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Joy’s Prize Winning Secret Ingredient Tropical Icebox Pie | Grain and Gluten Free, Sugar Free, Dairy Free, Raw.

June 14, 2013 by 21 Comments

If you’ve been visiting Foodie with Family for any amount of time, you know by now that I won’t give you a recipe JUST because it’s healthy, right? You know that I take a serious stand on the fact that food must -above all else- taste great.  Have I steered you wrong yet?

Joy's Secret Ingredient Lemon Lime Avocado No Sugar Icebox Pie | www.foodiewithfamily.com

So when I tell you I have a creamy, lemon-lime, sweet, luscious, icebox pie with a lovely crumb crust that is *GASP* actually good for you and has ZERO sugar, dairy, gluten, or grains in it, will you believe me? Oh you’d better believe me. What’s the secret? Let me tell you a story…

I have a friend on a very restrictive diet. She’s become something of a wizard at making delectables that fit all of the rules that limit what she can and cannot eat. A few weeks ago, a highly-regarded local restaurant held a pie contest. Contestants were asked to bring the pies along with a copy of their recipe. The recipe was to remain sealed and unexamined until the blind taste test was done. The winner would receive a meal at the restaurant, a generous cash prize (or gift card for the equivalent), and have their pie featured on the restaurant’s menu for the summer. There were categories for fruit pies, custard pies, and savoury pies. My friend entered her grain-free, gluten-free, dairy-free, sugar-free pie in the contest with few hopes that it would get any attention.

When she came back later to collect her pie plate, she couldn’t find it anywhere. She found one of the contest organizers to ask where it was and was flabbergasted to learn that she had not just won her category, she had won the overall grand prize.

Now, let me tell you a little something about where we live. It’s full of hard-working, salt-of-the-earth people who aren’t always known for adventurous or mega health-conscious eating.

…And my friend won the contest with a pie that was arguably health food. If that and the fact that I don’t do-health-food-for-the-sake-of-health-food doesn’t convince you this is worth a try, maybe this picture will.

Joy's Secret Ingredient Lemon Lime Avocado No Sugar Icebox Pie | www.foodiewithfamily.com

How to make a delicious grain-free, gluten-free, sugar-free, raw pie. No joke!

Icebox pies are some of my all-time favourites, and this one is the current top of the heap. It’s like a pie plate full of the creamiest lemon lime ice cream of all time. Somehow it manages to be rich and indulgent but not weigh you down after you eat it. Are you ready to find out what’s in it? Maybe you’ve already figured out some of it!

The crust is finely chopped almonds or pecans, unsweetened flaked coconut, and pitted dates whizzed together in the food processor until it forms a clumpy, crumbly mess. This is pressed into the pie plate and refrigerated while the filling is prepared.

The filling? Are you holding onto your hat? Avocados, honey, lemon and lime juice and zest, extra virgin coconut oil, and just a kiss of vanilla extract are blitzed together in the food processor to form a smooth custard then poured into the crumb crust and frozen. Don’t even look at me like that. This isn’t just good. It’s GREAT!

Joy's Secret Ingredient Lemon Lime Avocado No Sugar Icebox Pie | www.foodiewithfamily.com

Look at that crust! I liked this crust so much that I think this might be my new go-to crumb crust for all pies that require them. In fact, I might even start using this instead of my graham cracker crust on my cheesecakes. The texture is the perfect combination of crumbly and coherent. It’s sweet and nutty. Gosh, folks… it’s just so good.

I am going to hop up and down on my couch until you try this. I won’t hear any excuses… even my avocado hating kids couldn’t get enough of this pie. Granted, they DID refer to it as guacamole pie, but I think it’s because they ate it, so who cares?

Some preparation notes:

  • There are a lot of ranges in this recipe instead of specifics. For instance, the recipe specifies six to twenty pitted dates. I know, it sounds crazy, but there’s a reason. Dates vary widely in size and moisture content. If you have adorable, tiny, pitted dates, you’re going to need more. If you have massive, luscious pitted dates, you’ll need fewer. In the places where I’ve given you ranges, start with the lower amounts and work your way up, tasting as you go. Because all of the ingredients used in this recipe are safe to eat raw, there’s no danger in doing that!
  • These can easily be made into individually sized pies. Use small single-serving pie shells to press your crust into and divide the filling between them. Voila! Mini icebox pies!
  • If you favour lime over lemon, replace all of the lemons called for with limes. Likewise, if you prefer all lemon to lime, sub in lemons for the limes.
  • The pie in my pictures is almost vegan… ALMOST, but not quite. It does contain honey, so if you’re looking to adapt this, you’ll want to nix the honey in favour of agave syrup. I personally prefer the honey, but it’s an easy substitute to flip this recipe all the way into the vegan camp.
  • There’s no doubt this pie is expensive with six whole avocados in it. If you’d like to make it more affordable, halve the amount of filling and make it in a standard pie plate instead of a deep dish one.
  • Don’t be tempted to substitute some other oil for the extra virgin coconut oil. Part of the alchemy that makes this pie filling so ever loving creamy is the viscosity and melting properties of this particular oil. It is creamy and solid at anything under 75°F. You can’t get that PLUS the mild flavour it delivers from any other oil.

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Joy’s Prize Winning Secret Ingredient Tropical Icebox Pie | Grain Free, Gluten Free, Sugar Free, Dairy Free, Raw.

Rating: 51

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Joy’s Prize Winning Secret Ingredient Tropical Icebox Pie | Grain Free, Gluten Free, Sugar Free, Dairy Free, Raw.

This beautiful, creamy, indulgent, lemon-lime, mile-high, icebox pie just so happens to be good for you. How is that possible?

It's also friendly for a wide-range of dietary restrictions because it is gluten-free, dairy-free, grain-free, sugar-free and raw. With one minor adjustment it is also vegan-friendly.

Ever so slightly adapted recipe courtesy of my friend Joy Hinterkopf

Ingredients

    For the Crust:
  • 3/4 cup whole, raw almonds
  • 1 cup unsweetened, finely flaked coconut
  • 6-20 pitted dates
    • For the Filling:
  • 6 perfectly ripe avocados
  • The juice and zest of 4 lemons, or more
  • the juice and zest of 2 limes
  • 1 cup extra virgin coconut oil, heated just to the melting point: 76°F.
  • 3/4 to 1 1/2 cups honey, or more to taste (Use agave instead to make this pie vegan.)
  • 3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 pinch of salt
    • Optional Garnish:
  • Thinly sliced limes
  • lime zest

Instructions

To Make the Crust:

Add the almonds and coconut flakes to the work bowl of a food processor fitted with a metal blade. Process until it is the texture of fine fresh bread crumbs. Add 6 pitted dates to the work bowl and process until the dates are completely ground into the nuts and coconut. Open the food processor and pull out about a tablespoon of the mixture. Press it firmly together in your hands. If it clumps, it's ready. If it falls apart and doesn't hold together, return it to the food processor and add dates, 1 at a time, processing and testing after each addition, until it clumps well. Turn the mixture into a deep dish pie plate and press it firmly and evenly on the bottom and up the sides of the pie plate. Put the pie plate in the refrigerator while working on the filling.

