Shrimp Soup with Coconut Milk, Fresh Corn, and Cilantro

Peeling shrimp and chopping veggies aside, this is very quick to make.  If I was making this only for myself, I would have added some minced jalapenos or some red hot pepper flakes, but the kids wouldn't have wanted it that hot.  So I added sriracha hot chili sauce (rooster sauce) at the table, and it was great.  However, the soup was flavorful and delicious even without the spicy kick.   I created this recipe to satisfy my dairy craving... I wanted something chowder-like, but without the milk or cream.

2 pounds smallish raw peeled shrimp

1 teaspoon virgin coconut oil
1 red onion, minced
1 large red bell pepper, diced
kernels cut from 6 ears of corn
1 box chicken broth (I like Progresso 100% natural gluten-free)
1 can coconut milk (not light)
freshly ground black pepper

1 bunch cilantro, chopped

optional:  minced fresh jalapeno pepper or red hot pepper flakes

Saute onion and red bell pepper in the coconut oil.  Add minced jalapeno or red hot pepper flakes, if using.  When onion and pepper is soft but not browned, pour in the chicken broth.  Add the corn kernels.  Bring to a gentle simmer for five minutes.  Add the can of coconut milk.  Bring to very gentle simmer.  Add shrimp and a few grinds of fresh black pepper.  Cook at a very gentle simmer until shrimp turn pink and are just cooked through.  Ladle into bowls and top with chopped cilantro.

Broiled Fish with Harissa Butter

This is super-quick, thanks to one of my all-time favorite speedy-gourmet ingredients - harissa.  Harissa is a chunky Moroccan red hot sauce.  It's not just hot though, it's very flavorful.  My favorite brand, Alili, contains hot peppers, sweet peppers, and carrots, and is actually made in Morocco.  For you Athens people, this is available at a specialty grocery store on Baxter Street called The Healthy Gourmet.  It is also available at alilimorocco.com.  I have made this with both wild salmon and mahi-mahi, and it was great on both kinds of fish.  This may not sound like kid food, but this is my kids' favorite way I make fish.

Wild salmon or mahi-mahi fillets

2 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon harissa

Kosher salt
Freshly-ground black pepper

Rinse fish, pat dry with paper towels, and put on a foil-lined baking sheet.  In a microwaveable cup or bowl, melt butter.  Mix harissa into melted butter.  Spread mixture evenly over fish with a spoon, working quickly (if the butter solidifies it makes it harder to spread).  Sprinkle with kosher salt and freshly-ground black pepper.  Broil until fish is cooked all the way through.  Do not overcook.

I like this served with roasted asparagus and sliced tomatoes.

Cucumbers, Tomatoes, and Onions in Sweet Apple Cider Vinegar Dressing

This is a cool and refreshing side dish perfect for a barbeque, alongside homemade macaroni and cheese, or served with a Southern-style vegetable dinner - you know, the kind you have when your garden (or farmer's market basket) is overflowing.

2 tomatoes
2 cucumbers
1 sweet onion - Vidalia or red

1 1/2 cups cold water
Apple cider vinegar - I like Bragg's
Agave nectar or sugar
Salt
Freshly-ground black pepper

Optional:  2 or 3 crushed cloves of garlic added to the dressing

Optional garnish:  fresh parsley or thyme sprigs, dried or fresh whole hot peppers

Slice tomatoes into wedges.  Peel and slice onion into thin wedges.  Wash cucumber and slice.

Note on peeling vs. not peeling cucumbers:  If it's a nice homegrown or farmer's market cucumber, or an unwaxed English cucumber, you can wash it thoroughly and leave the skin on if you wish.  If it's a regular waxed supermarket cucumber, you probably will want to peel it with a vegetable peeler.  If I have a cucumber with decent skin, I usually peel strips off, leaving some of the green as a compromise, since my husband likes the skin and I do not.

Put 1 1/2 cups cold water into a measuring cup.  Add apple cider vinegar, agave nectar or sugar, and salt to taste.  You want it to taste lightly tart, and slightly sweet.  If you use the sugar, you'll have to stir it for a couple of minutes for it to fully dissolve.  Add the crushed garlic cloves if you are using them.  Pour this mixture over the tomatoes, cucumbers, and onions in a bowl.   It's best to let this sit for an hour or so, tossing occasionally.  When you are ready to eat, find and remove the optional garlic cloves, and put the optional garnishes on top of the mixture.

Beautiful Tomato Salad

The key to this salad is to use as many different types of tomatoes as you can find.  Large heirlooms, yellow pear-shaped cherry tomatoes, purple, green, or streaked tomatoes.... whatever you can get.  In the salad pictured, I also used two different kinds of basil - green basil and purple basil.  The purple basil can be very intense in flavor, so you may want to use that primarily as a garnish.  Obviously, I didn't invent tomato-basil salad, but this is how I like to make it.

Tomatoes - large ones cut into thin wedges,
  large cherry tomatoes cut in half,
  small cherry tomatoes left whole
Basil - several large sprigs - wash, strip off leaves,
  stack and roll up, and cut crosswise into thin strips
Extra-virgin olive oil - a generous drizzle
Balsamic vinegar - a light drizzle
Kosher salt - a sprinkling

For the garnish:  green and/or purple basil sprigs

Place ingredients in a bowl, toss gently, and garnish with the basil sprigs.

Peach BLT Salad with Fresh Thyme-Dijon Vinaigrette

For the bacon-lover!  For you vegetarians and vegans out there, I'm quite sure this would rock with some fakin' bacon.

