These were on Diners, Drive In's and Dives a while back. They looked very interesting so we had to give it a whirl. I cooked the beets one day and refrigerated them until ready to use. The rest is less time consuming. I also made a Green Goddess Dressing from Allrecipes.com http://allrecipes.com/recipe/green-goddess-chive-dressing/detail.aspx because I didn't have all of the ingredients called for in this recipe. If you can find a bottle of it already made, I'm sure that's ok as well.

These were very good! I was actually surprised!!!

The full recipe is at the bottom. ENJOY!

Pan searing the beets in my very well seasoned cast iron pan.

toaster rolls, then beets, then red onion then the dressing

YUM!!!

Beet Sliders

Recipe courtesy Chuck Caplener and Jared Nuttall, co-owners of Gatsby's Diner, Sacramento, CA

Prep Time:

20 min

Inactive Prep Time:

--

Cook Time:

1 hr 5 min

Level:

Easy

Serves:

16 to 18 sliders

Ingredients

• 5 quarts water
• 1/2 cup sea salt, plus a pinch
• 1 tablespoon dried dill
• 6 dried arbol chiles
• 1/4 cup coriander seeds
• 1 tablespoon caraway seeds
• 1 large carrot, coarsely chopped
• 2 stalks celery, coarsely chopped
• 1/2 large yellow onion, coarsely chopped
• 4 tablespoons seasoning sauce (recommended: Maggi)
• 6 to 8 whole beets (depending on size)
• Olive oil
• Green Goddess Dressing, recipe follows
• Sliced red onions, for serving
• 16 to 18 slider buns, toasted

Directions

In a large stock pot, combine and the water, 1/2 cup sea salt, dill, chiles, coriander, caraway, carrots, celery, onions, seasoning sauce, and beets and bring to a boil. Boil on medium heat for about 1 hour.

Remove the beets and let cool, discarding the liquid. Once cooled, remove the skin from the beets with avegetable peeler. (Remember to wear gloves, as the beets will stain your hands as well as other surfaces.) Cut the beets into 1/4 to 3/8-inch slices. Place the beet slices, a drizzle of olive oil, and a pinch of sea salt into a skillet over high heat and saute until glossy and tender, about 2 1/2 minutes on each side.

Remove the beets from the skillet and serve with shaved red onion and Green Goddess Dressing on a toasted slider bun.

This recipe was provided by professional chefs and has been scaled down from a bulk recipe provided by a restaurant. The Food Network Kitchens chefs have not tested this recipe, in the proportions indicated, and therefore, we cannot make any representation as to the results.

Green Goddess Dressing:

• 1 bunch fresh tarragon, stemmed, finely chopped
• 1/2 bunch fresh parsley, stemmed, finely chopped
• 1 bunch green onions, finely chopped
• 1/2 cup buttermilk
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1/2 cup white wine vinegar
• 1 cup sour cream
• 2 cups mayonnaise
• Salt and pepper

Combine the herbs, green onions, buttermilk, lemon juice, and vinegar in a mixing bowl. Let macerate for 10 minutes. Add the sour cream and mayonnaise, and blend with an immersion blender until creamy. Season with salt and pepper.

Grilled Veggies including Garlic Scapes

This was a delicious grilled veggie platter. It was so easy and should be done ahead of time. The vegetables should be room temp when served. When we were camping in Ithaca last week, we bought a bag full of the garlic scapes. The guy told us that his favorite way to eat them is to grill them.

Heat your grill to medium- low.

For the first batch I used:

red peppers, zucchini and yellow summer squash

Cut them into 2" to 4" pieces so they don't fall through the grates on the grill

I brushed them on both sides with Soy Vay Hoisin & Garlic Sauce

SOY VAY HOISIN & GARLIC SAUCE

Then grill on one side until brown grill marks appear. Turn over and do the same. A bit of brown is good!

As they were done, I would add them to the top grate on the grill so they don't steam on top of each other. When they were all done, I then arranged them on a nice plate.

NEXT: I cut the seed head off of the garlic scapes. Leaving whole, I put them in a plastic bag, sprinkled a little olive oil over them, and a little balsamic vinegar. I made sure they were coated. I then put them on the grill and closed the cover. They were making popping noises. I then turned them until they were done. I brought them into the house and cut each scape into 3 pieces and then placed them in the middle of the veggie plate. They were delicious and not overpowering at all. The grilled veggies were also delicious!

