Tag: Foodies

Five Bean Salad, my way

~ Spence's Girl ~ 6 Comments
Five Bean Salad
Five Bean Salad, my way

I LOVE FIVE BEAN SALAD.  So great to take to a potluck or picnic (no mayo), it’s a favorite of ours to have as our salad or veggie side with any number of meals year round. It makes a lot and only gets better each subsequent day.  It keeps for up to two weeks in the fridge but never  lasts that long!  I use my mom’s recipe but tweak it in my own way to give it a bit more pizazz!

Five Bean Salad, my way

serves 15                      Weight Watchers Smart Points 7

1 can garbanzo beans (or chickpeas as they’re also known)
1 can great northern or navy beans
1 can cut green beans
1 can dark red kidney beans
1 can wax beans
2 large shallots finely minced or red onion finely chopped (about 1/2 cup)
4-5 finely chopped peppadew peppers (these come in a jar) or substitute 1 tablespoon chopped pimento
1 teaspoon finely chopped jalapeños (first removing ribs and seeds) or green pepper if you can’t take the heat.

Drain and rinse beans and put into a large serving bowl. Add the shallots, peppadew peppers and jalapeño, stir taking care not to break the beans.

Marinade:

3/4 c red wine or champagne vinegar
3/4 c vegetable oil (canola or olive oil)
1/2 c sugar
1-2 teaspoons dijon mustard
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cracked pepper
sprinkle of red pepper flakes

Mix this together well – making sure that the sugar has “melted” into the marinade. Pour over the beans and stir together. Refrigerate. Stir every 30-60 minutes to further distribute the marinade. This is best made at least 8 hours prior to serving.

Permission to eat dessert first?

~ Spence's Girl ~ Leave a comment

My mom makes the BEST PIE CRUST known to man or woman.  And usually while spending the summers in Michigan, she makes several to leave behind in my freezer.  But time got away from us and it didn’t happen this year.  While I’ve made them successfully, using her recipe, it’s been 30+ years since the rolling pin and I have made contact.  With all the other from-scratch cooking this week coupled with my fear of failure for an epic meal such as Thanksgiving, I sought out several yummy new non-pie recipes.

Spence will tell anyone (whether they ask or not) that he doesn’t eat sweets.  And to a degree, that was true for many years – pecan pie was his birthday “cake” or Haagen Daz Rum Raisin Ice Cream were his sweet go-tos.  But slowly, over our 24 years together, he’s been seduced by my tiramisu, Kahlua cake, apple crisp etc. and I notice he’s discovered his sweet tooth.

Through the resources of Pinterest, I went searching for some holiday-ish sounding desserts and found Pumpkin Pie Bars and Gooey Chocolate Pecan Pie Bars.

They’ve just left the oven, the house smells insanely good and I haven’t had breakfast – just tea.  Since it’s just us and dinner is hours away, would it be wrong to try one of each bars?  Right? I knew it – everyone agrees, I can feel your support.   Thank you! And Happy Thanksgiving.

Both of these recipes can be found on my Pinterest Board called Desserts and Sweets!

Apple Crisp

~ Spence's Girl ~ 2 Comments

Serves 4-6
For the topping:
1 stick very soft butter
1 c flour
1 c light brown sugar
1 t salt
For the base:
7-8 c sliced or chopped apples – recommend 2 types, I like McIntosh and Empire
1/4 c cinnamon
1/4 c sugar
2 T butter
Combine the flour, brown sugar and salt. Using a pastry blender, cut the dry ingredients into the butter for the topping, until well mixed and crumbly. Set aside.
In a small bowl, mix together the cinnamon and sugar. In a deep souffle dish (or casserole) you will be layering the apples – a cup or two of apples, followed by sprinkling a tablespoon of the cinnamon sugar mixture. Repeat – more apples, more cinnamon sugar. Use all the cinnamon sugar. This will seem like a lot of apples but as it cooks down, the volume will drop by half. Put the topping over the apple mixture, covering completely, pressing down if necessary. Take the two tablespoons of butter and cut into several pieces – place on top of the topping.

Before baking (and this is a full size souffle dish even though it looks like an individual crock)
Before baking (and this is a full size souffle dish -even though it looks like an individual crock)

Bake uncovered at 350 degrees for 40-50 minutes, until browned and crisp. Cool for one hour and serve.

After baking
After baking

Note from Chef Laura: I make this all the time from memory. I posted a picture on my blog titled Oh Yum. I was immediately asked for the recipe. So today, I made myself write down what I was doing while doing it and voila! A recipe. That said, use more apples if you wish, I recommend good cooking apples. And if I’m honest, I may have downplayed the cinnamon. I grew up with a mom who doubled the cinnamon in every recipe she ever prepared and you could safely do that here. It’s great alone or served warm with vanilla or butter pecan ice cream.