Homemade Applesauce

Apple season is upon us and with the 2 bushels I picked with the kids I've been busy making some yummy stuff for us. This recipe is for the crockpot, but surely you could use a big old pot on the stove and achieve the same result, however, it would require more watching.

8-10 apples

1/3 C water

2 t. vanilla

2 T cinnamon

the juice of one lemon

Directions, peel and core the apples and cut into quarters, or smaller to fit more. Throw them into the crockpot and pour the water, vanilla, cinnamon and juice of lemon over them. Cook on low for about 3 or 4 hours. Check the apples at about three hours into cooking by taking a potato masher and mashing them down, they should practically fall apart. If there are still some hard chunks let it cook a little longer. When all soft just mash and serve warm. Place into containers and keep in refrigerator. Use in recipes like this one.

Lebanese Rice

1/2 cup very fine egg noodles
1/4 cup pineseeds (optional)
2 cups rice (best to use white rice)
1 can chicken broth (optional)
2 TBSP Olive oil
1/2 stick butter

Pour chicken broth and water in a microwave safe measuring cup or bowl so that you have enough liquid that it equals 4 cups and heat until it is boiling.

In a pan large enough to cook the rice, saute the egg noodles. pineseeds (if using them), olive oil and butter over medium heat until noodles are golden. Add the rice and stir the mixture and rice together. Once the liquid is boiling, pour it immediately into the rice mixture and stir until in comes to a boil. This should happen almost immediately. Once boiling, turn down heat until the mixture is just at a simmer and put lid on pan. Cook for about 20 minutes or until you see that all of the liquid is gone. Turn off heat and keep lid on pan for another 10-20 minutes to keep the rice steaming. Serve when rest of the meal is ready. I have had the rice done 30 to 45 minutes proior to the rest of the meal and it remains hot and wonderful under the lid of the pan.

Sauted Apples

We went apple picking last weekend and came home with a bountiful supply. Thus, I'm trying to come up with ways to use them. I made these tonight and wish I'd made more. There was a big argument about who got the last serving!

5-6 apples, cored, peeled and thinly sliced (Use two-three more apples than you have eaters because they shrink)

1 tsp. butter

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1 Tbs. lemon juice

1. Melt butter in frying pan over medium heat.
2. Add apples, cinnamon and lemon juice. Saute, stirring periodically until the apples start to brown.
3. Cover and continue cooking 2-3 minutes. Stir to move the apples that are getting soft from the bottom to the top. Repeat until all the apples are soft. Serve immediately.
4. We ate these for dinner, but they would be really good served for dessert with a scoop of ice cream.

Grilled Vegetables

I'm not sure what it is about grilling, but my kids will eat almost any vegetable if it's been touched by a flame. Things they normally think are "gross", are suddenly eaten without a murmur. Go figure! 

When I make these I usually do a bunch so we can have left-overs the next day. I use a gas grill, but I'm sure you could do the same on charcoal. If you use charcoal, keep a close eye on the vegetables as you may need to move them around if things start cooking too fast.

2 red peppers, washed and each one cut into eighths

2 zucchini, washed and cut into long strips (make sure they're thick enough not to fall through the grill)

2 onions, quartered and then pulled into 2-3 layers

2-3 Tbs. olive oil

1/2 tsp. kosher salt

Other vegetable options: asparagus (FABULOUS!), any kind of pepper (yellow, orange, green, etc.), eggplant, mushrooms (use big ones -- I like them whole), broccoli (it gets a little dry, but still good)

1. Preheat grill on high.
2. Put all prepared vegetables into a large bowl. Pour on olive oil and salt and toss gently with your hands. Try to get some olive oil onto each vegetable.
3. Adjust grill heat to medium. Place vegetables on grill in single layer. I place the zucchini perpendicular to the grill lines so that they don't fall through. I segregate the peppers since they take the longest to cook; that way it's easy to get to the zucchini and onions. Close lid.
4. Cook onions and zucchini for 2-3 minutes and then turn. You should see grill marks on the sides. Of not, you may want to turn up the heat. Continue cooking the peppers.
5. Cook onions and zucchini an additional 2-3 minutes. At this point, if they are limp when you move them around, they're done. Check the peppers for grill marks and turn over. 
6. Continue grilling peppers an additional 3-5 minutes until they're limp.
7. When the peppers are droopy, remove from grill.
8. Tent with tinfoil on a platter until ready to serve.

Corn and Bean Salad

My kids like this salad because they can pick out the ingredients they don't like. I like it because it tastes surprisingly refreshing on a hot summer day. 

Salad:

1 can black beans

1 can garbanzo beans

1 can kidney beans

2 cups frozen corn (cooked and cooled)

1/4 cup fresh cilantro or parsley, chopped

1 tsp ground cumin

1/4 cup red onion, chopped

Vinaigrette:

2 Tbs lemon or lime juice

1/2 cup red wine vinegar

1/2 cup olive oil

2 tsp sugar

Salt and pepper to taste

1. Rinse beans really well in cold water.
2. Add corn, cilantro/parsley and red onions.
3. Combine cumin, salt, sugar and pepper in red wine vinegar and lemon/lime juice. Whisk in olive oil.
4. Toss vinaigrette and bean mixture. Chill.
5. Bring to room temp before serving -- it really does taste better when it's not cold.

Roasted Asparagus with Balsamic Vinegar

I love asparagus. My kids are very lukewarm on this particular vegetable, but here's a way that at least my son will eat it -- my daughter still turns up her nose. Neither of them like balsamic vinegar so I set aside a few pieces before I put it on. I know we're almost to the end of asparagus season, so before it's gone (and all you can get is imported from South America), give this a try, it's really good.

1 large bunch of asparagus, bottoms trimmed or broken off

2 Tbs. olive oil

1/2 tsp. salt

ground pepper, to taste

2 Tbs. balsamic vinegar

Freshly grated Parmesan

1. Heat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Toss asparagus with olive oil in shallow baking dish. Season with salt and pepper.
3. Roast asparagus, turning once until slightly browned, about 10 minutes.
4. Set aside a few spears for your kids. :-)
5. Sprinkle the rest with balsamic vinegar, toss to coat.
6. Transfer to a platter and sprinkle with Parmesan.