Potato Pancakes (Latkes)

These are a perfect main course or side to breakfast.  The preparation is simple, but can be tedious if you don't have a food processor.  To achieve the best texture, use the shredding blade of your food processor.  Avoid grating the potato and onion with a cheese grater if possible, the end result will not be nearly as fluffy as you want it to be.  The recipe below makes about 8 Latkes.

For this recipe you will need:

• 1 lb Yukon gold potatoes, peeled (baking potatoes are also OK)
• 1 small onion, peeled
• 2 eggs
• 1 tbsp all-purpose flour (high altitude flour is also OK)
• 1 tsp kosher salt
• 1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
• 1/4 cup parsley (this is optional, they taste amazing plain too!)
• 3 tbsp canola oil, divided

Using the shredding blade of a food processor, shred the potato and onion.  Combine the shredded ingredients in a colander over a large bowl, tossing well to combine.  Let the mixture stand 15 minutes, pressing occasionally with the back of a spoon until most of the liquid drains off into the bowl below the colander. 

Remove the colander and set aside.  In the bowl, carefully pour off the potato liquid, reserving a thick white layer of potato starch in the bottom of the bowl.  The potato liquid can be discarded.

Combine the eggs, flour, salt, and pepper in a small bowl, stirring with a whisk.  Add the egg mixture to the potato starch using a whisk to combine.

Add potato and onion mixture and parsley to the bowl, tossing well to combine. 
Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium - high heat.  Add about 1 1/2 tbsp of canola oil to the pan, swirling to coat.  Add potato and onion mixture in 1/4 cupfuls to pan to form 4 potato pancakes.  Use the back of your spatula to flatten the cupfuls slightly.

Cook for about 4 minutes on each side until golden brown.

Repeat procedure with remaining canola oil (1 1/2 tbsp) and remaining potato mixture.

Oatmeal Bars With Cranberries

These are perfect for a summer picnic.  There's nothing to melt everywhere when the weather is hot and they make a great healthier snack option.  There are three layers to this bar, but each layer is fairly simple and doesn't take too much prep work.

For this recipe you will need:

For the Crust:

• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 cup quick-cooking oats
• 1/2 cup lightly packed brown sugar
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/8 tsp baking soda (increase to 1/4 tsp for sea level)
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 6 tbsp butter, melted
• 3 tbsp orange juice
• solid vegetable shortening (for greasing pan)

For the filling:

• 1 1/3 cups dried cranberries
• 3/4 cup sour cream
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 2 tbsp high altitude or all purpose flour
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp orange zest (about 1 orange)
• 1 large egg white, lightly beaten

 Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.
To make the crust, measure the flour into a medium bowl.  Add the next five ingredients (through cinnamon) to the flour mixture, stirring with a whisk to combine.  Drizzle the butter and juice over the flour mixture, stirring until moistened (the mixture should be crumbly).  Set 1/2 cup of the oat mixture aside to be used later.  Press remaining oat mixture into the bottom of an 8 x 8 inch square baking dish coated with a thin layer of solid vegetable shortening.

To make the filling, combine cranberries, sour cream, granulated sugar, and remaining ingredients in a medium bowl.  Spread the cranberry mixture over the layer of prepared crust.

Sprinkle the 1/2 cup of reserved oat mixture evenly over the filling. It may be a bit doughy, just carefully break it apart into smaller crumbles to avoid creating large clumps.

Bake at 325 for 40 minutes or until the edges are golden brown.  Let cool completely in the pan before cutting into squares for serving.

Grilled Polenta - From Scratch

Polenta is very easy to make and in this form makes a wonderful side to just about anything.  It also makes a wonderful component in salad!  My favorite thing to eat with polenta is a nice juicy piece of meat, the polenta soaks up the juices beautifully and tastes delicious.  This recipe makes 8 servings, if you don't need that many just put the un-grilled portions of polenta into a container to store in the fridge (or freezer) until you need it.

