Category: Vegetables

Vegetables

Scalloped Corn

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Had a luncheon today and served this corn dish. Several of the ladies requested me to put it on the blog. It is so easy.

2 12 oz bags of frozen corn (I used the steam in the bag)

1/2 cup butter

6 oz of softened cream cheese

Salt and pepper to taste.

Combine all of the above ingredients and place in microwave and cook for about 5 minutes. Take out and stir. If needed, place back in microwave and cook for an additional 2 min. Since each oven is different, check after 2 min intervals but cook until corn is completely cooked and cream cheese and butter is melted. Stir and serve.

Meats · Salads · Vegetables

Shrimp Salad and Baked Aspargus

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For a light summer luncheon, try the following, it will not disappoint.
 2 lb fresh asparagus
1/3 cup sour cream
3 tables melted butter
1/2 cup bread crumbs
1/2 teas crumbled basil leaves (or dried basil)
1/2 teas paprika
1/2 teas salt
Cook asparagus in small amount of salted water. Place in single layer in a 12x9x2 pan. Spread with sour cream. Combine butter, bread crumbs, basil, salt and paprika and sprinkle over asparagus. Bake at 375 for 8 to 10 min or until bread crumbs are lightly browned. Yields 6 servings.
 
Shrimp Salad (This is one of my favs)
3 cups cooked shrimp, chopping each one in half
1 cup finely chopped celery
1/2 teas garlic salt
1/4 teas cayenne pepper
1/2 teas dill
1 cup mayo
 Blend dill with mayo and then add rest of ingredients.  Let this chill together for a few hours. May be served on top of spinach leaves with cut quarters of tomatoes. I sprinkle chopped parsley over the top before serving.
Vegetables

Sweet and Sour Green Beans

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3/4 pound green beans

2 tables olive oil

1 medium shallot, minced

2 tables cider vinegar

1 teas sugar

Salt and pepper to taste

Place green beans in a steamer basket set over a large saucepan of boiling water. Steam until bright green and crisp-tender, about 5 mins.

In a medium skillet, heat the oil. Add the shallot and cook over high heat, stirring until softened, about 2 mins. Add the vinegar and sugar; stir to dissolve the sugar. Remove from heat and add the beans. Season with salt and pepper, toss well and serve.

Daily Thoughts · Vegetables

Spinach, Catalan-style

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Hope each of you are having a great weekend, Randy and I have worked outside and am getting things looking pretty spiffy around the courtyard. Flowers are blooming and everywhere we turn, we find another weed to pull, but…….it feels so good to be working outside, enjoying the breezes and afterward, sitting out and enjoying the beauty that lies around us. What a perfect setting to be reminded of all the blessings God has granted to all of us, no matter our circumstances. This week, Randy met a friend of ours from California, Morgan. They enjoyed an evening of dinner and conversation, remembering our trip out to California, when, Morgan and his wife treated us to a tapas bar………what an experience for us all. It was my first time to enjoy the wonderful flavors of so many different foods, one of which was chocolate shrimp. Now, this was indeed one of the most unusual dishes I had tasted, the shrimp coated in a chocolate sauce which truly came alive in our mouths. I was so amazed by the taste, that I came home telling everyone that I had gone to a tapas bar and had garlic shrimp. Well, I received several notes from “well-meaning” friends who told me in no uncertain terms that I had no business going to a topless bar and that they were so disappointed in me. So to clarify my actions, it was a tapas, not topless, bar, where they serve small portions of different dishes to be shared with your table of friends. Because we got such a laugh out of this, Morgan brought me my very own “tapas” cookbook. So will share one of the dishes that I am preparing……the spinach…this is such a great way to spur the conversation with your friends and a wonderful way to be able to taste several different dishes all at once..so let me encourage you to step out of your comfort zone and find a tapas grill. It will be an evening to remember.

