Organic Parade

Hearty penne pasta mixed with cherry tomatoes, peppers and onions, olives, Italian dressing and seasonings. A great side dish for chicken, beef, pork and fish.

1 (16 oz.) package penne pasta
1 cup cherry tomatoes, quartered
1/2 cup green pepper, chopped
1/4 cup green onions, chopped
1 (2-1/4 oz.) can ripe sliced olives, drained
1 (8 oz.) bottle Italian salad dressing
1/2 teaspoon coarsely ground pepper
1/4 teaspoon of each of the following: dill weed, garlic salt, lemon pepper seasoning

Directions

Cook pasta following package directions.

In a large bowl, combine tomatoes, green pepper, onions and olives.

Drain cooked pasta and rinse in cold water. Add pasta to vegetables.

Mix salad dressing with pepper and seasonings. Pour over salad and mix well. Cover and refrigerate for 2 hours before serving.

© Donna Monday

My whole family loves to eat eggs. Even my picky baby loves eggs once in a while. Yeah, provided it’s in a right texture and taste. It changes all the time. So, i try to cook it in every way that i can think of or read up on. Here’s an interesting on i found inside this month’s Her World magazine.

Butternut pumpkin egg custard:

120g butternut pumpkin
250ml cream
4 egg yolks
50g sugar

Garnish:
Steamed diced pumpkins

Method:

1) Steam pumpkin for about 20 minutes. Remove skin. Mash pumpkin into puree.

2) Whisk cream and egg with sugar. Add pumpkin puree and mix well.

3) Pour puree into ramekins and steam for 30 minutes until set.

4) Served with steamed diced pumpkins.

A friend gave me this recipe to ry out. She knows i hardly ever drink coffee but i do consume coffee-flavored food. This is a recipe for ribs in coffee:

800g of beef short ribs
1 tsp chilli flakes
2 tsp salt
1 tbsp instant coffee powder
2 tsp cocoa powder
300ml water or stock
3 tbsp sugar or more as desired
Oil for cooking

Marinate the ribs with salt and the chilli flakes for at least 20 minutes or even better, overnight. Dissolve both the coffee and cocoa powder in water. Heat some oil in a pan and fry the ribs until golden brown on both sides. Then, add in the coffee mixture and the sugar. Cook over medium heat until the sauce thickens into a glaze.

I prefer steaming to other cooking mehtods as steaming retains more nutrients and tastes great too. As i mainly eat vegetables, here’s one that i steam once in a while. Hope you enjoy it as much as i do:

Ingredients:

1 cup thinly sliced carrot
2 cups chopped collard greens, stems removed
1 medium onion sliced thick
1 cup cubed zucchini (quarter lengthwise and slice about ½ inch thick)
Dressing * extra virgin olive oil to taste
1 mediuim clove garlic pressed
1 TBS fresh lemon juice
salt and cracked black pepper to taste
optional 1 tsp soy sauce

Directions:

1. Bring lightly salted water to a boil in a steamer with a tight fitting lid. Add carrots, cover, and steam for 3 minutes. Without removing carrots add collard greens, and steam for another 3 minutes. Then add onion and zucchini and steam for another 3 minutes.
2. Remove from steamer and place in bowl. Toss with dressing ingredients.

I went tomy sis’ house this evening and she gave a recipe for the salsa she made last week. It’s delicious. I ate it with some chips. Just so to share with you:

Ingredients:

1 cup seeded, finely chopped fresh tomatoes
1/2 cup black beans, rinsed and drained
1/2 cup frozen corn kernels, thawed
1/4 cup finely minced onions
1/4 cup finely minced cilantro leaves
2 tsp extra virgin olive oil
1 - 2 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
A few dashes of Tabasco
Salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste

Method: In a medium bowl, combine all ingredients. Serve chilled or at room temperature.

My kid loves cranberries. I bought him a can of dried cranberries and he enjoyed snacking on them. Beats giving them candies, right. So, now, i’m trying out this recipe which makes a good dip for breads or buns.

