My beautiful friend, Cheryl, brought this incredibly addictive salad slash dip to our party the other night.  She carried it in a BIG ol'bowl.  I thought she might have gone overboard and made too much.  It turned out, she knew exactly how much to make.   We couldn't get enough of this tangy sweet collage of goodness.  We walked past it dipping our chips all night long.  And when it was time to eat our grilled fajitas, we went back to the bowl to make it a condiment. I was lucky there was just enough leftover that I could photograph it in good light the next day.

HERE'S ALL IT TAKES

• 1 (14 oz.) can shoe peg corn with liquid
• 1 (14 oz.) can black beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 (14 oz.) can black eyed peas, drained and rinsed
• 1 small jar diced pimentos with liquid
• 2 bell peppers, red, green, yellow or mix, cored, seeded, medium diced
• 1 small onion, finely diced
• 1 cup celery, finely diced (optional)
• 2 jalapeno peppers, seeded, finely diced

Mix all the vegetables in a large bowl.

• 3/4 cup apple cider vinegar
• 1/2 cup canola oil
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 tablespoon water
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper

In small saucepan over medium heat, bring remaining ingredients to a boil.  Pour dressing over vegetables and toss to coat evenly.  Marinade in the fridge 4 hours or overnight.

Serve with tortilla chips as a dip.  Most scrumptious as a condiment with fajitas or as a side salad

Makes 10 cups.

Pick up the NEW book Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day by Jeff Hertzberg & Zoe Francois from Amazon here.

Simple and quick recipes are always my first choice when throwing together a hot lunch.  My family would eat nachos everyday, if I'd let them. They're similar to salads really, minus the greens.  We can throw just about any vegetable, legume, meat, fruit, salsa, and of course, wonderful cheese on top of a bed a chips.  Slide'em into the oven for less than 10-minutes and then we're ready to chow down.  Any combination of our favorite toppings always seems to work out into a fun & filling lunch.

Better still, making nachos is a great way to clean out the frig of all those half-cut bell peppers, onions, tomatoes, etc.  Leftover grilled meats, cuts of cheese that are too small for a recipe, fresh herbs on their last day can be used to make fabulous nachos.

HERE'S A GOOD COMBINATION

• green bell pepper. diced small
• red bell pepper, diced small
• yellow onion, sliced thin
• tomato, seeded, diced small
• black beans, drained and rinsed
• fresh cilantro
• Monterey cheese, grated
• Cheddar cheese, grated
• Habanero Cheese, grated
• tortilla chips
• sour cream for dipping
• your favorite salsa for dipping

Heat oven to 375ºF. Use a cookie sheet lined with foil for easy cleanup, or not.  Make a layer of chips on the sheet.   Arrange the toppings as you like them.  Cover lightly with grated cheeses.  Bake 7 to 10 minutes.

mmm...hot, veggie nachos

Pick up the NEW book Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day by Jeff Hertzberg & Zoe Francois from Amazon here.

I've made other garlic yogurt recipes before but I did a something different the other day that was a big hit with my friends.  I made it thicker and added Greek oregano.  Let me just jump right to it.

HERE'S ALL I DID WITH

• 1 (32 ounce) container of plain yogurt
• 1 to 2 garlic cloves crushed
• juice of half lemon, 2 to 3 teaspoons
• 1/2 teaspoon dried Greek Oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon fresh ground pepper

First, I wet a small tea towel and squeezed it dry, then laid it in a wire mesh strainer.  Sat the strainer over a medium size bowl. Placed the yogurt in the cloth, covered and refrigerated for about 2 or 3 hours. (I lost track of time.)

At this point, the yogurt becomes VERY thick, almost like a soft goat cheese..mmm goat cheese.  Anyhoo.

Plop the thick yogurt into a container that has a lid.  If you like a little garlic flavor then, add one crushed garlic clove.  If you're looking for eatable mosquito repellent, then crush 2 garlic cloves.  I prefer eatable mosquito repellent.

Add the remaining ingredients, lemon juice, Greek oregano, salt & pepper, stir well, and cover with lid.

