Two Seasonal Sides

This is a difficult post because both of these dishes out of the recent Cooking Light got two very different reviews in our household.


Thyme Corn Bread was liked by my husband but I didn't care for it. It was too thymey tasting and a bit dry because they seriously cut back on the amount of oil to keep it light. I used some leftover Iowa farmers market corn in it.


On the same page was another recipe I tried out tonight called, Cherry Tomato and Herb Salad. I added a half of a chopped fresh mozzarella ball to it and had all the fresh herbs growing in that strawberry pot I posted earlier. I really liked this one and the combination of the herbs but my husband gave it a thumbs down for the same reason ... too herby.

Three more to share

I have been busy lately, but doing well CSA-wise. The new pick up is today and my fridge isn't still overwhelmed with last weeks produce. Here are some things I have made:



That is a squash casserole. My hope was that I could make a big batch and freeze some. Unfortuately, there wasn't enough to freeze. That is a pretty small baking dish, but the casserole is so rich, it ends up being a lot.

Sour Cream Squash with Two Cheeses

2 lb yellow squash
1 tsp salt
1/8 tsp sugar
7 TB butter (I used 2)
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 cup sharp cheddar
1 cup sour cream
1/3 cup parmesean
1/4 cup white wine (I actually used a splash of beer)
1 cup bread crumbs

- Cut squash into 1/4 inch slices. Bring 2 cups water to boil; add squash, sugar, and salt. Cook for 20 minutes
- Preheat oven to 350. Melt 4 (1) TB butter in skillet. Add onion and cook until transparent.
- When squash is done, drain, pressing to force out extra liquid. Stir onion and butter into squash. Add Cheddar, sour cream, parmesean, white wine, and salt and pepper to taste. Mix thoroughly and pour into baking dish.
- Melt remaining butter (1TB) in skillet and saute bread crumbs until warmed through. Top casserole with the crumbs and bake 20 - 30 minutes or until bubbly.

Not very healthy, but not bad every once in awhile served with grilled pork chops.



The next recipe help to use up some of this KALE! I just took a spinach quiche recipe from my Better Homes and Garden Cookbook and used KALE! instead.

1 store bought pie crust
1/2 cup chopped onion
6 slices of bacon, chopped
8 eggs
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup milk
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
dash grd nutmeg
3 cups chopped KALE!
2/3 cup mozzerella
1/2 cup parm cheese

- Unroll and bake pie crust at 450 for 8 minutes. Reduce oven temp to 325
- Cook onion and bacon in large skillet (don't do this, cook separately, the bacon never gets crisp)
- Mix eggs, sour cream, milk, salt, pepper, and nutmeg. Stir in onion, bacon, KALE! and cheeses
- Poor into pie crust. Bake at 325 for 45 minutes. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.



I served this with Watermelon and Feta Salad. I really liked this! The combo of the watermelon, black pepper, and feta was actually really nice. I added some mint as suggested by one of the reviews, but I probably would not do that again. Mark thought this was wierd, but the kids liked it.

Grilled Corn on the Cob

I'm almost embarassed to post this because I figure everyone knows how to grill corn, except for me. I have never had any luck grilling corn, it always ends up undercooked and chewy or blackened beyond recognition. I brought back some fresh Iowa corn to Arizona with me and looked up several grilled corn methods and settled on the one posted below. It was really good, I would try this method again. I don't know if it beats plain old boiled corn on the cob but if you don't want to heat up your kitchen it is a good alternative cooking method.

Grilled Corn on the Cob
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Pull back husks but don't remove. Remove silk as best you can. Pull the husks back over the corn. Soak corn in husks for 1 hour in a pot of water. Prepare grill to medium high heat. Drain corn and place on grill. Grill for 25 minutes, turning often.

Cookbook challenge for August!

Just a little update for the challenge in August. We are going to be cooking from a cookbook again, but this time, we are going to cook from India. The cookbook is called Mango and Curry Leaves, and it is by the same author of the Hot, Sour, Salty, Sweet we have cooked from before. Order yours now. If you get a cheap one, order one for me too! My library actually has a copy, so I am going to borrow it from them.

Low County Boil

I did a search and couldn't find this posted before. I can't believe that no one has posted this one. (by no one, I mean me or my sister) This is a new family favorite we make every time we get together. I just so happened to take a picture of our dinner tonight because it looked so impressive on the platter. The corn was purchased by my FIL at a farmers market in the low country and the shrimp I got from Redmond Boys, a little produce stand that brings in seafood.





Low Country Boil
2 lbs unpeeled shrimp
4 ears corn, cut it half
5-6 red potatoes
1 package smoked sausage
4 green onions, chunked
several peeled garlic cloves
2 stalks celery, chunked
2 TB crab boil
2 TB old bay
2 TB cider vinegar
kosher salt

Bring LARGE pot of water to boil. Add large handful of salt. Add seasoinings and vinegar. Add celery, onion, garlic, sausage, and potatoes. Cook for 10 minutes. Add corn. Cook for 5-7 minutes. Add shrimp. Cook 3 more minutes. Drain and pour onto serving platter. Cover serving table with newpaper and serve with lemon butter and cocktail seasoning. YUM!

My Dad's Cucumber and Tomato Salad

My dad started whipping this little number up this year. Not sure why he just started it now, but it is a nice little fresh side dish for the summer to use up the bounty of tomatoes and cucumbers that you just don't know what to do with. Here is what I had from my CSA:


That red tomato I actually grew in a pot. I pealed it before adding it to the salad. The yellow ones are from the CSA and that round wierd looking thing is actually a cucumber. Here is the assembled dish:


Cucumber and Tomato Salad
Tomatoes (grape or cherry halved, anything larger, peeled and chopped)
Cucumber, thinly sliced and chopped.
Onion, (I used green, but red would probably be better)
Red wine vinegar
Olive oil
Salt and Pepper

Assemble all ingredients and let sit in fridge for awhile. Enjoy!

Farmers' Market Roasted Vegetable Salad-Stuffed Avocados

I found this recipe for Farmers' Market Roasted Vegetable Salad-Stuffed Avocados on Food Network. I did a search on yahoo for a farmer's market recipe and this popped up! It was pretty good...I enjoyed it. My husband thought it was only so-so!

Here are all the chopped veggies ready to be roasted!

I roasted some chicken as well. That turned out great!!

My son insists that I take a picture of his plate also. He was especially excited because he had a super long holder on his corn tonight.