Homemade Bread & Butter Pickles ♥ Freezer Recipe

A recipe from a reader, easy bread and butter pickles. No canning required, can be kept in the freezer for months!

Many thanks to an anonymous reader who left her recipe for bread and butter pickles a couple of years back. I actually made these late last fall -- although too late to share -- and then nibbled on them off and on throughout the winter.

The pickles are great -- crunchy but not too crunchy, sweet but not too sweet, 'pickly' but not too pickly. They are as simple to make as opening a jar -- well, almost. There's no canning required, just plop them into freezer containers.

I love having homemade pickles on hand. Call me silly but somehow a quick sandwich seems more like a meal when there are pickles alongside.

HOMEMADE BREAD & BUTTER PICKLES

Hands-on time: 15 minutes
Time to table: 24 - 48 hours
Makes 4 - 8 pints

LIQUID
1 cup white vinegar
2 cups sugar
2 tablespoons kosher salt
1 tablespoon celery seed
1 tablespoon mustard seed

7 - 14 cups pickling cucumbers, blossom and stem ends trimmed, sliced into rounds if small and half-rounds if larger (see NOTES)
1 cup onion, sliced thin in rounds or half rounds, rings separated

Bring the liquid ingredients to a boil, let cool a bit. Place the cucumbers and onions in a large crock or glass jar. Pour hot liquid over top. Weight the cucumbers to submerge in the liquid (see NOTES). If desired, add more cucumbers over the next day or so. Refrigerate and let stand for at least 24 hours after the last cucumbers are added. Transfer to freezer containers and freeze until ready to use.

KITCHEN NOTES
Use the smallest pickling cucumbers you can find, otherwise they'll be full of seeds which aren't inedible but do affect the aesthetics of the pickles and don't agree with some digestive systems.
Add about 7 cups of sliced cucumbers straight off. They'll shrink considerably so add more cucumbers the next day as room is made.
For weighting the cucumbers, I used a small plate topped with an empty glass jar filled with water.

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VEGETABLE RECIPES from the ARCHIVES
~ how to freeze corn ~
~ how to freeze tomatoes ~
~ Homemade Zucchini Relish ~

~ more 'canning' and preserving recipes ~
~ more recipes for 'refrigerator' pickles (no 'canning' required) ~

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Looking for healthy ways to cook vegetables? A Veggie Venture is home to hundreds of quick, easy and healthful vegetable recipes and the famous Alphabet of Vegetables. Healthy eaters will love the low carb recipes and the Weight Watchers recipes.
© Copyright 2009

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Tuna & White Bean Dip ♥ A Quick & Easy Recipe!

An easy bean dip, with a touch of umami from a simple can of tuna. Easy to make with a few quick pantry and refrigerator ingredients. Fresh tasting and endlessly variable. Positively addictive. Low carb. Weight Watchers 1 point.

Okay so you might think that this is just one more bean dip, nothing special about that. But I beg, think again.

For one thing, it's one of those pass-along recipes. It started with Ilda, neighbor to Tanna of My Kitchen in Half Cups who made it, along with my Pickled Beet Dip, for a meal of Little Bites. Then I made it for an impromptu sangria party on my patio and passed it along to two people. Two days later, I made it again for a birthday celebration -- passing the recipe along again -- and then snacked leftovers all week. Already, in just two weeks, this has become a staple summer recipe, for an easy party appetizer, for a small bite before supper, for quick lunches.

For another, what raises the bean dip several notches is the addition of tuna, which adds a certain savory meatiness that, when pressed, I'd identify as 'umami', the fifth taste sense.

OH and before I forget, see those cool crackers? You'll love these Herbed Saltines too. Yum.

This recipe is so quick and easy that I'm adding it to a growing collection of easy summer recipes being published all summer long in 2009 at Kitchen Parade, my food column. With a free Kitchen Parade e-mail subscription, you'll never miss a one!

TUNA & WHITE BEAN DIP

Hands-on time: 10-15 minutes
Time to table: excellent after resting a couple of hours, even better after 24 hours
Makes 2 cups

5 ounces canned tuna, drained
15 ounces canned white beans (see NOTES), drained
a good splash of apple cider or another vinegar (anything other than harsh plain white vinegar) or the juice of a lemon
1 clove garlic, minced
1 small red onion, chopped (or several green onions, chopped)
1/2 red pepper, chopped
Fresh basil, chopped - Tanna says to use a 'happy' amount!
Salt and pepper to taste
Olive oil - just enough to bind a bit, about 1 tablespoon

With a fork, gently mash the tuna and beans together (see NOTES). Stir in the remaining ingredients. Cover and refrigerate to let the flavors meld for a couple of hours or better yet, 24 hours. Serve with crackers.

Variations: Add chopped kalamata olives or chopped radish or bits of fresh peach. Substitute dill or cilantro for the basil.