To Make the Filling:

Wipe or rinse the food processor work bowl and blade clean. Halve and pit all of the avocados. Use a spoon to scoop the flesh from the shells into the work bowl of the food processor fitted with a metal blade. Immediately add the lemon and lime juice and zest, coconut oil, 3/4 cup of the honey, vanilla extract and salt. Fit the lid in place and process until smooth. Taste the mixture. If it needs additional sweetness or acidity, adjust it with more honey and/or lemon juice. Remember that things taste less sweet when they're frozen so you might want the mixture slightly sweeter than you think you'd like it. Scrape the filling into the prepared pie crust and smooth or mound it as you'd like. Put it directly into the freezer until the surface is firm (about 2 hours), then cover with plastic wrap directly on the surface of the pie.

To Serve the Pie:

If you wish, you can garnish the pie with thin slices of lime and a scattering of lime zest. Slice the pie into wedges of desired size and serve while still frozen like an ice cream pie.

http://www.foodiewithfamily.com/2013/06/14/joys-prize-winning-secret-ingredient-tropical-icebox-pie-grain-and-gluten-free-sugar-free-dairy-free-raw/

 

Filed Under: Desserts, Gluten Free, Happy Healthy and Wise, Rebecca, Recipes, Vegetarian Tagged With: , , , , ,

Grilled Mexican Street Corn Salad

June 11, 2013 by 30 Comments

Grilled Mexican Street Corn Salad | www.foodiewithfamily.com

I’m on a bit of a salad bender right now. Tossed salads, chopped salads, marinated salads: I can’t help myself. I can’t go a day without having a big bowl of one sort or another. One of my favourite things to do these days is turn regular vegetable side dishes into spectacular salads.

The top of the heap right now is a salad based on one of the most iconic Mexican street foods; Elote, or Mexican Sweet Corn. Elote makes me want to purr. I can’t get enough of the charred corn that is rubbed with mayonnaise, sprinkled with ground chipotle or chili powder, rolled in crumbled cotija cheese and chopped cilantro then topped off with a squeeze of lime juice. Mrawwwrrrrrrrrrr… I’m not much of a finger licker, but I am compelled to get every last bit of goodness from my fingers after eating it. Etiquette? Pshaw.

I wanted to do it up salad style so that it would travel a little more easily to a potluck because it is a touch on the awkward side to lay waste to someone else’s kitchen with a box full of corn to grill and all the other accoutrements in tow. The idea was to pack all of the classic Elote flavours into one easily portable, undeniably derivative, eminently edible marinated salad.

Thankfully, this is a dish that translates easily to the bowl from the cob. The mayonnaise and cheese that would otherwise be slathered and rolled onto the grilled corn serve to hold the salad together a bit, and the lime juice helps distribute the ground chipotle (my choice!) or chili powder. Because I’m a sucker for a bell peppers in salad, I finely chopped half of a red pepper to stir into the works. If you don’t like bell peppers, you can omit them or replace them with a hot pepper with great results.

A bowl of Grilled Mexican Street Corn Salad is the ideal companion for grilled or broiled fish, pork, chicken or beef, but it’s also great as a stand alone lunch. I can’t lie… I often hide the leftovers in a container marked with a secret code so I can have it all to myself the next day.

How to Grill Corn:

The toughest part of preparing this salad is grilling the corn and that’s not hard at all… it just takes a bit of planning. When I’m grilling corn specifically for this salad or for use in salsas, I strip the husks from them completely and soak the ears of corn in a big bowl or pot of cold water. This helps keep the kernels from drying out and shriveling while they’re sitting on the grill.

Mexican Street Corn Salad | www.foodiewithfamily.com

Fire up the grill to high! While it’s getting screaming hot, drain the water off of the corn. Use tongs to place the cobs directly on the hot grill. Roast it over that high heat on the grill, turning often, until the kernels are bright yellow in most places with some charred, blackened areas. This will probably take about ten minutes.

Mexican Street Corn Salad | www.foodiewithfamily.com

Transfer the corn to a bowl (the one you used to soak them is fine) and let them cool until you can handle them easily.

Mexican Street Corn Salad | www.foodiewithfamily.com

When you can pick them up and hold them in your hand easily (because you’ll need to do so to cut the kernels from the cob) you can move onto the recipe!

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Grilled Mexican Street Corn Salad

Rating: 51

Traditional Elote- or Mexican street corn- gets a makeover in this super summer salad full of grill-roasted, slightly charred sweet corn, with a creamy Mexican inspired dressing of mayonnaise, ground chipotles, lime juice, and cilantro. Serve with grilled fish, chicken, pork or beef and you'll be the most popular summer cook in your neighborhood!

Ingredients

  • 6 to 8 ears grilled sweet corn, cooled to a comfortable temperature *See Notes
  • 1/4 of a sweet onion, peeled and finely diced
  • 1/4 of a sweet red bell pepper, seeded and finely diced (optional: can omit or replace with a seeded hot pepper)
  • 1/2 cup crumbled Cotija or feta cheese, or freshly grated parmesan
  • 1/2 cup mayonnaise
  • 1/3 cup fresh cilantro (or parsley) leaves, coarsely chopped
  • the juice of 1 lime, plus extra wedges for serving
  • 1/2 teaspoon to 1 tablespoon ground chipotle pepper or chili powder, to taste. *See Notes
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
  • salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

Stand a cooled, grilled corn cob on a cutting board, flat end down. Holding the cob steady with your hand, use a sharp knife to cut the kernels away from the cob. Once you've cut away all of the kernels, use the dull, back side of the knife to scrape out any remaining juices or pulp from the corn cob. Discard the cobs.

Stir together the corn, pulp, onion, pepper, cheese, mayonnaise, cilantro (or parsley), lime juice, 1/2 teaspoon of the ground chipotle or chili powder, cumin, salt and pepper until everythig is evenly distributed. Taste and adjust with more ground chipotle or chili powder, and salt or pepper until it tastes just right. You can serve immediately or refrigerate for an hour to let the flavours meld. This is best eaten the day it is made, but will hold up reasonably for leftovers the next day.

Notes

While nothing beats freshly grilled corn for this salad, it can certainly be made -and deliciously- with leftover grilled corn. I often grill more corn than we can eat just so I can make salad or salsa from it the next day.

The 1 tablespoon measurement of ground chipotle powder or chili powder is the most traditional amount of heat added to Elote. We prefer it like this, but I understand that not everyone likes the same amount of spice my family does. Start on the low end and adjust up as you prefer!

http://www.foodiewithfamily.com/2013/06/11/grilled-mexican-street-corn-salad/

Filed Under: Accessible Ethnic, Happy Healthy and Wise, Rebecca, Recipes, Salads Tagged With: , , , , ,

Mixed Berry and Basil Sangria-By-The-Glass (and mocktail variation)

June 3, 2013 by 18 Comments

I like sangria a lot, but there’s one massive problem with most sangria recipes that are circulating out there. They assume you: a) have an enormous number of people partaking with you, b) you’re a lush, or c) you’re okay with leftovers going flat. None of these options suit me. Oh sure, I have an enormous number of people at my house at most times, but five-sevenths of them are not of drinking age, and I’m not that kind of mom. Can I get an amen out there from someone?

