Mango Salsa for a Sunset Cruise!

Mango Salsa

One of my favorite things to do is entertaining. I love to share my food with friends and family, and what better way to do that then to set out for a sunset cruise. A cocktail and a bunch of delicious appetizers is the perfect combination. 

This is a salsa that combines the sweet flavor of mango with some local cucumbers and a nice kick of spices. It's great as a dip or served on top of a piece of grilled fish. Make it a head a day before or serve it up fresh, it will be a crowd pleaser.

Ingredients:

1 mango ripe but not soft cubed 1 1/2 cups

1/2 cucumber cubed 3/4 cup

1/2 small jalapeno 1 tablespoon rib and seeds removed

1/4 cup red onion chopped

1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

1 lime juiced

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 teaspoon Ancho chili powder

Salt & pepper

---

Prepping the Mango:

Choose a mango that is ripe and slightly firm to the touch, not too soft. Peel the skin off the mango.

Cut down the sides on an angle making wedges, staying as close to the pit as possible.

The two large sections cut in half length wise so that your cubes end up square.

The pit of the mango is flat on two sides and an oval shape, so you want to cut as close to the pit as possible on each flat side of the pit.

This is what you will end up with when you are done. There's a lot of fruit still on the pit, so enjoy that or share it with someone special. 

Use my Great Find #3 The Vidalia Chop Wizard with the larger 1/2" squares.

To purchase one click on the photo it will take you right to it on Amazon!

---

Prepping the Cucumber & Red Onion:

Peel the cucumber, and with a small spoon scoop out the seeds.

Use the smaller 1/4" blade of the Vidalia Chop Wizard. To make a smaller cube.

Click on the photo to purchase the Vidalia Onion Wizard on Amazon.

Cut the half into four quarters.

Slice the red onion into 1/4" thick slices, and use the 1/4" cube blade.

Click on the photo to purchase the Vidalia Onion Wizard on Amazon.

---

Prepping the Jalapeno:

Cut the jalapeno in half, and with a pairing knife cut out the center rib, and the seeds,

Slice the ribbed and seeded jalapeno in thin strips, then turn and cut them the other way into as small cubes as possible.

Wash you hands, and don't rub your eyes, the oil from the jalapeno on your fingers will burn.

---

Put it all together:

Combine all the ingredients and mix it up. Good to make a day or two ahead.

---

Share it with your friends and family, or bring it as a hostess gift with a bag of chips and some Pico de Gallo. 

Enjoy the sunsets and the ones around you!!!

Galley Cooking!

Chicken, Kale and Quinoa Salad

My family and I spend our summers on our boat Too Happy. Space is tight, and not much counter room, but lots of meals and snacks emerge from my tiny space. I tend to run to the market in the morning to pick up a fresh loaf of bread, and whatever fresh provisions I think I will need for the day. The basics that I always have in the galley, is a big bowl of tomatoes, a bunch of avocados, a basket of red onions, fresh cilantro that I keep in the fridge, and some soft cheese like feta or goat cheese. From there you can build a meal.

A nice light summer meal and always a great go to is this delicious salad. Filled with great fresh ingredients, that is easy to throw together. This is a good time to take a short cut and use a roasted chicken from the market, it's good, saves time and leaves you with leftovers. I used the white meat, but that is what I like better, if you are dark meat fans use that. The dressing is light and good to keep a batch in a mason jar in the fridge.

Ingredients:

1 cup quinoa

6 small tomatoes cut in wedges

2 avocados cubed

1/2 red onion sluiced thin

1 cucumber cubed

baby kale

roasted chicken pulled of bone

Cilantro Dressing:

Ingredients:

2 cloves garlic grated

1/2 lemon zested and juiced

1/3 cup olive oil

1/4 cup apple cider vinegar

1 tablespoon honey

salt and pepper

1/4 cup chopped cilantro

Mix together grated garlic, lemon zest, lemon juice, olive oil, apple cider vinegar, honey, salt and pepper together, add the chopped cilantro.

