BIG zucchinis, First Medium-Sized Tomatoes, Recipes

We have one variety of zucchini (Sweet Zuke) on which the fruits seem to to successfully hide among the stems and leaves of the plants until they get VERY BIG.  You can see a younger one at the top of the photo.  The big ones have lost their gloss, but the skin still seems tender.  You also need a knife to pick this one, as it often breaks at the neck if you're not careful. 

Anybody have a good stuffed zucchini recipe?  Microwave recipes welcome for hot weather.  Otherwise, the big ones are good for zucchini bread and zucchini pancakes, either fancy gluten- and dairy-free ones or make them more like traditional (grated) potato pancakes.    David's Mom uses a little Bisquick with the zucchini.  There are also recipes which add cheese, corn and other ingredients.  A slice of tomato on top might be nice.  Aunt Virginia used to serve sliced tomatoes with (unsweetened) French Toast. Wonderful. 

We've been picking cherry tomatoes, Yellow Perfection and Garden Peach (from purchased plants) for a while now.  Garden Peach is a small, non-shiny pale yellow tomato with a faint "fuzz" that wipes off.  Nice sweet flavor with a little acid, but not too much "tomato" flavor.   Slightly fruity in flavor.

Our first medium-sized tomato, slightly bigger than Yellow Perfection, ripened about May 28.   Fourth of July is the variety.  Makes sense, as it is a very early one.  Tough skin, but easy to peel and nice tomato flavor and red color.  Others followed right away - Big Beef, Aunt Ginny's Purple (actually rosy pink - the name makes me think of Aunt Virginia)  and not-so-giant Belgium Giant.  David says the last one tastes like the tomatoes his grandpa used to grow.  Picked a couple of dark Nyagous with green shoulders, too.  Both had a crack at the shoulder.  Uncharacteristic of this variety.  I was surprised to get them right after Fourth of July, as this is supposed to be a later tomato.  Had some smokey flavor, but Fourth of July had more "tomato" flavor.  

We also got a Little Lucky (yellow and blush bicolor).  Sweet, not too flavorful, but the first tomatoes are often not representative.   I picked an Indian Striped tomato yesterday.  It still had green shoulders, though it can reportedly be picked when it looks ripe, unlike many other dark tomatoes.  It has a crack in the shoulder.  I'll let it sit for a couple of days before we eat it. 

We've had several days at or above 100 degrees already.  There have been some spider mite-related foliage problems already.  Next year, I'll try to start seeds in mid-January and plant them out soon after March 15. 

Bulgur or Quinoa Dressing

Quinoa Dressing garnished with Giant Italian Parsley 

Bulgur Wheat or Quinoa Thanksgiving Dressing  (Serves 4 to 5 as a side dish)

Part 1 
Cook over medium heat:
1 1/2 cups chopped onions
1/2 cup chopped celery with some leaves, in
2 to 4 Tablespoons oil and/or unsalted butter until onions are translucent. 

Add 1 cup medium to coarse bulgur wheat OR 1 cup (washed or prewashed) quinoa and 1 ¾ to 2 cups chicken or vegetable broth, cover tightly, bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes. Let sit off heat for 5 minutes. Taste and carefully adjust salt if necessary. It probably will not need any additional salt if you used salted broth.  

Part 2
Microwave 1/3 cup packed sweetened dried cranberries in 2 Tablespoons orange or apple juice or water, until water simmers. Stir, cover and allow to stand until liquid is absorbed. 

Shortly before serving, fluff warm quinoa with a fork and add softened cranberries, 2 Tablespoons chopped Italian parsley and 4 finely minced young scallions with some of the tender green parts, or some minced chives. Serve.   

Seasoning Tips: 

Bulgur Wheat version:  The original recipe called for 1/4 teaspoon of poultry seasoning, but I leave it out because I want this dressing to taste different from the more traditional dressing on the table. You can add some black pepper with the onions and celery if using bulgur wheat.

Quinoa version:  Try doubling the amount of softened cranberries.

On a day other than Thanksgiving, you can substitute a minced garlic clove or one or two shallots (added with the onion and celery) for the scallions or chives added at the end.

If there is a no-sugar purist coming to dinner, you can leave out the cranberries and garnish the finished dressing with pomegranate arils. 

Quantity Cooking:  

If you will be eating with a crowd where the kitchen will be busy, a quadruple batch of the bulgur wheat version (Part 1) holds nicely for a few hours in a 6 or 7 quart slow cooker or big covered electric skillet set to “warm”. I don’t know how well the quinoa version holds. Add cranberries, parsley and green onion shortly before serving. 

Even after adding Part 2, this dressing re-heats nicely in a microwave.  Great for breakfast the day after Thanksgiving.

 Alternate Grains and Allergy information: 

The quinoa recipe is gluten-free.  I think  a wheat and milk-free alternative with brown rice and maybe a little wild rice, cooked until done but still chewy, would also be excellent.  For a different flavor, try adding some minced green tops from a bulb of fennel and chopping some of the bulb into the dressing, or some fresh tarragon. Consider pressure-cooking brown rice at high altitudes. Or try other grains. Cook enough rice (and/or other grain) in broth to make about 3 1/2 to 4 cups of cooked grain.  Add to cooked onions and celery, add additional liquid if necessary for a moister dressing and proceed as above.    

You're on your own figuring out equivalent amounts of cooked wild rice, millet, amaranth, quinoa, buckwheat or pearled barley (people who react to wheat gluten may not get along with barley, either).   Check basic cooking techniques for these grains online to determine cooking times and the proportions of liquid which will be needed. 

This dish could easily be made VEGETARIAN.  Just use vegetable broth or water instead of chicken broth and use oil rather than butter. 

This recipe can be made free of corn products - check chicken broth and cranberry ingredients. 

Stocking Up, Preparing Bulgur Wheat without Electricity:  
The classic salad made with bulgur wheat, Tabouleh (AKA Tabouli) generally uses bulgur wheat soaked in hot or cold water, then drained before adding other ingredients.  

 In an emergency, even if you had no way to heat food and no fresh veggies, you could serve a salad using similar ingredients by soaking medium bulgur in cold water for one hour (or until hydrated), adding dried celery, parsley and onion (not as much as in this recipe) plus dried cranberries or other dried fruit, desired seasonings, a little oil and lemon juice or vinegar.  Allow to sit until vegetables re-hydrate and flavors blend, stirring occasionally.  Stir in a can of tuna or diced chicken (with the liquid in the can) if you like and serve.

Skillet Lasagna with Shredded Zucchini

Tips and Comments
This recipe is a good way to use zucchini or other summer squash when your plants are producing more than you expected. Shredding the zucchini makes this dish palatable to most people who don't like zucchini because of its texture. (You can only eat so much zucchini bread, another favorite recipe for "sneaking in" some zucchini). And the strong flavors of a tomato-based spaghetti sauce mask the flavor of even the darkest green zucchinis, with the overall effect of making the sauce taste milder.

Some of the extra moisture released from the squash is absorbed by the no-boil lasagna noodles as they cook. If you're too rushed to make lasagna, you can add a little shredded zucchini to almost any chunky pasta sauce. Or use part zucchini and part shredded carrots (for a slightly sweeter taste).

Yellow zucchini or straighneck squash looks especially nice in this recipe. It would also work with steamed and flaked-out strands of spaghetti squash. I prefer immature spaghetti squashes (when the rind can still be easily pierced by a fingernail) to ripe ones when serving with a tomato-based sauces. Even if you like ripe spaghetti squash, there are always a few fruits which don't mature to the hard-rind stage by the end of the season. This would be one good way to use them.

The recipe below makes a lot of lasagna.  If you wanted to halve the recipe, a 9 x 9 inch baking pan or skillet would allow you to use one sheet of noodles per layer of the Ondine noodles.   There are also "no boil" lasagna noodles which look more like the traditional ones, which might be more convenient for this recipe. Or see the 2-layer variation (using only 2 pounds of cottage cheese) at the end of the recipe. It cooks in about 25 minutes after layering the prepared ingredients. It's the one I usually make now.

