Cranberry Salsa

 Cranberry salsa.  A bit tangy, kind of sweet with a kick of spiciness.  Sooo good.

And adorable with little Christmas tree chips made from spinach tortillas.

Another great thing about this recipe--it was a Christmas "treat" I could share with my friend who doesn't eat dairy, eggs or chocolate. 

Cranberry Salsa with "Tree" Chips

12 oz. bag fresh or frozen cranberries
1 Granny Smith apple, peeled, cored, cut in eighths
1/2 large red pepper, cut in large chunks
1/2 medium red onion, cut in large chunks
3/4 C sugar
1/3 C apple juice
3 Tbsp. chopped fresh cilantro
2 Tbsp. chopped pickled jalapeno pepper
1 tsp. grated lime zest

1 pkg. spinach flour tortillas (green)

Put cranberries, apple, red pepper and onion in food processor; pulse until chopped. Transfer to a large glass bowl. Stir in remaining ingredients until blended. Cover and refrigerate or spoon into crocks or jars and refrigerate. (I suggest dividing into two processor batches to avoid pureeing the ingredients too much. Can use a food chopper instead. Adjust amounts of onion and/or jalapeno according to your desire for spiciness and apple juice according to your desire for juiciness.)

For chips, heat oven to 375°. Use a 3" cookie cutter to cut out tree shapes. (Or just slice with a pizza cutter into abstract triangle trees.) Place on ungreased cookie sheet and bake 8 minutes. Remove to wire rack to cool completely. Put in plastic bags; give with the salsa. Can be made up to 2 weeks ahead. Store chips airtight at room temperature.

Makes 4 C salsa; 36 chips

Roasted Fall Vegetables --Two ways

In Radical Homemakers the author mentions an essential skill for modern homemakers as "rediscovering the taste of real food." It's an interesting notion to think about.  The prepared foods these days are full of salt sugar and artificial flavorings.  In essence we forget what real food is supposed to taste like.

I suggested a recipe to my sister the other day for roasted fall vegetables.  She told me afterwards that after a few bites she and her husband said to each other, "Meh, it's OK. . ."

But then she said as they continued eating they actually ended up thinking they liked it quite a bit more--they just needed time to get used to the flavors and have them meld in their mouths a bit more. 

We had the roasted vegetables on top of spinach with crumbled goat cheese on top.  Soo delicious--but different.  It doesn't taste like frozen lasagna.  The flavors are mellow and subtle.  You do have to get used to them, introduce yourself to real flavors that occur in nature, and get over a dependence on so much salt.

I'll admit that part of the reason I like real food is because I like the taste, and part of the reason is because I value real food and so I get a satisfaction from eating it that isn't related to taste.  It's a feeling of virtue for eating something I know is so good for me, and it's a feeling of well-being that comes because I (at least in that meal) am living life according to my ideals.

In some real food- taste trumps virtue, but in other foods I still rely heavily on the fact that I know the food is good for me to get me to muscle through the taste. 
. 

 

The next day we ate the roasted vegetables on pizza.  Our kids will eat anything when it's on pizza.  Pizza is a comfort food.  It can be a nice gateway to real foods (or it can be some of the poorest excuses for food you put in your body--but it's your choice). 

So here is Real Food Friday--it's an invitation, but it's also a challenge.  Get outside your comfort zone, make some food--real food.  It's satisfying to make and healthy to eat. 

Here is my contribution-- one last variation we didn't get to is puree-ing the vegetables with some lemon juice --and chicken stock if you like it thinner-- making it a roasted vegetable soup. 

Roasted Fall Vegetables:
1 lb butternut squash peeled, seeded, and cut into 1-inch pieces
1 pound red potatoes scrubbed, and quartered
2 small red onions peeled and quartered
1/2 pound carrots halved lengthwise and cut into 1 1/2 inch lengths
3 cloves garlic, smashed
1 sprig rosemary
salt and pepper
olive oil

Preheat oven to 450*  Pile vegetables on a large sheet pan.  Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Toss to coat.  Add garlic and rosemary to pan.  Roast until vegetables are tender and starting to brown, 40-50 minutes, tossing the vegetables halfway through.  Serve hot or at room temperature.

