Tag Archives: red onion

Guacamole Genua Style (revisited)

This post is from many years ago but since it is Cinco de Mayo I thought I’d repost it! Guacamole isn’t just for Cinco de Mayo either! Enjoy it every day if you want! Avocados are good for you! An update on the avocado “tree” I had all those years ago…It didn’t last. We don’t have the proper surroundings for it. Living with an extremely strict HOA we can’t have ANY kind of fruit trees outside our screen enclosure. So my little tree is no more. Very sad.

I love guacamole! (I think I’ll marry it!- inside joke) I always thought it was so hard to make until my cousins Linda and Kim showed me how when they were visiting me. Ever since then I was hooked on making it myself. I am always looking for the sale on the Hass avocados. They are the best to use. There are other larger avocados out there but they just don’t do it for me. The color is wrong too and the taste is bland. So stick to the Hass. They are usually from California but lately the ones I’ve bought have been from Mexico. Still really good. I make guacamole at least once a week! It goes great on so many things other than chips. Sandwiches, burgers, hot dogs, chicken, steak, you name it. I also bought one of those avocado slicers to make the slicing easier, but it’s just as easy to score and then scoop out the avocado with a large spoon. Though it is actually good for getting the pit out without cutting open your hand and getting blood all over the guac.  But you can just cut open an avocado by slicing all the way around the long way and twist the two halves apart. Then take a sharp knife and whack the seed with it till it sticks in and twist. Just don’t whack your hand in the process! The seed should come right out. And I planted one recently, I had to see if I could actually grow it. It works! Just waiting for fruit! (See picture below) Though that might not happen but we will see! As soon as I finish writing this I am going to make another batch as well! And when you buy avocados pick ones that are a nice color and firm. If they are already soft you will have to use them right away. They take a day or so to soften on the counter, once they do put them in the fridge and use in few days. They should not be mushy! Mushy is bad. I also make mine half mashed and half chunky. But if you don’t like chunks mash away!

 

INGREDIENTS:

2 large Hass avocados

1 large plum tomato (halved, seeded and chopped)

¼ cup chopped red onion

1 tablespoon cilantro (or ½ cup fresh chopped)

juice of 1 lime or lemon

¼ cup jalapeños, chopped (I use the pickled ones in the jar but fresh is good too!) If this is too hot for you lessen or leave out.

2 cloves garlic, minced or chopped

1 teaspoon kosher salt (regular will be fine if you don’t have the Kosher)


DIRECTIONS:

1. Cut open the avocado and slice and chop one of them and place in a large bowl. Do the same with the second one but set aside.

2. Mash the avocado in the large bowl with a fork till all mashed up. Add the rest of the ingredients as well as the unmashed avocado and mix gently so you don’t mash all the chunks. (Unless you want it all mashed!)

3. Chill and serve in a few hours. If you will be waiting longer to serve place a piece of wax paper over the top of the guacamole in a container and cover tightly. It will start to turn brown from oxidation if you don’t do this. Also adding a little more lime juice will help. If it does start to turn just mix it up, there’s nothing wrong with it, just won’t look as pretty.

Regular Avocado

Non-Hass Avocado

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!!

*********************************************************************************

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.

Shrimp w/Sour Cream and Onion Dip

Well back to somewhat of a normal week. Christmas is over but we still have New Year’s coming up. So this recipe today is a redo of a dip I posted some time ago. Originally the recipe called for the shrimp to be chilled in it for at least 8 hours. This time I just cut the recipe in half and used it in place of the usual cocktail sauce. Nothing against regular cocktail sauce but it gets boring. When I served this dip with the shrimp last week it was a huge hit! Everyone loved it. The small amount I had left over also turned a little bit pink from the red onion in it. Festive! So make up a batch for New Year’s Eve and enjoy!

INGREDIENTS:

¾ cup light mayonnaise

¼ cup light sour cream

3 tablespoons lemon juice

2 tablespoons sugar (or Splenda)

¼ cup finely chopped red onion

1 tablespoon dried dill

1 pound medium-large cooked shrimp, shelled and deveined

DIRECTIONS:

1. In a bowl combine the mayonnaise, sour cream, lemon juice, sugar, onion, and dill. Mix well. Chill to set up at least an hour.