I have a solution. You knew that was coming right?

Mixed Berry Sangria by the glass with a Mocktail variation! www.foodiewithfamily.com

Raise your hand if you want a straw and a lounge chair and a glass of that right now. Yes? My hand is up, too. Way up. This solves all of my sangria related issues simultaneously PLUS another one I didn’t mention yet. Sweetness. Good golly, the prepackaged stuff is awfully sweet. And a lot of homemade recipes call on you to pour in lemon-lime soda or simple syrup which just about makes my teeth rattle. Never fear, though, my darling sweet-tooth friends… This is my favourite word; customizable. Happy sigh.

So what do we have here? We have a mixed berry and basil (don’t look at me like that. I’ll explain shortly.) sangria that is made up by the glass rather than pitcher or vat (Hallelujah!) and can be made with white wine (“leaded”) or white grape juice (Mocktail). That’s right… Foodie with Family is pleasing all the people all the time. I am doing a victory dance you wouldn’t believe right now.

How do we make this happen? We make this magic with ice cubes.

Wait for it.

Not just any ice cubes go into this, though, they’re the flavour component that screams sangria folks. That’s what makes this a by-the-glass option. I fill ice cube trays with fresh blueberries, although in a pinch, you could use frozen berries. Over the blueberries we pour plain old white grape juice. I use unsweetened because, well, see above. Also? Because I’m nearing forty. I have one more birthday before the big four-oh and my waistline reminds me of this. Into the freezer go the ice cube trays and then into zipper top freezer bags go the ice cubes to await the perfect sangria moment.

This is where it gets exciting for me.

Mixed Berry Sangria by the glass with a Mocktail variation! www.foodiewithfamily.com

When we do these, we bust out two different shaped glasses. This is our visual reference to make sure the kids don’t sip from the adult glasses, but we start the mocktail and the leaded versions the same way. Two or three of our blueberry/grape juice ice cubes, a couple of hulled and halved strawberries, and two or three fresh basil leaves.

Here’s the fun part for me… I love serving something festive to the kids while my husband and I have a sip or two. In the adult glasses, we pour a standard pour of white wine (three-quarters of a cup of, in our case, pinot grigio), followed by a splash of white grape juice, then a topping-off of plain seltzer water. In the kids’ glasses, we pour three quarters of a cup of white grape juice and top the glass off with plain seltzer. We give each glass a hearty stir and start a-sipping. Now you can adjust the sweetness if you would like. Want it sweeter? Just add a bit more grape juice. Ta-da!

Mixed Berry Sangria by the glass with a Mocktail variation! www.foodiewithfamily.com

It really is that easy.

My word, though, this is so refreshing in either form. Sparkly, slightly sweet, berry-and-basil fresh; this is the stuff to whet your whistle when the temperature is soaring.

Has anyone asked, “Why basil?” yet? Let me fill you in on this front… Basil plays very nicely indeed with fruits. If you doubt me, go cut a thin strip of basil and wrap it around the fresh berry of your choice, pop it in your mouth and chomp down. There’s something about the perfume of the basil that heightens the flavour of any berry it accompanies. It’s time basil makes it into more than just marinara, people. Free your basil!

Oh, and should you WISH to make a pitcher of this, you’re welcome to do so. It’s just pitchers of hooch don’t flow like water around my house, and this is a way we can still enjoy the fun that is sangria without compromising our moderation. What do you think? Can you see yourself with your feet up enjoying a glass (or two) of this?

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Mixed Berry and Basil Sangria-By-The-Glass (and mocktail variation) | Make Ahead Mondays

Rating: 51

Mixed Berry and Basil Sangria-By-The-Glass (and mocktail variation) | Make Ahead Mondays

You don't need to whip up a whole pitcher to enjoy Sangria! Sparkly, slightly sweet, berry-and-basil fresh; this is the stuff to whet your whistle when the temperature is soaring. The sweet, perfumed basil is the perfect foil for sweet, perfumed berries. This is summer in an icy cold glass!

Ingredients

    For the Berry Grape Ice Cubes:
  • 1 pint fresh blueberries
  • 2-4 cups white grape juice, preferably unsweetened
    • For Mixed Berry Sangria-By-The-Glass, per glass:
  • 4 Berry Grape Ice Cubes
  • 3/4 cup white wine (we prefer Pinot Grigio or Chardonnay)
  • 2-4 fresh whole basil leaves
  • 2 large or 4 small fresh strawberries, hulled and halved
  • a splash of white grape juice
  • cold seltzer water
    • For Mixed Berry Sangria-By-The-Glass Mocktail, per glass:
  • 4 Berry Grape Ice Cubes
  • 3/4 cup white grape juice
  • 2-4 fresh whole basil leaves
  • 2 large or 4 small fresh strawberries, hulled and halved
  • cold seltzer water

Instructions

To Make Berry Grape Ice Cubes:

Without packing them, fill each depression in the ice cube tray with fresh blueberries. Pour the white grape juice in to cover them, put trays in the freezer until solid, then turn the ice cubes out into a resealable zipper top freezer bag. Store them in the freezer until ready to serve.

To Make the Sangria-By-The-Glass, either the regular or Mocktail version:

Add the Berry Grape Ice Cubes to each glass with the strawberries and fresh basil leaves. Pour the wine and/or grape juice over the cubes, top off with chilled seltzer and stir briskly. Sip contentedly!

http://www.foodiewithfamily.com/2013/06/03/mixed-berry-and-basil-sangria-by-the-glass-and-mocktail-variation/

Filed Under: Beverages, Rebecca, Recipes Tagged With: , , , , ,

Filthy Burgers (Beef, Barbecue Pulled Pork, & Bacon Burgers)

May 31, 2013 by 20 Comments

Filthy Burger (Beef, Barbecue Pulled Pork and Bacon Burgers) | www.foodiewithfamily.com

“What do we want for dinner?”

“MEAT!”

If I had a dime for every time that call-and-response happened in this house, I’d be able to buy some amazing cuts of meat. Meat is expensive!

I walked into the fabulous meat market Oscar’s in the Adirondacks with my dad a couple of weeks ago. Oscar’s specializes in bacon. Am I the only one who starts drooling at the mere thought of a meat market full of bacon? Next to their beef bacon, hickory bacon, applewood bacon, jalapeno bacon, English, Irish and Canadian bacons were their preformed, fresh burger patties. One burger type in particular stood out because, well, it looked wonky. The meat was full of chunks of something I couldn’t quite identify from a distance. As I scootched along the glass case admiring all the porky goodness, I got close enough to catch the name on the tag; “Dirty Burgers”. In tiny little letters below the name were the words “Beef and BBQ Pork”. What? WHAT?!?

This was brilliant for a whole host of reasons.

Make your ground beef stretch further!

