Chai Spiced Apple Butter

If you're like me, you buy apples hoping someone will eat them and then they just sit there.  (Okay, maybe you're not like me and eat a lot of fruit.)  Anyway, this small batch apple butter is perfect for those 4 or 5 apples that now no one will eat because they're a tiny bit mushy.  This makes about 1.5 cups and will last about 3 weeks in the fridge.
I added in some chai flavors to make this more wintry. 
Enjoy on an English muffin, in a cookie, or straight out of the jar!

Chai Spiced Apple Butter

Chai Spiced Apple Butter

Ingredients:
5 medium apples (I used honeycrisp, use whatever you have!)
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. cardamom
1 Chai tea bag
1/4 cup water

Preparation:
Boil 1/4 cup water and steep Chai tea while prepping the rest of your ingredients (at least 5 minutes).
Peel and chop apples.
Put apples, cinnamon, cardamom, and tea in a medium pot.
Bring to a boil and simmer until apples are soft and you can easily pierce them with a fork.
Place apple mixture in a blender or use an immersion blender off the heat to blend.
Return to sauce pan and simmer.  Stir every 10 minutes for about 1 hour, or until apple butter has grown darker and thicker.
Take off the heat and cool completely before placing in the fridge.
Enjoy!

Sweet Potato and Black Bean Chili

Yum!  This chili is on point.  It's a bit spicy, but not in an overpowering way and it's so hearty you won't even miss the meat.  You get lots of vitamins by using sweet potatoes and it's full of vegetables and beans for protein.  Serve with a side of cornbread and scoop some sour cream (or Greek yogurt) on top.  Of course, if you're vegan, skip the sour cream and enjoy!

Sweet Potato and Black Bean Chili

Sweet Potato and Black Bean Chili

Ingredients:
1 Tbsp. olive oil
1 pound sweet potatoes, peeled and diced
1 yellow onion, chopped
1 green bell pepper, chopped
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 Tbsp. chili powder
1 tsp. cumin
1 tsp. dried oregano
¼ tsp. cayenne, adjust to taste
2 10 ounce cans  diced tomatoes with chiles, undrained
1 15 ounce can black beans, drained
2 cups vegetable broth
Optional toppings: sour cream (Greek yogurt), shredded cheese

Preparation:
In a large Dutch oven, heat oil over medium-high heat.
Add sweet potato, onion, garlic and bell pepper and saute until onion softens, about 5 to 7 minutes.
Stir in chili powder, cumin, oregano and cayenne, and saute for 1 minute.
Add diced tomatoes, black beans, and broth and stir until combined.
Bring to a boil and then simmer for 30 minutes, or until sweet potatoes are tender.
Serve with any toppings you wish.
Enjoy!

Recipe adapted from Alida's Kitchen

Chickpea Peanutbutter Curry

Fall is here!  It's finally time to start making soups and stews and curries are in the mix too!  If you read my blog a lot, you know that I try to include vegetarian or vegan meals several times a week into our diet.  I always want to make sure that the vegetarian and vegan recipes I pick are filling and not so so full of cheese.  This recipe is both!  The chickpeas and peanut butter add protein and it's vegan so no cheese!  

You can always use another nut butter if you're allergic to peanuts and vegetable stock instead of chicken stock to make to vegan or vegetarian; if you're not, feel free to use chicken stock.  Other great news is that this recipe is gluten free!

Chickpea Peanut Butter Curry

Chickpea Peanut Butter Curry

Ingredients:

1/2 medium onion, chopped

4 cloves of garlic, minced

1/2 tsp coconut oil 

3/4 tsp. ground ginger

1/2 tsp. ground cumin

3/4 tsp. ground coriander

1/4 tsp. cinnamon

1/4 tsp. cayenne 

1/2 tsp. tumeric

1/2 tsp. curry powder

3 Tbsp. peanut butter or almond butter

1/2 cup coconut milk

3/4 cup chicken stock (or vegetable stock to make vegan)

1 red pepper, chopped

1 small zucchini, chopped

1 15 oz can chickpeas, drained

1 tsp. salt, or more to taste

1/2 tsp. sugar

1/2 lime, juiced 

Preparation:

Add oil to a large pot or Dutch oven over medium heat.  Add garlic, onion, ginger, cumin, coriander, cinnamon, cayenne, turmeric, and curry.  

