Homemade Ranch Dressing

I know you love it. I do too. There's no shame in it: ranch dressing is awesome. But have you ever read the ingredients on the bottle? It starts off okay, with water, oil, onion, maybe some spices, and then it veers off into chemistry lab. Xanthan gum, disodium inosinate, modified food starch, MSG - do you really want to eat these things? Do you want your kids to eat them? There IS a better way!

Make your own tonight. Seriously, read the ingredients in this recipe, find them in your fridge and pantry, because I guarantee you have 90% of them right now, and figure out a work-around for the one or two ingredients you don't have. It will taste just as good as the stuff from the bottle, without that weird plasticky feeling on your tongue. Eat it on salad, dip your veggies in it, go crazy. What are you waiting for?

Homemade Ranch Dressing

(Recipe courtesy Mark's Daily Apple)

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup full fat Greek yogurt
• 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons cultured buttermilk
• 2 teaspoons chopped fresh dill
• 1 heaping teaspoon chopped fresh chives
• 1/2 teaspoon white wine vinegar
• 1/4 teaspoon dried dill
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/4 teaspoon tamari
• 1/8 teaspoon granulated onion powder
• 1/8 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/2 small clove garlic, finely minced
• optional: 1 or 2 teaspoons mayonnaise

Directions:

1. Whisk everything together or process in the food processor. That's it! The flavors meld and get better if you let it chill for a while, so consider making this the night before you want to eat it.

Note: I never have buttermilk in the house. It's one of those ingredients that goes bad before I can use it all. A good substitute is the same quantity of milk with a teaspoon or two of lemon juice mixed in. Try making this as-is, and then the next time you can fool around with the ingredients to make it more to your liking. My dressing looks sort of greenish because I used more fresh dill and green onion (instead of chives) than called for, but that's how I like it.

Easiest Ever Marmalade

Winter doesn't have a whole lot to recommend it: Wet, cold, dark, et cetera. The only bright and shining thing that flourishes in winter is citrus fruits. My neighbor has a Meyer lemon tree that is going bonkers and she puts out a pail of lemons for me every week, and I love it. If you are lucky enough to have an orange tree, you are probably inundated with fruit right now - but what if it's too much? What to do?

Last year I was given a giant bag of oranges from a friend's tree. So big a bag that there was no way we could eat them all. Then I realized: Marmalade! Yummy orange marmalade that will last all year in my pantry and taste delicious on toast, in tarts, and even dressing beets (more on that in a later post.) I just opened my last jar of marmalade, canned 12 months ago, and it is still delicious. Canning is amazing!

If you are new to canning, this is a great way to learn. The recipe is easy to follow, the prep is quick, and the ingredients are cheap, especially if you have a tree in your yard. You can buy jars at the grocery store or even the hardware store. You also need a really large, tall pot to boil the filled jars in, and a pair of tongs or a special jar lifter to get the jars in and out of the boiling water. What are you waiting for? Make some marmalade!

Easiest Ever Marmalade

(recipe courtesy of Complete Book of Home Preserving by Judi Kingry and Lauren Devine)

(makes about six 8 oz. jars)

Ingredients:

• 3 small oranges, unpeeled and seeded
• 1 lemon, unpeeled and seeded
• 1 small grapefruit, unpeeled and seeded
• 2 cups canned crushed pineapple, with juice
• 6 cups granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup chopped maraschino cherries (I omitted these)

Directions:

1. In a food processor fitted with a metal blade, working in batches, pulse oranges, lemon and grapefruit until finely chopped. Do not puree.
2. In a large, deep stainless steel saucepan, combine chopped fruit, pineapple with juice and sugar. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring to dissolve sugar. Boil hard, stirring constantly, until mixture begins to sheet from a metal spoon, about 20 minutes. Add cherries and boil until mixture reaches gel stage, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and test gel. If gel stage has been reached, skim off foam.
3. Prepare canning jars and lids.
4. Ladle hot marmalade into hot jars, leaving 1/4 inch headspace. Remove air bubbles and adjust headspace, if necessary, by adding hot marmalade. Wipe rim. Center lid on jar. Screw band down until resistance is met, then increase to fingertip-tight.
5. Place jars in a large deep pot filled with boiling water, ensuring they are completely covered with water. Bring to a boil, cover pot and process for 10 minutes. Remove lid, wait 5 minutes, and then remove jars, cool overnight, and store.

For more information on canning, please see:

http://www.freshpreserving.com/getting-started.aspx

http://www.instructables.com/id/How-To-Can/

Curried Kabocha Dip

My favorite winter produce, by far, is squash. They last forever on your counter so you don't have to worry about spoilage, and they are incredibly healthy for you. My secret weapon in the kitchen these last few months has been the kabocha squash.

