Summer Veggie Retrospective and Weekly Specials with Mary Anne

Don't have time to do a full regular post with new recipes and menus and costs and all, so instead I'm going to do a retrospective of summer veggie recipes that have been published on the new blog.

Have you been to the Farmers Market recently? It's in full swing with heaps and piles and boxes and truckloads of bright, vibrant, fresh veggies. Zucchini. Summer squash. Tomatoes. Cucumbers. Peppers. Eggplant. Green beans. Lettuce. Greens. And lots more. Plus the usual eggs and meat and honey and flowers and bedding plants and prepared food. And all the people and the buskers and the whole ambiance. It's wonderful. It's Bloomington.

And don't forget that you can exchange up to $18 of food stamps for twice as many Market Bucks! That means you can get the wonderful fresh veggies, meats and dairy for half price. What a deal!

But back to the specials at the grocery stores.

Marsh has family packs of ground beef for $1.99 per pound and family packs of boneless skinless chicken breasts also for $1.99 per pound. Seedless grapes are $1.99 per pound. “Colossal” Vidalia onions are 89 cents a pound. Strawberries, blueberries, blackberries and raspberries are “buy one get one free” but they don’t say how much that first one costs. Prices are good through Wednesday, July 2.

Aldi has blueberries for 99 cents a pint and strawberries for $1.49 a pound. Seedless watermelons are $2.99 each. Avocados are 69 cents each. Peaches, nectarines and plums are all $1.98 for a two pound package, or 99 cents a pound. Prices are good through Tuesday, July 1.

Kroger has peaches for 88 cents a pound. Tomatoes on the vine, green beans, and red, orange and yellow peppers are all 99 cents a pound. Half gallons of milk are four for $5.00, or $1.25 each, or $2.50 per gallon, with a limit of four half gallons. Barbecue sauces are ten for $10.00, or $1.00 each. Cheeses are $2.99 for 12-16 ounce packages. Cottage cheese is two 24-ounce cartons for $4.00, or $2.00 each. Chicken drumsticks or thighs are 99 cents a pound. Prices are good through Wednesday, July 2.

IGA has chicken drumsticks and thighs for 99 cents a pound. Vidalia onions are 89 cents a pound. Zucchini and yellow squash are $1.49 per pound. Corn on the cob is six ears for $2.00, or 33 cents an ear. Prices are good through Sunday, June 29.

When the first of the summer veggies come out, I usually want to just savor each one individually for its uniqueness. But pretty soon I'm looking for more ways to incorporate them into my menus. That's what these recipes are for, after you've had the first green beans just plain or with butter, or the first tomatoes with just a dash of balsamic vinegar, or the first zucchini lightly sauteed with a touch of dill. I hope some of these will make it onto your roster of go-to summer recipes.

By the way, did you know that there's an index of sorts to the recipes on the blog? I say "of sorts" because the blog is still a work in process as we move posts from the old site to the blog and try to get everything linked everywhere it should be. Bear with us! But anyway, to get to the index, start by clicking on the COOK icon right under the picture of the carrots and all, which will take you to a list of broad categories - FOOD PRESERVATION, PASTA, VEGGIES & SALADS, etc. And a link to get you to all of my columns, too! Click on the VEGGIES AND SALADS link and it will take you to a list of - you guessed it - recipes for veggies and salads. All of these recipes are on that list along with lots more, and more will be added almost every week as we find more recipes to post and as we finish migrating recipes from the old site. Or you can enter the ingredient you want in the search box and find your recipes that way.

Happy Cooking and Eating!

Mary Anne

PS - Turns out that trying to pick my favorite old summer veggie recipes is a lot like picking my favorite child! (Well, not that I have any kids to pick my favorite from, but you get the picture.) So I've just listed all of the recipes for cucumbers, eggplant, green beans, peppers, tomatoes and zucchini and summer squash. Some are mine, some Kayte and others posted. Enjoy!

CUCUMBERS
Creamy Gazpacho
Cucumber Salads
Easy Greek Yogurt Cucumber Sauce
Panzanella Bread Salad
Tomato and Cucumber Salad
Tomato, Cucumber and Pepper Salad

EGGPLANT
Easiest Eggplant and Sausage Casserole
Eggplant Casserole
Eggplant Chili
Eggplant Tempura
Moussaka
Sichuan-Style Eggplant
Simplified Moussaka

GREEN BEANS
Cheesy Beef and Green Beans
Green Beans Almondine
Savory Bread Pudding with Vegetables and Cheese

PEPPERS
Crock Pot Ratatouille
Fajita Salad
Italian Sausage and Peppers
Panzanella Bread Salad
Roasted Red Pepper Soup
Smoked Sausage and Peppers
Stir-Fried Italian Sausage and Peppers
Tomato, Cucumber and Pepper Salad
Unstuffed Peppers

