Northern bean/ tuna salad

This was delicious--a nice light supper or lunch dish. If you are Vegan you can subtract the tuna. The seasonings make it very flavorful. Makes about 3 servings

1 can of Northern Beans drained
fresh thyme and dried thyme
dried sage
freshly ground black pepper

1 can of white tuna (large)
1/2 of a red bell pepper
some cucumber
some small tomatoes
your favorite lettuce
a bit of purple onion

balsamic vinegar or a balsamic dressing of choice

Mix the Northern Beans (drained) with the first 3 seasonings--to taste (I used both fresh and dried thyme with dried sage and pepper). Mix and refrigerate a while to blend flavors.

Assemble the salad placing the lettuce in a bowl and topping with the rest---this is very flavorful.

Ps. For the dessert you can serve the raspberry sauce berry watermelon salad a few posts below

Oriental chickpeas and rice

1 can of chickpeas
1/2 of a large purple onion
1-2 tab minced garlic
assorted little red, yellow, orange peppers (bell type--miniture)
1/2 of a large yellow bell pepper
few tablespoons of sundried tomatoes packed in oil
soy sauce
balsamic vinegar
fresh spinach
salt
pepper
cayenne
rice

Cook rice. While rice is cooking saute the onion , garlic, and peppers. Add sundried tomatoes. Sprinkle on soy sauce and balsamic vinegar to taste. (I cooked my spinach separately and then added it). Add chickpeas, cayenne pepper and salt and pepper to taste. Simmer until flavors blend nicely. Serve over rice.

Raspberry Sauce for berry dessert or hot cereal or pancakes etc

I like this sauce. I had it last night served over blueberries, strawberries and watermelon and then this morning served over a creamed rice cereal---ohhhhh so goooooooood. The barefoot contessa has a more extravagant sauce using raspberries, liquor, and seedless jam. ...for my purposes I just used frozen raspberries from walmart ;-)

1 bag of frozen raspberries (not sure how big --around 12 ounces)
bit of water
bit of cornstarch
1/4 cup or so of sugar

place frozen raspberries in pot on stove. Add a bit of water to make a sauce with...add sugar to taste. Heat till nice and bubbly. In a separte dish add 2 tsp or 1 tablespoon or so or cornstarch to a bit of water. Add this to the pot and stir to thicken. If it is not as thick as you like--add more . Chill to serve over fruit. Keep warm to serve over hot cereal or pancakes or french toast...or whatever

Foil wrapped Chicken and veggies on the grill

I forgot to take a picture of this , but it is a delicious , easy way to have chicken (we do eat meat once a week on average).

For three people:

3 Large chicken breasts (with skin and bones)
6 large red potatoes
1 large onion
fresh green beans
1 green bell pepper
3 large sage leaves
several fresh thyme sprigs
salt and pepper
Heavy foil

Start your Grill. We used a grill that has a nice deep cover and used charcoal briquettes.

Brown the chicken at a moderately high temp in skillet. Sprinkle with pepper and sea salt.

Take foil and make 2 large pieces for each serving in the shape of a cross . Spray it with pam. Do three of these for the three servings

Place the potatoes cut in 1/2 or 1/4 depending on their sizes on the foil. Place some onion, bell pepper, string beans on the foil and sprinkle with sea salt and fresh ground pepper. Place a sage leaf and some thyme sprigs in each bundle. Place Chicken on top and wrap tightly.

Grill for 50 minutes with the grill cover closed. If your chicken is not large you can reduce the time.

Serve---wonderful PS--next time I may try some corn on the cob thrown in.

Springtime Pasta Salad

I found this veggie filled pasta from a cooking site which I think was called, "I love Pasta" it is good. It serves 6. I used gluten free Fettucini Brown Rice pasta by Tinkyada (the only gluten free brand that I have found to be any good)

12 oz. Spaghetti, Linguine or Thin Spaghetti, uncooked
1 tbsp. vegetable oil
8 oz. broccoli florets
8 oz. asparagus, cut in 1-inch pieces
4 scallions or spring onions, cut in 1-inch slices
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 10-oz. package frozen peas, thawed and drained
1 green or red bell pepper, coarsly chopped
8 oz. mushrooms, sliced
1/4 cup minced fresh parsley

Dressing:
3 tbsp. red wine vinegar
3 tbsp. fresh lemon juice
1 tbsp. Dijon mustard
1/2 tsp. basil
1/2 tsp. oregano
1/2 tsp. thyme
1/8 tsp. cayenne pepper
Freshly ground black pepper to taste
2 tbsp. vegetable oil

Prepare pasta according to package directions; drain. (rinse well in cold water)
In a large pot, cook broccoli and asparagus in boiling water until crisp yet tender, about 4 minutes. Drain and add to pasta. Add scallions, garlic, peas, bell pepper, mushrooms and parsley to pasta.

In a small bowl, whisk together first seven dressing ingredients. Slowly whisk in the oil until dressing is well blended.
Pour dressing over pasta mixture and toss gently until well mixed. If you toss it early you may need some extra dressing when serving it (Italian dressing is good too)

Hoppin' John Salad (southern living)

Good served on top of fresh lettuce leaves (romaine) and with taco chips

I enjoyed this , but I did add some cukes to the recipe and some white wine vinegar--I think I might like the dressing I used on the brussel sprout salad so I am going to add this to the bottom of this recipe to experiment with next time.

Makes 8 servings (for us more like 4-5) Prep ten minutes; cook--30 minutes; chill -2 hours

1/2 cup uncooked long -grain rice (I juste used brown rice and added whatever I wanted)

2 cups fresh or frozen black-eyed peas

2 tsp. salt, divided (I just did to taste)

1/4 cup fresh lemon juice

2 Tbsp. olive oil (I used less)

1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and minced (I used a banana pepper and a jalapeno salsa)

1 garlic clove pressed (I used a rounded tsp)

1/4 tsp pepper (I used freshly ground to taste)

1/2 cup chopped celery

1/2 cup loosely paked fresh parsley leaves, chopped

1/4 cup loosely packed fresh mint leaves , chopped (I only had dried--just sprinkled some in)

(fresh thyme is good in this too)

I added 1/2 of a large cucumber , chopped

I sprinkled some white wine vinegar to taste (see below for optional addition)

1. Prepare rice. Meanwhile, cook peas and 1 tsp salt in water to cover in a large saucepan over medium high heat, stirring often, 30 minutes or until tender; drain.

2. Whisk together lemon juice, next 4 ingredients, and remaining 1 tsp salt in a large bowl. Stir in peas, rie, celery, parsley , and mint until blended. Cover and chill 2 hours. Season with salt to taste.

Optional dressing addition:

1/4 cup white wine vinegar
1 tsp honey Dijon mustard
1 tsp Worcester sauce (I used a gluten free)
1/2 tsp salt (I didn't use this much--might have used a pinch or nothing)
1/2 tsp basil (I just used some fresh basil--about 2-3 leaves)
1/4 tsp crushed dried thyme (I used fresh--several sprigs)
1/4 tsp freshly ground pepper.