Roasted Potato Salad

Posted on June 29, 2011 by Simply Healthy Cooking with Pam
I was invited to a barbeque potluck recently and wanted to bring something that I would not have to worry about spoiling when sitting out in the warm weather for a long time. I visited the local farmer’s market in Worthington, OH and took advantage of their wonderful spring vegetable picks for my recipe. Fresh herbs, asparagus, baby red potatoes, spring green onions, and garlic were all a part of my creation for this dish. The results were amazing and there was just a little tiny serving left after the night was through. Enjoy!

Roasted Potato Salad created 06/11/11

5 lbs baby red potatoes, scrubbed well, cut into bite size cubes

2 bunches of spring green onions, chopped white and green parts both

1 lb of asparagus, cleaned and cut into bite size pieces

4 corn on the cobs, remove corn from cob with sharp knife

1 pint cherry tomatoes, cleaned and halved

2 to 3 tablespoons chopped fresh basil, parsley

8 cloves of garlic peeled and minced

Olive Oil

Salt / Pepper

In a large bowl, combine green onions and potatoes with about 3 tablespoons of olive oil and season with salt and pepper, coat well and spread single layer on a cookie sheet or stone. Put in oven @ 425 degrees for about 20 minutes until vegetables are soft and golden color.

Put cut asparagus in a bowl and coat with approximately 1 to 2 tablespoons of olive oil, season with salt and pepper. Put asparagus single layer on a cookie sheet or stone and place in oven for about 15 min or less.

Put the cut corn in a sauté pan with about ½ tablespoon of olive oil, halved tomatoes and minced garlic, season with salt and pepper. Sauté for about 5 to 7 minutes or until tomatoes shrivel a little. Remove from heat and put in a large serving bowl and top with fresh chopped basil and parsley.

Put roasted red potatoes and asparagus in bowl and toss well.

It is possible you may have to add another tablespoon of olive oil (optional).

Season dish with salt and pepper as needed.

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Black Bean and Sweet Potato Hash

Posted on October 19, 2010 by Simply Healthy Cooking with Pam
I made this recipe from a book called “The Big Book of Vegeterian” because I had bought a lot of sweet potatoes that were on sale from the market. When I was diagnosed with Type II Diabetes, sweet potatoes is one of the vegetables that is low on the Glycemic Index that does not make the glucose (sugar) levels spike. This recipe turned out to be one of my favorite things to make all the time. I demonstrated this in 3 of my diabetes workshops and the feedback from the people were all positive. When I have leftovers, I make breakfast wraps with multi-grain wraps, scrambled egg substitute and 1 oz of cheese. Wonderful alternative for breakfast. Enjoy!

Black Bean and Sweet Potato Hash
 

Recipe created September 25, 2007

Black Bean and Sweet Potato Hash
1 – 3 tablespoons of olive oil
2 medium onions, chopped (it seems like a lot but the onions reduce after they have been cooked)
1 small green pepper, chopped (I omitted the green pepper)
1 medium sweet potato, peeled and diced (1″ cubes)
2 cloves garlic, minced
1-1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup Rich Vegetable Broth, canned broth or water (I used Better than Boullion – it’s condensed just add to water – the broth is very rich)
3/4 cup frozen corn kernels (do not need to defrost)
One 15 oz can black beans rinsed and drained
2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro or 2 teaspoons dried
Fresh ground black pepper

In a large cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat, warm the oil. Add the onions and bell pepper and cook, stirring often, until beginning to brown, about 4 minutes. Add the sweet potato and cook, stirring often, until beginning to brown, takes about 5 minutes. Add the garlic, cumin, chili powder and salt and cook stirring for 30 seconds. Add broth and cook until almost all absorbed about 5 minutes. Stir in the corn and black beans and cook, stirring until fully heated through. Stir in the cilantro and season to taste with pepper.

Taken from “The Big Book of Vegetarian”

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Roasted Garlic and Cannellini Bean Hummus

Posted on June 12, 2010 by Simply Healthy Cooking with Pam
I love any kind of hummus and have been experimenting more and more on different varieties of beans and what I can do with them. I love hummus made with garbanzo beans or chickpeas and do not get me wrong it is my all time favorite, but I really wanted to try something different. This was inspired by the restaurant California Pizza Kitchen’s Cannellini Bean hummus appetizer but with a different twist. The dip was made on Memorial weekend and got rave reviews from my guests. Now I am excited to try different varieties I might make a hummus with black beans next.

Roasted Garlic and Cannellini Bean Hummus, created on 5/30/2010

2 cans of Cannellini Beans, drained and rinsed well
3 heads of garlic – I used all the 3 heads the flavor was incredible
¼ to ½ cup Olive Oil
Salt and pepper to taste
2 tablespoons chopped fresh Parsley

Cut the top of the garlic heads off exposing some of the garlic – do not break the garlic apart. In a small stone, place the cut garlic head up and sprinkle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Bake the garlic until roasted. You can also do this with aluminum foil, put the exposed garlic in the foil and close up the foil. Bake in the oven at 350 degrees for about 45. Let the garlic cool, and then break the heads apart and squeeze the roasted garlic out of the cloves. This is like pure gold when cooking and flavoring food. The garlic becomes very sweet and has such a nice flavor to compliment the food.

