New Week, New Theme!

This weeks theme for Divine Dish is: TIPS!

I want to know all your tips related to cooking whether it be how to substitute, how to use a knife, or even how to get your kids to try something they haven’t tried before. I am always looking for tips and I have some great ones myself 🙂

Last weeks Theme was Salad and I only had 4 Submissions 😦 but thank you to those of you who submitted!!

The featured Submission this week goes to:

An Ordinary Mom for her delicious looking Santa Fe Chicken Salad!!

Jen Submitted – Green Salad with her Favourite Dressing
ByByBirdie Submitted – Broccoli, Bacon & Raison Salad
I submitted – Chapter’s Salad

Please tell all of your friends and fellow bloggers to become a SWAPPER. The more recipes submitted the better the cookbook will be.

NEW THEME!

This weeks Divine Dish Theme is:

Salads

For those of you who don’t know what Divine Dish is, CLICK HERE!!

I am hoping for a record amount of submissions for the official launch of Divine Dish – Bring it on!!

Previous Submissions for Casserole Theme

Theme: Casseroles

Jen Submitted: Maui Wowie Chicken!

Click on the Photo for a pdf version of the recipe

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I submitted: Christmas Morning Wifesaver!

Christmas Morning Wifesaver

Superb! Make the day before and pop in the oven in the morning. Serves 8.

Ingredients:
16 slices white bread, crusts removed
16 slices Canadian back bacon or ham
16 slices sharp cheddar cheese
6 eggs
1/2 tsp. pepper
1/2-1 tsp. dry mustard
1/4 cup minced onion
1/4 cup finely chopped green pepper
1-2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
3 cups milk
dash Tabasco
1/2 cup butter
Special K or crushed Corn Flakes

Instructions:
Set 8 pieces of bread into a 9″ x 13″ (23 x 33 cm) buttered, glass baking dish. Cover bread with slices of back bacon. Lay slices of cheddar cheese on top of bacon and then cover with remaining slices of bread to make it like a sandwich. In a bowl, beat eggs and pepper. To the egg mixture add dry mustard, onion, green pepper, Worcestershire sauce, milk and Tabasco. Pour over the sandwiches, cover and let stand in fridge overnight. In morning, melt butter, pour over top. Cover with Special K or crushed Corn Flakes. Bake, uncovered, 1 hour at 350 deg.F (180 deg.C). Let sit 10 minutes before serving. Serve this with fresh fruit

Welcome to Divine Dish!

Ever get bored of eating the same things over and over? Well, I have decided to start a weekly recipe submission called Divine Dish
Here’s how it works:
On Sunday, I will post a theme for the week. If you want to play you need to post your recipe on your blog by Friday (I like photos ) If you played all you have to do is leave a comment on my blog telling me that you played. At the end of the week, I will choose my favourite recipe out of the submissions and feature it on my blog with a link to your site! I will also be keeping a record of all recipes submitted (not just the featured ones) and will be creating a Divine Dish Cookbook with all submissions which will be available next Christmas! I encourage everyone to participate – it will be fun and we will all get to try different recipes.
Many of you already post your fabulous recipes on your blogs so all you have to do is let us know you played
Tell your friends and fellow bloggers – the more the merrier!!

Fresh Bruschetta

I promised to post my Famous Fresh Bruschetta Recipe when my herbs were ready so here it is!!
This recipe can be adjusted according to how much bruschetta you want to make.

5 ripe vine tomatos – diced
1/2 of a large onion – diced
1/4 cup of fresh basil – chopped (I like using a tonne of basil)
1/2 cup of Feta Cheese – chopped or broken into small chunks
Salt to taste (the feta cheese has a lot of salt in it so you may not need any.)
1 clove of garlic – finely chopped

It’s best if it is served if it has been in the fridge for 1 hour or more (so the flavours can all come together)

Serve with 1/2 inch thick slices of french baguette (you can toast them in the oven if you like but I like everything to be served as is)

Let me know what you think!

Beverage of Choice

Being pregnant in the summer sure has its ups and downs. The ups are all the fruit and veggies that are available and the downs are dying of heat when it isn’t really that hot. Anyhow, I was watching the children’s show Hi-Five with my daughter and they made this drink that had my mouth watering!
You need a blender that can crush ice.
1 cup of pure orange juice
1 cup of ice cubes
2 cups of fresh strawberries
Blend until smooth.
It’s so easy and it is something that I used to make all the time, but forgot how good and simple it is. I will be drinking these all summer long I can tell you that for sure! Elizabeth loves them too. I’ve made them with yogurt too and it ads a bit of tang – yummy 🙂 Enjoy!
Stay tuned for my Famous Bruschetta Recipe!!

