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A Life From Scratch.

A Life You Adore Around A Table You Love.

In denial about the snow?

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[dropcap1 color=”rosy”]I[/dropcap1] am. So, it’s time for another colorful, flavorful, and light post. This past Sunday I made ‘sunny mango salsa’ to brighten up the dreadful weather. Now it’s time for a middle eastern salad.

This salad is great because it is seasonless. The ingredients required are fresh all year round. You’ll always end up with a great dish that is bursting with flavors due to the use of three different types of green herbs as well as sunny lemons.

I found this recipe from…wait for it…Ina Garten. Shocked? I know. It’s funny how much I am inspired by her, but when I actually write my notes when I’m cooking for posts I do find myself changing her recipes more and more. That is what cooking is all about though, right? Putting your own touch on things. I didn’t change much of the flavors of this recipe, simply the quantities. I also cut back on the vinaigrette. I don’t like salads swimming in dressing. It should be light – never a puddle at the bottom of the bowl.

As promised Kelly, here is the recipe! I hope this salad gives you a much needed burst of sunshine on a snowy February day.

Middle Eastern Salad
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Ingredients
  1. 2 cans chick peas, drained and rinsed
  2. 6 scallions, thinly sliced on an angle
  3. 1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved
  4. 1 seedless cucumber, diced
  5. handful of parsley, chopped
  6. handful of basil, chopped
  7. palmful of mint, chopped
  8. 8 ounces good feta cheese
  9. juice and zest of two lemons
  10. 2 cloves garlic, minced
  11. 1 tsp sea salt
  12. 1/2 tsp black pepper
  13. 1/4 cup good olive oil
Instructions
  1. Place first 8 ingredients in a large mixing bowl. In a small mixing bowl combine lemon juice and zest, garlic, sea salt, and pepper. Slowly whisk in olive oil. Pour the vinaigrette over the salad and toss to together.
  2. Serve with toasted pita chips - grilled chicken - on top of a flaky white fish that is baked to perfection. Lots of options with this one.
Adapted from Ina Garten
Adapted from Ina Garten
A Life From Scratch. https://a-life-from-scratch.com/

Think sunny skies!
Courtney

‘Sunny’ mango salsa & good friends

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[dropcap1 color=”rosy”]A[/dropcap1]much needed combination for me today.

It was a rather long Saturday night (nightmare/stuffy nose/baby bear is lost/another nightmare/nose is stuffed again/thought he heard something weird outside). I think I was dragging myself up the stairs every 45 minutes to the little guy’s room. When I finally did get a consecutive straight hour of sleep, I woke up to a very gray and very rainy Sunday. Lovely.

I am not a rain girl, the exception being humid summer thunderstorms late at night. I laid in bed for a few minutes trying to give myself a pep talk to get going. Come on Courtney. Time for a Fresh Market run, get your butt on the treadmill, then home to cook and clean. No thank you. Then I remembered our dear friends Catherine and Jeff were coming over tonight with their two adorable boys. That got me to peel myself out from under the covers. I drove straight to Starbucks with L, (Katy Perry blasting in the car) ordered the most caffeinated drink possible and downed it on the way to Fresh Market. I was starting to feel more like myself. Now one more thing I needed – Catherine. Please be at the gym. Who did I run into right as I walked in? Catherine. Her first words ‘wow, you look good for not sleeping at all.’ I love you.

Throughout the morning I was attempting to finalize the menu in my head. I knew we were going casual – Catherine wanted to learn how to make the wingless buffalo chicken pizza I posted about last week. So, two of those and a light salad. Dessert would be the ‘compromise cookies’ that would bake away while we ate dinner so they would be warm and gooey for the cold vanilla ice cream waiting to sit on top of them. (A great idea courtesy of my friend Becky). I just couldn’t come up with a good appetizer. I knew I had the perfect one up my sleeve, I just had a hard time pin pointing it due to the fuzzy brain. Then it hit me on the treadmill. MANGO SALSA. It’s brightly colored, flavorful – like sunshine in a bowl. Just what my gray Sunday needed.

A quick tip on the mangos. You can buy them fresh, but I find them to be quite a pain to work with. They are a lot of effort, and not much mango. I actually buy the frozen mango halves from Trader Joes. We go through packs of these a week, they are delicious.

Sunny Mango Salsa
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Ingredients
  1. 3 mangos, diced
  2. 1 avocado, diced
  3. 1/2 red onion, minced
  4. 1/2 jalapeno, minced
  5. juice of one lime
  6. salt and pepper
  7. handful of cilantro, chopped
Instructions
  1. Stir all ingredients together. Serve with tortilla chips for an appetizer or you can put the salsa on grilled fish or chicken as an entree.
A Life From Scratch. https://a-life-from-scratch.com/

The salsa got rave reviews, although Catherine is not a huge onion girl, so she would substitute garlic – perfectly acceptable.

Absolutely great night! Time to crash.

Zzzz,
Courtney

P.S. Look at the beautiful appetizer Catherine brought over. Oven roasted tomatoes, ricotta, fresh basil with a drizzle of honey on top. The flavor was outstanding!

Time for a snack.

