You Say Frittata, I Say Frittata

Vegetable Frittata w Zucchini & Fried Okra

I made this delectable frittata for dinner the other night.  Many times during the summer, I long for something on the lighter side for dinner.  I tend to gravitate to meatless entrees during those times.  Being a believer that anything you normally eat for breakfast can be eaten at any other meal during the day, I decided to make a frittata with the many vegetables I had on hand.

I had zucchini, onions, garlic & jalapenos on my counter.  In the freezer I had a bag of cut okra, and additionally, I pulled some pepper jack cheese from the frig.  The rest is history.  If you have a 10" cast iron skillet, you are ahead of the game and have the correct "tools" for the job.

Here we go:

Ingredients:

1 bag of frozen cut okra, thawed (of course fresh will do as well)
1/2 C course ground yellow corn meal
1/4 C all purpose flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
1/4 C vegetable oil

6 Eggs, beaten
pinch of salt
2 T olive oil
1 T butter
2 medium zucchini, thinly sliced
1 small onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 jalapeno pepper, seeds removed, diced (leave seeds in tact if you like it hot!)
1/2 C grape tomatoes, halved
1/2 C sliced mushrooms
6-8 oz. pepper jack cheese, cut into 1/2" chunks
Fresh salsa, optional
Sour cream, optional

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Heat the vegetable oil in a 10-inch cast iron skillet.  Prepare the okra by mixing together the corn meal, flour, salt & pepper.  Add the thawed okra and coat thoroughly.  Add to hot oil and fry until golden brown.  Remove from oil and set aside.

Append remaining vegetable with enough olive oil to make about 2 T, and put over medium heat. Add zucchini, onion, garlic and pepper.  Cook 2-3 minutes or until tender.  Add mushrooms and cook for 1 minute more. Pour eggs into skillet and add tomatoes, okra, cheese, & a pinch of salt.  Continue cooking until edges of egg begin to cook.

 Slide skillet into hot oven.  Bake approximately 20 minutes or until edges are brown & bubbly and middle is set.

Cut into wedges and serve,  If you have on hand, top with salsa and sour cream if desired.

Mangia!

Refreshing Watermelon Granita

A cool summer treat!

I hosted a Garden Luncheon for 8 girls (I'd say ladies, but we're all so young at heart, girls seems more appropriate) a couple weeks ago, and I served this amazing cool treat as a palette cleanser before dessert.  I saw this recipe in one of my magazines and was anxious to give it a try.  When I was vacationing over July 4th at the shore, I was craving watermelon Italian ice.  I'm sure such a thing exists, but was unsuccessful in finding any.  So when I came across this recipe, I knew it would be a suitable alternative.  It was not only suitable, it was better than what I imagined the Italian ice version would be.  Here's how I made it:

Ingredients, simple:  Simple syrup, 1 lime, sliced and approx. 10 cups watermelon, cut into 1" chunks

To make a simple syrup, combine 1/3 C sugar & 1/3 C water in a medium saucepan.  Heat until it comes to a boil, stirring continually until the sugar dissolves. Add the sliced lime and simmer 1 minute. Remove from heat, strain and cool.

In the meantime, cut up the watermelon.  Once the syrup has cooled, place the watermelon & the syrup into a food processor, processing 1/2 batch at a time until smooth.  Pour the entire mixture into a 13x9x2 glass dish and place in the freezer.  Every 45 minutes remove from the freezer, break up with a fork and return to the freezer.  Do this over a 3-4 hour period until the mixture has become a sparkly dish of frozen flakiness.

To serve, pile into individual bowls or martini glasses and garnish with a sprig of mint.
Note:  Try to time it so it's ready when you are.  It should be served immediately as the mixture will harden over time.  If you're unable to time it as so, you can always put small batches in the food processor to break it up.  However, the consistency is not as good as when it's served immediately after it's ready.

The lime adds a wonderfully subtle "something extra" to the taste.  I didn't think I would like it and almost didn't put it in, but I'm glad I did.

"Oh, oh Granita, we can make it together!"

Enchanted Garden Flowers Using Repurposed Glassware

I just love making these!  They are lovingly created by repurposing yard sale finds in such a way that each flower is unique. A bit of glue, a sprinkling of beads & a dash of faerie dust help to produce a magical piece worthy of your yard & garden.  Each flower has a "winged" accent created from beads and is mounted on copper tubing.  If you're in the Mid-Hudson Valley NY area, you can see them on display at Isabella's Treasures on Front St. in New Paltz.  Just another Winged Musing creation that I am proud to share on my Blog.

Creatively yours,

Blueberry Banana Power Smoothie - WW Total Points Value = 5

 This tasty and healthy smoothie was adapted from one that Daphne Oz made on an episode of The Chew.  You can visit their website to see the original recipe.  I altered it to suit my taste.  She used a blender, I made it just fine in my Nutri-Bullet.

