Summer Squash Confetti Salad

(Printable Recipe)

Yellow squash picked young and tiny is nicely sweet and perfectly paired with sweet corn and peppers in this cool, creamy side dish. It's a good salad stand-in too, already dressed with the perfect dressing that you may find yourself using on lots of other veg combos once you taste it.

Ah, if only this was sweet corn season this picture would be perfect. Alas, Del Monte Summer Crisp is the closest I can get at this moment. Fortunately, yellow squash is fairly easily available almost any time. Buy them as small as you can find. And I think the best and least seedy ones are the straight, rather finger shaped type. You'll also need a green bell pepper and purple onion. Don't substitute red bells here; they're sweeter, I know, but the bright green bite of this bell is part of what makes this dish.


To start, slice the 2 or 3 yellow squash lengthwise and then into thin halfmoon slices. If you find any that are seedy, chuck them in the trash bowl.
That's right, I tossed this entire squash because it wasn't worth using. Well, I did use the slender neck of it because that part was tender and clear of seeds.
Tiny seeds don't matter as long as the flesh is firm and a taste test proves out.

Drain the corn well and mix together with squash. We're going for about an equal amount - around one cup of each. To this, add 1/4 cup of finely chopped purple/red onion and 1/3 cup of green pepper. Toss all together and dress with the following, my secret weapon in the last minute, yet wildly irresistible, salad arsenal.

This will probably make twice as much dressing as you need, but it keeps well and you'll use it up, trust me. To 1/2 cup Miracle Whip (no substitutions!) add 1 Tbs White Vinegar, 1 tsp Sugar, 1/2 tsp Celery Salt. Whisk all together well.

I learned to make this special dressing from my husband's Grammy who was famous in our family for her coleslaw. This was coleslaw that ruined you for ever eating coleslaw anywhere else for any reason at all. The dressing was the secret of course. I have added the celery salt for this particular recipe but it's just as good without it.Start by adding only half the total recipe to the Confetti Squash mixture above and give it a taste. Come to think of it, double the amounts of all vegetables heretofore mentioned and just use all the dressing because you're going to need it if you decide to share this dish with anyone else! Bon Appetit!

THE SHOPPING LIST

3-4 Small Yellow Squash

Bell Pepper

Purple Onion

Miracle Whip

Celery Salt

SummerFest at the Food Network website is back! Once again, you'll find my foodie blogs on the Food Network along with other great food lovin' bloggers, offering up our best ideas for your Farmer's Market finds all summer long. Each week we'll be blogging together with the FN Dish to produce fabulous ways to enjoy your produce!  This week it's week summer squash, next week tomatoes. Check out these other tasty ideas for squash:

Jeanette's Healthy Living: Quick and Easy Sesame Summer Squash Stir-Fry
Cooking With Elise: Orange Summer Squash Bread
Feed Me Phoebe: Summer Squash and Cornmeal Cakes With Tarragon
Chez Us: Zucchini Pancakes With Minty Dill Crème Fraiche
And Love It, Too: Peter Pan Squash Spiced Oven Fries
Made By Michelle: Pattypan Squash and Tomato Frittata
Cooking Channel: Our  Top 5 Favorite Squash Recipes
Delicious Lean: Summer Squash Ribbons With Feta and Pine Nuts
Napa Farmhouse 1885: Summer Squash Chips
Ingredients, Inc.: Summer Squash and Kale Sauté
Thursday Night Dinner: Summer Squash Medley
Sweet Life Bake: Zucchini Fried With Tequila-Spiked Avocado Dip
Dixie Chik Cooks: Fried Summer Squash Parmesan Sliders
Healthy Eats: Summer Squash Any Way You Slice It
FN Dish: Cheesy Summer Squash

Roasted Chicken with Plum Chili Salsa

(Printable Recipe)

This fabulous chicken is saturated with plum marinade and served with spicy plum salsa so good you'll forget that salsa usually means chips and dip and look for other reasons to make this salsa, especially when plums are in season. It's hard to describe how good it tastes because there's really nothing to compare it to. I would say, think cranberry sauce on Thanksgiving without the bitter twang, but too many people don't love cranberry sauce. So forget that and just try this and find out for yourself. This is an Epicurious recipe first published in Gourmet magazine. Reviewers raved over the salsa and 100% said they would make it again. I have to agree.

First the marinade, since the chicken needs to rest in this for at least an hour, overnight is even better. Here's the marinade list:

4 large plums

2 garlic cloves, crushed

1 Tbs Sesame Oil

1/4 c Soy Sauce

Juice of 1 Large Orange (1/2 Cup)

1/4 c White Wine Vinegar

3 Tbs Sugar

Fresh Ginger Root (about an inch)

1/2 tsp Dry Mustard

One Jalapeno Pepper, seeded and rough chopped (Wear rubber gloves!)

Pit and chop the plums, peel and chop about 1" of the Ginger Root, and measure 1 Tbs of the chopped Jalapeno.  Add these and all other ingredients to the food processor and pulse until liquefied. 

The recipe called for 8 chicken legs but I used boneless, skinless thighs. Chicken breasts would work as well, but thighs have more flavor and are more moist and worth a try if you haven't used them before. Whatever you use, pour the marinade over all and refrigerate for at least an hour or overnight. Now, you can put these in a 450 oven to roast for about 30 minutes, with a spoonful or two of marinade over each piece of chicken, but I tried them two ways and thought they were much better in the slow cooker. You can get by without marinating or even thawing first if you just put the whole thing in the crockpot and set for 4 hrs on high, about 6 on low. They'll be falling apart when ready and very tasty. 

