Easy Supper Club: Roasted Veggies & Salad

"Easy Supper Club"

from Southern Living's 

"Cooking for Christmas"
Bacon-Arugula-Apple Bites
Herbed Pork Roast
Roasted Fall Veggies
Puffed Mashed Potatoes
Basil-and-Blue Cheese Salad
Brandy Alexander Cheesecake

For the Introduction to this series of recipes, click HERE

ROASTED FALL VEGGIES

[I just roasted carrots to keep it a little more simple, but below is a list of other veggies that would taste wonderful as well]

10 small carrots with greenery

8 baby yellow beets

8 baby candy cane beets

3 Tblsp Olive Oil, divided

1 tsp kosher salt, divided

1/2 tsp pepper, divided

• Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Cut tops from yellow and candy cane beets, leaving 1/2 inch stems.Peel beets and cut in half. Cut tops from carrots, leaving 1/2 inch of greenery on each.
• Toss yellow beets and carrots with 2 Tblsp olive oil in a large bowl; place in a single layer on 1 side of an aluminum foil-lined jelly roll pan. Sprinkle veggies in pan with 1/2 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp pepper.
• Toss candy can beets with remaining 1 Tblsp olive oil; arrange beets in a single layer on remaining portion of jelly roll pan. Sprinkle with remaining salt and pepper.
• Bake at 425 degrees F for 15 minutes; stir once, and bake 15 minutes more or until tender.

BASIL-AND-BLUE CHEESE SALAD

Our Elf joined us this day for dinner! So this was "Elf-Approved"!

1/3 cup olive oil

1/3 cup seasoned rice vinegar

1 tsp country-style dijon mustard

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp dried crushed red pepper

10 cups mixed salad greens

1/2 cup firmly packed fresh basil leaves, coursely chopped

2 ripe pears, thinly sliced

2 navel oranges, sectioned

2 avocados, sliced

1 (4oz) package blue cheese, crumbled

• Whisk together first 5 ingredients. Cover and chill until ready to use (up to 24 hours).
• Toss together greens and basil. Top with pears, oranges, avocados, and blue cheese; toss. Drizzle with vinaigrette. Serve immediately.

[Its best to wait to slice pears and avocados last minute so they won't turn brown]

O Olive Oil: Recipes that Shine!

O Olive Oil company has asked to take the products they sent and create a dish that will make the oils shine in all their glory. In cooking, I find myself hesitant and shy about trying a dish that doesn't come with a recipe, its difficult for me to make one up. The ones I usually do are simple, nothing elaborate, easy to follow. That's just how I roll.

Here are a few dishes using the O Clementine Olive Oil:

Citrus Salmon with Baby Green Salad

This salmon recipe has got to be one of my favorites to date. It is extremely moist and the flavors mold together in harmony. The salad was a great addition that completed the plate. There wasn't any flavor conflicts or bad tastes, you can tell these oils and vinegars have been made to compliment each other!

4 salmon fillets

1 tablespoon creole seasoning (recipe below)
3 tablespoons O Clementine Olive Oil
4 cups baby greens
1 tablespoon O Clementine Olive Oil (for dressing)
1 tablespoon O California White Balsalmic
small can of mandarin oranges

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
• Cover a large cookie sheet in aluminum oil and light spray with cooking spray. 
• Place salmon fillets on prepared sheet and drizzle oil over top. Sprinkle with seasoning and lightly rub it in to cover entire fillet.
• Place in oven and cook for 8 to 10 minutes. Be careful to not over cook.
• After finished cooking, gently brush tops of fillets with a little more O Clementine olive oil.
• For the salad, place a small cup of baby greens on the plate.
• Put olive oil and basalmic in a small covered container and shake for 30 seconds. Drizzle over salad and top with mandarin oranges.

Creole Seasoning

I made my own creole seasoning last year, and it was the perfect blend of spices to compliment the salmon. 

Click here to see the recipe

O Clementine Olive Oil Bruschetta

This recipe is a very simple one that you can really appreciate the olive oil.

1 french load, sliced into 1/2-inch pieces

3 tablespoons O Clementine Olive Oil, divided

1 can mardarin oranges

1/4 tsp kosher salt

1/8 tsp chili powder

• Brush the tops of bread slices with the O Clementine Olive Oil and broil for a few minutes until lightly browned. 
• In a bowl, combine 1/4 cup of mandarin oranges, drained and coarsely chopped, the salt and 1 tablespoon olive oil.
• Top the toasted bread slices with a little orange mixture and lightly sprinkle with chili powder.
• Serve immediately.

