Fresh Topless Blueberry Pie

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Fresh Blueberry Pie
Fresh Blueberry Pie

Blueberries are in season and are very reasonably priced so it is a good time to make a blueberry pie. I came across a recipe where most of the blueberries were not overly cooked and with a few modifications came up with this recipe. I went with a frozen crust since I have not had a lot of luck with crusts in the past and also it is the most time consuming part. It came out great. The blueberries are juicy and it tastes fresher than the recipes where you cook all the blueberries.

Ingredients

  • 1 frozen Deep Dish pie crust
  • 4 cups blueberries, rinsed
  • 1/2 liquid cup water
  • 2 tablespoons cornstarch and two tablespoons water stirred together
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 2 teaspoons lemon juice
  • 1/8 teaspoon cinnamon
  • Pinch of salt

Directions

Prebake the crust before adding fillings since you will not bake it after filling is added. Measure 1 cup of the blueberries, choosing the softest ones. Place them in a medium saucepan together with the 1/2 cup water. Cover and bring them to a boil. Meanwhile, in a small bowl, whisk together the cornstarch and 2 tablespoons of water.  When the water and blueberries have come to a boil, lower the heat and simmer, stirring constantly for 3 to 4 minutes or until the blueberries start to burst and the juices begin to thicken. Stirring constantly, add the cornstarch mixture, the sugar, lemon juice, and salt. Simmer for a couple more minutes or until the mixture becomes translucent. Immediately remove it from the heat and quickly fold in the remaining 3 cups of blueberries. Spoon the mixture into the baked pie shell and allow to sit at room temperature for at least 2 hours before serving to firm up.

Simple Quinoa Side Dish

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Nutritious Quinoa Side Dish
Nutritious Quinoa Side Dish

Quinoa is hugely popular now since it has lots of protein, is a low glycemic food (good for blood sugar), is gluten free, and is lower in calories than rice. These qualities make it a great side dish. It is very simple to make, here is the recipe I used. You can add onions or other vegetables you like in to jazz it up if you want.

Ingredients

  • 1 cup of Quinoa
  • 2 cups of Vegetable or Chicken Broth

Directions

Put the broth in a saucepan and bring it to a boil. Add in the Quinoa, stir, then cover and lower the temperature to medium low. It will take about 15-20 minutes to cook. Check on it after 10 minutes. You will know it is done when all the liquid is absorbed.

Zesty Pickled Banana Peppers

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Pickled Banana Peppers
Pickled Banana Peppers

My banana pepper plants are starting to produce and I think they taste best when picked. Here is what I did with them and they came out great.

Ingredients
  •  banana peppers (about 10)
  • 1 cups white vinegar (5% acidity)
  • 1/2 cup water
  • 2 tablespoon kosher salt
  • 1 teaspoon sugar
  • 1 garlic clove per jar, minced
Directions
Slice banana peppers into rings 1/4-inch thick.  Fill pint mason jar with banana peppers. Add minced garlic to each jar. Heat the vinegar, water, salt, and sugar and stir until completely dissolved. Boil for about 3 minutes then pour with peppers and garlic. Screw on lid and when cooled put into the fridge. In a day or two they should be ready.

Simple Healthy Eggplant Curry

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Spicy Eggplant Curry
Spicy Eggplant Curry

Eggplants are in season and my garden is producinga lot of them. So, to enjoy them in an easy to  make dish, I came up with this easy to make curry.

Ingredients

  • 1 black eggplant or 2 Asian eggplants chopped into 1/2  inch cubes.
  • 1/2 large onion chopped in 1/2 to 1inch pieces
  • 1 very ripe tomato or 1 6 oz can of tomato sauce
  • 2 tbsp Olive oil
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp red. pepper flakes
  • 1 tsp garam masala
  • l  tsp cumin seed
  • 1/2 tsp turmeric
  • 2 doves garlic finely chopped

Directions

Heat pan till hot. Add olive oil and cumin seeds and fry till the seeds start to pop. Add onion, garlic and eggplant and fry for about 3 minutes. Now add  in spices and fry for 1 more minute. Add tomato and cook about 15  more minutes till eggplantis cooked and tomato is disintegrated. Add additional salt and pepper flakes as desired. Serve and enjoy.