The kabocha, also known as a Japanese pumpkin, is big, green, heavy, and delicious. It has a dense texture, much better than the slightly watery butternut squash, and is just as sweet. My kids love it, including my 8 month-old daughter, who slurps it up as fast as I can spoon it in!

I had roasted a kabocha the night before and had scraped out the insides and packed it up in the fridge. I also had people coming over for dinner and hadn't thought out an appetizer. Necessity is the mother of invention, so here is what I concocted. Not too shabby for a spur-of-the-moment dish! I served this dip with Triscuits, because I love them like no other, but my husband ate it with carrot sticks and that was pretty good too. Try it, you might like it!

Curried Kabocha Dip

Ingredients:

• 1 kabocha squash
• 2 teaspoons olive or vegetable oil
• 1 tablespoon whole cumin seeds, or 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon curry powder
• 1 tablespoon sesame oil, or more to taste
• 1/4 cup sour cream
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• salt to taste

Directions:

1. Cut squash in half, scrape out seeds, and rub the insides of the squash with olive or vegetable oil. Place squash halves cut-side down on a baking sheet and bake at 400 degrees for about an hour. The flesh should be very soft and the shells starting to collapse. Let cool for half an hour, then scrape from the shell. Put half the flesh away, and reserve the other half in a bowl.
2. While squash is roasting, put the cumin seeds in a pan over medium heat and toast for a few minutes until brown and fragrant. Remove from heat and grind in a food processor or mortar and pestle.
3. In a food processor or large bowl, mix together squash, cumin, and remaining ingredients until smooth and creamy. Serve warm or cold with crackers, chips, or veggies.

Slow Cooker Black Bean Soup

I love my crock pot. I have found, however, that almost all the recipes in my crock pot cookbooks are for meat-based entrees. That's all well and good, but there are some times you want something lighter, or vegetarian (or that isn't made with a can of cream of chicken soup!) I ordered a book on Amazon.com, hoping to find something new and different, and I did: "Fresh From the Vegetarian Slow Cooker" by Robin Robertson.

The recipe for Black Bean Soup was easy to follow, and I had everything I needed for it already in my pantry and fridge - and I'm betting you do too. This came out better than I expected! The texture was both chunky and smooth after I used my immersion blender (you can put your soup in the blender or food processor and pulse lightly, or even use a potato masher to get your desired consistency.)

Serve this with chopped green onions, cilantro, sour cream, shredded cheese, salsa, tortilla chips, or any or all of the above. Terrific!

(Sorry about the photo. It's bean soup, and it's delicious and nutritious, but there's just no way to make it look glamorous in a photo!)

Black Bean Soup

(recipe courtesy "Fresh From the Vegetarian Slow Cooker" by Robin Robertson)

Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1 carrot, chopped
• 1/2 green (I used red) bell pepper, seeded and minced
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 cans (15.5-ounces each) black beans, rinsed
• 1 can diced tomatoes, left undrained
• 4 cups stock (I used less, probably closer to 3 cups)
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• salt and pepper
• 2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice (optional)

Directions:

1. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onion, carrot, bell pepper, and garlic; cover and cook until softened, about 5 minutes.
2. Transfer the cooked vegetables to a slow cooker, add the beans, tomatoes and their juice, stock, bay leaves, cumin, thyme, and cayenne, and season with salt and black pepper. Stir to combine. Cover and cook on Low for 8 hours.
3. Remove and discard the bay leaves and taste to adjust the seaosonings. Just before serving, stir in the lemon juice, if using. To thicken, puree at least 2 cups or up to one half of the soup solids with an immersion blender used right in the cooker, or ladled into a regular blender or food processor and returned to the cooker. Serve hot.

Granola!

One of my favorite breakfasts is yogurt and granola. I had a stash of crunchy granola bars in the cupboard, and I would bash one, still in its wrapper, with my meat tenderizer mallet until it was all crumbles, and mix it into my yogurt. All good things come to an end, however, and I ate all the granola bars before I ate up my supply of yogurt.

But all is not lost! With a quick search of the pantry, I found I had all the ingredients I needed to make a batch of homemade granola. You probably do too.

The basics you need are oats, vegetable oil, and maple syrup or brown sugar. Everything else is to your own taste. Some ingredients have more fat than others (the nuts and coconut are high in fat, but are still good for you, so don't let that dissuade you.) If you don't have wheat germ in your refrigerator, I highly recommend it. It's great for you and mixes into many recipes to contribute a sweet, nutty flavor.