2 hearts of romaine lettuce
2 large tomatoes, cut into chunks
4 large peaches, cut into chunks and tossed with
  juice of 1 lemon (keeps it from turning brown)
1 package bacon (I prefer nitrate-free), fried
  nice and crispy and crumbled

Olive oil (not extra-virgin)
White wine vinegar
Dijon mustard
Agave nectar
Fresh thyme leaves
Freshly-ground black pepper

optional:  one or two green onions, thinly sliced

Discard any not-so-great outer leaves of the romaine hearts, and rip or cut it up into bite-sized pieces (I use a plastic serrated knife that keeps the edges of the lettuce from turning brown when cut).  Spread on a big, pretty platter.  Top evenly with the tomato, then the peach.

Put the dressing ingredients in a jar and shake (the jar).  Start with about a quarter-cup of olive oil.  I am not providing amounts here for the other dressing ingredients because people are so individual in their tastes when it comes to dressings... some like it sweeter, more acidic, more or less mustard-y... let your taste be your guide.  The bacon is so salty that I do not add salt.

Right before serving, drizzle the dressing over the salad as evenly as you can, and top with the crumbled bacon.  Some thinly sliced green onion would be a nice addition on top too.  You can also garnish with a sprig or two of fresh thyme.

Slow-Cooked Pork with Sauerkraut and Vidalia Onion

This is a great one to put in your crockpot in the morning and have ready by dinner.  This would be delicious served with mashed potatoes, steamed green beans, and homemade applesauce.  I used a 2.5-pound Boston Butt I got at the Athens Farmer's Market from the Greendale Farm folks.

2.5-pound Boston Butt pork
2 teaspoons Better than Bouillon (Chicken)
  dissolved in 2 cups warm water
1 can Silver Floss sauerkraut, drained
1 large vidalia onion, halved and thinly sliced
1 teaspoon caraway seeds
2 Tablespoons apple cider vinegar (I like Bragg's)
1 Tablespoon agave nectar
salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Put pork in your crockpot.  Pour in the chicken bouillon water, then put in the sauerkraut, onion, caraway seeds, apple cider vinegar, agave nectar, salt, and pepper.  Try to place these ingredients as evenly as you can around the pork.

Cook on the high setting for at least six hours (it can cook longer - it only gets more tender).  After a few hours, it's good to break up the pork a bit to let the flavor get into the meat.

Avocado-Peach-Tomato-Watermelon-Red Onion Salad

Make sure you get a good sweet red onion for this one, and homegrown or farmer's market tomatoes.  This is a summer recipe, because there's no other time of year you can get all these ingredients at their peak.  Serve this immediately after you prepare it.  The cold watermelon provides a wonderful temperature/texture contrast with the rest of the ingredients.

2 perfect avocados
3 peaches
2 tomatoes
2 cups cold watermelon
1/2 red onion

Juice of 1 juicy lime
Kosher salt

Cut into chunks the avocados, peaches, tomatoes, watermelon, and red onion.  Toss with the lime juice and a pinch of kosher salt.

Radicchio-Blueberry-Wild Rice Salad with Walnuts

When people find out I don't eat wheat or dairy (except butter), sometimes they'll say, "What do you eat, nuts and berries?"  To which I reply, "Yes."  This beautiful salad is for those who enjoy the bitter taste of radicchio. The wild rice called for is just wild rice (the dark part only), not the wild rice/white or brown rice blends often sold in stores.  Apparently wild rice is not true rice, it is more like a grass.

1 head radicchio
3/4 box blueberries
1/2 cup wild rice, cooked
  (measured before cooking)

2 Tablespoons walnut oil
1 Tablespoon rice vinegar
1 Tablespoon agave nectar

1/3 cup lightly toasted walnuts
1/4 box blueberries

Cut radicchio into short shreds.  Combine with cooked and cooled wild rice and blueberries.  Mix together walnut oil, rice vinegar, and agave nectar.  Pour over radicchio mixture and toss thoroughly.  Top with walnuts and the last of the blueberries.

Chicken Salad with Grapes and Walnuts with Maple-Dijon Dressing

This is an excellent potluck recipe. Last time I took this somewhere, grownup, mature people were fighting over the leftovers. This will serve 15-20 people in a potluck-type situation.

6 - 7 large skin-on, bone-in chicken breasts
  (single breasts)
1 onion, cut into chunks
1 celery stalk, cut into a few pieces
1 teaspoon whole black peppercorns
1 bay leaf

1 cup halved black seedless grapes
1 cup halved green seedless grapes
4 stalks celery, cut lengthwise, then thinly sliced
  (make sure it's fresh, crunchy, and green)
1 bunch green onions, thinly sliced
1 cup walnuts, lightly toasted and broken up
half a bunch of flat-leaf Italian parsley, minced

1/2 cup olive oil (regular, not extra-virgin)
1/4 cup real maple syrup
2 Tablespoons dijon mustard
Rice vinegar, a few generous shakes

Freshly ground black pepper
Kosher salt

Put chicken, onion, celery, peppercorns, and bay leaf into a stockpot and cover generously with water. Bring to a gentle simmer, then immediately turn the heat down to low. You do not want it bubbling, or the chicken will get tough and dry. After awhile, take out a piece of the chicken and cut down into it to see if it's cooked through. If not, return it to the pot. As soon as the chicken is cooked through, remove it from the pot (you can strain the stock and save it to make soup if you don't want it to go to waste).

When the chicken is cool, remove the skin and bones and cut it into chunks.

