Grape and Cucumber Salsa

This is full of great recipes. It is organized monthly, like the magazine, which makes it fun to browse through at different times of the year looking for seasonal recipes. But there's also a great complete index, allowing you to look up things by menu, title, month--or a complete general index allowing you to look things up by major ingredient or column.

The other night I was in the mood for total summer food. That to me means an easy barbecue. But I like lots of variety on the table, little bits of this or that. I decided to barbecue some chicken and marinated some bone-in chicken breasts in a mixture of 1 part port, 1 part mustard, salt and pepper. Hardly "cheap" but definitely good! I've been playing more with mustards lately, getting away from my typical chicken marinade of soy sauce, garlic, and ginger. I thought some salsas would be fun, even though I wasn't planning on doing burritos or anything. So I made two recipes from the Cooking Light 2003 book. Both of them are great! One is typical, basically a tomato salsa with chopped avocado. The other I thought was fairly unique: a grape and cucumber salsa. Oh my! This was heavenly. I followed the recipe the first night, then doctored it the next by adding more cucumber and more cilantro. Here's the adjusted recipe:

1 cup seedless green grapes, quartered
1 cup seedless red grapes, quartered
1 cup English cucumber, diced
1/4 cup or more Vidalia or other sweet onion, diced
2 Tbs lime juice
2 Tbs chopped fresh cilantro
1/2 - 1 Tbs finely diced seeded Jalapeno pepper
salt to taste (start with 1/8 of a teaspoon)

Chop and mix everything together. Chill at least an hour, stirring occasionally.

Goes great with grilled chicken or steak, either plain or in burritos.

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Beef Hash

This is a great way to use up leftover roast beef, flank steak, whatever you have around. If you plan ahead, save some gravy for this. You could even throw some chopped meat and gravy in the freezer and make this much later. I didn't have leftover gravy but mixed up some of the "instant" gravy from a dry mix.

4 potatoes, peeled, and diced
1-2 cups leftover chopped beef
1 cup gravy
1 onion, diced
salt and pepper to taste

If the potatoes are raw, start to brown them in some olive oil and butter. If you want details, see my post on sauteed potatoes. If you're using leftover potatoes, just dice them and then add the other ingredients.

Add the beef, gravy, and onion to the potatoes and cook until browned, stirring now and then. Taste and add salt and pepper as needed.

Pulled Pork

We're having a neighborhood barbecue here tonight. In addition to the usual hamburgers and hot dogs, I wanted to serve some pulled pork sandwiches. I have a great recipe that takes a bit of mixing and measuring and I wasn't quite up to all that today, since I have a host of side dishes I want to be making as well. I skimmed through my Desperation Entertaining! book, which had somehow not been looked at since last summer! Their suggestion was to put the pork roast in the crocokpot, dump a bottle of barbecue sauce on it, and cook till it falls apart. Sounds easy enough and since I'd picked up some store-bought barbecue sauce for $1 a bottle recently it counts as pretty frugal too.

Index

Beef

Beef Kebobs
Beef and Tomato Kebobs
Crockpot Beef Roast with Onion Soup and Soda
Cranberry Pot Roast (crockpot)
Hamburgers
Hamburgers #2
Hash
London Broil Marinade
London Broil Marinade #2
Marinades
Meatballs with Mushroom Cream Sauce
Spaghetti wtih Meat Sauce
Tacos (with Boiled Ground Beef)

Chicken/Poultry

Chicken Pot Pie
Chicken Strips
Chicken in Sherry Cream Sauce
Indian Butter Chicken
Lemon-Garlic Chicken Thighs
Middle Eastern Chicken Soup
Paprika Chicken
Roasted Whole Chicken Marinated with Mustard and Lemon
Sports Night Casserole
Teriyaki Chicken Thighs

Fish

• Broiled Salmon
• Salmon with Peach-Tomato Salsa
• Tuna Melts

Beans

Black Bean Mole
Coconut Rice with Red Beans
Dressed up Canned Beans
Pinto Beans
Refried Beans

Leftovers

Corn Fritters
Creamed Turkey with Cheese
Fried Rice with pork,
Pizza
Chicken or Turkey Enchiladas
Vegetable Soup

Pork

Baked Pork Chops with Pickle Juice
Brined and Fried Pork Chops
Fried Rice with Pork
Pulled Pork in the crockpot
Polenta with Sausuage