You could also bake the recipe below in the oven (try 20 minutes at 350 degrees before topping with cheese, or estimate baking time from a recipe on the package of your no-boil lasagna noodles), but it's too hot here to bake right now, so I made it in a big (12 x 16 inch) non-stick electric skillet. I used "no boil" lasagna noodles which came in thin, corrugated sheets, about 8 x 8 inches. I broke them to fit the skillet.  The Ondine brand noodles came with a recipe for vegetable lasagna, with no tomatoes, on the package.  It includes only vegetables, oil, a little cheese, and chicken broth.  The translation wasn't perfect, and I haven't tried it yet.

Ingredients
Vegetable or olive oil
1 large onion, chopped (leave out if kids hate onions)
1 pound very lean ground beef or turkey (optional)
5 to 7 cups coarsely shredded zucchini or other summer squash (remove seeds from really big squashes)
Salt to taste (about 3/4 teaspoon, less if spaghetti sauce or cheese are quite salty)
Freshly ground black pepper to taste
1 large jar (32 ounces) spaghetti sauce

3 pounds (5 1/2 or 6 cups) cottage cheese *
1/4 cup minced fresh scallions or sweet onion
3 to 5 oz. Parmesan or Romano cheese, finely grated
3/4 pound to 1 pound part-skim Mozzarella cheese, grated
No-boil lasagna noodles

Directions
Saute chopped onion in a little oil in the skillet in which you will prepare the lasagna. When onions are translucent and have begun to brown (or caramelize them if you like), add the meat, breaking it up as it cooks. When about half the pink has disappeared from the meat, add the zucchini, salt and pepper and stir into the meat. Cover and allow to cook until the meat is no longer pink and the squash starts to turn translucent .

Adding the zucchini while the meat is partially pink should result in meat which is more tender. If you want the shredded squash to retain more texture in the finished lasagna, add the spaghetti sauce as soon as you add the squash.

Reserve about 1 1/2 cups of spaghetti sauce (to spread over the bottom of the skillet) and mix the remainder into the squash mixture. Allow to simmer for a few minutes, covered. Meanwhile, mix the minced sweet onion or scallions into the cottage cheese, along with 1/2 to 2/3 of the grated Parmesan or Romano cheese.

Spoon squash mixture into a large bowl. Spread reserved spaghetti sauce evenly over the bottom of the skillet. Add a little water to reduce to the consistency of common canned tomato sauce, if necessary.

Place one layer of lasagna noodles over the spaghetti sauce, breaking pieces to fit as necessary. Leave about 1/2 inch between the noodles and around the edges of the skillet.

Working quickly, spoon half of the cottage cheese mixture over the noodles and spread fairly evenly. Sprinkle with about 1/4 of the Mozzarella cheese. Dot with about 1/4 of the squash mixture, and spread it over the cheese layer.

Add a second layer of noodles, perpendicular to the direction you used for the last layer (more or less - don't be too concerned about precision). Working quickly, spread the remaining cottage cheese mixture over the noodles, followed by 1/4 of the Mozzarella cheese and 1/4 of the squash mixture.

Top with another layer of noodles, according to the directions above. Dot with the remaining 1/2 of the squash mixture and spread the mixture to cover all of the noodles.

Cover tightly and simmer (you want some bubbles reaching the top, but not vigorous bubbling) for about 40 minutes, until noodles are cooked through when you test a piece. Mix the remaining Mozzarella and Parmesan or Romano cheeses and sprinkle evenly over the lasagna. Cover and cook for another 5 minutes. (If baking in the oven, do not cover after adding the last layer of cheese). Turn off heat to the skillet but leave it covered, allowing lasagna to rest for 10 minutes. Or remove from oven and allow to rest for 10 minutes. Serve.

* 2-LAYER VARIATION:  I later made this recipe using 2 pounds of cottage cheese and only 2 layers of noodles, leaving the rest of the ingredients about the same.    I reserved plenty of sauce/squash mixture to go over the cottage cheese layer which topped the second layer of noodles.  It cooked faster with only 2 pounds of cottage cheese - in 25 minutes.  I still let it rest, covered, with the heat off, for 10 minutes. The time necessary to cook the noodles may vary with the brand of no-boil lasagna.

Allergy Information: We have a friend who is allergic to squash. Some people with a latex allergy have a cross-allergy to squash or to some other foods, especially certain immature fruits (like summer squash). Some varieties of Classico Spaghetti Sauce contain no corn products.

Skillet Chicken Fried Rice

Quick to make. Serves 2. Triple or quadruple the recipe in a big electric skillet.

3/4 pound boneless, skinless chicken breast
Up to 2 Tablespoons vegetable and/or sesame oil
1/2 cup long grain white rice
2 medium cloves garlic, crushed
1 teaspoon ground ginger OR grated fresh ginger to taste
1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes or ground red pepper (optional)
1 3/4 cup chicken broth (14 oz. can)
1 Tablespoon low-sodium soy sauce
1 cup frozen peas
1/4 cup chopped parsley and/or 2 or 3 minced scallions with tender tops.

1. Cut chicken in 1/2 inch (or larger) cubes. Crush garlic and grate or mince fresh ginger, set aside. Prepare other ingredients.

2. Saute chicken in a large skillet (a skillet you can cover) over medium-high heat, in up to 1 Tablespoon of the oil, for about 2 minutes, until very lightly browned (maybe a little longer for larger pieces) . Remove chicken to a bowl. This time, I put some Pappy's Seasoning on the chicken at this point. It was frozen/thawed chicken and I thought it could use a flavor boost (mustard, celery seed, pepper, coriander, paprika, fines herbes, etc.)

3. Add up to 1 tablespoon of oil to the skillet and saute the rice until toasted and lightly browned, about 3 minutes. This step keeps the finished rice fluffy and separate, with a texture sort of like Spanish rice.

Add garlic and saute for one minute. Add chicken broth, soy sauce, ginger and red pepper. Cover, bring to a boil and reduce heat to medium (or the temperature which produces simmering in the pan you are using). Simmer for 15 minutes.

4. Add peas and cooked chicken to skillet, cover and simmer for 2 or 3 minutes - a little more for larger pieces of chicken, if you're worried that they're not done. Taste the rice, toss in salt and pepper to taste (I didn't need any) along with the parsley and/or scallions. You may also flavor with a little light or dark sesame oil if desired. David doesn't like dark sesame oil, and I just used vegetable oil in the recipe.

NOTE: If the lid to your pan is very tight, you may be able to reduce the liquid slightly, especially if multiplying the recipe. You can also use part water in place of broth in a pinch.

Allergy information: Check soy sauce and chicken broth for wheat or corn products.

Sweet Southern Style Cole Slaw with V8 Juice Marinade

Adapted from Recipezaar An even tangier sweet/sour slaw recipe omits the V8 juice, and adds a medium chopped onion, medium chopped green pepper (I might use an Ancho or Pasilla pepper) and small chopped red bell pepper to the cabbage and adds a teaspoon dry mustard and 2/3 cup oil to the dressing, marinating overnight in the refrigerator.

For a less-sweet marinated coleslaw, try this or this.

Sweet Southern Style Cole Slaw with V8 Juice Marinade
See the easy version for a big crowd at the bottom of this post.

This coleslaw is totally fat-free and quite low in salt for a marinated salad (especially after the marinade is drained off). It is typically served in summer with foods like pulled-pork barbecue which make up for the lack of fat and salt in the coleslaw. It is quite sweet and also tangy. I think it's a good match for spicy barbecue and similar foods. The V8 juice adds a little color and flavor to the salad which seems to complement barbecue, etc. Leftovers keep well.

If you're not serving the salad with something that's high in fat, you can add a little oil (up to 2 Tablespoons) after draining the marinade from the salad. The volume of the salad will decrease during marination, so you can serve it in a smaller bowl than the one you made the salad in.

SERVES 12

1 head cabbage (about 2 1/2 lbs)
1 large yellow onion (for 1 cup chopped)
1 cup apple cider vinegar
1 cup sugar
6 ounces low-sodium, regular or spicy-hot V8 Juice
1 teaspoon salt*
1 teaspoon celery seed*
Ground red pepper to taste (optional)

Wash and remove the outer leaves of the cabbage. Cut the cabbage into eighths and remove the core. Set aside.