To toast the walnuts, put them on a baking sheet and into a 300 degree oven. Check every couple of minutes until they just start to turn golden. Remove immediately and put on a plate to cool.

In a large bowl, combine the chicken, walnuts, green and black grapes, celery, green onions, and parsley. In a jar, shake up to combine the dressing ingredients: olive oil, maple syrup, dijon mustard, and rice vinegar. Taste and see whether the mixture is to your liking. If you like it sweeter, add more syrup, more acidic, add more vinegar. Pour dressing over the chicken mixture and toss thoroughly. Add plenty of freshly-ground black pepper and kosher salt to taste and toss again.

Carrot-Pineapple salad with Lime Zest

This is great for a potluck because it's vegan, which means anyone can eat it, yet it's made with very familiar ingredients, so it won't scare anyone off.  Also, it goes with anything and won't get dodgy at room temperature.  This makes enough for 10-15 people as a side dish.  This is pretty quick to make with a food processor to shred the carrots.

10 carrots, peeled and grated
1 ripe pineapple, cut into smallish chunks
3 juicy limes, zested and juiced
2 Tablespoons agave nectar

Put the grated carrot and pineapple chunks in a large bowl.  In a small bowl, mix the lime zest and juice and the agave nectar together.  (To zest the limes, rub the whole limes against a very fine grater just until the green part of the peel comes off.  If you don't have a grater, shave paper-thin pieces off of the lime peel - green only, don't get into the white, which is bitter - with a paring knife and finely mince it with a chef's knife).  You only need to zest one or two of the limes, as the peel is very strongly flavored.  Pour the lime mixture evenly across the carrot and pineapple, and toss it thoroughly.

I don't think this needs salt, but you can certainly toss a pinch or two into it if you think it needs it.

Turkish Meatloaf

This is great served with spinach and mashed sweet potatoes or butternut squash.

2 lbs lean ground beef (8% fat)
1 cup bread crumbs
  (I used brown rice bread since I 
   don't eat wheat)
1/4 cup pine nuts
1/4 cup raisins, chopped
1 small onion, minced
2 Tablespoons fresh minced herbs:
  may include any combination of
  parsley, mint, and cilantro
1 egg
1 teaspoon cinnamon
Freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1-3 Tablespoons water

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Mix together the above ingredients, adding the tablespoons of water gradually, just enough to moisten it until it's soft enough to easily form.   Divide the mixture into two parts, and form each half into a log shape on a foil-lined baking sheet.  Bake until the meatloaves are browned and cooked through, approximately 45 minutes.

Garden Slaw with Shredded Beet

Fresh and simple.  Your food processor will make short work of this.  Use the slicing blade for the cabbage, the shredding blade for the carrot and beet, and chop the parsley and green onion by hand.

1 bag angel-hair shredded cabbage OR
  1/2 green cabbage, very finely shredded
2 green onions, both white and green parts,
  thinly sliced
1 medium-sized beet, peeled and shredded
2 carrots, peeled and shredded
2 Tablespoons minced parsley

1 lemon, juice from
Extra-virgin olive oil
Kosher salt
Freshly-ground black pepper

Toss vegetables together in a bowl with lemon juice, drizzle with extra-virgin olive oil (use the amount that suits your taste), add salt and pepper to taste, and toss again thoroughly.  If you let it sit a little while at room temperature, tossing occasionally, before serving, the flavors will combine beautifully.

Tamarind Shrimp with Coconut Milk Spinach

It works best to first prep for both recipes, next prepare the spinach, and last, prepare the shrimp.

For the shrimp:

2 lbs raw, peeled shrimp

1 1/2 Tablespoons ghee or butter
1 bunch green onions, sliced
2 Tablespoons minced parsley

2 teaspoons soy sauce or tamari
  (I used wheat-free tamari)
1 teaspoon tamarind concentrate
1 teaspoon garam masala
2 teaspoons agave nectar
4 dry red hot peppers
kosher salt
freshly ground black pepper

wedges of lime to serve

Melt the ghee or butter in a large saute pan over medium heat.  Saute the green onion and parsley briefly, then add the soy sauce or tamari, tamarind concentrate, garam masala, agave nectar, and dried hot peppers.  Saute again briefly until tamarind concentrate is evenly distributed throughout the mixture.  Add shrimp and turn the heat to medium-high.  Stir-fry until the shrimp is just tender.  Add kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste.

For the spinach:

2 large bags pre-washed baby spinach
1 small can coconut milk (NOT light),
  or half of a standard can
Kosher salt

Put a couple of tablespoons of water into the bottom of a large pot with a cover, like a stockpot.  Dump the bags of spinach into the pot, cover, and turn the burner onto medium-high heat.  Every couple of minutes, take the top off the pot and stir the spinach around.  When the spinach is completely wilted, drain out any liquid that remains in the pot, and pour in the coconut milk.   Stir the coconut milk into the spinach and add kosher salt to taste.  Keep covered so it will stay warm while you cook the shrimp.

Serve the shrimp piled on top of the spinach, with lime wedges on the side, to be squeezed over the shrimp.

Picadillo

Some people like to use this as a filling for tacos.  I like it on its own, with sliced tomato and avocado on the side.

