Category: Cook’s Treat from Caridad

As part of my lifestyle journey we’re eating more fruits and vegetables. To accomplish that, I’ve joined a CSA (community sponsored agriculture) where once a week I pick up vegetables and herbs from a local farmer. The vegetables are whatever are in season and it’s been interesting so far since I’ve gotten produce that I’ve never eaten before. One of the items last week was kohlrabi which is a root vegetable similar to a turnip and it’s also known as turnip cabbage or German turnip. I looked up some recipes and since we were having some delicious brisket that night, I decided to make a slaw and am sharing that recipe with you! If you would like some more recipes, check out the Cook’s Treat section on my website.

Ingredients

1/3 cup rice wine vinegar
2 tbsp honey
3/4 cup mayonnaise
1 medium kohlrabi, chopped into small sticks
1/2 medium red onion, finely chopped
1 large carrot, peeled and grated
4 Persian cucumbers, chopped into small sticks
1/4 cup celery leaves, finely chopped

Directions

Mix the honey and rice wine vinegar until honey has dissolved. You can substitute apple cider vinegar, but I find that rice wine is not as acidic and I like that. Place the onions in this mixture and let sit while you chop the other vegetables. This slight “pickling” helps mellow the onion flavor.

Peel the kohlrabi and cut into small sticks. I hauled out my mandolin for this, but I think it would have been easier to hand chop it and I like the chopping. It’s somehow relaxing. Set aside.

Peel and grate the carrot. You could also just hand chop the carrots into small sticks. Set aside.

Chop the Persian cucumbers into sticks. DO NO PEEL THEM. Their skin is very thin and edible and adds a nice color to the slaw mix. Set aside.

Finely chop the celery leaves. I use only the leaves because I am not a big celery fan and the leaves have a gentler flavor that adds some pop to the slaw. Set aside.

By now the onions have mellowed enough. Add the mayonnaise and mix until smooth. Add the kohlrabi, carrot, cucumbers, and chopped celery leaves and mix well.

I recommend making the slaw a few hours in advance of dinner or even overnight as the flavor will meld. If you want to cut down on calories, you can substitute light mayo. It works just as well. Alternatively, omit the mayo for a lighter slaw.

You mix things up by adding chopped apples or fennel to the slaw.

As you may know from past posts, I’m trying to have a healthier lifestyle and not only lose weight, but eat better. To do that, I often will play around with recipes to change up ingredients. Since I had bought some zucchini and also picked up some ricotta cheese that was on sale (I always look for a sale!) I decided to do a vegetable lasagna. I also added some spinach that was delivered as part of my first CSA package. I am so glad someone tipped me to that Community Sponsored Agriculture. We’ve gotten some nice local produce from a nearby farm. So today I’m sharing my recipe for a zucchini lasagna.

Ingredients

4-5 large zucchini
28 ounce ricotta cheese (I love Galbani whole milk ricotta)
1 lb mozzarella cheese, grated
1 cup grated parmesan cheese (or pecorino)
1 small onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup cooked spinach
salt and pepper to taste
3 cups tomato sauce
2 eggs
2 tbsp parsley, minced
olive oil

Directions

Pre-heat oven to broil.

Slice zucchini lengthwise in about 1/4 inch thick slices. Lightly oil baking sheet and place zucchini on there. Lightly drizzle olive oil and salt and pepper on the slices. Broil until lightly browned and then flip and cook the other side until lightly browned. I do this because zucchini has a lot of water which will water down the ricotta if you don’t do this. You may need to do this in several batches depending on how much zucchini you have. Set aside and cool.

Pre-heat over to 350 degrees.

Beat two eggs and add half a pound of the grated mozzarella, half of the parmesan, and parsley. Mix well. Saute onion and garlic in a little olive oil until softened and add cooked spinach. Make sure to cook until the spinach mixture is relatively dry and then add this to the cheese mixture and mix well.

Lightly grease a 9×13 baking dish. Place about 1/2 cup of tomato sauce on the bottom of the pan. Lay the zucchini slices on the bottom to cover it. Spoon about 1/3 of the cheese mixture onto the zucchini slices. Put about 1/2 cup of tomato sauce on the cheese mixture. Top with more zucchini slices and then do another layer of cheese and tomato sauce. Finish with another layer of zucchini slices, cheese, and tomato sauce. If you have enough zucchini for another layer, repeat. Once you are done layering, cover the last layer with tomato sauce and top with the rest of the mozzarella and parmesan.

Bake for 45 minutes to an hour until mozzarella on top is nice and toasty. Set aside for at least fifteen minutes before slicing and serving with some additional tomato sauce over the top.

I have to confess that I’ve been using Victoria marinara sauce lately for quick meals. It’s absolutely delicious.

If you want to change this up, omit the spinach or add some cooked ground beef or sausage to the layers. Alternatively, make a bechamel sauce and do a white lasagna. It’s all up to you!

If you liked this recipe, you can find many more in my Cook’s Treat section of the website.

My husband gave me an amazing retirement gift: a Danube River Cruise. It was unfortunately delayed by the pandemic but when we finally took the trip, it was amazing! Budapest was our first stop and we loved this city. Beautiful architecture and easy to walk. Wonderful food including a tasty Chicken Paprikash. I hadn’t thought about making it myself until I saw a Cook’s Country where they prepared the dish which is relatively easy to make. I’m sharing my version of the dish today with you since a reader at a recent conference reminded me of how much you like my recipes! THANK YOU! You can find more recipes in the Cook’s Treat section on the website.

Ingredients

4 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
1 large onion, very thinly sliced
1 red bell pepper, very thinly sliced
1 can diced fire roasted tomatoes, drained (14.5 ounce can)
2 tbsp tomato paste
2 garlic cloves, minced
8 bone-in skinless chicken thighs
2 1/2 cups chicken broth
3 tablespoons paprika
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 cup sour cream, plus extra for serving
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour

Directions

Salt and pepper chicken thighs and let sit for about half an hour to allow spices to work their way into the meat.

