Tag Archives: carrots

Summer Couscous Salad

I made this salad again for the July 4th holiday and thought it would be good to repost! Once again it was a hit! Quick, easy, refreshing and delicious!!

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It’s been a while but here is a new recipe. I made this dish yesterday to bring to a friend’s for a barbecue. She said to bring a side. Turns out she made almost the same exact salad! Very funny, but they had a few different ingredients so it was cool. (Hers had chopped red pepper, and everyone who knows me knows I would NEVER put sweet peppers in anything!)She also didn’t have the carrots or tomatoes.

I just threw this together quickly and it can totally be changed to what you like. It’s your choice!

This was a very fast and easy salad to make. It’s a nice change from the usual heavy ‘pasta’ type salads. Mostly veggies also so how can it be bad? Enjoy.

2013-06-22 13.36.20

INGREDIENTS:

1 ½ cups pearl couscous (cooked according to package directions) I also used chicken broth instead of water

1 can corn kernel, drained and rinsed

1 can black beans, drained and rinsed

¼-½ of an english cucumber chopped small (If you use a regular cucumber, remove the seeds and peel)

1 stalk celery sliced/chopped

1 carrot grated or chopped

cherry tomatoes/halved (I used about 20 or so)

¼ cup red onion, finely chopped

1 teaspoon dried dill

½- 1 teaspoon garlic powder (approximately)

olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS:

Put all ingredients in a large bowl (except for olive oil). Mix thoroughly. Then slowly add some olive oil to make it smooth and silky. I think I used a couple of tablespoons. 

Chill several hours and serve.

Edamame Fried Rice

Who loves edamame? Me! Who loves fried rice? Me! Who loves edamame fried rice? Me! And hopefully everyone else who reads this! I found this recipe some time ago and when I made it I of course didn’t take a photo. So the photo with this is not mine. The recipe also calls for one of my favorite (not!) vegetables in it, peppers. I of course leave it out when I make it. I’m trying to like peppers, I really am! I’ve actually started to eat roasted peppers in dishes and they weren’t so bad. So I guess there may be hope for me yet! Either way, this is a delicious recipe. Simple too. It works best with pre-cooked  cold rice too. I also use jasmine brown rice in this but feel free to use a rice of your choice.

Whenever I make rice I always make extra and freeze some just for recipes like this. And for those of you who have eaten edamame in Japanese restaurants don’t worry, you don’t have to shell all 3 cups needed for this recipe! You can also buy them already shelled. Simple again.

Make up a batch for the holiday weekend, it’ll be something different! Enjoy!

INGREDIENTS:

1 tablespoon canola oil

2 carrots, shredded

1 yellow bell pepper, chopped

5 scallions, minced

3-4 tablespoons tamari or low-sodium soy sauce

3 cups cooked shelled edamame

4 cups cold cooked brown rice
DIRECTIONS:

  1. Heat oil in a large wok or skillet over medium-high heat. Add carrots, bell pepper and scallions, and stir-fry until just tender, about 2 minutes.
  2. Add tamari, edamame and rice, and stir-fry until combined and heated through, about 5 minutes.

Makes 4 servings

Spiced Carrot Strips

As promised here is the recipe I make with the Honey-Glazed Chicken. Carrots are one of my favorite vegetables and this is another very easy recipe to make. It only takes about 8-10 minutes to cook so it’s fast as well. Great way to get kids to eat veggies too. I remember as a kid having plain frozen sliced carrots. Maybe with a little butter. Boring!!! This recipe is much more exciting. Well as exciting as carrots can get anyway! No strange ingredients either. Give it a try, even if you don’t like carrots. You may change your mind!

INGREDIENTS:

5 large carrots, julienned or cut into thin sticks

2 tablespoons butter/butter substitute, melted

1 tablespoon sugar/sugar substitute

1 teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon

DIRECTIONS:

1. Place carrots in a saucepan and cover with water.

2. Cook until tender, about 8-10 minutes. Drain.

3. Combine the butter, sugar, salt and cinnamon and pour over the carrots. Toss to coat.

Serve immediately.

Makes 4-6 servings

Homemade Feasts For Your Pets!

Yes you read that correctly. Homemade food for your pets. I know there are many readers out there that have pets. I myself have two cats. Gus, our 8-year-old male orange tabby. He is named after John’s dad. Quite the ladies’ man, just like the original. He is also my little shadow. Though little is not how we’d describe him these days. He’s a solid 17 pounds. He’s not fat! He’s big-boned! He actually does not eat all that much but he doesn’t run around much either. Hates exercise, just like me! Gus is a Florida native. He found us when we lived in Lake Worth. Best thing he ever did! Our other cat is Toonces (aka The Driving Cat) who is a 10-year-old female calico. She is a Long Island cat, south shore. We brought her with us, as a kitten, from NY. She had a wonderful trip down too. We drove from NY in our Corolla and Toonces had the entire back seat and window ledge. Snuck her into motels on the trip. She loved it. And she actually LOVES car rides. No joke. Gus however, hates the car. Toonces is a svelte 10 pounds and still runs around like a little kitten, she loves exercise. Just like John.