TOMATOES
Crock Pot Ratatouille
Eggplant Casserole
Panzanella Bread Salad
Provencal Tart with Gruyere and Herbs
Tomato and Cucumber Salad
Tomato Bread
Tomato, Cucumber and Pepper Salad
Tomato Salads
Tomato Soup Three Ways

ZUCCHINI AND SUMMER SQUASH
Chicken and Vegetables
Crock Pot Ratatouille
Italian Sausage and Zucchini
Microwaved Summer Squash with Garlic and Dill
Sausage Squash Casserole
Savory Bread Pudding with Vegetables and Cheese
Taco Summer Squash Casserole
Veggie Manicotte with Tofu Ricotta
Zucchini and Carrots
Zucchini Spice Bread

What Do We Do With the Veggies, and the Weekly Special with Mary Anne

Marsh has meat this week. Family pack assorted pork chops are 99 cents a pound. Hormel Cure 81 Spiral Sliced Half Hams are 99 cents a pound. Sugardale hams (water added) are 69 cents a pound. And they have iceberg lettuce for 99 cents a head. These prices are good through next Wednesday, February 26.

Aldi has some great buys on produce. Green peppers are three for $1.49. Mushrooms are 99 cents for eight ounces. Roma tomatoes are 99 cents for twenty ounces, or 80 cents a pound. Red potatoes are $1.89 for five pounds, or a little less than 40 cents a pound. Onions are 99 cents for a three pound bag. These prices are good through next Tuesday, February 25.

IGA has turkey breast for $1.19 a pound. Ten pound bags of chicken leg quarters are $5.99, or 60 cents a pound. These prices are good through next Sunday, February 23.

Kroger has their regular one-week sale and also a special four-day sale. The four-day sale ends Sunday, February 23. On sale for those four days they have milk for $1.98 a gallon (limit 2) and ten pound bags of russet potatoes for $1.98, or 20 cents a pound (no limit). On sale for the week ending Wednesday, February 26, they have iceberg lettuce for 99 cents a head and leaf lettuce for 99 cents a pound. Celery is 99 cents a head and Roma tomatoes are 99 cents a pound. Ragu spaghetti sauce of various types is $1.29 a jar after a 50 cent discount for buying six of various things. Split chicken breasts (including bone and skin) are 99 cents a pound. Various cheeses are $3.49 a pound. Cottage cheese and sour cream are $1.99 for 24 ounces. 

I’ve given recipes for all of the types of meat that are on sale this week, so I’m going to do something a little bit different. I’m going to focus on the veggies instead of the meat. I’ll still give recipes and menus that come in at about $1.50 per serving for the whole meal, though, and they will all include meat. I just won’t limit myself to one kind of meat.

The first recipe, SMOKEDSAUSAGE AND PEPPERS uses Bar S Smoked Sausage that’s $3.99 for two and a half pounds, or $1.60 a pound, this week at Marsh. There are a few different kinds at this price. I’m going with the Polish sausage. In case you’re wondering why I say to cut the sausage on the diagonal, it’s because it makes the pieces look bigger! This will cost about $5.15 and will make four servings. You could add a lettuce salad and stay under $6.00. Or a can of fruit. Or carrot sticks and dip. Or you could add some more veggies to the sausage and peppers. Carrots would be good, or cabbage, or mushrooms.

One of my favorite vegetable dishes is MUSHROOMS AND ONIONS. It seems to go over well with guests, too. It goes with just about any kind of meat. Here I’ll pair it with pork chops. You’ll think this makes a huge amount, but because the mushrooms and onions cook down so much you’ll end up with a lot less than you expect. It makes four servings as a side dish. With the mushrooms and onions on sale, it will cost about $2.50. Add four 8 ounce pork chops for another $2.00, and a salad of iceberg lettuce, carrots, green pepper, and a diced Roma tomato for another $1.50, for a total of about $6.00.

And finally, PEANUT STIR-FRY. You can use whatever meat you want with this – IGA’s turkey breast or chicken leg quarters, or Marsh’s pork. It's the PEANUT SAUCE that's important here. Let’s go with the pork, shall we? Pork is so good in a stir-fry and goes well with peanuts, too. You can use pretty much any vegetables you have on hand. I just chose these because they’re on sale and the colors look nice together. Broccoli, cabbage, and cauliflower are good in a stir-fry, too, as are fresh green beans, tomatoes, zucchini, etc. Pretty much anything goes. This will come to a little over $5.00 and will make a lot. You shouldn’t need anything to go with it.

Isn’t it great when veggies go on sale? These are good, but I can hardly wait till summer!

Still Going Strong at the Farmers Market, and Weekly Specials with Mary Anne

Happy October! Are you ready for Halloween yet? I hope not – it’s much too early, though it seems like the stores have been selling Halloween stuff for ages.