2. Serve with shrimp!

Onion-Horseradish Dip

I am always looking for new and different dips. You get tired of the same old onion dip, same old guacamole, same old veggie dip and so on. I have a stack of magazines that I need to go through for recipes and tips etc. for the blog. One weekend I was going through the Better Homes and Gardens and came across some recipes that all used an immersion blender. You know, the little boat motor thing. This recipe can actually be made in a food processor as well but I followed the directions and used my immersion blender. After splattering myself as I always do, the dip was finished. It was delicious! I would also say it was better the next day. First day the flavors were a bit strong. So if you can wait a few hours or even overnight, it will be worth the wait. I also tweaked it as I always do. It calls for ¼ of a medium red onion. But as you will see in the pictures, I didn’t quite have it so I added a chopped shallot as well. (The pic shows 2 shallots, but I only added one) The garlic clove I used is pretty big, it probably equals 2 normal cloves but we like garlic! I also used heavy whipping cream, calories weren’t that much different from the light so I went for the extra flavor. You can serve with veggies which we did the second night but I had just found these incredible chips at BJ’s Wholesale Club. OMG! They are incredibly light and crisp, salty and just plain delicious! (110 calories in 33 chips!) This recipe also makes a great topping for a nice steak, chops or even chicken!

INGREDIENTS:

4 oz. wedge blue cheese (cheaper than buying crumbled)

4 oz. light sour cream (you can use regular if you want)

¼ cup whipping cream

¼ of a medium red onion, roughly chopped (or a large slice like I have above)

1 medium shallot, roughly chopped

1 clove garlic, minced

½ – 1 teaspoon prepared horseradish (I used 1 teaspoon- we love horseradish)

DIRECTIONS:

1. In a medium bowl crumble about ¾ of the blue cheese. Add the sour cream, whipping cream, red onion, shallot, garlic, and horseradish. Use an immersion blender* to blend cheese mixture until almost smooth.

2. Transfer to small bowl. Crumble remaining blue cheese and sprinkle over the top. Serve with veggies or chips!

* If you don’t have an immersion blender put ingredients in food processor and blend till smooth.

Makes 10 servings (2 TBSP): Each serving has about 85 calories, 8 grams of fat, 23 mg cholesterol, 170 mg sodium, 1 gram carbs, 3 grams protein

Mediterranean Omelette

Last Sunday I started out making a Greek omelette then I added a few Italian ingredients and changed the name to Mediterranean Omelette. I used real eggs in this but you can, as always, use an egg substitute. Usually on the weekends I make egg salad for John but he likes it warm (yuck) and I like it cold. So this past weekend I decided to make a large omelette we could share. It was so good I wanted more. And I am not a breakfast person! Though the gyro omelettes we had in St. Augustine at Athena’s Greek Restaurant were incredible! Nothing like it anywhere! Ok I digress…This omelette was nice and easy and since we both liked all the ingredients I could make it in one pan and just split it.

INGREDIENTS:

4 large eggs

½ cup fat-free half and half

½ cup chopped frozen spinach, thawed and drained

1/3 cup red onion, chopped small

1/3 cup tomato, chopped small

1 clove garlic, chopped fine

1 teaspoon fresh basil chopped/torn

¼ teaspoon dried oregano

½ cup Light Feta Cheese (crumbled)

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 tablespoon butter/butter substitute

DIRECTIONS:

1. Beat the eggs and half and half till light and fluffy. Set aside.

2. Heat a medium skillet  and add butter and olive oil. Melt on medium heat till a little bubbly.

3. Add the onion and sauté till soft. (A few minutes) Add garlic and sauté a few more minutes.

4. Add the spinach and stir well into the onion and garlic, till warm. (a few minutes)

5. Add the egg mixture. Add the tomato and stir well.

6. Cook the eggs, letting the liquid run to the edges, constantly pulling edges away till almost all liquid is dry. Add the basil and oregano and feta cheese.

7. Gently fold over half the omelette and press gently to seal. If you wish to flip it go ahead, but this is a large omelette and it may be hard to do.

8. Cut in half and serve!

Serves 2

DON’T FORGET MY WEBSITE!!! www.cucinadiandrea.com

Guacamole Genua Style

I love guacamole! (I think I’ll marry it!- inside joke) I always thought it was so hard to make until my cousins Linda and Kim showed me how when they were visiting me. Ever since then I was hooked on making it myself. I am always looking for the sale on the Hass avocados. They are the best to use. There are other larger avocados out there but they just don’t do it for me. The color is wrong too and the taste is bland. So stick to the Hass. They are usually from California but lately the ones I’ve bought have been from Mexico. Still really good. I make guacamole at least once a week! It goes great on so many things other than chips. Sandwiches, burgers, hot dogs, chicken, steak, you name it. I also bought one of those avocado slicers to make the slicing easier, but it’s just as easy to score and then scoop out the avocado with a large spoon. Though it is actually good for getting the pit out without cutting open your hand and getting blood all over the guac.  But you can just cut open an avocado by slicing all the way around the long way and twist the two halves apart. Then take a sharp knife and whack the seed with it till it sticks in and twist. Just don’t whack your hand in the process! The seed should come right out. And I planted one recently, I had to see if I could actually grow it. It works! Just waiting for fruit! (See picture below) Though that might not happen but we will see! As soon as I finish writing this I am going to make another batch as well! And when you buy avocados pick ones that are a nice color and firm. If they are already soft you will have to use them right away. They take a day or so to soften on the counter, once they do put them in the fridge and use in few days. They should not be mushy! Mushy is bad. I also make mine half mashed and half chunky. But if you don’t like chunks mash away!