2 tables olive oil

1 golden delicious apple, peeled, cored and cut into 1/4 ” cubes

1/4 cup pine nuts

1/4 cup seedless dark raisins ( I like to use the golden raisins, just a little more smooth)

1/2 teas salt, plus more to taste

10 ounces baby spinach, washed

Heat the olive oil over a high flame in large pot. When the oil is hot, add the apple cubes and cook utnil they are a little browned, less than 1 min. Add the pine nuts and cook until they are brown, about 20 seconds. Keep the pot moving so the nuts don’t burn. Add the raisins and the salt and stir together. Add spinach, mix and saute very fast until it starts to wilt. Then remove the pot form the heat; the spinach will continue to wilt off the heat. Add salt to taste and serve immediately. Great side with shrimp or any kind of fish, or stuffed pork tenderloin. Try a tapas grill and see how exciting meal time can be….thanks Morgan and Christie for introducing us to this wonderful new adventure of food. We have such fun memory of you guys taking us that night.

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Casseroles · Vegetables

Iowa Corn Casserole

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IOWA Corn Casserole

1 lb Bacon, diced
2 c Bread crumbs
1/4 c Minced onion
2 can Cream style corn (16.5 oz. ea.)

Wow, this is delicious! Although I don’t know how anything with bacon in it could not be. What a great and easy casserole to take to friends’ houses for dinner. This could be done so quickly and

In a skillet, fry the bacon until lightly browned. Remove and set aside. Pour
1/8 to 1/4 cup of the bacon drippings over bread crumbs; set aside. Discard
all but 2 tablespoons of remaining drippings; saute onion and green pepper
until tender. Stir in corn and bacon. Spoon into a 1 quart baking dish;
sprinkle with crumbs. Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes or until bubbly
and heated through. Yield: 6-8 servings.
SOURCE: Dorothy Morgan, Cedar falls, IA, Country Magazine, Feb./Mar.93

Wow, this is delicious! Although I don’t know how anything with bacon in it could not be. What a great and easy casserole to take to friends’ houses for dinner. This could be done so quickly and with only 5 ingredients, you would probably have the ingredients on hand. Let me know when you try this…..

Vegetables

Not Your Typical Green Bean Casserole

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I am loving the food channel. It gives me the courage to branch out of my comfort zone and try new and improved dishes, one being this green bean casserole. I have never been a huge fan of the traditional one everyone eats at the Holidays, so this one was a recipe which sounded very interesting to me. I served it today to about 16 ladies and they all agreed it was wonderful. It was served with rice pilaf and rouladen, a German meat dish, and then Black Forest Cherry Cake for dessert. Let me know how you liked it.

1 1/2 lbs of fresh french green beans, ends trimmed

4 tablespoons butter, divided

2 tables finely chopped onion

small package (about 8 oz) of cleaned and chopped mushrooms

2 tables all-purpose flour

1 cup sour cream

black pepper

1/2 pound grated mozzarella cheese

Preheat oven to 400 degrees

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over medium heat. Add the beans and cook just until tender but still firm, about 5 to 7 mins. Remove the beans from the water to a large bowl of ice water to preserve color and stop the cooking process. Drain the beans and set aside.

Melt 2 tables of the butter in a large skillet over medium high heat. Add the onions and saute until clear. Stir in the mushrooms and season with salt and pepper (I added some fresh garlic to mine) Saute about 3 to 5 min. Add the flour and stir for another minute to cook out the raw flour taste and then whisk in the sour cream. Simmer for just a couple of minutes to bring the flavors together and taste for seasoning. When mixture has cooled a bit, stir in the cheese.

Spray a casserole dish with Pam and put the green beans into the dish.  Spoon the sour cream-cheese mixture over the beans to cover. Bake in oven for about 25 to 30 minutes, uncovered until it is bubbly. Serve hot.

Vegetables

Mixed veggies

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1 yellow squash

1 zuccinni

1/2 sliced onion

1 pound of fresh green beans

2 sliced carrots

Saute all sliced veggies in a little olive oil. Add dill, thyme, garlic, salt and pepper and cover and cook until tender.

Vegetables

Roasted GreenBeans

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1 lb of fresh green beans

bacon strips cut in two (enough to wrap around 4 to 5 beans each 1/2)

1/2 cup light brown sugar

Clean and dry your green beans. After cutting the bacon in half, wrap bacon around 4 to 5 beans and place bacon seam down on greased 9 x 13 casserole pan. Sprinkle brown sugar over each bundle of beans. Bake in a 400 degree oven until beans are tender and bubbling. This should take about 15 minutes. Bacon will be done and crisp.

You can also do this with asparagus. It is just delicious!