Tuna Cucumber and Bean Salad

Tuna cucumber and Bean salad is in olive oil, balsamic vinegar and lemon juice. I used a drained $2.00 pouch of wild light tuna instead of wasting $24.00 on fresh tuna that I’d rather eat as an entree. Most people will like the salad. It has a lot of the usual flavors of an Italian style salad but with a few surprises of sweet tangerines and raisins. I think the salad actually taste better if you let it sit a day because the raisins soak up the dressing and get interesting. It’s a pretty easy salad to prepare, it’s healthy and it cost very little to put together.

Ingredients for 4 servings

6.4 oz chunk light tuna drained

1 cucumber diced

1 16oz can large white beans (either butter or gigante) – rinsed well three times

1 celery rib – diced

1/4 large sweet onion – diced

9 katamata olives – cut in quarters

1 XL lemon – zest and juice

1 tangerine – peeled – cut sideways in four slices and separate each quartered segment

2 garlic cloves ground to paste

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

1/4 cup balsamic

1/4 cup raisins (I prefer the jumbo fancy mix)

1 Tablespoon capers

1 teaspoon anis seeds

1/4 cup parsley – chopped

fresh ground sea salt – to taste

fresh ground black pepper – to taste

Directions

In a big bowl combine the tuna, cucumber, beans, celery, onion, olives, zest, tangerine, raisins and capers. Mix gently.

In a small bowl whisk the remaining Ingredients.

Add salt and pepper to taste.

Tuna Cucumber and Bean Salad

Enjoy! Serve with a small chunk of crusty bread.

The Forking Truth

Rosemary Chicken Meatballs

Here’s something just a little different. Rosemary goes really well with chicken so I made rosemary flavored meatballs. They came out juicy and flavorful. I think most people will like them.

Ingredients for about 5 servings

1 lb ground chicken

2 XL eggs – slightly beaten

1 cup whole wheat panko bread crumbs

1/4 cup sweet onion – chopped fine

2 garlic cloves – ground to paste

1 carrot – grated fine

1/2 cup chicken stock

2 Tablespoons fresh rosemary – chopped fine

2 Tablespoons fresh parsley – chopped fine

1/2 teaspoon dried oregano

1/2 teaspoon dried basil

1/4 teaspoon granulated garlic

pinch crushed red pepper

1 Tablespoon sea salt

1 teaspoon black pepper

Non stick cooking spray – (or oil if you prefer)

Directions

Set oven to 350 degrees F

Spray or oil your baking sheet(s)

In a large mixing bowl add everything except the ground chicken. Mix well. Now add chicken and mix well again.

Pinch off a small marble size piece and zap in the microwave in paper towels for about 10 seconds or pop in the oven for about 5 minutes in some oiled aluminum foil and test for seasoning and adjust if you care too. (The taste will be close from the microwave but not exact).

Scoop out balls with a small scooper on to your sprayed baking sheet(s). I made 28 balls.

Cook till done on middle rack. In my oven the meatballs were ready in 15 minutes.

Chicken Rosemary Meatballs

Forking Tasty!

The Forking Truth

Bread and Butter Pickles

These pickles come out light but with a really yummy flavor. They are not too sweet or too salty. I think everyone will enjoy them. It’s usually best to use pickling cucumbers but I used seedless because that’s what I had. Sometimes I substitute yellow squash for cucumbers and sometimes the yellow squash taste better as a pickle than the cucumber. The onions came out tasty and delicious too. You might enjoy them in a sandwich. Let these pickles sit about three days for the best flavors.

Ingredients for about 15 servings

2 1/2 lbs cucumbers cut in thick coin shapes

1/2 sweet onion – quartered and cut in slices

3/4 oz fresh dill

1 cup white vinegar

3 cups water

1/2 cup dark brown sugar

1 cup white sugar

8 garlic cloves – smashed

2 teaspoons turmeric

1 1/2 teaspoon mustard seed

1/2 teaspoon celery seed

2 Tablespoons kosher salt

1 Tablespoon white peppercorns

Directions

In sterilized containers or jars add the cucumber, onions and dill.

Add remaining ingredients to a sauce pot on near to high heat and bring to a boil. Let it medium boil (a tad more than a simmer) for about five minutes. Pour the liquid over the cucumbers and let it sit on the counter till it cools a little. Refrigerate when it’s around room temperature. It’s not necessary to can because they will stay good for several months.

Bread and Butter Pickles

Enjoy!

