Saturday, June 10, 2006

Strawberry Sauce

This sauce is so easy it's almost a crime. I'll try it with peaches, too.


Strawberry Sauce
Originally uploaded by Food Fanatic.

1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup water
1 Tablespoon lemon juice
3 Tablespoons butter or margarine
2 cups strawberries, halved


In a medium skillet, combine the sugar, water and lemon juice. Heat on medium, stirring constantly, until the sugar is dissolved. Add the butter. Stir well until melted. Mix in the strawberries. Heat through, but do not cook.

http://www.gardenguides.com

For The Lancaster News

Friday, June 09, 2006

Ham Snowpeas Teriyaki Salad

This is one of my favorite summer salads. It works for the kids too, because it has deli ham in it. My kids will eat big salads for supper but they always feel a little ripped off if there is no meat for supper.


Ham, Snowpeas & Teriyaki Salad
Originally uploaded by Food Fanatic. Salad
6 cups torn salad greens
1/2 lb deli ham or other meat, thinly sliced and cut into strips
1-2 cups snow pea pods
1 red bell pepper, cut into thin strips
1/3 cup sliced green onions
1/2 cup chow mein noodles


Dressing
2 tablespoons honey
2 tablespoons teriyaki sauce
2 tablespoons orange juice
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes


Trim the ends and strings from the snow peas. Blanch them by placing them in boiling water for 1 minute. Drain and rinse with ice water.
Place the salad greens on a serving platter. Top with deli meat, snow peas, bell pepper and green onions. Drizzle the salad dressing over the salad. Top with chow mein noodles.


Note: Kids may not care for teriyaki dressing. For them, serve the salad undressed, with dressing choices and noodles on the side.
Adapted from Pillsbury’s “Fast and Health Magazine,” July/August 1997

For The Lancaster News

Thursday, June 08, 2006

Citrus Vinaigrette

This dressing is truly my own. I like vinaigrettes but not usually the bottled varieties. For a feature on spring salads I decided to try to find an orange vinaigrette recipe to offset the Green Goddess dressing I planned to include. I found one on About.com, but it just really lacked "zip." So I added some Dijon mustard. Well of course then it needed a little more of this and a little more of that...and before I knew it, I'd changed every ingredient.


Citrus Vinaigrette
Originally uploaded by Food Fanatic.

1/2 cup orange juice
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tablespoon minced scallions
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 tablespoons canola oil, or light olive oil (do not use extra-virgin olive oil)
Freshly-ground black pepper
2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
1 teaspoon brown sugar

Combine all the ingredients in a jar and shake thoroughly. Keep refrigerated.

Karen Paulson for No Food Left Behind

For The Lancaster News

Wednesday, June 07, 2006

Strawberry Pie

Strawberry season is nearly over here in the Carolinas. We are ready to start focusing on peaches. But I know in Minnesota strawberries are probably just starting to ramp up.


Strawberry Pie
Originally uploaded by Food Fanatic.

2 (9-inch) unbaked pie crusts
1 cup white sugar (or slightly less)
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
5 Tablespoons cornstarch
4 cups fresh strawberries, cut into chunks
2 Tablespoons butter, cut into small pieces
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.


Line a 9-inch pie pan with one crust. Mix together the sugar, flour and cornstarch. Add the mixture to the strawberries, stirring gently but thoroughly. Pour the filling into the pastry-lined pan and dot with butter pieces.
Cover with the second pie crust. Seal the edges and cut slits in the top.
Bake for 35-45 minutes, or until the crust is slightly browned.


Recipe courtesy Don McCorkle

For The Lancaster News

Tuesday, June 06, 2006

Salad with Green Goddess Dressing

Yes, it has anchovies in it. But you really don't know that is what you are tasting. I kept this in the refrigerator for about a week with good results. It was great with pretzels dipped in it, too.

1 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup sour cream
1/4 cup minced scallions
1/4 cup minced parsley
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
3 anchovy fillets, rinsed, patted dry, and minced
Salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste


Stir all the ingredients together in a small bowl until well blended. Taste and adjust seasonings. Use immediately or store in the refrigerator.


From the “All New, All Purpose Joy of Cooking,” by Irma S. Rombauer, Marion Rombauer Becker and Ethan Becker.

For The Lancaster News

Monday, June 05, 2006

Peanut Butter Trail Mix Bars

I included this recipe in a feature I did for the paper about summer snacks. They are very good, but rather high in calories for the size bar you get. So I'm pretty certain the kids were consuming almost 500 calories a day in these things as they ate 3 or 4 of them at a time.

3 cups crispy rice cereal
3 cups toasted oat cereal
1 1/2 cups raisins
1/2 cup sunflower seeds, roasted
1 cup honey
3/4 cup granulated sugar
16 ounces natural peanut butter
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips


Combine cereal, raisins, sunflower nuts and chocolate chips in a large bowl. Set aside.
In a medium saucepan, combine honey and sugar. Heat over medium, stirring constantly, until it starts to boil. Boil and stir for 1 minute. Remove from heat.
Stir in peanut butter and vanilla, mixing until the peanut butter is completely melted.
Add the peanut butter mixture to the dry ingredients in the bowl. Stir gently until well-mixed.
Press into a greased 15x10 baking pan. Allow to cool completely. Cut into 1 1/2 inch bars.
Makes 60 bars
119 calories, 5 g fat (40% calories from fat), 16 g carbohydrates, 1 g dietary fiber.
Recipe from Smuckers® All Natural Peanut Butter

For The Lancaster News