For starters, beef is expensive: pork shoulder (the base for my favourite pulled porks, both Number One and Number Two) is wickedly cheap. Using the far less expensive barbecue pulled pork as an extender in the beef lowers the overall cost of the burger. Don’t worry, though, they play nicely together: barbecue pulled pork brings a whole lot of flavour to the party without overwhelming the distinctive beefiness of a burger. The Evil Genius is usually a purist when it comes to burgers; salt, pepper, beef and NOTHING ELSE, but I didn’t have to work hard to sell the idea of these burgers at all. Guys love meat. More meat with your meat? BRILLIANT!

So why are my burgers filthy instead of merely dirty? I added bacon. Why? Well, shoo. You know what bacon does… It makes things delectable. Again, it’s meat upon meat upon meat. After being in Florida for four days then over at my dad’s for another three, I missed my hubby and wanted to knock a meal out of the ballpark. I was Big Papi Ortiz with this one, people. This was a home run of epic proportions bouncing off of windshields in the parking lot…

What beef should I use for the best burgers?

I’m a ground chuck girl. I love the proportion of fat to lean protein. In ground chuck’s case we’re talking about eighty/eighty five percent lean to fifteen/twenty percent fat. There was a time when that amount of fat would’ve sent me running, but I love a moist burger that’s cooked clean through and leaner ground beef just can’t deliver the moisture and flavour that the higher fat percentage does. Would I go fattier? No way, José. Then we’re just talking grease bomb. Ground chuck is my happy medium. I prefer to grind it myself because I like knowing how fresh it is and how clean my equipment is, but if you don’t have a grinder, just make friends with the folks at the meat counter and ask them to grind a chuck roast fresh for you! The fresher the beef, the better your burger will be!

Burgers with add-ins tend to fall apart

There’s no getting around it: if you add mix-ins to ground beef you have to fight the burger’s tendency to be fally aparty. You don’t want to smash the ground meat together too much because that yields a sorry hockey puck of a burger. Sad, sad, sad. So what’s the solution? I use the largest sized ring from my beloved cutter/mold set. (That’s an Amazon affiliate link below, folks.)

 

I set it on a parchment paper lined cookie sheet, drop five ounces (my ultimate burger size) of meat into the mold and gently press it into place before pulling the mold straight up and off of my now perfectly shaped burger that isn’t overworked. Yes. I weigh it on a kitchen scale. Do you have to? Heck no. I just like uniformly sized burgers to help the pernicious yard-stick eye-balling of other people’s plates that happens around here.  Oh, I also do it because I have a little obsessive compulsion issue… I also use my scale for baking, but that’s another cup of coffee (and another Amazon affiliate link.)

 

 

Do you need the cutters/molds and a scale to make this recipe? Oh gosh no. I just think they help things along. If you want to form them by hand, just try to be consistent, not smash them together too hard, and keep it a uniform thickness throughout the burger.  Tapered edges tend to burn before the center of the burger is cooked and get raggedy from sticking to the grill.

How does this crazy mixed up burger taste?

It tastes like beefy, bacony, porky heaven. It made my burger purist husband so happy I thought he was going to burst. All of my boys inhaled these burgers like their middle names were all Hoover. And me? I loved them. I loved them madly. A perfectly grilled beef burger by itself is a very good thing, but a perfectly grilled beef burger studded with flavour bursts of barbecue pulled pork and crispy bits of bacon, topped with melted pepperjack cheese, tangy barbecue sauce, and tender lettuce on a toasted bun is my idea of bliss.

Mix up extra and freeze those burgers!

You can most definitely make a double batch of these! If you form them on the parchment like I suggest, you’re one step closer to a freezer stash of these burgers that are ready to pop on the grill. Just drape a quick piece of plastic wrap over the pan and stick it in the freezer until the burgers are solid.

Filthy Burger (Beef, Barbecue Pulled Pork and Bacon Burgers) | www.foodiewithfamily.com

You can then stack them (with parchment between the patties) in a freezer bag and keep there for up to three months or until you’re ready to grill. Put them straight onto the grill without thawing and cook like you would any frozen burger patty. Are you getting Independence Day party ideas yet? A plate full of meat always works here!

Filthy Burger (Beef, Barbecue Pulled Pork and Bacon Burgers) | www.foodiewithfamily.com

Which pulled pork should I use in the recipe?

I love using Slow-Cooker Cola Barbecue Pork in here because of the oomph from the chipotle pan juices. If you want a milder flavour, use my Slow-Cooker Cuban Pork. If you’re in a hurry, grab a deli-pack of purchased pulled pork from the store. I won’t tell!

Don’t undercook your bacon here!

We are a house divided on bacon. I like it crispy bordering on petrified: The Evil Genius loves it chewy. The kids all fall somewhere in between. For this recipe, you want to be sure to cook the bacon all the way to the crispy point because it will soften ever so slightly when it’s mixed in with the more moist ground chuck.

I asked a question on our Foodie with Family facebook community but I want to ask it here, too. Are you a burger purist? Or do you like your burgers gussied up? Are you willing to try a Filthy Burger? I think you oughta… Filthy (at least in this case) is good!

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Filthy Burgers (Beef, Barbecue Pulled Pork, & Bacon Burgers)

Rating: 51

Yield: Between 6 and 8 burgers, depending on size

This blissfully meaty, juicy, perfectly grilled beef burger is studded with barbecue pulled pork and crispy bits of bacon, topped with melted pepperjack cheese, tangy barbecue sauce, and tender lettuce on a toasted bun. It's sure to make you a grilling superstar this summer!

Ingredients

  • 1/2 pound of bacon, cooked until crisp through, drained and crumbled
  • 2 cups fully cooked barbecue pulled pork roughly chopped with a knife
  • 1 1/2 pounds ground chuck
  • kosher salt
    • For serving:
  • Toasted burger buns
  • tender lettuce (like mixed spring greens or butter lettuce)
  • slices of pepperjack or Monterey jack cheese
  • barbecue sauce

Instructions

Using clean hands, mix together the ground chuck, pulled pork, and bacon until everything is evenly distributed.

For the most uniform burgers, line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Add 5 ounces of the meat mixture to a ring mold and gently press it into the edges of the mold forming a uniformly thick burger patty. Gently pull the ring mold straight up and tap down any edges that come up with it. Replace the ring mold on the parchment next to the burger and form another until all the meat mixture has been pressed into patties. Don't despair if you have a little meat that doesn't make a full burger. That can be your test patty and cook's tax. Eat that bad boy!