NUTRITION ESTIMATE
Per Tablespoon: 21Cal; 1g Tot Fat; 0g Sat Fat; 1mg Cholesterol; 49mg Sodium; 2g Carb; 1g Fiber; 0g Sugar; 2g Protein; Weight Watchers 0 points

Per Quarter Cup: 84Cal; 2g Tot Fat; 0g Sat Fat; 5mg Cholesterol; 197mg Sodium; 9g Carb; 3g Fiber; 1g Sugar; 7g Protein; Weight Watchers 1 point

KITCHEN NOTES
I like people to be able to 'recognize' what's in a dish so when I made this the second time, I mashed half the beans with the tuna, then stirred in the remaining whole beans with the rest. This worked quite well with beans from the 'Mexican aisle' at the grocery, they were quite small. It might not work as well with larger cannellini beans.
Note to Vegetarians

MORE RECIPES for DIPS & SPREADS
~ Guacamole with Tomatillos ~
~ Baba Ganoush ~
~ Caponata ~

~ more recipes for dips & spreads ~

MORE RECIPES with BEANS
~ Summer Lentils ~
~ Cherry Tomato & White Bean Salad ~
~ Quick Radish & White Bean Salad ~

~ more recipes with beans & legumes ~

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RECENT KITCHEN PARADE RECIPES
'Summer Easy'
~ Minnesota Sloppy Joes ~
~ Finnish Fruit Tart ~
~ Ten-Minute Foolproof Enchilada Sauce & Ten-Minute Enchiladas ~
~ Roasted Rhubarb ~
~ Cauliflower Salad with Fresh Herbs ~

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PRINT JUST A RECIPE! Now you can print a recipe without wasting ink and paper on the header and sidebar. Here's how.

NEVER MISS A RECIPE! For 'home delivery' of new recipes from A Veggie Venture, sign up here. Once you do, new recipes will be delivered, automatically, straight to your e-mail In Box.

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Looking for healthy ways to cook vegetables? A Veggie Venture is home to hundreds of quick, easy and healthful vegetable recipes and the famous Alphabet of Vegetables. Healthy eaters will love the low carb recipes and the Weight Watchers recipes.
© Copyright 2009

reade more... Résuméabuiyad

Fire-Charred Tomatoes ♥ a Recipe from the 'Seven Fires' Cookbook

From the new and most-inspiring cookbook "Seven Fires" (much recommended as a Father's Day gift idea), tomatoes cooked on a very hot fire til charred, creating a smoky, luscious bite of summer. Low carb. Weight Watchers 1 point.

In 2007, I lucked into spending a day with author and writer Peter Kaminsky just back from Argentina where he'd been cooking over fire with Argentinian chef Francis Mallman. A book was in the works and Peter was stoked -- smoked?! -- with the idea of reducing cooking to no more than fire and food.

Seven Fires: Grilling the Argentinian Way is that book and truly, it's a treasure. For anyone who likes to grill, who's serious about barbecue, who cooks outdoors, this cookbook will be a real inspiration. But for others, too, the ingredient lists are short and accessible, the food spare and simple. There's plenty of meat in the cookbook but the vegetable recipes have really captured my imagination. I can see cooking from this book -- directly from its recipes but also on my own, just from its inspiration -- for a long time. It's an entirely new way to cook -- or perhaps, better said, it's an entirely OLD way to cook but made contemporary.

The 'seven fires' are the parilla (a grill grate set over hot coals); the chapa (flat cast iron griddle set over fire)' an infernillo (a two-story fire with a cooking surface in between); a horno de barro (wood-fired oven); a rescoldo (covering food with embers); asado (a vertical spit for cooking whole animals); and caldero (iron kettle).

So far, we've tried the charring technique over an open wood fire, on the stovetop and on the grill with a hickory log for smoke. The first real hit, the 'recipe' we'll make again and again all summer, is the fire-charred tomato.

THE TASTE OF BURNT "I adore dissonance in food -- two tastes fighting each other. It wakes up your palate and surprises you. As you'll see in many of the recipes in this book, charring or even burning adds an extra dimension to breads, vegetable, and fruit. The right amount of burning or charring can be delicious and seductive: a burnt tomato, for example, has a dark crust bordering on bitter, while the inside is soft and gentle in texture and taste." ~ Seven Fires, page 5

FIRE-CHARRED TOMATOES

Hands-on time: 5 minutes
Time to table: 15 minutes
Serves 4

Olive oil
4 medium-size perfect summer tomatoes
Kosher salt or another good coarse salt

Heat a cast iron skillet until smoky hot, adding a layer of olive oil after a minute or two. Cut the 'cap' off each tomato, about 1/4 to 1/3 of the way down. Press the salt into the cut surfaces. When the skillet is hot, place the tomatoes, cut-side down, onto the hot surface. DO NOT MOVE -- and let cook for exactly 10 minutes. Transfer to serving plates, serve and savor!