 

INGREDIENTS:

2 large Hass avocados

1 large plum tomato (halved, seeded and chopped)

¼ cup chopped red onion

1 tablespoon cilantro (or ½ cup fresh chopped)

juice of 1 lime or lemon

¼ cup jalapeños, chopped (I use the pickled ones in the jar but fresh is good too!) If this is too hot for you lessen or leave out.

2 cloves garlic, minced or chopped

1 teaspoon kosher salt (regular will be fine if you don’t have the Kosher)


DIRECTIONS:

1. Cut open the avocado and slice and chop one of them and place in a large bowl. Do the same with the second one but set aside.

2. Mash the avocado in the large bowl with a fork till all mashed up. Add the rest of the ingredients as well as the unmashed avocado and mix gently with a spoon so you don’t mash all the chunks. (Unless you want it all mashed!)

3. Chill and serve in a few hours. If you will be waiting longer to serve place a piece of wax paper over the top of the guacamole in a container and cover tightly. It will start to turn brown from oxidation if you don’t do this. Also adding a little more lime juice will help. If it does start to turn just mix it up, there’s nothing wrong with it, just won’t look as pretty.

Regular Avocado

Non-Hass Avocado

Sour Cream & Onion Tilapia

I made this dish for the first time last night and it was incredibly delicious! Quick, easy and healthy. Usually when I make tilapia I fry it with panko bread crumbs but I had just cleaned the stove and didn’t want the mess of oil all over it again! So I looked around online for tilapia recipes that were baked. I found quite a bit but none of them had everything I wanted so I took a little bit from a few of them and came up with this recipe. There were no leftovers and there was a request to make it again! Always a good thing! It is a light and refreshing twist on a baked fish dish. And did I mention it was really easy and quick? I wish I had leftovers for lunch! Cleanup was also a snap because it was all in one dish. I just served it with some veggies and dinner was served!

Sour Cream & Onion Tilapia

INGREDIENTS:

6-8 tilapia fillets

salt and pepper

½ cup light sour cream

1/3 cup light mayonnaise

2 tablespoons finely chopped red onion

1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh dill (1 tsp dried)

2 teaspoons chopped fresh parsley (1 tsp dried)

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

Parmesan Cheese for topping

DIRECTIONS:

1. Heat oven to 350º. Grease or spray a 13×9 inch baking dish or baking dish large enough to hold the tilapia in a single layer.

2. Place tilapia in the baking dish and sprinkle with salt and pepper.

3. Combine remaining ingredients (except for parmesan cheese) and spread evenly over the fillets. Sprinkle the parmesan cheese evenly over the fillets.

4. Bake for 12-15 minutes or until the fish is cooked through and flakes easily with a fork. When done you can broil for a couple of minutes to brown the cheese on top if you wish.

Serves 3-4

Homemade Thousand Island Dressing

My husband loves Thousand Island dressing. But if anyone has ever looked at a bottle on the shelf in the supermarket you’ve seen how high the calories and sugar content are in it!  And when you add all the preservatives and other stuff they throw in there it is pretty scary. So I’ve found a couple of recipes that have worked for us that are simple to make and taste good! You make it yourself so you know exactly what is in it. Homemade dressing may not last as long as store-bought but they are so simple to make it won’t matter. The first recipe I found in the Albany Times Union when I still had a job. I like the first one a great deal and I am not usually a fan of Thousand Island dressing so I was impressed. The second recipe John prefers and it’s from George Stella’s “Livin’ Low Carb” cookbook. He used to have a show on the Food Network years ago. I have changed a couple of the items in his recipe and it still came out awesome according to my husband. So try them both and see which is your favorite!

RECIPE #1

INGREDIENTS:

3/4 cup light mayonnaise

1½ tablespoons Heinz Reduced Sugar Ketchup

1 hard-cooked egg, finely chopped

1 tablespoon No Sugar Added Sweet Relish (Mt. Olive brand is best)

DIRECTIONS:

Combine mayonnaise and ketchup. Stir in egg and relish.

Makes about 1 cup (2 tablespoons per serving)

Weight Watchers Points: About 2 points per serving.