Cook for about 5 minutes, stirring frequently. 

Add in the nut butter, coconut milk and stir. Add broth. 

Add the veggies and chickpeas, salt, sugar. 

Mix, cover and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat to medium low and continue to cook for 5 minutes. 

Stir in the lime juice. Taste and adjust salt.  

At this point, if you want a thinner curry, add more coconut milk or if you want it thicker, uncover and keep simmering. 

Serve over rice.

Enjoy!

Recipe adapted from Vegan Richa

Blueberry Margaritas

The heat is back in Philly so the only thing to do was make margaritas!  I had some blueberries in the fridge that needed to be used up AND didn't want to run to the store so this recipe was perfect!  My friend Rae came over for dinner so I thought I would make a pitcher of these to impress and they were a hit!
I was a bit skeptical at first about just putting sugar into water and not making a simple syrup, but I shouldn't have worried.  The sugar dissolved and I had one less step!  These were ready in about 5 minutes and made 8 drinks!
We served these with chips and salsa for a Mexican start to our meal... well we actually were supposed to also have tacos to continue that theme, but ended up getting takeout and having a Chinese feast.  The good news is that the margs were so good, you could serve them with almost anything and it would be a good meal!
Photo courtesy of my friend Rae who was much better at taking this picture than I was!

Blueberry Margaritas 

Blueberry Margaritas 

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups water
1/2 cup sugar
1 1/5 cups blueberries
1 1/2 cups silver tequila
1/2 cup fresh lime juice
1 tablespoon kosher salt, optional

Preparation:
Combine 1 1/2 cups water and sugar in a large pitcher.
Stir vigorously until sugar dissolves.
Muddle the blueberries in the pitcher. Add tequila and lime juice; stir.
If you wish, wet the rims of margarita glasses and dip in salt.
Pour over ice.
Enjoy!

Recipe adapted from Rasa Malaysia

Roasted Squash and Onions

This recipe could not be easier.  For real.  Got some squash? Got some onions? Great, that's all you need.  Also, it's delcious!  Matt was convinced that it was bad for him because it was so tasty.  "There's really no cheese?  No meat? No butter?"  It was really like that, and then he ate all of it.  This was a great side to my no carb meal with sausage!

Roasted Squash and Onions

Roasted Squash and Onions

Ingredients:
2 medium yellow summer squash, cut in thick strips
1.5 small onions, sliced
Salt and Pepper, to taste

Preparation:
Preheat oven to 425F.
Lightly spray a baking sheet with olive oil. Trim the ends of the squash, cut off the slender necks, and slice the necks in half, lengthwise. Then slice each squash into lengthwise slices, about 1/4 to 1/2-inch thick. Lay the slices on the cooking sheet in a single layer, or best you can, I had to overlap, but it was fine.
Layer in onions.
Sprinkle with pepper and salt.
Bake for about 15 minutes, until bottoms of squash begin to brown. Flip squash and onions and bake until bottoms of squash are browned, about 15 minutes more. Serve immediately.
Enjoy!

Recipe adapted from Susan at Fat Free Vegan

Tex Mex Sweet Potato Salad

I really needed a side dish for my cilantro lime salmon and this seemed like a perfect solution!  I'm not a huge fan of overly mayonnaise-y potato salads, so I really wanted something that would fill me up without being too much.

This potato salad uses a homemade honey mustard dressing that feels like a nice light solution to mayo.  I halved the dressing recipe for you guys because there was a ton in the bottom of the bowl when I was done.  

This recipe is also very easily made vegan, substitute agave or maple syrup for the honey!

Tex Mex Sweet Potato Salad

Tex Mex Sweet Potato Salad

Ingredients:

about 1 1/4 pounds sweet potatoes (about 2 jumbo), washed, peeled, and cut into 1-inch pieces

2 Tbsp. olive oil

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. pepper

3 green onions, thinly sliced

1 medium red bell pepper, diced 

1 cup corn (I use frozen that I allowed to thaw)

1/2 cup cilantro leaves, minced

1 Tbsp. honey

1 Tbsp. dijon mustard

1 Tbsp. lime juice

1 Tbsp. oil

1/4 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. pepper

pinch cayenne pepper, optional and to taste

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 400F. Line a baking sheet with foil and spray with cooking spray. Add the sweet potatoes in an even, flat layer. Evenly drizzle with 2 tablespoons olive oil, season with salt and pepper, and bake for about 40 minutes, or until fork-tender and done. Halfway through baking flip potatoes to ensure even cooking. Baking time will vary, I recommend starting to check at 30 minutes for doneness.