The yogurt and spices need time to get their mojo on, at least an hour.  The longer they have together, the stronger the flavors become.  The next day is completely different from the first hour.  And you can't tell anything in the first minutes after mixing, except that your salt is right.  So be patient, Grasshopper.

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Now you can use this as a dip with Homemade Pita Bread.

It's creamy garlic-ness is wonderful as a spread on the Olive Oil Bread from Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day.

OR I just used it in place of the sour cream in my Creamy Biscuits recipe.  The garlic comes through the biscuit without leaving a heavy garlic taste in the mouth.  We ate them for breakfast, lunch and snack, all in one day.

Pick up the NEW book Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day by Jeff Hertzberg & Zoe Francois from Amazon here.

Mango Salsa
1-1/2 cups finely diced fresh mango
2 T. green onion, minced
1 T. fresh lime juice
1 T. fresh cilantro, minced
1 red serrano or jalapeno pepper, seeded, finely chopped

Combine all the ingredients; wait 30 minutes or so for the flavors to get busy with each other, then chow down.

It's suppose to be wonderful with grilled chicken, fish tacos, fajita condiment, or always with tortilla chips.

Pick up the NEW book Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day by Jeff Hertzberg & Zoe Francois from Amazon here.

You can't go wrong with this fresh and simple recipe.  Roasted vegetables make an excellent filling for quesadillas whenever you need to throw together an appetizer for guests, a light lunch for yourself, or a quick recipe for a large, hungry crowd of Main Street Farmers' Market Fans.  The kids down at market wanted to gobble them up.

HERE'S WHAT YOU NEED

• 20 homemade flour tortillas or store bought
• 2 (8 ounce) blocks Smoked Colby Cheese, grated
• 2 Cubenelle Peppers
• 2 Golden Zucchini
• 2 jalapenos
• 1 large green zucchini
• 1 large yellow onion
• olive oil
• salt & freshly ground pepper

Heat oven to 425ºF.

Chop the golden and green zucchini, cubenelle pepper and onion into all the same size one-half inch pieces.  Remove the seeds from the jalapenos and mince.  Place all the vegetables on a large sheet pan, drizzle with a little olive oil, season with salt and pepper.  Flatten out vegetables on pan so they cook evenly.   BAKE 25 to 35 minutes, until zucchini are tender but not mushy.  Transfer to a bowl for your quesadilla assembly line.

While the vegetables are roasting, grate the cheese with a hand grater or a food processor. Set aside.

Time for assembling.  Heat a griddle pan over medium high heat.  Start with the flour tortilla, on one half of the tortilla add about 2 tablespoons of grated cheese, 3 to 4 tablespoons roasted vegetables, another tablespoon of cheese.  Fold tortilla in half and cook one minute on each side, until tortillas is crispy and golden.  Remove from pan and allow cheese to cool for a minute before cutting into servings.

YOU'RE READY TO EAT!

Pick up the NEW book Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day by Jeff Hertzberg & Zoe Francois from Amazon here.

So FRESH, so hard to stop eating.  I could skip the chips and eat it with a spoon or on top of anything grilled.  D

HERE'S ALL IT TAKES

Chunky salad bits

• 1 (15 oz) can black beans, drained & rinsed
• 1/2 (11 oz) can sweet corn
• 2 small ripe tomatoes, chopped
• 3/4 cup seedless cucumber, chopped
• 1/4 cup purple onion, finely chopped
• 3 green onions, finely chopped
• 2 jalapenos, seeded & finely chopped

• 1 avocado, chopped but wait until the last toss before adding
• Feta cheese, crumbled (Athenos Basil & Tomato flavored is good)

Pick up the NEW book Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day by Jeff Hertzberg & Zoe Francois from Amazon here.

Inspired by Michael Chiarello's book Flavored Oils: 50 Recipes for Cooking with Infused Oils.

I have, rolling around my head, the idea to make a loaf of garlic bread.  Not the bread with garlic spread on it's slices.  Garlic stirred into the dough itself.  Is your mouth watering just thinkin' about it?  But first, I need to roast a few heads of garlic. And while I'm at it, I may as well make garlic olive oil, too. Right?