1 1/2 Tablespoons olive oil (not extra-virgin)
2 lbs lean ground beef
1 onion, chopped
5 cloves garlic, minced

3 medium tomatoes, chopped
1 apple or 1 pear, diced
1/4 green pepper, minced
1/3 cup raisins, chopped
10 green, pimento-stuffed olives, chopped
1 teaspoon cinnamon
couple of shakes of ground cloves

kosher salt, crushed red pepper flakes, and fresh ground black pepper, to taste

1/3 cup pine nuts, toasted

Heat the oil on medium high heat.  Add ground beef, onion, and garlic.  Brown the ground beef, breaking it up into very small pieces with the edge of your spatula (lean ground beef can seem tough if it's not broken up into small enough pieces).  When the ground beef is brown, add the tomatoes, apple or pear, green pepper, raisins, olives, cinnamon and cloves.  Saute this mixture for a couple of minutes and then cover for a few minutes and cook over medium heat, stirring and scraping it up from the bottom of the pan every couple of minutes.  Add kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste, and crushed red hot pepper flakes to taste if you like it a little spicy.

Once you've put the Picadillo on plates, top it with toasted pine nuts (put pine nuts on a small baking sheet in a 300-degree oven and watch like a hawk until they start to turn golden brown - remove immediately and pour onto a plate to cool).

Garlic Eggplant Stir-Fry with Jalapenos

Don't let the jalapenos scare you off. When left mostly whole, they provide flavor rather than any mega-hotness. I started using these a lot because they were being practically given away at the Athens Farmer's Market last summer! As for any stir-fry, it's important for you to have your ingredients completely prepped and handy, because you won't have time for prep work once the quick cooking process begins.

peanut oil (or any flavorless vegetable oil)

2 medium eggplant, quartered and thinly sliced (or if you are using the long, slender japanese eggplant, 5 or 6 of them, sliced thinly on the diagonal)
3 carrots, peeled and thinly sliced on the diagonal
1 red onion, sliced into thin wedges
2 jalapeno peppers, split in two lengthwise (or substitute dried whole hot red peppers)

6-7 cloves garlic, minced

sherry
agave nectar
tamari or soy sauce (I use a gluten-free brand of tamari)

kosher salt

Heat enough peanut oil to cover the bottom of your pan (eggplant soaks up a lot of oil, so you will need to use a little more than you might normally use - say 3 tablespoons or so). When your oil is good and hot, add the eggplant, carrot, onion, and jalapenos. Stir-fry these continuously until they start to get a little bit softer. Add the garlic and keep stir-frying. If the garlic looks like it's beginning to stick, add a little more oil and scrape it up from the bottom of the pan. Remove from heat briefly, and drizzle with sherry (go light on this), agave nectar, and tamari or soy sauce. Return to the heat and keep stir-frying. Give it a little taste, and add more sherry, agave nectar, and/or tamari/soy sauce if needed (I am being inexact about amounts because it's really individual how sweet or sherried you might want it). Cover your pan for a minute or two (watching closely, of course) if your vegetables don't seem done enough at this point. Sprinkle with kosher salt to taste, give it a good stir, and enjoy! This is great with brown jasmine rice if you eat grains.

Red Curry Chicken

This is a two-step recipe, but poaching the chicken before joining it with the other ingredients is so worth the effort, because it is extraordinarily tender! I buy a large container of red curry paste and freeze it in a ziploc. It's easy to break off a chunk the size you need for a recipe, and lasts forever! Kaffir lime leaves look sort of like fresh bay leaves with a delightful lime scent. I freeze the whole, fresh leaves in a ziploc, and just take out however many I need for a recipe - they last for years in the freezer. I have seen lime zest (finely grated lime peel, green part only) called for in cookbooks as a substitution, for those who can't find kaffir lime leaves. Ghee is clarified butter, sold in a jar. It has a distinctive, pleasantly nutty flavor, and you can use it to cook at a much higher heat than butter. But butter would work for this recipe.

4 large skin-on, bone-in chicken breasts
1 onion, cut into chunks
1 celery stalk, cut into a few pieces
1 teaspoon whole black peppercorns
1 bay leaf

1 Tablespoon ghee or butter
5 green onions, both white and green part, sliced
3 carrots, peeled and thinly sliced on the diagonal
2 red bell peppers, cut into large chunks
2 tablespoons Thai red curry paste

1 can coconut milk
5 or 6 kaffir lime leaves, sliced crosswise into very thin slivers

kosher salt to taste

Put chicken, onion, celery, peppercorns, and bay leaf into a stockpot and cover generously with water. Bring to a gentle simmer, then immediately turn the heat down to low. You do not want it bubbling, or the chicken will get tough and dry. After awhile, take out a piece of the chicken and cut down into it to see if it's cooked through. If not, return it to the pot. As soon as the chicken is cooked through, remove it from the pot (you can strain the stock and save it to make soup).

When the chicken is cool, remove the skin and bones and cut it into chunks.

Melt ghee/butter in a pan. Add green onions, carrots, and red bell pepper chunks. Saute at medium heat for a couple of minutes, then add the red curry paste, breaking it up with your spatula and mixing it together with the vegetables. Saute for a couple more minutes, then add the coconut milk and kaffir lime leaves. Bring to a simmer. Add chicken chunks, stirring over the heat just long enough to heat the chicken through. Add kosher salt to taste, give it a good stir, and serve. I personally like this all by itself, served in a shallow bowl with a fork and spoon, but it would be superb with jasmine rice too if you eat grains.

Grilled Chicken with Marinara over Zucchini Ribbons

My kids love this! When I say chicken tenders, I am talking about the boneless, skinless, tender little pieces of chicken from the underside of the breast, NOT the breaded freezer kind. Of course, you can also use skinless, boneless chicken breasts, and slice them crosswise after they are grilled.