The best deal this week seems to be milk. Aldi has it for $1.69 a gallon, Kroger for 88 cents for a half gallon, which comes out to $1.76 per gallon, but is a better deal if you wouldn’t use a whole gallon before it goes bad. Marsh has Egg-Land’s Best Eggs two dozen for $4.00, which is a good price on that brand. When I was at Aldi on Wednesday, they had regular eggs for $1.29 a dozen. Kroger’s ad says that they have 5.3 ounce Greek yogurt for 29 cents each, if you buy four of them. Butter at Kroger is $1.88 a pound, cottage cheese and sour cream are $1.00 a pound (or pint or 16 ounce), and various kinds of cheese are $1.88 for 6 – 8 ounces. It’s a good price for 8 ounces, not so good for 6 ounces. Kroger also has fresh green beans for 99 cents a pound.

Pumpkins are on sale, too, and they’ll keep until Halloween. Until Thanksgiving and probably until Christmas if you don’t carve them. Marsh has pie pumpkins for $1.99. Aldi has regular pumpkins for $1.99 (I have no idea how big they are). And the Kroger store at the corner of Second and College has pumpkins for 99 cents each through Saturday. It’s part of their Grand Re-Opening sale, and it seems to be only at that store.

Not much on sale in the way of meat. Kroger has 73% lean ground beef for $1.97 a pound in three pound chubs, which cost $5.91 each, and pork chops and spareribs for $1.97 in the large value packs. Marsh has boneless skinless chicken breasts for $1.97 a pound in the family size packs.

I’m going to give some more recipes for summer veggies this week. (And by the way, I’ll be serving samples of Moussaka, a Greek dish eggplant casserole) on Friday at the Hub, starting about 4:00 or so. I hope you’ll stop by my tasting table!) Summer veggies won’t last much longer at the Farmers Market. Eggplant was running $1.00 each last Saturday, or sometimes 75 cents each for small ones. I usually get the big ones. The seeds don’t bother me in casseroles. I’m told that the big ones don’t work as well, though, if you’re going to slice the eggplant, like you would for Eggplant Parmesan. Really big zucchini were also $1.00 each, and I could still get the big red bell pepper seconds for 50 cents each. Canning tomatoes were a bit more than they were last week, but still a good price. Check last week’s for more recipes using eggplant and zucchini.

I have tried eggplant over the years, and could never find a recipe that I liked. I kept trying, though, because so many people said it was good. Finally, when I was testing recipes for a cookbook by Judy Barnes Baker, I found a really good recipe. And since then, I’ve found more recipes that I like. Here’s that first “good” recipe, for MOUSSAKA. Moussaka is a traditional Greek casserole made with layers of eggplant and sauce, with a custard over the top. Kind of like lasagna, except it’s Greek instead of Italian, has slices of eggplant instead of noodles, has lots less cheese, and is topped with custard. It's more work than I really want to do most days, what with the slicing and salting and draining and frying of the eggplant and then making multiple alternating layers of the eggplant and the meat sauce. I came up with a SIMPLIFIED MOUSSAKA that has the same great taste but is lots easier and takes lots less time in the kitchen.

A batch of either version of Moussaka should cost about $6.00, and will make six generous servings, at about $1.00 each. Serve it with a salad and or some fresh veggies from the Farmers Market, and you’ve got a complete meal for less than $1.50 per serving.

I think that SAUSAGE SQUASH CASSEROLE is my favorite zucchini recipe. It’s not for calorie counters, but it’s good and it’s inexpensive. And it freezes well, which is important since I like to make lots of squash and eggplant casseroles in the summer and then freeze them. Assuming the sausage is $3.00 and the zucchini is $1.00, this recipe costs about $6.05 and makes six servings at just over $1.00 each. (Aldi’s regular price on mayo is $1.99 for 30 ounces, and their regular price on Cheddar is $1.79 for 8 ounces if you shred your own.) There’s not much texture to it, so you’ll want to add either a salad or some tender-crisp vegetables to it. Another complete meal for under $1.50 per serving.

Do you like Sausage and Peppers? I usually don’t, because the peppers are always way overcooked, at least for my taste. I prefer them tender-crisp, like in a stir-fry. So here are two recipes - ITALIAN SAUSAGE AND PEPPERS for the traditionalists among you who like your peppers really soft, and STIR-FRIED ITALIAN SAUSAGE AND PEPPERS for those like me who like their veggies to still have a bit of bite to them.Take your pick. A lot of people must like the overcooked peppers, because that’s the way most recipes say to cook them! A recipe of either one would cost about $4.50, assuming $3.00 for the Italian sausage. It makes 4 servings, so each serving would be about $1.15. A good sized spaghetti squash is $2.00 at the Farmers Market now and would serve four generously, at 50 cents per serving. The Italian Sausage and Peppers over spaghetti squash would be about $1.65 per serving.

