Mango Quinoa Salad

Thank you to Tiara for this delicious and very healthy recipe!
How to cook quinoa: to avoid a bitter taste, be sure soak the quinoa in water for about 15 minutes then drain through a fine sieve.  It's 1 1/4 c. liquid to 1 c. uncooked quinoa, bring to boil, reduce heat and simmer for 25 minutes.  You can use either water or broth, the broth will give it more flavor.
I've made this with peaches in place of the mango with fair results.

2 c. cooked quinoa at room temperature, or chilled
1 14 oz. can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 medium mango, peeld and diced
1 red bell pepper, diced
6 green onions, sliced
1/2 c. cooked edamame beans (removed from pod)
1/2 c. chopped cilantro
4 Tbsp. red wine vinegar
3 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
1-2 Tbsp. fresh lime juice
salt and pepper to taste

Place cooked quinoa in a large bowl.  Add mango, red pepper, green onion, beans, edamame and cilantro.  In a small bowl combine vinegar, olive oil and lime juice.  Whisk until smooth and pour over salad.  Toss to combine and add salt and pepper to taste.  Chill for at least one hour before serving.

Thai Peanut Salad

Thank you to my friend Tiara for this wonderful recipe!
The recipe calls for red leaf lettuce, but I like it made with broccoli slaw (sometimes called rainbow slaw) that you can find premade in the produce section.  If you use the broccoli slaw, omit the cabbage and carrots. The peanut sauce is a little spicey so play with the porportions of the peanut sauce to vinaigrette to get the right heat/flavor you are looking for.

Salad:
Red leaf lettuce
Purple cabbage
Sliced carrots
Red bell pepper, sliced
Honey roasted peanuts
Shredded or sliced roasted chicken

Dressing:
1/3 c. Thai peanut sauce (found in the ethnic food section of the grocery store)
2/3 c. Red wine vinaigrette

Combine the dressing ingredients well and toss over the salad.

Ham and Spinach Quiche

Adam said this is the best quiche he's ever had.  I thought it was tastey too.  The kids were not the biggest fans, but ate it anyway.  They also don't love pie (whose kids are these anyway?!), so maybe I shouldn't have told them it was egg pie, I might have ruined the experience before it even began.
I didn't have a deep dish pie crust, so I made 2 regular 9" pies.

1/2 c. butter
3 cloves garlic
1 small onion, chopped
1 (10 oz) package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained
1 (4.5 oz) can mushrooms, drained
1 (6 oz) package herb and garlic feta, crumbled
1 (8 oz) package shredded cheddar cheese
salt and pepper to taste
1 (9 inch) unbaked deep dish pie crust
1 c. chopped ham
4 eggs
1 c. milk

Preheat oven to 375.

In a medium skillet, melt butter over medium heat.  Saute garlic and onion in butter until lightly browned, about 7 minutes.  Stir in spinach, mushrooms, feta, ham and 1/2 c. cheddar cheese.  Season with salt and pepper.  Spoon into pie crust.
In a medium bowl, whisk together eggs and milk.  Pour into pie crust, allowing egg mixture to thoroughly combine with spinach mixture.
Bake in preheated oven for 15 minutes.  Sprinkle remaining cheddar cheese and bake an additional 35 to 40 minutes, until set in center.  Allow to stand 10 minutes before serving.

Salted Caramel Pecan Ice Cream

When we were in Paris 4 years ago I had the most amazing caramel I've ever had in my life, it was buttery, sweet and had fleur de sel in it, which gave it a little bit of saltiness, it was indecently awesome. I bought a jar and brought it back I admit I did cry a little when it was gone. I tried to look on line at the company`s website to see if they would ship it to me, it was that good. I would have paid for the overseas shipping, no questions asked. So, when I first saw this recipe I knew I had to try it. The original recipe does not call for pecans, but I think they are the perfect touch. You can leave them out if you would like. This recipe would be heavenly over a warm brownie.
This ice cream is incredibly smooth and delicious, but highly annoying to make.
 Here are my tips:
Use the biggest saucepan you have for melting the sugar. I used a 10-inch pan and it took a really long time to melt -- forty five minutes! Forty-five minutes of stirring and swirling got really old -- really fast.
Really wait until the sugar is turning liquid before starting to swirl. I jumped the gun a little bit and ended up with big sugar chunks I had to break (read: chisel) apart.
My caramel seized when I added the cream, I'd even heated it up to try to avoid this, but my efforts did not work. But if you keep stirring it will eventually start to turn liquid. I did, however, have to fish out about 3/4 c. of melted sugar that would not incorporate into the cream.
My ice cream was a little too salty. I didn't have any flaky sea salt, just regular sea salt. I'm not sure if having the flaky variety would have made it less salty. (I do like salt, but it just seemed a little off.) The next time I make this I'll try adding a little less sea salt.

