Causa with Shrimp Salad

March 26, 2020

Causa with Shrimp Salad

It’s avocado season again, and that means getting creative with the multitude of avocados I pick from now through May. Every year I get very excited for the first avocados to ripen, which generally happens right around the time of football season, and plentiful guacamole is made. After a while my excitement for guacamole wanes, and I start searching for other recipes to use the avocados in. A while back, while perusing the cooking app from New York Times, I came across a recipe for causa, a cold potato dish from Peru that I enjoy. Inspired by the avocado layer, I bookmarked the recipe for spring when the sun would start shining and I would be tiring of guacamole. (more…)

Comments Off on Causa with Shrimp Salad

Grilled buffalo wings

September 13, 2013

Grilled buffalo wings

A couple of weeks ago I posted my recipe for the buffalo chicken salad, but then I realized I’ve never posted the simplest buffalo chicken recipe of all – wings! I’ve made many different kinds of wings over the years, but I think I discovered my favorite method for making them: simply grilled. No breading. No deep frying. Just a coating of special spices, a bit of time of a hot, smoky charcoal grill, and a toss in a darned good wing sauce. (more…)

Comments Off on Grilled buffalo wings

Spanish picnic, part 3: Zucchini cakes

August 16, 2013

Zucchini Cake

The final recipe from the Spanish picnic I enjoyed with friends a couple of weeks ago, the zucchini cake is a pretty versatile recipe that’s simultaneously at home for a chi-chi dinner party or low key enough for popping a couple in your mouth as you run out the door in the morning heading for work. It can be made in a pie plate or a muffin tin, and it makes great use of that proliferous summer vegetable, the zucchini.

For our picnic, I chose to make individual versions in a muffin tin, so I could only take with me what was needed for the day. These can be eaten warm, cold, or at room temperature, so it was a perfect food for a picnic. (more…)

Comments Off on Spanish picnic, part 3: Zucchini cakes

Spanish picnic, part 2: Goat cheese stuffed piquillo peppers

August 9, 2013

Stuffed Piquillo Peppers

Last week I told you about my fabulous Spanish themed picnic, and gave you the recipe for a killer gazpacho that packs a tomato punch but is tempered with some roasted red pepper. Well, continuing in that vein, today I have the recipe for the stuffed piquillo peppers I made for the picnic.

Stuffed piquillo peppers are not the first thing that comes to mind when I think picnic food. Stuffed with softened goat cheese, I wasn’t even sure I could make this work, but they’re so good that I was willing to give it a try. I often make these for appetizers at home, or just as a great little finger food for company. They always get rave reviews, and they never last long.

How did they hold up for the picnic? (more…)

Comments Off on Spanish picnic, part 2: Goat cheese stuffed piquillo peppers

Picnic time: Spanish style

August 2, 2013

Gazpacho

Heeeeyy Boo-boo! Whadya think they got in that pic-a-nic basket?

I’m guessing Yogi never expected to get a basket full of Spanish goodies such as gazpacho, zucchini cake, lima bean salad, and piquillo peppers, but had he stumbled upon our party, that’s certainly what he would have found. Along with a pitcher or two of sangria!

A couple of weekends ago we decided to head out to a new park for a picnic and some light hiking. I was a little perplexed as to what to make, because at the time my husband and I were doing a gluten-free diet, and a friend of ours that was going is also gluten-free. So gone was the usual pressed sandwich meal, but I needed something that would not go off in the sun (no mayo or raw anything) but also wouldn’t be too heavy since it promised to be a warm day, and I knew the alcohol we would consume would already drain our energy a bit. Then it hit me – a Spanish-themed meal. Sangria is the perfect summer time drink, and with foods like gazpacho and stuffed peppers, we would be filled up and satisfied, but definitely not stuffed. And all the items could be served either room temperature or cold. And almost everything was vegetarian. While no one in the group was vegetarian, it’s always good to have some go to recipes that are meat-free for friends that don’t eat meat. (more…)

Comments Off on Picnic time: Spanish style