The last few years we discovered that Gus had urinary issues. So we’ve changed his diet several times. But we wanted something both cats could eat. Have you ever tried to get two cats to eat two different foods? Doesn’t really work. Toonces actually always finishes her food first and then pushes Gus out-of-the-way and eats his! So both foods need to be the same. I now feed them all natural foods, no by products etc. But I’ve also been looking into making the food for them. Not all the time, I have a hard enough time feeding us humans! But every so often. This post will have a recipe for dogs as well as cats. So give it a try! Your pets will love you for it!

CAT RECIPE

INGREDIENTS:

1 cup water

1/3 cup dry rice

2 teaspoons corn oil

½ teaspoon iodized salt

2/3 cup ground meat (beef or chicken or turkey is good)

1 tablespoon bone meal

2 tablespoons cooked liver

DIRECTIONS:

1. Bring water to a boil, add rice, corn oil and salt. Simmer 20 minutes.

2. Cover the meat with bone meal and add liver to the rice mixture. Simmer 15 minutes.

3. Let cool and serve. Refrigerate or freeze leftovers.


DOG RECIPE

INGREDIENTS:

½ pound ground beef

1/3 cup grated cheddar cheese

1 carrot, finely chopped/grated

½ cup bread crumbs

1 egg, whisked

1 teaspoon tomato paste

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 350º.

2. Combine all ingredients in a bowl. Scoop out by the spoonful and roll into mini-size meatballs.

3. Place the meatballs on a cookie sheet. Bake 15-20 minutes. Store in the refrigerator.

Escarole and Beans

Such a delicious hearty peasant dish. Love it on a cold fall day or anytime for that matter. It’s a cross between a soup and a stew. You can even add some cooked ditalini macaroni to this if you want to stretch it. Any small pasta will do. If I wasn’t so lazy I’d run out to the store right now and buy some escarole and make this tonight. Maybe tomorrow night. This is such an easy dish to make and so good for you as well. Escarole is overlooked at times, people are afraid of it. It is actually part of the endive family but is less bitter. With the right spices and sauce it is just heavenly. Mangia!

INGREDIENTS:

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 small onion, chopped

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 head escarole, washed very well and cut into pieces

1 carrot, sliced

1 cup chicken broth

1 15-16oz. can cannellini beans

grated Parmesan cheese

DIRECTIONS:

1. Saute the garlic and onion in the olive oil in a saucepan until translucent. Add the escarole, carrot and broth, bring to a boil. Once it boils simmer for 20 minutes.

2. Add the beans but do not stir them in. Cook for another 5 minutes. Stir gently to mix, then serve with grated cheese and if you like, a nice hot loaf of crusty Italian bread.

Serves 4

Scallop Primavera

I am always looking for recipes for scallops. I really like the bay scallops better than the larger sea scallops. Mainly because you never really know if you’re actually getting real sea scallops. But the bay scallops are easy to keep frozen and have on hand when you’re in the mood. I came up with this recipe one day when I was cleaning out the fridge. I used carrots and broccoli in this but you can also use any other vegetable you want. If you don’t have any fresh veggies on hand a bag of mixed frozen vegetables will work just fine. I also like the broccoli/cauliflower mix for this recipe. If you are watching your carbs use a lower carb pasta or my favorite Shirataki Tofu Noodles. Or leave out the pasta all together and add more veggies. Another variation is to throw in some grated cheese of your choice and sprinkle the top with breadcrumbs and butter and bake it! I’m getting hungry just writing about this! Have fun with whatever you choose!

Scallop Primavera

INGREDIENTS:

1 pound bay scallops

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 carrots, peeled and sliced

2 cups broccoli florets

10 oz. can of cream of chicken soup, reduced fat or fat-free

1 tablespoon olive oil

½ pound  pasta (elbows, small shells, cavatelli, spaghetti, your choice) cooked and drained

salt and pepper to taste

1 teaspoon dried basil

½ teaspoon oregano

1 tablespoon parsley

Parmesan cheese, if desired

DIRECTIONS:

1. In a large saucepan sauté the garlic in the olive oil. Add the scallops and sauté for about 5 minutes. (Don’t overcook). Remove scallops from pan and set aside.

