I’m always coming up with new ways to do beets. These Beets are really hard to photo for me but I tried my best.  I sort of braised the beets in a sweet and sour solution with onion, garlic and cinnamon. The beets got flavorful but not too much so I used that flavorful liquid to brine the raisins. Then I made the spiced walnuts and an earthy vinaigrette. Added a little mint and where’re done. Please remember to save at least 1/3 cup of the beet braising liquid to pickle the raisins.  They came out really great and taste better than the majority of beets I eat out. Don’t use yellow beets for this recipe. Yellow beets only come out nice on the stove top.

Ingredients for about 8 servings

2 lbs beets – (just the beet) (about 6 beets)

1 cup sugar

1 cup red wine vinegar

2 cups water

1 Tablespoon course sea salt

1 large sweet onion – cut in 8 slices

3 garlic cloves

1 cinnamon stick – break in three pieces

1/2 medium lemon – just the juice for vinaigrette

2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil – for vinaigrette

1 teaspoon cumin – for vinaigrette

1 teaspoon paprika – for vinaigrette

1/2 teaspoon course sea salt – for vinaigrette

1/4 cup golden raisins

1/3 cup of hot beet braising liquid  – (to pickle the raisins)

1 cup walnuts – (for spiced walnuts)

2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil – (for spiced walnuts)

2 Tablespoons sugar – (for spiced walnuts)

1 teaspoon Aleppo pepper – (for spiced walnuts)

1/4 teaspoon cumin – (for spiced walnuts)

1/4 teaspoon course sea salt – (for spiced walnuts)

1/4 cup mint leave – loose – and lightly torn

Directions

Set oven to 350 degrees F.

In a large pan add the beets (well scrubbed and clean), a sliced onion infant of and behind each beet. Garlic and one third of cinnamon stick in three different parts of pan.

Add sugar, vinegar, water, 1 T sea salt.

Cover pan very well and leave in the oven till beets are fork tender. Around two hours. (during this time you should be preparing the walnuts…or if not you need to turn the oven back on for when you do the walnuts.

Let the beets cool on the counter but remove about a third of a cup of the hot beet liquid to pickle the raisins.

In a small bowl whip up the vinaigrette by adding lemon juice, cumin, salt, paprika and oil together and set to the side.

Now make the Spiced Walnuts.

In a small bowl add the walnuts and to that add 2 T olive oil, sugar, Aleppo pepper, 1/4 teaspoon cumin and 1/4 teaspoon sea salt. Spread them out evenly on a baking sheet. They only need ten minutes in a 350 degree F oven. Remove after ten minutes and set to the side.

Now you have to put it all together.

By now the beets are cool enough to handle. you either peel the skin off or use a vegetable peeler. Cut them up in whatever shape you like.

Pour the vinaigrette, drained raisins, and mint leaves over the beets. Carefully stir. WAIT to add nuts to serve so they don’t get soggy. It’s not a lot of vinaigrette for all these beets but it’s enough to be flavorful.

These beets are interesting, flavorful and do differ from others I’ve tried….

 

 

 

 

I was paging threw a Food Magazine and saw this recipe for Cucumber Cabbage Slaw. I thought this recipe was made for me because I happened to have a few cucumbers and cabbage lying around that I had to use. I did the recipe as written…Wow it sucked…..It came out tasting worst than I imagined. I don’t think too many people would eat this salad…..It is so boring one note and bland. This salad is pretty much tasteless. So I had to fix up my bowl of Cucumber Cabbage Slaw. I added SEVEN ingredients and changed the proportions of the seasonings.

Ingredients for about 8 servings

1/2 head of cabbage – shredded thin

2 cucumbers – peeled – seeds scraped out and sliced up

2 carrots – grated

1/4 cup scallions – sliced thin

1 cup small sweet tomatoes – either half or quarter depending on size

1 red bell pepper – chopped

1/4 cup fresh cilantro – chopped

1/4 cup fresh mint leaves – chopped

1/4 cup mayonnaise

1/4 cup yogurt (or sour cream)

2 Tablespoons dijon mustard

3 Tablespoons white wine vinegar

1 Tablespoon sugar

1 teaspoon hot sauce

1 lime (just the fresh squeezed juice)

1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1 teaspoon course sea salt

1/2 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper

Directions

In a large bowl add the cabbage, cucumbers, carrots, scallions, tomatoes, bell pepper, cilantro and mint. Set the bowl to the side while you make the dressing.