2 packages chicken "tenders"
Olive oil (not extra-virgin)
Garlic salt
Freshly ground black pepper

Olive oil (not extra-virgin), 2-3 Tablespoons
Crushed red pepper flakes, to your taste
4 cloves garlic, minced
Dried mint flakes, about 1 1/2 teaspoons
Dried basil flakes, about 1 1/2 teaspoons
1 28-oz can crushed tomatoes
Salt to taste

6-8 zucchini (if they are small, use more)
Olive oil (not extra-virgin)

First make your sauce. Put olive oil in a pan, and add crushed red pepper flakes, minced garlic, dried mint, and dried basil. Turn heat onto medium-low. When garlic starts to sizzle (do not let it brown), add crushed tomatoes. Stir until most of the olive oil is incorporated into the tomato. Partly cover to control the spatter, but don't cover all the way, or your sauce won't thicken properly. Cook sauce for 20-30 minutes, scraping it up from the bottom occasionally to make sure it doesn't stick. When it's done, taste it and add salt if necessary (some brands of crushed tomatoes are salty already, and you might not need any).

Put the chicken tenders into a bowl and drizzle them with olive oil, garlic salt, and freshly ground black pepper. Stir them around a bit to be sure the seasoning gets on all of them. Grill.

Wash your zucchini, cut off the ends, and use a vegetable peeler to peel ribbons off of them (including the green). Rotate the zucchini around a bit as you go, that helps. Saute these at medium-high heat for just a couple of minutes.

Put some zucchini on your plate, top with marinara sauce, and finally with the grilled chicken.

Red Beans with Vegetables and Smoked Sausage (Plus Vegetarian Version)

While not difficult, this takes a while, so it's a good one for a weekend or an afternoon at home. This tastes great days later, and would freeze well, so it would be a good recipe to double. Please note: Don't forget to soak your beans the night before!

1 bag dry red kidney beans

1 tablespoon olive oil (regular, not extra-virgin)
1 onion, diced
2 celery stalks, sliced
3 carrots, peeled and thinly sliced
1 green pepper, diced
3 - 4 cloves garlic, minced

1 package lean turkey smoked sausage, coarsely diced

fresh parsley, a few sprigs, minced
fresh thyme, a few sprigs (if using dried thyme, a good-sized pinch)
fresh whole hot pepper (jalapeno or cayenne), or dried whole red hot pepper, one or more (one will add flavor but not much heat, add more to increase the heat)

kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

To soak your beans: Rinse them in a colander, picking out any nasty-looking ones, and any foreign objects. Put beans in a pan, cover with several inches of water, put the lid on, and leave out overnight or until you need them the next day.

To cook your beans: Drain off soaking water, run fresh water into pan until it covers beans by about three inches, bring to a boil, then turn down to a simmer. It takes about two hours to get them tender. You'll need to stir them occasionally to keep them from sticking to the bottom of the pan. Keep an eye on the water level - if the beans start to become exposed, add enough water just to cover them. In the end, you want tender beans that are moist but not too soupy, so don't add too much water. No salt needed at this stage, it makes them take longer to cook.

After your beans are done, in another pan, over medium heat, saute vegetables, garlic, and crumble in a good-sized pinch of dried thyme if you are using it. When vegetables have gotten a little soft, dump them in the pan with the beans. Then use the pan you just used for the vegetables to slightly brown the diced smoked sausage. Dump this in the pan with the beans and vegetables. To this mixture add the parsley, fresh thyme, and fresh or dried hot pepper(s). Stir this thoroughly and cook over low to medium heat until the vegetables are tender and it thickens nicely, about 30 minutes. Stir it and scrape it up from the bottom of the pan every few minutes so it doesn't burn.

Remove the sprigs of fresh thyme and the whole hot peppers, taste for seasoning, and add kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper if necessary (most smoked sausage is quite salty, so you may not need the salt).

Serve with brown rice and hot sauce.

Vegetarian version: Omit smoked sausage (duh!) and add 3-5 minced canned chipotle peppers (up to 1/3 of a small can, depending on how much heat you can take) at the end of sauteing the vegetables, then saute for another minute or two before adding to beans. This will add considerable heat, so unless you're really into spicy food, you probably want to omit the regular whole hot pepper(s).

Honey-Balsamic-Thyme Roasted Turnips with Red Onion

Young tender turnips (you don't need to peel the little young, thin-skinned ones, but if all you can find is the bigger ones, peel them)

Balsamic vinegar
Honey
Olive oil (regular, not extra-virgin)
Fresh thyme, several sprigs

Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper

1-2 red onions

Fresh thyme for garnish

Wash turnips and cut tops and ends off. Roughly chop into approximately half-inch-sized dice. They don't need to look perfect, but they roast more evenly if the pieces are around the same size. Put in bowl.

Drizzle into bowl some balsamic vinegar, some honey, and some olive oil. You don't need much.  Toss well. Strip the little leaves off some of the sprigs of thyme, into the bowl. Sprinkle with kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper and toss again.

For the red onions, cut off the very tops and bottoms, peel, and quarter them, leaving them in wedge-shaped quarters.

Spread turnips in a single layer on a baking sheet. Arrange onions along the edge of the pan and drizzle some olive oil over them, and sprinkle them with some kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper. Roast at 425 degrees until turnips are browned around the edges and fork-tender. Onions will get a little black along the edges - that's how they're supposed to look. During the roasting process, scrape turnips up from pan a couple of times with a spatula to keep them from sticking, and to make sure they are roasting evenly.