2. Add carrots and broccoli to pan and sauté for about 10 minutes until vegetables are tender, not mushy.

3. Add the cream of chicken soup and stir well. Cook for about 5 minutes and add the scallops back into mix. Toss to coat.

4. Add the cooked pasta and mix thoroughly. Cook a couple more minutes till heated through.

Serve with parmesan cheese for topping if you want.

Escarole & Little Meatball Soup (Minestra)

I love soup. Even in the hot weather of Florida soup is always a great dinner. This is a really simple soup. If you’re short on time you can always use pre-made frozen meatballs in this recipe but why would you? Freshly made are so much better. This recipe is a great comfort food dish. Make extra and freeze it!

INGREDIENTS:

1 head of escarole (about 1 pound)

6 quarts of chicken broth (homemade or store-bought is fine)

3 large carrots, chopped

8 ounces ditalini, tubetti, or spaghetti broken into bite-sized pieces

Freshly grated parmesan or romano cheese

For the Meatballs:

1 pound ground beef or veal

2 large eggs

½ cup finely minced onion

1 cup bread crumbs

1 cup freshly grated parmesan or romano cheese

1 teaspoon salt

freshly ground pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS:

1. Trim the escarole and discard any bruised leaves. Cut off the stem ends. Separate the leaves and wash well in cool water, especially the center of the leaves where the dirt collects. Stack the leaves and cut crosswise into 1″ strips. There should be about 4 cups.

2. In a large pot, combine the escarole, broth, and carrots. Bring to a simmer and cook until the escarole is almost tender, about 30 minutes.

3. While the escarole is cooking, mix together all the meatball ingredients. Shape the mixture into tiny meatballs, less than 1″ in diameter.

4. When the escarole is cooked, stir in the pasta and return the soup to simmer. Drop the meatballs into the soup. Cook over low heat, stirring gently, until the meatballs and pasta are cooked, about 20 minutes. Taste for seasoning, add salt and pepper if needed.

Serve hot with grated Parmesan.

Serves 6

Cucuzzille

I know some of you are saying, huh? I am not sure if I even have it spelled right or not. The name is pronounced “cook it seal”. Or as I used to call it “Crooked Seals”. My dad makes this recipe alot though it is not one of my favorites. The rest of the family likes it though. The base of the recipe is Italian Squash, or cucuzza or cucuzzi. It’s sort of a stew type dish. My dad doesn’t add any seasonings to it either. But I think if you added parsley or basil or garlic it wouldn’t hurt. It is a pretty easy recipe to make but it does take time. It is a dish that cooks slow so don’t rush it. And it is better to let it sit for a little before serving. You can make it the day before and then just reheat when you are ready to eat it. It’s a great vegetarian dish as well.

INGREDIENTS:

4-6 medium green or yellow Italian squash, trimmed and sliced round. (about ¼” thick)

3-4 medium potatoes, peeled and sliced into 1″ chunks

2-3 carrots, peeled and sliced round (about ¼” thick)

1 large yellow onion, sliced

1-2 red bell peppers, sliced in 1″ wide slices and cut in half

2- 8oz. cans tomato sauce

1-2 tablespoons olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

Cucuzzi Squash

DIRECTIONS:

1. Fill a large saucepan with 1-2 inches of water. Place all ingredients into pot and steam on medium heat until vegetables are tender. This should be about 45 minutes to an hour-long. Add a little more water if needed to keep it from drying out.

2. When vegetables are just about ready stir in the tomato sauce gently. Try not to break up the vegetables but it’s ok if they do. Let sit about 15-30 minutes or serve next day. The more it sits the better the flavors will be.

Buying Fresh Fruits & Vegetables at Their Peak (Part 2)

As promised here is the list of when it is the best time to buy fresh vegetables, when they are in season.  What are the best vegetable to buy now? Or in 3 months from now?  Right now in Florida where I live the corn is just starting to come out where in the north it won’t be at its best until August or September. I remember when we spent the summers in Maine as kids and we couldn’t wait for August because we’d go to the farm stands and get all of that delicious sweet yellow and white corn, fresh from the farms. It was so crunchy and sweet and you could eat 2 or 3 ears at a sitting without any problem.  Some vegetables are great all year-long which is a good thing! I hope this information helps out when you’re shopping. Another thing when you are buying items at their peak they are usually the best price as well. So keep that in mind as well! Happy shopping and eat your veggies!