For this recipe you will need:

• 1 1/2 cups yellow cornmeal
• 4 cups water
• 1 1/4 tsp salt 
• freshly ground pepper
• olive oil for brushing

Measure the cornmeal into a deep saucepan.  Gradually mix in the water.  Once the water is mostly absorbed, whisk in the salt.  Place over medium heat and bring the mixture to a simmer, whisking often (almost constantly).  Reduce the heat to low and cover partially with the lid to the pan.  Cook at a very slow simmer, stirring often, until the polenta becomes very thick and pulls away from the sides of the pan.  This should take about 25 minutes.  Remove from the heat and season generously with pepper.

Lightly brush an 8-inch square baking pan with oil.  Spoon the hot polenta into the pan and smooth it evenly to the edges with the back of a spoon (to ease the spreading, dip the spoon in warm water).

 Let cool completely before covering and refrigerating for about 24 hours.

Invert the pan of polenta onto a cutting board, tapping the bottom of the pan to release the polenta.  Trim the edges even with a long knife - this will make it easier to achieve even portions for serving.

Cut the polenta into 4 squares, then cut each square in half on the diagonal, making 8 triangles.

Pat dry with paper towels, then it's ready to grill!  You can grill these on the grill or on a grill pan, which works just as well.  I happened to use a grill pan this time, but feel free to fire up the grill!  The grilling technique for this is the same whether you use charcoal, gas, or a grill pan.  Grill the polenta directly over the heat elements you are using (this should be the hottest part of the flames on a charcoal grill), carefully turning once with a large spatula, until crisp and dark grill marks are visible on both sides.  This should take about 5 minutes per side.

Baked Rosemary Dijon Chicken

This recipe is extremely easy and takes practically no time to prepare.  Most of the ingredients for this marinade are probably something you already have in your spice cabinet.  It is important to use fresh rosemary in this recipe in order to stand up to the strong flavor of Dijon mustard.  The recipe below is for two people, be sure to increase the amounts as necessary for the amount you plan to serve.

For this recipe you will need:

• 1 very large or 2 small chicken breasts (boneless, skinless)
• 4 sprigs fresh rosemary
• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 2 tbsp Dijon style mustard
• 1/4 tsp coriander
• 1/4 tsp Worcestershire
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• salt & pepper to taste
• chicken broth (3-4 tablespoons)
• dry white wine (3-4 tablespoons)

In a small bowl or measuring cup, combine the olive oil, Dijon mustard and Worcestershire.  Once combined, add all of the seasonings except for the rosemary and stir until incorporated.  Before adding the rosemary be sure to rinse and remove the leaves from the unwanted stem.  Add the whole rosemary leaves to the marinade and stir just until combined.

Rinse your chicken breasts and pat dry with a paper towel.  Transfer the chicken to a large plastic bag and pour the marinade on top.  Use your hands to move the chicken around in the bag to be sure it gets evenly coated with marinade.

 Place the bag in the refrigerator to let the chicken marinade for 1 - 2 hours or overnight.

When you are ready to bake, preheat the oven to 425 degrees.  Transfer the marinated chicken to a small baking dish.  The chicken should fit snuggly.  Squeeze out as much excess marinade from the bag as possible and add it to the chicken.  After adding your chicken to the baking dish add 3-4 tablespoons of chicken broth and 3-4 tablespoons of dry white wine.  Just enough to create a shallow layer at the bottom of the baking dish.  This is a wonderful way to utilize a lot of the chicken's natural juices to flavor the sauce.

Bake in the oven for 35 minutes, until the chicken is cooked through.