Garnish with the fresh thyme. This is great served with pot roast or roasted pork.

Chicken Gumbo Soup

If you're not saving your (nitrate-free) bacon grease like your grandmother did, you're missing out on a whole lot of flavor, for free! Before some of you flip out, please note that the bacon fat is the only fat in this whole recipe (besides what's in the chicken itself, of course)!! If you have to fry some bacon to get your bacon grease, then you can have a BLT for lunch. This is not thickened with a roux like a traditional gumbo; it's a soup version with the same flavors.

Boneless, skinless chicken (I used one package each of thighs and
  breasts)

Bacon grease (you could use vegetable oil instead, but the bacon fat
  really adds flavor)

One onion, minced
One red bell pepper, minced
Two or three stalks celery, thinly sliced

1 can petite diced tomatoes, juice and all
Frozen okra, 1-pound bag, rinsed in a colander to remove any stale-
  tasting ice crystals
Frozen white corn, 1-pound bag, rinsed in a colander to remove any
  stale-tasting ice crystals

1 large carton/box chicken broth (I like Progresso's 100% Natural,
  gluten-free, no MSG, etc.)
Fresh thyme, a few sprigs
Fresh flat-leaf parsley, a handful, minced
5 dried red hot peppers (they have these super-cheap in the Latino
  foods section at Walmart)

I used the crockpot for this recipe, but you could also use a large covered pot, either stovetop, or in the oven if you have a pot with an ovenproof lid. Into the pot you intend to use, put the can of tomatoes, juice and all, the rinsed frozen okra and corn, the chicken broth, the fresh thyme, the fresh parsley, and the dried hot red peppers.

Melt a dollop (for those not familiar with this scientific unit of measurement, a heaping, regular cereal spoon full) of bacon grease in a skillet. Saute the onion, red bell pepper, and celery until it's soft but not browned. Dump this into the pot with the other vegetables. Melt another dollop of bacon grease, on the high side of medium heat, and when it's really hot, place your (yes, completely naked, whole) chicken pieces in the skillet (Browning meat 101: get your fat hot first, put the meat in, do not disturb it until it's really good and browned, or else it will stick when you try to turn it. Use a metal spatula to un-stick it if it's still stubborn). 

Brown the chicken on both sides and add to pot as it gets done. I had to do it in three batches, which took maybe 10 or 15 minutes. You are NOT trying to cook it all the way through, just browning the outside for flavor. Add more bacon fat as needed. When all the chicken is in the pot with the vegetables, run some water (say 2 cups) into the skillet and scrape up the browned bits from the bottom (there's your flavor!) and pour that in the pot. Give it all a good stir and push your chicken down into the liquid. If there's not enough liquid to cover it, add more water, just enough to barely cover the chicken.

In a crockpot, cook on the high setting for six hours. Stovetop, bring to a boil, turn down to low heat (lower than a simmer) and cover. In an ovenproof, covered pan, say 275 degrees would probably be about right, for several hours.  In the oven or stovetop you'll have to be around to check it occasionally to make sure it's not sticking to the bottom, or cooking too fast (that's why I love the crockpot).

When it's done, taste it to see if you think it needs salt (mine didn't). The chicken should be tender enough to pull apart and eat with a fork or spoon. Great with a little hot sauce sprinkled on at the table!

Broiled Wild Salmon with Maple-Mustard-Smoked Paprika Glaze

Quick and easy! For you Athens area people, in my opinion Kroger (Alps or Gaines School) has the most reasonably priced decent quality wild sockeye salmon. At the fish counter, I always ask for a still-frozen side of salmon, because that way I know it's not been sitting there defrosted for a long time. It's a good idea to develop a taste for wild salmon as opposed to farmed salmon - it's way better for you, and has not been fattened up with agricultural by-products. The smoked paprika gives it a nice, well, smoky taste.

Wild salmon filets (or a whole side of salmon still on the skin)

Real maple syrup
Dijon mustard
Butter
Smoked paprika

Kosher salt
Freshly-ground black pepper

Turn on your broiler and raise your oven rack to the second-closest position to the broiler.

Rinse salmon and place it on a foil-lined, lightly oiled baking sheet (regular olive oil, or any vegetable oil, works great). Pat salmon dry with a paper towel. If using individual filets, spread them out on the pan, leaving plenty of space in between them.

In a microwaveable measuring cup (like Pyrex) or bowl, put maple syrup, dijon mustard, butter, and smoked paprika (you want your mixture to consist of roughly half maple syrup, one-fourth butter, and one-fourth dijon mustard, with a few shakes of smoked paprika). Microwave this mixture until the butter melts, and stir well. You don't need a lot, just enough to generously glaze your raw salmon.

Pour mixture over the raw salmon, using a spoon to spread it thoroughly over the fish. Sprinkle salmon generously with kosher salt and freshly-ground black pepper.

Broil to the doneness you like. The fish will slightly "shrink" and the glaze should be a nice golden brown when it's done. You can eat it with the skin or not, depending on your preference.

This is great with wild rice (I like the brown rice/wild rice blends) and steamed green beans.

Pineapple - Walnut Coleslaw with Poppyseed

1 can crushed pineapple, drained
1 bag angel-hair coleslaw (extra-thinly sliced cabbage)
  OR 1 small or 1/2 large cabbage, cut into very thin shreds
1/3 cup walnuts

equal parts (to taste):
peanut oil or other flavorless vegetable oil
agave nectar
white wine vinegar

a sprinkling of poppy seeds

Put cabbage in a bowl. Add drained crushed pineapple. (If you've had a hard day, make a drink with the pineapple juice left over from the can - I recommend adding ice, rum, a shot of grenadine, a maraschino cherry, and a nice squeeze of lime. Aah, that's better.) Put walnuts on a pan and put them in a 225-degree oven for about 5 minutes, lightly toasting them (this intensifies the flavor and makes them more crunchy). When cool, break them up a bit and add to bowl.