Prepare the quinoa:

This can be done in advance, the quinoa will stay in fridge cooked for a few days. In a sauce pan combine 2 cups of water with salt and 1 cup dried quinoa. Bring to a boil, cover and lower to a simmer, cook for 15 minutes then remove from heat and let stand with the lid on for another 5 minutes. fluff the quinoa with a fork. 

Putting the salad together:

In a large bowl that you can toss the salad add quinoa to baby kale leaves. Then add tomatoes, cucumbers, onions and toss with the cilantro dressing. Transfer to a clean bowl or serving platter. Add the avocado and the pulled roasted chicken on top.

Easy way to cube an avocado:

Slice the avocado in half the long way, twist apart the halves to separate, with a large spoon scoop out avocado and place on the cutting board round side up, slice horizontal and vertical cuts forming cubes.

Easy, healthy and delish!

Happy Summer!

Enjoy!

All Mashed Up!

Leek and Garlic Mashed Potatoes

A big bowl of mashed potatoes is a great side to any meal. I like to add the sauteed leeks, they have a slight onion and sweet flavor. This is easy enough to make dairy or parve. With the garlic and some creamer or nondairy creamer this is a savory, smooth and delicious dish.

Ingredients:

2 pounds Yukon Gold Potatoes peeled and boiled till fork tender

1 medium sized leek cleaned and sliced

4 cloves of garlic grated

4 tablespoons margarine

1/3 cup non dairy creamer or creamer

salt and pepper

Since the leeks grow in a sandy soil they tend to have dirt between the layers. They take a little TLC to prepare, but it is well worth it.

Chop off top of leek here the dark green begins.

Peel off any bruised or fibrous looking outer layers.

Soak leeks in a cold water bath, for about 15 minutes, swish around a little before you remove the leeks from the water and blot with paper towel, and slice thin.

Cut off bottom of leek about 1/2 above where roots end.

Cut leek in half length wise and across, so you are cutting it in quarters.

Peel and boil your Yukon gold potatoes in salty water till fork tender.

In a saute pan over medium heat melt 4 tablespoons of margarine. I know this seems like a lot but you need it to moisten the potatoes. If you are making this a dairy dish use butter. Add leeks and grated garlic. constantly stirring, cook till tender and a vibrant green color. Add salt and pepper.

 

Mash potatoes, add salt pepper and non dairy creamer, or creamer.

Add sauteed leeks and garlic, and mix it up.

If is seems a little dry add some more melted margarine and creamer. 

Hope you like it as much as my special nieces Julia and Elizabeth!!

Enjoy!!

Charred Chicken Burgers!

Chicken Burgers

One of my favorite foods is a burger. Almost any version is good in my book, but always trying to find a healthier and less fattening version I have turned to the ground chicken burger. I find it a little less of a  fowl taste than chopped turkey. It is great thrown on a grill or on the grill pan. I like to make these in bulk, I keep a batch frozen uncooked, and I make a bunch so we have them for lunch too.

 I have concocted a few different versions of Chicken burgers , and this is the one that I keep on making. The sauteed veggies add to the moistness of this juicy, savory and healthy amazing burger.

Ingredients:

1/2 red pepper chopped

1/2 orange pepper chopped

1 small red onion chopped

4 cloves of garlic grated

olive oil

2 lbs chopped chicken breast

1/4 cup fresh parsley chopped

5 sprigs of fresh thyme leaves

1/3 cup barbecue sauce (recipe in an earlier post pulled barbecue chicken tater tots)

1/3 cup panko flakes

salt & pepper

click on photo to purchase Vidallia onion chopper on Amazon

Using Great Find #3  or a knife, chop red,and orange peppers, and onions 1/4" squares.

In a saute pan drizzled with olive oil add peppers, onions and grated garlic. Saute over medium heat constantly stirring so that it doesn't brown off in spots. cook till tender and onions are translucent. Season with salt and pepper.

Chop parsley, and remove thyme leaves from stems. Add both to chopped chicken breast in a large bowl.

Add sauted peppers,onions ,garlic, panko, barbecue sauce and salt & pepper. Combine till all ingredients are mixed in.

