Sesame Green Beans

I couldn't stop eating these sesame green beans because they were that good!  I came across the original recipe from allrecipes.com.  This recipe is simple and easy.  I had fresh green beans from the farmers market so I had a few purple colored beans too!  This is a great side dish and I will definitely be making this again.

Sesame Green Beans

Printable Recipe

Ingredients

1 pound fresh green beans, cut into 2 inch pieces

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 tablespoon sesame seeds (I used roasted sesame seeds.)

¼ cup chicken broth

¼ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Directions

In a large pan, heat oil over medium heat.  Add sesame seeds.   Cook until lightly browned.  (I only cooked the sesame seeds for a minute since I had used roasted ones.)

Add in green beans.  Cook for a few minutes until the beans turn bright green.

Next, add in chicken broth, salt and pepper.

Cover and cook for about 10 minutes until beans are tender.

Uncover and cook until liquid evaporates.

Serves 2-4.

Guacamole

I love a good guacamole and this recipe is one I typically follow.  You could easily adjust it to your own tastes.  If you want spicy guacamole, use jalapeno peppers.  I am a wimp and don't eat anything too spicy so I used some mini (not spicy) peppers I already had.  If you don't have any peppers, add in some Tabasco sauce, my favorite is the Green Jalapeno Pepper Sauce.  It is not too spicy but it is not mild either, it is just right.  Make this guacamole for your next football watching party!  Hail to the Redskins (HTTR)! Yup, that's my team!

Guacamole

Printable Recipe

Ingredients

5 ripe avocados, halved, seeded and peeled

2 roma tomatos, diced

½ cup diced red onions

2 peppers, seeded and diced (I used mini peppers but use jalapeños for spice).

½ teaspoon cumin

½ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 tablespoon lemon or lime juice

Directions

In a bowl, add in avocados and lemon or lime juice to coat avocadoes.

Mash avocados with a fork. 

Stir in tomatoes, onions and peppers.

Stir in cumin, salt and pepper.

Cover with plastic wrap, be sure to place the plastic wrap directly on top of the guacamole to prevent it from browning.

Store in fridge until ready to serve. 

Serve with tortilla chips.

Creamy Piquillo Pepper and Chickpea Soup with Chicken

I am super excited to be a part of The Bitten Word's Cover-to-Cover Challenge and I was placed on Team Food and Wine.  My assigned recipe was the Creamy Piquillo Pepper and Chickpea Soup with Chicken.  I didn't know what piquillo peppers were but I was able to find a jar of roasted piquillo peppers in the international section of my local grocery store.  They are sweet red peppers originally from Spain.  According to the recipe, the total time to make the soup should be 7 minutes.   This is a simple recipe if you have all the ingredients already.  Of course I end up taking more time than that since I actually made my own hummus (click here for the recipe).  Also, it took me an extra 10 minutes to shred the rotisserie chicken.  I really enjoyed this soup, it is flavorful and delicious.  If you like roasted red pepper hummus, then you will like this soup.  This soup will pair nicely with a side salad if you want a light lunch or dinner.  Enjoy!

Creamy Piquillo Pepper and Chickpea Soup with Chicken

Printable Recipe

Ingredients

1 cup drained piquillo peppers (reserve ¼ cup cut into thin strips)

¾ cup hummus

2 cups chicken stock (or beef stock)

½ cup cooked white rice

1 cup shredded rotisserie chicken

salt

freshly ground black pepper

1 tablespoon parsley, dried (or 2 tablespoons chopped flat-leave parsley)

olive oil and hot sauce, for serving (optional)

Directions

In a food processor, combine the whole piquillos, hummus, and stock.  Puree until smooth.

In a medium saucepan, over medium-high heat, add soup, rice, and chicken.  Season with salt and pepper.  Bring soup to a boil.  

Garnish soup with parsley, sliced piquillos, olive oil and hot sauce if desired.

Serves 4.

