Quinoa Produce Salad

Perfect Pairing:  Summer meal

I don’t think you can have too many good quinoa salad recipes.  This Quinoa Produce Salad is perfect for summer. 

It finally feels like summer around here!  I had a wonderful weekend celebrating Father's Day and all things summer.  My dad came home from his week of fishing in Manada (more appropriate than Canada).  Apparently he caught so many fish his hands hurt from reeling and cleaning the fish.  We did all of our favorite warm-weather activities like boating, swimming (more like bobbing on floats), sunset cruises, grilling, and doing everything we can outside.  It was a perfect weekend.

Quinoa Produce Salad is filled with fresh ingredients like multi-colored grape tomatoes, corn, green onions, and basil.  It is simply dressed with a little olive oil, lemon juice, and salt and pepper.

You wouldn’t think that something so simple could be so tasty.  I love the slight sweetness from the corn and nuttiness of the quinoa.  You could easily adapt this recipe by adding other favorite produce like roasted asparagus, edamame, roasted peppers, or other fresh herbs like tarragon or thyme.

This healthy and delicious salad is going to be a regular on my summer menu!

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Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp

Perfect Pairing:  Last rhubarb of the season

There are not many desserts you can make with a vegetable.  Rhubarb is such a funny ingredient.  The raw form is anything but tasty, but once it is cooked with some sugar?  Amazing. 

During my childhood we had rhubarb growing in the backyard.  My dad kept a keen eye on its process and as soon as there was enough for a pie he would bring it to my mom.  His favorite thing in the world is rhubarb cream pie.  In fact, about 30 years ago my mom decided to start up her own business with Longaberger.  She needed a few hundred dollars for her start-up kit and asked my dad if they could spare the extra money.  He jokingly said he would lend it to her, but would charge interest of two rhubarb cream pies.  I am sure he would have said yes no matter what, but was serious about the pies.  It ended up being a very good investment on his part as my mom is still with Longaberger today!  I plan on making my dad a rhubarb cream pie this weekend for Father’s Day.  If you are looking for some manly recipes, check out last year’s Father’s Day post.

On a recent trip to the grocery store I saw a huge display of rhubarb.  I had no idea what I was going to do with it, but bought a bunch since I knew it was going to be going out of season soon.  I decided to make a quick dessert with rhubarb’s perfect pairing, strawberries.  This Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp is so simple and delicious.  I used orange zest and juice to give it some freshness; it also helps to balance the sugar.  The topping is pretty standard, oats, brown sugar, cinnamon, and nuts.  Of course this is best served warm with vanilla ice cream! 

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Brown Sugar Pear Sauce

Perfect Pairing:  Sandwiches and Ice Cream

Oh man, this sauce.  It is good, really good.  How can you go wrong with brown sugar, pears, and rum?  You can’t.  It is fantastic on all sorts of things, including a spoon.

I made grilled sandwiches with roasted turkey, brie, and the pear sauce.  I pulled the pears out of the sauce with a fork before layering them on the sandwiches so that I did not have a complete mess.  A good amount of the sauce clings to the pears but you could also drizzle a little extra over the top if you are feeling... saucy.

So good.

My mom served the sauce on ice cream.  She poured the warm pear sauce over good vanilla ice cream and topped the whole thing off with a few salted pecans.  Yep, that works too.

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Raisin Bran Muffins

Perfect Pairing: Spring loaded ice cream scoop

A few years ago my parents started talking about moving to the lake full time.  If I’m being totally honest, I didn’t think it would happen for years.  Then on a walk in the fall of 2010 my mom happened upon “the perfect lot for a house”.  Things really started moving after that. 

My parents sold our family home last summer.  They built that house in 1989.  It was very bittersweet to say goodbye to my childhood home, but I am thrilled that my parents are living at the lake full time.   I always say it is my favorite place on earth, so I am happy to have a bed there! 

Even though the original lake house is just a mile down the road/coast (can you call it a coast on a lake?), I was sad to say goodbye to it.  We had so, so, so many good memories there.  When my parents bought it 15 years ago it was not exactly a pretty sight.  The entire outside of the house (including lots of decking) was painted an awful rust color.  The bathroom doors in the master bedroom were saloon doors.  You know what I mean, the half doors that are on old timey western movies?  Um, who in their right mind puts saloon doors on a bathroom?  Especially when the bedroom opens out onto the deck?!

We didn’t care about the saloon doors or rust colored paint.  My mom said to my dad, “We won’t have to change a thing!  We’ll just move in and have fun!”   Ha, famous last words!  Through many renovation projects (and a lot of hard work) they turned it into a beautiful home.  We all feel very fortunate that the new owners seem to love it as much as we did.  I am excited to see them make new memories in that house.  I just feel better knowing it will be loved.

We not only made a lot of great memories in this house, we made a lot of really, really good food.  We even started having chef challenges there.  If you ask any regular houseguest what food reminds them of the lake house, I think they would all say raisin bran muffins.  My mom has been making these muffins since there was a saloon door on the master bathroom.  They are, without a doubt, my favorite muffins. 

