I made up a new word. I think.

I haven’t googled it.  And I don’t plan on it.  I’m going to play ignorant on this one and just revel in my new word.

Balsam-melized.

Onions. Caramelized. In balsamic vinegar.

Balsam-melized.

Add said onions with some grilled chicken, lettuce (and swiss cheese if you’re not dairy free) in a tortilla…and you’ve got yourself some scrumptious wraps!

I dare you to balsam-melize something.

I double-dog dare you.

(Now there…you have to try it now.)

Ingredients

2 chicken breasts, grilled and sliced ($2.14) On sale recently for $1.99/lb
1 red onion, sliced into strips ($.80)
1 Tbsp olive oil ($.10)
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar ($.35)
Heaping Tbsp sugar ($.03)
Few handfuls green leaf lettuce head, torn ($.25)
8 burrito size tortillas ($1.02)

Green beans from the garden

Directions

1. Grill chicken. This is a perfect meal for batch grilled chicken slices.

2. Let’s move onto the red onions, shall we!? Chop off the top and bottom and slice down the middle in half.

3. Peel away the skin and slice into half-moons.

4. Add to a large skillet with some hot olive oil and saute for 1-2 minutes, separating the half-moons.

5.  Add the balsamic vinegar.

6. Add some extra if you like.  Now we’ve got the balsam- part done.

7. And for the -melize part to these onions…add a heaping Tbsp of sugar. The tangy balsamic vinegar needs some sweetness to balance the flavors.

8.  Toss around…and when it starts to get all bubbly, reduce heat to medium low. (I turned my dial to 4…out of 9.)

9. Let the vinegar reduce.  And let the onions take on the sweet and tangy flavor.

10.  Once they look like this, and taste like perfection, add them to a chicken wrap.  And if you like, add some Swiss cheese.

11. Cook green beans.

12. Serve Chicken Wraps with Balsam-melized Red Onions and Green Beans.

Cost $4.69

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So this meal involves a little vegetable chopping.

Okay, Fine. A LOT of chopping.

But it is worth every second. I promise.

We all loved this…including the boys.

Ingredients

1 green pepper (I used some from the freezer…$.33)
1 medium eggplant ($1.50)
1 medium yellow squash ($.75)
1 medium zucchini ($.75)
About 2 cups cherry or grape tomatoes (from the garden)

Fresh herbs from the garden – basil, oregano, and thyme
About 2 Tbsp olive oil ($.20)
Salt and pepper

Directions

First chop the eggplant and season with some salt. Place in a strainer or colander in the sink and let the juices out while you chop everything else.  When you are ready to throw it all together, rinse off the salt/juices and pat dry.

Then chop every else into 1/2 or so size pieces. Chop the herbs.  Toss everything into a large bowl with the olive oil and season with some salt and pepper.

Spread it out onto a single-ish layer on a cookie sheet and roast at 400 for 35-45 minutes, stirring once.

Roasty. Toasty.

Serve as is, over bread or over pasta.

**Note: I had the leftover ratatouille cold over cold leftover noodles.  Perhaps the best lunch I’ve had all summer!

Cost $3.53

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Boy, does it feel great to be getting ahead of myself in the kitchen!

I love being able to grab ingredients, pre-made sides and main dishes from the freezer for a quick throw together meal!  And as I look at the coming month, I see whirlwind…my head is already spinning!  At the end of September, I have the opportunity to go to New York for a few days on business, and I want to have some easy grabs for Steve in the freezer.

Like these mashed potatoes!  And the meatloaves I made two weeks ago!  What an easy meal for him…take out the night before to thaw in the fridge, and then throw in (or gently place) the microwave or oven to reheat/cook.

Easy peasy!

This week’s plan…

• Mashed Potato Sides – Done!
• Chocolate Chip Cookies – Freeze the dough (While I used to freeze it like this, I now flash freeze individual cookie doughs…much easier than slicing off cookies from a frozen log of dough. IMO.)
• Muffins – variety to be determined
• Pancakes – variety to be determined

I think that’s about all I can get in this week before we head south for the wedding.

How about you?!  Are you ahead of yourself in the kitchen yet?!

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Ever overwhelmed by the produce that comes in your CSA box…or maybe you’re not sure what to do with that Swiss Chard you picked up at the market?!?  Wendy is here to help…

Whether you scored a great deal at the farmer’s market, had a great harvest in your garden, or your CSA box is overflowing, it’s easy to get overwhelmed with a huge pile of vegetables. Don’t let it rot in the refrigerator–get out your cutting board, knife, storage bags or boxes, and get ready to tame the pile!

1. Decide what to do with lettuce.

Lettuce is the one thing that does not store well, so this needs to get eaten within 7-10 days or given away. I normally store these right in the salad spinner or in gallon freezer bags. Don’t forget to label containers!