Place the tray with the burgers in the refrigerator while you preheat the grill to MEDIUM HIGH heat. After cleaning the hot grill, gently place the burgers over direct heat and sprinkle with kosher salt. Keep a spray bottle of water handy for flare-ups. Do not move the burgers once you've placed them on the grill until the brown (cooked) area goes at least halfway up the burger and you can easily slide your spatula under them, about 4 minutes. If there are flames flaring up because of fat from the burger, give them a little spritz with water. That should help long enough to cook the burger to the point where it will turn more easily. Flip the burgers carefully and continue grilling over MEDIUM HIGH heat until there are grill marks on the underside of the burger. Transfer the burgers over to one side of the grill and shut off the burners immediately under the burgers, turning the remaining burners onto MEDIUM LOW heat. This means your burgers will finish over indirect heat. When the interior temperature of the beef is 5°F below the point you like it (RARE: 125-130°F. MEDIUM: 140-150. WELL: 160-212°F.), lay the slices of pepperjack cheese on the burgers and use a spatula to immediately transfer them to a sided tray. Let them rest, lightly tented with foil, until the cheese is melted. Serve on top of tender greens on a toasted bun with as much barbecue sauce as you fancy!

http://www.foodiewithfamily.com/2013/05/31/filthy-burgers-beef-barbecue-pulled-pork-bacon-burgers/

Disclosure: The links to the cutters/molds and kitchen scale are both Amazon affiliate links. If you click through those links and purchase the items, your price does not change, but I receive a small commission from Amazon to help keep things running smoothly on Foodie with Family. Thank you!

Filed Under: Main Dish, Rebecca, Recipes Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

Homemade Calorie-Free Hibiscus Lime Soda (Stevia Sweetened)

May 29, 2013 by 19 Comments

Calorie-Free Hibiscus Lime Soda | www.foodiewithfamily.com

I know it’s not popular to like soda let alone diet soda, but dangit, I do. I don’t let myself have it often, but I indulge in a diet Coke or Pepsi or Dr. Pepper about once a week. I know I’m not alone judging by the stacks upon stacks at the grocery store but I still feel like of naughty saying it because I know the stuff in those is pretty not great for you, particularly when consumed in abundance. The full-sweet versions are scarcely any better for you with their wall-to-wall calories and whatnot. What it boils down to is that soda, pop, or whatever you call it where you’re from is considered a treat to have infrequently in our home.

I get my fizzy fix on a daily basis, though, because I’m the devoted owner of a rather elderly SodaStream Home Seltzer and Soda Maker and I have worked that puppy out since the day I got it. I mostly make seltzer with it because that satisfies my fizz addiction. (That link is an affiliate link to Amazon.com. If you purchase that item through the link, the price doesn’t change for you but I get a small commission which helps keep the goodies coming here at Foodie with Family.) Sometimes, though, we just want that sweet bubbly stuff.

Most of the time I take care of my kids’ desires for fizzy lifting drinks by pouring a little unsweetened juice (grape, apple, cranberry… Whatever is on hand!) over ice then filling the rest of the glass with seltzer. As an adult, though, I’m a little wary of drinking my calories (hence the forbidden love for diet sodas) so I usually just sit out the fun and hold firm with my seltzer.

I saw zero calorie Stevia* sweetened soda at the store the other day for a pretty penny and it got my wheels turning. I’ve done homemade root beer syrup and loved it, so why not try a homemade Stevia soda? Diet soda at home? WOOHOO! For my first attempt, I decided to go with something I knew would mask some of the aftertaste Stevia sometimes has… something citrusy and borderline fruit punchy; Hibiscus Lime.

What is Stevia and where do I buy it?

*Are you familiar with Stevia? It’s the darling of the not-sugar-sweeteners crowd right now. It’s an entirely natural, un-engineered, from-the-leaf-of-a-plant-you-can-grow-yourself sweetener that is, ounce for ounce, three hundred times sweeter than sugar but with zero calories and no carbohydrates. Not only that, but it lends trace amounts of fiber. It’s suitable for diabetics and Kosher, to boot!

Hibiscus has a fruity, tart flavour much like cranberries and sweet undertones that are enhanced when something sweeter is added to the party; in this case, Stevia.The result is a tangy, tart, sweet, citrusy fruit punch type of soda.

The Stevia I used is available at most moderately well stocked grocery stores and my beloved Amazon. Oh, and hey… since it has three hundred times the sweetening power of sugar, that little canister goes a very long way. (Affiliate link below.)

So go to your local health food store or order some dried hibiscus flowers from Amazon.  I love tangy iced tea made from these, too, and keep about a pound on hand at all times. FYI, a pound of hibiscus flowers fills quite a few jars! (Another affiliate link!)

The beautiful thing about this is that I don’t have to slide it to the back of the counter and tell the kids you can’t share. I let the kids have at this until it’s gone.  Just look at that face.

Calorie-Free Hibiscus Lime Soda | www.foodiewithfamily.com

Another beautiful thing about this recipe is that you whip up a batch of the syrup, keep it tightly covered indefinitely in the refrigerator, and then just pour it and seltzer over ice. There are no bulky bottles to shuffle around before and after drinking it. If you don’t have a home seltzer maker, you can always buy plain seltzer or club soda at the store. They don’t have any funky ingredients either. (Now if I can just figure out a calorie free caffeinated cola I’ll be a seriously happy camper.)

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Homemade Calorie-Free Hibiscus Lime Soda (Stevia Sweetened)

Rating: 51

Did you know it's possible to make a delicious, calorie-free, diet soda that's actually good for you at home? It's true! Citrusy, tart, tangy and sweet, this bright,Stevia sweetened Homemade Calorie-Free Hibiscus Lime Soda as a refreshing treat that you don't have to feel badly about this summer!

Ingredients

    To Make the Calorie-Free Hibiscus Lime Syrup:
  • 3 cups cool, fresh water
  • 1/4 cup dried hibiscus flowers
  • 2 scant tablespoons Stevia powder
  • 1/4-1/2 cup fresh lime juice, to taste
    • To Make Calorie-Free Hibiscus Lime Soda:
  • 1 glass, ice optional
  • 1 tablespoon or more Calorie-Free Hibiscus Lime Syrup
  • chilled seltzer water or club soda

Instructions

To Make the Calorie-Free Hibiscus Lime Syrup:

Add the water and hibiscus flowers to a heavy-bottomed pot with a tight fitting lid. Bring the water to a boil then shut off the heat, leaving the covered pan on the burner to steep until the liquid reaches room temperature. Line a colander with a coffee filter or use a fine mesh sieve to strain the liquid from the flowers. Discard the flowers, rinse the pot, and return the strained liquid to the pot over medium heat and stir in the Stevia. Don't be dismayed if it clumps at first, keep stirring and it will dissolve. Once the Stevia has dissolved, stir in 1/4 cup of the lime juice. Taste the syrup. If the flavour of the Stevia is pronounced, stir in a little more lime juice to help mask it. Pour the syrup into sterile jars with tight fitting lids.Store thusly in the refrigerator indefinitely.

To Make a Calorie-Free Hibiscus Lime Soda:

If desired, fill a glass with ice. Pour about 1 tablespoon of the Calorie-Free Hibiscus Lime Syrup into the glass. Pour 8 ounces of chilled seltzer or club soda over the syrup and ice. It will foam up like a proper soda, so be prepared to slurp! Stir gently, take a sip and adjust the sweetness if desired by adding more syrup. Serve immediately!

http://www.foodiewithfamily.com/2013/05/29/homemade-calorie-free-hibiscus-lime-soda-stevia-sweetened/

Disclosure: The links to amazon.com above are affiliate links. If you purchase an item via one of these links, your price remains the same, but amazon sends me a small commission. Many thanks to those who purchase through these links! Also, I am not a doctor or registered dietician, so do your own research to see whether you find Stevia a suitable thing to add to your food. Google is thick with resources on the subject!