In a small bowl combine remaining ingredients. Pour dressing over the slaw and mix well.

Taste and adjust salt and pepper if necessary.

 

 

 

 

 

I came across these delicious Crescendo Peppers. They are thin skinned, thin walled and are super sweet peppers with such great flavor that are almost seed free. The peppers I got are 2-4 times bigger than baby bells. You can use any pepper you like but you must understand that portions and cooking times will differ. Baby bells that are on the large side would be my second choice. I stuffed the peppers with zucchini, corn, peas, tomatoes, a few other things and kept the seasonings delicious but somewhat neutral so these peppers can be served with any dinner you prepare. I also did something very unusual. Instead of adding meat or cheese to hold things together I just added egg. With all the moisture from all the vegetables the little bit of egg that’s in there turns sort of custardy to hold the vegetables together. The peppers are very light and you can embellish them with a little bit of your favorite cheese and fresh herb to match your dinner. This is yet another very original recipe my me.

Ingredients for about 4 servings

8 crescendo peppers – preferred – (or any pepper you like but I recommend the pepper to be thin walled)

2 small zucchini – spiralized (make the zucchini into zoodles…or noodle shaped)

1/2 cup small sweet tomatoes – either half or quarter depending on size

1/2 cup corn kernels – preferable sweet that you cooked yourself

1/2 cup peas

1/2 cup scallions – sliced thin

1 carrot – skin removed and shredded

2 eggs – lightly beaten

1 Tablespoon dijon mustard

2 Tablespoons celery leaves – (I used from the center) – chopped

2 garlic cloves grated

1 teaspoon ground black pepper

2 teaspoons course sea salt

1/4 teaspoon dried thyme

2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

Directions

Set oven to 350 degrees F.

In a large bowl add the zucchini, tomatoes, corn, peas, scallions, carrot, celery leaves, garlic, black pepper, sea salt, thyme. Mix well.

In a small bowl add the beaten eggs and dijon mustard. Mix well.

Pour the egg mixture into the large bowl with vegetables. This mixture will get runny.

Mix well.

Make a slit in each pepper and pull out a core and seeds if there is any.

Stuff them the best you can with your fingers pushing in the mixture into the pepper. Add a little liquid because that is where the flavory custard is.

Drizzle this lightly with the olive oil.

Place in the oven till done.

In my oven with these particular pepper it took 45 minutes.

Depending on your tolerance for seasoning you might want to hit them with a small amount of fresh crushed sea salt and fresh ground black pepper.

They are ready to serve.

You do have the option to embellish the peppers further with a small amount of of fresh herb and a small amount of cheese. You can go cilantro-goat cheese, parsley-feta, cilantro-Mexican Cheese, Feta & Dill and a multitude of Italian Cheeses with basil or oregano.

DELICIOUS!

 

 

 

 

 

 

These Asian Inspired Rice Potato Patties are made from leftover Take Out Asian Food. I found I had two cups extra rice leftover so I thought I’d repurpose the rice and this is what I came up with this time. The Patties came out tasty and very flavorful. I don’t think they need a dipping sauce but if you want to make one a little mayo mixed with a little bit sriracha would be fine. I also added a little bit of gochujang, splash of black vinegar and a splash of shaohsing. This recipe makes 8 patties. so it makes 4-8 servings depending on how many patties you want to eat.