2. Remove tops from bottoms.

Separate the tops from beets, carrots, kohlrabi, radishes, and other roots/tubers that grow in the ground. Put the tops in with your “greens” pile which would also include kale, Swiss chard, collards, and mustard greens. The roots will last for weeks in your refrigerator crisper drawer or a large gallon bag with a paper towel in it. Onions and potatoes go in a closet.

3. Tackle the greens pile.

We now turn our attention to the “greens” pile. To de-stem Swiss chard and kale, grasp the stem in one hand and strip the leaves with your other hand, by making a circle with your thumb and forefinger and running it up to the top of the leaf. Kale stems can be discarded or frozen for soups. Swiss chard stems will be chopped and bagged. The remaining greens can be chopped and stored in a plastic container or freezer bag. Members of the cabbage family also store well in the refrigerator.

4. Everything else.

You will now be left with what most people consider “vegetables,” that is corn, tomatoes, green beans, squash, peppers, cucumbers, etc. These don’t last super long in the refrigerator, so you’ll want to store these together so you can use them quickly for snacking, stir fries, throwing into scrambled eggs, etc. If you KNOW you’re not going to be able to eat it within the next week, there are a few things you can freeze without blanching–check out my post The Busy Person’s Guide to Preserving Food. http://thelocalcook.com/2010/07/23/the-busy-persons-guide-to-preserving-food-a-book-review-tips/

By now your pile will have disappeared, tamed and neatly labeled and easy to find in your refrigerator. Congratulations!

Wendy Hammond grew up on a farm and has been a member of CSAs for five years. She blogs at The Local Cook as a way to inspire and help people eat locally and in season.

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Looking for something to grill this weekend…look no further!!!

I’ve been making all sorts of burgers this summer.  As part of my quest to grill more. (‘Cause Girls Grill Too, you know!)

And this might just be my new favorite. I *think* I enjoyed it better that a Guac-Topped Burger. I *think*.

Here’s the deal. Make your favorite burger, and while it’s grilling, saute some onions with a “condiment sauce.” Give the “condiment sauce” some zing.

Your taste buds will thank you.

Ingredients

Favorite burger or cheese burger
Garden Tomato

1 onion, sliced into circles
1 tsp vinegar
3 Tbsp ketchup
2 Tbsp mustard
Hot sauce

Directions

1. Make your burger as you like it. Slice up that garden tomato. (Check out my big boy below!)

2. To make the Spicy Onions: Add the sliced onions to a skillet and begin to cook over medium-low heat.  In a small mixing bowl, whisk together the vinegar, ketchup and mustard. Add to the onions. Then add 1, or 2, or 9, drops of Tabasco or other smoking hot sauce. Zing!

3. Serve Burgers with Spicy Onions on top! Double Zing!!

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Now that I’ve caught up…it’s time to get ahead! Not sure exactly when each of these things will get done, but if I have them all done by the end of the week…I’ll be in great shape for the rest of the month!!!

Here’s the Batch Cooking Plan for this week:

• Bake Bread
• Bake Muffins – Done…and eaten already!
• Cook 2 whole chickens in the slow cooker – Done!
• Make Taco Meat – Ended up making 3 meals worth of mini-meatballs instead!
• Make Spaghetti Sauce
• Make Sunday Pancake Mixes – Done!

What about you?!  Are you doing any freezer cooking or batch cooking to get ahead!?

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The amount of produce that is wasted in America each year is staggering, which means that millions of dollars in food is wasted each year, both by manufacturers who have surplus crops and homeowners who purchase food that goes bad.

But if you’ve got a few brown bananas lying around, bringing them to the local food pantry probably isn’t high on your list. Why not find ways to use your brown bananas so that you can maximize your investment and feed your hungry family?

Here are 5 ways to use brown bananas :

• Bake banana cake. Nobody (except for you) will know that you used brown bananas in this scrumptious recipe.

¾ cup oil
1 cup mashed bananas (about 2 bananas)
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. vanilla
½ cup orange juice
1 ½ cups sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp. baking powder
2 cups flour

Mix all ingredients together. Place in a greased 9×13 pan or two 9” round pans, bake for 25-20 minutes at 350 degrees. This recipe freezes well.

• Freeze them. Yes, it’s true – if you can’t use your bananas before they get moldy you can freeze them for up to 3 months.
• Make banana pancakes. Not only will this recipe prevent you from wasting brown bananas, it’ll disguise these healthy items in a ‘fun’ dinner.

4 bananas mashed through a strainer
1 cup milk
1 cup flour
¼ tsp. cinnamon
2 tsp. baking powder
2 eggs
½ tsp. salt

Mix all ingredients together and fry on medium heat until brown on both sides.