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Grilled Tilapia with Pineapple Salsa

Grilled Tilapia with Pineapple Salsa

Salsa:
1/2 medium fresh pineapple
1/4 small red onion
1 Serrano pepper
2 tbsp chopped fresh cilantro
1/8 tsp salt
1 lime

Tilapia:
2-3 T taco seasoning mix
3 tbsp olive oil
4 boneless, skinless tilapia fillets

Heat grill over medium high heat. While that heats, peel and slice pineapple lengthwise and remove core. Slice into several 1-inch thick strips. Arrange pineapple in a single layer and grill about 2-3 minutes on each side or until grill marks appear. Set aside.

While pineapple is cooking, chop onion. Cut Serrano pepper lengthwise in half; remove and discard seeds. Chop Serrano pepper and cilantro. Combine onion, Serrano pepper, cilantro and salt in a small bowl. Zest lime to measure 1 tsp zest. Juice lime to measure 1 tbsp juice. Add zest and juice to bowl; mix well.

Whisk taco seasoning mix and oil in small bowl. Add tilapia; turn to coat. Place tilapia fillets onto grill and cook 2 minutes or until grill marks appear. Turn tilapia over and cook another 2 minutes or until it flakes easily with a fork.

As tilapia cooks, chop pineapple and add to onion mixture; mix well. To serve, top tilapia with pineapple salsa.

Delicious!

Carmelized Onion 'n' Pear Pizza

Here's my sister-in-law Carolyn the day she married my brother Logan. This weekend we are celebrating with Carolyn- although from a different state unfortunately. This weekend is Carolyn's fourth-year anniversary of being cancer-free!

Four years ago Logan and Carolyn were hanging out with us in the Burrow (our first apartment--in a basement). They were off being silly on the other "side" of the apartment. Jeremy and I were probably doing something very responsible that necessitated not cleaning our apartment. When Logan and Carolyn reemerged they were smiling and laughing like the twitterpated teenagers that they were, and Logan was showing off Carolyn's hairdo he had just gelled. Her hair was just growing in long enough that she could put a little bit of gel in it and have a cute "pixy" style. That was a happy moment. I was happy for them, and how happy they were together. I was happy for my home that, however messy it was, was perceived as a "safe" environment where others feel comfortable enough to let their hair down--or take their super-cute wig off--and feel at ease. And I was happy for Carolyn, that here was tangible evidence that she was moving along in life, past her cancer.

---We love you Carolyn. Thanks for putting up with Logan ;-) to join our family!---

Carolyn invited us this weekend to join in their tradition of celebrating by eating out at California Pizza Kitchen. Well we don't have one here in Kansas, but we did make it to the CPK while we were out in Salt Lake City this summer. And boy did we have a delicious pizza! Amazingly enough I was going through some old food magazines the other day and found a recipe for basically the same pizza, so here is that scrumptious pizza for you to enjoy!



Caramelized Onion 'n' Pear Pizza
1 large red onion, sliced and separated into rings
3 T butter
3T sugar
2 medium pears, peeled and sliced
1 cup mozzarella cheese
1/4 c crumbled Gorgonzola cheese
salad greens
tomato, sliced
blue cheese salad dressing
chopped hazelnuts

In a large skillet saute onion in butter until tender. Add sugar and cook and stir 5-10 minutes until onions are caramelized.

Spread crust with cheeses, onion, and pears. Bake according to pizza crust directions. Top with greens, tomato, dressing and hazelnuts.

We used a medium sized onion and one large pear and made two 9-inch pizzas. Sometime I'll post our new favorite pizza dough recipe, but not today! Meanwhile use your own recipe or a pre-baked shell, this will turn out delicious!