A similar dish from a different part of the world is Fajitas. Since I don’t eat grains, I serve the fajita meat and veggies on a bed of lettuce for FAJITA SALADS, instead of serving it in tortillas. You can add whatever toppings you want. I’ve included the cost for sour cream, shredded cheddar and salsa, but you could also add jalapenos, olives, guacamole, etc. If you’re not going to eat all six servings immediately, put aside the extra meat and veggie mixture before you put it on the lettuce or add the toppings. Then, when you’re ready to eat it, just heat up the meat and veggies, and continue with making the salads. Without the sour cream, etc., this costs about $8.00 for six servings, assuming boneless skinless chicken breasts are $2.00 a pound and allowing $1.00 for all of the seasonings, which is likely quite a bit more than it really is. You could use fajita seasoning instead of all of the individual seasonings, or use taco seasoning instead. Let’s say $1.35 per serving. Two tablespoons each of shredded Cheddar and sour cream would be another 15 cents. Aldi has jars of salsa for (I think – I haven’t checked recently) about $1.20 each, so say another 15 cents for salsa. That would bring the total up to about $1.65 per serving. And these would be BIG servings! 

Special Farmers Market Edition

I went to the Farmers Market on Saturday and got some great bargains. I want to give you a heads up on them, especially the produce that won’t last long. (Can you believe it’s Fall already?!) And don’t forget that you can exchange a dollar’s worth of food stamps for two dollars’ worth of market vouchers, so, if you have food stamps, you can get stuff at the market for half price! I know there’s probably not much left of this month’s food stamps, but you may be able to find the same things there the first weekend in October, too. I’m sure there are a lot more bargains at the Market. These are just the ones I happened to come across when I was looking for stuff for me. I was almost done before it occurred to me that there might be a column in it.

The first place I stopped was at Tom’s Produce, on the north (at least I think it’s the north – I’m terrible with directions) side of the Market, next to City Hall. He had quarter bushels of canning tomatoes (about 14 pounds) for $6, or half bushels for $12. That’s less than 50 cents a pound! Canning tomatoes are just tomatoes that aren’t quite perfect, though I had trouble finding anything wrong with most of the ones I got, except that maybe they were a bit small. I got 49 tomatoes, so they cost 12 cents each. Don’t have a need or room for 49 tomatoes at a time? Share a box with a friend.

I also got some red and green bell peppers from Tom, at 3 for $1. They were a bit larger than what I would consider an “average” bell pepper, but then I picked out the biggest ones he had. Some were a bit oddly shaped, but I didn’t see any bad spots, at least on the ones I picked.

Tom had potatoes, too, either white or red, 30 pounds for $12, or 40 cents a pound. I have no idea how this compares to supermarket prices, but it sounds good.

Tom expects to have the tomatoes and peppers for at least another couple of weeks, and potatoes for a lot longer. Subject, of course, to the weather cooperating!

The next place I stopped was the stall where I get big oddly shaped peppers for 50 cents each. They had a bunch of them again, red or green, but not yellow. These were really big and heavy, and, other than being oddly shaped, were in fine condition. The peppers I got weighed between 12 and 16 ounces, compared to about 4 ounces for an average pepper. A few of the peppers they had had small soft spots, but I just didn’t pick those peppers. This stall was, I think, in the second row of stalls from the parking lot. I didn’t see a name on the stall.

I got some big green and yellow zucchini for 75 cents each. The big zucchini work great for casseroles, soup, and omelets, which is what I use them for. Smaller ones would work better for cooking up sliced.

Three other things I got were at “market price” but still a good price. One was pie pumpkins for $2 each (there were also small ones for $1). Pie pumpkins are smaller than field pumpkins, or Halloween pumpkins, and the flesh tends to be less stringy. They’re great for making pies, of course, but they’re also good in savory dishes. I use pumpkin in chili, in stew, and pumpkin soup, and in several other dishes. I’ll do a column on pumpkins before Halloween. You can also use regular Halloween pumpkins for most things, even after you have carved them up for jack-o-lanterns. And be sure to save the seeds to eat! I’ll include directions for roasting the seeds in a later column. You can use the seeds of spaghetti squash the same way you would pumpkin seeds. In fact, you can use the seeds of any of the winter squashes that way. I got some big green and yellow zucchini for 75 cents each. The big zucchini work great for casseroles, soup, and omelets, which is what I use them for. Smaller ones would work better for cooking up sliced. And finally, I got a big spaghetti squash for $3. I didn’t like spaghetti squash when I was using it as a substitute for spaghetti. It is not the same at all, even if it does look the same! But as a vegetable in its own right it’s pretty good.

The other two places I want to talk about both sell meat. I wrote a couple of weeks ago about Kip and Whitney’s Marble Hill Farm and their grass-fed ground beef. Again, it’s a good price, especially if you can get it for half price by using your food stamps to get market vouchers. They also have beef soup bones for $3 a pack. The packs range between about a pound and about two pounds. You have to be really careful with soup bones. Some places sell bones with practically no meat at all on them and call them soup bones. Kip and Whitney’s soup bones are slices of the leg, with lots of meat. The leg, or shank, has very flavorful meat. It needs to be cooked “low and slow” and in liquid (like in soup!) or it will be tough. But simmered slowly, or gently braised for a long time, the meat is wonderfully soft. Kip’s stall is roughly the middle of the middle row, facing Seventh Street.