Ingredients

1/2 C fresh or frozen blueberries
1 small banana, cut into chucks
1/2 C non-fat plain Greek yogurt
1 C ice
1/2 C chilled green tea, water or non-fat milk
1 tsp. honey or maple syrup
1 T flax seed or flax seed oil (I used seed)
1 T chia seed
1 bunch fresh, washed parsley (optional)

Blend all ingredients either in a blender or a Nutri-Bullet.  Poor into a glass and enjoy!
Note: I did not use the parsley in this post as I wanted you to see the nice and enticing blue color. Parsley will turn it a not-so-appealing color towards green.

Total WW Points Value = 5

Unstuffed Cabbage with a Kick, Total WW Points Value = 4/Serving

This recipe is a light and healthy alternative to the popular stuffed cabbage.  I use lean ground turkey, no rice and very little oil.  I was inspired by a recipe posted by Essentially Complete, and tweaked it a little bit.

 Instead of rice, this recipe calls for chopped cabbage, which is a healthy substitute and is so good for you.  Cabbage has earned a place on the list of superfoods.  According to Woman's Day Magazine, all colors of this vegetable are loaded with compounds that may help fight breast cancer. Cabbage is also a top source of bone-strengthening vitamin K.  Refer to the article from Greatest.com for more detailed information on Superfood: Cabbage.

Ingredients
1 lb. pkg. ground turkey or lean ground turkey (breast meat only). * (4 pts. for 4 oz.)
1 T olive oil (3 pts.)
1 large onion, chopped
3 stalks celery, chopped
1 Jalapeno pepper with seeds removed, chopped (leave seeds in if you want more of a kick)
2 cloves of garlic, chopped
1 small head of cabbage, chopped
2 medium ripe tomatoes cut into chunks
1 28 oz. can crushed tomatoes
1 tsp. chili powder
3/4 tsp. cumin
S&P to taste

*Note: Since it's my belief that ground turkey with dark & white meat together is leaner than ground beef to begin with, I don't feel it's necessary to use the lean ground turkey as it is much more expensive.  Of course, you can always make this recipe with ground beef.  I would drain off the fat to make it a bit healthier.

Directions:
Heat up oil in large skillet.  Add ground turkey, onion, celery & pepper.  Cook until turkey is browned and vegetables are tender.  Add garlic and cook for approx. another minute.  Pour in the crushed tomatoes and add the cabbage along with the remaining ingredients.  Stir ingredients together then cover and simmer 20-30 minutes until cabbage is tender.

This recipe is also good if you are on Weight Watchers and counting points.  I divided this into four (4) servings., and computed the approximate Points Value as follows:
Lean Ground Turkey, 4 pts. for 4 oz.
Olive Oil, 3 pts. for 1 T and since you would be only getting 1/4 or less of a T, I gave this 0 pts.  You can count it as 1 pt. if you feel more comfortable, making the total Points Value 5.

To quote another famous bee, "Be happy, be healthy!"

Banana Split Delight

Dedicated to my Mother.  This one was her favorite ...

Banana Split Pie

Fill a 9" pie dish with a graham cracker crust.  Mix all  the ingredients below together and press evenly into the dish.  This makes a thinner crust.  If you like thicker, kick it up a notch or two!

1-1/4 cups graham cracker crumbs
1/4 cup granulated sugar
5 Tbsp butter at room temperature

For the creme layer, beat the following ingredients together for 10 minutes with a mixer (hope you have a stand mixer for this step!), scraping down the bowl  occasionally.  Yes, the eggs are raw.  I've made this recipe and many have eaten it, for ummm, at least 30 years and I haven't  lost one yet! ;).  So, once the ingredients have turned into a pale creme, pour into the prepared crust.

1 stick butter at room temperature
2 large eggs
2 cups confectioner's sugar

Top this layer with sliced bananas, crushed pineapple that's been well drained, sliced strawberries and/or fresh blueberries.  You can mix and match the fruit as you please.  Albeit, you'll have to change the name of the recipe if you omit the bananas! :)  Top it all  off with one 9 oz. container of thawed Cool Whip or larger, if you happen to be a CW junkie like my mom was.

Note:  If you like toasted coconut, sprinkle some on top for added texture and flavor.

Enjoy,

Fairy Shrine Swap Featuring Stella and Violet

By Barbara Joyce for the Retro Café Art Gallery Fairy Shrine Swap! 

http://www.retrocafeart.com/pages/FairySwap.htm

RCAG Supplies Used: Fairy Shrine Kits 1 & 3, Brass Nest Charm, Floral Door Knob, Brass Butterfly Charm

These are Kitty Garden Fairies, Stella and Violet, named after my own kitties using their actual photos.  This Fairy Shrine Swap is being hosted by Retro Cafe' Art Gallery.  You can create and send in 2, 4 or 6.  I was late creating mine so only chose to do 2.  Once the deadline has passed, I will be sent 2 from other artists in exchange.  I'm excited to see what I will receive in a couple more weeks.

Faerie blessings,