Green Beans and Yellow Squash with Garlic and Rosemary

We had a yellow squash and bunch of green beans from our Seaton Harvest distribution this week.  I found a recipe http://www.freshfarmmarkets.org/recipeviewer.php?recipeid=827 to try, and it turned out quite nicely.

INGREDIENTS

1-2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil

6 cups (approximately) green beans (ends trimmed and cut in half)

1 medium yellow squash, cut into thin slices

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 Tbsp fresh rosemary, minced

Salt and pepper to taste

COOKING INSTRUCTIONS

Steam the green beans until tender.  Set aside.  Heat oil and garlic in a large skillet.  Sauté squash until cooked.  Add green beans, rosemary, salt, and pepper.  Continue cooking and stirring until well mixed and heated through.  Remove from heat and serve.

Peach Glazed Pork Chops or Chicken Breasts

I believe we originally got this recipe from Nancy's sister Linda (update - Nancy tells me it was originally from the Stovetop Stuffing for Pork box). We've made it a lot over the years!  I'm making it to take when I visit my friend Pam tomorrow.  It contains some ketchup, which I am not supposed to have.  I can either substitute some of my No Tomato Sauce or ignor the little bit of pain that little bit of ketchup is likely to cause - sometimes it's just worth it!

It is now December 2015, and we decided to try this with chicken breasts.  2 chicken breasts (4 halves) instead of pork chops (and we cut the breast halves in half to make more servings), and the chicken stuffing mix instead of the pork stuffing mix.

INGREDIENTS

6 pork chops or 4-6 chicken breast halves

Salt & pepper

1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1 can sliced peaches (we didn't have any sliced peaches, so I used diced)

1/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar

1/4 cup ketchup

2 Tbsp vinegar (I use apple cider vinegar)

1 1/2 cups very hot water

1/4 cup Earth Balance no soy buttery spread (or butter or margarine if not sensitive to dairy)

1 pkg stuffing mix for pork or for chicken

COOKING INSTRUCTIONS

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Season chops with salt and pepper, the brown them in oil in a skillet.  When browned, place in 9" x 13 " baking/casserole pan.  Drain peaches, reserving liquid.  In a saucepan, mix and heat until thickens a little 1/3 cup peach juice, brown sugar, ketchup, and vinegar.  Brush glaze on both sides of chops.  Bake chops for 35 minutes.  While baking, drain fat from skillet and add hot water, buttery spread, and stuffing mix.  Stir to moisten.   After chops have baked for 35 minutes, Remove them from pan and drain off fat.  Put the prepared stuffing into the pan.  Brush glaze on both sides of chops and put them on top of the stuffing.  Put the peaches and remaining glaze in the baking pan on top of and around the chops.  Bake 20 minutes longer.

Nutritional information:  Makes 6 servings.  Per serving = 479.3 calories, 16.7 g fat, 59.9 mg cholesterol, 650.2 mg sodium, 48.9 g carbs, 1.5 g dietary fiber, 23.6 g protein

Jeweled Red Cabbage Salad

This is a recipe I found on Spark People http://recipes.sparkpeople.com/recipe-detail.asp?recipe=619496.  I highly recommend the free Spark People site or app for tracking calories, exercise, etc.  It's a great place for finding healthy recipes, storing your own recipes, and calculating nutritional information.  There is lots of health, diet, and exercise information on the site, as well as videos and social networking opportunities.

Anyway, I'm going to visit my friend Pam for a couple of days, and she's very fond of this salad, especially if I leave the scallions out (her tummy does not like raw onions).

INGREDIENTS

1 1/2 cups shredded red cabbage (about 1/4 head of cabbage)

1/4 cup alfalfa sprouts

3 carrots, grated or shredded

3 scallions, thinly sliced (I leave out when sharing with Pam)

1 small can mandarin oranges

1/2 cup pine nuts

1/3 cup dried cranberries/craisins

DRESSING

1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil (original recipe uses canola oil)

3 Tbsp brown sugar, packed

3 Tbsp balsamic vinegar (can also use white wine vinegar or plain white vinegar)

1 Tbsp mandarin orange juice from can

Salt and pepper to taste

COOKING INSTRUCTIONS

In a large bowl, mix together salad ingredients.  In a separate bowl, whisk together dressing ingredients.  Add dressing to salad and mix to combine.  I usually double the salad recipe and still use a single recipe of the dressing.

Nutritional information: Makes 8 servings, per serving = 196.1 calories, 15 g fat, 0 mg cholesterol, 605.1 mg salt, 16 g carbs, 1.9 g dietary fiber, 1.9 g protein

Lemony Blueberry Cornbread

This is a recipe a Facebook friend posted a link to, and a photo of how hers turned out.  It looked and sounded so good I decided to adapt it and try it.  The original recipe was from Budget Bytes http://www.budgetbytes.com/2014/06/lemon-blueberry-cornbread-skillet/.  It is very tasty.

INGREDIENTS

1 cup corn meal

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 cup sugar

4 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

Zest from 1 lemon (about 1 Tbsp)

1 cup almond milk

1 large egg (or Egg Replacer or other substitute to make Vegan)

1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil

1/2 cup blueberries

1 Tbsp Earth Balance Soy-free Buttery Spread

COOKING INSTRUCTIONS

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

In a large bowl, mix together corn meal, flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and lemon zest.  Use your bare hands to massage the zest into the flour to help release the flavorful oils.

In a separate bowl, whisk together milk, egg, and oil.  Mix into flours, stirring only enough to incorporate all the dry ingredients - some lumps are okay.

Use buttery spread to grease a 10" cast iron skillet.  Spread the batter in the skillet.  Sprinkle blueberries on top, and press them into the dough.

Bake 20-25 minutes, or until golden brown on top and sides.  Cut into 8 pieces and serve.