Peel the onion and cut into eighths. Using a food processor fitted with the steel blade attachment, process the cabbage and onion, in manageable batches, until chopped finely. Scrape into a large container with a tight fitting lid. Set aside.

In a 1 quart or larger saucepan, combine the vinegar, sugar, V8, salt and celery seed. Bring to a boil and stir until the sugar is melted. Pour the hot vinegar mixture over the cabbage and onions and toss to coat well.

Cover and refrigerate until completely chilled, at least 4 hours, stirring 2 or 3 times. Before serving, drain marinade from salad, mix in a little oil if desired (up to 2 Tablespoons) and transfer to a smaller serving bowl.

* May substitute 1 1/4 teaspoons celery salt or more to taste

EASY VERSION FOR A CROWD
Serves 24, more at a potluck

Requires a very large bowl or a large kettle in which to mix the salad. After marinating, it can be served in a more normal-sized large bowl.

Double all ingredients, substituting a 5 pound restaurant pack of shredded cabbage for the whole cabbage in the recipe above. Remove packets containing carrots and red cabbage (for another use) if you want a uniform color.

Allergy Information: Contains no corn, wheat, milk or eggs.

Pumpkin Bread Pudding

The original version of this recipe came from Bon Appetit. I read about the Pumpkin Bread Pudding below on the blog of Elizabeth Scalia, who blogs on a Catholic website as The Anchoress. She says that if you make this pudding, people will "want to be your friend". She's right.

She leaves out the golden raisins (which I can't eat because they're treated with sulfites). I think little Zante currants (miniature raisins, actually) or chopped, sweetened dried pineapple could be substituted. But I usually don't add any fruit.

Instead of serving the sauce alongside the pudding, she stabs the bread deeply all over with a knife when the pudding is done, pours the caramel sauce over it and lets it sink in. That's what I did the first time I made it. But I can't imagine pouring on the whole recipe of sauce. She typically doubles the pudding recipe. Maybe a single recipe of sauce would sink into a double recipe of pudding, baked in a 9 x 13 or 10 x 15 inch pan. If you use a 9 x 13 inch pan, pick one with really tall sides. I use a 10 x 15 inch casserole dish for a double recipe. I have decided that I like to spread some of the warm sauce on the pudding shortly before serving, with the rest served in a small crockpot (the kind used to heat dips) on the side. But Elizabeth's way makes for easier serving (not easier transporting, necessarily). This pudding is best warm. The caramel sauce should always be served warm or hot if served separately.

PUMPKIN BREAD PUDDING WITH CARAMEL SAUCE

Yield: Makes 6 really big servings, more smaller servings

Ingredients

2 large eggs, equivalent egg substitute or 4 egg yolks
2 cups half and half (I substitute a 12 oz. can of evaporated milk and 1/2 cup milk)
1 15-ounce can pure pumpkin (29-oz. can for a double recipe)
1 cup (packed) plus 2 tablespoons dark brown sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice***
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

10 cups Challah bread (egg bread) or other firm bread, cut in 1/2-inch cubes (about 10-ounces)*
1/2 cup golden raisins, currants or chopped, dried pineapple (optional)

* I use 2 Tablespoons white sugar in place of the 2 T brown sugar, mixing the spices with it.

** I usually don't measure the bread cubes anymore. I have used a 12-oz. package of Kings Hawaiian Sweet Rolls (omit 2 Tablespoons sugar) for a single recipe and a 22-oz. bag of Mexican-style Telera rolls (Semilla de Oro brand, apparently corn-free)for a double batch. If your bread is as soft as these rolls, don't fret about getting your cube size down to 1/2 inch. An inch is fine. I have also used a 24-oz. loaf of dense "country-style" white bread for a double batch, which produced less volume than the Telara rolls. If you believe that you have more bread than usual for this recipe, add an extra egg and a couple of tablespoons extra sugar (plus a little extra spice) for a single recipe or 2 extra eggs and a quarter cup extra sugar for a double recipe.

*** If you want the pudding to taste more like Libby's pumpkin pie, substitute 2 teaspoons cinnamon, 1 teaspoon ginger and 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon cloves for the spices in the original recipe. Omit vanilla. Or use 2 teaspoons cinnamon and 1/2 teaspoon freshly crushed cardamom with a couple of teaspoons of fresh orange zest.

Caramel sauce (variations here, less-rich alternatives below)
1 1/4 cups (packed) dark brown sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
1/2 cup whipping cream

Directions
NOTE: You will need a REALLY BIG mixing bowl if you make a double recipe, plus an 11x7 inch or 9x9 inch baking pan for a single recipe, or a 10x15 inch baking pan or dish for a double recipe.
Preheat oven to 350°F. Whisk eggs until well-beaten, whisk in cream or milk, pumpkin, dark brown sugar, vanilla extract and spices in large bowl to blend. Fold in bread cubes. Stir in golden raisins, if used. Transfer mixture to 11x7-inch or 9x9-inch glass baking dish (or spray a metal baking pan with non-stick cooking spray)or a 10x15 inch baking dish for a double recipe. Let stand 15 minutes. Bake pumpkin bread pudding until tester (i.e, a knife) inserted into center comes out clean, about 40 minutes for a single recipe, 45 minutes or more for a double recipe.

Meanwhile, prepare caramel sauce:
Whisk sugar and butter in heavy medium saucepan over medium heat until butter melts. Whisk in cream and stir until sugar dissolves and sauce is smooth, about 3 minutes.

Less-rich sauce alternatives include Old-Fashioned Vanilla Sauce like Grandma used to make, maple cream sauce (closer to what the Pilgrims could have had - though probably not at their first Thanksgiving), or a standard custard sauce flavored like eggnog. I would serve any of these on the side.

If you want to cut down on the "carb rush" from the pudding itself, you might start with the Pumpkin Bread Pudding recipe linked at the Maple Cream Sauce recipe above, or the first recipe linked below. Some recipes use whole-grain bread. Don't be afraid to vary a pumpkin bread pudding recipe.

Other Pumpkin Bread Pudding Recipes

Here's a similar recipe using half the pumpkin, proportionately less sugar, slightly different spices and a little vanilla - for a slightly smaller pan - 8 x 8 inches. Double recipe to use an entire 15-oz. can of pumpkin, baking in a 9 x 13 inch pan.

Below is a recipe for Pumpkin Bread Pudding made with French bread and dried cranberries - getting closer to a recipe I could taste. There are some "Artisan" French breads out there with no corn products. I have a non-severe sensitivity to eggs, and I would likely use two egg yolks in place of each egg (most people who are allergic to eggs react to one of the proteins in egg white). Maybe I could get away with 4 egg yolks. The first recipe linked above uses only two eggs. I might decrease the granulated sugar a little, too.

This pudding is recommended with Vanilla Sauce or other accompaniments. I've added a few tweaks to the original linked recipe.

Raisins or chopped pecans can be used in place of the dried cranberries, or try another chopped dried fruit - like maybe dried pinapple. Or leave out the dried fruit altogether.

PUMPKIN BREAD PUDDING with French Bread and Dried Cranberries
Ingredients:
8 ounces French bread, torn into small pieces, about 5 cups
2 cups half-and-half, half milk and half cream or 12 oz. evaporated milk and 1/2 cup milk
3 large eggs
2/3 cup granulated sugar
2/3 cup brown sugar
1 can (15 ounces) pumpkin puree
1 cup dried cranberries
3 tablespoons melted butter
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon vanilla
cinnamon sugar, optional

Preparation:
Butter an 11x7-inch (or 9 inch square) baking dish. Heat oven to 350°.
In a bowl, cover the torn bread with the half-and-half; set aside.

In another bowl, combine eggs, sugars, pumpkin, cranberries, melted butter, spices, and vanilla; blend well. Pour pumpkin mixture over soaked bread and stir to blend.

Pour mixture into the prepared baking dish. Sprinkle top with cinnamon-sugar, if desired. Bake for 40 to 60 minutes, or until set.

