Couscous Salad

We have been traveling around California, Nevada, Utah and Oregon.  We even crossed over the northeastern tip of Arizona.  We covered a lot of miles and really enjoyed ourselves.  We visited with cousins in Las Vegas and Palm Springs.  We saw a dear friend who recently moved from Las Vegas to St. George, Utah.  While in Oregon we visited with my sister and her husband.  Then we traveled to Eureka, Ca. to visit with our youngest son and his family, as well as my Mom.  Now, we are home but leaving tomorrow to pick up our teenage grandson.  He will be visiting with us for about a week.  We will see if he is up to playing in Grammy's Kitchen.

Food is always on my mind and we ate very well on this trip.  Thank you to everyone who cooked for us and suggested places for us to try. They were all wonderful and I would visit each of them again.  I came home with so many things on my mind and it has taken me time to organize my thoughts and to get something posted.  You all know I love Costco and that I like to buy their rotisserie chickens.  I wanted to make a chicken salad but I ended up making a Couscous Salad that is very yummy, with or without the chicken.  Oh, I should tell you that I also have a thing for Mangos.  Add this recipe to your collection of salads to serve your guests.  I think I may be making it for our Holiday Party this year, if I can find ripe Mangos then.  Oh, the best way to know that your Mangos are ripe is to gently squeeze them in your hand.  They should have a nice give to them and feel like a ripe Avocado, not squishy.

                                             Couscous Salad

2 cups Cooked Couscous (prepared according to instructions on package and cooled)

Dressing:

Zest from 1 Lime

Juice from 2 Limes

1 clove Garlic, chopped fine

2 fresh Serrano Peppers, with seeds removed and chopped fine

1 tablespoon Olive Oil

1/2 teaspoon Salt

1/4 teaspoon Pepper

Whisk dressing ingredients together in a small bowl.  Pour dressing over Couscous and toss lightly.

Add in:

2 Mangos, cut in medium size cubes

1/2 cup fresh Cilantro, chopped fine

1/2 cup Red Onion, chopped fine

2 cups Cooked Chicken chopped in medium cubes (I use the rotisserie chicken from Costco)

Ripe Avocado, sliced for garnish on top

Toss everything together lightly and refrigerate until chilled.  This salad can be prepared a day ahead and keeps well for 2 days.  I served mine on a bed of Butter Lettuce and with a little Sour Cream Sauce as a garnish.  

Sour Cream Lime Sauce Garnish:

1/2 cup Sour Cream

Juice from 1/2 lime

2 teaspoons Milk (to thin the sauce)

Combine these ingredients and put into a plastic squeeze container with a small opened tip - like catsup or mustard containers.  Of course, you can use a spoon if you don’t happen to have a container.   

Serves 4 

Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

When we travel, I like to keep healthy snacks in the car to help those long boring miles go by .  Well, oatmeal, eggs, nuts and fruit are healthy - right?  Anyway, we recently made a trip to Las Vegas and those tasty 'healthy cookies' were mighty good and fresh from Grammy's kitchen.  When our boys were growing up, 3 dozen cookies was not enough to last a day so I always doubled this recipe.  They keep well if you put them in zip lock bags and hide them in the freezer.  We now have a monster that lurks in our freezer and eats cookies and ice cream (I think his name is John)!

                           

                                       OATMEAL RAISIN COOKIES

                                       

3/4 cup Shortening

1 1/3 cups Brown Sugar

2 Eggs

1 teaspoon Vanilla

3/4 teaspoon Baking Soda

1/2 teaspoon Salt

1 teaspoon Cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon Nutmeg

1 1/3 cups Flour

2 cups Rolled Oats

2 cup Raisins or Dried Cranberries

1/2 cup chopped Walnuts

In a large mixing bowl, beat together Shortening, Brown Sugar, Eggs and Vanilla until creamy - use an electric mixer. Beat in Baking Soda, Salt, Cinnamon and Nutmeg. With mixer on low, mix in the Flour. Add the Rolled Oats, Raisins and Walnuts and fold them in.  Drop by heaping teaspoon or 1 1/2 inch ice cream scoop onto greased or parchment paper covered cookie sheets.  Bake in 350˚ oven for 12 - 15 minutes - until light golden brown.  Leave cookies on baking sheet for 1 - 2 minutes to cool.  Remove from baking sheet to paper towels to finish cooling.

