<p>Anything goes–healthful, light, cool, fresh, quick-to-cook, etc. (decadent indulgence is also permitted!)</p>
<p>Here’s a favorite from my Mexican grandma–</p>
<p>Calabacitas con Elote (Zucchini with Corn)
1 tablespoon oil
1/4 cup chopped sweet onion
1 clove minced garlic (optional)
1-2 minced jalapeno peppers (optional)
5-6 cups diced zucchini (about 4)
1 cup fresh corn kernels (two ears, or substitute frozen corn)
2 large tomatoes, peeled and chopped (sweet, juicy, fresh-from-the-vine ripe)
salt, pepper, and chopped fresh cilantro (I use about a teaspoon of salt, but you can omit if you are watching your salt intake)</p>
<p>In a non-stick skillet with a lid, cook onion (plus garlic and jalapenos if you want) in oil until tender, stirring. Add zucchini and corn and stir-fry for a few minutes. Add the tomatoes and continue stirring until it starts bubbling. Reduce heat; add remaining ingredients, cover and simmer for about five minutes until the zucchini is tender.</p>
<p>Last night I bought some greek pasta salad from the deli (with lots of the pepperonici in it -yum!). Brought it home, tore up lots of romaine, put it in a bowl, topped with greek pasta salad and added a couple of other veggies (radish, carrots) and some shaved fresh parmesean - mixed up and was delicious, filling and lite!!!</p>
<p>Another favorite - especially to bring to potlucks, family gatherings, etc.</p>
<p>Fruit Salsa:
2 kiwis, peeled and diced
2 Golden Delicious apples - peeled, cored and diced
8 ounces raspberries
1 pound strawberries
2 tablespoons white sugar
1 tablespoon brown sugar
3 tablespoons fruit preserves, any flavor </p>
<p>DIRECTIONS
In a large bowl, thoroughly mix kiwis, Golden Delicious apples, raspberries, strawberries, white sugar, brown sugar and fruit preserves. Cover and chill in the refrigerator at least 15 minutes.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
Coat one side of each flour tortilla with butter flavored cooking spray. Cut into wedges and arrange in a single layer on a large baking sheet. Sprinkle wedges with desired amount of cinnamon sugar. Spray again with cooking spray.
Bake in the preheated oven 8 to 10 minutes. Repeat with any remaining tortilla wedges. Allow to cool approximately 15 minutes. Serve with chilled fruit mixture.</p>
<p>You can change out the fruit you include - I’m not much for kiwis, but always add fresh peaches. The tortilla chips turn out great!!! Don’t make too far ahead, tastes better eaten same day made.</p>
<p>2 pounds really ripe, beautiful tomatos
1 large onion
3 jalepeno peppers (sometimes we use serrano or thai chiles – it depends on how much heat you want)
1 large handful of cilantro (about 1/2 cup, chopped)
Juice of one lime
1 tsp salt
1 tsp balsamic vinegar</p>
<p>Using a food processor, grind 1/2 of the tomatoes to a fairly thin consistency. The other half should be chopped into small pieces (1/4 to 1/2 inch). Using food processor, chop onion. Split jalepenos and remove seeds (if you like it really hot, do not remove the membranes or rinse the inside of the peppers) Add to onions and chop. Rinse cilantro, add to mixture and chop. Add the onion/pepper/cilantro mixture to the tomatos. Add salt, lime juice, and balsamic vinegar. Great with blue corn chips – or anything else, for that matter!</p>
<p>I love this blueberry pie from the pick your own (put words together dot org).</p>
<p>Use a 9 inch pie crust
3-4 cups blueberries (I think that I use more, I mound it up, it takes a lot of blueberries to fill a 9 inch crust)
7 TBS. corn starch
3 TBS. water
2 TBS. lemon juice
2/3 cup sugar; or 1/3 cup sugar and 1/3 cup splenda
1/4 teaspoon allspice
1 teaspoon cinnamon</p>
<p>Preheat your oven for 375 degrees.</p>
<p>1- Wash the berries and drain well. Get rid of mushy blueberries and any stems
2-Mix dry ingredients (the last 2 spices are optional, but I like them)
3-Mix the liquid ingredients into the dry ingredients (they say that Splenda makes it gloppy but it works. I don’t know bc I did not try Splenda)
4-Add the blueberries to the crust and you can mound it up. Do not worry because there is a lot of air space and it will cook down.
5-Pour your mix of ingredients over the top of the berries as evenly as possible</p>
<p>It goes into the oven at 375 for one hour. </p>
<p>They do not tell you this, but I would put a cookie sheet that can withstand that heat under the pie just in case some liquid drips out the side. This will prevent a mess in your oven.</p>
<p>You can add a dough or crumb topping (suggestions are on the site, but I did not bother with it last summer).</p>
<p>Don’t know the proportions but went to a party the other night and had the most delicious salsa. It was served on top of grilled fish.
Grill pobleno chilis, grill fresh mango
Chop small chilis, mangos, fresh tomatoes, cilantro, corn, red onion. The chili was not spicy.
The mango can be grilled or not. Same with the corn.