Filed Under: Beverages, Happy Healthy and Wise, Rebecca, Recipes, Vegetarian Tagged With: , , , ,

Watermelon, Feta, Pickled Red Onion and Arugula Salad with Balsamic Reduction

May 27, 2013 by 16 Comments

Watermelon, Feta, Arugula Salad with Pickled Red Onions and Balsamic Reduction | www.foodiewithfamily.com

The names a mouthful, eh? It is so long, in fact, that I had to leave off the whole Make Ahead Mondays part of the title. Leaving the moniker off of the title doesn’t make it any less of a Make Ahead Mondays superstar, though because this salad is f-to the-abulous! It is beyond good.

Last week, I was at Disney attending Food Blog Forum and I brought my mom and two of my sisters along with me. While I got inspired and educated (oh, and choked and almost died, but who’s keeping track, really?) by a-list bloggers, my mama and sisters wandered around Disney in the ninety-degree temps and fifty-thousand-percent humidity riding rides and finding the best salads Disney had to offer. The one they raved about was an arugula, watermelon, feta, and pickled red onion salad that was drizzled with a balsamic reduction. “It’s so good, Beccy! We HAVE to get you one!” they said. Not in unison, but you get the idea.

On our last day in Florida, I finally got to grab one of these salads at the Florida Fresh booth in Epcot Center. I understood the enthusiasm with my first bite. Peppery arugula topped with sweet, icy cold watermelon, crunchy pickled red onions, briny crumbled feta, and balsamic vinegar that was so concentrated it tasted almost sweet? Hoo yeah. I was hooked. Aside from a Dole Whip (soft serve pineapple frozen yogurt) I can’t think of another thing that would’ve satisfied my hunger without weighing me down in that oppressive heat. I vowed to them I would recreate it STAT when we got home.

This salad isn’t just delicious, it’s gorgeous. Just look!

(Many thanks to Diane Cu and Todd Porter for the introduction to animoto.com.)

So why is this such a mega-watt Make Ahead Mondays addition? Because it’s a three-fer. Heck, you might even say it’s a four-fer.

  • ONE: It makes enough pickled onions to make at least six dinner sized salads ~or~ make four dinner sized salads and tuck some into several sandwiches. These onions are better than good, they’re great!Pickled Red Onions | www.foodiewithfamily.com
  • TWO: It makes enough balsamic reduction to drizzle over at least fifteen dinner sized salads. I think you’ll find more things to drizzle than just salads when once you’ve tried it, though. I love it on roasted potatoes (sweet or regular) or carrots or turnips, fried eggs, corned beef hash, or glazed on grilled or roasted meats or fishes. Holy over-conjunctions, Batman. Seriously, though? So good. Balsamic Reduction for salads and glazes | www.foodiewithfamily.com
  • THREE: It uses another Make Ahead Mondays alumna; Homemade Feta Cheese. Oh, sure… You can use purchased feta, but if you made that gallon jar a while back, you may be looking for ways to use it up. This is a home run and a half!
  • FOUR: This salad! This salad is your four-fer qualifier. It’s so dad-burned good I’m at a loss for words. I guarantee it will cool you down and make you happy on the hottest of days. I can’t think of a better accompaniment to grilled ANYTHING than this.

Once you have the pickled onions and balsamic reduction in the refrigerator, you can assemble this salad in minutes. And once you’ve had this salad once, you’re going to want it again and again. Work-a-day weeknights, parties, picnics, and any old time is the right time for this mouthful of a salad.

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Watermelon, Feta, Pickled Red Onion and Arugula Salad with Balsamic Reduction

Rating: 51

Watermelon, Feta, Pickled Red Onion and Arugula Salad with Balsamic Reduction

Peppery arugula topped with sweet, icy cold watermelon, crunchy pickled red onions, briny crumbled feta, and balsamic vinegar that was so concentrated it tastes almost sweet. All things combine to form the perfect summer salad!

Ingredients

    For the Balsamic Reduction:
  • 3 cups balsamic vinegar
  • 1 tablespoon honey
  • 1 bay leaf
    • For the Pickled Red Onions:
  • 1 large red onion
  • 3/4 cup red wine vinegar
  • 3/4 teaspoon salt
    • For the Salad:
  • 6 cups baby or tender arugula
  • 2 cups cubed watermelon, well chilled
  • 1/2 cup pickled onions (drained)
  • 1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese, or more to taste
  • balsamic reduction to taste (Start with 1 teaspoon and work up from there.)

Instructions

To Create the Balsamic Reduction:

Add the balsamic vinegar to a heavy-bottomed pot over medium high heat. Stir in the honey, add the bay leaf and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium and let the balsamic vinegar simmer for about 30 minutes, or until it has reduced in volume to about 1 1/4 cups total. Immediately pour into a sterile jar with a tight fitting lid. Refrigerate until ready to use. Be sure it is well chilled before pouring on a salad. This will store indefinitely in the refrigerator.

To Make the Pickled Red Onions:

Slice the blossom end off of a red onion, lay the now stable, cut surface on your cutting board. Slice the onion in half and remove the peel. Holding the root end, slice the onion into thin half moons. Put them into a heat-proof bowl. Bring the vinegar and salt to a boil and quickly pour over the onions. Wrap the bowl tightly with plastic wrap and let sit at room temperature for at least an hour, removing the wrap and tossing with tongs every 20 minutes, then re-covering, until the onions are bendable. When they reach that point, load them into a jar, pour the pickling liquid over them and screw a lid tightly in place. Refrigerate until well chilled.

To Assemble the Salad:

Arrange the arugula on a serving platter. Scatter the pickled onions over the top, followed by half of the crumbled feta, the watermelon cubes, and the remaining feta. Use a spoon to drizzle the balsamic vinegar reduction over the salad immediately before serving.

http://www.foodiewithfamily.com/2013/05/27/watermelon-feta-pickled-red-onion-and-arugula-salad-with-balsamic-reduction/

Filed Under: Happy Healthy and Wise, Rebecca, Recipes, Salads Tagged With: , , , ,

Asian Salmon Burgers with Wasabi Mayonnaise

May 15, 2013 by 13 Comments

Asian Salmon Burger with Wasabi Mayo | www.foodiewithfamily.com

Disclosure: This is part of my continuing series as a member of the Kraft Tastemakers team. All recipes, opinions and wasabi are my own.

My tastebuds are controlled by the weather. When it’s cool, chilly or downright cold, I want hearty, stick-to-your-ribs fare.  When things start warming up, though, my body says, “Don’t weigh me down!”

It’s getting toasty out there, folks, so it’s time to lighten things up a bit. Fish is a perfect way to accomplish that deliciously. It’s satisfying, protein-packed, fast, and simple. It’s a wonderful solution for the on-the-go family in the summer.

Salmon is a crowd-pleasing fish choice under most circumstances, but when it’s turned into a burger, it can convert even the most entrenched fish-haters.

A food processor makes fast work of breaking down the fish. Admittedly, when you’ve pulsed the fish into a chunky puree, it looks like you might be going down the wrong road, but stick with it because it’s so darned good when it’s all said and done!