Dove Farms has a stall along the north side of the Market, a few stalls from Tom’s Produce, alongside City Hall. They sell produce and eggs, but what I’m talking about today is their grain-fed beef. They have ground beef for $3.50 a pound, ribs for $2.79 a pound, and heart, liver and tongue for $1.69 a pound. They also have the rest of the animal, but these are the inexpensive cuts that they had on Saturday. Their animals are raised almost entirely on grain, so the meat will taste and cook more like you are used to. It’s local, and they don’t use hormones or antibiotics.

Grass-fed beef like Kip and Whitney raise and grain-fed beef like you get from Dove Farms are quite different. They are both local and raised without antibiotics or hormones, but how they are fed makes a big difference in the meat. Grass-fed beef is very lean, to the point that you really need to add some fat to it. Because it is so lean, it can turn out very dry if you cook it too long or at too high a temperature. You probably want to add some chopped veggies or an egg or something to the ground beef to help make up for the lack of fat. It also tastes a bit different than grain-fed or grain-finished beef. There are some health advantages to grass-fed beef – it has more Omega 3 and less Omega 6, and more CLA, both of which are supposed to be good for you. Grain-fed or grain-finished beef, on the other hand, will taste more like you are used to. Because it has more fat, it cooks more like you are used to, too, and is less likely to turn out dry or tough. Some people flat out don’t like the taste of grass-fed beef. Other people think it tastes better than grain-fed beef. I can’t say that one is “better” than the other, or that you “should” eat one instead of the other. It’s up to you. The beef from both Dove Farms and Marble Hill Farm is better for you than what you get at the store, it’s produced locally, is raised without hormones or antibiotics, and, at least for these cuts, is cheaper than you’ll usually find in the stores. The ground beef costs more than the cheapest, fattest ground beef at the store, but it’s about the same as or cheaper than the super lean ground beef there.

I’m sure that there are other bargains at the Market, but these are things that I was looking for for me. I wasn’t looking at the prices on the rest of the food there, or at the prices at each stall for things I did buy. (Wouldn’t it be wonderful if they published the prices so you could comparison shop like you can with the grocery stores?) If you have time on a Saturday morning, go down and check it out. You’ll probably find some bargains of your own. And don’t forget to exchange your food stamps for market vouchers! But be quick about it. Tomatoes and peppers and zucchini and other summer produce won’t be around much longer, though fall produce is moving in. And Tom’s Produce, Marble Hill Farm, and Dove Farms won’t be at the winter market.

Instead of the usual recipes and menus, I’m going to give some ideas for preserving the wonderful summer produce.

CANNED TOMATOES – Talk to Kayte about this. I’ve seen home canned tomatoes at the Pantry, so I’ll bet she knows how to do it. It’s been years since I’ve done any home canning.

FROZEN WHOLE TOMATOES – This is the easiest way to preserve tomatoes, but you do need freezer space. Don’t expect to end up with chunks or slices of tomato after it’s cooked. It cooks down to pretty much nothing, but leaves behind its color and its tomato flavor.

FROZEN DICED TOMATOES – Easier than canning them, but, again, you do need freezer space. 

OVEN DRIED TOMATOES – Have you seen the price for sun-dried tomatoes in the stores? They’re way too expensive for me. Oven dried tomatoes work just as well. They have a really intense tomato taste and collapse down so they take up practically no space. Most recipes say to dry plum or Roma type tomatoes, because they are less juicy than regular tomatoes and also because they are smaller. Regular tomatoes work fine, too, though they don’t get as dry. These are incredibly easy to make, and take almost no preparation time. They just need a long time by themselves in the oven.

FROZEN DICED PEPPERS – Easy to do, but like frozen peppers are best used in cooking. They're not much good for salads and eating raw.

ROASTED RED PEPPERS – Like sun dried tomatoes, commercial roasted red peppers are expensive. Fortunately, they’re also easy to make. It’s usually red peppers that are roasted, but you can use any color, including green. Use them in any recipe calling for roasted peppers, or for pimentos. Or add them to scrambled eggs or omelets, or to soups or casseroles, or any time you want a mild pepper flavor and some color.

ZUCCHINI – Zucchini doesn’t freeze or dry very well. It has too much water in it to dry, and if you freeze it you end up with a little bit of zucchini and whole bunch of water. It’s fine for putting in soups, but that’s about it. To freeze, either slice or shred it, and put it in plastic freezer bags. Refrigerate until cold, then freeze. To use, just dump the zucchini out of the bag into the soup.

PUMPKIN AND SPAGHETTI SQUASH – Pumpkin and spaghetti squash are winter squash, and store well. Wash them and let them dry thoroughly, then put them on newspapers on a shelf. Be sure they don’t touch each other. You should be able to keep them in a cool place for at least a few months.