It was delicious with tortilla chips and also on top of the fish or in a soft taco.</p>
<p>I’ve posted this before, but it’s my favorite (amounts are pretty fluid, it doesn’t matter so much)</p>
<p>4 fresh zucchini
Half a red pepper, chopped fine
Half an onion, chopped fine
2-3 cloves fresh garlic, minced
Olive oil
16 oz. tub ricotta
Generous handful good, real parmesan or romano
Generous handful minced fresh basil
Coarse tomato sauce, canned or fresh, with a dollop of balsamic vinegar added
Salt, pepper, oregano or thyme to taste</p>
<p>Halve the zucchini lengthwise and scoop out the middles, leaving a stable shell. Chop the middles finely and saute them with the onion, peppers, and garlic in a bit of olive oil till they get golden. Combine this with ricotta, parmesan, basil, and seasonings (lots of black pepper is good, and just a bit of oregano or thyme). Mound the stuffing into the zucchini boats and sprinkle with additional parmesan (or buttered breadcrumbs, if you’re not watching calories). Pour the tomato sauce into a baking dish large enough to hold the zucchini, arrange them on top, and bake at 375 for 25-30 mins or so, until the cheese is bubbly, tops are browned, and the zucchini are done to taste.</p>
<p>Serve this with some nice fettucine on the side. It’s fantastic and quite light.</p>
<p>Yes, yum indeed. For a really simple blueberry dessert that takes about 5 minutes to stick in the oven and is yummy warm with vanilla ice cream (or cold eaten standing up in front of the refrigerator ):</p>
<p>Blueberry crisp:</p>
<p>Preheat oven to 375.</p>
<p>Fill an 8 or 9 inch pie pan with a basket of (washed) blueberries.
Sprinkle w/ 1/4 cup sugar.</p>
<p>Mix 1/2 cup flour, 1/2 cup sugar, and 1 egg. Stir in 1/4 cup melted butter.
Spoon batter on top of blueberries.
Bake about 30 minutes. </p>
<p>And, for farmers’ market apricots:</p>
<p>Fresh apricot crisp:<br>
1/2 cup each butter and all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp each ground cinamon, ginger and nutmeg
1/4 tsp each ground cloves and salt
1/3 cup packed dark brown sugar
2/3 cup quick-cooking rolled oats
1/3 cup golden raisins (optional, I don’t use)
1/3 cup chopped pecans
5 cups pitted and halved fresh apricots, preferably Blenheim
1 tbsp. fresh lemon juice
1/3 cup granulated sugar.</p>
<ol>
<li> Preheat oven to 350 and grease an 8x8 baking pan. Melt butter and let cool. Wisk together flour and all spices/salt. Stir in oats, raisins if using, and pecans, then stir in melted butter.</li>
<li> Toss apricots with lemon juice and granulated sugar and spread in baking pan. Squeeze topping into shaggy chunks and scatter over apricots. Bake until bubbling, 40 to 50 minutes; cool at least 30 minutes and serve with vanilla ice cream.</li>
</ol>
<p>So much for the diet and exercise thread :).</p>
<p>My favorite salad, especially with garden fresh cherry tomatoes - a carton of cherry tomatoes + a bit of onion + a tub of feta cheese - crumbles or cubed, dressed with Kraft Lite Red Wine Viniagrette with olive oil.</p>
<p>If you want the “real” recipe - google tomato feta salad. It has the correct proportions and the homemade dressing. But my cooking skills require simplicity.</p>
<p>Thanks for these recipes! Keep them coming! In the summer, I need my fix of summer fruits, tomatoes (afraid to eat them this year :(), and fresh veggies, I especially enjoy that fresh basil too.</p>
<p>Hanna, I plan on making your recipe as side, with some salmon. I just need to pick a night when I know everyone is eating at home.</p>
<p>Oh, and I made the blueberry pie last summer for the first time, and one of my sons talked about that pie all year long! It really is pretty easy, but is costly, since it requires so many blueberries. It was an eye opener as to why bakeries need to charge what they do!</p>
<p>Really, the fruit desserts above aren’t diet killers…2/3 cup or so of sugar for 8-9 servings and relatively low in fat also, maybe a 1/2 cup in the pastry for the blueberry pie. Just make them when there are enough people around that you won’t have seconds or thirds tempting you, and remember the anti-oxidants in the berries and enjoy them! I’m not crazy about apricots, but I do love nectarines, so I think I’ll try them in the crisp.</p>
<p>Sometimes, though, there just isn’t time to bake, or it might be too hot to turn on the oven. In that case…</p>
<p>Put a scoop or two of B & J’s Cherry Garcia in a margarita glass
Slowly pour Godiva chocolate liqueur over the top
Serve with a small espresso spoon so you can get every last drop!</p>
<p>Here’s a nice recipe for pasta with tomatoes/mozzarella/basil/onion that S loves. Easy is the operative word for most all of my recipes, especially summer ones, as I usually get home around 5 and have to get right to it. </p>
<p>I have kept eating heirloom and all the local tomatoes. If it isn’t that, it’ll be something else next week.</p>
<p>Pasta with marinated tomatoes and mozzarella: serves 4</p>
<p>1.5 pounds beefsteak tomatoes, diced
1/2 small sweet onion, roughly chopped
2 T extra-virgin olive oil
8 ounces bocconcini, quartered, or fresh mozzarella, cubed (I only use the bocconcini)
Kosher salt and pepper
1 pound dried fettuccine
1/2 cup fresh basil, torn</p>
<p>In a large bowl, gently combine the tomatoes, onion, oil, bocconcini, 1 1/2 teaspoons salt, and 3/4 teaspoon pepper. Set aside and let marinate at room temp. for at least 10 minutes. Meanwhile, cook the pasta according to the package directions. Add the drained pasta and basil to the marinated tomatoes and toss to combine. Divide among individual bowls.</p>
<p>A friend of mine freezes cilantro, parsley, basil, but I feel that flavors are lost. I would rather make pesto if I have a lot. It should also last a while in a brown paper bag in your crisper.</p>
<p>abasket, LOL, too late to edit. My last post was a typo. I wanted to say “when I did a search”. I did not intend for my post to suggest that you should have done a search instead of asking here.</p>
):</p>