Serve with a side of Plum Chili Salsa.

Plum Chili Salsa

Now for that Fabulous Salsa!

4 Ripe Purple or Red Plums, diced

1/3 cup Red Onion, Minced

1/4 cup Fresh Cilantro, finely chopped
1 tsp minced fresh Jalapeno Pepper
1 Tbs fresh Lime Juice
2-4 tsp sugar, to taste

Stir together all in a bowl and allow the flavors to meld for several hours if possible before using. (Click here for an easy method for pitting and preparing the plums...and don't forget to wear rubber gloves when handling those Jalapenos!)

SummerFest at the Food Network website (FN Dish) is back! Once again, you'll find my foodie blogs on the Food Network along with other great food lovin' bloggers, offering up our best ideas for your Farmer's Market finds all summer long. Each week we'll be blogging together with the FN Dish to produce fabulous ways to enjoy your produce!  This week, it's plums, next week summer squash. Check out these delicious ideas:

Ingredients, Inc.: Pork, Plums and Rosemary Kabobs
Virtually Homemade: Grilled Plum Pizza With Goat Cheese
Cooking Channel: Best Plum Dessert Recipes
BGSK: Grandma Esther's Plum and Walnut Cake
Delicious Lean: Plum Delicious Pork Chops
Healthy Eats: 6 Ways to Cook With Plums
Napa Farmhouse 1885: Time for Plum Cobbler?
Thursday Night Dinner: Plum BBQ Chicken
From My Corner of Saratoga: Plum Upside Down Cake
Cooking With Elise: Vanilla Plum Tart
Sweet Life Bake: Plum Pineapple Margarita
And Love It Too: Plum Pickin' Pineapple Jam
FN Dish: Perfect Plum Recipes

 

Southern Benedictine: Creamy Cucumber Spread

(Printable Recipe)

Benedictine is the creamy cucumber spread, a true southern original, served at many an afternoon tea and still present on luncheon menus as Benedictine Sandwich throughout the south. This is the original method for making it, with one exception. No green food coloring. You can add it if you like, but I must decline. That pale fake green sends a flavor signal to my mind that flashes I'm Minty, I'm Minty, and I probably don't have to tell you that my palate doesn't want to embark on a voyage that marries mint, cream, and cucumber.

I will not judge you, however, if you generously spread this delicious filling upon white bread with its crusts trimmed away. There be no disparaging remarks about the complete lack of nutritional virtue in that bread, for this is the one time it has a place. Now let us begin quickly, lest I slip into rhyming verse recounting my sweet memories of summer lunches in the Orchid Room on Louisville's Fourth Street of yesteryear.

Our ingredients are only three: cream cheese, onion, and cucumber.

I have used an English cucumber here but a garden cucumber lends more flavor and is recommended. Vidalia onion in my opinion is the ONLY onion suitable. That means you will be confined to making this in summer, which is only appropriate anyway.

Give the cream cheese about a minute on half power in the microwave if it is not already at room temp when you start.

We are only going to use the juice of the two vegetables in keeping with the authenticity of our dish. The quickest way to get the amount needed is by grating to a fine shred over a bowl. Please disregard the terribly gaudy orange nail polish. It was too dark in the den when I was painting those nails to see how bad they looked.

 There should be more than enough juice from just the one cucumber. Leaving the peel intact results in a rich green juice that will naturally (and only slightly) tint the cream cheese.

Press to extract all the juice and discard the pulp.

Now, for the onion. If you've gone willy-nilly into the produce department and grabbed any old onion, prepare to cry. The elegant Vidalia, however, will allow you to retain your dignity as it invokes no tears. And yet gives forth the abundance of juice you now seek.

3 Tablespoons of Cucumber Juice, 1 Tablespoon Onion Juice

And add the softened cream cheese, whisking all together.

Add salt and pepper to taste. No other seasonings are needed.

And yet, you  may gild the lily a bit with some fresh dill and chives
if you choose.

Finally, the taste test: A finger dollop will do, or a slice of cucumbre, or a dainty triangle of white bread. Whichever you choose, do enjoy with a sip of sweet iced tea.

THE SHOPPING LIST

1 Onion

1 Large Cucumber

8 oz Cream Cheese

SummerFest at the Food Network website (FN Dish) is back! Once again, you'll find my foodie blogs on the Food Network along with other great food lovin' bloggers, offering up our best ideas for your Farmer's Market finds all summer long. Each week we'll be blogging together with the FN Dish to produce fabulous ways to enjoy your produce!  This week, it's cucumbers. Check out these delicious ideas:

What's Gaby Cooking: Cucumber, Herb and Pita Salad
Ingredients, Inc.: Easiest Cucumber Salad
Virtually Homemade: Cucumber Strawberry Cooler
From My Corner of Saratoga: Marinated Cucumber Salad
The Cultural Dish: Pasta With Roasted Shrimp and Cucumbers
Delicious Lean: Cucumber Jicama Salad
Napa Farmhouse 1885: Cucumber and Avocado Open-Face Sandwiches
And Love It, Too: Fermented Spicy Garlic-Dill Cukes and Zukes
FN Dish: No-Cook Cucumber Recipes
Cooking With Elise: Wedge Salad With Cucumber-Ranch Dressing
The Sensitive Epicure: Chinese Style Cucumbers