Avocado Salsa

This recipe was developed because all the ingredients were sitting on my kitchen counter. We love this salsa with breakfast, and it’s a flavorful way to get your vegetables with the first meal of the day. It’s especially good to give flavor and texture to accompany things that tend to be a bit on the bland or textureless side.
It doesn’t carry over well so you need to eat it pretty soon after making it, no problem at my house

2 ripe avocados
1 Tablespoon lemon juice (or lime)
3 Roma tomatoes, diced (if using other type of tomatoes, drain off excess juice)
1/4 cup onion, finely diced
Chopped cilantro to taste
1 medium hot fresh jalapeno, diced (or roasted green chili)
salt & pepper
olive oil

Halve the avocados, remove the seeds and remove the peel. Finely dice the avocado and sprinkle on lemon juice to prevent it from darkening. Add the diced tomato, onion, cilantro and jalapeno and gently toss together. Sprinkle with salt and pepper if desired. Drizzle olive oil over top.

We love this salsa with grits, eggs, tamale pie, and on on a tostada. Serves 2 at my house. If you don’t have fresh peppers, canned jalapenos are good, too. Frozen Albuquerque Tortilla Company Autumn Roast chiles are also heavenly.

Squash with Tomatoes, Onion, and Peppers

I used this recipe a lot when we lived on the farm and I had an abundance of all the ingredients in my garden. Dad lived on the farm with us at one time, and he would come in mid-morning and ask, “What’s for lunch?” I’d say, “I don’t know, Dad, what sounds good to you?” He always replied, “Squash!” and I would make this dish for him.

2 cups squash, quartered lengthwise and cut into 3/4 inch slices
1/2 onion, chopped
1 large tomato, diced
1 bell pepper, diced, (or jalapenos if you want some spice)
1 teaspoon sugar
2 chicken bouillion cubes (not needed if you cook in chicken broth)
salt and pepper to taste

Place prepared vegetables into a saucepan; add water or chicken broth to cover and remainder of ingredients. Bring to a gentle boil over medium low heat and cook until tender. Don’t overcook! Vegetables are best when cooked to tender but not beyond.

Hope you’re getting some of these in heaven, Dad!

Mema’s Dublin potato salad

This potato salad is a welcome change from potato salads that have the consistency of mashed potatoes. The celery seed and mustard seed give welcome texture and the cabbage adds a flavor I love. In her later years when Jo Ann and I cooked the family dinners and Marguerite asked what she could bring, we often requested this dish because it can be made the day before and gets better with time.

2 Tablespoons vinegar
1 teaspoon celery seed
1 teaspoon mustard seed
3 potatoes, cubed and boiled
2 teaspoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups finely shredded cabbage
1/4 cups chopped pickle
1/4 cup onion
1 cup salad dressing
1/4 cup milk
1/2 teaspoon salt

Combine vinegar, celery seed and mustard seed and set aside.

While potatoes are warm, drizzle with vinegar mixture. Sprinkle with sugar and first 1/2 teaspoon salt. Chill. Before serving, add cabbage, pickle and onion. Combine dressing, milk and second 1/2 teaspoon salt. Pour over mixture and toss.

Hard cooked eggs are good to add.

Sweet Potato Apple Casserole

I prefer this sweet potato dish to the traditional marshmallow topped dish for the holidays. The natural sweetness of the potatoes is contrasted with the tartness of the apples, and honey or brown sugar further sweeten just as far as you want to go with sweetness. Toasted pecans on top add to the fall harvest flavors and add some needed texture.

8 large sweet potatoes
large pot for boiling
water to cover

Cook sweet potatoes until nearly done. They will be cooked two more times so don’t overcook at this stage. Pour out water, and run cold water over them to cool. When cool, remove from pan, and peel and slice the potatoes in about 1/4 inch slices.

3 – 4 Sliced Granny Smith Apples, peeled
Butter as needed
Large saute skillet

Saute sliced potatoes in butter. Saute apple slices. Layer in large oiled casserole (9X12).

Top with:

Chopped nuts, toasted (pecans preferred)
brown sugar and/or honey
Cinnamon

Cover with foil and bake at 325 for 45-50 minutes.

Hatch Potatoes Au Gratin

I made these for Easter dinner.  That is not why this is called “Hatch Potatoes Au Gratin”, but it does fit nicely with the whole Easter theme!  I used Hatch Green Chiles to spice this up, which we adore – the dish was creamy, cheesy and spicy (the perfect flavor combination as far as I’m concerned).  The chiles can, however, be left out if you want a more traditional approach.

1 1/2 – 2 pounds potatoes (any kind, peeled or unpeeled, whatever your preference is)
3 cups milk, or half and half, or heavy cream
3 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons flour
1 1/2 cups cheese (I used cheddar)
3/4 cup roasted Hatch green chiles (optional)
white pepper/pepper/salt

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Wash potatoes (peel them if you want) and thinly slice. 

In a saucepan, melt the butter and whisk in the flour (yes, you start with a roux, but this will be a very light roux).  Stir constantly for a few minutes until the flour is a very light golden brown.  Add the milk/half and half/heavy cream, whisk constantly until mixture starts coming to a boil and thickens, about 5-10 minutes.  Add cheese and green chiles, continue stirring until cheese is melted and sauce is thickened and creamy.  Season to taste with white pepper and salt.

Spray a casserole pan with non-stick spray.  Place 1/3 of the potatoes in a layer in the pan and lightly salt them.  Pour 1/3 of the cheese sauce over the first layer.  Repeat layers two more times, ending with sauce on top.  Bake for 1 hour, check potatoes for doneness, continue baking if needed.

Variations:
There are lots of things that could be done with this recipe.  Be creative with the kinds of cheese you use – try gruyere, colby jack, jarlsberg, swiss – or a combination of several kinds, e.g. 1 cup chedder plus 1/2 cup fresh parmesean – the possibilities are endless.  Jalapenos would be a good substitute for the green chiles.  So would sun-dried tomatoes.  You can also turn this dish into macaroni and cheese simply by substituting cooked macaroni for the potatoes (layer in the same method as described for the potatoes).

Oven Roasted Broccoli

I could eat this every day. Sometimes I do. There is something about the oven roasting that perfectly complements the broccoli. And this is a very healthy recipe. It is also very good left over but I don’t recommend bringing it to work to heat in the microwave. Talk about a stink bomb (but it was still delicious). Actually it was kind of funny to see every single person that walked into our area stop abruptly and state “WHAT IS THAT SMELL?”. I think I’ll bring some to work tomorrow mwuah-ha-haha-HAAA.

Fresh Broccoli, cut into flowers (I like to buy it at Costco by the bag, precut, prewashed)
Olive oil
Fresh Parmesan Cheese
Lemon

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place broccoli in single layer on cookie sheet and drizzle with olive oil. Place in oven and roast for about 15 minutes, broccoli will start to get little browned edges, this is how you want it! Remove from oven and top with freshly ground parmesan cheese and squeeze 1/2 – 1 lemon over. Salt/pepper to taste.

Easy, and incredibly good.