NUTRITION ESTIMATE
Per Tomato: 50Cal; 3g Tot Fat; 0g Sat Fat; 0mg Cholesterol; 5mg Sodium; 4g Carb; 1g Fiber; 3g Sugar; 1g Protein; Weight Watchers 1 point

KITCHEN NOTES
Don't be tempted to move the tomato once it's on the skillet -- otherwise the charred skin won't develop.
There will be smoke so if you've got a good fan, turn it on, or can cook outside (on a grill's side burner, say), do that.

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MORE TOMATO RECIPES
~ Broiled Tomatoes with Oregano ~
~ Fresh Tomato with Fresh Mozzarella ~
~ Insalata Caprese ~
~ Fresh Tomato Sauce ~
~ Tomato & Onion Salad ~

~ more recipes for perfect summer tomatoes ~
~ more Weight Watchers recipes ~
~ more low-carb recipes ~

This recipe is so quick and easy that I'm adding it to a growing collection of easy summer recipes being published all summer long in 2009 at Kitchen Parade, my food column. With a free Kitchen Parade e-mail subscription, you'll never miss a one!

NEVER MISS A RECIPE! For 'home delivery' of new recipes from A Veggie Venture, sign up here. Once you do, new recipes will be delivered, automatically, straight to your e-mail In Box.

Looking for healthy ways to cook vegetables? A Veggie Venture is home to hundreds of quick, easy and healthful vegetable recipes and the famous Alphabet of Vegetables. Healthy eaters will love the low carb recipes and the Weight Watchers recipes.
© Copyright 2009

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Pickled Beet Dip ♥ Easy Recipe!

Today's vegetable recipe: A quick and easy dip made with pickled beets, cream cheese and horseradish. Quite addictive, smeared on bread. Great color for outdoor gatherings. Low carb.

No surprise that I loved this beet dip -- yes, when you collect beet recipes, people starting calling you the Beet Queen for good reason. But I didn't expect everyone else to love this beet dip -- but they did!

The dip starts with a jar of pickled beets and whizzes up in the food processor in just a few minutes. It keeps too -- making it easy to make ahead and keep on hand for several days.

Because you'll ask? Yes, the color is really truly that pink!

THREE DAYS LATER: Brilliant! My friend Tanna from the Dallas food blog My Kitchen in Half Cups made this dip using homemade pickled beets and substituting canned beans for the cream cheese! She served the dip at a 'Little Bites' Dinner detailed in a post called, Pink, Purple, Red or Rouge.

PICKLED BEET DIP

Hands-on time: 10 minutes
Time to table: 10 minutes
Makes 2 cups

1 16-ounce jar pickled beets, drained (see NOTES)
1 thick slice red onion
8 ounces low-fat cream cheese (also called Neufchatel)
Horseradish to taste (see NOTES)

Chop the beets and onion in a food processor until very small. Add the cream cheese and process until smooth. Add the horseradish. Spread over crostini or crackers.

NUTRITION ESTIMATE
Per Tablespoon: 28Cal; 2g Tot Fat; 0g Sat Fat; 5mg Cholesterol; 66mg Sodium; 3g Carb; 0g Fiber; 0g Sugar; 1g Protein; Weight Watchers 1 point

Per Quarter Cup: 114Cal; 6g Tot Fat; 4g Sat Fat; 21mg Cholesterol; 266mg Sodium; 11g Carb; 2g Fiber; 1g Sugar; 3g Protein; Weight Watchers 2 points

TODAY'S VEGETABLE RECIPE INSPIRATION
Adapted from SlashFood

KITCHEN NOTES
I used Aunt Nellie's Pickled Beets but these Swedish Beets (an easy homemade pickled beet recipe, no canning required) would work great too.
If you like, put aside one beet to garnish the top.
Commercial horseradish varies in hotness so this is definitely an ingredient to taste and adjust. I used two teaspoons, that wasn't enough for our taste.

MORE FAVORITE VEGETABLE RECIPES
~ Beets with Feta ~
~ Beet Carpaccio ~
~ more beet recipes ~

~ Baba Ganoush ~
~ Easy Easy Radish Spread ~
~ Beet Pesto ~
~ more dips & spreads ~

~ more Weight Watchers recipes ~
~ more low-carb recipes ~

This recipe is so quick and easy that I'm adding it to a growing collection of easy summer recipes being published all summer long in 2009 at Kitchen Parade, my food column. With a free Kitchen Parade e-mail subscription, you'll never miss a one!

PRINT JUST A RECIPE! Now you can print a recipe without wasting ink and paper on the header and sidebar. Here's how.

NEVER MISS A RECIPE! For 'home delivery' of new recipes from A Veggie Venture, sign up here. Once you do, new recipes will be delivered, automatically, straight to your e-mail In Box.

Looking for healthy ways to cook vegetables? A Veggie Venture is home to hundreds of quick, easy and healthful vegetable recipes and the famous Alphabet of Vegetables. Healthy eaters will love the low carb recipes and the Weight Watchers recipes.
© Copyright 2009

reade more... Résuméabuiyad