Heat 2 tbsp olive oil until shimmering. Add chicken thighs and brown lightly. Remove chicken from heat and add remaining 2 tbsp olive olive, thinly sliced onions and peppers.

Lower heat and cook slowly until onions and peppers are very soft.

Add garlic and tomato paste and cook for about 5 minutes. Then add chicken broth, paprika, fire roasted tomatoes, cayenne pepper and chicken thighs, tops of thighs down. Why chicken thighs? It’s tough to overcook them and have them get as dry as chicken breasts can get.

If you can’t find the fire roasted canned tomatoes, you can use regular diced canned tomatoes. IMHO the fire roasted ones add a smoky flavor to the dish that mirrors the smokiness of the paprika. Speaking of paprika, Hungarian paprika is some of the best and I scored some while visiting Budapest.

Cook for about 15 minutes and then flip the thighs over. Cook for another 15 minutes or until internal temperature of thighs registers at 190 degrees.

In a separate bowl, whisk together flour and sour cream until smooth. I use more sour cream than in the Cook’s Country recipe because I love sour cream! If you’re watching your calories, light sour cream works as well.

Mixing the flour and sour cream and tempering it with the cooking liquid will help keep the sour cream from breaking when you add it to the hot cooking liquid.

Once the chicken has reached temperature, take a few spoons of cooking liquid and mix into the flour and sour cream mixture. Mix until smooth and after, slowly add the rest of the flour/sour cream mix into the pot with the chicken.

Cook for another 5 minutes or so to get rid of the raw flour taste.

Serve over rice, dumplings, spaetzle, or egg noodles. Sprinkle with some paprika and chopped parsley. You can also serve it with a dollop of sour cream or drizzle it over the dish.

As you know I’m trying to eat healthier and so we’ve been having meals with a lot more vegetables. Last night it was a dish of gnocchi with spinach, roasted acorn squash, and fresh mozzarella, topped with some crispy prosciutto and parmesan. The dish was tasty but the real star was the roasted acorn squash. It was so sweet, almost like candy! So today I’m sharing this quick and easy recipe for roasted acorn squash. If you like stories with lots of cooking, check out South Beach Love which was also turned into a Hallmark Original movie or Recipes for the Romantic Soul, a free download on Kindle Unlimited.

Ingredients

1 Acorn Squash
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp salt
Pepper to taste

Directions

Preheat oven to 425.

Cut the acorn squash into slices. It’s easier to pierce the squash in the middle and then work the knife all the way around to cut it in half. Scoop out the seeds. Slice into one-inch-thick slices. Place in a bowl and toss with the olive oil, salt, and pepper.

Line a baking sheet with foil. Placed the squash slices on the sheet and place in the oven. Cook for 15 minutes and then turn the slices. Cook for another 15 minutes. That’s it!

Acorn squash works well with a lot of fall-centric spices like cinnamon or nutmeg. You can also keep the squash in halves and add some butter and maple syrup. Really, any way you do it the squash will be tasty.

I saved the seeds and plan on trying to grow some in this year’s garden!

We always put out meats and cheeses as appetizers when we have friends coming over. Now it’s the hot thing to make a fancy “Charcuterie Board.” Charcuterie actually refers to the cured and cold meats and not the rest, but what the heck? It can be a tasty treat! Food Network has some suggestions on how to build the perfect board at https://bit.ly/3xQ6YxR. For me, a perfect charcuterie board has a mix of meats, different kinds of cheeses, fruits, and veggies. I like to have a soft cheese like goat cheese or brie together with my fav cheddar and then something sharper, like grana or aged provolone. Harry and David has a great list of cheeses with explanations at https://bit.ly/41qXwyr. As for the fruits, a combo of fresh and dried is great, like dried figs with grapes or strawberries. Fresh figs are also tasty if you can get them. Finally, something fun to drizzle on the cheeses, like honey or a nice jelly. There are some great wine-flavored jellies, but my fav is a great fig nectar that pairs wonderfully with the sharper cheeses.

I’m doing really well with my lifestyle change. I try to get up and move during my hours-long writing sprints. I’m also taking a nice walk every day in addition to going to the gym to do the elliptical. I’ve also started lifting some weights! Yeah! Last but not least, I’m eating healthier. Unlike some past diets where I eliminated carbs almost entirely, I’m not doing that this time. I’m allowing myself some carbs because I don’t want to put the weight back on once I have carbs in my diet again. To date I’ve lost 15 pounds in about 6 weeks or so. One of the breads I recently made was this Cast Iron Beer Cheese Quick Bread from America’s Test Kitchen. It’s versatile since you can change up what cheese to use (I had cheddar!) and even though the recipe calls for chives, I didn’t have any and used scallions instead and it worked! So here’s the recipe for you. It’s quick, easy, and tasty!

Ingredients

2 1/2 cups All-Purpose flour
2 cups shredded Gruyere cheese
1 1/4 cups beer (no hoppy IPAs, just plain beer)
1/2 cup minced fresh chives (or scallions)
4 tsp baking powder
3 Tbsp melted unsalted butter
2 Tbsp sugar
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper

Directions

Place rack in the middle of the oven. Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

Mix all the dry ingredients. Add half of the cheese and toss it together. Add the chives/scallions and the butter. Mix.

Grease a 10 inch cast iron skillet. Put the bread mix into the skillet and flatten the dough. Top with the remaining half of the cheese.

Bake for about 30-45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the bread comes out clean. Let rest for at least 15 minutes in the skillet and then remove from the skillet onto a wire rack to finish cooling.