Ingredients for about 8 servings

2 cups white rice – I used leftover Asian Take Out Rice

1 egg – slightly beaten

2 Tablespoons seasoned rice wine vinegar

1 Tablespoon sugar

1 Tablespoon soy sauce

2 garlic cloves – grated

9 oz baked potato – skin removed

1/2 in fresh ginger – finely grated

1 teaspoon sesame oil

1/4 cup scallions – thinly sliced

1 teaspoon – fresh cilantro – chopped

4 sea salt nori sheets – about 3inch by 2 inch each – crumbled – mine weighed 0 anything on my scale

1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

1/4 teaspoon ground white pepper

1 dried asian chili pod – crumbled – just the contents, not the pod or use a pinch of crushed red pepper

fresh ground sea salt to taste

fresh ground black pepper to taste

1 cup whole wheat panko

2 teaspoons sesame seeds – I used 1/2 white and 1/2 black

non stick cooking spray

Directions

Set oven to 350 degrees F and lightly spray baking sheet(s) with non stick spray.

In a large bowl add the rice, egg, seasoned rice wine vinegar, sugar, soy sauce, garlic, potatoes (mash in the potatoes now), fresh ginger, sesame oil, scallions, cilantro, nori, ground ginger, white pepper, chili pod contents. Mix well and add fresh ground sea salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste.

Divide mixture into 8 patties by scoring into quarters and cutting each quarter in half.

In a medium sized bowl mix together the panko with sesame seeds and add salt and pepper to taste.

Pat each patty into the panko mixture and after coated set on sprayed baking sheet(s).

Put patties in the oven for thirty minutes. Flip the patties over and put them back in the over for about 15 minutes more.

Ready to serve!

Tasty!

 

Sprouts had really great corn on sale last week. Eight ears for $1.00 so yesterday I cooked up my eight ears and thought I’d make some sort of corn fritter with some of the corn. I wanted to really go with the corn flavor so I used masa corn flour. Masa is corn flour that is cooked with alkaline, it’s also known as a nixtamalzation process. It’s that yummy taste that makes corn bread taste different from corn tortillas. I wanted to spike the fritters with pepper and my freezer is still well stocked with Fire Roasted Hatch Chile Peppers so that was an obvious choice for me but you can use whatever pepper you like. These fritters came out very crispy with sweet pops of corn, corn flavors and they are spiked with Fired Roasted Hatch Chile Taste.

Ingredients for about 6 servings

2 cups corn kernels

1/2 cup masa flour (treated corn flour with that yummy taste that makes tacos and nachos taste different than corn muffins)

1/2 cup flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

2 Tablespoons unsalted butter – melted

1 hatch chile pepper – fire roasted with stem and seeds removed – hard skin rubbed off and well chopped

1/4 cup scallions – sliced thin

1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

pinch ground white pepper

1/2 teaspoon course sea salt

1/4 teaspoon ground annatto

1 teaspoon sugar

fresh ground sea salt to taste for finishing

fresh ground black pepper for finishing

oil for frying – I used canola

Directions

Fill a fry pan with a good amount of oil that looks like this on slightly over medium heat. You want the oil around 350 degrees F.

You want the oil to look like this when you fry. If your oil is too low the fritter will fall apart but when it’s just right the fritters quickly brown on the bottom and sides and when you see the bubbles on the top of the fritter then you turn them over.

When the fritters are brown on both sides…try to shake off the oil and let them drain on a stack of paper towels. Hit the fritters with fresh crushed sea salt and fresh ground black pepper.

I think a little bit of fresh cilantro, sliced scallions and sour cream with go well with these South West Style Fritters.

Tasty! Not too Spicy with a nice corn taste and a nice crunch.

 

 

I got this tiny Dash Grill Waffle Maker. It is only 5 inches BIG and makes one waffle at a time. Of course it’s not the best waffle maker out there and it’s hard to clean but I don’t eat many waffles so it suits my needs. The other upside to it that it’s light and tiny and takes up almost no room. As for the recipe the timing and amounts of batter will differ for all the different waffle makers out there but this is a solid waffle recipe that is falafel flavored. I would suggest to dress the waffle like you would dress a falafel stuffed pita. Middle Eastern Style Cubed Cucumber,Tomato, Parsley Salad in Lemon or Citrus Vinaigrette  and Tahini Dressing that’s fun to make. You don’t need a recipe for Tahini Dressing. It’s just tahini, lemon juice and a pinch of cumin and then you slowly add water till it looks like mayonnaise. This waffle has a perfect waffle texture but taste like a falafel. In my Dash Waffle Grill I made 11 waffles with this recipe.