  • Artichokes: March-May: Look for heavy, compact, plump globes. Large tightly closed, fleshy leaf scales. Good green color. Heavy for size.
  • Asparagus: March-June: Look for tightly closed buds. Straight, tender, rich green stalks. Open tips and angular or ridged spears are signs of over maturity.
  • Green/Wax Beans: April-October: Look for crisp, long, straight, blemish-free pods.
  • Lima Beans: April-August: Look for bright color for the variety. Crisp, dark-green, well-filled pods.
  • Beets: June-October: Look for firm, round, smooth, deep red-colored roots. Fresh-looking tops. Avoid those with long roots and rough, scaly areas on surface, because they are tough, fibrous and strong flavored.
  • Belgian Endive: October-May: Look for firm without bruises. Color should be white with greenish cast.
  • Broccoli: October-May: Look for firm, closed, dark-green florets. Firm, tender stalks. Yellowing green-colored heads of broccoli are over mature.
  • Brussel Sprouts: October-November: Look for miniature, compact, bright-green heads.
  • Cabbage: All Year: Look for well-trimmed, solid heads. Heavy for size.
  • Carrots: All Year: Look for firm, bright-colored, smooth, clean, well-shaped. Avoid rough, cracked or green-tinged roots.
  • Cauliflower: September-November: Look for bright-green leaves enclosing firm, closely packed creamy-white curd or florets. Avoid bruised or open florets.
  • Celery: All Year: Look for fresh, crisp branches. Light green to green color. Should not have wilted, rough look or puffy feel to the stalk.
  • Corn: May-September: Look for fresh-leaved, green husks. Plump, milky kernels. Avoid cobs with small or large, dented or shrunken kernels.
  • Cucumbers: May-August: Look for bright, shiny green; firm; well-shaped.
  • Eggplant: August-September: Look for firm, heavy, smooth, even dark purple. Free of bruises or cuts.
  • Lettuce: All Year: Look for fresh green leaves with no wilted or bruised areas. Heading varieties of lettuce should be medium weight for size.
  • Mushrooms: November-April: Look for dry, firm caps and stems. Small brown spots or open caps are still good in flavor.
  • Okra: May-September: Should have tender, bright-green, bruise-free pods, less than 4½ inches long. Pale, faded, hard pods are tough and fibrous.
  • Onions: All Year: Look for well-shaped; hard; small necks. Dry paper skins. Free of green spots or green-depressed leathery areas. Crisp green tops. Two to three-inch bleached-white roots.
  • Parsnips: October-April: Should be small to medium size; smooth-skinned; firm. Decay and bruise free.
  • Peas: April-July: Look for well-filled, bright green. Swollen, light-colored or gray-flecked pods contain tough, starchy peas.
  • Peppers: All Year: Look for good shape; firm exterior; thick flesh and bright, glossy skin.
  • Potatoes (White): All Year: Should be fairly smooth; well-shaped; firm. Free of most blemishes. Avoid bruised, sprouting, shriveled or green-tinged.
  • Potatoes (Sweet): September-December: Look for thick, chunky, medium-sized with no bruises or decay. Should taper at the end.
  • Radishes: May-July: Look for medium-sized (¾-1 inch diameter); good red color; plump; round; firm; crisp. Bright-green tops.
  • Spinach: March-May: Look for large, bright, blemish-free leaves with good green color. Yellowing indicates the start of decay. Avoid leaves with coarse stems.
  • Squash (Summer): June-August: Look for bright color; smooth; glassy skin. Heavy for the size; firm; well-shaped.
  • Squash (Winter): September-November: Should be heavy for the size. Hard, good-colored, unblemished rind.
  • Tomatoes: May-August: Should be well-formed; blemish-free; plump. Over all rich red color and slight softness.
  • Turnips/Rutabagas: September-March: Should be small to medium size; smooth; firm; heavy. Few leaf scars at top and few fibrous roots at base. Purple-tinged white ones are turnips. Yellow-skinned, larger roots are rutabagas.

Aunt Betty’s Summer Salad ‘831’

Today’s recipe is a Family Recipe. It is from John’s Aunt Betty who lives in upstate New York (Mt. Vision) these days! (Brrrr) Sorry, no picture with this one as of yet. When I make it in the future I will be sure to take a picture and add it to the recipe! This sounds like a great salad and I can’t wait to try it myself!

INGREDIENTS:

1 raw green pepper, diced fine
1  raw red pepper, diced fine
2 small onions, diced fine
2 cups american cheese  diced in small cubes
8 or 10 carrots cooked, cooled and sliced
1 pound rotini pasta, cooked and drained
2 cups sugar
1 cup Olive Oil
1 1/3 cups of white vinegar

DIRECTIONS:
Toss all ingredients in a large bowl.
Refrigerate over night to marinate.
Stir a few times and serve!

And as Aunt Betty says “Yum Yum and easy to do!”

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