When it comes to serving these beautifully moist salmon burgers with a hint of ginger, you have a couple of options. The kids like them on toasted whole wheat hamburger rolls with just a smear of Wasabi Mayonnaise. The grown-ups in our house like them wrapped in a tender lettuce leaf with a dollop of Wasabi Mayonnaise, some Asian Marinated Cucumber Salad, and some Asian Pickled Carrots.

Asian Salmon Burger with Wasabi Mayo | www.foodiewithfamily.com

The lettuce leaf makes a fabulous lower-calorie and lower-carbohydrate substitute for a bun. (Ya know, for the second and third burgers you eat. If you’re like me, that is…)

Either way, they are fabulous.

Serve these up on Memorial Day for a surefire hit! How will you eat them?

Visit Kraft Recipes for more Memorial Day friendly sandwich recipes!

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Asian Salmon Burgers with Wasabi Mayonnaise

Rating: 51

Asian Salmon Burgers with Wasabi Mayonnaise

Crunchy, flavourful, Asian Salmon Burgers with a hint of ginger and scallion in them are as easy to make as they are delicious. Topped with a dollop of Wasabi Mayonnaise that can be as mild or as wake-you-up as you wish, and served on a toasted bun or lettuce leaf (for an even more waist-line friendly option) these are a surefire crowd pleaser and a wonderful addition to your Memorial Day fare.

Ingredients

    For the Salmon Burgers:
  • 2 pounds salmon fillets, skin and bones removed carefully.
  • 1 3/4 cups panko breadcrumbs, preferably whole wheat, plus more if needed
  • 1 bunch green onions, washed
  • ¼ cup Kraft mayonnaise
  • 1 tablespoon pickling liquid from a jar of pickled ginger (Gari)
  • Oil (canola, peanut, or vegetable) for pan frying
    • For the Wasabi Mayonnaise:
  • 1/2 cup Kraft mayonnaise
  • 1-3 tablespoons wasabi paste, according to taste
    • Optional Ingredients for Serving:
  • Whole wheat buns, toasted ~or~ tender lettuce leaves (like butter or red leaf lettuce)
  • Asian Pickled Carrots
  • Asian Marinated Cucumber Salad
  • Pickled ginger

Instructions

To Prepare the Burgers:

Cut the salmon into 2-inch chunks and put into the bowl of a food processor fitted with a metal blade. Pulse until the fish is broken down into chunky puree. It should still have pebble sized pieces (about ¼-inch) in it.

Scrape this into a bowl.

Cut the root end from the green onions, slice in half lengthwise, turn them 90° and slice them very thinly. Put this into the bowl with the salmon, ½ cup of the panko bread crumbs, mayonnaise, and pickled ginger liquid. Mix until uniform.

Line a baking sheet with plastic wrap or parchment paper. Divide the salmon mixture into 8 mounds and form those mounds into patties that are ¾-inch thick. Cover with plastic wrap and chill for 1-8 hours before cooking.

Pour the remaining panko bread crumbs onto a plate. Gently lift and place each salmon patty on the bread crumbs, press down lightly to help the panko stick, flip the patties over and repeat.

Heat a large, heavy-bottomed skillet over medium-high heat. When it is very hot, add about 1 tablespoon of oil to the pan and swirl it to coat.

Ease the panko crusted patties into the pan. A 12-inch pan should hold 4 patties at a time and still give you room to manoeuver the spatula when it comes time to flip them. Cook for 5 minutes, or until the first side is deep golden brown. Carefully flip the patties using a wide spatula. Be cautious because the oil will want to splatter. Fry the second side for an additional 3 to 5 minutes, or until golden brown and firm around the outer edges. Transfer to a paper towel lined plate or platter. Add another tablespoon of oil to the pan and repeat until fried all of the salmon burgers.

To Prepare the Wasabi Mayonnaise:

Put the mayonnaise in a small bowl and use a fork or small whisk to stir in the wasabi paste, starting with 1 tablespoon. Taste the mayonnaise and adjust with more wasabi if you want a stronger flavour.

To Serve the Salmon Burgers:

If you’re watching how much bread you eat, serve the Salmon Burgers on a tender lettuce leaf topped with a dollop of the Wasabi Mayonnaise and any other optional toppings you’d like. If you want to eat it burger style, put a patty on top of a toasted whole wheat bun, spread some wasabi mayonnaise over the burger and top as desired.

http://www.foodiewithfamily.com/2013/05/15/asian-salmon-burgers-with-wasabi-mayonnaise/

Disclosure: This is part of my continuing series as a member of the Kraft Tastemakers team. All recipes, opinions and wasabi are my own.

Filed Under: Happy Healthy and Wise, Main Dish, Rebecca, Recipes Tagged With: , , , ,

Baked Garlic Pita Chips and Fattoush (Crumbled Pita Chip Salad) | Make Ahead Mondays

May 13, 2013 by 12 Comments

Baked Garlic Pita Chips and Fattoush | www.foodiewithfamily.com

In the post below, I provide an affiliate link to Sumac -which can be hard to find for purchase- from Amazon.com. I receive pennies on the dollar for purchases made on Amazon if you click on the link. You can definitely gather your own sumac, dry it, and grind it, but sumac isn’t in season right now and we want salad!

Iiiiiiiiiiit’s salad time! And crouton time! I have a two-fer for you on this glorious (rainy here) Make Ahead Monday.

How much do you love salad this time of year? Maybe I should rephrase that. How much do I love salad this time of year? I’m nutty nuts over it.

I’m a definite crouton girl, too, so today is extra fun for me. I guess I should call today a three-fer because the garlic pita chips recipe I’m sharing does double duty all by itself. It serves as some world-class croutons, to be sure, but it’s also PERFECT for dipping into the summer standard hummus or whatever dunkable goodies you like best.

Do you love pita chips, too? I’m a little bonkers over them personally. They’re in the Bagel Chip category for the guys and me. I hear people crunching and munching on them from the moment the pan comes out of the oven until I hear hands swishing around for whatever leftover crumbs are rattling around at the bottom of the jar.

Baked Garlic Pita Chips | www.foodiewithfamily.com

When I get a fresh batch of pita chips out of the oven, my first order of business is to set aside enough to make a massive batch of Fattoush. Fattoush -for those of you who aren’t lucky enough to live where there is great Lebanese food available- is my favourite summer salad by a mile and a half. Crisp Romaine lettuce is the base for this mega-refreshing herbed salad with a garlicky lemon, sumac, and oil dressing.

Sumac for Fattoush | www.foodiewithfamily.com

Now… A word or two on sumac. No: it’s not the poisonous kind. Poisonous sumac* you want to avoid, clearly, but edible sumac grows widely (and wildly) in many parts of the United States and is not only perfectly harmless, but is also perfectly tasty. There are three varieties -smooth, staghorn and dwarf- that are safe to eat. One identifying characteristic that they share is the bright red or brown hairy clusters of fruit that are about peppercorn sized and in an arrangement like upside-down clusters of grapes. You can gather them before a rainstorm (which washes away the lovely sour, citrus-like flavour), dry them, and grind them for your own FREE sumac, or you can do like I did this time and buy a bag of sumac from Amazon.com. Given that it won’t the the right season for gathering sumac for a couple of months, and we need salad THIS VERY DAY, I’d say buy the sumac.