This is what I used - please feel free to experiment and make a granola that your kids will like. You can eat this with yogurt (and honey and bananas and berries....) or with just a splash of milk. It's good stuff - believe it.

Homemade Granola

Ingredients:

• 2 cups whole oats
• 1/2 cup pumpkin seeds
• 1/2 cup shredded coconut
• 1/2 cup almonds
• 1/2 cup sesame seeds
• 1/4 cup wheat germ
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1/2 cup maple syrup or brown sugar
• 1 cup dried cranberries

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 225 degrees F. Combine oats, nuts, and other dry ingredients (EXCEPT cranberries) in a large bowl.
2. Combine oil and maple syrup in a saucepan and simmer on low for a few minutes, stirring, just until it bubbles. Remove from heat and pour over the dry ingredients. Stir it to make sure everything is coated and damp.
3. Spread on a foil-lined cookie sheet and bake for 60 - 90 minutes, stirring every 15 minutes to ensure even toasting. Let cool, add the cranberries, and store in an airtight container.

That's it! Try adding these or other ingredients for different combos: raisins, dried cherries, dried apricots, cashews, sunflower seeds, flax seeds, or even M&Ms (when it's cooled) if you are feeling naughty.

Bread and Jam, a Double Post From Scratch

Every week I buy a 3-pack of strawberries from the farmer's market. They are super-sweet and very ripe right now, so I have to use them quickly. Last week, I had too many to eat before they were going to go over the edge into Slimeville. What to do, what to do? I could freeze them and use them for smoothies, or ...

Bread and strawberry jam - great with eggs for breakfast, or a nighttime sweet tooth snack. You can make both at home, today, without much fuss. Yes, there's more labor involved than just throwing some groceries in your basket, but it's worth it!

First, the bread. For some reason, I usually have a really difficult time working with yeast. But this bread baked up fluffy and hearty. I found the recipe on the Fleischmann's yeast web page, so the recipe I list below is based on that, with a few changes to fit my needs. If you've never made your own bread, this is the easiest recipe I could find, and I think it's a good place to start. Considering a loaf of sandwich bread can go for $4 nowadays, it might be worth your while to try baking your own.

The jam was even easier to make. I used a three-pack from the farmer's market, so I'm not sure exactly what the weight is (since they load those green plastic pint containers to the top.) It's worth it to buy organic strawberries, since commercial farmers spray the heck out of those little fellas. I included the instructions for canning the jam, and you can pick up mason jars and lids at the grocery store. Canned jars of jam will last a year or more - it's a total money-saver, especially if you have kids (mine eats jam on toast as often as you'll let her). If you don't can it, the jam needs to stay in the fridge. You'll have a lot, so pick up some plastic storage containers and share with friends! This recipe made five 8 oz. jars of jam to store in the pantry, plus about 16 ounces I am keeping in the fridge ... to eat on the bread!

Easy Wheat Bread

(based on this recipe: http://www.breadworld.com/Recipe.aspx?id=235)

Ingredients:

• 3 1/2 to 4 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 cups whole wheat flour (you can use all-purpose if you don't have wheat)
• 3 tablespoons brown sugar
• 2 envelopes Fleischmann's RapidRise yeast
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1 1/2 cups water
• 1/2 cup milk
• 2 tablespoons butter

Directions:

1. In the bowl of your electric mixer, stir together 2 cups of the flour, the sugar, yeast and salt. Use the dough hook attachment. (You can do this with just a bowl and a wooden spoon, but the electric mixer is much much easier!)
2. Mix together the water, milk and butter and heat to 120*-130* F. Stir the liquid mixture into the dry mixture to combine. Beat for 2 minutes on medium and scrape the sides.
3. Add another cup of flour and beat for 2 minutes on high, scraping down the sides. Keep adding flour, little by little, until the dough is soft and clings to the dough hook.
4. Lightly flour a big cutting board or your counter and knead the dough for 8-10 minutes, until it is elastic and smooth. Put the dough in an oiled bowl and cover for 10 minutes to rise.
5. Spray two loaf pans with Pam. Divide the dough in half. Flatten and stretch the dough into a 12"x7" rectangle, then, starting at a long end, roll up tightly like a jelly roll. Pinch the seams and place the rolls seam-side down in the pan. Cover and let rise until doubled in size, about an hour.
6. Bake at 400*F for 25-30 minutes. The bread should sound hollow if you tap the top of it. Take the bread from the pans and let cool on racks.

