Sesame Ginger Slaw

I’ve been doing everything I can to make the best of summer cooking. I love the comfort foods of fall and winter but embracing the ease of summer cooking has been fun. Many meals in our house have needed very little time on the stove or in the oven this August. Little one and I are busy exploring our new neighborhood and I don’t always have the time at the end of the day to make a time consuming meal.

For some people slaw is comfort food. It makes me think of picnics and time with family. Who doesn’t like slaw? ME! If I see slaw sitting on the table I avoid it at all costs. Husband likes it though. I think. I hope. I should ask. I know he liked this slaw. He liked it so much he ate almost the entire bowl in one sitting. I liked it too. I liked it because it didn’t taste like typical slaw. The Asian flavors were yummy and the veggies had a great crunch. Best of all I didn’t have to cook anything.

The only change I made was switching the Miracle Whip with Mayo. I’m not a fan of Miracle Whip so I don’t have any in the house and I wasn’t going to buy a bottle just for this dish. This slaw makes a great side dish to just about anything you cook on the grill. Perfect for really a really hot day or just a day that you don’t have much time on your hands.

Enjoy!

1/3 cup Mayo

2 T. KRAFT Asian Toasted Sesame Dressing

2 T. lime juice

6 cups finely shredded cabbage

1 cup snow peas, diagonally cut into one inch pieces

1 carrot, coarsely chopped

2 stalks celery, thinly sliced

2 green onions, finely chopped

¼ cup chopped fresh cilantro

1 T. minced ginger

2 T. sesame seed, toasted

Mix first three ingredients until well blended. Combine all remaining ingredients except sesame seed in large bowl. Add dressing mixture and toss to coat. Top with sesame seed.

http://www.kraftrecipes.com/recipes/sesame-ginger-coleslaw-124944.aspx

Swiss Chard Au Gratin

Yesterday I shared a little love about our former CSA. Today is a day to share my love about putting veggies in the freezer for future use. Last year at the shareholders meeting the awesome farmers at The Good Earth let a bunch of us run wild in the fields and take home whatever was left. I dug up a few potatoes, grabbed some heirloom tomatoes and snagged a couple peppers. Then I stumbled upon the row of Swiss chard. I filled two reusable shopping bags with Swiss chard!

There is no way I could have eaten that much Swiss chard. At the time I only knew how to make Swiss barley risotto. I did know that I could use it down the line so I prepped the Swiss chard for Swiss barley risotto and divided it up into plastic bags and stored it in the freezer so I could pull it out at any time. I didn’t use it all before our move so I packed it up with the rest of the freezer food and moved my yummy Swiss card to Minnesota.

I was going through my recipe binder and came across this recipe. I was thrilled to be able to try something new with my Swiss chard. We are big fans of spinach dip and artichoke dip in our house. This recipe seemed to be somewhat similar to those so I had a feeling that this recipe would go over well in our house.

Instead of spreading all of the au gratin over a loaf of French bread I pulled out a loaf of sliced sourdough bread from the freezer. By doing this we were able to have a little more control over the amount of au gratin we could put on the bread. It also turned this recipe into a future dish to have at a get together.

I did the layers like the recipe recommends but I think next time I make this I would consider stirring all the ingredients together in the casserole dish except for last cup of Parmesan. Keep that last cup of Parmesan on the top because it makes a lovely crust. Other than that, everything about this recipe is amazing. Grab some bunches of Swiss chard from the farmer’s and pop it into the freezer for the holidays!

Enjoy!

2 pounds rainbow Swiss chard, stemmed

4 tablespoons butter

¼ cup flour

2 cups milk

nutmeg

2 cups Parmigiano-reggiano, grated

1 loaf French bread, halved lengthwise and crosswise into 4 pieces

2 cloves garlic, halved

Position a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 425 degrees. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil, add the chard (the pot will be packed) and boil until wilted, about eight to ten minutes. Strain the chard in a colander and rinse under cool water. Using a clean kitchen towel, drain and squeeze out any excess liquid. Coarsely chop.

Meanwhile, in a medium saucepan, heat the butter over medium heat. Whisk in the flour for one minute. Whisk in the milk and season with salt, pepper and a little nutmeg. Cook until thickened slightly.

Layer half of the chard in a medium casserole, then top with half of the bechamel sauce and half of the cheese. Repeat the layers ending with the remaining cheese. Bake until bubbly about 12 to 15 minutes. Meanwhile, add the bread to the oven to toast briefly.

Rub the toasted bread with the cut sides of the garlic. Top each piece with one-quarter of the chard gratin. Serve hot!

Adapted from www.rachaelraymag.com/Recipes/rachael-ray-magazine-recipe-search/rachael-ray-30-minute-meals/swiss-chard-au-gratin

Fun with summer produce

Summer is allowing me to experiment with veggies and I have been having so much fun doing so. Our new town has a wonderful farmer’s market each Thursday. The produce is beautiful. Even though it’s not always cheaper to buy my veggies at the farmer’s market, I can sometimes find a really great deal. I am also more than willing to spend a few extra dollars on super fresh local produce! Eat local right?

I love bringing little one with me so that he can meet the farmers who are growing the food we are eating. We were really lucky last year to be able to purchase our veggies through an AMAZING CSA. Little one took a trip out to the farm last year and had a blast! I fed him tons of veggies from the farm as his first foods and now he isn’t a very picky eater. That is to say, he’s willing to try anything I put in front of him. He’s not always a big fan but he’s always willing to try. Since we moved so early in the summer we weren’t able to sign up with a CSA here in MN but I am looking for one for next year.  

What I have to share today isn’t anything ground breaking but it is very yummy! Most recipes I find that include veggies talk about slipping veggies sneakily into foods. I do have a copy of Deceptively Delicious in my cookbook collection and I’m fine with camouflaging veggies. However, if I can make it obvious to little one that veggies can be yummy I would prefer to do that. The two veggies that I have found some fun new ways to eat are zucchini and cucumber. These aren’t recipes, just ideas on how to use a few veggies you may have in the garden or fridge.

Enjoy!

This summer I have turned zucchini into pizza crust. Nothing fancy like the cauliflower pizza crust I made.  I cut a good size zucchini on a bias into discs and topped it with sauce and cheese. Next I pop the mini zucchini pizzas into a 350 oven for about 15-20 minutes. Pair these mini pizzas with a salad and you have a veggie feast! Any red sauce would work well. I used salsa all’amatriciana and goodness was it yummy!

The cucumbers made the cutest little cups for chicken salad. We normally have chicken salad on crackers or bread so pairing the salad with cucumbers was fun. I cut the cucumber into thick discs (I would cut them a little less thick next time) and used a cookie scoop (hard to believe but I don’t have a melon baller) and scooped out the insides to make cups. I made a chicken salad out of odds and ends in the fridge and divided it in between the cups. I didn’t want to toss the insides of the cucumber so I put them in a big pitcher of water. Oh so good!

I am officially giving you all permission to go play with your food!