Easy Grilled Vegetables

I was invited to my Aunt and Uncle's for a family BBQ this weekend and was asked to bring a side dish.  I brought my Sesame Noodles and some beautiful summer vegetables to grill.  I love any vegetable that gets grilled because grilling adds so much flavor.  The eggplant, zucchini, yellow squash, onion, and bell peppers were all purchased during my weekly visit to the Crystal City Farmers Market.  I brought the vegetables already sliced so they were ready to grill and easily done thanks to my Uncle.  

 

Easy Grilled Vegetables

Printable Recipes

Ingredients

1 eggplant

1 zucchini

2 yellow squash

1 onion

2 bell peppers

olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

Directions

Wash and dry vegetables.

For eggplant, zucchini, and yellow squash, slice ends and cut lengthwise into ¼ inch thick slices.

For onion, slice ends and cut into ¼ inch rings.

For peppers, cut into quarters and remove stem and seeds. 

Drizzle vegetables with olive oil to coat lightly.  Season with salt and pepper.

Grill vegetables over medium-high heat about 7 to 10 minutes.

Baked Yellow Squash with Tomato

Summer time means an abundance of fresh squash in gardens!  I got some yellow straightneck squash from my friend's garden and I adapted this recipe from The Kitchn's Baked Summer Squash recipe.  You could use whatever summer squash you have, such as:   zucchini, pattypan squash (white squash), or yellow squash (crookneck and/or straight).  I added tomatoes to my baked yellow squash just because I had some and I like fresh tomatoes.  This baked yellow squash recipe with tomato is wonderful with the crisp bread crumb topping.  This dish is fresh tasting and a great summer time side dish.  Enjoy!

   
Baked Yellow Squash with Tomato

Printable Recipe

Ingredients

2 pounds yellow squash, sliced (I used 3 small squashes.)

¼ cup olive oil

½ cup bread crumbs (I used ¼ panko and ¼ italian bread crumbs.)

½ cup parmesan cheese

3 small tomatoes, sliced (optional)

½ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon pepper

¼ cup chopped fresh basil (optional)

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Lightly grease an 8x8 inch baking dish.

Remove stem ends of squash and slice in ¼ inch thick rounds.  Toss with olive oil.

Slice tomatoes and set aside.

In a small bowl, combine bread crumbs, parmesan cheese, salt, and pepper.

Arrange half the squash rounds in bottom of baking dish.   Layer tomato slices over squash.  Sprinkle with half the bread crumb mixture.

Arrange remaining squash rounds on top and sprinkle with remaining bread crumb mixture.

Cover baking dish with foil.  Bake for 30 minutes. 

Remove foil and bake an additional 5 to 10 minutes, until top bread crumb layer is lightly browned.

Top with chopped fresh basil and serve.

Serves 6.

Mustard Maple Chicken

I am personally not a huge fan of mustard but I am a fan of this mustard maple chicken.  This is such a quick and flavorful dish.  It is very similar to honey mustard sauce.  I adapted my recipe from Food Network's Ellie Krieger recipe for Maple-Mustard Chicken Thighs . You can basically use any type of chicken, if you have chicken thighs instead of chicken breasts, it would still be fine.  You just need to adjust the cooking time, usually a little longer for chicken thighs.  I served the mustard maple chicken with saffron rice (recipe here) and sauteed kale.  Make sure you spoon that extra sauce from the baking dish over the chicken. 

 

Mustard Maple Chicken

Printable Recipe

Ingredients

1 ½ pounds chicken breast

½ cup dijon mustard

¼ cup maple syrup

1 tablespoon rice vinegar

salt and pepper to taste

 

Directions

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.

Lightly grease a 9x13 inch baking dish.

 

In a small bowl, combine mustard, syrup and vinegar.

Season chicken breasts with salt and pepper to taste.  Place chicken in greased baking dish.

 

Pour the mustard maple mixture over the chicken.   Turn chicken breasts over to fully coat with mustard maple mixture.

Bake for 30 minutes.  Turn chicken breasts halfway through.   Bake until chicken is no longer pink and juices run clear.

 

Let cool for 10 minutes before serving.

Serves 4-6.