O Clementine Olive Oil Bread Dip

If you want an even simpler dish, pour some of the flavored olive oil in a small bowl and lightly sprinkle with kosher salt and crackled pepper. Serve with fresh bread slices, can even been lightly toasted.

I hope that gives you some ideas on how to handle and prepare dishes that have a light citrus flavored oil to it!

Again, thanks Dave with eRecipeCards for the opportunity to experiment! 

You can find out more information about O Olive Oil on their website or on Facebook.
Find eRecipeCards on FaceBook or their webpage.

Please see disclaimer for more details on a sponsored post.

O Clementine Pound Cake

We reached 300 on the Facebook page--so here is what I promised--an amazing recipe that I have been raving about the past few days!

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Oh man, oh man. I thought the salmon was my favorite from these series of recipes for O Olive Oil. That was before I made this. This recipe make 2 loafs, and one of them was practically gone before it had a chance to cool off. I'm just saying, if you are going to make this for a coffee group or bible study, make several batches because it won't last long!

O Clementine Pound Cake

3/4 cup butter, softened
2 tblsp O Clementine Olive Oil
1-1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
3 large eggs
1-3/4 cup flour
1/2 tsp salt
1-1/4 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp ground cardamom
zest of 2 clementines (about 1 tablespoon)
juice of 2 clementines (about 4 tablespoons)
1/4 cup milk
for icing:
1/4 cup powdered sugar
3/4 tablespoon O Clementine Olive Oil
few drops of milk

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease 2 loafs pan, set aside.
• With a mixer, beat butter, oil and sugars until smooth.
• Mix in the eggs, one at a time, until completely blended. Stir in 1 cup of flour, as well as the salt, vanilla, cardamom, zest and clementine juice.
• Add the milk and rest of the flour. Beat until the consistency is smooth and completely blended.
• Pour the batter evenly into the 2 loaf pans. Bake for 45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out smooth.
• Cool on a wire rack.
• For the Icing: In a small bowl, add the powdered sugar and oil. Stir together until the oil is incorporated as much as possible [it will still be powder-y until the milk is added].
• Add the milk, a few drops at a time until the icing is at the desired consistency. [I used about 1 tablespoon, but it will differ from person to person]
• Drizzle over cake and lightly sprinkle some cardamom on top.

Its just DRIPPING with deliciousness!! Have I mentioned the smell? Its divine!

T&T: Natural Medicine: God's Pharmacy

It's been said that God first separated the saltwater from the fresh, made dry land, planted a garden, made animals and fish...All before making a human.  He made and provided what we'd need before we wereborn.  These are best & more powerful when eaten raw. We're such slow  learners...God left us a great clue as to what foods help what part of our body!

God's Pharmacy! 



 

A sliced Carrot looks like the human eye. The pupil, iris and radiating lines look just like the human eye..  And YES, science now shows carrots greatly enhance blood flow toand function of the eyes.

 

 

A Tomato has four chambers and is red. The heart has four chambers and is red.  All of there search shows tomatoes are loaded with lycopine and are indeed pure heart and blood food.

 



 

 Grapes hang in a cluster that has the shape of the heart.  Each grape looks like a blood cell and all of the research today shows grapes are also profound heart and blood vitalizing food.

 

 



A Walnut looks like a little brain, a left and right hemisphere, upper cerebrums and lower cerebellums.  Even the wrinkles or folds on the nut are just like theneo-cortex.  We now know walnuts help develop more than three (3) dozen neuron-transmitters for brain function.

 



 

 Kidney Beans actually heal and help maintain kidney function and yes, they look exactly like the human kidneys.


 

Celery, Bok Choy, Rhubarb and many more look just like bones. These foods specifically target bone strength.  Bones are 23% sodium and these foods are 23%sodium. If you don't have enough sodium in your diet, the body pulls it from the bones, thus making them weak.  These foods replenish the skeletal needs of the body.

 

 Avocados, Eggplant and Pears target the health and function of the womb and cervix of the female -they look just like these organs.  Today's research shows that when a woman eats one avocado a week, it balances hormones, sheds unwanted birth weight, and prevents cervical cancers.  And how profound is this?  It takes exactly nine (9)months to grow an avocado from blossom to ripened fruit. There are over 14,000 photolytic chemical constituents of nutrition in each one of these foods (modern science has only studied and named about 141 of them).

 

 Figs are full of seeds and hang in twos when they grow.  Figs increase the mobility of male sperm and increase the numbers of Sperm as well to overcome male sterility.

 



 

 Sweet Potatoes look like the pancreas and actually balance the glycemic index of diabetics.