Vegetarian

Tofu Curry with Red Peppers and Spinach

Pasta and Pizza

Easy Alfredo Sauce
Marinara Sauce with Fresh Tomatoes
Pasta or Pizza Sauce
Spaghetti wtih Meat Sauce
Tomato with Basil and Onion on Pasta

Miscellaneous

Chalupas
Chimichurri Sauce (Parsley and Garlic)
Welsh Rarebit (cheese sauce on toast)
Steak Marinades

Sides

Asparagus, Roast
Bean and Corn Mélange
Black Bean Mole
Cauliflower, Carrots, & Zucchini
Chimichurri Sauce
Cooked Carrots
Corn Fritters
Fried Cauliflower
Grape and Cucumber Salsa
Peach-Tomato Salsa
Pinto Beans for Soup or Refried Beans
Potato Pancakes
Potatoes Romanoff
Rice
Refried Beans
Sauteed Corn
Sauteed Spinach
Summer Squash Casserole #1
Summer Squash Casserole #2
Tomato Salsa
Tomato, Basil, and Onion Salad

Soups

Black Bean Soup
Cold Avocado Soup
Creamy Lentil Soup
Leek and Potato Soup
Middle Eastern Chicken Soup

Desserts

Applesauce 7-Up Jello
Banana Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
Chocolate Chip Squares
Chocolate Pudding Cake
Cookies from Leftover Cereal
Fried Dough

Breakfasts

• Blueberry Pancakes
• Cornmeal Mush
• Eggs Benedict
• Fried Dough
• Tomatoes for Breakfast

Tuna Melts

First, you have to decide whether you're making these for kids or grownups! My kids' version is fairly simple. Figure on about 4 servings per 12 ounces of tuna. Drain the tuna and add enough mayonnaise to moisten, mixing it up well with a fork and breaking up all the big chunks.

Spread the tuna on English muffins, bagels, or toast. You can toast the bread first lightly if you like. Top the tuna mix with a slice of cheddar cheese and broil until melted.

The grownup versions can include sauteed diced onion and celery, capers, sliced olives, and whatever else you think might taste good! Then follow the same directions. There was one recipe I tried that I really liked that had you saute onions and celery, then add the tuna, some cottage cheese, and mayonnaise and warm up before topping your bread.

I'd love to hear anyone's else's variations of tuna melts. Tuna is one of the least expensive forms of protein around, keeps indefinitely in the pantry (always a hit for emergency dinners!), and is fairly kid-friendly.

Beef Kebobs

The other week London Broils were on sale, buy 1 get 1 free. I threw one in the freezer, intending to use it up soon. Today I defrosted it for a few minutes, so it was still partially frozen, and then cut it into 1 1/2" cubes. It's easier cut meat up when it's still partially frozen. Then I marinated it.

2 Tbs vinegar (rice wine vinegar if you have it)
2 Tbs soy sauce
1 Tbs oil (canola or olive)
1 Tbs sugar
3 cloves minced garlic
1/4 tsp salt

If you like it spicy, add some hot chili sauce to the marinade.

Marinade the meat for a few hours.

Thread skewers, alternating with choice of vegetables. This goes great with some combination of:

red peppers, cut in 1/8ths
green peppers, cut in 1/8ths
onion wedges, cut in 1/8ths
mushrooms
star fruit

Cook over hot coals for 8-10 minutes, turning kebobs frequently. Goes great with rice.

Barbecued Hamburgers

There's nothing like barbecued burgers in the summer! Sometimes I just pat the meat into patties but I like to add a few things for flavor. In general, I mix the meat up, pat into burgers about 1/2 inch thick.

Tonight we did:

1 pound burger
3 Tbs or so of barbecue sauce
3 Tbs or so of grated Parmesan cheese

My usual mixture is:

1 pound ground beef, 80 or 85 percent lean
1 egg
1/2 to 3/4 cup breadcrumbs
1 Tbs horseradish
1 Tbs or ketchup
1 tsp or so mustard

I noticed these burgers did not hold together as well, with a few splitting open on the grill. I think the egg and bread crumb mix holds them together better, just like a meatloaf. But the barbecue sauce and Parmesan tasted good. Next time I might mix it with the egg and bread crumbs as well.

I remember trying a recipe once that had red wine in with the hamburger and another that had some Cajun seasonings. Anyone got a favorite hamburger mix to share?