Peach and Pepper Salsa

(based on a recipe from Hearty Cookbook: Delicious Chicken, Beef, Pork, Vegetable and Seafood Recipes, by C. K. Smith)

1 c chopped, peeled yellow peaches

1 c chopped red bell pepper

1/3 c sliced green onions

1/4 t lemon juice

1/2 habanero pepper, minced

4 t chopped fresh oregano

1/2 t minced garlic

Take a large bowl and combine peaches, red bell pepper, onions, lemon juice, oregano, salt, habanero pepper and garlic. Mix well and set aside for 30 minutes. Especially good with grilled fish.

Eggplant Casserole

(allrecipes.com)

4 cups water

1 medium eggplant, peeled and cubed

1 1/2 pounds ground beef

1 medium onion, chopped

1 medium green pepper, chopped

1 14-oz can diced tomatoes

salt and pepper to taste

1/2 cup milk

1 egg, beaten

1/2 cup dry bread crumbs

2 tablespoons butter or margarine, melted

In a saucepan, bring the water to a boil; add eggplant. Boil for 5-8 minutes or until tender; drain and set aside. In a skillet, cook beef, onion and green pepper over medium heat until the meat is no longer pink; drain. Add the tomatoes, salt and pepper. Cook and stir for 5 minutes or until tomato is tender. Remove from the heat. Stir in milk, egg and eggplant; mix well. Transfer to a greased 13-in. x 9-in. x 2-in. baking dish. Toss bread crumbs and butter; sprinkle over top. Bake, uncovered, at 375 degrees F for 30 minutes or until heated through. It would be good with grated Parmesan instead of or in addition to the buttered bread crumbs, but it would cost a bit more, too.

Pork and Peanut Stir-Fry

You can use whatever meat you want with this – IGA’s turkey breast or chicken leg quarters, or Marsh’s pork. Let’s go with the pork, shall we? Pork is so good in a stir-fry and goes well with peanuts, too. You can use pretty much any vegetables you have on hand. I just chose these because they’re on sale and the colors look nice together. Broccoli, cabbage, and cauliflower are good in a stir-fry, too, as are fresh green beans, tomatoes, zucchini, etc. Pretty much anything goes.

2 lbs pork spareribs

3 T oil

2 peppers

3 carrots

8 oz mushrooms

2 onions

PEANUT SAUCE (recipe follows)

Start by preparing the meat and vegetables. It goes together quickly once you start cooking, so you want to have everything ready before you start.

To Prepare Ingredients:

Remove the meat from the bones and cut it into thin slices, about 1/2”x1/2”x2.” Basically, you want matchstick shaped pieces, as tall as they are wide. The length of the pieces will depend on the size and shape of the pork chops. Set the pork aside. Save the bones to make bone broth.

Remove the seeds and stem from the peppers and slice them about the same size as the pork strips. Peel the carrots and cut them on the diagonal into 1/2” slices. Peel the onions, halve them through the stem and root ends, and cut them into 1/2” slices. Clean the mushrooms (the experts say to wipe them with a damp cloth, but I rub them gently under running water) and slice them into 1/2” thick slices. If the mushrooms are big, halve them before slicing.

Make the PEANUT SAUCE (recipe below)

To Cook the Stir-Fry:

Heat the oil in a big skillet or wok. When it’s hot, add the meat and keep it moving around in the pan until it’s done. Not necessarily browned, just done. Remove the meat. Add the carrots and onions to the oil and drippings in the skillet and toss them around for a couple of minutes, then add the mushrooms and peppers. Remember you want the meat in a stir-fry to be crisp-tender, and they’ll cook a little bit more after you add the meat and sauce. (If you like your veggies soft, go for it! Just cook them a few minutes longer. I won’t tell.) Add the meat and sauce and toss it over the heat just until the meat is heated through and the sauce is evenly distributed. Add water a tablespoon at a time if you need to thin the sauce.

PEANUT SAUCE

(A Cookbook for the Financially Challenged, by Alexandra Pauley)

½ c smooth peanut butter

2 T soy sauce

2 t minced garlic (or 1 T garlic powder)

1 t chili powder

1 t minced fresh ginger (or 1 t powdered ginger)

Combine everything and pour it over the cooked meat and vegetables. Toss well to coat. You may need to add a bit of water to thin it, but wait and see how it works once it’s on the meat and vegetables. There may be enough moisture in them to thin it enough.

Smoked Sausage and Peppers

2 lbs Polish sausage, sliced ½” on the diagonal

2 onions, sliced (about 1 lb)

3 peppers, sliced

1 T oil

Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Toss the veggies with the oil and add them and the sausage to the skillet. Toss the veggies and meat in the skillet done to your liking. In traditional Italian Sausage and Peppers, the veggies are cooked until they are very soft. On the other hand, in a Chinese stir-fry the veggies would be cooked only until they are tender-crisp. Take your pick.