Makes 3 dozen cookies

Guacamole Supreme

The first time I had guacamole I fell in love again!  Sorry Honey, it's a food thing, it's not a heart thing and always remember that I share the food things.  Even though I grew up in California, it was Northern California and on the coast (Eureka, to be exact).  For those of you that know Eureka and those of you that still live there, we know that avocados do not grow there.  Back in the dark ages, when I was growing up, we didn't have avocados at our house.  I think I lived in Southern California the first time I ate one.  At first I thought it was a little strange, then, by the second time I ate it I was hooked.  Then Guacamole entered my life!  Oh my goodness, I saw stars!  I have loved guacamole ever since.  I make it a lot and it is always gone so I assume that everyone in the world shares my love.  Here is my recipe for Guacamole Supreme (it's better than 'baby love').

                                    Guacamole Supreme

3 Ripe Avocados (to check for ripeness, gently squeeze - it should give a little, but not be mushy)

1/4 cup Onion, finely chopped (red, white or green are good)

1 Roma Tomato, chopped small (about 1/2 cup)

1/4 cup Cilantro, chopped (this is good but optional)

1 Large Jalapeno Pepper, chopped fine (about 2 tablespoons)

         Note: fresh Jalapeno is best but even the pickled ones work   

1 tablespoon fresh Lime Juice

1/8 teaspoon Salt (a pinch)

Black Pepper (half a pinch)

1 or 2 teaspoons Franks Original Hot Sauce (spicy or not so..)

Cut Ripe Avocados in half and remove the seed.  Use a large spoon to scoop out the avocado by running the spoon in along the skin.  Place the avocados into a medium size bowl. Add the remaining ingredients, except for the Hot Sauce.  Use a fork to gently smash the ingredients together.  I like to leave it a bit chunky.  Now, taste the guacamole and add the Hot Sauce to suit your taste.   

Serve with tortilla chips.  

Cilantro in Brown Rice

I really like the flavor of cilantro.  If you're not a fan, you can always use flat leaf parsley.  I enjoy rice with a lot of dishes but especially Mexican food.  This is a nice alternative to the usual Mexican Rice.  Brown rice takes longer to cook but I think it is worth the time to get that yummy nutty taste.  You can always add more jalapeno if you like more spice.  Give this recipe a try and let me know what you think.

                                        Cilantro in Brown Rice

1 cup Brown Rice

2 cups Water

1 tablespoon Lime Juice

1 tablespoon Canola Oil

1/2 medium White Onion, diced

1 tablespoon Fresh Jalapeno, chopped fine

1/4 teaspoon Salt

1/2 cup Fresh Cilantro, chopped

In a medium saucepan, combine everything - except the chopped Fresh Cilantro.  Simmer on low heat with a lid on, for approximately 50 minutes.  When rice is done, stir in the Cilantro.  Let sit, with the lid on, for 10 minutes. Toss the rice and enjoy.

Serves 4

*You can use long grain white rice in this recipe but cook it for 20 minutes.  

*When you get to the final minutes of cooking rice, check to be sure there is still liquid in the saucepan.  Add a tiny bit more if necessary.

*For a nice presentation, press rice into a small bowl.  Turn it out onto a plate and top with salsa, and a little sour cream and chopped cilantro.

Tortilla Chip Casserole

When our boys were growing up I could have been the Burger Queen!  I learned to stretch pennies and to cook, shall I say, cheaply.  Ground Beef was known as Hamburger then and it was cheap.  I could have cooked it every day for months and never repeated a recipe.  Having three boys made life interesting because they each had their definite likes and dislikes.  This recipe is one that they could all agree on.  I haven't made it for years but a recent visit with our Grandson Alek reminded me of things I once cooked so often.  My hubby and I enjoyed this trip down memory lane and now we wonder why we haven't had it for so long.

