Roasted Roots and Chimichurri

Extended Shelf Life for: Roots and Parsley

Roasted veggies are roasted veggies and honestly, I have no secrets...I could use some tips actually on how to get the perfect roasted veggies without waiting an hour and a half, but perhaps the answer to that lies more in leaving high elevation than anything else...or having a more efficient oven, who knows...

What I can offer however, is a recipe for Chimichurri - a sauce which I have dreamt about and considered for years, every time we receive an abundance of parsley, I think, hmmm, I should really try that recipe for Chimichurri sauce. Well folks, I finally have and let me tell you, totally worth it and honestly, should have been done a long time ago!

Ingredients/Directions:

In a food processor, blender or your awesome multipurpose juicer combine 1 1/4 cups Italian Parsley, 1/4 cup Olive Oil, 2 Tbsp. Fresh Oregano or Basil, 2 Tbsp. Onion, 3-4 peeled Garlic Cloves, 2 Tbsp. Apple Cider Vinegar (or Red Wine Vinegar), and 1 Tbsp. Lemon Juice - pulse in food processor or blender, or run through juicer until you reach a nice, saucy consistency. Cover and chill a minimum of 2 hours before serving, should last up to 1 week or a little more if you 'daring'!

Stir-Fry for the Man

Extended Shelf Life for: Mushrooms, Lime, Onion, Bok Choy

Sometimes, I go out to dinner with friends but still manage to throw something together for my man.

Unfortunately, I don't know how delicious this dish was or wasn't, but I can give you a quick run down in case you're in need of some stir-fry action.

This particular stir-fry began with sauteed onions, followed by mushrooms (add a touch of butter at this point because mushrooms are always better with butter), garlic and finally bok choy. We had some sweet and spicy Thai sauce leftover in the refrigerator which I used to add some kick and flavor, serve over rice and cross-your-fingers that it will be enjoyed while you head out to enjoy dinner with friends!

Juicer Favorites/Experiments gone Well

Extended Shelf Life: Apples, Grapes, Bok Choy, Carrots, Pomegranate

Since returning to Laramie, we opted to make a fairly grand purchase of an Omega J8500 Juicer and it has been revolutionary!

I'm confident you'll be seeing a lot of juicer related recipes popping up as we're discovering all kinds of uses for the appliance (if you're feeling a bit impatient and want to learn more now, check out this page about my experience with the Juicer).

For now, know that a combination of Apples, Grapes and Bok Choy is quite amazing!

Equally amazing is a combination of Apples, Carrots and Pomegranate.

Raspberry Banana Bread

Extended Shelf Life for: Raspberries

Ingredients/Directions:

Preheat your oven to 350 F and grease one 9x5x3 loaf pan.

 In a small bowl (cereal bowl is reasonable) sprinkle about 1 cup overripe, mushy Raspberries with your 1-2 TBSP. of your choice sweetener. Let set.

In a large bowl, combine 2 cups All-Purpose Flour , 1 1/2 Tsp. Baking Powder, 1/2 Tsp. Baking Soda, 1/4 Tsp. Salt. Set aside.

In a medium bowl mix together 2 Eggs, 1 1/2 cups Bananas, 1 cup Sugar, and 1/2 cup Vegetable Oil Add egg and banana mixture to flour mixture, stirring until just moistened. Give raspberries a quick stir, breaking down any bigger berries, before folding into the bread batter.

Spoon batter into prepared loaf pan and transfer to the oven where it'll work a bit of chemistry and magic over the course of 55-65 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Learn a little more and take part in some banana bread discussions here at Squidoo!

Preserving the Harvest: Pickled Peppers

Extended Shelf Life: Fresh Banana Peppers (?)

It's possible the man came home with a box full of small peppers and I may have got a bit excited at the possibilities since it was canning season and all... So, I went on a happy-go-lucky internet search and came across this recipe at My Man's Belly -- what happened next was spicy, tangy, delicious and perfect for sandwiches!

Ingredients/Directions:

You need a lot of peppers...I just sliced and shoved peppers into jars until I ran out of peppers, which ultimately occurred way too soon ^^ Throw 12 garlic clove halves (that means you'll need 6 garlic cloves) into the jar with the peppers. In a small saucepan bring 1 1/2 cups Water,1 1/2 cups distilled White Vinegar and 4 tsp. Salt to a boil over medium high heat. Remove from heat and pour over your peppers until they are all fully submerged. Cover and let set overnight, refrigerate and enjoy for the next 2 weeks (or more if you're a slow-eater/non-expiration-date-worrying-type-person).

Pear Cobbler

Extended Shelf Life for: Pears

Frankly, I do not like pears. I like Asian pears, the big ole pears that look like apples and abound during the fall and winter in places like South Korea, but Bartlett pears...not so much.They're just too grainy.

Not to mention, when we dive pears, they just look a little rough and I have a hard time biting into them. But I have no problem skinning and slicing them and making a nice pear cobbler on a cool fall evening!

Ingredients/Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 F.

Prepare cobbler topping by stirring together 1 cup Flour, 2 Tbsp. Sugar, 1 1/2 tsp. Baking Powder, 1/4 tsp. Salt and 1/2 tsp. Cinnamon. Cut in 1/4 cup butter with a pastry cutter, fork or two knives. 

In a large sauce pan stir 6 cups sliced and peeled Pears, 1/3-1/2 cup Sugar (to taste) and 1 Tbsp. Lemon Juice, bring to a boil. Stir occasionally once fruit begins to release it juices. Reduce heat and simmer, covered, about five minutes until fruit is tender. Combine 2 Tbsp. Cornstarch with 1 Tbsp. Water, stir into filling and cook until thickened.

In a small bowl, stir together 1 egg and 1/4 cup milk. Add to flour mixture and stir until just moistened.

Fill 2-quart baking dish with filling before spooning dough on top of filling. Bake 20-25 minutes or until top is golden brown. Let cool for about an hour. Serve with ice cream or at least enjoy with good friends you haven't seen in a long time!

Roasted Eggplant and Carmelized Onion Pasta

Extended Shelf Life for: Eggplant, Onions, Parsley and Basil

Living this semi-freegan/living-in-a-foreign-land-with-random-ingredient has taught me a few tricks, such as nearly anything can be made into a pasta dish ^^

When we ended up with a large supply of eggplants I worked some magic and made a variety of Eggplant dishes such as Eggplant M'saa'a, Chinese Style Eggplant and Potatoes, and a simple Eggplant Tomato Pasta dish. Being completely honest, out of the two pasta dishes (the one I'm about to share and that Eggplant Tomato dish you have a link to), the latter was my preference. Regardless, knowing how to make any random set of ingredients into dinner is a skill that cannot be replaced, so if you happen to have surplus onions and an eggplant lying around, this just might work for you!

Ingredients/Directions:

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Prick your eggplant with a fork (to prevent explosions) and place on the oven rack for about 30 minutes until it's tender. Scoop out eggplant pulp and mash with a work, season with olive oil, salt and pepper. While eggplant is roasting, slice one large onion and saute in 2-3 Tbsp. of melted butter. Stir frequently for 15-20 minutes until onions are golden and delicious. Meanwhile, bring water to boil for choice of pasta, I used penne pasta for my dish. Mix onions and eggplant together season with fresh parsley and basil, mix in pasta, serve as is or top with shredded Italian cheeses and bake for 15-20 minutes at 350 until cheese is melty and browned.