In a food processor, put the beans, roasted garlic and olive oil and pulse until smooth. Add salt and pepper to taste. Pulse the beans until you reach the desired consistency or texture you want. Add olive oil as needed. Be careful not to put too much you can always add a little bit at a time but you cannot take out the excess oil once you pour it in the hummus mixture.

If you want a little or a lot of kick to the hummus, you can add your favorite hot sauce, again be careful of how much you put in. Serve with toasted French bread, vegetables or your favorite crackers. Enjoy!

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Yummy Hummus!

Posted on May 6, 2010 by Simply Healthy Cooking with Pam
This is another one of my recipes that I make all the time and do not feel guilty with the calories. Yummy hummus is a healthy recipe, loaded with protein and an excellent dip to use in sandwiches. I keep the hummus in the refrigerator ready and available with cut up carrot or celery sticks so that if someone wants to munch on something that does not have a lot of calories, they can do that. Yummy Hummus is such an easy recipe to make with dried beans cooked or if pressed for time, canned garbanzo (a.k.a. chick peas).

Yummy Hummus!  

Recipe created on 12/09/2007

Hummus

1 – 2 garlic glove – peeled and coarsely chopped
1/4 cup good tasting olive oil
1/4 to 1/2 cup of water, depending on smoothness of hummus
16 oz canned chickpeas or garbanzo beans – rinsed and drained
1/2 cup Tahnini – make sure the Tahnini is stirred well a lot of it settles on the bottom of the jar

Put all ingredients in blender or food processor until smooth and has the desired flavor you want. Add salt, scrape the sides of food processor as needed. And attack with food!

I made a parsley oil – 1/4 cup olive oil with 2 Tablespoons of fresh parsley and dolloped that on top of hummus with roasted pine nuts.
Can be refrigerated up to 3 days

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7 Layer Salad Squares

Posted on January 2, 2010 by Simply Healthy Cooking with Pam
A friend asked me for some appetizer ideas for a family get-together for the New Year holiday. I used to be a Pampered Chef kitchen consultant so I thought I would check out some of the cookbooks and see what I could come up with. I found this recipe that I demonstrated at a kitchen show but really wanted to change the recipe to a more healthier version for my parties. Due to the travel time, there were some ingredients in the recipe that could become spoiled I had to figure out a way to make the recipe travel friendly.

7 Layer Salad Squares
Modified recipe from Pampered Chef on 01/02/2010

2 packages (8 ounces each) low-fat refrigerated crescent rolls
1 package (8 ounces) Neufchatel cheese
1 garlic clove minced
6 slices bacon, crisply cooked, crumbled (put bacon on paper towel to drain grease)
1 cup thawed frozen baby petite peas
3 plum tomatoes or ½ pint of cherry tomatoes, seeded and chopped
2 cups thinly sliced Roman lettuce
½ cup (2 ounces) 2% milk fat shredded cheddar cheese
½ cup thinly sliced red onion

Salad Dressing (need ½ cup of this)
½ cup 2% Fago Greek Yogurt
2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
1 tablespoon sugar
½ teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Lightly grease a 12×15 tray with a lip or a 12 x 15 stone with a lip. Unroll the crescent rolls with the longest side of the rolls to the shortest side of the tray.  Seams of the crescent roll need to be pressed together tightly using your fingers or a mini roller. Bake 12 minutes until lightly golden brown. Remove from the oven and cool completely.

In a bowl, combine the Neufchatel cheese, ½ cup of the homemade salad dressing, and garlic, mix until completely smooth. I found using a spoon first and then a whisk later helped gets rid of all the lumps. Add half of the crumbled bacon with half the peas in the salad dressing and spread mixture over the baked cooled crescent roll square.

Spread the seeded chopped tomatoes evenly over the salad dressing. Spread the thinly sliced lettuce over the tomatoes. Sprinkle the shredded cheddar cheese over the lettuce and the thinly sliced onion.  Cut the appetizer into 24 even squares.

Eat Healthy!

Cook’s Note
The Greek yogurt… I am just hooked on this. I am using the Greek yogurt for recipes that require mayonnaise and sometimes sour cream. It is a perfect match and much healthier for you with really no difference in texture or flavor.

Another Pam’s Tip
Always remember to remove the seeds from tomatoes when using it for appetizers because the seeds cause juice and it could make the recipe very soggy.

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Garlic Cheese Biscuits

Posted on December 24, 2007 by Simply Healthy Cooking with Pam
This is the time of the year when everyone’s diet radar goes wacko! I’ve been asked many times for this recipe I found on the internet a long time ago and have used it every holiday basically. SINFULLY GOOD AND AWESOME! AWESOME! AWESOME!

Garlic Cheese Biscuits
Created 12/24/2007

Preheat oven to 450 degrees (makes 10-12)

2 cups Bisquick baking mix
2/3 cups of milk or buttermilk
1/2 cup shredded Cheddar Cheese (I like the flavor of Sharp Cheddar so I used that)
1/4 cup butter melted
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

Mix Bisquik, milk and cheese to make a soft dough. Beat hard for about 30 seconds with a wooden spoon (the dough sticks horribly to a metal spoon).
Drop dough using a medium scoop onto an ungreased flat stone or stoneware bar pan. Bake until golden brown. Melt margarine and add garlic, brush over the warm biscuits before removing from the sheet. Serve warm.

Enjoy!

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