 

 



 

 Olives assist the health and function of the ovaries

 

 

Oranges, Grapefruits, and other Citrus fruits look just like the mammary glands of the female and actually assist the health of the breasts and the movement of lymph in and out of the breasts.

 

 Onions look like the body's cells. Today's research shows onions help clear waste materials from all of the body cells.  They even produce tears which wash the epithelial layers ofthe eyes.

Pomegranate Panna Cotta

This panna cotta was absolutely amazing and it really surprised me! The recipe calls for POM pomegranate juice, but I couldn't find it, so I used a different brand. The juice was a brownish color compared to the POM brand, so I added a few drops of red food coloring to make it look a bit better. I also think adding a few dollops  of whipped cream on the top would make this delectable.

POMEGRANATE PANNA COTTA

3 tblsp plus 2 cups pomegranate juice
2 tsp unflavored gelatin
1 cup sugar
peel from 1 orange, removed in strips with vegetable peeler
1/2 cup fresh orange juice
1/2 cup whipping cream
1-1/2 cups buttermilk

Spray ramekins or whichever cup/container you will use for the panna cotta.

Place 3 tablespoons pomegranate juice in small bowl. Sprinkle gelatin over; let stand 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, heat remaining 2 cups pomegranate juice, sugar, and peel in large saucepan over high heat, stirring to dissolve sugar. Boil until syrup is reduced to 1-1/4 cups, about 10 minutes. Remove from heat.

Remove peel from pan; transfer 1/3 cup syrup to small bowl and reserve for sauce. Add gelatin mixture to remaining hot syrup in pan, and stir until dissolved. Add orange juice and whipping cream, then buttermilk. Chill until set, at least 4 hours or overnight. Cover and chill sauce separately.

Run knife around edge or ramekins; invert onto plates. Drizzle with sauce and serve.

~I left the sauce off, it was sweet and rich enough without it. And don't forget the dollop of whipped cream!

Don't waste the orange peel--its makes for an attractive garnish!

  

Canning: Blueberry Jam

Jam has got to be my favorite thing to eat....like EVER. Click for my Strawberry Jam, Orange Jam, and Squash Relish recipe, and linked up with images below. This one is very similar (same concept).

BLUEBERRY JAM

Click HERE for printable recipe

7 cups white sugar
6 cups blueberries
2 packages of pectin (3 oz each)
6 pint-size jars
[I doubled mine and got 13 pint jars made. Have 1 or 2 extra jars ready just in case.]
Boil a large pot of water with jars, lids and rims inside. If you don't want to put jars in the boiling water, sterilize through the dishwasher and then pour boiling water inside them to keep hot for next step.

Measure out 7 cups white sugar, set aside.
Measure out 6 cups of blueberries and pour them into large sauce pan. Start mushing them immediately [it gets harder with more liquid in it]. That's a technical word, right? Slowly stir in sugar and bring to a boil and stir until sugar has been dissolved.

Add pectin, boil hard for 1 minute, then let sit for 10 minutes off heat.
Dump water out of jars, and fill them with blueberry mixture, using a ladle. Wipe the threads clean and twist on lids and rims really tight. Turn the jars upside down for 5 minutes. [just enough time to clean the mess up]

The flip the jars back right-side-up and let cool for several hours. The lids will "pop" and you will know its sealed.


Click HERE for printable recipe


click HERE for printable canning tips

Orange Jam & OLB Award

I thought I had already posted this--but since blogger went hay-wire, not really sure what happened. So, if you have seen this already, I'm sorry! Blame blogger. And my kids. Then comment again. LOL Just kidding.


Also, keep reading and scrolling down! I received an award from Joy of Desserts and want to pass along this award to several blogs that I read!

I had a bunch of oranges in my fridge, and wanted to try making it jam like the strawberries. So I made this EXACTLY like the other kind--using the same measurements.

ORANGE JAM

6 good sized oranges
7 cups white sugar
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 package of pectin
4-6 mason jars

Boil a large pot of water with mason jars lids. After a few minutes, remove lids and pour water into mason jars to keep them warm.

Peel and remove skins and pith from oranges. (no white at all!) Cut up oranges into big chunks. Place in a large pot and start cooking them over med-high heat. Add the sugar after about 5 to 7 minutes (add the butter about 4 minutes into it). Cook until sugar is dissolved and mixture is boiling.

Dump the water out of mason jars (careful! very hot!) and using a ladle, fill jars up to the lip. Wipe the threads clean and seal with the lids.

Turn them upside down for 5 minutes (enough time to clean up). Turn back upright and let cool on the counter. You will hear a loud "pop" when its all sealed! Enjoy on  a toasted English muffin or toast!