Tortilla Chip Casserole

1 pound Ground Beef

2  8 ounce cans Tomato Sauce

3 teaspoons Chili Powder (1 teaspoon will go into the beans)

2 1/2 cups Tortilla Chips, broken and crushed

1  15 ounce can Refried Beans

1 cup Cheddar Cheese, grated

In a skillet, over medium heat, brown the Ground Beef.  Add 1 1/2 cans of the Tomato Sauce, 2 teaspoons Chili Powder and 2 cups of the broken Tortilla Chips.  Spray the bottom of 8”x8” baking dish with Pam cooking spray and add the mixture to it.  In the same skillet, heat and combine Refried Beans and the remaining 1/2 can of Tomato Sauce and the 1 teaspoon Chili Powder.  Spread the beans evenly over the top of the meat mixture.  Bake at 350˚ for 15 to 20 minutes, just to heat through.  Top the casserole with the reserved 1/2 cup crushed Tortilla Chips and then the Cheese.  Bake for another 5 minutes, to melt the cheese.  

Serves 4-6

You can top this casserole with salsa, guacamole or sour cream, or all...or, eat it as it is.  

Macaroni Salad

Here in northern California we have had some really nice weather lately.  It's the kind of weather that makes me want to eat grilled ribs and Macaroni Salad.  This is my favorite Macaroni Salad recipe.  I really do like to use fresh herbs, since I usually have them growing in pots on my patio.  You can always use the dried herbs available at the market and you can substitute your favorite herbs for variety.    Sometimes I even use green onions instead of the red onion, that is one of the wonderful things I like about a salad like this.  Oh, I also want to mention that I sometimes add salad shrimp and maybe some sliced black olives to this salad.  I hope you enjoy this easy and basic old fashioned salad, your way.

                                 

 Macaroni Salad

16 ounces (approx. 2 cups) uncooked Salad Macaroni, cooked as directed on pkg.

1/2 cup Sweet Pickle Relish

2 tablespoons Red Onion, chopped fine

1 cup Cheddar Cheese, cut into 1/4” cubes

1 cup Mayonnaise

1/2 teaspoon Salt

1/4 teaspoon Ground Pepper

1 teaspoon Granulated Sugar

2 teaspoons fresh Chives, chopped

1 teaspoon fresh Tarragon, chopped

1 teaspoon fresh Thyme, chopped

1 teaspoon fresh Parsley, chopped (I prefer the broad leaf kind)

In a large mixing bowl, combine the cooked Salad Macaroni with all of the other ingredients.  Mix well.  Adjust seasonings to suit your taste.  Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour. Remember that the salad will absorb most of the liquid as it cools.  Stir before serving.  

Makes 8 large servings

Macaroni Salad with salad shrimp added

Grilled Zucchini and Cheese Sandwich

I love local Farmer's Markets!  They inspire me to try so many new things in new ways.  My favorite area of our local grocery store is the Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Department.  We are so lucky here in California to have so many fresh and beautiful fruits and vegetables available at all times.  I usually choose what I want by what looks good. I was inspired to make this Grilled Zucchini and Cheese Sandwich a couple of years ago when we had a huge supply of fresh-from- the-garden zucchini and it has become a real favorite of ours.  I like the contrast of the sharp cheese with the sweet flavor of the slightly cooked zucchini.  I like to spread a little bit of margarine on the outside of the bread, rather than heating the margarine directly in the pan because this insures a nice even grilling of the sandwich.  We just had these for lunch and they were so yummy!  Let me know what you think of them.



Grilled Zucchini and Cheese Sandwich

2 small Green Zucchini, sliced the long way and 1/2” thick (4 slices per squash)

1 cup grated Sharp Cheddar Cheese                                                                                 

4 slices Sourdough Bread (Rye Bread is really good too)

Dijon Mustard

Soft Margarine

Spray a non stick cooking spray onto your grill pan.  Heat pan to med. high heat. Saute the sliced zucchini lightly on each side.  I usually do this for about 1 1/2 to 2 minutes per side, you don’t want to overcook it.  Salt and pepper one side of the squash.

Spread a thin coat of Dijon Mustard on one piece of bread for each sandwich.  Layer the cooked zucchini on the bread.  Sprinkle the Sharp Cheddar Cheese on the Zucchini.  After you put the second slice of bread on top, spread a light coating of soft Margarine on the top slice.  Put the sandwich in the heated grill pan, margarine side down.  Spread the top slice of bread with soft margarine.  Once your sandwich is browned on the first side and the cheese is beginning to melt, carefully turn the sandwich over and brown it on the second side. 

This sandwich is really good with grilled onions on top of the zucchini too!  

Makes 1 sandwich