Lemony Zest :: Kim Lewandowski

Posts Tagged ‘Veggies’

This is one of my favorite potato salads to make – it’s delicious and good for you, and one of the main ingredients came from our own garden: the peas.

Ever since we started a vegetable garden many years ago, we’ve been growing peas. Dan especially likes them – in fact, he’ll eat them raw right out of the garden! But this year, they were especially prolific, so he got some, I got some, and there’s lots more in the freezer for later We planted both snow peas and sugar snap peas this year, and they both did great.

Peas in the garden

So to go along with a grilled dinner, I made this potato salad with peas and roasted red peppers, a take on this recipe from Rachael Ray. I changed the dressing for this one, and it was excellent

Potato Salad with Peas and Peppers

2 1/2 pounds white thin skin potatoes, peeled and diced
2 tablespoons red-wine vinegar

1/2 cup reduced-fat mayonnaise
1 tsp. Dijon mustard
1/2 cup chopped celery
2 tbsp. snipped chives
1/4 cup chopped parsley, plus 2 tbsp.
Salt and pepper

1 (6-ounce) jar, roasted red peppers, drained and chopped
1 cup frozen sweet peas

Put potatoes into the cold water and bring to a boil, sprinkle with 2 tsp. salt, and boil for 10-12 minutes or until tender; drain. Meanwhile, in a small bowl, mix together mayonnaise, celery, herbs, and salt and pepper to taste. Set aside.

Put drained potatoes into a large bowl and sprinkle with vinegar. Allow to cool for a few minutes, then carefully mix in the dressing. Add the peppers and peas and mix, being careful not to break up potatoes. Chill until ready to serve; garnish with reserved parsley.

This is my contribution to Grow Your Own, the food blogging event that celebrates growing and eating our own food. It was created by Andrea of Andrea’s Recipes and is hosted this month by Zora of gardenopolis.

Earlier this week, we harvested 1.5 pounds of green beans from the garden – they’re gorgeous! And there are more out there still!

We blanched them, shocked them with cold water, and froze them for later yummy dishes. Can’t wait to eat these lovely beans.

I really really love this recipe. I am a vinegar fiend, for one thing, so I love the vinaigrette, and it’s healthy – couscous, veggies and herbs – it uses grilled veggies, which are heavenly, and it makes use of lots of fresh herbs from my garden. Later in the summer, when I have my own peppers, I’ll be using those, too. This goes great with any grilled meal, and can be served warm or at room temp.

Couscous with Grilled Vegetables and Champagne Vinaigrette

Couscous
1/2 cup couscous
1 cup chicken broth
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
1 onion, peeled and sliced crosswise into 1/2-inch thick slices
1 red bell pepper, cored, seeded and quartered
1 yellow bell pepper, cored, seeded and quartered
1 green bell pepper, cored, seeded and quartered

Vinaigrette
1/4 cup champagne vinegar
1 1/2 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil (EVOO)
1 tbsp. fresh thyme, minced
2 tbsp. fresh parsley, minced
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. ground black pepper

Chop one onion slice. Heat 1 tbsp. EVOO in a saucepan and saute the chopped onion and minced garlic for a few minutes. Add chicken broth and bring to a boil. Add couscous, stir, and turn off heat. Let sit till broth is absorbed and couscous is tender.

Insert toothpicks sideways into remaining onion slices, to hold them together on the grill. Toss onions and peppers with 2 tbsp. EVOO, salt and pepper. Grill 8-10 minutes or until tender. Dice into 1/4-inch pieces.

In a small bowl, whisk together vinegar, thyme, half the parsley, salt and pepper. Whisking constantly, drizzle olive oil slowly into the bowl. Combine grilled vegetables with couscous, drizzle with dressing and toss to mix thoroughly. Sprinkle with remaining parsley.

As I said earlier, Dan wants to grow as much from seed this year as we can. We had friends over for dinner a few weeks ago, and I served roasted Brussels sprouts as a side dish. Dan thought he hated Brussels sprouts, but liked them roasted, so we’re going to try growing some this year.

I’ve never seen Brussels sprouts displayed like this before. This was in the Farm Fresh Market in Ghent a few days ago.

Check it out – they grow on a big stalk, like bananas. I wonder what the entire plant looks like? Must Google…

Well, here ya go – info on how to grow them, along with a photo of the complete plant. We bought seeds to start these this year, so we’ll see how it goes.

Brussels sprouts are one of those things that bow to the magic of roasting. A little olive oil, some salt and pepper, maybe a bit of herb, 400 degrees in the oven and some time, and you have some really good eats.

Geeze, how did another week go by already? I guess that’s what happens when you’re working long hours. It’s all good, though.

So, last weekend we had Bill and Barbara over for dinner before we all went to see “The House of Blue Leaves” at the Little Theater of Norfolk. I made roasted duck breast with cherry chutney (from the new President’s Inaugural Luncheon menu) and roasted vegetables, along with twice-baked potatoes. For an appetizer before dinner, I made Warm Artichoke Dip with Scallions and Jalapeño, from the “Great Party Dips” cookbook I won a couple of weeks ago, from Andrea’s Recipes. Thanks again, Andrea

We all enjoyed the dip, although I must say, I think combining this recipe with the Ya Ya Sisterhood artichoke dip recipe I made last year would yield even more tasty results. The jalapeño added a nice kick we really liked.

Unfortunately, we didn’t like the play quite so much. It was really strange; at intermission, I said I wouldn’t be unhappy if we left, but the others wanted to stay and see if it got better. It didn’t, and it had a really weird ending. It was billed as a farce, but according to Wikipedia, it’s a black comedy. Well, that makes more sense. Not recommended.

OTOH, if you like artichoke dip, try this one. As I said, it’s not my favorite rendition of this classic, but it might suit your taste buds better.

Warm Artichoke Dip with Scallions and Jalapeño

2 scallions, coarsely chopped (I used green onions from the garden)
1 1/2 tsp. pickled jalapeño, coarsely chopped
1 garlic clove, cut into 2-3 pieces
Dash of salt
4 oz. cream cheese, room temperature, cut into several pieces
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1/2 tsp. fresh lemon juice
Dash of cayenne pepper
1 14-oz. can artichoke hearts, drained

Preheat the oven to 400*. In a food processor, combine the scallions, jalapeno, garlic and salt. Pulse until the scallions are finely chopped.

Add the cream cheese, all but 1 tbsp. Parmesan cheese, mayonnaise, lemon juice and cayenne. Puree until smooth. Add the artichokes and pulse until coarsely chopped.

Scrape the mixture into a 2-cup gratin or other shallow ovenproof baking dish. Sprinkle the reserved Parmesan cheese over the top. (At this point, thd dip can be covered with plastic wrap and refrigerated for up to 24 hours before baking.)

Shortly before serving, bake for about 20 minutes, until the dip is slightly browned on top and bubbly hot. Let cool slightly before serving.

I served this with toasted baguette slices. Crisp raw veggies, baked pita chips or crackers would also make good dippers.

This is my entry in “Grow Your Own,” the twice-monthly food blogging event that celebrates growing our own food. It was started by Andrea of Andrea’s Recipes.