This batch should make 9 patties 3 1/2" in diameter by 1" high.

Grill on medium high heat, flip burger when it looks cooked half way up 4-5 minutes. Then cook the same on other side. Cut into the thickest burger to make sure there is no pink in the middle.

Delish on a bun with tomato, avocado, lettuce and a side of barbecue sauce for dipping!

Enjoy

Simply Fresh!

Avocado Tomato Simple Salad

A great way to celebrate the warm weather is with this refreshing and delicious simple salad. These few incredible veggies are amazing on there own but also great when mixed together. You can use this salad as your base and add to it with what you have in the pantry, or with whats fresh at the farm stand.

Ingredients:

3 Avocados

medium red onion

12 -15 small vine tomatoes  1.5 "

1-2 limes juiced

1/4 cup chopped cilantro

3-4 tablespoons olive oil

salt & pepper

Remove the nub, nobody wants to get that in there dish.

Cut the avocados in half and remove the pit.

There are many ways to remove the skin from the avocado, what ever way is easiest without bruising the veggie is good. These are two ways to do it. Either scoop out the avocado with a big spoon pressing against the skin, or you can just peel the skin right off.

Chop avocado into uniform chunks.

Try to use ripe but firm tomatoes for this salad. Cut tomatoes in quarter wedges.

Cut onion in half and slice each half in paper thin slices.

Roughly chop cilantro.

Layer the ingredients in a bowl. Add juice of one lime, drizzle the olive oil, add salt and pepper. Very gently and lightly fold in the salad with a spoon. be gentle so that the avocados don't get mashed.

Taste  to see if you need to add some more lime juice.

A few ideas for great add-ons to the salad are cucumbers, chick peas, black beans, roasted corn. grilled chicken, feta cheese, or what ever combinations you like.

Simply Enjoy!!

A Sweet Treat!

Passover Fruit & Nut Cookies

Some times you just need a little sweet, and this is a great way to get through the eight long days of Passover. It is a cookie with a nice crisp outside but soft middle. Filled with an enticing hint of salt and sweet.

This is a recipe I cut out of a magazine many years ago, that I have tweaked and transformed into one of my traditional Passover treats . It  also happen's to be one of my Mom's favorite's. Use what ever dried fruits and nuts you like, but I think a good balance is 3 dried fruits and 1 nut. They would be good prepared with dates, dried mango, golden raisins, pistachios, pecans or macadamia nuts the combinations are endless. I make them with margarine so they are parve, but they would be delish with butter too. This is how I made them this year.

Ingredients:

2 1/4 cups cake meal

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup margarine room temperature

1 cup brown sugar packed

1/2 cup sugar

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 1/2 cups shredded coconut flakes

3/4 cup dried Turkish apricots chopped

3/4 cup dried cranberries chopped

3/4 cup dried pears chopped

1 cup slivered almonds

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Line 4 cookie sheets with parchment paper. This way you can have two in the oven while you are scooping the dough for the other two sheets.

In a medium bowl mix together the cake meal, baking soda and salt.

In a large bowl with a stand up mixer or a hand held mixer to the margarine add the brown sugar and white sugar on medium speed till smooth, gradually add eggs mix till smooth. while you are mixing add in the flour mixture on low speed till it is totally blended. Mix in the coconut , apricots, cranberries, pears and almonds.

With a spoon drop the cookies about 1 1/4 inches in diameter.  These cookies don't raise much from when when they bake, so pretty much how you drop them is how they will look They are a rustic looking cookie treat.

Bake 13-15 minutes till they are a nice golden brown.

Makes about 54 cookies. Have a Zissen Pesach!!

Enjoy!!

Prepping for Passover!

Israeli Salad

great for Passover

This salad is a family favorite, and a dish I can usually recruit my kids into helping me make. It is a refreshing, light and parve salad traditionally served in Israel. I use the classic veggies but this can also be your base to add other ingredients like chick peas, quinoa, black beans, corn and avocados. It can be served as a side dish or breakfast with some farmer cheese and an over easy egg.