Healthy Turkish Red Lentil soup

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Healthy Red Lentil Soup
Healthy Red Lentil Soup

This is a easy, quick and. healthy meal. You can make it ahead of time and store it in the fridge an it will last up to 2 weeks.

Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup of Red Lentils
  • 32 oz chicken or vegetable stock
  • 2 tbsp tomato paste
  • 1 tsp cumin
  • 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
  • 1/2 of a large onion finely chopped
  • large carrot finely chopped
  • I tsp salt
  • 4 cloves garlic finely choppe
  • I tbsp olive oil
  • 1  lemon cut into wedges
  • optionally  top with freshly ground pepper and cilantro

Directions

Fry onion, garlic and carrot in the olive oil till translucent, but not browned.  Add in the rest of the ingredients except lemon and bring to a boil, then  reduce heat and simmer until lentils are starting to fall apart. Spoon into serving  bowls an serve with the lemon wedges to squeeze into the soup.

Hearty Quick Chili

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Hearty Homemade Chili
Hearty Homemade Chili

This is a great meal to make and is ready in as little about 45 minutes and it tastes great. You can taste all the individual elements since it is not cooked for a really long time and this makes it have a really fresh taste.

Ingredients

  • 1 lb 0f lean ground beef or vegan beef substitute.
  • 1/3 can of low salt Red Kidney Beams
  • 1/2 onion diced
  • 1/2 bell pepper green or red diced
  • 1 cup water
  • 2 serrano peppers finely diced. Seeds removed for less heat.
  • 4 cloves garlic finely diced
  • 3 tbsp of Chili Powder
  • 1 tbsp tomato paste
  • 1/2 tbsp of cumin
  • 1 tsp of dried oregano
  • 1/2 tsp of cayenne pepper
  • 1/2 tsp of salt
  • 2 tbsp olive oil

Directions

Fry the onions, bell pepper, and garlic in a sauce pan with the olive oil over medium heat till tender (3-4 min). Remove, pour in a bowl and set aside. Brown the meat in the pan with the serrano pepper then add back in the onions, bell pepper, beans, and garlic with about 1 cup of water, all the spices and tomato paste. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for about 30 to 45 minutes. Serve and enjoy.

3 Ingredient Strawberry Ice Cream

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This is really easy to make and is a great fresh ice cream  made with real strawberries and no preservatives that tastes great. Make it while strawberries are still in season.

Ingredients

  • About 15 – 20 med to large strawberries
  • 3/4 cups of heavy cream
  • 4 tbsp of sugar

Directions

Add all ingredients into a blender and blend. You can leave some chunks if you’d like or blend till completely smooth. Chill mixture in the refrigerator for about an hour then freeze in ice cream freezer till it firms up some. Then put in freezer for final firming. Severe and enjoy!

Crunchy Nut Protein Bars

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Nutritious Yummy Nut Protein Bar
Nutritious Yummy Nut Protein Bar

Ingredients

  • 2/3 cup of raw unsalted Walnuts
  • 1/2 cup of unsalted roasted sunflower seeds
  • 1/4 cup of flax seed
  • 2/3 cup of unsalted roasted pumpkin seeds
  • 1/2 cup of raw unsalted almonds
  • 1/2 cup of old fashioned rolled oats (not instant)
  • 2/3 cup of puffed millet
  • 2/3 cup of brown rice syrup
  • 1 tbsp of vanilla extract
  • 1 tsp of cinnamon
  • 1 tbsp of coconut oil
  • Optionally 1 – 3 tbsp of honey or more if you like it sweeter. I didn’t use any since it is very lightly sweet from the brown rice syrup

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Mix all dry ingredients (except cinnamon) in a bowl and wet ingredients and cinnamon in another bowl (microwavable) and stir. Microwave wet ingredients for 1 minute, then pour over the dry ingredients while stirring until evenly incorporated. Now put the mixture into a 9 x 13 baking pan lined w/parchment paper starting from one side and only fill as much of the pan as you need to to get the bars to the thickness desired. Then use another piece of parchment on the top to pack it firmly and form it into the desired shape (Should be a sheet of the mixture about 1″ thick). Bake for 25 minutes, remove, and press down and pack tightly again. Then let cool. When cool it should be hard. Pick up from pan using parchment and cut into bars on a cutting board with a sharp knife.