Serve with a vanilla dessert sauce or brown sugar sauce, whipped cream, or vanilla or eggnog ice cream.
Serves 8.

Dixie Salad

The Cox family is going to have this fruit salad, featuring pomegranates, for Thanksgiving. They brought the salad last month for Munch and Mingle. At the time, I thought of it as a glorified, prettier, Southern-style Waldorf salad. It contains pineapple, the traditional symbol of hospitality in the Southeast, along with bananas, and pecans instead of walnuts. Their version of the salad is very similar to this one.

Then I found this recipe from Hurricane, Utah, Circa 1914, and thought that maybe "Dixie Salad" referred not to the Old South but to "Utah's Dixie". In this region around St. George, at the edge of the Sunbelt, "Utah Sweet" (a sweet, pink pomegranate) and other relatively hardy varieties of pomegranate are grown. Pecan trees are used for landscaping. I would imagine that almonds and walnuts are grown there, too, just like in our Central Valley. The dressing for the older recipe includes whipped cream and "salad dressing" - probably a "boiled dressing" or, later, a commercial dressing like Miracle Whip. Boiled raisins (later, grapes), walnuts and almonds apparently came before recipes with pineapple, bananas and pecans. The ingredients in the older recipe could pretty much be produced locally. It is noted that sweetened whipped cream could be substituted for the tangier dressing if you preferred the salad for dessert.

Here's the Cox Family recipe. They are using frozen Grenada pomegranate arils (the individual seeds surrounded by red flesh) that they grew themselves. Grenada is a dark-fleshed, early-ripening sport of the old standard variety for hot summer, mild-winter climates, "Wonderful". The latter sometimes holds fruit on the tree until Thanksgiving, but fruits may split if watering is irregular or if it rains, so it is often better to pick them before they split and refrigerate (up to 2 months) or remove arils and freeze.

Dixie Salad

Amounts are variable. Adjust to taste.

2 cups pomegranate arils (thaw if frozen)
1 can (about 14 0z. drained, 20 oz. total weight) pineapple chunks or tidbits
4 bananas, peeled and sliced
3 cups peeled, cored, and chopped tart apple
1/2 cup chopped pecans
3 tablespoons mayonnaise
2 tablespoons creamy salad dressing, e.g. Miracle Whip ™

To remove arils from the pomegranate, cut a thick slice off the blossom end, deep enough to remove the skin and reveal the interior membranes radiating out from the center, between the arils. Score the skin deeply from top to bottom near where the membranes meet the skin. Remove a little of the pith from the center, where the blossom end was. You can also cut off a little skin on the stem end if you like. Break the fruit apart and remove arils from membranes, or follow these directions for mess-free pomegranate arils.

Drain pineapple, reserving juice for another use. Mix fruit and nuts with mayonnaise and salad dressing n a large bowl. The linked recipe calls for the salad to be refrigerated overnight, but I think I would follow the Cox's practice of dressing the salad closer to serving time, or at least adding the bananas and maybe the pecans closer to serving time. If I felt fancy, I might toast the pecans first.

Allergy Information: Mayonnaise and Miracle Whip contain eggs. I think Miracle Whip also contains flour and corn products.

Tiny Batch Applesauce-Raisin Cookies (vegan)

The weather is getting colder, and baking something in our small oven heats up the house just the right amount in the morning. You can make these cookies quickly once the raisins are plumped and cooled, while preparing other foods to bake.

This is a cake-like cookie. I hate the taste of burnt raisins in cookies, so I plump the raisins before adding them (using the leftover liquid in the dough). This recipe contains no animal products (unless you make the variation with an egg yolk). It is low in fat for a cookie.

This recipe makes just enough for some little treats. Use a different recipe if baking for a crowd. It uses some small measurements. You can measure 1/8 teaspoon by leveling a 1/4 teaspoon measure and removing half of your ingredient. But you might want to buy a set of measuring spoons with a 1/8 teaspoon measure. Or a set of spice spoons with small measurements.

Ingredients:
1/4 cup raisins, packed
2 Tablespoons water

1/3 cup sugar
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/8 tsp. cream of tartar
1/8 tsp. salt
1/8 to 1/4 tsp. cinnamon
Pinch freshly grated nutmeg or freshly crushed cardamom
2/3 cup all-purpose flour (stir flour, spoon into measuring cup and level)

2 Tablespoons vegetable oil
1/4 tsp. vanilla
1/4 cup cold applesauce

1/4 cup chopped walnuts or pecans (optional)

Directions:
About 15 minutes in advance, plump the raisins by mixing with water in a small bowl and heating on high in a microwave oven just until water boils. Stir, cover with a plate to allow raisins to plump for about 5 minutes. Stir and microwave again until raisins start to steam, maybe 20 seconds. Stir and cover for 5 minutes. If raisins were very dry to begin with, repeat one more time. Remove cover, stir and set aside to cool.

Position an oven rack in the top part of the oven. Preheat oven to 350º. Cover the baking surface of a light-colored baking sheet (shiny metal is best) with aluminum foil and grease or spray with non-stick cooking spray (or grease the baking surface of the sheet itself).

Combine all dry ingredients except flour in a small mixing bowl and stir until there are no lumps of soda and all ingredients are well-blended. Add flour and blend well.

Drain raisins and measure liquid. Add a scant Tablespoon of the cooled liquid to the dry ingredients - less if you want cookies which are more rounded. Add water to make a scant Tablespoon if necessary. Before stirring, add oil, vanilla and applesauce. Then stir just until blended. Stir in raisins (and nuts if used). Drop rounded tablespoonfuls onto the baking sheet, spacing evenly. Makes about 9 large or 12 smaller cookies.

Bake for about 12 minutes, or until medium brown. Do not under-bake or cookies will be gummy. If baked until darker brown, the cookies may be a little tough. I use the small oven at the top of a Gemini dual-oven stove, and switch to the top heating element (broil) for the last half of baking. But in some ovens, you may not be able to set the top element to a temperature lower than "broil". If using a large oven, positioning the rack near the top of the oven should help cook the tops and bottoms of the cookies more evenly.

Cool for about a minute before removing cookies from the sheet to a wire cooling rack. After cooling completely, store tightly covered, with layers of waxed paper, foil or plastic wrap between layers. Texture may improve after the cookies have mellowed tightly covered for a few hours, especially if you have over-baked them a little. They are nice the next day.

Variations
Spicy cookies - Increase the amount of cinnamon to 1/2 tsp. and add 1/4 tsp. allspice, 1/2 tsp. ginger or 1/8 tsp. cloves in place of nutmeg. Or use your favorite spice combination.

You may substitute brown sugar for granulated sugar by sifting dry ingredients with flour instead of mixing with sugar. Omit cream of tartar. Mix the brown sugar with wet ingredients before adding dry ingredients, crushing any lumps of brown sugar. You may wish to omit vanilla.

No Raisins - Substitute a scant Tablespoon of apple or pineapple juice, or water, for raisin liquid. Or leave out liquid for more rounded cookies.

With Egg - Add an egg yolk in place of raising liquid. This will change (and probably improve) the texture of the cookies.

Allergy Information: Contains no corn products, eggs or dairy. Unless you use the egg yolk variation.

Slightly Spicy Chicken and Rice for a Crowd

A variation on Mexican Crockpot Chicken. Great for a potluck or buffet. Completely fills a 6-quart slow cooker if made with thigh filets (7 or 8-quart cooker is better if you use whole thighs), also appropriate for a large, deep electric skillet.  May be prepared in a large kettle or saucepan, too.  Halve the recipe for a family dinner. Prepare in a 3-quart (or larger) slow-cooker, large saucepan or in an electric skillet.

The ingredient list is about as simple as you could imagine.  Serve with small bowls of condiment-type hot sauce, cilantro or Italian parsley, onions or scallions, radishes, corn kernels and/or other typical Mexican additions to hot dishes if you like.   It's also fine by itself. 