*For a while last week, I thought I might be allergic to sumac and it made me very sad indeed. As it turns out, I was allergic to a gin & tonic I had made with a new brand of gin. This made me very happy indeed because frankly? I could care less about that gin & tonic.

Why bother? Well, I suppose you could skip it if you’re feeling REALLY cheap or doubtful, but your salad won’t be the same. I promise you this. Sumac delivers a punch of citrus that’s like lemon on steroids. That’s part of what makes this salad such a powerhouse of summer refreshment. Everyone who has had a proper Fattoush is nodding their heads in agreement right now. They’re also quietly wondering when I’ll bring up the herbs. Give me a minute, I have to address the subject of properly preparing your garlic for the dressing first.

How to prepare fresh garlic for salad dressing:

There’s a trick to coaxing the best flavour from garlic for a dressing and turning it into a paste that will distribute itself evenly and it doesn’t involve a garlic press. In fact, a garlic press can’t even dream of doing this nifty procedure. Simply put, you peel and roughly chop your garlic cloves then scrape them into a pile and sprinkle a teaspoon of coarse kosher salt over them. Then you alternate squashing or smearing the pile with the broad side of your knife and chopping it. Every so often, you stop, scrape it back together and repeat. Are we ‘why bothering’ again? I can explain! The salt helps break the garlic down and soften it into a paste instead of the stringy little bits of garlic that come through a garlic press. This paste can be whisked or shaken into the dressing for a smooth finish instead of chunky or string-like bits of garlic showing up when you least expect them. If texture isn’t a concern, think about how wonderfully and evenly the garlic paste will infuse your dressing! Believe me, once you’ve tried dressing made with garlic prepared this way, you won’t want to go back!

How to smash garlic for salad dressing. | www.foodiewithfamily.com

This gorgeous garlic goes into a jar with all of your other dressing ingredients, is tightly lidded and then shaken. Done! You now have enough dressing for three gigantic salads or numerous smaller salads and it stores wonderfully for up to two weeks. Does that make this recipe a four-fer instead of the three-fer we were up to?

Fattoush dressing | www.foodiewithfamily.com

Back to the herbs! Whatever you do, don’t skip the herbs here. Mint and parsley are CRUCIAL to the overall flavour. If you haven’t had the salad yet, you might scratch your head a bit at me, but I wouldn’t steer you wrong. It doesn’t scream MINT or PARSLEY but I guarantee you that if you leave them out, the salad will fall flat.

And while I’d usually rather lose a tooth to crunchy croutons than let them sit and soften in the salad dressing, that’s part of the charm of Fattoush. The crunchy pita chips sit in the dressing and start absorbing the good stuff. If you’ve done a good job of dressing your salad -in other words, not drowning it in dressing- the chips will not become soggy, but will just become a little less jarring to bite. My favourite stage of pita chip softening is about one hour into the salad being dressed but I also love it as much as five hours after dressing. That makes this a fabulous salad to take on a picnic or for a packed lunch.

Please make yourself some Baked Garlic Pita Chips and try this Fattoush. It will rock your summer salad world!

Baked Garlic Pita Chips | www.foodiewithfamily.com

Are you a crouton lover? Do you like ‘em dead crisp or a little soaky?

Fattoush (Crumbled Pita Chip Salad) | www.foodiewithfamily.com

 

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Baked Garlic Pita Chips and Fattoush (Crumbled Pita Chip Salad) | Make Ahead Mondays

Rating: 51

Three recipes for the price of one! Fabulously crunchy Baked Garlic Pita Chips, super citrusy Fattoush Dressing, and wondrously herbal and lemony Fattoush (Crumbled Pita Chip Salad.) This trifecta of deliciousness will bring you refreshment and happiness through the hot summer months.

Ingredients

    For the Baked Garlic Pita Chips:
  • 6 pita breads
  • 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
  • 1/2 teaspoon granulated garlic or garlic powder
  • 1 teaspoon kosher or sea salt
    • For the Fattoush Dressing:
  • 4 garlic cloves, peeled and roughly chopped
  • 1 teaspoon coarse kosher salt
  • the juice of 2 large lemons, about 1/2 a cup
  • 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 teaspoon ground sumac
    • For the Fattoush (Crumbled Pita Chip Salad):
  • 2 cups Baked Garlic Pita Chips
  • 1 large heart of Romaine lettuce
  • 2 tomatoes, seeded and cut into bite sized pieces
  • 1 English (seedless) cucumber, cut into bite sized pieces
  • 1/2 of a sweet or Vidalia onion, peeled and thinly sliced in half moons
  • 1/2 cup lightly packed fresh parsley leaves, roughly chopped
  • 1/4 cup lightly packed fresh mint leaves, finely chopped (or 2 tablespoons dried mint)
  • 1/4 to 1/3 of a batch of Fattoush Dressing

Instructions

To Make the Baked Garlic Pita Chips:

Preheat the oven to 250°F. Cut the pitas into 1-inch thick strips. Lay the cut pitas in a single layer on a rimmed baking sheet. Brush the cut pita with the olive oil. Sprinkle evenly with the garlic powder and salt. Place the pan in the oven and bake , stirring every 15 minutes, until crisp all the way through and deep golden brown. Begin checking the pita crisps for doneness at about 45 minutes. Mine usually take an hour. Let cool completely. Store in an airtight jar at room temperature for up to two weeks.

To Prepare the Dressing:

Peel and roughly chop the garlic cloves. Sprinkle the salt over the garlic and use the broad side of your knife alternately to squash the garlic and chop the garlic until a thick paste forms. Add that to a pint sized mason jar. Add the remaining dressing ingredients to the jar, screw the lid tightly in place, and shake hard. Refrigerate until ready to dress your salad.

To Prepare the Salad:

At least 10 minutes, but up to 6 hours* before serving, remove the core end of the Romaine heart. Slice the heart in half lengthwise, then turn 90° and chop across those slices to create bite-sized pieces of Romaine lettuce. Add that to a large mixing bowl. Add the remaining salad ingredients to the mixing bowl. Shake the salad dressing very firmly, pour about 1/3 of it over the contents of the mixing bowl and use your clean hands to toss to cover everything evenly. Let stand anywhere from 10 minutes to 6 hours before serving. Refrigerate leftovers.

Notes

**As the salad sits, the pita crisps will begin to soften. At 10 minutes, they are still very crunchy. The longer it sits, the softer they get. My favourite point to eat fattoush is when it has been sitting for about 1 hour.

http://www.foodiewithfamily.com/2013/05/13/baked-garlic-pita-chips-and-fattoush-crumbled-pita-chip-salad-make-ahead-mondays/

Filed Under: Appetizers & Snacks, Happy Healthy and Wise, Rebecca, Recipes, Salads, Vegetarian Tagged With: , , , , , , ,
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