Summer Squash Salad

Summer is once again coming to a close. I’m going to miss the beach weather and the bonfires, but I’m actually really excited for the fall. Just thinking about apple cider, pumpkins, and Halloween gets me all excited! Before I fully leap into autumn mode, I wanted to post a few more summer-ish recipes. After all, there’s still a week left before Labor Day Weekend. Since this one uses summer squash, I figured this took top priority.

Summer Squash Salad

Ingredients:

2 cups brussels sprouts, sliced in half

1/2 large onion, sliced into half circles

2 garlic cloves, sliced into coins

1 tbsp sesame seed oil

1 ear of corn

2 tbsp pine nuts

1 small zucchini

1 small yellow squash

1/2 cup grape tomatoes, sliced in half

garlic powder

salt and pepper, to taste

goat cheese

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. In a bowl, combine brussels sprouts, onions, and garlic cloves. Add sesame seed oil, garlic powder, salt, and pepper and toss together. Spread out on a roasting pan. Rub sesame oil on ear of corn, season with garlic powder, salt, and pepper. Also place in the roasting pan. Transfer to oven and let roast for 25 minutes, STIRRING EVERY SO OFTEN.

In a separate pan, place pine nuts and let roast in the oven for 3 minutes. Set aside.

While vegetables are roasting, use a peeler to peel zucchini and squash into thin strips. Place on serving platter and season with garlic powder, salt, and pepper. Top with halved tomatoes. Once vegetables are finished roasting, let cool for 5 minutes. Remove corn from ear. Scatter brussels sprouts, onions, garlic, corn, and pine nuts onto top of squash peels. Top with clumps of goat cheese, if desired.

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Blueberry Salad

I’ll admit it, I’ve never been a great lover of blueberries.

Until recently.

Honestly, I think I held a grudge against them after my mom used them to replace chocolate chips in my pancakes and muffins when I was little. Since them, I generally avoided them unless I was offered some. When I started playing around with my red, white and blue baked oatmeal though, I had a few and, what do ya know, I now fancy them.

Coincidentally, new neighbors moved in down the street earlier this year and own a huge blueberry patch in their front lawn. Previous owners either neglected the berries charged people to pick them. These people, however, are my new favorite people because they invited my whole street to come to their house last Saturday and pick as many blueberries as we wanted FOR FREE.

And free is so me.

Screw the heat, I was out there for a good 2 hours with my dad (who plopped the berries into his mouth rather than the bucket) and then went back again later by myself to double our amount. In total, we got 8 cartons of fresh, non-sprayed blueberries. Score!

And you know you come into a complete circle when you voluntarily decide to make blueberry pancakes and muffins with them 🙂

Not to mention, a lot of this…

Blueberry Salad 

Ingredients:

1/4 cup raw almonds

2 tbsp olive oil

2 tbsp balsamic vinegar

1/2 tsp dried thyme

1/2 tsp garlic powder

salt and pepper

2 cups fresh organic blueberries

8 cups fresh spinach

1/2 cup frozen corn

2 tbsp grated goat cheese

Directions: 

Roast almonds in a 325 degree oven for 6 minutes. Meanwhile, whisk together olive oil, balsamic vinegar, thyme, garlic powder, salt and pepper. Pour over a bowl containing blueberries. Let sit for 10 minutes. Place spinach in your salad serving bowl. Top and toss with almonds, blueberries and balsamic dressing, corn, and goat cheese.

 

Corn and Jalapeño Cannellini Bean Dip

Well, tomorrow is New Years Eve Part II (more commonly known as Super Bowl Sunday). To be completely honest, I’m not a big football fan. Who knows? If the Eagles eventually get to the Superbowl, I might be. But in the meantime, I’ll just watch the commercials 🙂

When I was young though, I loved the Superbowl for a different reason. You see, parents (particularly dads) hate having a bunch of whiny kids around during the Big Game. Their solution? Throw said kids (and lock?) them in the basement. Oh, and maybe throw down a hoagie for them to nibble on every so often. Looking back, this probably wan’t the best idea on their part. 15 hyped-up 6-12 year olds can cause A LOT of damage in a small amount of time. Not a year went by that someone didn’t shed tears or got injured. Then one unfortunate adult (I swear, they drew straws) would come downstairs and do damage control. After they left, the chaos would recommence.

Yup, childhood was awesome.

Sadly, those days are in the past. So this year, it’s commercials. In case you need something for the Big Game, here’s a very yummy and healthier-than-your- average bean dip. If you’re locking some kids in the basement this year, it might be a good idea to throw some down to them 😉

Corn and Jalapeño Cannellini Bean Dip 

Ingredients:

2 (15oz) cans cannellini beans, rinsed and drained

1 and 1/2 cups grated provolone cheese (divided)

1/2 cup water

3 garlic cloves, chopped

1 tsp cumin

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes

1/4 + 1/8 tsp salt

pepper, to taste

1/3 cup frozen corn

jalapeño slices

Directions: 

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees and spray a 8×8 baking dish with cooking oil. Add the beans, 1 cup cheese, water, garlic cloves, cumin, garlic powder, red pepper flakes, salt, and pepper to the food processor and puree until smooth. Manually mix in corn. Pour and spread out mixture into baking dish. Top with 1/2 cup cheese. Bake in the oven for 15-18 minutes. Top with jalapeño slices.

Turkey Tortilla Soup

Got leftover turkey (or even chicken)? Here’s a recipe to use it all up! What I like about this is that all you have to do is throw all the ingredients in a pot and turn on the heat. Then, you can just set up little stations of cheese, tortilla crumbs, and avocados so everyone can pick and choose for themselves. A nice simple dinner for a week night 🙂

Turkey Tortilla Soup 

Ingredients: 

1 tbsp olive oil

1 onion, chopped

2 garlic cloves, minced

2 cups cooked organic turkey (or chicken), shredded

1 can black beans, rinsed and drained

1/2 cup frozen corn

1 tsp cumin

1/2 tsp chili powder

3 cups chicken broth

1 28oz can tomatoes with juice

salt and pepper to taste

Toppings:

grated cheese

tortilla chip crumbs

avocado, cut into slices

Directions:

Heat oil in pot. Sauté onion and garlic cloves for 7 minutes. Add in turkey, black beans, corn, cumin, chili powder, chicken broth, and tomatoes. Bring to a boil and let simmer for 25 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste. Ladle into individual bowls and top with cheese, crumbs, and slices of avocado.

Broccoli Corn Bites

Remember that saying “Never judge a book by its cover?” Please apply to the following. If not, I am sorry to say that you are missing out. These little creations of mine may not win any beauty contests, but they are awesomely good. Perfect to plop into your mouth when you’re on the go too. The key here, however, is to use a nice sharp cheese (or a mixture of them).

I’m thinking of serving them as an appetizer for Christmas by arranging them in a triangular Christmas tree shape. Yes, I know, aren’t appetizers supposed to be appetizing? Lucky for me, my family (minus my brother sometimes) does not care how food looks, as long as it tastes good. Now if only my friends were the same way… Good thing it’s a family party!

 

Broccoli Corn Bites

Ingredients:

3 cups steamed broccoli florets, chopped into small pieces

1/2 cup frozen corn

1 cup (can add more) of shredded sharp-tasting cheese (I use provolone and mozzarella)

2 eggs

1 cup panko

1 tbsp mustard

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1/8 tsp paprika

1/8 tsp cayenne

few drops of hot sauce

salt and pepper

Directions: 

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees and spray a baking sheet with cooking oil. Mix all ingredients together and form into balls. Bake for 24 minutes, flipping after 12 minutes.