Hearty Daal Makhani Recipe

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Delicious Daal Makhani
Delicious Daal Makhani

This is a flavorful vegetarian curry and can easily made to be vegan. I like to make it spicy with extra pepper powder and extra hot peppers. It goes great along with naan.

Ingredients

  • 1/3 cup of urad daal
  • 1/3 cup of red kidney beans (rajma)
  • 1/3 cup of channa dal
  • 1 small onion finely chopped
  • 1 tbsp ginger paste
  • 4 oz tomato sauce
  • 4 cloves of garlic smashed and minced into a paste
  • 1 tsp cumin seeds
  • 2 tbsp canola oil
  • 1 tbsp butter (olive oil for vegans)
  • 1/2 to 1 tsp garam masala
  • 1 tsp cayenne pepper
  • 1/2 tsp tumeric powder
  • 1 -2 Serrano pepper minced or finely sliced
  • 2 tbsp minced cilantro (optional)
  • 1/4 cup cream (coconut cream can be used for vegan substitute)
  • water listed in recipe below.

Directions

Soak red kidney beans, urad daal, and channa dal overnight OR add to pan cover with 4″ of water and bring to a boil, remove from heat and cover, then let set for an hour. Then pour off water and add in water to cover by at least 3″ and bring to a boil and then reduce heat and simmer just under boiling for about 2 hours till kidney beans are tender. Strain them, put them in a bowl and set aside. In a frying pan or sauce pan heat pan then add canola oil and cumin seeds and fry till they start to pop. Now add in onion and fry for about 2 minutes, then add garlic and ginger and fry for an addition 2 minutes. Add in dry spices (garam masala, cayenne pepper, tumeric) and fry for another minute, then add tomato sauce and fry for another 3 minutes. Add 1 tbsp of butter (olive oil can be use for vegan substitute) and add back lentils and beans set aside earlier along with 1 cup of water. Smash up the lentils and beans some, stir and cook adding additional water to make into a paste consistency as shown in picture, about 30 minutes stirring occasionally. If you’d like you can sprinkle a little extra garam masala on top and stir in at the end of the cook time along with the cream. Top with cilantro, serve and enjoy.

Delicious Hearty Chili Mac

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Incredible Chili Mac
Incredible Chili Mac

This dish is one of my regulars. I try to make a really large batch, but it always lasts only for 2 meals for 4 people and then it is gone. I like it a little spicier, so if you like it less spicy reduce the red pepper flakes in half. It is pretty quick to make since I adapted it from a slow cooker recipe to something that is finished in about 45 mins.

Ingredients

  • 2 lbs of ground beef (or for vegan/vegetarian ground beef substitute)
  • 1 cup of chopped onion
  • 4 cloves of minced garlic
  • 1/2 teaspoon of salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon of dried oregano
  • 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
  • 1/2 tsp black pepper
  • 2 tbsp chili powder
  • 1 28oz can of crushed tomatos
  • 1/2 box of elbow macaroni boiled in salted water and set aside

Directions

Start macaroni cooking while preparing sauce and drain and set aside when done. Brown and crumble hamburger in a 2 qt saucepan (skip if using vegan/veg substitute and just fry garlic and onion in about 1 tbsp of olive oil and add hamburger substitute with other ingredients). During last part of browning hamburger add in garlic and onions and fry for about 2-3 minutes.  Drain any extra fat if not using lean beef. Add in all other ingredients except macaroni stir and bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for about 25 minutes. Now put some of the cooked macaroni in a serving bowl, top with some sauce stir, then serve and enjoy.