• Make smoothies. Use brown bananas in a smoothie with yogurt, berries and milk. You can also use frozen bananas for your smoothies.
• Stack them in a sandwich. Banana-peanut butter sandwiches are a little-known treat but one that is worth publicizing. Brown bananas will maintain a smooth consistency for your sandwich without sliding out of the bread. Banana-peanut butter sandwiches work well with both creamy and chunky peanut butter. For small children, cut the sandwich in half so that it’s easier to hold without the bananas shifting inside.

Sari Holtz is a writer for Billy.com and the voice behind Billy’s money saving blog.  She is the mother of 4 children between the ages of 6 and 1, and she is always looking for new ways to save money and to trick her children into eating more fruits and vegetables.

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(Please pardon the iPhone photo. Dead camera battery.)

I went out yesterday morning to survey the garden…and to make sure it survived our weekend away. I was pleasantly surprised to find lots of red grape-roma tomatoes, and a meal’s worth of green beans!  I picked some basil, parsley and oregano and then got to work.

So we’re calling this “Mediterranean” because it has olives. And olives are plentiful in the Mediterranean. And I’d really like to take a trip to the Mediterranean. (This weekend getaway to California really gave me the travel itch!)

And the real question from the video…is it “halving” or “halfing”?!?

Loved the variety of textures and how the flavors meshed…

Ingredients

1 1/2 cup quinoa ($1.25)
1 Tbsp olive oil ($.10)
2 garlic cloves, crushed ($.10)
About 1 pint grape, cherry or grape-roma tomatoes (from the garden)
Small handful of fresh basil, parsley, and oregano, chopped (from the garden)
About 3/4 cup black olives, halved ($.60)
2 chicken breasts, grilled and diced ($1.66)
Salt and pepper

Handful of green beans (from the garden)
1 tsp olive oil ($.03)
Salt and pepper

Note: Substitute 1 15 oz. can of diced tomatoes, well drained, for the fresh tomatoes.

Directions

1. Cook the quinoa as directed on the box. 2 parts water to 1 part quinoa.

2. In a large skillet, add the olive oil and saute the crushed garlic for about a minute, then add the halved tomatoes and saute for another 2-3 minutes, or until tomato skins “wrinkle.”  Then add the black olives and diced chicken and saute together for another minute.

3. Add the cooked quinoa into the Mediterranean Chicken mixture and toss. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

4. Saute the green beans in the olive oil and season with salt and pepper to taste.

5. Serve Mediterranean Chicken Quinoa with Sauteed Green Beans.

Cost $3.74

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For the past, um, year or so, I have not done a whole lot with potatoes.  And for good reason.  Ryan tested positive for a potato allergy, among other things.  So I quickly removed them from our diet.

A few weeks ago, we got the go ahead from both the allergist and the GI doctor to start reintroducing the more “tame” foods…or the ones he reacted to least…and see if he can tolerate them now that he is a little older.

We are starting with potatoes.

It is far too hot outside to have the oven on for an hour, to bake some potatoes…so we’re making these “baked” potatoes…

…in the slow cooker…

…on the back porch!

(Lynn shared that tip with me last year when I was suffering from the nausea woes of first trimester…but it works perfectly for hot summer nights when you don’t want any form of heat in the kitchen.)

Directions

1. Wash and dry the potatoes.  Stab with a fork a few times, or cut a slit.

2. Wrap in foil.  Place directly into the base of the slow cooker. Pile them high. But not so high that the lid won’t fit tightly. (No water needed.)

3. Cook on low for 10 hours, or high for 6 hours.

4. Pull out of the slow cooker and let cool slightly before handling.  Cut them open, slather on all of your favorite tater toppings…and enjoy!

Note: Please keep a close eye on slow cookers that are outdoors…as you never know what kind of wildlife, or hungry neighbor, might find their way onto your porch for a sample!

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Rather than let the garden herbs grow out of control, make pesto instead.  I have found that it doesn’t really matter how much of which kind of herb you use…as long as you have enough basil in there to give it that basil flare.

I did not measure my pesto as I made it…but I’ll tell you what I put in it…and then just added a little salt and olive oil to make it taste just the way I wanted it!

• Fresh spinach
• Fresh basil
• Fresh parsley
• Fresh thyme
• Fresh rosemary
• Pine nuts, about 1/4 cup
• Olive oil
• Salt and pepper
• Smidge of water, as needed to help it puree

It’s perfect for pasta…Grilled Chicken Spinach Pesto Pasta.

It’s perfect for dipping tomatoes.

It’s perfect for making a pesto vinaigrette (recipe below).

It’s perfect for spreading onto a grilled chicken sandwich.

Or you could just drink it out of the bowl.

Well, that may be a little much?!

Well, maybe not?!

Pesto Vinaigrette

Ingredients

3 Tbsp homemade pesto
1 teaspoon vinegar, white balsamic or distilled white
Salt and pepper, to taste

Directions

Place ingredients in a bowl and whisk.  Add a touch of water if needed to get it to desired dressing consistency.  Serve with salad.

Please share some of your favorite Pesto Recipes!!!

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