Thyme Out

The slight tang from the yogurt balances the sweet cherries. The crunch from the nuts adds texture. Perfect with coffee. Bring a plate in for your co-workers and you’ll be employee (or boss) of the day.

This recipe only makes 4 scones.  Indulge yourself.

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John and I go to most of the Rockies’ home baseball games.  I’m good for about one hot dog a year.  I’ve tried just about every concession stand in the stadium, and have not yet found anything to eat that remotely resembles its original food ingredients.  So, now we bring our lunch/dinner to the park.  One of my favorite snacks is curried popcorn.  It turns your fingers yellow, so serve it with lots of napkins. (more…)

I love the smell and taste of ground fennel but can’t find too many recipes that use it. Replacing the traditional celery salt with fennel in cole slaw gives it a fresh new lift.

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Simple and satisfying.

2 large avocados
Juice of 2 limes
½ teaspoon organic ground cumin
½ teaspoon fine sea salt
Small bunch of cilantro, chopped
Pomegranate seeds for garnish (optional)

Mash roughly with potato masher, top with pomegranate seeds and serve with chips.

Kids are notoriously finicky, and if you have friends with children coming for dinner, even mac & cheese isn’t a sure fire hit. You may have used penne when the kid only eats elbows, or ruined it for a cheddar cheese purist by adding Parmesan. But I’ve discovered that warm garlic bread is universally met with enthusiasm. The only possible error is not making enough. With your basic  spices on hand, it’s a fast and easy crowd-pleaser.

Ingredients:

• big loaf of ciabatta, or baguette if you prefer
• butter
• good quality olive oil
• 2 teaspoons organic garlic powder
• 2 teaspoons organic parsley
• couple cloves of fresh garlic (optional; tastes delicious without as well)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350° .
2. Slice bread horizontally, almost all the way through, and open flat.
3. Microwave butter and olive oil in Pyrex cup or bowl until butter is melted.
4. Brush butter/olive oil mixture on inside of loaf.
5. Sprinkle parsley flakes and garlic powder.
6. Warm in oven until slightly crusty and golden.
7. Slice bread in vertical sections and place in basket.

In order to control consumption, I just bake a few at a time. These are exceptionally good, and more healthy than traditional oatmeal cookies. By adding pumpkin and increasing the oats, I was able to reduce the butter and sugar in the original recipe.

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1/2 stick of butter
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon organic ground cinnamon
• 1/2 cup pumpkin puree
• 1 cup flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 cups oats
• 1 cup chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup chopped pecans

Direction

1. preheat oven to 350°F
2. cream butter and sugar
3. add egg and pumpkin and blend together
4. add flour, baking soda and cinnamon and blend together
5. stir in oats, chocolate chips, and pecans
6. drop rounded teaspoons onto greased cookie sheet
7. bake for 15 minutes

This is the time of year when everyone shares tips for creative and nutritious school lunches. And you would think with my experience I’d be full of great ideas. I am. But no takers. The oldest drives now and buys lunch off-campus The sixteen year old seems to prefer cafeteria nachos with processed cheese over anything I offer. Or maybe he just doesn’t want to display any evidence that he has a mother. The vociferous lunch lady makes my first grader too nervous to eat much, so he sticks to a steady diet of two saltine crackers and half a green apple. And the four year old refuses to go to Lunch Bunch because, as she constantly accuses me “you put grapes in there one time!” (as if it was child abuse).

So I try to catch them with something nutritious as soon as they return, ravenously, from school. Here is a simple, nutritious snack that they gobble up.

Roasted Asparagus Spears with Curry Dip

Roast asparagus spears drizzled with olive oil and sprinkled with kosher salt at 400 degrees for about ½ hour or until nice and crispy. Serve with ½ cup mayonnaise mixed with 1 teaspoon organic curry powder for dipping.

Call it pencils and yellow paint if it helps.

Hold the mayo for this tuna salad. You won’t miss it a bit. Herbes Provencal and lemon take canned tuna to a new level. All it takes is a little mixing and chopping and you can transport yourself to the french country side.

Ingredients

• 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
• juice of 1/2 lemon
• 1 teaspoon olive oil
• 1 teaspoon organic herbes provencal
• 1 stalk celery, minced
• 1/2 small onion minced
• handfull of grape tomatoes, chopped
• 2 Tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
• 1 5 oz can of chunk light tuna packed in water

Directions

1. Drain water from tuna and mix in the rest of the ingredients; season with salt and pepper (though you probably won’t need any).

At the risk of offending my sister-in-law, Mary Margaret, these are the best biscotties I’ve ever had.  The sambuca soaked cherries heighten the licorice flavor of the anise seed.  This recipe is very versatile, feel free to add different dried fruits, nuts, or frost with icing or drizzled chocolate.  If the sambuca sounds overpowering to you, just substitute amaretto, bourbon, brandy, or frangelico.  No matter what you add, it always turns out great!

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These spicy/sweet treats are handy to have around for snacking, throwing in a salad, or sprinkling around a warm melted wedge of brie cheese.