In a measuring cup, mix a good shot each of peanut oil, agave nectar, and white wine vinegar. Mix together and taste (if it's not sweet enough for you, add more agave nectar; not acidic enough for you, add more vinegar).
Pour this over the slaw mixture and toss. Add a good sprinkling of poppy seeds and toss again. It's good to let this sit for a few minutes to let the flavors "meld," as my mother would say.

Unlike most slaw, this is great without salt or freshly-ground black pepper, but if you think it needs it, be my guest.

This is good alongside jerk-style grilled chicken or tofu.

Roasted Winter Squash with Curry-Maple Butter

You can use acorn squash, butternut squash, pie pumpkins, or any of the exotic varieties available at the store or farmer's market.

Winter squash

Butter
Real maple syrup
Curry powder

Hot red pepper flakes (optional)
Kosher salt

Set your oven to 375 degrees, with the rack in the middle.

Cut the squash(es) in half and use a spoon to scrape out the pulpy seeds in the center, over the trash can. Cut halves in half lengthwise, and in half again crosswise if your winter squash is a large one. You want to end up with serving-sized pieces with enough of a concave center to hold the butter. Arrange skin-side-down on a foil-lined baking sheet.

In a microwaveable measuring cup (Pyrex) or bowl, put approximately 3 tablespoons of maple syrup, 2 tablespoons of butter, and several shakes of curry powder. Microwave this until the butter melts and it's bubbly. Give it a good stir, and, with a pastry brush, brush mixture over the pieces of winter squash. Pour any mixture that's left into the center of each piece of squash (it should form a little pool in the center of each piece).

Sprinkle with kosher salt and hot red pepper flakes (use just a few flakes for flavor, or if you enjoy spicy food, add a few more).

Bake until tender when pierced with a fork and browning along the edges.

Tarragon Lemon Garlic Grilled Chicken

This is my favorite way to use fresh tarragon - it just adds that little special something to grilled chicken.

Skinless, boneless chicken pieces (I like to buy one small package each of thighs and breasts)

5-7 cloves garlic, minced
Juice from two lemons
Olive oil (regular), about 1/4 cup
Several sprigs fresh tarragon, leaves stripped off and minced
Kosher salt to taste
Freshly-ground black pepper to taste

Rinse chicken pieces, cut breasts in half, and slash all of the chicken pieces shallowly and diagonally (to allow them to absorb more flavor from the marinade). Put marinade ingredients in a gallon-sized ziploc bag or mix them together in a shallow baking dish large enough to hold all the chicken. Use more salt and pepper than you otherwise might, since most of the marinade will be left behind when you cook the chicken. Put the chicken into the ziploc bag, squeezing out all the extra air inside the bag, and flip it around a few times to evenly distribute the marinade over the chicken. If you are using a baking dish to marinate the chicken, be sure to flip each piece over a couple of times in the marinade, so the good stuff coats each piece. Let marinate anywhere from one to four hours (the longer it marinates, the more intense the flavor will be).

Grill the chicken on your gas or charcoal grill.

White Bean Celery Salad

It doesn't get easier than this.

1 can white kidney beans (cannellini beans), rinsed and drained
3 stalks celery (the big green crunchy stalks), thinly sliced
1 shallot, minced

extra-virgin olive oil
white wine vinegar
agave nectar
kosher salt
freshly-ground black pepper
red pepper flakes

Put white kidney beans, celery, and shallot in a bowl. Drizzle with extra-virgin olive oil, white wine vinegar, and a little agave nectar. Toss gently but thoroughly. Sprinkle with kosher salt, freshly-ground black pepper, and a pinch of red pepper flakes. Toss again, taste, and adjust seasoning to your liking.

Guilt-Free Meat Sauce, 3 Ways

This is the meat sauce your Italian grandmother would make if she were also a fitness instructor. Below I have included three ways to enjoy it, besides the usual way, over pasta.

1 tablespoon olive oil (not extra-virgin)
large pinch red pepper flakes
4 cloves garlic, minced

1 pound 93% lean ground beef (I like Laura's from Kroger)

1 large (28 oz.) can crushed tomatoes
fresh herbs: mint, basil, oregano (amount when chopped, about 3 tablespoons total)
(If you don't have fresh herbs, use 2 teaspoons each of dry mint and dry basil, and add it to the pan along with the garlic and red pepper flakes. In my opinion, dried oregano just kind of hijacks a recipe.)

salt
freshly-ground black pepper

Put the olive oil in the pan and add the garlic and red pepper flakes (and dried herbs if using), while the pan is still cold. Heat it very slowly, until you hear the garlic sizzle, but before it browns. Add the ground beef, turn the heat up a bit, and brown it, breaking it up with the edge of a metal spatula really well into very small pieces. With this type of super-lean ground beef, breaking it up until it's tiny is key, because it can seem a bit tough if left in large pieces. Tilt the pan and use a spoon to scoop out any liquid or fat that has accumulated.