The recipe calls for an entire box of raisin bran cereal, so it makes a large quantity, probably about 50 to 60 muffins. The beauty of this recipe is that the batter just gets better with time!  You can keep it for up to eight weeks in the refrigerator.  Just scoop out the number of muffins you need, and bake them up.  We found that a spring loaded ice cream scoop is the perfect tool.  This is our go-to breakfast at the lake, whether we are feeding 2 or 20.  Mom always has a batch ready to go in the fridge.

So even though there will be no more raisin bran muffins made at the saloon door lake house, there will definitely be countless batches made at the new address! 

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Sweet Potato and Sausage Breakfast Hash

Perfect Pairing:  Eggs

I hope you all had a wonderful Memorial Day weekend!  I was lucky enough to spend it with loved ones.  Unfortunately, there was a lot, and I mean a lot, of rain throughout the weekend.  We definitely made the most of it and still had a great time.  It is all about the company!

There are so many good things about this recipe including sweet potatoes, sausage, caramelized onions, it is made ahead of time, and is versatile.  I figured out the versatile thing firsthand. 

The hash component is made the night before and stored in the refrigerator overnight, so it lends itself to quick prep in the morning.  I made this when I was home for Easter and the plan was to cook it for breakfast in a 9x13 baking dish in the oven.  When I woke up that morning I realized the ceiling fan had stopped, the clock was dark, and the house was very quiet.  The power was out and we did not know when it was coming back on.  Fortunately, my parents had already made coffee!

We moved to plan B and cooked the hash in a pan on the grill.  It was a happy accident because I loved the crispiness and grill flavor. 

 

The hash would be great as a breakfast/brunch side dish (actually, it would be good at any time of the day) but it is made into a complete meal by cracking eggs on top. 

I can’t say enough about this meal.  It was so good.  The combination of spicy sausage, sweet caramelized onions and sweet potatoes, and a slightly runny egg was divine.  I can’t wait to make this again! 

We only used a portion of the recipe in the skillet since it makes a large batch.  The leftovers were fabulous.  For the leftovers we cooked the hash and eggs in the oven in individual ramekins. 

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Red Curry Chicken Noodle Soup and a little bit about the Chicago Bears

Perfect Pairing:  Garbage disposal cleanup          

 

Chicago was at its finest this weekend!  The weather was absolutely gorgeous, and I think that puts everyone in a fabulous mood.  I had a great weekend with friends and family.  On Saturday I made my annual trip to Gethsemane, an extraordinary nursery that spans an entire block.  I have written about my garden woes in the past.  I am determined to make things grow this summer.  We took home our fair share of flowers and herbs!

Saturday night I was lucky enough to attend my 4th Chicago Bears Care Gala at Soldier Field.  This was the 18th year, and they have earned over $10 million towards cancer research.  The gala is always fantastic.   This year was certainly no exception!  Everything including the food, entertainment, and auction is flawless.  Getting solo access to the field is pretty amazing too.

 

I was lucky enough to go on a private tour of the locker rooms with some of the players.  Here are some of the highlights!

Entering hallowed ground....

Martellus Bennett was kind enough to act as our unofficial tour guide.  He was great!  He definitely had everyone laughing.

I don't think I look like a natural in these things.

I can always count on my mom to promote my cooking blog.  When Martellus talked about cooking, my mom was all over it.  He was kind enough to act interested and even asked me to email him the site!  Just another one of the highlights of my night!

I think it is safe to say we all geeked out over meeting Brandon Marshall!

I even walked away with some game gloves! 

Obviously, it was a pretty special night and I feel so honored to be a part of it.  

Anyway, back to the soup!  About a year ago I wrote about this Thai Chicken Noodle Soup. 

 

My original plan was to make that soup again but it evolved into this Red Curry Chicken Noodle Soup.  They are very similar, except this version does not use coconut milk, so it is a bit lighter.  It would be a great soup for summer.  It is spicy and full of bright flavors.

You will have a few juiced limes after making the soup, so toss them in the garbage disposal to clean it a bit.  I think this is a pretty common trick but I am always surprised at how much it freshens it up. 

The perfect pairing from the coconut version works here as well.  Use tongs to pick up the noodles after they have cooked and snip with kitchen shears to make the soup easier to eat. 

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Tuna Hummus Melts

Perfect Pairing: Sabra hummus

My typical Saturday morning ritual is to clean my place with the Food Network on in the background.  If I glance up and see something interesting I will shut off the vacuum and tune in.  On one such morning I saw my favorite cook, Barefoot Contessa, make a tuna salad sandwich and she served it over a layer of homemade hummus.  Brilliant!  I loved that idea.  Of course, she made her own hummus and the tuna salad still had full fat mayonnaise in it, but it gave me a great idea.  Why not substitute hummus for mayonnaise in the salad?  Even though hummus still has some fat from the tahini it is a much healthier option. 

I made Tuna Hummus Melts for a small get together at my house and I really liked them.  You truly don’t miss the mayonnaise.  I used rye bread, a few slices of tomato, and havarti dill cheese melted on top.  My favorite brand of hummus is Sabra.  The classic variety was perfect in this recipe but you could use one of the flavored versions for an added kick.

There was quite a bit of leftover tuna after the party so I made my own version of tuna noodle casserole.  I made a basic white sauce, stirred in some cheese, cooked pasta, the leftover tuna, and frozen peas.  Voila!  It was quite tasty.  Just something to keep in mind if you have some leftovers!

 

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