INGREDIENTS:
2 Family Packs (about 5 pounds each ) chicken thighs.  About 12 thighs per pack for a total of about 24 chicken thighs.  You can also used 2 family packs of skinless, boneless thigh filets (about 12 per pack) if you're more short on time than money.


2 - 4 cans, about 8 ounces each, El Pato Mexican hot sauce (the one in the yellow can).  Lately I have been using 3 cans for thigh filets, 4 cans for whole thighs.

1 - 2 large, dark green Ancho/Poblano or other mild chiles - optional

Chicken broth
Salt to taste

Fluffy rice (start with 4 cups dry rice). Or use an equivalent amount of brown rice, cooked in a rice cooker (or maybe a pressure cooker at high altitude)

DIRECTIONS
Chicken thighs and sauce
Cook chicken until almost tender in a slow-cooker or electric skillet (the latter will require some added water or chicken broth) until almost tender, but not falling apart. You may want to add a can of single-strength chicken broth now if you use thigh filets, which don't release as much moisture as whole thighs.  Cool, remove the skin, bones and cartilage after thighs are cooked. Skim fat from liquid. Cut meat into chunks.  (If the meat falls apart, it will be O.K.  The meat just won't be as noticeable in the finished dish). 

Put the meat and liquid back in the electric skillet or electric skillet.  (If you use whole thighs, you may be able to save part of the broth for soup or another dish).  Add hot sauce, rinsing out cans with a little water and adding to the liquid.  Add additional chicken broth if liquid does not come up to the level of the top of the chicken meat.  Seed chiles, cut into large chunks and add to sauce.  Heat through until sauce is steaming and chiles are partially cooked.    Cool and refrigerate  if made ahead.

(You can continue cooking the skin, bones and cartilage in a smaller slow cooker with a little water and any extra broth for a really good chicken stock.)

Serving day: Putting it all together
Rice
Within about 3 or 4 hours of serving, cook rice in a large, heavy-bottomed saucepan (about 4 quarts) or in a heavy-bottomed kettle. Do not remove cover during or after cooking. Keep warm. Rice should be completely cooked before adding it to the chicken and sauce.

Chicken and sauce
 Heat chicken in sauce if it was refrigerated. Adjust salt to taste.

Transport hot chicken and sauce in the 6-quart (or larger) slow cooker or electric skillet and transport the warm rice in the covered saucepan or kettle if not making on-site. Maintain chicken at the "keep warm" temperature until serving time. Within a few minutes of serving, gently fluff rice and mix into the chicken. 

NOTE:  All of the rice may not fit into your slow cooker with the chicken and sauce, and you may not want to add it all even if it fits in yours.  I generally leave some of the rice out for other uses. 

VARIATIONS
Leftovers and Home Meals: You may need to add a little extra chicken broth to leftovers if the rice seems dry. David likes this chicken and rice with re-fried beans (maybe covered in melted cheese) and a salad. If serving the chicken at home, you can leave the chicken and sauce in the refrigerator for 3 or 4 days, heating some up to serve over rice, with good tortillas, in burritos, etc. as needed instead of mixing the chicken with rice.

"Lots of Chicken" variation: Add additional boneless, skinless chicken breast  meat. Cut away any fat or tough connective tissue and cut into 1/2 inch pieces or smaller. The breast meat won't need as long to cook as the dark thigh meat, so add it partway through cooking. You may need to add a little extra chicken broth to get a "mouth-feel" similar to the original recipe.

Allergy Information: El Pato hot sauce contains no corn, wheat or soy products. There are a few brands of boxed chicken broth which do not contain corn products. Most canned chicken broth contains corn products. Update: Swanson has removed the corn products from its chicken broth. But check the label.

Buffet-style Pozole Rojo - chicken or pork

A big, easy-to-serve version of Family-style Pozole.   Instructions for the pork version are below the chicken version.  Very popular for parties in the fall to winter season, especially as Christmas approaches. Pozole is traditional for Christmas Eve.  It is very simple but somewhat time-consuming to prepare. It's way easier to make than homemade tamales. Special tamales, including sweet tamales, are about the most labor-intensive Christmas-time food project in our town.  And Pozole is easier than its cousin, Menudo, too.

Pozole can be largely prepared in advance of a party, except for the raw vegetable accompaniments. It is served in bowls. Not for a formal-style gathering.  Good for brunch on cold mornings, or for people with a cold. The recipe may be doubled or tripled to serve from an electric roasting pan (they vary in capacity), but the weight could strain the handles of the roaster if lifted. Transport part of Pozole (especially liquid) in a separate container.

CHICKEN POZOLE

Ingredients

One family-pack chicken thighs (about 5 pounds)
Chicken broth or water
One very big can of Mexican-style hominy - about 3 Kg or almost 7 pounds
One 8-oz. package dried pods of Chile California or similar very mild chiles
One 2-oz. package dried pods of Pasilla, Pasilla Negro or Pasilla-Ancho chiles (optional)
Garnishes (see below)

Chicken and Broth: Simmer chicken thighs in enough water and/or chicken broth to cover, until tender but not falling apart. Remove from broth. Cool, remove skin, bones and visible fat and cut chicken into chunks.  Strain chicken broth, mix some warm water with the skin and bones and strain into broth.  Skim fat from broth.  If making ahead, it will be easier to remove the fat from the broth after refrigeration. 

Chile Puree (Red Sauce): Tear off and discard stem ends of chiles. Tear in half lengthwise (or break very dry chiles into pieces). Remove as much of the central seed membrane as can be done without too much work and shake out loose seeds.  Tear each chile into several pieces.  Sometimes chiles are toasted at this point, but I learned to make this dish without toasting the chiles.  Pack chile pieces into a large saucepan, cover with water, cover pan and bring to a boil. Remove covered pan from heat, setting aside for 30 minutes to soften and cool chiles.

When at least cool enough to leave your hand on the bottom of the pan, process chiles and part of the liquid in a blender or food processor until skins are reduced to about 1/4 inch chunks, or until smooth. Work sauce through a coarse sieve to remove skin and seed fragments. Or use a food mill or berry press to remove the seeds and skins. You may add the remaining liquid or some water to the skins, stir and strain again. Discard skins. Chile puree may be prepared the day before and refrigerated, or up to a couple of weeks in advance and frozen.

Final Preparation:  Heat broth and chunks of chicken meat in a large kettle.  You can also use an 7 or 8-quart slow cooker turned to high heat, but heating and simmering will take longer. Drain, rinse and add hominy to chicken and broth. Add chile puree and salt to taste. You should have leftover chile puree (red sauce).  Many recipes call for 4 ounces of dried chiles to make puree for this much hominy and meat.  The packages above should make enough sauce for 2 big batches unless you serve additional red sauce as a garnish.  The red sauce can also be used to flavor other dishes.   

Add water and/or additional chicken broth to bring Pozole to a soupy consistency. Adjust salt and simmer to blend flavors, for at least half an hour. The hominy swells as it simmers, so you may need to add additional water, broth and/or chile puree later. Refrigerate or freeze extra chile puree.

To Serve: Ladle into serving bowls and serve with these garnishes:

• A big bowl of thinly shredded or finely chopped cabbage (with tongs for adding cabbage to the Pozole).  I think pre-packaged Angel Hair Coleslaw (cabbage only) works very well.

• Finely diced red or white onion (offer minced scallions for more sensitive tummies or when available onions are very strong)

• Lime and/or lemon wedges (or lemon or lime juice)

• Sliced or julienned radishes

• hot pepper flakes, reserved red sauce and/or hot sauce 

• dried whole oregano to rub over individual servings as desired. 

 Cool and refrigerate leftover Pozole.   You may need to add additional liquid when reheating.   

Notes, including directions for Pork Pozole

The cabbage, onion and/or scallions and citrus are mandatory accompaniments. Other garnishes are optional but may be expected. Minced cilantro and/or Italian parsley are not traditional garnishes for this dish in winter in many regions, but are often offered.  Sometimes shredded iceberg lettuce is substituted for the cabbage and avocado is offered.  I don't know if these are traditional, however.    

