Quinoa Salad

Now that our long, harsh winter is finally coming to an end and spring is here (it really really is, I can see green grass in places!) I find myself craving salads more than ever.  I’ve had enough of rich, heavy foods!  Give me foods that are light and fresh!

I love cooking with different grains, and quinoa is one of my favorites.  I had some red quinoa in my pantry, and I wanted to make a salad with it but couldn’t really find any recipes that were quite what I had in mind.  So I took some ideas from here and there and came up with my own salad.

And if I may toot my own horn a little bit, I must say this quinoa salad creation of mine turned out delicious!  It’s also super healthy, quinoa being one of the most nutrient-packed grains out there.

If you’ve never had quinoa before, now’s the time to break away from that boring old rice and pasta and try something different!  It may look like there’s a lot of ingredients, but other than the quinoa, you probably already have most of them on hand.

Until next time, Happy Cooking

Quinoa Salad

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups quinoa (red or regular)
• 1/2 cup dried cranberries
• 1/2 cup finely diced celery
• 1/2 cup finely diced English cucumber
• 1/4 cup sliced green onions
• 1/4 cup chopped, toasted pecans
• 1/4 cup fresh parsley

Dressing:

• 2 Tb balsamic vinegar
• 1 Tb olive oil
• 2 tsp honey
• 2 tsp Dijon mustard
• 2 tsp grated orange zest
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 clove garlic, minced

Directions:

In a saucepan, bring 3 cups of water to a boil.  Add the quinoa.  Cover, and cook over low heat for 15-20 minutes, or until all the water has been absorbed.  Set the quinoa aside to cool.

Add the remaining salad ingredients to a large bowl.  Add the cooled quinoa.

In a small bowl, whisk together the dressing ingredients.  Pour over the salad, and stir to make sure everything is coated.

Refrigerate for at least 2 hours before serving.

Black-Eyed Pea Salsa

Here’s a great recipe to make now that warm sunny days are finally arriving.  It’ll still be a while before all the snow melts away where I live, but at least the sun is shining brightly this morning.  And isn’t there just something so uplifting about a sunny day?

If you’ve never tried it before, black-eyed pea salsa may sound a little strange.  It really is delicious!  And this coming from a girl who really doesn’t care much for black-eyed peas unless they’re fresh, and this recipe calls for canned.

This recipe comes from Cooking Light, so you know it’s also healthy, another bonus.  They refer to it as a “salad” but since it’s meant to be eaten with tortilla or pita chips it kinda seems more like a salsa, wouldn’t you say?  So that’s what I’m gonna call it! I also made just a few tiny changes to the original recipe.

I hope you give this a try and enjoy it!  Until next time, happy cooking

Black_Eyed Pea Salsa

Ingredients:

• 1/2 tsp sea salt
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1/4 cup rice wine vinegar (regular white vinegar works fine too)
• 2 Tb olive oil
• 1 tsp cumin
• 3 cups chopped tomato
• 1/2 cup finely chopped red onion
• 2 Tb fresh cilantro
• 1 (15-ounce) can black-eyed peas, drained and rinsed
• 1 jalapeno pepper, minced
• pita or tortilla chips

Directions:

Whisk together the first 5 ingredients (salt thru cumin).  Stir in remaining ingredients.  Serve with pita or tortilla chips.

I’m sharing this recipe with:

• Tempt My Tummy Tuesday
• Tuesdays at the Table
• Recipe Swap Thursday

Junior League Mac & Cheese

Dear Readers,

Beginning with this post, I endeavor to return to giving my little blog the love and attention it has been sorely missing lately.  I’ve barely even checked up on it or any other of my favorite blogs.  So unlike me!

Things have been a little topsy turvy in the Berner household.  In addition to us both getting sick, we also acquired a kitten that Jay found alongside the highway one morning.  Someone had obviously dumped him during the night.  Who would do such a thing to a kitten??  It boggles my mind.

The little kitten, aka the little orange terror, is going to a new home today on an acreage where he will happily run around chasing mice and where a little 5-year old girl will give him lots and lots of love.  I’ll be sad to see him go but it’ll be a more suitable home for him. 

So now that I’ve shared my news, let’s move on to talking about food, shall we?

This is another recipe from The Southern Junior League Cookbook.  I would not be exaggerating if I said this is quite possibly the best mac & cheese I’ve ever made.  Which would make me a horrible food blogger if I didn’t share it with y’all, wouldn’t it??

This one is made a little more special with the addition of bell pepper, boiled eggs, and pimientos, none of which I’ve ever had in mac & cheese before.  After making this recipe, I can now say that they are mighty fine additions, indeed! 

I highly recommend giving this recipe a try! 

Until next time, happy cooking

Junior League Mac & Cheese

Ingredients:

• 3 Tb butter
• 4 Tb flour
• 2 cups milk
• 1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp pepper
• 1/4 cup chopped green bell pepper
• 1/4 cup chopped pimientos
• 3 hard-boiled eggs, chopped
• 1 cup macaroni, cooked and drained

Directions:

Melt butter in a saucepan.  Stir in flour to make a roux.  Gradually stir in milk and cook, stirring, until sauce is thickened.  Stir in half the cheese. 