Ingredients:
8oz reduced-fat cream cheese
1-2 tbsp low-fat milk
1/2 cup chopped dried cranberries
1/4 cup chopped blanched almonds
1/2 tsb ornage zest, preferably fresh

Method:
In a medium bowl, place cheese and allow to soften at room temperature. Mash and work with fork until texture is light enough to combine easily with other ingredients.

Gradually add milk until cheese becomes soft and spreadable. Mix in remaining ingredients. Cover and refrigerate up to two days ahead or let stand at room temperature one hour before serving to allow flavors to blend. Makes 1 1/2 cups.

Here are a few juice combos to help you deal with some common everyday ailments:

Bloating and flatulence - Ginger, cumin, fennel, celery

Liver cleansing - Carrot, beetroot, beetroot-celery -ginger

Detoxification - wheatgrass

Gastric upset - Celery, spinach, carrot

Headaches - Celery, carrot-celery-parsley-spinach, coconut milk-carrot

Constipation - Celery

Digestion - beetroot, ginger, carrot

Immune system - Carrot, ginger, garlic, wheatgrass

Kidney (bladder) problems - Celery, pomegranate, cranberry

Kidneys - carrot-parsley-asparagus, carrot-parsley, spinach, beetroot-celery-ginger

Made this easy and delicious quick pasta meal for lunch

Serves 2

Ingredients:

170g thinly sliced smoked salmon
230g pasta ribbons or spirals
Mushroom and herb pasta sauce mix
50g frozen peas
Grated parmesan cheese
Parsley

Method:

1) Boil pasta till al-dente

2) Heat pasta sauce in a separate saucepan and mix in peas

3) Just before turning off the heat on the sauce, add salmon and mix thoroughly

4) Once pasta is cooked, spoon onto plate and pour sauce over

5) Sprinkle parsley, salt, pepper and grated cheese to taste

I was too busy to cook this afternoon. Moreover, there werent much food around the house. Somehow, i managed to cook something up for my kid when he got home from school. I found a packet of macaroni in the larder and cooked that. Then, i whisked an egg with milk and scrambled it with olive oil on a pyrex dish over low fire. When the macaroni’s ready, mixed the scrambled egg to it. Sprinkled some parmesan cheese over the macaroni before serving it. Delicious, quick and nutrituos. My kid ate it up in less than 10 minutes.

Russian Borsch is made of beets and meat. Here’s the recipe:

Ingredients : 3/1/2c. canned tomatoes , 5 or 6 med.size potatoes cut in halves ,1 large carrot cut fine, 1 small peeled beet , salt to taste , 1 small onion chopped, butter, 4c. shredded cabbage , 3/4c. sweet cream ,1/2c. fresh green pepper chopped , 2tbs. fresh or dried dill 1 celery chopped fine , 2/1/2 qts. water, 1/1/2c. diced potatoes, black pepper.

Method:

• Put water to boil in large kettle.Add 1/2 c. canned tomatoes. When water is boiling drop in 5 or 6 med. size potatoes,chopped carrot and the beet. While this is cooking add 3 tbs butter in frying pan.

• When melted add chopped onion,cook tender but do not brown. Add 3c. canned tomatoes and let simmer with onion and butter until a thick sauce. Set to back of stove.

• Into a separate frying pan put 2-3 tbs. butter to melt. Add 2c. shredded cabbage and fry. Cook till tender but do not brown. Shred another 2c. to add later to the borstch.

• When potatoes are tender remove them to a bowl. Add 2tbs. butter, mash well, then add 3/4c. sweet cream and mix well and set aside.

• Add 1/1/2c. diced potatoes to the stock and the remainder of the shredded cabbage. When diced potatoes are tender, add the onion-tomato- sauce, then add the cooked cabbage,and the potato-cream mixture.

• Add 3 tbs. butter to the borstch. Stir well. Add fresh chopped fine green pepper. Add 3tbs fresh or dried dill. The fresher dill, the better the flavor..

• Remove beet one hour later after borstch is ready. Borstch is ready to serve. Serve hot. Serve with chopped garlic in your soup bowl and a fresh piece of bread and butter… Delicious….