Grilled Tomato, Bread & Basil Skewers

Summer has finally arrived! I love summertime. Warm weather, splashing in the pool, fresh fruit and vegetables from the farm and garden. We get to eat outside and dinner comes hot off the grill most evenings. I am always trying to find new creative side dishes that can either be prepared ahead of time or grilled. These skewers turned out great. If you never had grilled grape tomatoes you must try it, they get so juicy and sweet. It's fantastic!

This recipe will make enough for four skewers and you can easily change quantities.

For 4 Metal Skewers:

1 demi baguette or sourdough bread

24 grape tomatoes, rinsed

24 small basil leaves

3 Tbsp. olive oil

garlic salt to taste

You will only need about half of the demi baguette. Cut the bread into 24 cubes about the size of the tomatoes. Start skewering the tomatoes, basil leaves and bread, alternating until you have 6 of each on a skewer.

Brush generously with olive oil and season with garlic salt to your taste.

Grill them over medium high heat, turning them often so they won't burn, about 4 minutes all together.

***Tip***

If your basil leaves are bigger than the tomatoes, just cut them in half. You want them to be the size of the bread and the tomato so they don't get charred.

Peachy Vanilla Ice Cream

I never realized how much I missed cream and all the sweet things you can create with it until I learned about Rich's Non-Dairy Whipped Topping. Although I try to use only ingredients that are available at most grocery stores this stuff was worth the trip

to our local Cash&Carry. You might even be so lucky to find it at a store near you.

I have also started using flax milk, which is only available at Wal-Mart in our area, but I love that it is creamy and doesn't have a weird after taste.

With today being the first real hot day of the summer, we couldn't think of a better way to cool off than with some yummy ice cream. Last year we tried out a lot of sorbets and our favorite one was a Peach Sorbet. Now that we've found Rich's we wanted to try Peach Ice Cream. This recipe turned out to be the perfect blend of vanilla and peach!

Peach Part:

2 large peaches, peeled, pitted and diced

1/4 c. sugar

1 Tbsp. lemon juice

1 Tbsp. honey

Combine all ingredients in a sauce pan and cook until the peaches start to soften and the juices start to get sticky, about 10 minutes.

Put the peaches 4 cup measuring cup and refrigerate until cool.

Ice Cream Part:

1 c. Flax Milk, vanilla flavor

1/4 c. sugar

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1 c. Rich's Non-Dairy Whip Topping

Once the peaches are cool, puree them with a stick blender in the measuring cup. Add the flax milk, sugar and vanilla and give it another whirl with the blender. Then stir in the whip topping with a wire whisk. Don't use the blender or you might end up with slushy whipped cream. Pour this mixture into your ice cream maker and follow the manufacturer's instructions, which in our case was turning on the machine. 30 minutes later the ice cream has the texture of soft serve. If you like ice cream a little harder then just put the "soft serve" in a container and freeze for at least two hours.

Crispy Roasted Potatoes

Besides bread and cake, potatoes are very high on my list of favorite comfort foods.

I like them mashed, baked, in soup or simply roasted.

I have looked at a lot of roasted potato recipes before I came up with my version.

Often times the recipes called for diced potatoes, used 4 or 5 different herbs or you had to boil the potatoes before roasting them. We are not going to do any of that. Using small potatoes, very few ingredients with big flavor, and roasting at a higher temperature make this recipe quick, easy and delicious.

Ingredients:

12 oz. small, light skinned potatoes

3 Tbsp. olive oil

2 sprigs of rosemary, only the leaves chopped

2 cloves of garlic, chopped

salt and pepper

Preheat your oven to 425F.

Rinse the potatoes and cut them in half lengthwise. Put them in a bowl.

Add the olive oil, chopped rosemary and chopped garlic to the bowl.

Season with salt and pepper.

Stir the potatoes to mix all the ingredients.

Lay the potatoes on a dark rimmed baking sheet, cut side down. Roast them in the middle part of your oven. Depending on the size of the potato, roasting takes between 15 to 20 minutes.

If you notice that the outer ones are getting darker faster than the ones in the middle, simply move them around using a spatula to scoop them up.

Enjoy the potatoes plain, with hummus or herbed Tofutti sour cream, or any way you like!

Smoked Salmon Picnic Salad

This salad is so light and flavorful, it's perfect to take to a summer picnic!

The "smoked" salmon in this recipe is actually Nova Lox which is prepared differently, but I'm sure it would taste great with smoked salmon, too. To read more on that click here.

We served our salad with my beer bread and margarine.

For the salad you will need:

6 oz. Nova Lox

1/2 salad cucumber, peeled & thinly sliced

1/4 medium red onion, peeled & thinly sliced

Dressing:

2 Tbsp. white wine vinegar

1 Tbsp. vegetable or canola oil

1 Tbsp. lemon juice

1 Tbsp. dill, finely chopped

1 Tbsp. capote capers, coarsely chopped

2 tsp. sugar

1/2 tsp. lemon zest

salt & pepper to taste

Spread out the lox, cucumber and onion in a non-reactive glass dish. In a separate bowl combine all the dressing ingredients and season with salt and pepper. Pour over over the salad and refrigerate for about 1 hour. Lightly stir the salad before serving.

***Tip***

If you don't like the strong taste of onions, let them sit in cold water for a few minutes after you sliced them. It will take the bite out them.

Beer Bread - My Way

I admit it, I LOVE to eat bread and I HATE to buy bread.

Every time I have to buy bread and check the label I am grossed out

by all the chemicals and unpronounceable ingredients.

Yes, the fresh bakery bread usually uses less ingredients, but the possibility of

cross-contamination with allergens is far greater.

