Cold Carrot Soup

Recipe 38 - August 5, 2012

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Cold Carrot Soup

This recipe comes from cooks.com

This soup is nice and refreshing.  It's pretty basic and quick and easy.  Maybe a little boring, but good.  I will work with the recipe and try different variations.

Saag

Recipe 37 - August 1, 2012

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Saag

This recipe comes from whats4eats.com

We get a lot of spinach at the beginning and the end of the summer from our CSA.  It is delicious and I like use it to make this Saag recipe.  Sometimes I'll buy paneer at Whole Foods and add it in.
The recipe is easy and has a little bit of kick.  It makes plenty for left-overs as well.  I like to make Naan as well to eat with the Saag.  Here is the recipe for the Naan from allrecipes.com.

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/naan/

Gazpacho

Recipe 36 - August 11, 2012

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Gazpacho

This recipe comes from How to Cook Everything Vegetarian, 2007

2 lbs tomatoes

1 medium cucumber

2 or 3 slices day-old bread

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

2 tablespoons sherry vinegar or red wine vinegar

1 teaspoon minced garlic

salt and ground black pepper

1. Combine tomatoes, cucumber, bread, oil, vinegar, and garlic with 1 cup water in a blender; process until smooth.  

2. Taste and add salt and pepper.  

I didn't add the bread or put it in the blender.  I just served it chunky and it is delicious!  I will try blending it next time.  I used a combination of Roma and big purplish tomatoes from our garden.  Next year I want to plant a gazpacho plot with tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, garlic.  This is a quick and refreshing summer recipe!

Halibut with Lemon-Butter Sauce

Recipe 35 - May 31, 2012

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Halibut with Lemon-Butter Sauce

This recipe comes from Food & Wine, September 2006

We made only the halibut with the lemon-butter sauce.  We paired it with a green salad instead of the mixed beans.  The beans would make a good compliment, maybe next time.  The taste was complex and had lots of layers.  Definitely will try it again.

Mango Shrimp Kebabs

Recipe 34 - May 13, 2012

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Mango Shrimp Kebabs

This recipe comes from Cooking Light, April 2010

These are very yummy!!  The shrimp needs a little longer per side to cook through, but only a couple of minutes.  Erik turned them three times.  I did not use the onion as Erik's not a big fan of semi-raw onions, but the flavors combined well.  The grilled mango was delicious, mango, fruit of the earth!  Great meal for a warm, sunny day.

Brussels Sprouts and Shiitake Lo Mein

Recipe 33 - May 11, 2012

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Brussels Sprouts and Shiitake Lo Mein

This recipe comes from Sunset, January 2012

Chef: Billy Ngo

This recipe was very nice.  It took longer than 30 minutes to prepare, but not significantly longer.  The portions were good size and it warmed up well as left-overs.  It does need the addition of soy sauce.  

Asparagus Salad with Parmesan Dressing

Recipe 32 - May 6, 2012

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Asparagus Salad with Parmesan Dressing

This recipe comes from Bon Appetit, May 2009

Restaurant: Gracie's in Providence

This recipe was pretty quick and easy.  It may end up being a dinner party go-to recipe as it is pretty fancy for everyday eating.  The dressing is really nice, but you melt a lot of cheese that goes to waste in preparing it.  Overall a success, but will be saved for fancier times.  

Mexican Pizza

Recipe 30 - March 27th, 2012

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Mexican Pizza

This recipe comes from Food & Wine, July 2010

Chef: Spike Mendolsohn

This recipe is relatively quick and easy and delicious!  Great variation on pizza.  Used a store bought dough, but will try homemade dough next time.  You can spice it up as much as you like.  

Dave's Mom's Spinach-Feta Pie

Recipe 28 - March 24th, 2012

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Dave's Mom's Spinach-Feta Pie

This recipe comes from Food & Wine, September 2006
Chef: Alhadeef

This was a tasty, pretty quick recipe.  It tasted good reheated as well.  It should be served as a side as the portions are small for a single serving.  I love that Food & Wine has recipes online from their 2006 issues, this is so helpful!  

Snap Pea Minestrone with Poached Eggs

Recipe 27 - March 21st, 2012

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Snap Pea Minestrone with Poached Eggs

This recipe comes from Sunset, March 2012

I made this recipe without the ham (don't tell Erik), it was still very good and didn't need too much additional salt.  It was good to learn a new technique for poaching eggs.  Used leftover ditalini pasta from a past recipe.  The serving sizes were plenty and the cooking times accurate.  

Tea-Scented Pumpkin Soup

Recipe 25 - March 15th, 2012

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Tea-Scented Pumpkin Soup

This recipe comes from Food and Wine, October 2006

Chef: Han Feng

Full disclosure, I used a Long Island Cheese squash and sesame oil drizzle in this recipe in place of the pumpkin and pumpkin seed oil.  Pumpkin seed oil has to be special ordered in this part of the country.  And I wanted to continue using the rest of the squash we have left over from the CSA.  This recipe was delicious as I made it!  It's probably just as if not more delicious with the correct ingredients.  It was pretty hands-off once the squash/pumpkin was cut up and easy to prepare.  The serving sizes were filling.  It's a light broth soup, not very thick with lots of subtle flavors despite the minimal number of ingredients.