Garden Day

I know this isn’t a post of a recipe, but it is a post of my most favourite herbs and other stuff that I use in my recipes!
We planted Basil, Cilantro, Dill, Garlic Chives, Patio Tomatos, Chili Peppers, Cucumbers and Strawberries – oh and we threw in some Lavendar and a Mini Rose.
As soon as the basil is ready I will post my famous Bruschetta Recipe.

Soup of my Dreams

My Aunt made this soup for us a few years ago and it has been a hit with my family ever since. I could probably eat this soup for the rest of my life. This soup is so easy to make – as are most soups, but I really like this one for its fresh flavour. The last time I made it I put in waaay too many limes (I actually cut them up and cooked them in the soup) not a good idea, the soup will end up being bitter. I can’t belive how hard it is to take a photo of a bowl of soup! this was the best one of about 20. So here it is!

CHICKEN LIME SOUP

Combine the following, bring to a boil and simmer on low-med for an hour
6 cups chicken broth (I used 2 – 900ml tetra packs)
1 onion cut into quarters
1 cup fresh parsley
1/2 tbsp thyme
2 chicken breasts cubed
2 celery stalks – chopped (leave in big chunks)
2 tbsp salt (I leave this out because the broth has enough)

Next: (the tedious part)
Remove the chicken pieces. Strain the broth and discard the veggies.

In another pan saute in 2 tbsp oil:
1 chopped green pepper
1 chopped onion

Add to the strained broth:
2 tomatos chopped
2 tbsp fresh parsley chopped
the cooked chicked
Juice of 2 fresh limes
1/2 tbsp pepper
Sauteed onions and green peppers

Simmer for another 20 minutes. You can add lime slices when ready to serve (may be too much lime though) Serve over crunched tortilla chips. ENJOY!

Suz’s Homemade Potato Salad

I love potato salad, but it has to be homemade and without a lot of mayo – I do not like mayo. Anyhow, in my pregnant state I am craving homemade potato salad. I love making it because I don’t use a recipe and it turns out different and better each time. This time I used about 30 small red potatos (I mean small) and left the skin on. Here’s what I put in (I am estimating the amounts):
30 small red potatos cut in quarters
5 hard boiled eggs (only used 2 yokes)
1/2 med onion diced
2 sticks of celery diced
1/4 cup of mayo
1/8 cup of mustard
1 tbsp of hot dijon mustard
1 tbsp of fresh dill
1 tbsp spoon paprika
Salt and Pepper to taste

It is to die for! So delish and my hubby loves it too 🙂 Well have a great Easter weekend and hope you get stuffed full of great food and some chocolate too!

Potluck Pasta Salad

I love this cookbook. I’ve blogged about it before, I think on my old blog, but tonight I tried a new recipe from it. This book is for those who are intimidated in the kitchen and at the same time great for the experienced cook as there are tonnes of tasty recipes to chew on! We are having a Salad Day at work tomorrow so what better salad could be served?
I made the Potluck Pasta Salad. It has less than 220 calories per 1 cup serving and has a lot of necessary protein to for you vegans out there!
Here’s the recipe (doubles well):
Serves 8
Dressing:
2 tbsp red wine vinegar
1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
1 tbsp Dijon mustard (I used hot)
2 tsp Worcestershire Sauce
1 tsp granulated sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp fresh ground pepper
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 tbsp minced parsley
2 tbsp fresh basil (I used a lot)

Salad:

3 cups dry fusilli (or any small pasta)
1.5 cups cooked kidney beans (rinse if using canned)
1.5 cups cooked chickpeas (rinse of using canned)
1 cup diced yellow bell pepper, diced
1/2 cup sliced black olives
3 large plum tomatoes (any ripe ones will be fine) diced and seeded
1/2 red onion diced
salt and fresh ground pepper

Step 1 – put all dressing items in a food processor except oil. Process until smooth. Add in basil and slowly add oil through the feed tube (don’t over process). Set the dressing aside.
Step 2 – Cook the pasta in a large pot of salted boiling water until al dente ( about 8 minutes) Rinse under cold running water and drain well. Toss in the dressing, chickpeas and kidney beans. Add the yellow peppers, tomatoes, olives and onions, mix well. Chill and add salt and pepper to taste.
It seems like a lot of work and a lot of ingredients but you will probably have the majority of them on hand, if you don’t it is easily modified. ENJOY!