Add the crushed tomatoes and fresh herbs, stir well, and simmer slowly, stirring occasionally to make sure it doesn't stick to the bottom of the pan. Partially cover pan with a lid to control the spatter, but don't cover it all the way or the sauce will not thicken properly. When the sauce looks nice and thick (usually about 20-30 minutes) taste it for seasoning and add salt and pepper as needed. Be sure to taste it first before adding the salt, because some brands of crushed tomatoes are much saltier than others. It's ready!

Feel free to serve this over regular or whole-wheat spaghetti, but I like it over brown-rice pasta (Tinkyada brand is by far the best - Earth Fare carries it), spaghetti squash, zucchini "pasta," or roasted eggplant slices (see below).

Spaghetti squash: Cut spaghetti squash in half crosswise (not lengthwise) and scoop out seeds. Turn halves upside down in a roasting pan with an inch of water in it. Put in a 375 degree oven. After 20 minutes or so, prick it with a fork to see if it's tender. When tender, remove from the oven, remove from the pan, and cool on a plate until it's cool enough to handle. Get a fork and scrape the squash, bit by bit, out into a bowl. Don't try to use a spoon for this step. If you use a fork, it will come out in strands, like spaghetti. Toss in a little butter and kosher salt and it's ready for the sauce.

Zucchini "pasta": Wash and cut the ends off your zucchini (leave the skin on) and use a vegetable peeler to peel thin, pasta-like ribbons off the zucchini. Rotate the zucchini around as you do this to keep the ribbons of zucchini a manageable width. I usually do about 6 or 7 zucchini to feed our family generously. Saute the zucchini ribbons lightly in olive oil, and add a sprinkling of freshly-ground black pepper and kosher salt at the end.

Roasted Eggplant: Cut eggplant into thick (say 3/4-inch) slices. Put on a cookie sheet in a single layer and brush lightly with olive oil and sprinkle with kosher salt and freshly-ground black pepper. Roast in a 400-degree oven until slightly browned on both sides. Top with the sauce. This is kind of like a healthier, dairy-free version of Eggplant Parmesan (of course you could grate a little parmesan or pecorino over it if you like).

Swiss Chard, Beet Greens, Bok Choy with Ginger Butter

This is a simple, delicious way to get some living, green food into your body! For you Athens people, the Athens Farmer's Market, Kroger (Alps and Gaines School), and Earth Fare often have organic beets, bok choy, and red chard. I buy the beets with the prettiest, largest greens, and save the beets for another recipe. Or if you want to, you could roast the beets separately (see below for a how-to), slice them, and serve them on top of the greens, topped with the ginger butter. I really like to go organic with this recipe - the organic greens have a clearer, fresher flavor.

Any combination of: swiss chard, beet greens, and bok choy

A big fat "knob" of fresh ginger (at least 2 Tablespoons peeled and minced)

2-3 Tablespoons salted butter

Stop up your sink, fill it with cool water, and give all of the greens a good rinse (or they'll be gritty!). For swiss chard, cut off any brown end on the stalk of each leaf, and then very coarsely chop the stems and leaves (you can leave them in pretty big pieces). For bok choy, cut off the root end and coarsely chop white stalks and green leaves. For beet greens, remove any tough looking stalks and coarsely chop the leaves.

Put a metal collapsible steamer in a big pot and run some water into the bottom of the pot, but keep the water level below the steamer. Put your greens in the pot, cover, and turn to medium-high heat.

Meanwhile, put the butter into a small microwaveable cup or bowl. Melt the butter, then stir the minced ginger into the butter.

The greens will be done about 5 minutes after the water boils. Test the stalks of the chard and bok choy with a fork to make sure they are just tender. Do not overcook. Use tongs to get the greens out of the pot and onto your plate. Drizzle with the ginger butter (make sure you get some nice little ginger chunks on there). Enjoy! My favorite way to serve this is with grilled or broiled wild salmon and black rice (a whole-grain rice sold at Earth Fare as "Forbidden Rice").

Roasted Beets: Peel beets. If they are large beets, cut them in halves or quarters. Prick with a fork. Put on a piece of foil, and enclose them by folding the edges of the foil together like an envelope. Put the foil on a cookie sheet and roast at 350 for an hour or so. They should be just tender all the way through when pricked with a fork. Be careful not to let the steam burn you when you open the foil!

Ginger Shrimp Stir-Fry

As always with a stir-fry, have all your ingredients ready and prepped before you start to cook.

2 teaspoons peanut oil, or other flavorless vegetable oil

1/2 onion, thinly sliced
4 stalks celery, sliced on the diagonal
1 small can bamboo shoots, rinsed and drained
2-inch piece ginger, peeled and minced

2 pounds raw, peeled shrimp

A drizzle of each of the following:
sherry
sesame oil
chili oil (if you aren't into spicy stuff, go light on this, but it does add an important flavor)
agave nectar (or honey)
soy sauce or tamari (I use wheat-free tamari)

kosher salt

Heat the oil in a big saute pan or wok until it is very hot. Add the onion, celery, bamboo shoots, and ginger. Stir-fry for a couple of minutes, being sure to scrape the ginger up from the bottom of the pan so it doesn't burn. Add the shrimp and stir-fry for a couple more minutes. Remove from heat long enough to drizzle in the sherry, sesame oil, chili oil, agave nectar, and soy sauce. Return to heat and continue to stir-fry until shrimp is cooked (should only be another minute or two). Do not overcook the shrimp or they'll be rubbery instead of tender! Sprinkle in a good pinch or two of kosher salt, give it another stir, and serve immediately.

I like to serve this with steamed broccoli. If you peel your shrimp earlier in the day or the night before, this is pretty quick to make.