Mix sauce with remaining ingredients, except reserved cheese.  Spoon into a greased casserole dish.  Sprinkle with reserved cheese.  Bake at 325 degrees for 35 minutes or until bubbly and lightly browned on top.

I’m sharing this recipe with:

• Potluck Sunday
• Mouthwatering Monday
• Tempt My Tummy Tuesday
• Tuesdays at the Table
• Tuesday Night Supper Club

Spinach-Swiss Quiche, and kids who say the darndest things

Here’s a little tidbit about myself-I am an introvert.  However, my big sis is most definitely not.  And my niece and nephew take right after her, especially my niece, Harlee, who is quite a little spitfire.  I wish that I didn’t live so far away because I’d like her to rub a little of her spunk off on me!  If ever there was a kid who said the darndest things, it would be her.  I wanted to share some of them because we could all use a good laugh, right?

I was talking to my mom the other day, and she had me practically in tears relating her most recent conversations with Harlee.

Now, my parents live in Florida, and my sister and her kids live in Tennessee.  A little while back, Harlee had mailed some comics that she had thought were funny and had cut out of the paper.  Well, next time she talked to my mom she asked if she had gotten them, and my mom said that yes, she had.

Then Harlee said very seriously, “Grandmaw, I sent you something and you didn’t say something to me…”. 

 My mom thought, What in the world is she talking about??

Then Harlee said, “You forgot to say thank you!”

Well, she just taught Grandmaw, who’s an elementary school teacher, a thing or two about manners, didn’t she?    Admittedly, though, my mom did get her back after she sent Harlee a Valentine’s card and stickers and Harlee forgot to say thank you! 

Which brings me to the next darndest thing Harlee said that had me laughing out loud .  She was telling Grandmaw about how she liked the stickers and had put them up on her mirror.  Then she asked why David (my nephew) hadn’t gotten anything. 

My mom said that well, she didn’t think he would have wanted anything for Valentine’s, him being a boy and all.

So Harlee said,  “Well, you could have just sent him a dollar or two!”

Goodness, but that little girl sure has a mind of her own!  She probably runs her teacher ragged in school too.  Though she did explain to my mom that a lot of the other kids in her class get upside-down faces, but she never does, she just gets mostly straight faces.  Which we agreed were at least better than upside-down faces!

Sometimes it just feels so good to laugh until you cry, doesn’t it?

Okay now, let’s discuss this recipe I’m sharing today, shall we?  I found it in this cookbook:

Which I have to tell y’all I was so excited when I saw it on the shelf at Goodwill because, as far as I can tell, Gooseberry Patch isn’t sold here in Canada.  So when I saw it I snatched it up!  This recipe was in the Meatless Mains section and it was delicious.  I had the spinach thawed and drained ahead of time, the onion chopped, and the cheese shredded so that when I got home from work it took me literally 5 minutes to throw together and pop into the oven.  Not too shabby!

I made salads and served some of my homemade applesauce on the side.  It was a super easy and delicious meal to make.  I can’t wait to try more recipes from this cookbook!

Until next time, happy cooking!

Spinach-Swiss Pie

Ingredients:

• 1 box frozen spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
• 1 cup shredded Swiss cheese
• 2 Tb chopped onion (I used green onion)
• 1 1/2 cups milk
• 3 eggs
• 3/4 cup Bisquick baking mix
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp pepper
• 1/8 tsp nutmeg

Mix together the spinach, cheese, and onion.  Spread in the bottom of a greased pie plate.  Whisk together remaining ingredients, and pour over the top.

Bake at 350 degrees for 40-45 minutes or until golden brown.

I’m sharing this recipe with:

• Recipe Swap Thursday
• Full Plate Thursday

Quick and Easy Cream of Tomato Soup

It’s been a long day at work.  You’re tired, grumpy, and the last thing you want to do is have to stand on your feet any longer to slave away over the stove.  You reach into the cupboard for a can of soup-but WAIT!  Put the can down, and back away!  I’ve got the perfect soup for you.  It’s one of the easiest things you’ll ever make and it only takes a few minutes more than heating up that can of soup would take. Plus, it’s homemade, which will always win out over the canned stuff, in my opinion. 

I used orzo pasta here, but you can substitute another small pasta if you want, or even barley or rice would be nice.  A grilled cheese or even just some garlic bread or cheese toast would be perfect alongside.  A hot bowl of this soup is sure to make you feel better, I guarantee it!

Until next time, happy cooking!

Quick and Easy Cream of Tomato Soup

Ingredients:

• 1  medium onion, finely chopped
• 1 Tb butter
• 1 (28 ounce) can diced tomatoes
• 1 3/4 cups beef broth
• 1 tsp hot sauce
• 1/2 tsp dried basil
• 1 tsp sugar
• 2 tsp red wine vinegar
• 1/2 cup orzo pasta
• 1/2 cup half & half

Directions:

Cook the onion in butter in a saucepan until softened.  Stir in the tomatoes, broth, hot sauce, basil, sugar, and red wine vinegar.  Use an immersion blender to puree the mixture (if you don’t have one of these already, you need to get one asap, they are awesome!).  Stir in the orzo.  Bring the mixture to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 8-10 minutes, or until the orzo is cooked.  Stir in the half & half and it’s ready to serve.

This recipe is being shared with:

• Potluck Sunday
• Saturday Swap