I learned to make this style of Pozole from a friend who grew up in Michoacán.   Many of the people who live in our little town are from this state of Mexico.  This state includes mountainous regions where it freezes in winter, so cilantro is not available then.  This state also includes wintering grounds for Monarch butterflies.

PORK POZOLE

In our little town, Pozole made with pork butt or pork neck and a pig's foot is common at Christmas-season family gatherings. You may also use pork in the recipe above.  Pork shank and Boston pork butt are common choices for this size recipe.  Four or 5 pounds of lean country-style spare ribs (not real spare ribs) is an easy choice. Cut into large chunks before or after simmering in water or broth until tender.  Cool meat enough to remove visible fat and any bones.  For buffet-style Pozole, shred meat with two forks.

In some recipes, the pork is cut into one inch or 1 1/2 inch chunks and browned before simmering, adding some minced garlic at the end.   Rubbed oregano or coriander and a bay leaf may be added to the liquid as the meat simmers.   In some regions, the cook may add garlic cloves, cumin and/or a little ground allspice to the red sauce as it is placed in the blender to be pureed.   Garlic, cumin and oregano will make the dish taste more like chili.  Coriander is the seed of cilantro, but has a different flavor.  I have made pork pozole with bay leaf and a little coriander added to the meat, and liked it.  Remove bay leaf before serving. 

Our friend Rosie likes to add some dried Pasilla chiles with the traditional dried California chiles.   I believe that the name "Pasilla" refers to the wrinkled appearance of the dried chiles (like a raisin).   You could also try Ancho/Poblano chiles, which are sometimes smoked while drying.  Here, one popular choice is called "Pasilla-Ancho".  These may be dark Ancho peppers, but I'm just guessing.  Any of these will give a deeper color and more complex flavor to the dish. None of them are very spicy.   We have used a 16 oz. bag of Chile California and an 8 oz. bag of Chile Pasilla-Ancho to make red sauce for a season's worth of Pozole. Chile California is a red, dried version of the Anaheim Chile.  It is very similar to New Mexico Chiles, but milder.  Guajillo chiles are also used for Pozole, often in combination with one of the others above. 

Sometimes we see red hominy (made from red corn) in big cans this time of year, too. 
 
In Mexico, various raw or cooked vegetables (and other accompaniments like chopped hard-cooked eggs) are also offered when other kinds of soup are served, so diners can add the ones they like.

Allergy information: Contains corn.

Family-style Pozole

When the weather gets cooler in the fall, we start seeing big bags of dried, whole Chile California on sale at the store.  It's time to think about making Pozole, a cousin to Menudo. We're not quite up to making Menudo.  Pozole  looks like it contains tomatoes, but the color comes entirely from dried chiles. In summer, diced green chiles and chunks of chicken are often used.

Pozole can be prepared a day or two in advance of serving. Leftovers are good. David likes it for breakfast on cold mornings.

For Pork Pozole, follow the recipe on the 29-oz can of Teasdale Mexican-style hominy, substituting about 7 large dried Chile California peppers for Ancho or Chile sauce and Cayenne pepper. These peppers are mild, but the ones we buy are not smoked like dried Ancho (Poblano) peppers sometimes are. You could also used other dried, mild chiles, or combine California and Pasilla chiles for richer color and flavor. as our friend Rosie does. I use lean "country-style spare ribs" in place of the pork and pig's feet in the recipe on the can.

Remove stems and most of attached membrane and seeds from chiles, rinse and tear into pieces. Place in small covered saucepan and bring to boil in water to cover. Turn off heat and allow to sit until cool enough to comfortably keep your hand on the bottom of the pan. Process cooled chiles and some of the liquid in a blender or food processor until the skins are broken into about 1/4 inch pieces, or until smooth. Strain and press (while stirring) liquid and pulp through a coarse sieve, leaving skins in sieve. Add remaining liquid to skins, stir and press again.  Or try using a berry press or food mill to remove skin and seeds. Add chile puree to Pozole to taste. Adjust salt.

For Red Chicken Pozole, substitute 6 to 8 chicken thighs or a whole, cut-up chicken for pork and pigs feet. Cook chicken until tender in water and/or broth to cover. Remove from broth. People who grew up eating Pozole often like chicken or pork neck and/or pig's foot pieces served whole. For Gringos or for a big party, you may cool chicken enough to remove skin, bones and visible fat, breaking or cutting into bite-sized pieces. Skim fat from broth and return chicken to broth. Drain and add a 29-oz can hominy. Add salt and strained Chile puree to taste as above. Add water or additional chicken broth to produce a soupy consistency. Adjust salt. Simmer until flavors are well-blended.

Serve either pork or chicken Pozole with finely shredded or chopped cabbage, chopped onion or minced scallions, lemon or lime wedges or juice and sliced radishes to be added individually by diners. Also offer dried oregano to rub into Pozole (or finely minced fresh oregano to add) and hot sauce or hot pepper flakes.

Allergy information: Contains corn.

Marinated Broccoli and Cauliflower Salad for a Crowd

Mom taught me how to make this great salad for fall and winter. Even most kids like this salad despite its strongly flavored ingredients. I think the original Good Seasons dressing made with real apple cider vinegar and vegetable oil (add a little olive oil if you like) makes it really good. Use raw cider vinegar from the health food store for even more flavor.

Wonderful for buffets, because it is made ahead and is good at room temperature. It won't take up refrigerator room if you make it two or three hours ahead. You can also transport it in a cooler.  To simplify preparation, use pre-packaged broccoli and cauliflower florets and cut florets to bite size when assembling.  You can start marinating the onion a few hours in advance, especially if the onion is strong.

You can halve the recipe for smaller family meals. Or multiply the recipe for really big events.

Good Seasons Italian Dressing (the kind you make in a shaker jar) - buy a 4-pack.
1 medium to large red (or other mild) onion
2 large or 3 small bunches broccoli (3 to 4 lb.)
1 large head cauliflower (about 3 lb.)
4 to 6 carrots
1 regular can (or more) pitted black olives, sliced or halved, or equivalent of canned sliced olives
Fresh Ground Black Pepper to taste

Prepare first shaker jar of salad dressing mix according to package directions, adding more vinegar in place of the water in the directions. Marinating the salad will dilute the dressing.  Soak some slices of macerated raw garlic in part of the vinegar you intend to use (then discard garlic) if you want to ramp up the flavor a bit more. 

Place onion, sliced in thick slices, into a large bowl containing enough salad dressing to cover the onion. I like to quarter the slices except for the center ones.  You can leave some attractive slices whole to garnish the top of the salad. If mild onions are out of season, use a smaller amount of strong onion, slice it thinly and marinate longer before adding other ingredients. Or substitute diced scallions.

Peel and thinly slice carrots on the diagonal.  Sprinkle with water.  Microwave just until easily pierced by a fork, stirring every 15 seconds.  Set aside to cool.   Or cut carrots in long shreds in a food processor rather than slicing. Use less carrot if shredding. 

Wash broccoli and cut into small florets. You may peel and add part of the sliced stems. Pile on top of the onions, shake on more salad dressing and mix. Add salad dressing until there is a little remaining in the bottom of the bowl after you toss. It will take more dressing than you think for the finished salad, sometimes more than 2 little shaker bottles for this big recipe.

Wash cauliflower and cut into small florets. Add with carrots to other veggies in the bowl.  Toss, add more salad dressing until there is just a little at the bottom of the bowl after you mix. Drain and slice or halve olives or use equivalent drained weight of pre-sliced olives.  Add fresh ground black pepper to taste and toss in.

Cover and marinate for two or three hours at room temperature, tossing occasionally. Or marinate overnight refrigerated. Refrigerate leftovers. The second or third day, you can shred some cabbage, savoy cabbage, Napa cabbage or mild Asian greens into the leftovers just before serving if you like, to take advantage of all the dressing left in the bottom of the bowl.  Angel hair cabbage works nicely. 

Allergy information for the salad dressing is here.

Fire and Ice Salad

A fat-free marinated tomato salad for summer. Good for buffets and potlucks, served with a slotted spoon.

