summer bean salad

Summer's not over yet and, thusly, here's a great recipe for Summer Bean Salad from a little booklet put out by Progresso Foods called Today's Italian Touch.  Since it was published in 1992, it could also be called Yesterday's Italian Touch -- the recipe is a classic, however, with a nice, healthy contrast of flavors.

Summer Bean Salad

1/2 cup Progresso Olive Oil
1/4 cup Progresso Red Wine Vinegar
1 teaspoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
2 cans (11 ounces each) mandarin orange segments, drained
1 can (19 ounces) Progresso Chick Peas, drained
1 can (19 ounces) Progresso Red Kidney Beans, drained
1/2 medium red onion, cut into matchstick strips
1 green pepper, cut into matchstick strips
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
Lettuce leaves

1.  For dressing, whisk together olive oil, vinegar, sugar and black pepper.

2.  In large bowl, combine oranges, chick peas, kidney beans, onion, green pepper and parsley.

3.  Pour dressing over salad; toss gently

4.  Serve on lettuce leaves.

Makes approximately 7 servings

You can also substitute a bit of the mandarin orange juice for the sugar in the dressing, or a pinch of cumin for the black pepper.

eternally delicious

Plums, Cherries, Apples and Pears
Johann Walter (1604-1674)

edna lewis's in pursuit of flavor

Edna Lewis (1916-2006) was one of America's great chefs, making her way from Virginia to New York to become the celebrated cook at Manhattan's Cafe Nicholson -- after first finding success as a dressmaker/designer and being involved in various political causes.  Later, Edna authored several cookbooks, including In Pursuit of Flavor, many with a focus on the deliciously enduring appeal of Southern cuisine.

The majority of recipes of In Pursuit of Flavor are based on the cooking Edna grew up with in rural Freetown, Virginia, with a sense of season and natural harvests.  Or preserving the best of summer and early autumn, such as her chapter on canning fresh fruits, making jellies/jams, and putting up chutneys and pickles.  There is an unaffected yet timeless savor to these some 200 recipes, like Cheese Custard, Cold Tomato Soup with Basil, Whipped Cornmeal with Okra, Red Rice, Sauteed Chicken with Hominy Casserole, Red Snapper with Olive Mayonnaise, Pan-Braised Spareribs, and Pumpkin with Sauteed Onions and Herbs.  Desserts feature Peach Cobbler, Red Currant Pie, Coconut Layer Cake with Lemon Filling, Pralines, Mincemeat Tarts with Brandy Butter, and homemade ice creams and sherbets.  Anyone who enjoys classic American cooking should investigate this book, which represents Edna's lifelong goal of presenting food at its best, "simply and lovingly prepared."

national cheesecake day

Though there really should be more than one annual National Cheesecake Day, here's a wonderful recipe in honor of this creamy occasion from Good Housekeeping's Comfort Food! Scrumptious Classics Made Easy recipe collection (2011 edition).

Lemon Ricotta Cheesecake 

1 cup graham cracker crumbs
4 tbsps butter or margarine, softened
3 to 4 lemons
1 1/4 cups sugar
1/4 cup cornstarch
2 packages reduced fat cream cheese (neufchatel), softened
1 container (15 ounces) part-skim ricotta cheese
4 large eggs
2 cups half and half or light cream
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 375 deg.  Wrap the outside of a 9-inch springform pan with heavy-duty foil to prevent batter leaking.

In pan, mix graham cracker crumbs and butter with fork until crumbs are moistened.  With hand, press mixture firmly onto bottom of pan.  Bake crust 10 minutes.  Cool on wire rack for about 15 minutes.

Reset oven to 325 deg.  From 2 lemons, grate 2 teaspoons peel and squeeze 1/3 cup juice.  In small bowl, stir together sugar and cornstarch until blended. In a large bowl, with mixer on medium speed, beat cream cheese and ricotta until smooth, about 4 minutes.  Slowly beat in sugar mixture.  Reduce mixer speed to low; beat in eggs, half and half, vanilla, and lemon peel and juice until just blended, scraping bowl often with rubber spatula.

Pour batter onto crust.  Bake 1 hour.  Turn off oven; let cheesecake remain in oven for 1 hour.

Remove cake from oven.  To help prevent cracking as the cake cools, run a knife between edge of cake and pan.  Cool cake in pan on wire rack for 2 hours.  Cover and refrigerate until well chilled, at least 6 hours.

To serve, remove foil and side of pan and place cheesecake on plate.  Cut 8 very thin lemon slices for garnish.  Makes 16 servings, about 300 calories each.  (Good Housekeeping tip for perfect servings of cheesecake--that don't stick to your knife--dip knife into warm water and wipe dry before cutting each slice.)