It is important that the size of the chopped veggies are consistent, so that one flavor doesn't over power. I like to use my Great Find #3, the vidalia onion chopper to make this salad. It makes the cubes a nice uniform size of 1/2". It also comes out great just using a knife.

I am a big cilantro fan so I often substitute the parsley for cilantro. either works well, it 's a matter of preference.

Ingredients:

3 medium tomatoes

1 bell pepper red, yellow or orange cored & seeded

1 English cucumber peeled & seeded

2 scallions

1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley or cilantro

1 lemon juiced

3-4 tablespoons olive oil

salt & pepper 

Using the chopper or a knife, cut the tomatoes into 1/2 cubes. Be sure to slice the tomatoes to the same size width as the same size width as the chopper squares so the pieces come out in cubes.

click on photo to purchase Vidallia onion chopper on Amazon

Cut peppers into 1/2" cubes as well.

click on photo to purchase Vidallia onion chopper on Amazon

Scoop out the seed in the cucumber. 

If you are using the chopper, cut cucumber into 1/2" thick slabs first so that cubes come out square. or else chop with a knife

Add Parsley, lemon juice, salt & pepper, and toss. It's good severed room temp or cold.

Enjoy!!

Basting in Balsamic!

Balsamic Grilled Chicken

Scott and I headed into the city to see Carly. When I gave her a choice of what I can bring her a definitive choice was Balsamic Grilled Chicken. One of her favorites.

This is an easy dish to make for a dinner, or great to make ahead to have for lunches for the week. Not many ingredients, and most of them are things that I  have on hand. I like to keep a few fresh herbs in my fridge, usually rosemary, thyme, cilantro and parsley. I keep them each in a separate plastic bag or if I buy them in a plastic box I leave it in that in the produce draw. They usually last 2-3 weeks in my fridge.

To save dishes and to really coat all the chicken I like to mix this marinade and let it sit in a gallon zip top bag. to keep the liquid from spilling out while I am adding the ingredients, I prop the bag over a  glass jar or vase. Then I have two hands to add everything and take pictures.

I usually grill inside so I like to use a grill pan or a double burner grill pan. They both work great and leave the nice grill marks on the chicken. Also amazing to cook on a gas or charcoal grill.

Ingredients:

2 pounds chicken cutlets

1/2 cup balsamic vinegar

1/4 cup olive oil

1/2 lemon juiced

1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

1 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary

1 teaspoon fresh thyme

salt & pepper

Enjoy!!

Beat It!!

Roasted Beet and Ginger Salad

This is a recipe I have been making as a side dish at my Passover Seders for years. It is a great parve accompaniment that has a nice fresh flavor from the ginger. I am showing this recipe using both golden and red beets, but it can be made with all red beets. This is a perfect side to make ahead a day or two. As the beets marinate in the dressing the flavors blend nicely. The onions get a sweet pickled flavor and color from the vibrant red beets.

Ingredients:

6 beets washed and trimmed

1 large red onion

1 lemon juiced

1/4 cup olive oil

1/4 cup red wine vinegar

1 teaspoon Dijon mustard ( if making for Passover Omit the mustard, since the mustard seed is                                              not kosher for Passover)

1 teaspoon fresh ginger grated

1 teaspoon fresh ginger finely chopped

1 tablespoon jalapeno pepper seeded & ribbed finely chopped

1/4 cup fresh cilantro chopped

salt & pepper

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

To roast beets put 3 washed and trimmed beets in the middle of a piece of aluminum foil and pull up sides of foil to make a pouch around the beets. Repeat for other 3 beets. Place in middle rack of oven and roast for 1 hour and 15 minutes till a knife slides into the center of the largest beet smoothly.

Grate Ginger

rib, seed and finely chop jalapeno pepper

finely chop ginger

whisk together lemon juice, olive oil, red wine vinegar, Dijon mustard, salt & pepper

To the dressing add in the ginger and jalapenos,

Let the beets cool. Since the beets stain your skin, it's a good idea to wear gloves. Gently rub off skin. It should come off easily.

Slice the beets, then slice in half to make a half circle.

