Fresh Corn Salad

28 oz bag frozen corn (or 5 cobs fresh corn)

1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved or quartered

1 orange bell pepper, diced

1 green pepper, diced

1/2 red onion, sliced into thin half moons

1 can black beans (optional)

1 package feta (or 1 block white cheese, cubed)

3 Tbsp fresh basil, chopped

3 Tbsp red wine vinegar

salt & pepper to taste

Thaw corn in a colander under cool running water and drain well. Put corn into a large bowl and add tomatoes, peppers, onion, beans (if using), cheese, and basil. Add red wine vinegar and stir. Add salt and pepper to taste.

If using corn on the cob:

Preheat grill to medium. Soak corn (in husks) in water for 10-20 minutes. Grill corn for 15 minutes, turning frequently. (The husks will get dry, brittle, and black in places - check often to make sure they don't catch fire!) Remove from grill, remove husks, and cut corn off the cob into a large bowl. You can boil the corn instead of grill it if you'd like.

Serves 8+ as a side dish.

Sweet Potato Shepherd's Pie

For Potatoes:
3 medium sweet potatoes
1/4 cup low fat milk
1 Tbsp butter
salt & pepper

For Filling:
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 chopped onion
2 carrots, peeled and diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 1/2 pounds ground beef, 93% lean
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 cup tomato sauce
2 tsp rosemary
1 tsp thyme
1 cup corn
1 cup peas

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add potatoes and cook until tender, 20 to 30 minutes. Drain in a colander and return to the saucepan. Mash potatoes, then add butter and milk and stir to combine. Set aside.

While potatoes are cooking, prepare the filling. Place the oil into a large saute pan and set over medium high heat. Add the onion and carrots and saute 3 to 4 minutes. Add the garlic and stir to combine. Add the beef, salt and pepper and cook until browned and cooked through. Add the tomato sauce, rosemary, and thyme, and stir to combine. Stir in corn and peas and cook until heated through.

Add the beef mixture to a glass baking dish sprayed with cooking spray. Top with the mashed sweet potatoes, starting around the edges to create a seal to prevent the mixture from bubbling up and smooth with a rubber spatula.

Bake uncovered for 30 minutes. Let stand 15 minutes before serving. Serves 6.

Nutritional info:
Calories: 335
Fat: 13
Carbs: 28
Protein: 27
Fiber: 5

Shortbread Cookies

2 cups butter, softened
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
4 1/2 cups all purpose flour

Preheat oven to 350.

Cream butter and sugar. Add vanilla extract. Add 4 cups flour. Mix well.

Place dough on work surface and knead in remaining flour to make a soft dough.

Roll into 3/4" balls and place on a cookie sheet. Using the bottom of a glass dipped in sugar, flatten each to 1/4" thick.

Bake at 350 for 15 1/2 minutes. Makes 9 dozen small cookies. 50 calories each.

Southwestern Chopped Salad with Creamy Cilantro Lime Dressing

Salad:
Romaine - 1 large head
Black beans - 1 can
Orange bell pepper - 1
Red bell pepper - 1
Cherry tomatoes - 1 pint
Frozen corn - 2 cups
Green onions - 5
Red onion - 1/2

Dressing:
Cilantro - 1 cup chopped
Non-fat plain greek yogurt - 1/2 cup
Lime juice - 2 Tbsp
Olive oil - 1/4 cup
White vinegar - 1 1/2 tsp
Salt - 1/8 tsp
Garlic - 2 cloves
Jalapeño - 1 minced (optional)

Whisk or stir together all dressing ingredients in a small bowl. Finely chop and combine all salad ingredients in a large bowl. Toss with dressing.

Serves 12 as a side.