Stir-fried Italian Sausage and Peppers

Do you like Sausage and Peppers? I usually don’t, because the peppers are always way overcooked, at least for my taste. I prefer them tender-crisp, like in a stir-fry. If you like the peppers "overcooked" and soft, try ITALIAN SAUSAGE AND PEPPERS. But if you like your veggies to still have a bit of bite to them, try this stir-fry dish. Take your pick. A lot of people must like the overcooked peppers, because that’s the way most recipes say to cook them!

(based on a recipe from Taste of Home, Apr/May 2003)

1 lb Italian sausage links, cut into 1/4” slices

1 medium green pepper, cut into thin strips

1 medium or 1/2 large red pepper, cut into thin strips

1 medium onion, thinly sliced and quartered

1 T lard (or oil or half butter and half olive oil)

1 firm tomato, coarsely chopped

1 t minced fresh parsley, or 1/2 t dried parsley

dash each salt and pepper

Cook the sausage over medium-high heat until no longer pink. Turn the heat up to high and add the peppers, onion and tomato and stir-fry until tender-crisp. If using dried parsley, add it with the vegetables. If using fresh, add it at the end. Check the seasoning and serve.

Fajita Salad

Sort of like a taco salad, but made with fajita-cooked meat and veggies. You can add whatever toppings you want - sour cream, shredded cheddar, salsa, jalapenos, olives, guacamole, etc. If you’re not going to eat all six servings immediately, put aside the extra meat and veggie mixture before you put it on the lettuce or add the toppings. Then, when you’re ready to eat it, just heat up the meat and veggies, and continue with making the salads.

(based on a recipe at tasteofhome.com)

4 tablespoons olive oil, divided

2 tablespoons lemon juice

1-1/2 teaspoons seasoned salt

1-1/2 teaspoons dried oregano

1-1/2 teaspoons ground cumin

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1/2 teaspoon chili powder

1/2 teaspoon paprika

1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes, optional

1-1/2 pounds boneless skinless chicken breast, cut into thin strips

1 sweet red pepper, julienned

1 green pepper, julienned

1 medium onion, halved and then thinly sliced

1 head iceberg or other lettuce, roughly chopped or shredded

2 tomatoes, coarsely chopped

Toppings – sour cream, shredded Cheddar cheese, salsa, etc.

In a large resealable plastic bag, combine 2 tablespoons oil, lemon juice and seasonings; add the chicken. Seal and turn to coat; refrigerate for 1-4 hours.

In a large skillet, saute peppers and onions in remaining oil until crisp-tender. Remove and keep warm.

Discard marinade. In the same skillet, cook chicken over medium-high heat for 5-6 minutes or until no longer pink. Return pepper mixture to pan; heat through.

Put a pile of lettuce on each of six plates. Top with the chicken and pepper mixture, then with the tomatoes. Add the toppings, or pass them and let each person add his/her own.

Italian Sausage and Peppers

Do you like Sausage and Peppers? I usually don’t, because the peppers are always way overcooked, at least for my taste. I prefer them tender-crisp, like in a stir-fry. This is the more traditional version, which results in "overcooked" peppers. Or try my version, STIR-FRIED ITALIAN SAUSAGE AND PEPPERS. Take your pick. A lot of people must like the overcooked peppers, because that’s the way most recipes say to cook them!

(based on a recipe from Taste of Home, Apr/May 2003)

1 lb Italian sausage links, cut into 3/4” slices

1 medium green pepper, cut into thin strips

1 medium or ½ large red pepper, cut into thin strips

1/2 medium onion, thinly sliced and quartered

1/2 T butter

1/2 T olive oil

1 firm tomato, coarsely chopped

1 t minced fresh parsley, or 1/2 t dried parsley

dash each salt and pepper

In a large skillet, cook the sausage over medium heat until no longer pink. Add the remaining ingredients. Cover and cook 30 minutes, or until vegetables are tender, stirring occasionally. Serve with a slotted spoon. 

To my way of thinking, this would be best as an omelet filling, or, if you cut the sausage in smaller pieces (say cut it into fourths lengthwise and then into half inch or so slices), as a filling for a quiche. 

Tomato, Cucumber and Pepper Salad

1 cucumber

4 medium tomatoes

1 medium or ½ large red or green bell pepper

¼ c sour cream

1-2 t sugar equivalent

1-2 t vinegar

Salt and pepper

Cut the cucumber into fourths lengthwise, then slice about ½” thick. If you’re using a supermarket cucumber, you might want to peel it to get rid of the wax that was probably put on it to keep it fresh. You don’t need to do this with cukes from the Farmers Market. You could have scraped the seeds out before you sliced the cucumber if you wanted to. Core the tomatoes and cut them into pieces about the same size as the cucumber pieces. Core the pepper and remove the seeds and membranes. Cut it into pieces about the same size as the cucumber and tomatoes. Combine the veggies, and add the sour cream, sweetener, vinegar, salt and pepper. You may want to add a bit more sweetener or a bit more vinegar, but just a tiny bit of either.