Ingredients for about 11 servings.

1/2 cup flour

1/2 cup chick pea flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 egg – lightly beaten

2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1 cup fat free milk

1/2 teaspoon cumin

1 teaspoon coriander

2 garlic cloves grated

2 Tablespoons parsley – chopped

2 Tablespoons cilantro – chopped

1/4 cup scallions – sliced thin

1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

1/4 teaspoon ground sea salt

non stick spray

Directions

Spray waffle grill lightly with non stick spray and let it warm up. Most waffle irons light up when they are hot. When your waffle iron is hot add batter….If you have a Dash Mini Waffle Grill you add about a Tablespoon of batter close lid and the waffle is ready in Three Minutes so set a timer for three minutes. For all other waffle irons just follow directions for a waffle batter and you should do ok.

 

Here’s ten of the eleven waffles this recipe made.

Breakfast just turned a little more fun with Waffle Falafels!

 

Harrisa is a Tunisian Hot Pepper Paste made from roasted bell peppers, hot peppers, garlic, a few spices and herbs. I was thinking the flavors in Harissa would work great with avocado and they do. I mixed everything up with a fork and left some texture because that is my preference. You can think of this avocado condiment as a sort of a Tunisian Inspired Guacamole. This Avocado Harissa is good with chips, pita bread, toast, eggs, grilled meat and sandwiches. If you want to embellish it you can add a little mild creamy feta (hard to find) or goat cheese and sweet tiny tomatoes is also tasty with it.

Ingredients for about 8 servings

1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

1 teaspoon caraway seeds

3 garlic cloves – ground to paste

1 hot pepper – I used one fried serrano pepper – chopped fine (you might want more heat..more pepper)

1 lemon – just the fresh squeezed juice

2 Tablespoons white vinegar

1 lb avocado

1/4 cup scallions – sliced thin

2 Tablespoons fresh cilantro – well chopped

fresh ground sea salt to taste

fresh ground black pepper to taste

Directions

In a medium mixing bowl add cumin, caraway, garlic, hot pepper, lemon juice, vinegar and mix well.

Cut the avocados, remove pit and scape out the flesh into the bowl.Break the avocado down to your preference.

Add the scallions and cilantro.

Add fresh ground sea salt and pepper to taste.

SERVE!

Something original and different that most people don’t know they’d like!

 

 

This dish is a much lighter style of a rich bean dish that is one of the few side dishes I make with chicken fat. These Vegetarian Italian Style Beans don’t contain any added fat, meat or cheese. I don’t even bother to sauté the vegetables because I chop them small and they give all their flavor up to the beans that way. This dish is flavorful and easy to make. I cooked dried lima beans for this recipe but used two cans of reduced sodium beans so I’d have three different textures of beans in this dish. Freshly dried beans will always come out better than canned  beans but I’ve found that the beans sold at the stores near me aren’t always so fresh. An old bean will never get soft…so all the effort goes to waste sometimes. It’s ok to purchase reduced sodium canned beans every so often. They aren’t as sweet and creamy as a really good fresh cooked dried bean but if you rinse them really well they come out like quick soaked method beans. Usually I like to use the fresh dried beans I come across come from the local Farmer’s Markets but those darn tasty local beans usually have the most rocks mixed in them too. Today I also used slow cooked and reduced tomatoes I had in my freezer. This dish come out like a thick rich soup but is only thickened from tomato paste and the beans. Day one I thought I might have been heavy handed with the sage but after a day it was perfect. You can also season less and add more the next day if you prefer.

This recipe makes about 10 servings

1 lb dried lima beans – inspected and rinsed well. Soaked overnight in three times as much water as beans (WATER ONLY….)