The Forking Truth

Levant Inspired Butternut Squash, Chickpeas and Israeli Couscous

I had a butternut squash and Israeli Couscous to use up and this is what I came up with. I have to say it really did come out Forking Amazing! I did use a bunch of ingredients that most people don’t use or have such as zahtar, Aleppo pepper, sumac and urfa pepper. The only ingredient that’s hard to find here is urfa pepper (one of my new favorites). The urfa pepper is more intense than Aleppo and a Spanish pepper called Nora. It’s really delicious. It’s fruity, raisin like,lightly smoky and mild heat. It’s worth your time and money to find the urfa pepper for your own creations because it will make anything you make delicious. The recipe is easy to prepare and is sure to be a #crowdpleaser. Sorry now that I didn’t make a bigger batch. This one is really special.

Ingredients for 4 servings

1 small butternut squash – peeled, seeds removed and cut in bite size pieces

1 15.5 oz can 50% less sodium garbanzo beans – drained and rinsed three times

5 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil (1T on garbanzo beans, 2T for butternut squash and 2T for couscous)

1/2 teaspoon urfa pepper

1 Tablespoon zahtar

1 teaspoon Aleppo pepper

1 teaspoon sesame seeds

1 teaspoon sumac

fresh ground sea salt to taste

fresh ground black pepper to taste

1 cup Israeli Couscous

1/3 medium onion – chopped

1 medium tomato – core removed – chopped

3 garlic cloves – sliced razor thin

1 1/2 cups vegetable stock

2 Tablespoons cilantro – chopped

2 Tablespoons parsley – chopped

4 oz goat cheese – crumble it

Directions

Set oven to 350 degrees F

Place the butternut squash pieces in a medium/large bowl and drizzle two tablespoons of olive oil and sprinkle the urfa pepper, and zahtar. Mix well. Place in one layer on a baking sheet(s) and sprinkle  very lightly with a little bit of fresh crushed sea salt and black pepper.

Place the garbanzo beans in a medium bowl. Add one Tablespoon olive oil and sprinkle the Aleppo pepper,seasame seeds and sumac. Mix well and place on a baking sheet in one layer. Sprinkle very lightly with a little fresh crushed sea salt and black pepper.

Place squash pan(s) on the middle rack and the garbanzo pan on the top rack in oven.

Keep the pans in the oven till the beans have a light crisp and the squash is fork tender. In my oven this took thirty minutes.

In your sauce pot on medium high heat add 2 Tablespoons of olive oil and when hot add the couscous. Fry the couscous for about five minutes. Add the onions and cook till transparent. Next add the tomato followed by the garlic. You will smell the garlic soon and then add the stock. Simmer till couscous is done. About ten minutes.

Add fresh crushed sea salt and black pepper to taste.

By now the squash and garbanzo beans are done and carefully stir them into the sauce pan. Mix in the herbs. Serve and sprinkle the cheese on last.

Everyone will FORKING Enjoy this one!

Levant Inspired Butternut Squash and Israeli Couscous

The Forking Truth

Italian Style Eggplant White Bean Dip

I had a couple of extra eggplants so I decided to make an Italian type seasoned healthy dip. I made this dip with minimal amounts of oil. I used just enough to make the dip taste good. Besides Olive oil this dip is fat free. This dip is healthy and delicious.

Ingredients for about 8 servings

2 eggplants

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

1 very large lemon or 2 regular lemons – (just the fresh squeezed juice)

15 oz can 50% less sodium white beans – drained and rinsed three times. (50% less sodium beans don’t taste as canned as regular beans)

2 garlic cloves – ground to paste

3 Calabrian chili peppers – chopped fine (or substitute a hot red jarred chili that you enjoy to taste but the Calabrian chili is recommended)

1 teaspoon fresh chopped fine rosemary

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1 teaspoon dried basil

fresh crushed black pepper to taste

3/4 teaspoon sea salt

about 1/2 Tablespoon extra virgin olive oil per portion to finish

about 1/2 teaspoon reduced balsamic vinegar per portion to finish

Directions

Set oven at 350 degrees F.

Wash the eggplants and slice them in half long ways. Place the eggplants in a baking dish. Score the eggplants on a diagonal in both directions like in the photo below.

Pour the lemon juice over the eggplants and then pour the olive oil over the eggplants. Roast until the tops are very dark brown (but not hard black) and the eggplants are squishy. (about one hour to one hour 15 minutes) like in picture below.

The eggplant then gets scraped out like the same way you do avocados, mangos and dragon fruit.

Blend up the eggplant. Add the rest of ingredients except finishing ingredients and blend. I prefer the dip slightly chunky so I don’t blend completely smooth.

Place in dish. Make well and fill with some olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Serve with vegetables and or crusty bread.

It’s delicious and healthy!

Italian Style Eggplant White Bean Dip

The Forking Truth