[Image from Wikimedia Commons]

sunset cook taste savor

Sunset Magazine spotlights living in the American West, and this collection of recipes is a vivid celebration of the many wonderful, natural ingredients that region has to offer.  Boosted by the plentiful bounty of California and the Pacific Northwest, among the sixteen featured base ingredients are artichokes, berries, avocados, citrus, tomatoes, apples, cheeses, New Mexico chiles, mushrooms, coffee, dried fruit and nuts. Sample recipes include Mango Chicken Boats with Macadamia Nuts (endive leaves form the tiny boats), White Wine Coq au Vin, Zinfandel Risotto with Roasted Beets and Walnuts, Warm Dates with Soft Blue Cheese and Prosciutto, Mushroom Pate, Orange and Basil Mussels, Heirloom Tomato Soup, Spicy Watermelon Salad, Fig Gingerbread, Tangerine Olive Oil Cake and Blackberry Chocolate Chunk Ice Cream.  And many more, grouped by the featured ingredient and accompanied by some enticing photos.

This quick and fairly simple recipe is Sunset's Raw-Spiced Applesauce, which as the book recommends can be made for breakfast, as a snack, or even a light dessert -- or served alongside Cook Taste Savor's White Cheddar Sage Popovers:

4 unpeeled Red Delicious apples (about 1 and 1/4 lbs.), cored and cut into small chunks
1/2 tsp orange zest
2 tbsp fresh orange juice
1/4 tsp ground cardamom
1/8 tsp cinnamon
Pinch kosher salt
1/4 cup plain low-fat Greek yogurt
1/4 cup chopped toasted pecans

Combine all ingredients except yogurt and pecans in a food processor and whirl until smooth (bits of peel will be visible), 3 to 5 minutes, scraping down sides of bowl if necessary.  Divide among 4 bowls and top each with a dollop of yogurt and pecans.

easy americana

For July 4th and from All-American Meals (Haystack Media Pub.), here's a recipe that's about as easy and cheesy as American cooking gets:

Smoked Turkey Crescents

8 oz pkg. refrigerated crescent rolls
3 tablespoons prepared ranch salad dressing
1/2 lb. deli-style smoked turkey, sliced thinly
8 thin slices Gruyere cheese (about 2 x 4")

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Place the pastry/crescent roll pieces on a large baking sheet. Spread the ranch dressing on the pastry and top each with smoked turkey slices.  Layer the cheese on top of the turkey and roll each pastry, beginning at the widest end.  Bake for about 25 minutes or until browned and heated through.

(For a veggie version, substitute fresh heirloom tomato slices for turkey in each roll.) 

American Heart Association's Low-Salt Cookbook

Low-salt eating may seem like a culinary prison people get sentenced to by their doctors in order to stabilize an unhealthy diet, but there really isn't any reason why you can't be more proactively salt-conscious without sacrificing variety and taste.  The American Heart Association has several editions of its Low-Salt Cookbook series, but the one from 2006/2007 (3rd Edition) features a particularly diverse selection of recipes.  There are nutritional and psychological tips to help transition into better eating patterns, along with healthier, natural salt/seasoning substitutes and flavor enhancers.

Recipes include Potato Skin Nachos and Red Bell Pepper Crostini, Melon-Berry Kebabs and Horseradish and Dill Sour Cream Dip among the Appetizers and Snacks; Gazpacho, Minestrone, Corn and Green Chile are among the Soups (there are also recipes for making your own lower sodium Beef, Chicken and Vegetable stock base broths); Salads and Salad Dressings include Spicy Shrimp Salad, Asian Brown Rice and Vegetable Salad, Summer Pasta Salad, Southwestern Black-Eyed Pea Salad, Red Potato Salad, Ranch Dressing with Fresh Herbs and Cider Vinaigrette; and then there are plenty of seafood (like Pecan Crusted Catfish with Zesty Tartar Sauce), poultry (e.g., Blackberry and Balsamic Chicken), beef (e.g., Sirloin with Red Wine and Mushroom Sauce) and vegetarian (Crustless Garden Quiche, Eggplant Lasagna, Fettuccine Alfredo) offerings.

The cookbook also has chapters for Breads and Breakfast Dishes and a nice assortment of desserts, such as Denver Chocolate Pudding Cake, Caramel Flan, Deep-Dish Cherry Pie and Strawberry Banana Sorbet.  And because condiments tend to be high in sodium or if low in sodium they tend to be lacking in zing, there are recipes for homemade ketchup, chili sauce, barbecue sauce, tartar sauce, mustard and mayonnaise that -- as the book suggests -- may make you "wonder why you ever bought the bottled kind."