I think I'll try the dressing for this salad on some finely shredded cabbage (maybe with a little shredded carrot and/or minced scallions or red onion) for coleslaw. I will probably omit the water in the dressing and add a touch of oil to carry flavor, but I have seen other beloved recipes for fat-free marinated coleslaw. This dressing has less sugar than the dressing for this marinated coleslaw recipe.

¾ cup white or cider vinegar
1 ½ teaspoons mustard seed
1/2 teaspoons salt
1/8 teaspoons red pepper (ground)
¼ cup cold water
1 ½ teaspoons celery salt
4 ½ teaspoons sugar
1/8 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper

6 tomatoes peeled and quartered
1 green pepper sliced in strips
1 cucumber sliced
1 red onion, sliced

Bring first 8 ingredients to a boil and boil for 1 minute. Allow to cool slightly; then pour over veggies and chill. Gently stir occasionally.

Allergy information: No corn, wheat, soy, egg or milk products.

Marinated Italian Tomato and Cucumber Salad

David's Mom makes this great salad in the summer. She once prepared a big bowl for friends waiting in anxiety for news about a hospitalized child. It was a great stress-reducer and a welcome change from "hospital food". Made them feel loved.

This tomato and cucumber salad has a marinated character, good cold or at room temperature for summer buffets, if served with a slotted spoon.

It is also wonderful in bowls with some of the liquid which will develop in the bottom of the bowl. Try it with some Italian, French or other quality bread and maybe some cheese for a light meal.

Tomatoes and cucumbers are added in about equal proportions, maybe heavier on tomatoes during home-grown tomato season. Onion and bell pepper are for flavor and color, in smaller amounts to taste. In winter, try this broccoli salad.

If someone has a hard time digesting onions, leave them out, use a little minced scallion or sweet onion or allow onion slices to marinate in the dressing for a while then remove them to eat on an Italian sandwich or something. Or cut the onions in big chunks so that they can be avoided by those who have trouble with them. I have a similar tendency to indigestion with green bell peppers, but I still love their flavor this salad. I cut them in chunks so that they will flavor the dressing but I can easily avoid eating too much of the actual fruit. It's also O.K. to leave them out or to substitute deep green Ancho or Pasilla chiles instead of green bell pepper for a touch of heat. Or try ripe yellow bell peppers.

1. Cover slices or chunks of sweet red onion (or minced scallions) with Good Seasons Italian DRESSING, prepared according to package directions in the bottom of a large bowl. I use cider vinegar. Vegetable oil, such as canola, or vegetable oil with a little olive oils will work in this salad. Allow onions to marinate while preparing other ingredients.

Add green or yellow bell peppers or Ancho chiles cut in chunks or slices, freshly ground black pepper and more salad dressing until covered. Allow to marinate for a while to develop flavor, if you have time.

2. Cut tomatoes in bite-sized chunks, removing some of seedy, liquidish pulp (Roma and other low-moisture tomatoes work very well in this salad). This salad is better if you peel the tomatoes first.

Peel and cut cucumbers in slices or chunks and add to the bowl, along with the tomatoes. You may leave the skins on young, tender "burpless" type cucumbers if you like.

Add more dressing until there is 1/4 inch deep layer or more in the bottom of the bowl after tossing.

Cover and marinate for up to two hours at room temperature or a few hours in the refrigerator, tossing occasionally.

Allergy Information: Good Seasons Italian Dressing Mix contains maltodextrin and Xanthan Gum, which are typically manufactured using corn products. I can usually tolerate a little of this dressing without a problem, however. The Garlic and Herb and Mild Italian varieties contain xanthan gum, but not maltodextrin. I prefer a non-sweet dressing for this salad. The Garlic and Herb variety works, but the original Italian is particularly suited to the ingredients in this salad.

Check for soy sauce, which includes wheat.  

Fat-Free Alternative: This salad has a different character, with a little sugar in the dressing, different seasonings, and no fat. Also contains no corn products.

Coconut/Oatmeal cookies

David loves these. The recipe is from blogger Jane Galt (nom de blog) who writes,

These are the rare cookies that improve with age; they just get crispier and more delicious every day. Hope y'all enjoy.

1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 egg
3/4 cup flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup chopped nuts
1 cup sweetened, flaked coconut
1 1/2 cups oatmeal (old fashioned; not quick or instant)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees fahrenheit. Cream the butter and sugars together. Beat in egg. Sift together flour, salt, and baking soda, and add to mixture. Stir in nuts and coconut. Stir in oats. Drop by rounded spoonfuls onto a greased cookie sheet and bake 12-14 minutes, until golden brown.

Allergy information: Most sweetened, flaked coconut products contain corn derivatives and also a sulfiting agent to preserve whiteness. Sulfites can cause anaphylaxis in sensitive people.

Food Allergies: Geographic Curiosities

Curious information about food allergies and their geographic distribution. Detailed article. Add your own data if you like.

Tomato Flowers with Cottage Cheese Salad

When Miss Hauser taught us how to make these in high school cooking class, we peeled the tomatoes after rotating them over the flame on our gas stoves on a fork stuck in the stem end. You can also blanch tomatoes to remove the peels. I prefer to use a variety of tomato which is easy to peel while it is raw. This works best with fully-ripe tomatoes.

A fancy-looking dish from ordinary ingredients. I don't have Miss Hauser's exact recipe, but I do remember being surprised that MSG and a little extra salt were added to the cottage cheese. The MSG really does make a difference in flavor, but I don't use it anymore.

Cooking Science: In China and Japan, where the use of monosodium glutamate is commn, there is a theory that our tongues have receptors for a "meaty" flavor in addition to sweet, sour, salty and bitter. Monosodium glutamate is the sodium salt of an amino acid (one of the building blocks of protein), glutamic acid. I believe it is sometimes extracted commercially from sugar beets. It is also present in hydrolyzed protein products. If you react to it with a headache, flushing or other symptoms, don't use it. The higher the dose, the more likely a reaction is. A 5 mg dose reportedly causes a reaction in many people.

I have a cookbook from the 1950s, and era when exploration of the uses of processed foods was in full swing, in which almost every recipe with a savory flavor contained MSG. It is most familiar in the US under the brand name ACCENT. It is used in a variety of foods, especially soups and salad dressings (like Ranch). Some evidence suggests it increases weight gain (perhaps by making food tastier).

Ingredients
1 pint cottage cheese, regular or low-fat
1/8 teaspoon salt - optional
1/16 teaspoon monosodium glutamate (ACCENT) - optional
2 Tablespoons diced or chunked green bell pepper
1 - 2 Tablespoons minced scallions (white part, maybe with some of the tender inner green tops) and/or up to 2 Tablespoons chives

3 or 4 medium to large tomatoes
Salt and fresh ground pepper
Lettuce, if desired

Directions
Mix all ingredients except tomatoes and allow flavors to blend for a few minutes to overnight, refrigerated.

When ready to serve, peel tomatoes and remove a slice from the stem end so that they will sit flat on a plate. Remove the shallow white cores from the cut end and place cut side down on a cutting board. Carefully cut across tomatoes to make eight segments, stopping an inch or less from the bottom. Gently spread into "flowers", sprinkle with a little salt and fresh-ground pepper and allow to drain for a minute or two. Carefully transfer on a spatula to individual serving plates, over lettuce leaves or on a bed of shredded lettuce if desired.

Pile cottage cheese mixture into the center of the tomato flowers. Serve.

Variations:

1. I cut the peppers in chunks because I have trouble digesting them. They will flavor the salad, but I can push them aside when eating the salad. If your tummy REALLY can't take raw green peppers, substitute ripe red, orange or yellow bell peppers or canned diced mild chiles or pimento. Or add minced Italian parsley in place of peppers.

2. Use a different hearty salad mixture in tomato flowers - chicken, tuna, potato, etc. Let me know if you have other ideas.

Sarah's Favorite Twisty Pasta

We had Sarah, age 3, over to visit not long ago during a stressful time for her, and she wanted this pasta at every meal. Definitely kid comfort food. No onion, pepper or other strong flavors added. Slightly more palatable to adults than the canned kid stuff. A nice way to incorporate some vegetables for veggie-resistant kids. Divide and freeze some of the sauce if you like.