Per Serving: 122 Calories; 17g Carbohydrates; 5g Fat; 5g Protein; 5g Calcium; 4g Fiber

{modified from The Garden Grazer}

Boilermaker Tailgate Chili

3 pounds extra lean ground beef

4 (15 oz) cans chili beans

2 (28 oz) cans diced tomatoes with green chilis, with juice

1 (6 oz) can tomato paste

1 large yellow onion, chopped

3 stalks celery, chopped

1 green bell pepper, chopped

1 red bell pepper, chopped

4 cubes beef bouillon

1/2 cup beer

1/4 chili powder

1 Tbsp Worcestershire

1 Tbsp minced garlic

1 Tbsp dried oregano

2 tsp ground cumin

2 tsp Tabasco sauce (or other hot pepper sauce)

1 tsp dried basil

1 tsp salt

1 tsp ground black pepper

1 tsp cayenne pepper

1 tsp paprika

Heat a large stock pot over medium-high heat. Cook beef until evenly browned. Drain off excess grease. Pour in chili beans, diced tomatoes, and tomato paste. Add onion, celery, green and red peppers, bouillon, and beer. Season with remaining ingredients. Stir to blend, then cover and simmer over low heat for at least 2 hours, stirring occasionally.

This chili has tons of flavor and is nice and spicy. Perfect on a cold day.

Serves 12.

Nutritional info (per 1.5-2 cup serving):

Calories: 375, Fat: 9g, Carbohydrates: 36g, Fiber: 11g, Protein: 35g

{modified from All Recipes}

Coconut Crusted Chicken

1/2 C extra virgin olive oil (or enough to fill the pan 1/8-1/4" deep)
2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts
2 eggs
1/4 C orange juice (optional)
1/2 C tapioca flour or corn starch
1 C almond meal
1 C finely shredded dry coconut, unsweetened
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp dry onion powder
1 tsp curry powder
1/2 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp salt

Heat olive oil in a large skillet or griddle over medium-high heat.

Cut the chicken into strips or chunks. Beat the eggs and juice in a shallow dish. Put the starch in another shallow dish and then mix the remaining ingredients in yet another shallow dish. Dip each piece of chicken first in the starch, then the egg mix and then into the coconut mix to coat.

Cook the coated chicken pieces in the oil, turning every few minutes until all the sides are golden brown and the chicken is cooked through.

Serve with your favorite Asian dipping sauce- we prefer peanut sauce, which is on the blog.

Serves 6.

Cream Scones

This recipe is almost identical to the scones we usually make. It's written with  volume measurements, which is nice for sharing as well. Recipe from chinesegrandma.com, adapted from The Breakfast Book. Further adapted by me to get them the same size as ours.


Ingredients
scant 2 cups flour, plus additional flour for kneading
1/4 cup sugar
1 tablespoon (3 teaspoons) baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup dried cranberries or other dried fruit (chopped if large)
1/4 cup golden raisins
1 1/4 +/- cups heavy cream

Sugar topping
1 Tbs cream mixed with 1tsp vanilla, for brushing on scones
2 tablespoons sugar (raw/coarse sugar gives a nice crunch if you have it)

Preheat oven to 425 and line you baking sheet with parchment paper or a silpat liner.

In a mixer with the paddle attachment, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and dried fruit (see notes below). Set mixer to a medium speed and slowly add the cream, adding just enough to form a soft dough (for me, this is usually about 1 1/8 cups). 

Roll the dough into a log, about 6" long and cut in half so you have two disks. On a floured surface, pat each disk out to be about 1" thick. Using a bench knife, cut each disk into 6 pieces and place on the prepared baking sheet. Brush each piece with some of the cream mixture (just enough for the top to let the sugar stick-- too much and it will pool on the pan and burn when it's baking). Sprinkle each wedge with sugar.

Bake in preheated oven for 15-17 min, or until golden brown. Cool on a rack. Makes 1 dozen.

{notes} Use any combination of dried fruits, nuts or chocolate chips. Classic scones use currants. You can also mix in things like coconut and add coconut extract to the cream you put on top to make coconut scones. As long as you maintain the ratio of 1/2-3/4 cups (4 ounces by weight for fruit) of add-ins, it should work.

This recipe was written to make 24 mini-scones. You could still do that by making 4 disks and dividing them into 6 a piece. If you do that, bake at 375 for 15 min.

Reheat these in the oven- 250 for about 5 min for the fresh-baked effect.