KALE CHIPS

"These are a low calorie nutritious snack. Like potato chips, you cannot stop at just eating one. They are great for parties and a good conversation topic."
*I didn't use all of the seasoned salt that's called for. I used a pinch and put that into the palms of my hands and rubbed them over the kale to evenly distribute.
** I put a little EVOO into my hands and rubbed the kale together to lightly coat the leaves.

Ingredients:

1 bunch kale 1 tablespoon olive oil

1 teaspoon seasoned salt

Directions:

1.	Preheat an oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Line a non insulated cookie sheet with parchment paper.
2.	With a knife or kitchen shears carefully remove the leaves from the thick stems and tear into bite size pieces. Wash and thoroughly dry kale with a salad spinner. Drizzle kale with olive oil and sprinkle with seasoning salt.
3.	Bake until the edges brown but are not burnt, 10 to 15 minutes.

GRILLED PORTOBELLO AND TOMATO

Last night I made a delicious 'side' from Mrs. Celenza's cookbook FROM THE TABLE OF PLENTY. It was Grilled Portobello And Tomato. Let me first say that my picture doesn't do it justice. I should have plated it for the picture but oh well! It was simply DELICIOUS! It made me think 'summer' when I tasted it but would be just as good an comforting in the winter! It was super easy also.

GRILLED PORTOBELLO AND TOMATO
From the Table of Plenty, Marion Celenza

1 lb. Portobello mushroom caps, rinsed, drained, sliced into 1/2" thick pieces
1 large onion, thinly sliced (I used a red onion)
2 beefsteak tomatoes, ripe but firm, 1/2" slices
3-4 bay leaves
6 garlic cloves, chopped
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1/4 cup olive oil
freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup grated Parmesan Cheese

Lightly coat a 9x15" solid metal grill pan. (I didn't have one so I just used a jelly roll pan). Preheat broiler.
Pat dry mushroom slices with paper towels. In a small bowl blend oil and vinegar. Brush this mix over both sides of the sliced mushrooms. Lay mushrooms, side by side, on the grill pan. Arrange tomato slices and sliced onion over mushrooms. Sprinkle with garlic, cheese and black pepper. Lay bay leaves upon various areas of the vegetable mix.
*Broil vegetables 5 inches below heat for 3-5 minutes or until cheese melts and is light golden brown. Turn off broiler. Allow tray to sit in oven for another minute. Remove bay leaves and discard.
Serve hot; use a spatula to assist in serving. Serves 6.
* When broiling, do not run out to the grill and get distracted like I did. This cooks FAST!

Joan's Broccoli Madness aka... Sweet Tomatoes Broccoli Salad

Joan’s Broccoli Madness

Whenever we visit Brooke, we always go to Sweet Tomatoes for dinner. We just love it! One of our favorites is the Broccoli Salad. I was so happy to find the recipe today. I made it as a side with dinner tonight and it was delicious.... just like I remember!

Serves 6-8.
1 bunch uncooked broccoli*
½ cup crumbled cooked bacon
½ cup cashews
1/3 cup raisins
¼ cup chopped red onions

Dressing
1 cup mayonnaise
1/3 cup sugar
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar

Mix the first five ingredients in a large bowl.
In a second bowl, beat dressing ingredients together gently until smooth.
Toss the salad with the dressing approximately 10 minutes before serving to allow flavors to meld. Serve on chilled salad dishes.

ZUCCHINI NOODLE PESTO

This was a pretty interesting recipe. If there was a way to make the Pesto to be less fattening, it would be the perfect diet food. Below is the original recipe. It comes from the blog called Tea & Cookies. http://teaandcookies.blogspot.com/2009/08/zucchini-noodles-with-pesto.html
I did change a few things though. I made a bunch of jars of Basil Pesto in the spring. I use quite a bit of garlic in mine so I didn't add more to this recipe. I also used sun-dried tomatoes instead of fresh ones. I thought it was pretty good.