Thinly slice the red onions.

Toss the dressing , beets, onions, and cilantro.

Enjoy!!

Smokey Salsa!

Roasted Kumato Salsa

This is an amazing smokey flavored rich salsa with a kick. I started making it with these beautiful brown Kumato tomatoes, and have been hooked ever since. I also use a Pablano pepper which some tend to be splicer then others. Both the Pablano and the Kumato can be substituted. You still get that amazing smokey flavor because you are roasting the veggies.

Ingredients:

6 Kumato brown tomatoes small to medium, or plum tomatoes

1 1/2 large red onions 

1 red bell pepper

1 Pablano pepper (can substitute with another bell pepper, red yellow or orange)

1 lime juiced

3/4 cup cilantro ( heaping hand full)

olive oil

salt & pepper

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Cube Kamato tomatoes , red onions red bell pepper and pablano pepper into 1 inch cubes.

Coat a cookie sheet with olive oil, arrange cubed veggies, drizzle with olive oil, and salt and pepper. 

roast for 45-50 minutes till the veggies start browning and charring on edges.

Scrape veggies and all crispy charred bits that are stuck to the tray into the food processor.

Add cilantro, Lime juice a little more salt and pepper. 

Pulse till roughly chopped you want to have some chunks.

Serve with chips for a great parve appetizer, or on fish or fish tacos.

This salsa is great to make ahead and refrigerate, but best served room temperature.

Enjoy!!

Bring On The Barbecued Brisket!

Barbecued Marinaded Brisket 

This Brisket leans away from the traditional brisket. It's sauce is a hearty and sweet barbecue sauce. It comes out soft and tender, with some nice crisp edges.It is easy to make and comes out amazing every time. 

Ingredients:

3 yellow onions sliced about 1/4" wide &  5 pounds of Brisket, I like to use two 2.5 pound pieces, they cook more evenly and it is easier to handle, but you can also use one larger piece.

Marinade: 

1/2 cup Apple cider vinegar, 1 cup Ketchup, 1 Bottle Chili sauce, 1 Tablespoon Dijon mustard,      I Tablespoon Molasses, 1/4 cup Worcestershire Sauce, 3 Tablespoons Chili powder, 1 yellow onion 1/2" chopped, 3 Tablespoons Brown Sugar, 3 cloves of Garlic grated, 1/2 teaspoon Crushed Red Pepper, Kosher Salt & Pepper

Arrange sliced onions on the bottom of a roasting dish sliced. Generously season Brisket on both sides with Kosher Salt and Pepper, and place on top of sliced onions. Mix together all the ingredients of the marinade. Pour marinade over brisket. Let Marinade covered with foil, at least two hours up to overnight in the fridge. The longer the better.

Preheat oven 325 degrees. Place brisket tightly covered  with foil in the oven, baste every 1/2 hour. If using 2.5 lb pieces after the 2 hours remove the foil and keep in oven for another hour. If using one 5 lb brisket you might want to keep in covered for three hours and then keep in oven uncovered for another hour. The brisket will brown and crisp in places one you take the foil off.

Remove from oven and let it rest. Slice brisket and serve with the marinaded sliced onions, and extra sauce from pan.

Enjoy!!

You Will Go Nuts!!

Rosemary Roasted Cashews

This is a great recipe to bring to the hostess, or to have out in a bowl for a cocktail party. Either way if you like Rosemary and nuts, you will love it. The recipe is easy and quick to make, and is  for sure going to be an easy go to..

Ingredients:

1 pound Raw Cashews

2 Tablespoons Butter melted

3 sprigs Rosemary leaves removed roughly chopped ,about 3 Tablespoons 

1/2 teaspoon Ancho Chili powder

Salt and Pepper

Preheat oven 375 degrees, in a bowl combine melted butter, chopped rosemary, ancho chili powder, salt and pepper. After it's mixed, add raw cashews, and toss. Lay out on a cookie sheet in a single layer, bake for about 10 minutes till they get a nice golden brown. Check on the nuts towards the end to make sure they don't burn.

Enjoy!!