Spinach Citrus Salad

This pretty salad comes from Sandra Lee's Almost Homemade cookbook and food show website.

For Dressing:
1/4 cup reserved citrus juice
1 tablespoon Champagne vinegar
2 tablespoons orange olive oil (recommended: O Olive Oil)
1 tablespoon chopped fresh tarragon leaves
1 tablespoon chopped fresh chives
Salt and pepper

9 ounces baby spinach
1 jar (24-ounce) sun fresh citrus salad, drain and liquid reserved
4 ounces goat cheese

In a medium bowl, whisk together all ingredients for dressing and 1/4 cup reserved citrus liquid. Add spinach and toss. Divide dressed spinach onto chilled salad plates. Divide citrus salad among plates and garnish with crumbled goat cheese.

Soft Ginger Cookies

This is not my recipe but one I found at Allrecipes.com. The picture is also from the website. This might be my favorite cookie. It is soft and chewy and spicy.

Big Soft Ginger Cookies

Submitted by: AMY1028 Rated: 5 out of 5 by 1343 members

Prep Time: 15 Minutes Cook Time: 10 Minutes

Ready In: 50 Minutes Yields: 24 servings

"These are just what they say: big, soft, gingerbread cookies. They stay soft, too. My oldest son's favorite."

INGREDIENTS:

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour 2 teaspoons ground ginger 1 teaspoon baking soda 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves 1/4 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup margarine, softened 1 cup white sugar 1 egg 1 tablespoon water 1/4 cup molasses 2 tablespoons white sugar

DIRECTIONS:

1.	Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Sift together the flour, ginger, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves, and salt. Set aside.
2.	In a large bowl, cream together the margarine and 1 cup sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg, then stir in the water and molasses. Gradually stir the sifted ingredients into the molasses mixture. Shape dough into walnut sized balls, and roll them in the remaining 2 tablespoons of sugar. Place the cookies 2 inches apart onto an ungreased cookie sheet, and flatten slightly.
3.	Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven. Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely. Store in an airtight container.

NUTRITION INFORMATION

Servings Per Recipe: 24

Amount Per Serving

Calories: 142

• Total Fat: 6g
• Cholesterol: 9mg
• Sodium: 147mg
• Total Carbs: 20.9g
• Dietary Fiber: 0.4g
• Protein: 1.6g

Brunswick Stew

This is from one of those compilation cookbooks with multiple contributors. Specifically, the name of the book is Grand Recipes: a collection of recipes from Friends of the Grand Opera House, published in 1983 to benefit the Grand Opera House in Wilmington, Delaware. It is my most used compilation cookbook - many great recipes in it. I am typing the recipe from memory so it might not read exactly how it is in the cookbook.

Brunswick Stew is a southern dish that has many variations. I believe it originally was made with squirrel but I was fresh out of squirrel this weekend so I used chicken. This stew is very thick and incredibly flavorful. I tried to take a picture but honestly, it's not the most attractive dish in the world.

4 chicken thighs, bone-in
2 stalks celery
1/2 onion, coarsely chopped
salt/pepper

2 large potatoes, peeled and quartered
1 can diced tomatoes, with juice
1 can butter beans, drained and rinsed
1 can corn, drained
1-2 T sugar

Cook chicken, celery and onion until chicken is done. Strain broth and return to pan. Let chicken cool and dice or shred. Meanwhile, cook potatoes in broth until well done. Remove from pan and mash coarsely. Return to pan with shredded chicken, tomatoes, beans, corn and sugar. Cook for several hours. Stew will be very thick. Season with salt and pepper as necessary and sprinkle with fresh chopped parsley before serving.

Pork Chops with Mushroom Wine Sauce

4 Pork Chops (boneless or bone-in)
4 T dijon or grainy mustard
flour
salt and pepper
1-2 T. olive oil
apple juice or chicken broth

2 T butter
2 T flour
salt / pepper
8 oz mushrooms, sliced
1 cup white wine or chicken broth

Season flour with salt and pepper. Spread pork chops on both sides with mustard and dredge in flour. Brown on each side in hot olive oil. Lower heat and pour in enough juice or broth to coat bottom of pan. Cover and cook for 15-25 minutes (depending on thickness) or until pork chops are cooked through. Remove pork chops to plate and keep warm. Strain off any remaining liquid but reserve it.

Melt butter in pan. Saute mushrooms for 5-10 minutes until cooked through. Stir in flour and cook for 1-2 minutes to brown the flour. Slowly whisk in the wine or broth (I prefer a combo of both) and any remaining liquid from the pork chops, stirring until bubbly and thick.

Top pork chops with mushroom sauce.

Blueberry Bread Pudding

Different fruits can be substituted for the blueberries (peaches, apples, ) or you can omit the fruit and use cinnamon raisin bread.

2 1/2 cups cubed bread
1 cup blueberries

1 cup heavy cream
1 cup milk
2 eggs
1 1/2 t vanilla
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon apple pie spice or cinnamon

Melt butter in 9" baking dish. Place bread and berries in dish.

Whisk together cream, milk, eggs and vanilla. Whisk in brown sugar and spices until brown sugar is completely dissolved.

Pour custard mixture over bread. Let sit for 30 minutes so the custard can be absorbed in tothe bread. Bake at 350 for 35-40 minutes. Can be topped with whipped cream, creme anglaise, or a little caramel sauce, if desired.

Potato Tart

A friend of mine used to run an au pair business and many of her au pairs came from France. One of the au pair's sisters came to visit for a few weeks and I hosted her. She was an outstanding cook but my favorite thing she made was a simple potato tart. I don't know if it had a name but it was simply potatoes, onions and butter and I could have eaten it every day. Here is my adaptation and a before and after photo. YUM!! (And sooooo not low-fat.)

5 potatoes, sliced very thin
one onion, sliced very thin
1/2 cup butter, melted
shredded swiss or gruyere cheese
salt/pepper

Brush baking dish with butter. Start with a layer of potatoes and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Top with onions and cheese and drizzle butter over top. Repeat until pan is full. Cover tightly with foil and bake for 30 minutes. Remove foil and bake for another 25-30 minutes, or until potatoes are cooked through yet crusty.

Garlic is terrific in this dish, too. I didn't have any but I used garlic salt.

Super Smoothie

I can't say enough about this great smoothie. The taste is outstanding and it is so good for you! You can change the flavor by changing the choice of fruit and flavor of yogurt. You can also vary the juice flavor. I think it is plenty sweet enough but you can add a little honey or splenda if you like it sweeter. Protein powder may also be added if needed.

1 frozen banana
1 cup frozen berries or other fruit
1 cup yogurt, any flavor
1 cup OJ
1 cup milk

Blend all ingredients until smooth.

Makes two servings

I calculated the nutritional information based on one serving if made with skim milk and fat free yogurt:
175 calories
.375 g fat
3.4 g fiber
2.8 WW points

It also has approx. 25% of the daily calcium requirement from the milk and yogurt.