ZUCCHINI NOODLE PESTO

Two medium-sized zucchini or one large one (but not those crazy baseball bat zucchini), about four to five cups.
One large bunch of basil, leaves removed from steams (about 3 cups)
Garlic, 1-2 cloves (start with one, add a second if you find you want more garlic flavor)
Salt and pepper, to taste
1 cup dried or fresh tomatoes, sliced (if dried) or cut into chunks

Run the zucchini over a mandolin to create “noodles, or cut into 'matchbook size'.
Put basil and garlic in the bowl of a food processor (you can chop by hand, if you don’t have a food processor, it just takes a bit of time). Process the herbs while drizzling olive oil in though the feeder tube until you see the consistency change from chopped to smooth, (somewhere between 1 to 2 tbs. of oil). Add salt and pepper to taste (I’d start with 1/2 tsp of salt and add more if you like).

Toss all together. Eat immediately.

CORN and BASIL CAKES...

This was a delicious recipe adapted from Eating Well. Adding the basil made for a nice fresh taste. They were very easy to make.

Corn and Basil Cakes

1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup whole milk
2 large eggs
2 Tablespoons canola oil, divided
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
2 cups fresh corn kernels (about 2 large ears) or frozen (thawed)
1/2 cup chopped basil

Whisk flour, milk, eggs, 1 Tablespoon oil, baking powder, salt and pepper in a medium bowl until smooth. Stir in corn and basil.

Brush a nonstick skillet (I used my crepe pan) lightly with remaining oil; heat over medium heat until hot (but not smoking). Cook 2 cakes at a time, using 1/4 cup batter for each. Pour the batter onto the skillet (batter will be very thick) and pat down a bit with the back of a spoon, but leaving them thick. Cook until the edges are dry, about 2 minutes. Flip and cook until golden brown on the other side, 1 to 3 minutes more. Repeat with remaining oil and batter, making ten cakes total. Reduce the heat as necessary to prevent burning.

BROWN IS GOOD!!!

One of my favorite Food Network shows is called Secret's Of A Restaurant Chef with Anne Burrell. She's an absolute nut! She grunts, waves her arms around etc. She's very entertaining. The best part though is that her recipes are really good. (Her recipe for Pasta Bolognese is on my blog.) Here's the link to her recipes. If you click on the Chicken Milinese video, you can see some of her antics. http://www.foodnetwork.com/secrets-of-a-restaurant-chef/index.html

Yesterday I made her Roasted Cauliflower, Brussels Sprouts and Jerusalem Artichokes. I couldn't find the Jerusalem Artichokes and already had the Cauliflower and Brussel Sprouts so we went with that. Watching her show, she always stresses to BROWN BROWN BROWN! Brown is GOOD! She says it with a grunting raspy voice that makes you say

"Huh W.T.H. was that"?

I have roasted my veggies before but never allowed then to get so brown. She is right though... Brown is good! She mentions to wait until they smell like popcorn before taking then out of the oven and she's right. They did smell like popcorn! These were really delicious !

Roasted Cauliflower, Brussels Sprouts and Jerusalem Artichokes
Recipe courtesy Anne Burrell
Prep Time:
10 min
Inactive Prep Time:
hr min
Cook Time:
50 min
Level:
Easy
Serves:
4 to 6 servings

Ingredients
1 head cauliflower, cut into bite-size florets
1 pint Brussels sprouts, cut in 1/2
1/2 pound Jerusalem artichokes, scrubbed and cut into 1-inch dice
Extra-virgin olive oil
Salt
1/4 cup chopped chives
Directions
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
In a large bowl, combine all the vegetables, coat with olive oil and season generously with salt.
Spread the vegetables on a sheet tray in an even layer, don't pile them up. The vegetables don't need to be spread out but they need to be pretty much in a single even layer. If this is not the case, use 2 trays.
Put the vegetables in the preheated oven. 15 minutes into the cooking process, stir the vegetables so they have the chance to brown all over, and rotate the tray to insure even cooking. Repeat this process after another 15 minutes. Roast the vegetables for an additional 15 to 20 minutes, or until the vegetables are roasty brown and should smell almost like popcorn!. Check for doneness. This means taste some! If they aren't very roasty brown, let them go for another few minutes until they are. Season with salt, if needed. Transfer to a serving dish, garnish with chives and serve immediately.