Cucumber, Cherries, Tri-color Mini Peppers, Tomato Salad

The fresh, crisp vegetables and fruits with a light citrus dressing makes this a perfect summer salad. Accompanied by a tall glass of Watermelon Smoothie, this cucumber-cherry-pepper-tomato salad can be a sumptuous summer mid-day meal. Add in a small hunk of Pugliese bread to mop up the dressing and it turns into a feast-of-sorts.

But that is not all. Stir in some plain non-fat beaten yogurt and it turns into a peerless raita to accompany spicy Chicken Paella or Hyderabadi Chicken Biriyani.

Cilantro, mint, tomatoes, and sweet walla walla onions were from the home garden.

Ingredients
cucumber
mini tri-color peppers
pitted fresh cherries
shallot or small walla-walla sweet onion
yellow fresh tomato
cherry or grape red tomatoes
½ serrano chili (de-seeded, if preferred)
1 tsp freshly grated ginger (optional)

roasted sunflower seeds or peanuts for garnish

Asian Light Citrus Dressing:
4 mint leaves, chopped finely
1 Tbsp chopped fresh cilantro leaves
1 tsp mirin
1 tsp rice vinegar
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 tsp sesame oil
a pinch of salt as needed
a dash of ground black pepper to taste

Beet Greens, Beets, Zucchini, Fingerling Potatoes Coconut Curry

The sheer array of vegetables in this Coconut Curry makes it one of my favorites: Beet greens, beets, home-garden round zucchini, fingerling potatoes, carrots, bell peppers, jalapeño, onions, ginger, galangal.

Home-garden round zucchini is yielding moderately. When I saw the first one ready to be harvested, I was all set to use it for stuffed squash recipe, but haven't gotten around to that yet. Meanwhile, the round zucchini gets featured in other recipes anyway.

This quick and easy curry can be flavored Thai style with red or green curry paste, or with Indian style Rohan Josh or Garam Masala paste.

Simmer the vegetables - making sure the vegetables that need the longest to cook go in first, then gradually adding in the other veggies so they are cooked to perfection and not mushy.

Stir in light coconut milk at the end and warm it up, don't let it boil.

Serve warm with brown rice and Sambal and garnished with some roasted peanuts and cilantro.

Kasha Kale Sweet Potato

This simple meal is highly satisfying and quick to make.

1. Start the Kasha in the rice cooker, and if preferred steam the sweet potatoes in the rice cooker simultaneously. Typically,  1 measure  kasha with 2 measures water works,  but adjust water as preferred or use veg. stock or broth instead. 
2. For this recipe, I par cooked the sweet potatoes in the microwave rather than steaming, and then crisped the outsides in a pan, using some olive oil. 
3. Saute the chopped kale with some garlic and onions and a touch of salt and lemon juice if preferred

Carrots Poppy Seeds Flax Bran Muffins

These quick and easy Carrots and Poppy seed muffins make a wonderful breakfast or even an afternoon snack for kids. Especially when baked in a square muffin pan or mini loaf pans.

I vary the ingredients a bit every once in a while - like, add grated zucchini from the garden instead of or in addition to carrots; add some finely chopped rhubarb with the carrots; toss in some chopped dried prunes and some walnuts... the basic muffin recipe remains pretty much the same. (Depending on how many over-ripe bananas I add, I lessen the amount of canola oil.)

Ingredients
¾ cup finely grated carrots, squeezed dry
1 over-ripe banana
¼ cup flax meal
¼ cup wheat bran
1½ cups unbleached white flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 Tbsp poppy seeds
¼ tsp salt
½ tsp pumpkin spice (cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, allspice)
½ cup brown sugar
1 egg
¾ cup canola oil

Preparation

1. Pre-heat the oven to 350° F
2. Combine the ingredients to make a thick batter
3. Grease muffin pan and bake in 350°F oven for about 20 to 25 minutes, checking often after 15 minutes

Kale and Rhubarb Savory Muffin

Kale is another of those super-foods that has been finding its way into our regular meals over the last few years.

Be it Kale Slaw with Red Cabbage, or Kale Dal, or Kale and Chickpea Soup, or, Kale Quiche, or Oven-roasted Crispy Kale, or Kale Mushroom Bell Pepper Stir Fry, or Kale Sambar, or Steamed Kale with Onion and Garlic... Kale recipes are here to stay with us.

Fresh Rhubarb from the garden is hard to resist, I do find excuses to chop up a stalk or two and incorporate it into my usual recipes. That's how this Kale and Rhubarb Savory Muffins came about.

Serve these savory muffins instead of regular dinner rolls, or as snack or breakfast dish, fresh from the oven. I've also refrigerated these for up to 2 days and served after warming them up in the microwave.

Ingredients
veggies:
1/3 cup chopped fresh rhubarb
¼ cup finely minced onion
½ packed cup finely chopped kale
1 Tbsp finely grated ginger

dry:
1 cup unbleached white flour
1/3 cup oat bran
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt (a pinch more if preferred)
½ teaspoon coriander powder
½ teaspoon cumin powder
½ teaspoon ground paprika

wet:
1/3 cup canola oil
2 eggs, beaten lightly
1/3 cup fat free milk


Preparation

1. Combine the dry ingredients in a large bowl
2. Add in the chopped veggies
3. Stir in the wet ingredients, adding the oil and milk a little at a time to form a thick batter
4. Coat a muffin pan with cooking spray, pre-heat the oven to 350°F
5. Spoon the batter into the muffin pan and bake in 350°F for 20 to 25 minutes, checking often after 15 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean
6. Allow to sit in the pan for a 3 to 5 minutes before removing to cool on a wire rack
7. Serve warm, fresh from the oven

Rutabaga and Sweet Potatoes Baked Fries

A quick web search will extol the many virtues of Sweet Potatoes, a nutritional powerhouse. Steamed or boiled, sliced or mashed, with a touch of Olive oil or other favorite fat seems to be the recommended method of preparation for maximum health benefits.

And, Rutabaga seems to have much nutrition to offer as well.

This Rutabaga and Sweet Potato Fries dish comes about on and off in my kitchen as kids seem to like it so far. And, since it is baked, not fried, with a touch of olive oil, it offers a nice option to round out a meal.

Ingredients
1 sweet potato
1 rutabaga
1 medium onion
1 to 2 Tbsp Olive oil
salt to taste
smoked ground paprika (optional)

Preparation

1. Pre-heat the oven to 450°F
2. Chop the sweet potato and rutabaga into uniform sticks, slice the onions thick 
3. Toss the olive oil, salt, paprika with the chopped sweet potato and rutabaga, spread into a single layer in a roasting pan
4. Roast for about 30 to 35 minutes till outsides are crispy and insides are done; check midway and if the onions start charring, remove them
5. Serve warm