Apple Walnut Salad with Balsamic Dressing

Today, I'm sharing recipes for a tasty and simple salad and salad dressing I made for dinner last night. You can find the recipe I used for Ingrid's 4 Ingredient Balsamic Dressing here.

2 cups fresh spinach leaves
2 cups butter lettuce
1/3 cup feta cheese, crumbled
1/3 cup apples, chopped
1/3 cup walnuts, chopped

Wash and drain the spinach and lettuce, chop it up, and put it in a bowl. Put in fridge for about 30 minutes to chill. Remove from fridge and add the cheese, apples, walnuts, and Ingrid's dressing, or your own. Toss & serve the salad. It is best served cold. Enjoy your food!

Apple Coffee Cake & Brown Sugar Topping & Glaze

I made this apple coffee cake recently and as it was baking the house smelled wonderful--just like fall. I was surprised to discover one large apple made two cups of chopped, and I threw in an extra 1/3 of a cup. This coffee cake would go well with hot apple cider...and a roaring fire. 

Ingredients:
1 stick plus 2 teaspoons unsalted butter
1 1/2 cups packed light brown sugar
1 1/2 cups packed light brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 cup all purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup light sour cream
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 cups apples, cored & chopped 

Brown Sugar Topping:
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1/4 cup all purpose flour
1/4 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened 

Brown Sugar Glaze:
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons water

Preheat the oven to 350. Lightly grease a 13" x 9" glass baking dish with 2 teaspoons of the butter. In a large bowl, cream together the remaining stick of butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs 1 at a time, beating after the addition of each. In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. Add to the wet ingredients, alternating with the sour cream and vanilla. Fold in the apples. Pour into the prepared baking dish, spreading out to the edges.

To make the topping, in a bowl, combine the sugar, flour, cinnamon, and butter, and mix until it resembles coarse crumbs. Sprinkle the topping over the cake and bake until golden brown and set, 35 to 40 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool on a wire rack for at least 10 minutes. 

To make the glaze, in a bowl, combine the sugar, vanilla, and water and mix until smooth. Drizzle the cake with the glaze and let harden. 

Chocolate Pudding for Grown-Ups

This stuff is pretty good when your sweet tooth is acting up AND it's healthy. I modified it from a Dr. Weil recipe and he says, "this high-calcium "pudding" has the benefits of cocoa and cinnamon — and the flavor of Mexico. Experiment with different brands of ricotta — they have different textures and flavors." Who wants pudding?!

1 cup low fat ricotta cheese
4 tablespoons honey
4 tablespoons cocoa powder
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp ground cinnamon

Combine all the ingredients in a food processor and process until smooth. Scoop into small dessert dishes and serve.

Baked Onion Rings

Do you like onion rings but resist the temptation due to the grease? Try this lower fat version.

1 cup cornflakes

1 cup plain dried breadcrumbs

1 large egg

1/2 cup low fat buttermilk

1/4 cup all purpose flour

1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1/2 teaspoon Kosher salt

1/4 teaspoon ground pepper

1 large sweet onion, sliced into rings (I don't use the smaller center rings)

2 tablespoons olive oil

Preheat oven to 450. In a food processor, pulse cornflakes and breadcrumbs until fine crumbs form, then transfer to a medium bowl. In another medium bowl, whisk together egg, buttermilk, flour, cayenne, and salt and pepper.

Dip onion rings in egg mixture (letting excess drip off--this is very important to prevent a gloppy breadcrumb mess!) and dredge in cornflake mixture; place on a large plate. Pour oil onto a rimmed baking sheet. Place in oven and heat 2 minutes. Remove sheet from oven and tilt to coat evenly with oil. Arrange onion rings on sheet. Bake, turning once, until onion rings are golden brown, about 16 minutes. Season with salt.

Butternut Squash Soup

Ahhh, fall is finally here...the time of year when apples, cider, pumpkins, and squash come to mind. This is a perfect fall soup, and so easy to make. It will warm your soul.

Ingredients:
1 (2 to 3 pound) butternut squash, peeled and seeded
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 medium onion, chopped
6 cups chicken stock
nutmeg
salt and freshly ground black pepper

Cut squash into 1-inch chunks. (I recommend buying it pre-chunked if possible. If not, have a sharp knife and be careful). In large soup pot melt butter. Add onion and cook until translucent, about 8 minutes. Add squash and stock. Bring to a simmer and cook until squash is tender, about 15 to 20 minutes. Remove squash chunks with slotted spoon and place in a blender and puree. Return blended squash to pot. Stir in the squash with liquid remaining in pot and season with nutmeg, salt, and pepper. Serve.