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[dropcap1 color=”rosy”]D[/dropcap1]isclaimer: these are addicting. If you are into granola bars please be warned if you make these it will be quite hard to consume a store bought granola bar again. So if you don’t want to sever ties completely with Mr. Quaker Oats just yet, I suggest skipping this recipe. If you’re ready to move on…well, then let’s do this. I’m here for you.

This recipe comes from the love of my cooking life, Ina Garten. I never want to say anything bad about her, and rarely adapt her recipes all that much, but this is one I think did need a bit of tweaking. But that’s ok, Ina. You still rock my world. Perhaps our ovens are just extremely different, or my 2/3 measuring cup is different than your 2/3 measuring cup. Either way, I’m sure the recipe you wrote works perfectly for you and Jeffrey, but it didn’t work for me.

The major part of my ‘tweaking’ in this recipe was in the honey sauce. It is the glue that holds these bars together. I don’t think Ina called for enough honey, so I upped that. Second, her longer baking time very much dried out the granola bars for me, so they crumbled apart. Perfect for yogurt, not so perfect for moist individually wrapped bars. We are looking to sink our teeth into a chewy bar, not break our teeth on one, right?

After countless attempts at getting this recipe just right, I think I finally nailed it. I sure hope it works for you!

Homemade Granola Bars
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Ingredients
  1. 2 cups old fashion rolled oats
  2. 1 cup sliced almonds
  3. 1 cup coconut, loosely packed
  4. 1/2 cup toasted wheat germ
  5. 3 TBS unsalted butter
  6. 1/4 cup light brown sugar
  7. 3/4 cup honey (when in doubt, put more in)
  8. 1 1/2 tsp vanilla
  9. 1/4 tsp salt
  10. 1 1/2 cups dried fruit pieces. Here is your chance to be creative! I change mine up all the time. The ones pictured are filled with cranberries and apricots.
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  2. Butter a 9 x 11 casserole dish, and line with parchment paper.
  3. Toast the oats, almonds and coconut on a baking sheet in the oven for 12 minutes. Pour into a large mixing bowl and mix in the wheat germ. Meanwhile, combine butter, brown sugar, honey, vanilla and salt and bring to a boil. Mix together for 1 minute. Pour over the oat mixture. Mix together and stir in your fruit. Press lightly into your prepared pan.
  4. Bake for 20 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool for at least 3 hours. Cut into individual bars, wrap in parchment paper, and leave on the counter for easy access to a great snack
Adapted from Ina Garten
Adapted from Ina Garten
A Life From Scratch. https://a-life-from-scratch.com/

Still love you Ina,
Courtney

The birds are confused…

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And frankly, so am I. The past four or so mornings the birds have been tweeting, a lot. And it just happens to be the same tune they perform in the summer. While I drift between ‘sleep’ mode and ‘GO’ mode thoughts of a warm June day slip over me. Ahhh. All of a sudden Rihanna’s ‘what’s my name’ blasts on the radio, I jolt up, move the curtain aside and see the front lawn covered with snow. Ugh, come on birds…figure it out! Why are you here?

If you’re anything like me, you are quite affected by a 20 degree temperature change. My mood, my style, and what I make in the kitchen all begin to shift. Suddenly I’m wearing a silk tank bursting with a floral pattern underneath a cardigan. And a pair of shoes…not boots! What a concept.

Now before I take this a step too far and have visions of fresh salads tossed with juicy grilled peaches and bright purple onions from the market I reign myself in. The birds are just teasing you Courtney. There is no market, yet. You know better from countless building budgets over the years. There is a snow account in April for a very good reason and it is more often than not, used. So go make another pot of soup. FINE! But it’s going to be a light one.

This soup is great if you feel your metabolism needs a ‘boost.’ It is extremely healthy, flavorful, and light. Perfect for that 30 – 40 degree temperature range. I tend to make it when M is out of town and I’ll eat it all week. When M is around I’ll serve it with tons of freshly grated parmesan and crusty bread on the side. You know, because obviously a meal is not complete without cheese and carbs.

Garden Skinny Soup
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Ingredients
  1. 1 TBS olive oil
  2. 1 medium onion, chopped
  3. 3 carrots, peeled and chopped
  4. 3 stalks of celery, chopped
  5. 1 red bell pepper, chopped
  6. 4 cloves garlic, minced
  7. 2 quarts chicken or vegetable stock
  8. 2 cups of water
  9. 1 28 ounce can diced tomatoes
  10. 1 small head of cabbage, thinly sliced
  11. 1 TBS hot sauce
  12. salt and pepper
  13. optional garnishes: fresh cilantro or parsley, parmesan
Instructions
  1. Heat a large soup pot over medium heat, add olive oil, then onions. Cook until translucent, about 5 minutes.
  2. Add carrots, celery, red pepper and cook until tender, about 8 minutes. In the last minute or so add the garlic. Season with salt and pepper. Add the stock, water, tomatoes, cabbage, and hot sauce. Bring to a boil and then simmer uncovered for 30 minutes.
  3. Season to taste with more salt, pepper, and/or hot sauce. Garnish how you prefer. My vote? Extra hot sauce, lots of cilantro, a little parmesan cheese, and the heel of the bread loaf to dip in.
A Life From Scratch. https://a-life-from-scratch.com/

I feel lightly satisfied, perfect. Now about those birds…
Courtney

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