HERE'S WHAT I DID

• 4 or 5 whole garlic heads
• 1 cup extra virgin olive oil
• salt and freshly ground pepper
• a pinch or two Italian seasoning (optional)

Heat the oven to 375ºF.

Peel away the garlic skins and toss the clean cloves into a shallow baking pan.  Get your kids to help, they love to pick things. Sprinkle on the salt, pepper and optional seasonings, then pour the oil over the top.  Cover the pan, loosely, with aluminum foil, allowing for steam to escape.  Bake for 3o to 45 minutes.  (30 minutes produces a fork tender clove, 45 minutes produces a softer spreadable clove.)

Drain off the oil in a tightly covered, sterilized glass jar or bottle and USE WITHIN 1 WEEK.  Makes about 3/4 cup roasted garlic oil.

To make the paste, mash the cloves with a fork or give them a quick spin in a 1 cup food processor.  Makes about 1/2 cup garlic paste.

Last night, I put a dollop of roasted garlic paste on my pasta plate like a condiment; that was good.  I spread it over a fresh slice of Bran-Enriched Bread; that was good.  I stirred it into my homemade tomato sauce; lip smacking smooth.

The roasted garlic oil is said to be wonderful added to vinaigrettes, for sauteing vegetables, or in any recipe calling for roasted garlic oil.

COOK'S NOTES

If you have concerns or questions about storing garlic oil, or have only heard about botulism in homemade garlic oil.

PLEASE visit these links:

GARLIC,Safe Methods to Store, Preserve and Enjoy, Calaveras County Agriculture Extension

Cook's Illustrated Forum: Garlic oil & botulism

Pick up the NEW book Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day by Jeff Hertzberg & Zoe Francois from Amazon here.

What do you do with a baguette, when it's done being a baguette? What do you do with a baguette unemployed? You turn it into Parmesan Crackers of course!

Super simple to bake up in 15 minutes.  You could season them any ol'way to your hearts desire.  They can easily be made ahead and stored in an airtight bag or container until your ready.

HERE'S ALL IT TAKES

• 1 baguette
• 1/4 cup butter, melted and flavored with 1 minced garlic clove
• Kosher salt
• Fresh ground black pepper
• 3/4 cup freshly shredded Parmesan cheese (3 oz.)

Heat oven to 400ºF degrees.

Slice baguette diagonally into 1/8 inch thick slices.  Lay the slices in one layer on a baking sheet and brush on melted flavored butter.  Sprinkle liberally with salt and pepper.  Sprinkle with shredded Parmesan.  Bake the toasts for 10 to 15 minutes, until they are browned and crisp.  Serve at room temperature.

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The original recipe I followed called for slicing 1/4 inch slices.  That was too thick for the crowd I served.  One-fourth inch made for a hard cracker.  I immediately wished I had sliced them to half the size.  So, that's what I advised in this recipe.

Here's all the fresh baguettes I baked up (using my Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day book) and turned into Parmesan Crackers.

For last week's Main Street Farmer's Market cooking demonstration, I baked Parmesan Crackers for the happy locavores.  I had plenty of folks tell me that these were delicious.  Only those with, uh-hem, dentures graciously said the crackers were too hard.  Like I said, I wish I had made them thinner.  C'est la vie!

Pick up the NEW book Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day by Jeff Hertzberg & Zoe Francois from Amazon here.

by Central Market

Allow the butter to come to room temperature in a small bowl. Cream the butter before adding the other ingredients. Mix well so that the herbs are evenly distributed. Chill in the refrigerator until firm OR shape into a log on clear plastic wrap when you refrigerate and then slice into pats. Freeze any leftovers.

Put butter pats on top of pan-fried or grilled steak just before serving. Pasta and cooked, drained green vegetables can also be tossed in lemon herb butter while they are still hot.

Pick up the NEW book Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day by Jeff Hertzberg & Zoe Francois from Amazon here.

• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 tsp Rosemary, dried
• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
• 2 cloves garlic, finely minced

Combine and serve.

Pick up the NEW book Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day by Jeff Hertzberg & Zoe Francois from Amazon here.