Zucchini-Carrot Walnut Bread

Got zucchini coming out your ears? Here's a healthy recipe that will put that zucchini (and those carrots) to good use. Use a larger zucchini to get one cup. Serve this with a cup of good coffee and enjoy the weather.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup honey

1/4 cup canola oil

1 large egg

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla

3/4 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 cup whole-wheat flour

1/2 cup oat bran

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon

1/8 teaspoon salt

1 cup shredded zucchini

1 cup shredded carrots

2 teaspoons grated orange peel

1/4 cup walnuts, chopped

Preheat over to 350. Spray 8" x 5" loaf pan with nonstick cooking spray. 

In large bowl, whisk together honey, oil, egg & vanilla. In another bowl, stir together the flours, oat bran, baking powder, cinnamon & salt. Add dry ingredients to honey mixture with zucchini, carrots and orange peel. Stir to blend well. Add walnuts. Spoon into pan. 

Bake 50-60 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool completely on wire rack. Makes 16 servings. This recipe is slightly modified from one by the American Heart Association.

Cooking Tips from Effie's Cookbook

As promised, here are some cool cooking tips from my new cookbook dedicated to Effie. You can read more about her in my post "Effie Cooks Pecan Chess Pie". Rumor has it Effie is the best cook in North Carolina.

1. Keep a recipe card upright by placing it in the tines of a fork and putting the fork handle in a glass.

2. Put cold oil in a hot pan so food won't stick.

3. When you boil water, place a lid on the pot and the water will come to a boil in a shorter period of time.

4. Use dental floss to cut cakes, especially delicate, sticky ones that tend to adhere to the knife.

5. Applesauce is a great fat substitute for low fat baking. Simply substitute half the fat in a recipe with an equal measure of applesauce.

6. To keep a recipe card clean, place it under an upside-down glass pie plate. Also, the curved bottom magnifies the print.

Effie Cooks Pecan Chess Pie

I know a very special woman named Effie who is 96 and bakes pies several times a week. Effie lives in North Carolina and her church recently dedicated their cookbook to her. Effie has been an active member of her church for over 65 years and in 1945 held the founding meeting of the church's women's group at her home--how cool is that? I was one of the fortunate recipients to receive a copy of this special cookbook, signed by Effie, which includes some of her recipes. I will be posting some of Effie's recipes along with some great cooking tips from the cookbook in upcoming posts...so stay tuned.

1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
1 tablespoon flour
1 stick margarine
2 tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon vanilla flavoring
2 eggs
1 cup chopped pecans

Mix together sugar and flour. Add melted margarine, milk, vanilla, eggs, and pecans. Pour into an unbaked pie shell. Bake at 350 for 40-45 minutes.

Keep on cookin' Effie!

Black Pepper Shrimp

I have never forgotten this "fancy" and delicious black pepper shrimp recipe my Mom made for me as a special birthday treat when I turned 18. Remember how shrimp scampi was the "in" seafood dish back in the day? This isn't exactly scampi, but it is similar, and this particular recipe comes from Paula Deen. I would squeeze some lemon over the shrimp before serving with a nice sourdough bread and a salad.

3 pounds fresh shrimp, unpeeled
8 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons chopped garlic
4 tablespoons freshly ground pepper

Preheat oven to 400. Wash and drain shrimp and place in shallow baking pan. In a saucepan, melt the butter, add the garlic, and saute for 3-4 minutes. Pour the butter mixture over the shrimp and toss to coat. Pepper shrimp until well covered. Bake in oven at 450 until pink, about 5 minutes, turn, bake a few minutes longer and pepper again. You must use a heavy hand with the pepper.

Pumpkin-Cheese Bread (Makes 2 Loaves)

I've been making this bread every holiday season for many years. It's moist and delicious, and the flavors of pumpkin, clove, and cinnamon give it that autumn/holiday season taste. Another great thing about this recipe is that it makes two 9 x 5 loaves. This post is dedicated to a nice young lady I met yesterday who loves anything pumpkin!

2 ½ cups sugar

1 8 oz package cream cheese (you can use low-fat)

½ cup margarine

4 eggs

1 16 oz can pumpkin

3 ½ cups flour

2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon cinnamon

½ teaspoon baking powder

¼ teaspoon ground cloves

1 cup chopped walnuts

Combine sugar, softened cream cheese, and margarine, mixing until well blended. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Blend in pumpkin. Add combined dry ingredients, mixing just until moistened. Fold in nuts.

Pour into two greased and floured 9"x 5” loaf pans. Bake at 350, 1 hour and 10 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes; remove from pans.