Easy Strawberry Jam

(Courtesy Sure Jell)

Ingredients:

• 2 quarts ripe strawberries
• 1 box Sure Jell (I found it on a high shelf in the baking aisle, by the cake mixes and spices)
• 1/2 teaspoon butter
• 7 cups sugar
• 3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar (optional, but I like the depth of flavor it adds)

Directions:

1. Wash the canning jars, rings, and lids with hot soapy water. Put the empty jars in a tall pot of water - there should be at least an inch of water covering the top of the jars. Bring the water to a simmer, and keep the jars simmering until they are ready to be filled. Using a smaller pot, simmer the lids and rings on low until ready to use.
2. Hull the strawberries. In the bottom of a pie plate, crush them with a potato masher (or a fork) and measure them, until you have 5 cups of berries. Put the berries in a large pot on the stove. Measure out 7 cups of sugar into a big bowl - you want to add the sugar all at once, so have it ready to go now.
3. Stir the pectin, butter, and balsamic vinegar into the strawberries - make sure the pectin gets dissolved and that you don't have any clumps of pectin in the pot. Bring the mixture to a full rolling boil (that doesn't stop bubbling when stirred) on high heat, stirring constantly. Stir in the sugar, and return to a full rolling boil for one minute, stirring constantly. Remove from the heat and skim off any foam with a metal spoon.
4. Take the jars from the simmering water and pour out the water, but don't dry them. Ladle the jam into the jars, leaving 1/8" - 1/4" room at the top of the jar. Screw on the lids and put the jars back in the big pot of water. Make sure jars are covered by at least an inch of water; cover and simmer for ten minutes. Remove the jars from the water and place upright on a towel to cool completely. After the jars cool, check seals by pressing on the middle of the lid with your finger. If the lid springs back, it's not sealed and the jar needs to be refrigerated.

Baked Beans (Mom's Recipe Box Find #2)

One of my guilty food pleasures is a right-off-the-grill hot dog. I know, not the most gourmet of foods, or the healthiest, but everything in moderation, right? And what goes better with hot dogs than baked beans? Now you could just open a can of baked beans and plop them in a saucepan, but where's the fun in that? Make your own!

Once I decided to do just that, I found my Mom's recipe for baked beans. That poor note card has seen better days, but its hard-used appearance proves what a popular recipe it is.

I didn't have any canned white beans in the pantry, but I did have a one-pound bag of dried white beans. They take more preparation than canned beans (obviously - canned beans come out ready for use) but are worth the effort. First, dried beans are cheaper than their canned cousins, because once you soak and rehydrate them, they double in weight. (Put another way, when you buy canned beans, you are paying for water.) Second, you are avoiding any salt, preservatives, or chemicals in the canned beans, not to mention the chance of BPA in the can itself.

Anyway, I soaked the beans the night before, but they double in size, so I only used half. (You can now freeze the rehydrated beans in a Ziploc bag and thaw them when you have another recipe for them.) I used my Mom's recipe as a jumping off point, and they were just as delicious as hers were. I realized they don't need to bake in the oven and are great on the stovetop - that way you won't have to heat up your kitchen on a hot summer day to make them. These are easy, cheap to make, and will impress everyone who has them. Hearty, smoky and fantastic, these put those watery, gloopy canned baked beans to shame!

Baked Beans

Ingredients:

• 1/2 pound dried white beans, soaked overnight in 6 cups water (or use 2 cans of white beans, reserving some of the canning liquid)
• 5 slices bacon, diced (obviously, vegetarians can omit this, or replace with soy bacon)
• 1 onion, diced
• 3/4 cup ketchup
• 1 tablespoon mustard
• 1/4 cup BBQ sauce (optional, but I like the smokiness - you could also try a few dashes of liquid smoke)
• 1/4 cup molasses
• 1/4 cup dark brown sugar

Directions:

1. Drain the water from the beans you soaked. Put the beans in a pot, cover with about 4 cups of water and a lid, and cook over medium heat for about 2 hours. You don't want to cook off all the water, so check in on them every once in a while. When they're done, save about a cup of the cooking water to use in the baked beans, in case you like them a little "saucier" than I do.
2. In a Dutch oven or very heavy-bottomed pot, fry the bacon. When it's about halfway to crunchy, add the onion. When the bacon looks done, add the beans. Turn the heat down to low and stir everything together for a few minutes.
3. Add the rest of the ingredients and stir to combine. Give it a taste and see if you need to adjust the seasonings. It likely won't need salt, but you may like some pepper.
4. Cover and cook on low heat for half an hour. Check the consistency - if it's too thick, add some of the bean cooking water; too thin, take the lid off and let simmer. Serve hot.

These make great leftovers (I had them for breakfast and felt sort of British.) Even better, add leftover hot dogs for a white-trash-tastic lunch.