Eggplant Casserole

(loosely based on a recipe from allrecipes.com)

1 large eggplant, peeled and cubed (at least a pound)

1 1/2 pounds ground beef

1 medium onion, chopped

1 medium green pepper, chopped

1 14-oz can diced tomatoes, (or 3 medium tomatoes, chopped)

salt and pepper to taste

1/2 cup cream (or half and half or milk)

2 eggs, beaten

In a large skillet or Dutch oven, cook beef, onion, eggplant and green pepper over medium heat until the meat is no longer pink; drain. Add the tomatoes, salt and pepper. Cook and stir for 10 minutes or until the eggplant is done. Remove from the heat.

In a small bowl, mix the milk and eggs, then add to the meat and veggies and mix well. Transfer to a greased 9” square baking dish. Bake, uncovered, at 375 degrees F for 30 minutes or until heated through and bubbling.

The original recipe called for sprinkling some buttered breadcrumbs on top before baking, but I don’t bother with that. Some grated Parmesan would be good instead.

Roasted Peppers

(adapted from The Shiksa in the Kitchen, at http://theshiksa.com/2010/02/04/roasted-bell-peppers/)

Wash the peppers, and cut out any soft spots. Preheat the oven to 400 and line a rimmed baking/cookie sheet with foil. Place the peppers on their sides on the baking sheet (so the stems point to the side, not up). Don’t let them touch. Bake for 20 minutes, then turn them with tongs so the opposite side is up. Bake then another 20 minutes. They should be soft, slightly charred, and mostly collapsed. You may need to leave some of the peppers in for a few minutes longer.

When they’re done, put the peppers in a paper bag and close the bag, or in a large bowl and cover the bowl. Leave them for about 15 minutes. This will steam them and helps to loosen the skin. Take them out of the bag or bowl, and slice each pepper from bottom to stem, and lay it open in a flat strip. Pull the stem from the top of the pepper. The stem and a clump of seeds should loosen easily. Use a towel or paper towel to wipe off any loose seeds that remain inside the pepper. Turn the pepper over, and strip off the skin. It should come right off. You can leave a bit of the charred skin on if you want. It adds a bit of a smoky taste, but leaving very much gives the peppers an unpleasant texture.

If you want to store the peppers for future use, put them in a glass jar and cover them with olive oil. You can also add a clove or two of garlic to the jar, this will infuse the peppers with a garlicky flavor. Cap the jar tightly and refrigerate. If you don't plan on using them within a week, freeze the roasted pepper strips in Ziploc bags. They hold up well to freezing and retain much of their flavor when thawed.

Frozen Diced Peppers

Wash some bell peppers. If there are any soft spots, cut them out. Remove the seeds and dice the peppers. Spread the diced peppers out on a cookie sheet and freeze them. Use a spatula to loosen them from the cookie sheets, and put them in plastic freezer bags. Freeze immediately. To use, just pour out the amount of pepper you need and put the rest back in the freezer. Don’t let the ones you aren’t using thaw. Like most fruits and vegetables, the texture changes with freezing, and I only use frozen peppers in cooking.

If you don’t have room in your freezer for a cookie sheet, you can dry the peppers a bit before you freeze them. Line a cookie sheet with paper towels, and spread the peppers out on it. After half an hour to an hour, scoop up the peppers and freeze them in plastic freezer bags. You may need to give the bags a good whack to separate them when you’re ready to use them, but they’re just as good.

Unstuffed Peppers

1 lb ground beef, sausage, or a mixture of the two
1/2 cup chopped onion
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 14-oz can diced tomatoes, or 2 to 3 large fresh tomatoes, diced
1 diced bell pepper, any color, but red and yellow are best (about a cup)
1 large zucchini, diced (about 1 pound)
2 T chili powder
1-1/2 t ground cumin
1 t oregano
Salt and pepper to taste

Brown the meat in a large skillet. When it’s about half done, add the onion and garlic and cook until the meat is browned. Add everything else and cook over medium heat until all of the veggies are done and the mixture is getting dry, about 20 minutes or so. I always end up with some extra liquid in the pan, which I save in the freezer to use the next time I make vegetable beef soup.

Using Kroger’s ground beef, and veggies from the Farmers Market, this would cost about $4.00, or $1.00 per serving for four servings. A big zucchini is usually 75 cents, and sometimes the bigger ones are actually cheaper than the smaller ones. Because the veggies all cook together, the big zucchinis work just as well as smaller ones and are cheaper. I usually get large but oddly shaped red and yellow bell peppers for 50 cents each at one of the stalls. And “ugly” tomatoes, or seconds, for half price at another stall. Coleslaw would be good with this, or a green salad. Or use this to make a Taco Salad, by putting it on a bed of lettuce and adding some grated cheddar and a dollop of sour cream, with maybe a bit of diced fresh tomato. Any of these menus should cost less than $1.50 per person.