Garlic Bread

This is one of my favorite sides, but I am never guilt-free when eating it.  I know there are much better, healthier things I should be eating so I decided to take a risk and make a change in the way I usually make my garlic bread to remove some of the guilt.  Instead of using regular unsalted butter, I decided to use "I Can't Believe It's Not Butter!" instead.  A lot of the time when you alter a recipe to remove some of the fat content it doesn't ever taste quite as great as the original thing does.  I'm telling you, this tastes the same if not better!  For a recipe like this the amounts really depend on how much you're making and how many people you plan on serving.  In this case, I made only a quarter of my loaf of French bread for two people.  Increase the amounts as needed.  Remember, it's better to make too much than not enough.

For this recipe you will need:

• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 4 tbsp "I Can't Believe It's Not Butter" (enough to fill 1 4 oz ramekin)
• 1 tbsp grated Parmesan cheese
• 1/4 loaf French bread

I used a toaster oven to bake my garlic bread.  If you are using a standard oven, heat it to 375 degrees.  If you are also using a toaster oven, follow the procedures for baking indicated in the instruction manual.

In a 4 oz ramekin or small bowl, combine the garlic and "butter".  Add in the Parmesan cheese and stir until the mixture is smooth and creamy.

Slice your bread in half once, horizontally.  Spread a generous layer of the garlic butter onto each side of bread where the soft side is exposed.  Spread slightly thicker layers of garlic butter where the bread is thicker, allowing more of the butter to be absorbed.   Use all of the spread, don't be shy!

Put the two pieces of bread back together to re-form the original loaf.  Wrap carefully and completely in aluminum foil.  Bake for 25 minutes or until the butter is completely absorbed and the bread is golden brown.

Cool Veggie Salad with Lemon Vinaigrette

It's been so hot out lately, I've been craving something cool and easy to make.  This hit the spot!  The chopping is a bit tedious, but there is no cooking time to follow and the dressing can all be poured into one container, eliminating extra mess.

For this recipe you will need:

• 1/2 of a 14 oz can of unsalted garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 generous handful fresh green beans (about 15 green beans)
• 1/2 cucumber, julienne 
• 1/3 yellow pepper, julienne

 In a medium sauce pot, boil water to prepare for the green beans.  While the water heats up, rinse and drain the entire contents of the 14 oz can of garbanzo beans.  1/2 of the beans can be easily stored in any air tight bag or container.  Don't remove too much!

Boil the string beans just until tender.  When finished drain out the boiled water and move the green beans directly to a bath of cold water and ice in a medium bowl to shock them.

Once the green beans are cool, transfer them from the ice bath to a cutting board.  Trim the beans top and bottom and cut in half lengthwise to expose the center (try to go along the crease of the bean).  Cut in half horizontally to create easy to eat bite sizes.

Rinse and peel the cucumber.  To julienne the cucumber, start by slicing it into rounds as you normally would for a salad.  Stack three or four slices on top of one another and bring the knife down to create thin strips.  Be sure to hold the stack firmly, cucumbers are slippery!

To prepare the pepper, cut off the top to remove the stem and trim the bottom to create an even surface.  Remove 1/3 of the pepper to use in this recipe.  Store the rest in an air-tight container to use another day.  To julienne the pepper carefully cut it from top to bottom into very thin strips.  If your strips are a bit long for bite sizes, cut them in half once horizontally.

Transfer all of your chopped veggies to a medium bowl and toss to mix.  Add lemon dressing (recipe follows) and toss to coat.

Lemon Dressing:
for this recipe you will need:

• zest and juice of 1 lemon
• 1/4 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 3 tbsp white wine vinegar
• pinch sea salt
• pinch freshly ground black pepper
• splash Worcestershire sauce
• 1/4 tsp Dijon mustard
• thyme leaves (to taste)
• 1/8 tsp garlic poweder

Add the 1/4 cup olive oil to a small pitcher (I used a 1 cup sized measuring cup to measure the olive oil in first and then added all of the rest of the ingredients to it).  Add the rest of the ingredients to the pitcher and stir with a fork until well combined.

Use the dressing to coat the veggies.  Serve immediately or let sit for an hour in the fridge before serving.  Reserve any extra dressing to use on future salads.