RECIPE #2

INGREDIENTS:

½ cup light mayonnaise

2 tablespoons Heinz Reduced Sugar Ketchup

1 tablespoon white wine vinegar (or you can use regular white vinegar which is what the recipe originally called for, I was out of it)

1 tablespoon sugar substitute (Splenda or other sucralose)

1 tablespoon No Sugar Added Sweet Relish (Mt. Olive brand is best)

1 teaspoon minced red onion

1/8 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper (regular is fine too)

DIRECTIONS:

Thoroughly combine all the ingredients in a bowl. This dressing keeps for 1 week when refrigerated.

Makes 6 servings

Weight Watchers Points: About 2 per serving

Spicy Garlic Barbecued Pork Ribs

Who doesn’t love barbecued ribs? Nobody that I know of! But when it comes to barbecuing them everyone tends to shy away because they “take so long”! No they don’t! Not how I do them anyway! For my recipe you do have to think ahead and marinate them overnight for the best results. You can also marinate them a few hours ahead of time, but overnight is best. I’ve searched and searched and watched and watched all the ways to have great barbecued ribs. The one recipe I found to be the best so far was from Ina Garten, The Barefoot Contessa. I tweaked her recipe to make it more Genua! These are also made to be cooked on a grill with charcoal. I’m sure they’ll be fine with a gas grill but we have charcoal. I also use either pork loin ribs or St. Louis Style ribs as we love to have meaty ribs! Don’t be scared by the amount of ingredients either. It’s not so bad. I am the first one to skip making a recipe because of the amount of ingredients! Remember it’s all for the marinade/sauce!

Spicy Garlic Barbecued Pork Ribs

INGREDIENTS:

3 racks of pork loin ribs or St. Louis Style ribs (6-8 lbs)

1/3 cup vegetable or olive oil

1 small red onion, diced (about 1 cup)

6 cloves garlic, minced (you can add less if too much garlic for you)

1 tablespoon chili powder (you can add less if too spicy)

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1 teaspoon red pepper flakes (you can add less if too spicy)

1 teaspoon lime zest

1 tablespoon finely grated fresh ginger (or you can use 1 tsp powder)

1/3 cup cider vinegar

½ cup tomato paste

½ cup honey

2 tablespoons Dijon mustard

1/3 cup low sodium soy sauce

¼ cup orange juice

DIRECTIONS:

1. Heat the vegetable or olive oil in a large saucepan over medium-low heat. Saute the onions and garlic for 5-7 minutes, until the onions are translucent but not browned.

2. Add the chili powder, ground cumin and red pepper flakes and continue to cook for 1 minute. Add the zest and ginger and cook for an extra minute.

3. Add the vinegar, tomato paste, honey, mustard, soy sauce and orange juice and simmer uncovered on low heat for 15 minutes, until thick. Stirring occasionally.

4. Marinate the ribs in 2/3 of the sauce for a few hours or overnight in the refrigerator.

5. When you are ready to grill prepare the grill with a single layer of hot coals and then add a few more coals 5 minutes before cooking, which will keep the fire going longer. Place the ribs on the grill and cook for about 25-30 minutes, turning once or twice to cook evenly on both sides. Brush with marinade as needed.

6. Check the ribs after 30 minutes. If they are still not ready (thicker ribs may take longer) just cook for another 5-10 minutes. Check to make sure they are to your liking. EAT!!

Italian-Greek Salad

Now that spring is here and the weather is doing it’s hardest to warm up a light refreshing side salad is always a good addition to any meal. This recipe I came up with combining Italian and Greek flavors. It’s an easy, quick salad that can be made last-minute. It goes great with beef, chicken, fish, burgers and so on. I have made many variations on this salad over the years. This recipe calls for feta cheese which makes it Greek but you can substitute the feta for mozzarella cheese as well. And for a little more fiber add some drained and rinsed garbanzo beans! It’s always a hit no matter what.

INGREDIENTS:

2 large plum tomatoes, cut into chunks.(You can usually get 10-12 chunks per tomato)

¼ cup chopped or sliced red onion (Add more if you like more red onion)

1 cup peeled and diced cucumber

1 large clove garlic, chopped fine

1-2 tsp dried oregano

1 tsp dried basil

1 tsp dried parsley

¼-½ cup feta cheese crumbles (I also use the low-fat Feta, you can’t tell the difference)

¼ cup extra virgin olive oil

3 TBS white wine vinegar

salt and pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS:

1. Mix all ingredients in a large bowl, tossing well. Chill for 15 minutes or so. Serve!

** You can adjust the vinegar and olive oil if you feel it needs a little more of either.

Serves 2-3

Don’t forget Easter is just around the corner! Check out these free and easy last minute Easter tips!

http://www.dinewithoutwhine.com/amember/go.php?r=9712&i=l13

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