Ingredients
about 1 pound ground turkey or extra-lean ground beef
about 2 medium or 3 small grey zucchini (Mexican or Lebanese type), finely shredded. Sarah will pick it out if she can see it. You could use dark green zucchini for less-picky kids. You could also try adding shredded carrot, skipping the sugar in the recipe.

1 jar spaghetti sauce (about 26 ounces)
1 tsp. sugar or to taste (optional)
salt to taste

Cooked rotini or other twisty pasta
Shredded or diced medium cheddar cheese (or cheddar and mozarella, etc.)

Directions
Thaw meat if frozen. Frozen 1-pound chubs of ground turkey are convenient for this recipe, and the fats are more healthful than those in ground beef.

Cooking Lesson Adapted from a recipe for Sloppy Joes by the obsessive people who produce books like this:

For some recipes, we want ground beef to "give" easily when chewed. This result can be accomplished by not browning the meat too much before liquids (or moist vegetables, etc.) are added. For this recipe, saute meat in a lightly oiled skillet just until it starts to lose its pink color, breaking it up with a spatula as it cooks. We don't want the meat to turn firm. We're feeding kids. (For adults, you can start with some chopped onion sauteed until it becomes translucent, or until it starts to caramelize.) Mix in zucchini (and/or carrots), stir and cook until vegetables are limp. Mix in spaghetti sauce.

Simmer for at least 10 minutes. Add sugar and salt to taste. You can cool and freeze part of the sauce at this point.

Boil twisty pasta until done. Drain and mix with hot sauce and a little cheese and serve.

Leftovers keep refrigerated for a couple of days, though some of the moisture may be absorbed into the pasta. Microwave individual servings topped with a little extra sauce and/or cheese if you like.

Sloppy Joes: Use the same principle of partially cooking meat before adding zucchini. You could probably work up a nice recipe using undiluted condensed chicken gumbo soup, tomato sauce or paste and ketchup. Aunt Elizabeth prepared Sloppy Joes once for a family party using condensed chicken gumbo soup when I was a teenager, and they were wonderful. I can't eat it now. Corn products. Let me know how it works.

Allergy Information: You can find commercial spaghetti sauce with no corn sweeteners if you look hard. Many Classico varieties contain no corn sweetener.

Rice Pilaf for a Crowd (corn-free)

Whether or not you are allergic to corn, this original Near East rice pilaf is a good choice for feeding a crowd. While it is one of the few prepared foods that doesn't contain corn products, it does contain wheat (pasta).

People love it - even KIDS. They served it for breakfast at our stake's girl's camp one year. But get the restaurant-size box from Smart & Final, Sam's Club or Costco. Makes 18 one-cup servings. The small boxes are much more expensive per serving.

Uses a cube (1/2 cup) of butter (more than a teaspoon per serving). That's one thing that makes it good. Add one large or two small grated carrots, some finely diced scallion tops and/or parsley partway through cooking if you want to add some color. Throw on top of rice mixture and stir in when fluffing rice after cooking. Some diced fresh or dried bell pepper will give a different flavor - nice with diced chicken or ham added.

To enhance the flavor further, brown the butter slightly in your heavy kettle before adding the water. To use oil instead of butter, consider caramelizing a big diced onion in the oil or in a mixture of oil and butter. Or sautee some mushrooms in part of the oil. Veggies should be added on top of the rice while cooking. Or lightly mix some diced, cooked meat into the prepared pilaf for a main dish, maybe with some cooked, frozen peas.

To make a substitute for HOLIDAY DRESSING, saute 2 or 3 big diced onions in oil or oil and butter until translucent, adding a generous amount of diced celery part way through cooking. Add minced celery leaves, parsley and a little minced fresh sage, dried sage or poultry seasoning. Season with fresh-ground black pepper. Use chicken or vegetable broth in place of part of the water (watch that you don't get your mixture too salty - the pilaf mix contains plenty of salt). Some of the new boxed "natural" brands of broth contain no corn products and come in reduced-sodium versions. Pile veggies on top of rice while cooking so they don't burn, like they might if they touched the bottom of the pan.

If you're serving more than 18 people, you can stretch the mix by adding 2 cups of "converted" (parboiled) rice. Add an extra 4 cups water and celery salt/salt to taste or add 4 cups chicken or vegetable broth. Add converted rice to the boiling water/broth when you add the contents of the box. Or, cook brown rice separately according to package directions (it takes longer than white rice) and mix in when you fluff the pilaf. Add some veggies or caramelized onion as above.

For a FRIED RICE facsimile for a crowd, add 1/4 cup low-sodium soy sauce OR 1/3 cup shredded, peeled minced fresh ginger to water for the pilaf. Omit butter and add 1/4 cup oil. Stir-fry vegetables such as diced onion, carrot, celery, squash mushrooms, julienne water chestnuts or jicama and frozen peas in 1/4 cup oil. Add diced cooked chicken or ham if desired. When rice is cooked, lightly mix in stir-fried veggies and meat plus two or three bunches of finely sliced raw scallions and, if desired, egg scrambled, seasoned and cooked in a thin layer, then shredded. To stretch recipe, add parboiled or brown rice as above, using part soy sauce or chicken broth in place of part of the added water.

Orange-Pineapple Jello Salad

Similar to this salad.

Orange-Pineapple and Cottage Cheese Jello Salad
Reduced Sugar, High-Protein

1 package (2 cup size) lemon Jello sugar-free gelatin
1 package (2 cup size) orange Jello sugar-free gelatin
1/2 cup cold water
20-oz. can crushed pineapple in juice
juice drained from pineapple plus water to make 1 cup
Juice of 1 orange and/or cold water and ice to make 1/2 cup
2 pounds (2 pints) cottage cheese, regular or low-fat
1/2 cup or more peeled and finely chopped carrots (optional)
or for "chewy" instead of "crunchy", shredded carrots and maybe some shredded coconut

Directions: Drain pineapple well in a sieve or colander (preferably over a 4-cup glass measure), reserving juice. Chill pineapple while preparing the Jello mixture. Also chill the dish(es) in which you will chill the salad. Sprinkle Jello powder (both flavors) evenly over 1/2 cup cold water in a 3 quart stainless steel bowl, allow to soften for at least 5 minutes. Tilt bowl to wet all the powder, if necessary.

Place pineapple juice in a 4-cup glass measure and add water to make 1 cup, if necessary. Bring juice and water to boil in a microwave, pour over softened gelatin and stir to dissolve completely. Place the bottom of the bowl in a larger bowl or pan of cold water to cool gelatin. Cool until warm (not hot), then add fresh orange juice and/or cold water.

Cool to about room temperature, stirring occasionally. Add some ice to the cold water in the bottom pan to speed this process if you like. Gelatin should be just a little thicker than egg white. Do not allow it to gel completely. If it gels too much, put it over warm water and whisk with a wire whisk, then wait a few minutes for the right consistency. This will produce a uniform, fluffy product.

Meanwhile, process 1 pound (2 cups) of cold cottage cheese in a food processor or blender until smooth on the tongue. Whisk into the thickened gelatin until well-blended. Quickly fold in pineapple and the remaining 2 cups of cold cottage cheese (not processed). Add carrots if desired. Pour into an 8 x 8 or 9x13 inch glass baking dish, custard cups, dessert dishes or individual plastic containers. Cover and chill until firm. Keep refrigerated until served.

Basic recipe makes about 16 servings, 4 fluid ounces each. Basic salad may be made the day before serving. Best served the same day it is made if you add a lot of carrots to the salad (can become watery over time).


Nutrition information per 4 fl. oz. serving (approximate)
when made with low-fat cottage cheese, no carrots, orange juice, etc:

Calories 70
Calories from fat 7.5

Total fat 1 g
Saturated fat 0.75 g
Cholesterol 2.5 mg
Sodium 190 mg

Total carbohydrate 7 g
Carbohydrate from sugar 6 g
Dietary fiber 0.25 g
Protein 7.5 g

Allergy information: Contains fermented milk products, pineapple and citrus. Check cottage cheese carton for corn products.