been growing peas. Dan especially likes them – in fact, he’ll eat them raw right out of the garden! But this year, they were especially prolific, so he got some, I got some, and there’s lots more in the freezer for later We planted both snow peas and sugar snap peas this year, and they both did great.

Peas in the garden

So to go along with a grilled dinner, I made this potato salad with peas and roasted red peppers, a take on this recipe from Rachael Ray. I changed the dressing for this one, and it was excellent

Potato Salad with Peas and Peppers

2 1/2 pounds white thin skin potatoes, peeled and diced
2 tablespoons red-wine vinegar

1/2 cup reduced-fat mayonnaise
1 tsp. Dijon mustard
1/2 cup chopped celery
2 tbsp. snipped chives
1/4 cup chopped parsley, plus 2 tbsp.
Salt and pepper

1 (6-ounce) jar, roasted red peppers, drained and chopped
1 cup frozen sweet peas

Put potatoes into the cold water and bring to a boil, sprinkle with 2 tsp. salt, and boil for 10-12 minutes or until tender; drain. Meanwhile, in a small bowl, mix together mayonnaise, celery, herbs, and salt and pepper to taste. Set aside.

Put drained potatoes into a large bowl and sprinkle with vinegar. Allow to cool for a few minutes, then carefully mix in the dressing. Add the peppers and peas and mix, being careful not to break up potatoes. Chill until ready to serve; garnish with reserved parsley.

This is my contribution to Grow Your Own, the food blogging event that celebrates growing and eating our own food. It was created by Andrea of Andrea’s Recipes and is hosted this month by Zora of gardenopolis.

I really really love this recipe. I am a vinegar fiend, for one thing, so I love the vinaigrette, and it’s healthy – couscous, veggies and herbs – it uses grilled veggies, which are heavenly, and it makes use of lots of fresh herbs from my garden. Later in the summer, when I have my own peppers, I’ll be using those, too. This goes great with any grilled meal, and can be served warm or at room temp.

Couscous with Grilled Vegetables and Champagne Vinaigrette

Couscous
1/2 cup couscous
1 cup chicken broth
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
1 onion, peeled and sliced crosswise into 1/2-inch thick slices
1 red bell pepper, cored, seeded and quartered
1 yellow bell pepper, cored, seeded and quartered
1 green bell pepper, cored, seeded and quartered

Vinaigrette
1/4 cup champagne vinegar
1 1/2 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil (EVOO)
1 tbsp. fresh thyme, minced
2 tbsp. fresh parsley, minced
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. ground black pepper

Chop one onion slice. Heat 1 tbsp. EVOO in a saucepan and saute the chopped onion and minced garlic for a few minutes. Add chicken broth and bring to a boil. Add couscous, stir, and turn off heat. Let sit till broth is absorbed and couscous is tender.

Insert toothpicks sideways into remaining onion slices, to hold them together on the grill. Toss onions and peppers with 2 tbsp. EVOO, salt and pepper. Grill 8-10 minutes or until tender. Dice into 1/4-inch pieces.

In a small bowl, whisk together vinegar, thyme, half the parsley, salt and pepper. Whisking constantly, drizzle olive oil slowly into the bowl. Combine grilled vegetables with couscous, drizzle with dressing and toss to mix thoroughly. Sprinkle with remaining parsley.