I love the fresh taste of salsa. Throw in a few peppers and increase the heat to your favorite level, customizing this tasty way to get some veggies in your diet. I prefer my salsa on the warm side but others in my family like a sweeter version. Here is my recipe with a few suggestions to adjust the taste to suit your taste-buds. Another big thank you to local gardeners for the fabulous tomatoes!
What you need:
Tomatoes
Garlic
Jalapeno Peppers
Onion
Cilantro
Lime
Salt (optional)
Sugar (optional)
How to put it together:
Prepare the tomatoes, washing well, removing the tops and any bad spots, then cutting into halves or quarters. Prepare your peppers. The more seeds and membrane you remove, the sweeter the pepper flavor. I tend to leave 1/2 for what I consider a medium to mild taste. Peel your garlic, using as much as you prefer. I used 2 large heads for about 15 cups of salsa. Remove the skin from onions, peel and cut into easily managed pieces.
Fill your food processor with the following proportions: nearly 3/8 full of tomatoes, 1/4 with onions, 1/4 with peppers and 1/8 with cilantro. Just grab a handful of cilantro tops, twisting the entire clump off the base stems (I discard the stems). Squeeze in the juice from half a fresh lime. Pulse these items until they reach the consistency you like - chunky to nearly liquid - and taste. You may want to add a pinch of salt or up to a tablespoon of sugar depending on how you like your salsa. Adjust the veggies to taste also. Need more heat - add more peppers or leave the membrane and seeds in more. Reduce the amount of onion you use (or omit the onion totally) to avoid some of the bitter zing they can add, or use a sweeter yellow onion.
I make up lots of this salsa when I have an abundance of tomatoes. I put a cup or so into a plastic bag, remove as much air as I can and freeze them to enjoy in my recipes, especially my 5 minute taco soup recipe where I substitute this for store-bought, for a really quick meal.
This is a really quick, last-minute bread fix as you prepare your dinner. It's taste is wonderful, enhanced by the yeasty flavor of beer which is used as the leavening agent. As for prep - it couldn't be easier or quicker! It will take more time to bake than prepare this versatile bread. You can make it as full-sized muffins but I prefer to make mini-muffins or even just drop biscuits as the baking time is a little longer than a basic biscuit.
What you need:
Bisquick Mix: 3 cups
Beer (yes, light and non-alcoholic work): 12 ounces
Sugar: 3 Tablespoons
Mix it all together and place on a sprayed (even if it's a non-stick pan!) cookie sheet or muffin tin. I used a mini-muffin tin which made 24 two-bite marvels. Put into a 375 degree oven and bake for approximately 12 minutes, or until a tester comes out clean. These muffins tend not to brown much so you need to test to determine when they are done. This is a light bread which can easily fall apart when hot. Remove from the oven and run a knife around each muffin (if using a muffin tin) to release edges and release from the pan, allowing to cool on a rack - or serve hot!
I love when friends share the bounty of their gardens. Besides tomatoes, we've been blessed with some lovely squash this summer. I wanted to figure out some new way of preparing the vegetable - one that would work with my weight loss program but still be enticing to my family. This is what I've come up with - squash rounds. I'm also including a few suggestions from the 'what I learned in the process' category.
What you need:
Squash (yellow or zucchini)
Cooking spray
Salt and Pepper
Grated Cheese (we like Parmesan or Romano)
How to put it together:
Clean and cut the squash into 1/8 inch rounds. Any thinner and they dissolve. Any thicker and they don't crisp. Place slices in a single layer on a silicon baking liner or parchment paper which is on a cookie sheet. Spray each round with a spritz of good cooking spray. Salt and pepper to taste and sprinkle a small amount of grated cheese on each. Bake in a 375 degree oven for about 15 minutes but watch them closely. They are nearly done when the cheese starts to turn a deep golden color.
Some thoughts - use a disposable liner for really quick and easy clean up, especially if the kids are helping you put cheese on each round. Use less salt than normal as many grated cheeses have salt added to their product. Use grated cheese for a more even coverage that browns up quickly.
Discard any squash that is too thin or too thick - it isn't worth the hassle as noted above. Yellow squash seemed to need a little less cooking time. You can use a nice oil, putting a couple tablespoons in a plastic bag with squash rounds, and mix in the bag. It's easy on clean up but does add a few more calories to a light summer vegetable. Allow chips to cool before eating as they continue to crisp after coming out of the oven.