15 oz can of reduced sodium garbanzo beans – drained and rinsed three times

15 oz can of reduced sodium white beans – drained and rinsed three times

2 celery ribs – chopped well

1 large carrot – peeled and chopped well

1/4 large sweet onion – chopped well

2 garlic cloves – fine hopped

4 hot/sweet jarred cherry peppers – fine chopped

2 teaspoons course sea salt

3 Tablespoons tomato paste

6oz slow roasted tomatoes – rough chopped

4 springs fresh thyme – I’m guesstimating here my thyme was shaped with lots of tiny sprigs

2 bay leaves

1 teaspoon fresh sage – well chopped

1 teaspoon dried oregano

2 teaspoons dried basil

big pinch dried crushed red peppers

i good sized pinch ground white pepper

fresh ground sea salt to taste

fresh ground black pepper to taste

optional – maybe up to a Tablespoon sugar. Taste and decide. Depends on your tomatoes.

optional – maybe 1 garlic clove more – taste and decide if you want to add one shredded garlic clove. Taste and adjust any seasonings necessary.

Directions.

Rinse the lima beans and put them in a big pot. Cover the beans with water (WATER ONLY) that is an inch higher than the beans. Bring to boil and then reduce to simmer. Let the pot simmer for an hour loosely covered.

After an hour everything remaining except for the to taste sugar, salt, pepper and optional extra garlic goes into the pot.

Let the pot simmer another hour and stir occasionally.

After an hour decide on the sugar, fresh ground salt, pepper and maybe another garlic clove to taste. At this point the seasoning should be about correct.

It’s good now but I think it’s better the best day.

Serve as is or with grilled meat , meatballs a sautéed green and maybe grated cheese and a little extra virgin olive oil.

Most people will enjoy this.

 

 

 

This recipe is MAYONNAISE FREE. You make fresh mustard with avocado and then simply mash in your egg yolks. You do need a spice grinder to prepare the avocado mustard. For best results prepare the Avocado Mustard the day before. This recipe makes 3-4 times more mustard than you need. Use the extra mustard to spread on sandwiches.

Ingredients for about 6 servings

4 Tablespoons dark mustard seeds

2 Tablespoons yellow mustard seeds

1 allspice berry

6 juniper berries

1/4 cup sherry

1/3 cup sherry vinegar

2 Tablespoons fresh garlic cloves – ground to paste (2 Tablespoons of garlic paste…this is lots of garlic)

1/4 teaspoon turmeric

sea salt to taste (about 10 turns from a Costco disposable)

tellicherry black pepper to taste (about 15 turns from a Costco disposable)

1 cup of whipped avocado

8 large eggs – boiled – peeled – cut either traditional (across long ways) or threw the middle with yolks removed in a small bowl (2 egg white you won’t use just snack on them or toss them in a salad for lunch….if you like over stuffed eggs you need 10 or more eggs for 6 servings)

1/4 cup avocado mustard

splash cayenne hot sauce – preferably Franks Red Hot

splash Worcestershire sauce

optional up to a 1 Tablespoon water or 1 Tablespoon (mayonnaise I won’t tell) if you think it looks dry***I do note that it gets slightly moister as it sits

fresh ground sea salt to lightly season egg whites

fresh ground black pepper to lightly season egg whites

2 pinches of Piment d’ Espelette to lightly season egg white or just use your favorite kind of paprika, any red fruity dried pepper or for extra spicy cayenne

about three inner celery leaves – well chopped

Directions

You need to grind up the mustard seeds, allspice and juniper berries. Add the spices to a medium mixing bowl. To the bowl add sherry, vinegar, garlic, turmeric, avocado and one Tablespoon water and mix well. Add fresh ground salt and pepper to taste. Wrap and refrigerate over night.

To the small bowl of egg yolks add 1/4 cup of Spicy avocado mustard, splash hot sauce and a splash of Worcestershire. Mix well. If it looks too tight add up to a Tablespoon of water…..but I note mixture will turn more moist as it sits. Be careful about that because you don’t want runny eggs either.  If don’t need it to be mayonnaise free you can add a Tablespoon of mayonnaise.

Lightly season both sides of egg whites.

Either spoon in filling or use a pastry bag.

Insert pastry tip. Fold over ends of bag and fill.

Twist to hold in filling. Apply pressure and apply in a circular motion. Some celery leaves as a garnish is perfect for these eggs.

Tasty and different.