Sunday Dinner with Larry and Lynda and the Highams

Larry and Lynda were in SoCal with the Hares for Kate's medical conferences and stayed an extra day to visit with us. How fun! We had Sunday dinner together with L & L and invited Ben's recently returned mission President, (a former Bishop of our ward), and his family to come over for dinner. Larry and Lynda were excited to meet them. The food was delish! Here's the menu:
Penne pasta with our garden sauce
Melon Fruit salad
Tomato/Basil/Mozzarella salad
homemade French bread
homemade wheat rolls
Dessert:
coconut sorbet or lemon sorbet with fresh raspberries

Dow sets the standard for the tomato/basil/mozzarella presentation. The picture here is one he made for me last summer when he was on SoCal during my 30th anniversary. I forgot to take any pics of this dinner. Too bad.
Dow's salad:
Arrange the ingredients in a large bowl/platter. For Sunday I used 2 large dinner plates that bend up around the edges, (so dressing wouldn't drip & so I could have one at each end of the table. Spray balsamic vinegar on them, sprinkle with a strong olive oil. Season with salt and pepper. That's it!

I just want to remember how we made the sauce for that penne pasta. Wow was it good! Lynda helped me adjust the spices, and as usual, Larry helped a ton with chopping and washing dishes.
Penne sauce:
Saute 5 cloves garlic in olive oil.
Saute 2 onions, diced
2 each - green, red, yellow peppers, diced
1 orange pepper (that's all I had)
throw in some chopped tomatoes from the garden
2 handfuls of chopped basil from the garden
Sprinkle the top with oregano
Add about half that much thyme
Allspice - not too much - barely a pinch. I fyou can taste it, you've added too much.
Salt and about 2 turns of freshly ground pepper
In the winter you could add some meat if you want, but it was chunky and very satisfying as it was. We poured it over 1 box whole wheat, 1 box multi-grain penne pasta.

ENTREES

SPOON-TENDER POT ROAST

This one came from the O.C. Register in the "Take Five" column.
Ti tweaked it and the final result was delicious for those moments when you really need a hearty meaty meal for your athletic boys. Here's the recipe:
3-3/12 pound London-broil roast
Black pepper
1 tablespoon Cornstarch
1 pkg Onion Soup Mix
2 cans Cream of Mushroom Soup, undiluted

1. Pepper the meat, (the onion soup mix provides enough salt) then brown it in about a tablespoon of oil on the stove to seal in the juices. Place meat in Crockpot.

2. Mix the cornstarch with the dry onion soup mix and sprinkle directly on the meat.

3. Pour the cream of mushroom soup over the top.

Cook in a Crock Pot on low (or high depending on how much time you have) until tender.
We had to add a can of water about halfway through because the sauce was becoming too thick.

COOKING WITH LINDSEY

Lindsey made this for us 5-24-08. Yum!

Frozen Strawberry Dessert
Friend Magazine, June 2005

1 cup sugar
1/2 cup water
1 quart fresh strawberries
1/3 cup orange juice
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 cup heavy cream

1. Combine sugar and water in a saucepan. Boil for 5 minutes, then let cool.
2. Puree strawberries in a blender.
3. In a large bowl, combine strawberry puree, orange juice, lemon juice, and sugar water. Fold in the cream
4. Pour into a 9 x 13 pan (we decided a square 9 x 9 pan would have been better). Freeze until firm. Makes about 1 quart.

ENTREES

Marci also introduced me to Ellie Krieger's Sloppy Joes during my visit to help with Zachary. The intense flavor is it's trump card. You could double or triple this, freeze it and serve it later on a baked potato, as a sloppy Joe, as a stuffed french bread pizza w/ cheese melted on top, or even as chili. I'd double the amount of beans for chili. Versatile! I should have served these open-faced because my homemade bread was so heavy tonight.


Sloppy Joes

1 pound ground beef
1 onion, diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 red pepper, diced
1 can small red or pinto beans, rinsed
1-1/2 cups tomato sauce
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon molasses
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon mustard powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
freshly ground black pepper

Brown the meat and onion together. Drain off grease. Add red pepper and garlic - cook 5 mins more. Stir in rest of ingredients and simmer. Serve on whole wheat buns.


Here is the link for Ellie's recipe plus nutrition facts:

http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/cda/recipe_print/0,1946,FOOD_9936_35586_PRINT-RECIPE-FULL-PAGE,00.html

Here's her pic: http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/recipe/0,1977,FOOD_9936_35586,00.html

BREADS

Fantastic Zucchini Bread

1-1/2 cups sugar
1 cup canola oil
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
3 cups whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 cups shredded zucchini, unpeeled
1 cup chopped walnuts, optional
1 cup chocolate chips, optional

A couple of more optional items:
I added about 1 tablespoon of vital wheat gluten
roughly 3 tablespoons of ground flaxseed
I had about 3 Ts of ground pinto beans in my wheat flour
(left over from grinding wheat for bread)

Combine in large bowl, sugar, oil eggs and vanilla. Mix well.
Add dry ingredients and blend thoroughly. Fold in zucchini and nuts until well incorporated.

Pour into 2 greased bread pans and bake for 60 minutes at 350.

Notes: The original recipe called for 2 cups of sugar,
but with the addition of the chocolate chips this was plenty sweet.

SOUP

Creamy Corn and Vegetable Soup

(click on the title for a picture)
Ellie Krieger

4 cups fresh corn kernels or 20 oz, frozen, thawed
2 cups nonfat milk
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 large onion, diced about 2 cups
1 medium bell pepper, seeded and diced (about 1 cup)
1 medium zucchini, (about 1/2 pound) diced
2 cups low-sodium chicken or vegetable broth
2 plum tomatoes, seeded and diced
3/4 teaspoon salt
freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup fresh basil leaves, cut into ribbons

Put 2 cups of the corn and the milk into a blender until smooth. Set aside.

Heat oil in large soup pot over a medium-high heat. Add the onion, bell pepper, and zucchini and cook, stirring until the vegetables are tender, about 5 minutes. Add the remaining 2 cups corn and the broth and bring to a boil. Add the pureed corn and tomatoes and cook until warmed through, but not boiling. Add the salt and season with pepper. Serve garnished with the basil ribbons.