For the Caramel:
1 1/4 c. sugar
3/4 c. heavy cream
2 tsp. flaky sea salt

For the Ice Cream Base:
1 c. whole milk
4 large egg yolks
3/4 c. sugar
2 c. heavy cream

1 Tbsp. vanilla extract

1/2 c. chopped pecans, toasted

For the Caramel:
Heat the sugar in a dry, heavy bottomed skillet over medium heat.  Stir with a fork to heat the sugar evenly.  Once it starts to melt, stop stirring and start swirl the pan to melt the sugar until it reaches a dark amber color. 
Carefully (it will splatter) add the heavy cream; cook, stirring until the sugar has fully incorproated.  Transfer to a heat proof bowl and stir in the sea salt.

For the Ice Cream Base:
Heat the milk in a medium sauce pan over medium-low heat.  Prepace an ice bath by setting a 2-quart bowl over a larger bowl partially filled with ice water.  Set a strainer over the smaller bowl; set aside.
In a seperate bowl, whisk the eggs yolks and sugar until they are pale yellow and the sugar is dissolved.  Very slowly pour the heated milk into the egg mixture whisking constantly to avoid cooking the eggs.  Pour back into the orginal pan.  Cook for 3 to 5 minutes, stirring constantly, until the custard coats the back of a wooden spoon.
Strain the custard into the top bowl of the ice bath to stop the cooking process.  Add the heavy cream and stir over the ice until cool.  Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate thoroughly (preferably over night).

Follow your ice cream maker's instructions on chilling the freezer bowl.  Pour the ice cream base, vanilla, and caramel into your chilled bowl and freeze according to directions.  When ice cream is about 5 minutes from frozen, add the pecans until well incorporated.

Basic Cheese Sauce

I use this as the cheese part of my potato cheese soup. I use 6 medium baking potatoes cut into about 1" cubes, boil them with just enough water to cover. When the potatoes are fork tender I add this cheese sauce and it comes out great.

1/2 c. butter
3 c. chicken broth
2 c. shredded cheddar cheese (sharp cheddar gives better flavor)
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 c. flour
1 c. milk
1/4 tsp. hot pepper sauce

In a large saucepan melt butter, stir in the flour. Add the milk and chicken broth. Stir until thickened. Add the cheese, the hot pepper sauce and salt and pepper to taste; stir until cheese is melted.

All-Purpose Baking Mix

I keep this on hand instead of store bought baking mix. It works just as well and is less expensive. I use it for pancakes, waffles, biscuits, dumplings and any recipe that requires biscuit or baking mix.
I store it in a tall Rubbermaid container with a copy of the recipe taped to the front.

6 c. flour
3 Tbsp. baking powder
1 Tbsp. salt
1 1/4 c. shortening (butter flavored or plain)

Combing flour, baking powder, and salt in large bowl.

Cut in shortening with a pastry blender until mixture resembles coarse corn meal. Store in a container with tight fitting lid. Will keep for up to 2 months.

For biscuits: Stir together 2 1/4 c. baking mix with 2/3 c. milk. Knead 10 times on lightly floured surface, roll out and cut into biscuits or skip the kneading and simply drop dough into an ungreased baking sheet. Bake at 425 for 10 to 12 minutes or until lightly browned. Makes about 10 biscuits.

For pancakes: Stir together 2 c. baking mix, 1 c. milk and 2 eggs until blended. Do not over mix. Ladle 1/4 cupfuls onto hot greased griddle or skillet and cook until edges are dry and top is bubbly, turn over and cook until golden brown. Makes about 14 pancakes.

For waffles: Stir together 2 c. baking mix, 1 1/3 c. milk, 1 egg and 2 Tbsp. vegetable oil until blended. Pour batter into center of hot greased waffle iron and cook for 5 minutes to until steaming stops. Makes about 12 (4 inch) waffles.

For dumplings: Stir together 2 c. baking mix and 2/3 c. milk just until soft dough forms. Drop by spoonfuls into boiling liquid, cover and cook for 10 minutes without lifting the lid. Makes about 10 dumplings.

Slab Apple Pie

I found this recipe on another blog and I really love it. It reminds me a lot of my apple crisp recipe, but has a flaky pie crust too, which I love. It's scrumptious warm and at room temperature.

Pie Crust for single layer pie
6 apples, peeled, cored, and sliced
1/2 cup sugar
1 Tablespoon lemon juice
1 Tablespoon cinnamon
1 cup flour
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup chopped nuts
Preheat oven to 375°. Prepare pie crust according to directions and pat it into the bottom of a 9×13 pan. In large mixing bowl, combine apple slices, sugar, lemon juice and cinnamon. Spread in an even layer over crust. In food processor, combine flour, butter, and brown sugar, pulsing until coarse crumbs are formed, or in a large mixing bowl, combine these ingredients, cutting butter into sugar and flour with a pastry blender or two knives held together. Stir in nuts. Sprinkle crumb top over apple layer.* Bake for 45 minutes to an hour or until filling bubbles. Cool completely.
If preparing ahead of time to freeze. Wrap with foil and label at the *. Then, when ready to serve, bake frozen pie at 425° for 15 minutes. Reduce heat to 375° and continue baking as directed.