Yum, yum, yum! I had gotten a lot of yellow squash from Bountiful Baskets, and was trying to come up with ways to use all of it. I have made these Zucchini Fritters before, so figured I could do it with yellow squash too, but I didn’t have feta cheese. Then, I came across this recipe for Zucchini Cakes, using Parmesan cheese and Panko bread crumbs, so decided to give it a try. I was very pleased with the results, and will be making this again!
After making Salsa Roja a couple nights ago, I had the ingredients to make Salsa Verde, but was out of tortilla chips. I was going to head to the store because I needed a few things anyway, but decided since I had some corn tortillas still, I would bake tortilla chips with them. Super easy, fairly fast to do. Here is how to make both.
Salsa Verde
What you need:
1 lb tomatillos, husks removed (if you aren’t familiar with tomatillos, you can see them in this post, second picture, bottom left)
4 jalapenos, more or less depending on the level of hot you want
1 yellow onion, cut in half
2 cloves garlic
1/4 cup cilantro
juice of 1 lime
How you make it:
You can roast the ingredients 2 ways. One way is to roast them in the oven, like I did the ingredients for Salsa Roja. The other way is to roast them on the grill, like I did last night. Place a piece of aluminum foil on your grill and heat up your grill. Place tomatillos, jalapenos, onion, and garlic on the foil. Flip the veggies as they start to blacken. Continue to cook until onions are translucent, and everything has started to blacken. Remove from grill and allow to cool. Then, add all of that plus the cilantro and lime juice to your food processor or blender and blend well. Serve as desired.
Last night we had this with chips, but a lot of times I will put it over chicken in the slow cooker, then shred the cooked chicken for enchiladas, quesadillas, tacos, burritos, etc.
Baked Tortilla Chips
What you need:
Small corn tortillas
Vegetable or olive oil
Sea salt
How you make them:
Preheat oven to 350 F. Line a baking sheet with foil. Cut tortillas into 6 pieces using a pizza cutter. Spray or brush the foil with the oil. Lay chips out in a single layer on the pan. Spray or brush the tops of the chips with oil. Sprinkle with sea salt. Bake in oven for 15-20 minutes. If you bake 2 pans at a time, rotate the pans in the oven halfway through. Allow to cool and serve.
I have been making a lot of Roasted Corn Salsa, but since I don’t have corn, I decided to use some of my Mexican veggie pack ingredients to make some Salsa Roja. I’ve made it a few times before, but I have been working on finding the perfect method. I have been very close on the taste I want, but I came across this recipe for Salsa Roja and decided to give it a try, but on a much smaller scale than the recipe calls for.
Salsa Roja
What you need:
4 tomatoes
1 small onion
4 jalapenos (more or less depending on how hot you want)
2 cloves garlic, peeled
2 tsp salt
1/4 cup cilantro
juice of one lime
How you make it:
Cut tomatoes in half, onions in fourths. Remove caps from jalapenos and cut in half. Remove seeds if desired, this reduces some of the heat of the jalapenos. Line a baking sheet with foil and add tomatoes, onion, jalapenos, and garlic, cut sides up. Roast in oven at 375 F for about 30 minutes, or until onions look translucent.
Allow to cool, then add to a blender or food processor. Add cilantro, salt, and lime juice to blender or food processor. Blend well. Serve as desired.
I found this made about 2 1/2 cups of salsa and was a little hot for my tastes, but my husband enjoyed it.
Let me explain the title first. A while back, I was introduced to this video. I don’t know if it was a commercial Bounty did outside the US or what, but the song is catchy, and K sings it whenever I make guacamole.
I have been waiting all week for my avocados to ripen, and tonight, they finally were. We are all big fans of guacamole in this house, and this batch was perfect.
Guacamole
What you need:
5 avocados
1/2 bunch green onion
2 jalapeno peppers, tops and seeds removed
2 cloves garlic
1/4 cup cilantro
juice of 1 lime
sea salt
How to make it:
Coarsely chop all the ingredients and add to a food processor or blender. Blend as desired.
I left mine a little chunky, but mostly pureed. It was a beautiful green color and full of flavor. It made about 2 cups of guacamole.
(So, is the guacamole song still stuck in your head?)
I wish this dish wasn’t so time-consuming, because I would make them a lot more! There is just something about grape leaves and the filling that makes this so delicious. Normally, I use bottled lemon juice, but this time I still had lemons from Bountiful Baskets from the previous week. Also, I used fresh garlic over the jarred garlic I would normally use. It was a nice change to make it with fresh ingredients.
Dolmathes (Stuffed Grape Leaves)
What you need:
1 jar (16 oz) grape leaves, drained and rinsed
Filling:
1 lb lean lamb or beef, coarsely ground or chopped
1 cup raw long grain rice
1 cup chopped yellow onion
1/4 cup chopped parsley
2 tsp dried dill weed
1 tsp allspice
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1/2 cup olive oil
juice of 1 lemon
Broth:
2 cups basic chicken stock or canned broth
juice of 1 lemon
How to Make it:
Mix all ingredients for filling. Pick out the smallest leaves in the jar and set aside. Cut of the stems of the remaining grape leaves. Using a 2-quart, heavy-lidded pot, create a single layer of the smaller leaves.
Spread leaf on counter with the vein side facing you. Place about 2 Tbsp of filling in the center of the leaf.
Fold the stem end over the filling, then fold the sides over to secure the filling, then roll away from you toward the tip of the leave, creating a small cylinder.
Size should be about 3″ long by 1″ wide. Do not wrap too tightly as rice needs room for expansion during cooking.
Place the stuffed leaves in pot up against each other rather tightly so they do not come undone.
