Tag Archives: dinner

Bell pepper relish – end of the summer crop

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So my bell peppers are now all finished. I had about 60 bell peppers (green and purple) to use. What can I do to store bell peppers??? I found a Sweet Bell Pepper Relish recipe which sounded interesting and went to work making it.

I plan on using the relish as Christmas gifts and also for ourselves as a condiment for meatloaf, pork and sandwiches.

Ingredients (taken from southern food about.com)

  • 20 large bell peppers, red, yellow, orange, green, stems and seeds removed, about 6 pounds
  • 1 1/2 pounds sweet onions
  • 1/4 cup kosher salt or pickling salt
  • 5 cups sugar
  • 2 cups white vinegar
  • 2 cups cider vinegar
  • 1 tablespoon yellow mustard seeds
  • 1 tablespoon sweet Hungarian paprika, optional
Wash peppers and cut in large chunks; you’ll have about 6 pounds of chunks. Finely chop about 1/2 to 2/3 of the peppers. Grind or finely chop the remaining peppers using a food grinder or food processor. Coarsely chop about half of the onions and add the remaining onions to the grinder or food processor. Combine in a large bowl with the salt; toss to mix thoroughly. Cover with ice and let stand for 3 hours.Drain peppers, squeezing to get as much moisture out as possible. In a large nonreactive kettle, combine the vinegars, sugar, mustard seeds, and paprika, if using. Add the well drained pepper mixture and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium low and simmer, uncovered, for 50 to 60 minutes, until thickened. Stir occasionally.Meanwhile, fill a boiling water bath canner about half full. Add clean canning jars to the water and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and keep jars warm.

In a saucepan, bring water to a simmer, turn to low and add the flat lids. Keep the lids in the hot water until ready to use.

When the pepper mixture is finished cooking, ladle into the hot drained jars. With a damp clean cloth, wipe the rims of the jars. Using tongs, lift lids from the water and let excess drip off of them; place on the clean jar rims. Screw on the jar rings firmly. Lift jars into the canner. Bring to a boil, cover, and boil gently for 10 minutes.

Makes about 5 to 6 pints.

Pumpkin Soup

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One of my son’s favorite book series is the “Pumpkin Soup”, “Delicious” and “A Pipkin of Pepper” by Helen Cooper. (images taken from google images – amazon.com)

  

These beautiful books and the time of year inspired us to make a couple of pumpkin soups. I usually make a base (pumpkin puree) that we can store by freezing it, and then we make soup from that base. This time I made the base in the slow cooker so I didn’t have to check on it all the time and it worked out great. The two soups we made were a Pumpkin Cream Soup and a Curried Pumpkin Soup.

Ingredients for Pumpkin puree (cooked in the slow cooker)

1/2 large pumpkin (chopped in ~2 inch pieces)
2 Granny Smith apples (grated ~1 cup)
1 cup carrot (grated)
1 onion (grated)
1 32 oz box of low-sodium vegetable stock

  

Add all the ingredients to the slow cooker and cook on low for 8 hours. Use a hand blender to blend the softened vegetables (be careful of hot splashes). Use immediately or place into freezer suitable containers.

  

Pumpkin Cream Soup (Kid-friendly recipe)

Ingredients 

3 cups Pumpkin Puree (from the slow cooker)
1 cup of heavy cream
salt and pepper to taste

Add all ingredients to a sauce pan, heat. I use a whisk to stir in the pumpkin puree and the cream. Serve immediately, with a  dollop of sour cream and pinch of nutmeg.

Curried Pumpkin Soup (adult version of pumpkin soup)

Ingredients

3 cups of pumpkin puree (from above)
1/2 can of coconut milk (I use a light coconut milk)
2 tsp red curry paste
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp coriander
1 inch fresh ginger (finely grated)

Add all the ingredients into a sauce pan, stir using a whisk and heat through. Serve immediately. You can add a dollop of plain greek yoghurt, topped with fresh chopped coriander.

Tasty Bean Salad

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I am at home again today, sick – could have strep throat….and feeling pretty miserable. I wanted to share what I am doing to try to improve my health, since I have been sick off and on since February and now on my 6th course of antibiotics.

So as my health has been pretty awful this year, I have decided to try “Eat to Live” plan by Dr. Fuhrman.  The idea is to concentrate on eating 90% nutrient-dense foods – like veggies, fruits, seeds and nuts, beans and whole grains. For the remaining 10%, you can have healthy oils, meat and dairy. My goal is to build my body’s own immune system and provide the right food and nutrients to my body, it’s not about weight for me.

I have been pleasantly surprised, it has not been that difficult to follow the plan including a breakfast, lunch and dinner. I am one and half weeks.

Here’s one of the recipes I use for lunch.

Ingredients

1 can cannelloni beans (washed)
1 can black beans (washed)
1 can corn (washed)
1 small onion
1 small red pepper
1 small green pepper
1 garlic clove
1/2 tsp cumin
1 Tbsp fresh basil
1 Tbsp fresh parsley
1 Tbsp fresh chives
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 tsp whole grain mustard
2 Tbsp white wine vinegar

Wash the beans and corn and place in a large bowl. Add diced peppers, diced onion and crushed garlic to the bowl. In a salad dressing container mix the remaining ingredients – shake to mix. Pour over the beans mixture, and stir to cover.

Serve as a side salad or I used a 1/2 whole wheat pita and made a sandwich. This salad stores well in the fridge. also think about adding fresh dices tomatoes or diced celery to add more flavors/tastes.

Here’s my lunch – the final product 🙂