Cucumbers are growing like crazy in my garden right now, and besides pickling them, I’m trying all kinds of crazy recipes. I saw a similar idea with zucchini, but I decided cucumbers would be best. Instead of bread, use a cucumber for your tuna salad. They are crisp and refreshing. This idea is fun for parties, or as a cool modern side dish this summer. Also try with shredded chicken or julienne veggies like carrots and radishes.
Wash a cucumber and slice in half. Use a large spoon to remove the core of the cucumber and to create your boat.
In a bowl, place the insides of your cucumber. Add 1 can of strained tuna, 2 diced shallots (or 1/4 cup diced onion), 1/3 cup mayo, and 2 Tbsp Dijon. Mix together.
Use a spoon to fill your cucumber boats. Top with shredded cheese if desired, and serve.
It’s the perfect time of the year for whimpies! It’s something that’s easy to make and won’t heat up your whole house when you cook them. Served with some pasta salad like I did, it makes the perfect summer combo. I hadn’t made homemade sauce for these before, so I was improvising quite a bit. If you want more of a tomato flavor, cut back on the vinegar, or if you add too much, add some ketchup to bring back some tomato flavor. Less spices are better than more when it comes to this recipe. All the spices cook together and there can be a lack luster result if you add too much of anything. This recipe makes 4-6 whimpies depending on bun size.
In a large skillet, break up and brown one pound of ground beef.
In a bowl, mix together 8 oz of tomato sauce, 1 1/2 Tbsp white wine vinegar, 1 Tbsp dried minced onion, 1 Tbsp worcestershire sauce, 1 tsp chili powder, 1/2 tsp garlic powder, 1 tsp red pepper flakes, and 1 Tbsp honey.
Once beef is fully cooked, strain off any excess fat. Add your sauce to your ground beef and cook until sauce is heated through. Cover and let simmer until you are ready to serve.
I make carbonara quite often. If you want an adult mac & cheese, this is perfect for dinner dates, or for the whole family. This carbonara recipe is more authentic Italian than most, because carbonara is not supposed to use milk/cream, however many choose to use them to thicken and make a creamy sauce. However, as long as you don’t over cook your eggs when adding your pasta, your sauce will come out plenty creamy. This recipe is unique because I have added sharp cheddar to the cheese sauce. This makes the sauce less mature with the parmasean flavor and a little more like a homemade mac & cheese. I also added broccoli for a healthy touch and to add color to this mono-toned dish. This recipe made 5 adult sized portions.
Steam 1/2 a small head of broccoli, about 2 cups.
In a large sauce pan, bring water to a boil. Once boiling, add 12 Oz of spaghetti. Boil until al dente.
In a medium large serving bowl, mix together 2 eggs, 1 cup of grated parmasean, and 1 1/2 cup of chopped white sharp cheddar.
Once noodles reach al dente, take 1 cup of pasta water. Add 1/4 cup to your cheese mixture, and stir for 30-45 seconds.
Strain your noodles and shake 3 times before adding to cheese mixture. Move quickly and begin stirring noodles till sauce becomes smooth. Add your steamed broccoli and stir. Serve right away.
Curry is an easy dish to make, but all you really need is the spices. I’ve made curry before, but this time I tried a couple different things. This time I used tomato products, and I added enough spices to get some actual spiciness off of the curry. Curry makes a lot of food, and after eating it for several days, we froze the remainder to enjoy again later. The hot spice on this curry mellowed out over time, but I inevitably froze it due to eating up all the white rice I had cooked with it. And, as long as you don’t mix in the rice, the curry will reheat with the same texture and flavor after it’s been frozen. This curry recipe makes approximately 11 adult sized servings. Finally, for this recipe I used leftover sauce from a stromboli we had gotten about a week prior, and I diced up the leftover grilled zucchini, so I didn’t have to heat it as long as you will if you are starting from raw.
In a medium saucepan, add 1 1/2 cup of rice. Rinse the rice under running water until the runoff is almost completely opaque (4-5 rinses). Add 2 cups of water to the rinsed rice, then add to stove over medium heat. Bring to a boil. Once boiling, cover and reduce heat to low, then cook for 18-20 minutes. Then, remove from heat.
In a large dutch oven, add 1 qt of diced tomatoes and juice, and 1/2 a jar of tomato sauce. Turn heat to medium low and cover.
In a frying pan, brown and breakup 1 pound of ground beef. Dice an onion and add 1/2 to the beef, cook till translucent. Add the beef and onion to your dutch oven. Add 1 Tbsp oil to your pan. Dice and add 2-3 small zucchini to the pan and cook until very tender. Add zucchini to your dutch oven.
Turn your dutch oven heat to medium-high. Bring mixture to a simmer. Once simmering, add 1 Tbsp curry powder, 1/2 Tbsp cumin, 1 Tbsp chili powder, 1/2 Tbsp ground ginger, 2 tsp Cayenne pepper powder, 1 tsp cinnamon, and 2 tsp paprika. Stir. Cook until rice is done, but for at least 4-5 minutes to let the flavor permeate.
Tilapia is a great fish for those that don’t like the fishy flavor. Tilapia is also very healthy and adds very little fat to your diet. This recipe makes a delicious flavorful fish that has the added flavor of the herbs and fats of butter. You could substitute butter for coconut oil or avocado oil, you’d just need to add a small pinch of salt to help with flavor. Italian seasoning also consists of marjoram, oregano, thyme, basil, sage, rosemary, and parsley.
Begin heating your grill to 350 F – 400 F.
Place 2 fillets of Tilapia on a large piece of aluminum foil. Heavily sprinkle with Italian seasoning and add 3 Tbsp of butter. Seal your packet tightly.
Place the packet onto the grill over a medium heat area. Close the grill and cook for 8 minutes. Using a spatula and thongs, remove the packet from the heat and transfer to serving plate. Carefully cut open packet and serve tilapia right away.
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