 

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Thank you so much Joy from Joy of Desserts! This is actually my very FIRST award! Needless to say, it brought a huge smile to my face and what an honor it is! *happy dance* I love Joy's blog as well! I can always count on a fun blog hop, no matter which day it is, and it's guaranteed to add 5 lbs to your butt every time [there is that many good sweets!]. Such a SWEET gal--make sure you stop by and tell her I sent you! ;)

Thank you so much, Joy!

 Rules for accepting the award:
1. Post linking back to the person that gave you the award
2. Share 7 random things about yourself
3. Award 15 recently discovered blogs
4. Drop them a note and tell them about it.

Now its time to share 7 random things about me:

1. Today, this very day, my husband and I celebrate our 8th wedding anniversary!
2. I LOVE the smell of fresh herbs, and would prefer a herb bouquet over a flower bouquet.
3. I try to run anywhere between 2 and 4 miles a day..I gotta keep my butt from expanding, somehow.
4. I've never lived on the west coast, but I have lived in 7 different states (12 different places) since married.
5. I cannot function without coffee in the mornings, but I'm trying to broaden my horizons with fresh herb tea.
6. I'm a huge cat fanatic. Don't bring a dog around me, and for heavens sake, if your dog poops--PICK IT UP...I don't care if you have to do it bare-handed.
7. I absolutely love the Military life-style. I love change and accept it with arm wide open. Don't ask where you think we'll be next year, we will never know. =)

And I like these 17 wonderful bloggers [the list is quite a bit longer, but could only put 15. I'm a rule-follower]:

2. A Well Seasoned Life
3. Susie B. Homemaker
4. Bacon Time with the Hungry Hypo
5. Boobies, Babies, & a Blog [you'll see "Boobies" when she leaves a comment--cracks me up EVERY TIME]
6. Confessions of a Marine Wife
7. Le Chateau des Flours by Frenchy
8. GI Joes Wife
9. Grandma's Guide to Life
10. Cooking Mimi
11. There's a Newf in My Soup
12. The Country Cook
13. Kerrific Online
14. Semper Wifey
15. Mommy's online garage sale

REFRIDGERATOR FRUIT SALAD

Ok, so growing up, anytime we had "fruit salad" was for special gatherings, so very far and few between. My mom never had a passion for cooking, so meals were quick, hearty and repeated (but good too!). Because of that I can't eat spinach (but that's a different story). So, fruit salad was a combination of fruit, held together by a can of cherry pie filling. Yes, I said cherry pie filling. The gooey, packed with sugar, very unhealthy stuff. So, naturally, through life that's what I thought about fruit salad.

I've steadily grown a passion for cooking myself, and love to experiment and make unique things, as well as perfecting the "classic" family meals. It wasn't until this past Christmas (the one 2 months ago), that this "cherry pie filling" topic came up again.

My wonderful still is more of a "naturalist" than I could ever be, but hates cooking, so everything is healthy, quick and easy. And I'm talking about the definition of "quick" and "easy" and I'll add "delicious."

One afternoon over the holiday, we were putting lunch together and I said to myself "I wish we had some pie filling, I would love some fruit salad." My sister turns on her toes with one eyebrow up, then turns back around and whips up this little concoction of delight. Something so simple. Something so healthy. My mind couldn't wrap around it.

And I've made it that way ever since.

So now you now most of the story (I could go into waaaay more explaining, but decided to sum it up) here is this amazing treat. And everything is right in your fridge. Its that easy.

REFRIGERATOR FRUIT SALAD

Depending on how much you want to make...I usually make it for one "sitting," or basically for 4 people.
2 small apples or 1 large [honey crisp is the best for fruit salad!] diced
2 or 3 small oranges [I usually have cuties on hand because of the kids] pulled apart and sliced in half
1 banana [if this is going to be eaten longer than a couple hours, add bananas right before serving]
Whatever else [fruit that is] you have: blackberries, blueberries, strawberries, raspberries, ect...

This is the best part: What yogurt do you have in your fridge? Its probably you one you like eating in the mornings on a daily bases! I've even used my kids' gogurt one time!
Couple scoops (this is up to you, depending on how much fruit you used) yogurt
This could be from the little cups too! Don't forget!

I make this at LEAST once a week, so I buy a big tub at the store just for the fruit salad. It can be any flavor, but I've found strawberry, black cherry or my favorite, vanilla, works the best for flavor enhancement.This is also very healthy! Get the light & Fit kind and have an evening snack you don't feel guilty over!

Sometimes it just take someone to point out the simplest thing. So now I've pointed it out. Enjoy!