Multiple layers of stuffed leaves may be needed, so place layer of the smaller, unrolled leaves in between each layer. Top with remaining unrolled leaves. This jar of grape leaves and the amount of filling allowed for 24 stuffed leaves (2 layers of 12 stuffed leaves), with 2 leaves on bottom, 2 leaves in between the 2 layers, and 2 leaves on top. Mix the chicken stock and lemon juice, and pour over the leaves in the pot. Cover and bring to a light simmer. Cook for 1 hour. Remove from heat and allow to cool for 15 minutes. Do not remove lid or leaves will darken. Serve warm.
Printable Recipe:
A few weeks back, I made egg rolls for the first time. I had another package of egg roll wrappers still, so I decided I wanted to try baking them instead of frying them. For the filling, I julienne cut one of the 1 pound bags of carrots I got from Bountiful Baskets this week. Next, I diced up the stems and leaves of the bok choy, then removed the meat from the bones of the rotisserie chicken. I put a little vegetable oil in my wok, then added the carrots and the bok choy stems. I cooked them until they were tender, then added the bok choy leaves and the chicken. I added in soy sauce, and cooked for a few minutes. Then, I assembled the egg rolls.
To bake them, I lined a baking sheet with aluminum foil and sprayed it with non-stick cooking spray. I arranged the egg rolls on the baking sheet, then brushed them with olive oil I put them in the oven at 400 F for about 15 minutes, when they became golden brown.
They turned out well. I think I prefer them fried, but have no problem with the baked ones. After I used up the filling, I still had 4 egg roll wrappers left, so I filled them with shredded mozzarella cheese, and baked them the same way. They turned out pretty tasty too.
I haven’t made pepperoni bread in quite a while, so when K asked for spaghetti for dinner, I knew I wanted to make this instead of garlic bread to go with it.
Pepperoni Bread
What you need:
How to make it:
Spray a baking sheet with olive oil or cooking spray. Spread dough into a rectangle on baking sheet. Brush with olive oil, then sprinkle with Italian seasoning, Parmesan cheese, and mozzarella cheese, leaving an inch border around the outside.
Lay out the pepperoni. If you like a lot of pepperoni, use more pepperoni. If you like less pepperoni, use less pepperoni.
Then, roll up the dough lengthwise. Place seam side down on the baking sheet and seal the ends.
Again, brush with olive oil, then sprinkle with Italian seasoning and Parmesan cheese. Bake at 450 for 10-15, or according to the directions for the dough that you bought, until golden brown. Serve with marinara sauce for dipping.
In my quest to figure out what to do with all the daikon I got, I came across this recipe for Pan Fried Daikon Cakes. Since I had oil hot for frying my egg rolls the other night, I decided to make these as well. I left them in a little too long, I was trying to do too much at the same time. However, they actually turned out pretty tasty, a little hot for my taste buds with the Sriracha sauce, but good enough to make some more to use up the daikon, which I still have a LOT left.
I have been working all week on a way to use the daikon radish I received in the Asian themed veggie pack that I bought with my Bountiful Baskets this week. I decided I would try egg rolls, which I love, but have never made. For the filling, I julienne cut some daikon and some carrots. Then, I chopped 1 bunch of green onions and some leaves of bok choy. I had bought a rotisserie chicken at Fry’s since I had a $2 eCoupon, so I removed the chicken from the bones and shredded it. I added some vegetable oil to my wok, and put the daikon, carrots, and green onion in first. Once they started to get tender, I added in the bok choy and chicken. Once the bok choy started to wilt, I grated fresh ginger into the wok and poured in about 2 Tbsp of soy sauce. It looked like this.
Next comes the egg roll wrappers. I found mine in the produce section of the grocery store, they may also be in your freezer section. You take a wrapper and lay it out, then add some filling. For this size wrapper, it was about 2 Tbsp of filling.
To fold the egg rolls, my previous experience as an employee at Subway wrapping sandwiches in paper came in handy. It’s also how I roll my stuffed grape leaves (that recipe will be coming hopefully in the next week). Notice in the picture above how I placed the filling closer to one corner. The first fold is to bring that corner up over the filling.
Next, you fold over both sides.
Then, you roll it and brush the tip with a little water to make it hold shut.
Then, you deep fry or add about 1/2″ of oil to a pan. If your oil doesn’t completely cover the rolls, then you need to flip them when one side is golden.
Remove rolls from oil to a baking sheet lined with paper towels.
This made 11 egg rolls. I still had wrappers in that package, so I made more filling. The second filling was all veggies, bok choy leaves and stems, julienne cut carrots, julienne cut daikon, and chopped yellow onion, then grated ginger and soy sauce. This made 7 more egg rolls. They turned out great, both my girls ate 2 each!
I still had a 1/2 lb of spinach left after making Spanakopita and Spinach Manicotti, so I decided to make another of our favorite spinach dishes, Hot Artichoke Spinach Dip. It’s really easy to make, and it’s also something I like to make to take to a potluck or party.
Hot Spinach Artichoke Dip
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter or margarine
1 medium onion, chopped
1/2 lb fresh spinach, chopped
1 14 oz can artichoke hearts, chopped
1 8 oz pkg cream cheese
1 8 oz pkg sour cream
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese, divided
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese divided
Melt butter in a large sauce pan over medium heat. Add onion and cook until soft, about 5 minutes. Stir in spinach, artichokes, cream cheese, sour cream, 3/4 cup mozzarella cheese, and 3/4 cup Parmesan cheese. Stir until well blended and heated through.
Pour mixture into a casserole dish and top with remaining cheeses. Bake in 350 F oven until cheese starts to brown, about 15-20 minutes. Serve with your favorite veggies or chips. We had tortillas chips with this batch.
My Gems of Parenting 