Beef, Black Bean and Corn Nacho Dip with Sour Cream and Guacamole

We had this for dinner last night, it's pretty good. Would be great to take to a party, since it is tasty and your chips stay nice and crisp. We didn't have chili powder, so we used some cayenne, we also subbed canned corn for the frozen corn. We also added a little cumin, which I think was a good addition. If you're into heat definitely add some jalapeno!

Update: we made this for our Harry Potter Movie Marathon and we did it in the slow cooker and it was fabulous. Sautee the onion and brown the meat first then just dump it and everything else into the crockpot and leave it on low for 3-4 hours. We poured it into a baking dish, covered it with cheese, sour cream and home made Guacamole.

Bottom Line: 4 Stars

Broiled Salmon and Sauteed Squash and Spinach

So I thought that although I'm not doing anything really special with the vegetables that doesn't mean that I shouldn't include the recipes for the rest of the stuff.

This is a pretty easy, standard meal, Chris and I made it with Steelhead tail. This is how we almost always make veggies unless we are roasting them. The salmon recipe calls for "Fines Herbs" we just left this out, thinking that the dill would be sufficient. We were pretty happy with it! We didn't make any tartar sauce, but it would have been a great addition.

Bottom Line: 3.6 Stars (Solid, but not great)

Linguine with Prawns, Zucchini Sundried Tomatoes and Pine Nuts

I love this recipe. It's a go to recipe and probably one of my top 10 (I think I'll do one of those posts later). Chris and I make it all the time. It was taken from a Food and Wine cookbook that my Grandmother gifted me some time ago. It's fast and delicious, and we think that the addition of zucchini makes it even better than the original recipe. When we're flush we make it with scallops, when were middling with prawns and when we're skint...we don't make it (pine nuts and shell-fish are just too pricey). :(

In addition to the zucchini I have made two additions. Once I've added the garlic and zucchini I add some white wine, it goes well with the shell fish and makes the sauce a little more saucy. Then at the end I add Pecorino Romano or Parmesan, because who doesn't love cheese on pasta?!

If you're making this with scallops follow the directions, make the scallops and set them aside, they are too delicate to cook in the sauce. With the prawns just add them at the end (before the last of the parsley and pine nuts get stirred in) and let them finish in the pan with the sauce. No matter what do not overcook shell fish. It's a crime. If I had my way it would be punishable by death.

Bottom Line (with scallops): 5 stars

Dere-licht my balls.

Welcome to summer!

So yeah, I've been a little remiss in my duties, but it's mostly because I haven't really made anything unusual recently, and even less so with my produce. I've been roasting vegetables mostly. It's easy. I can set it up, take the dog for a short walk (praying the house doesn't burn down while I'm away) I get back sprinkle it with lemon and dill/rosemary/basil/herb d'jour, and eat. But I promise I'll be better.

I need to add this recipe that I did for Broccoli Almond Soup. It was terrible, and took a great deal of re-working, but I think the theory is good. I can't decide whether to put my recipe for German Pork Roast on here, since it doesn't have anything to do with my produce, since I don't make my own Sauer Kraut. We'll see. Tonight is going to be pan-roasted chicken quarters and roast/steamed asparagus (depends on how hot it gets!).

Roast Veggies

This was super easy and no fuss since I was already roasting a chicken anyway. The maple syrup didn't leave much of a flavor, it just helped everything caramelize. I made this with golden beets, in my unending quest to get Chris to like beets, I think the golden beets made this dish look very fall-y. Nice warm brown, orange and gold colors. I think the green onion sets this off beautifully, don't know what red beets would do to the presentation... I imagine make everything pink.

I added an extra carrot and an extra parsnip rather than a rutabaga, cause they're gross and parsnips are delicious. Next time I might nix the carrot altogether. I also subbed yams for the sweet potato because I like their flavor better. I thought the cook time was a little long. Everything was tender after 1 hour. that might be because I sliced them a little small. I totally forgot the green onion and the butter. Next time! Definitely a good solid recipe.

Bottom Line: 4.0 Stars