The good news though, it really only takes a few ingredients to make delicious,

healthy bread. This recipe does not take long at all

as the dough does not need to be kneaded and left to rise.

Inspiration for it came from Marions Kochbuch website and

I marked the changes with an * again.

Bread Dough:

2 c. white flour*

2 c. whole wheat flour*

1 Tbsp. baking powder

3 Tbsp. David's Roasted & Salted sunflower seeds*

2 Tbsp. flaxseeds*

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. sugar*

2 c. beer (I used Amber O'Douls)

Preheat your oven to 350F.

In a bowl whisk together all the dry ingredients until well combined. Slowly add the beer, it will foam quite a bit. Stir with a wire whisk until everything is incorporated and make sure not to over mix. This dough will have the texture of very thick cake dough. Pour the dough into a greased glass loaf pan. Bake for 60 minutes and check for doneness with a wooden toothpick. Turn the oven off. Release the bread from the pan and put it back into the warm oven for anther ten minutes. This will give it a nice crust.

Finally, let it cool on a wire rack.

Grilled Pork Tenderloin with Cherry Salsa

The farm just wrapped up this year's cherry harvest and how sweet and delicious they were. Unfortunately it is always over way too fast and there is never enough time for a lot

of experimenting.

I've seen a lot of people raving about cherry salsa that uses cilantro, but I just couldn't imagine those two flavors together. I wanted to make something different and decided to try basil, garlic and balsamic vinegar. Wow!

So without further ado, here is my take on grilled pork tenderloin with cherry salsa:

Cherry Salsa:

1 lbs. dark sweet cherries

3 scallions, white and light green parts thinly sliced

1 small clove of garlic, finely chopped

1 handful of basil, finely sliced

1 Tbsp. olive oil

1 Tbsp. balsamic vinegar

1/2 tsp. salt

Wash and pit the cherries, then chop them up in a food processor as small or big as you like. Combine the cherries with the other ingredients in a non-reactive bowl and chill in the refrigerator until ready to use.

Pork Tenderloin Marinade:

1 pork tenderloin (the small ones)

2 Tbsp. olive oil

2 Tbsp. balsamic vinegar

1 Tbsp. honey

1 tsp. fresh rosemary, finely chopped

To make the marinade combine the olive oil, balsamic vinegar, honey and rosemary.

Put the the tenderloin in a resealable bag, add the marinade and let sit in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours.

Prepare your grill to medium hot. Grill the pork over direct heat for about 8 minutes per side or until the internal temperature reaches at least 145 degrees. Take it off the grill and let sit for a few minutes.

Slice and serve with cherry salsa.

Pea-Sunflower Seed Pesto

I realized that I'm a food geek when I came up with this dairy,

egg and nut-free pesto recipe.

I used to love pesto pasta salad and thought I'd never be able to eat pesto again, but I was up for the challenge. I used familiar flavors of basil, garlic and lemon, but added peas and sunflower seeds to give it the texture of a traditional pesto. The secret ingredient is flat leaf parsley, that adds a nice underlying flavor. The result is a thick pesto that can be used as a spread, dip or served over hot pasta with a little pasta water added to thin it out.

Pesto:

2 c. frozen peas

1 handful basil leaves (about 12 leaves)

1 handful of flat leaf parsley (about 5 stems)

2 Tbsp. David's roasted & salted sunflower seeds

1 small garlic clove, sliced

1/2 tsp. lemon zest

1 Tbsp. lemon juice

1 tsp. salt

about 3 Tbsp. olive oil

Steam the peas for about 8 minutes, so they are soft, but still bright green. Cool under running cold water and let drain.

In a food processor combine peas, basil, parsley, sunflower seeds, garlic, lemon zest, lemon juice and salt.

Pulse until it everything is coarsely chopped.

With the blade running add the olive oil through the opening on the lid, one tablespoon at a time until the pesto has a creamy texture.

Voila!

Orange Tarragon Salmon

I really enjoy making dishes that only use a few ingredients. I like them even more when they use herbs, they can really enhance the flavor of the main ingredient. My love for herbs started in my early childhood. I remember my grandma chopping up some curly leaf parsley and putting it in her rice soup and I would sit in the kitchen chewing on sprigs of parsley. When my parents bought their first house my mom planted a huge herb garden. There was borage and lovage, amongst lemon balm and rosemary. Not only would she use those for culinary treats, but thyme and oregano also made great home remedies when we came down with the sniffles or a sore throat.

The star in this recipes is tarragon, a nice spicy, anise flavored herb that, in combination with the orange juice, is unbeatable for grilled salmon.

Fish:

1 lb. sockeye salmon, skin on

For the marinade:

1/3 c. fresh orange juice

2 Tbsp. olive oil

1 Tbsp. finely chopped tarragon

2 cloves of garlic, chopped

Pour the marinade into a resealable plastic bag and put the fish "meat" side down into it.

Close the bag and marinade for 2 to 4 hours.

To prepare the grill, turn all burners on high. When the temperature reaches 400F turn off the middle burner for indirect grilling. Set the salmon, skin side down, over the burner that's turned off. Close the lid and check after 8 minutes for your desired doneness. Ours was done after 10 minutes. Just season it with salt and pepper.

Now it's up to you to Dish It Your Way!

Cook's Country Steak Burger

We tried out this Grilled Steak Burger with Homemade Steak Sauce and Shoestring Onions from the August/September 2011 issue of Cook's Country magazine. Unfortunately the recipe is considered premium content and you have to sign up for a 14 day trial. I can tell you though that buying the paper version of this magazine is well worth it just for this meal!

The only substitutions to make this recipe dairy free were, using Nucoa margarine instead of butter and Franz hamburger buns.