Ingredients

• 1 cup raw walnuts or pecans
• 2 Tablespoons maple syrup
• 1/2 teaspoon organic ground paprika
• 1/8 teaspoon organic ground cayenne
• 1/8 teaspoon organic ground cinnamon
• pinch of fine sea salt to taste
• or substitute 1 teaspoon organic Coriander·Cumin Blend, or organic Apple Pie Spice

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350° F.
2. Toss walnuts with maple syrup and spices until evenly coated.
3. Spread nut mixture on a sheet pan and bake for 7-10 minutes.
4. Let cool to room temperature.

This recipe is from The Soup Bible, by Debra Mayhew, which is one of the best soup cookbooks I’ve found. There are three recipes in this cookbook which are outstanding. The other two are Chicken Soup with Vermicelli and Seafood and Sausage Gumbo.

This soup is a staple in our house. It gets us through the winter, which is my favorite season in Colorado. I usually make a double batch and freeze it. The spice of the turmeric and cayenne helps clear your sinus after a hard day skiing. It goes equally well with white and red wine. (more…)

Refried beans, sometimes known as frijoles, get a bad rap nutritionally because they’re often made with lard, then fried in oil. Neither is necessary. This healthy version (note that I even snuck a carrot in and no one noticed) is just as delicious and having a pot of them around is an excellent way to stretch your family food budget in this time of financial uncertainty. Pull out the old crock pot for stress-free, one-pot easy preparation. Turn it on low before you leave for work and come home to the robust, earthy aroma of Old Mexico. What can you do with a pot of frijoles?

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Endive Been Thinking . . . besides spooning them directly out of the crock pot into my mouth, what else can I do with this this nutritious, delicious and oh so economical pot of refried (not) beans, otherwise known as “The Economy Sucks but my Creamy Pinto Beans Rock” Frijoles. All of the below configurations have received rave reviews in my family; in other words, they eat it without complaint.

• Classic Rice and Beans: Spoon over rice and top with shredded mozzerella, jack or queso fresco. Garnish with fresh chopped cilantro. (more…)

My friend Caroline left a batch of this granola on my doorstep in a pretty glass jar with her own cute label. The kids and I nibbled on it morning, noon and night and emptied the jar in three days. So I needed her recipe to replenish the jar.  here it is.  Feel  free to experiment. Add shredded coconut, dried cranberries … live it up.

Ingredients

• 6 cups rolled oats
• 1 cup wheat germ
• 1-1 1/2 cups chopped nuts (almonds, walnuts, pecans, or cashews)
• 1 Tablespoon organic ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon  organic ground nutmeg
• (or substitute 1 1/2 Tablespoons of Smith & Truslow organic Apple Pie Spice, or organic Ginger Spice Blend for the cinnamon and nutmeg)
• 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
• 1/2-1 cup shredded coconut (optional)
• 1/2 cup canola oil
• 1/2 – 3/4 cup honey or maple syrup
• 1 cup raisins or cranberries

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 300°F.
2. Mix all the dry ingredients together except the coconut and raisins, then add the oil and honey.
3. Spread the mixture on two baking sheets (I use a little cooking spray so it doesn’t stick).
4. Bake for 30 minutes but check every 10 minutes and stir it up a little. Add the coconut for the last 10 minutes of baking.
5. After you take it out of the oven, add the raisins
6. If you like it a little darker, add an extra five minutes but not much more—it burns easily. It’s soft when you take it out but gets crunchy as it cools. If you like chucks don’t touch or stir until it’s completely cooled, then use a spatula to scrape up. Store in an air tight container.

Zuni Restaurant in San Francisco is renowned for many things, including its hamburgers. The fact that they hand-grind their own meat certainly contributes to the caliber of the hamburger,  but I am convinced that the key lies in the condiments—for one, the lovely chartreuse-colored zucchini pickles. You can make these at home and always have a jar handy in your frig for an easy upgrade to your own burgers. (Recipe adapted from The Zuni Cafe Cookbook)

Ingredients

• 1 lb zucchini
• 1 small onion
• 2 Tablespoons salt
• 2 cups cider vinegar
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons organic ground yellow mustard
• 1 1/2 teaspoons organic crushed yellow mustard seeds and/or  organic brown mustard seeds
• Scant 1 teaspoon organic ground turmeric

Instructions:

1. Wash and trim zucchini, then slice 1/16th inch thick on mandolin. Slice onion thinly.
2. Place zucchini and onion in large shallow bowl, add salt and toss.
3. Add a few ice cubes and cold water to cover, then stir to dissolve the salt. Leave for one hour.
4. Drain and dry between towels or spin in a salad spinner. (excess water thins flavor and spoils the pickle)
5. Combine vinegar, sugar, dry mustard, mustard seeds and turmeric in a saucepan and simmer for 3 minutes.  Set aside until just warm to the touch. (If brine is too hot, it will cook the vegetables andmake the pickle soft instead of crisp).
6. Replace zucchini in bowl and add brine. Stir.

Transfter pickes to jars and cover. Refrigerate a day before serving. They keep indefinitely.