Add the green onions, red pepper, corn, cilantro to a large bowl; set aside.

Add the honey, dijon mustard, lime juice, remaining olive oil, salt and pepper, optional cayenne pepper to a medium bowl, whisk to combine; set aside.

After potatoes are cooked, add them to the bowl with the beans and vegetables, add the sauce, and toss to combine. Taste, check for seasoning balance, make any necessary tweaks, and serve. Potato salad can be served warm, at room temp, or chilled.  

Enjoy!

Recipe adapted from Averie at Averie Cooks

Brown Sugar Baked Peaches

Tonight I really wanted something sweet for dessert, but I didn't want to make a whole batch of cookies or brownies.  I remembered I had pinned a recipe for baked peaches recently, and as luck would have it, I had bought peaches!  The weather was finally cool enough to turn on the oven, it seemed like fate.
These were great because they took about 5 seconds to prepare and they smell delicious as they're cooking.  They were super yummy and took away my craving for some sugar while remaining somewhat healthy.  Perfect!

Brown Sugar Baked Peaches

Brown Sugar Baked Peaches

Ingredients:
1 peach
*1 tsp. butter, divided (to save even more calories, I used Smart Balance)
2 tsp. brown sugar, divided
cinnamon, to taste

Preparation:
Preheat oven to 375.
Halve peach and remove pit.
Place skin side down in baking dish.
Place 1/2 tsp. of butter and 1 tsp. brown sugar in each peach half.  Sprinkle both sides with cinnamon.
Bake for 30 minutes.
Enjoy!

Recipe adapted from The Kitchen is my Playground

*You could also use a different butter substitute and make these vegan!

Black Beans and Rice

I'm about to go back to Philly, so this is my last post from Santa Fe :(  Also, Matt is staying (because it's his job!) for an extra week and a half so I figured instead of him eating cereal every night for dinner, I would make him a few meals.  Ziti happened because I was trying to use up a bunch of things in the fridge and I also made him these black beans and rice.
Going into my cooking, I was more excited for the ziti, but after tasting these, they are so good.  You could use them as a side for simple grilled chicken, or use them as a filling in tacos. They could also be a main dish with a salad on the side for a light summer meal!
These are also super easy to make vegetarian/vegan, just use vegetable stock instead of chicken stock and you are done!

Black Beans and Rice

Black Beans and Rice

Ingredients:
1 Tbsp. olive oil
1/4 cup finely chopped onion
1/2 red pepper, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup basmati rice (or you can use regular white rice)
2 cups chicken stock (or vegetable stock for vegetarian/vegan version)
3/4 tsp. taco seasoning
2 cups black beans

Preparation:
In a medium saucepan, heat olive oil over medium-high heat.
Add onion, and sauté 3 minutes, until onion is tender. Add pepper and garlic, sauté one minute longer.
Add uncooked rice, and stir, toasting it for about 2 minutes. .
Add stock and taco seasoning. Stir together, and bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat to low, and simmer, according to rice package directions, usually 15-20 minutes.
Remove lid, stir in beans, and cover again. Turn off heat, and let stand for 3 minutes before serving.
Enjoy!

Recipe adapted from Andi at The Weary Chef

Mango Salsa

Mango salsa screams summer.  Fresh flavors, plus being in New Mexico, it seemed like a no brainer.  I made this as an appetizer for dinner with a few friends, but then ended up putting it on the turkey burgers I made.  (It was also good on some bean and cheese tacos I had for lunch the next day).  This salsa is super easy and the flavors speak for themselves.

Mango Salsa

Mango Salsa

Ingredients:
2 ripe mangoes, peeled, pitted and diced (about 3 cups)
1/2 red onion, diced
1/2 red bell pepper, diced
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro, loosely packed
1 lime, juiced
Salt, to taste

Preparation:
Combine all ingredients in a medium bowl.  Season lightly with salt, to taste.
Enjoy!

Recipe adapted from Gimme Some Oven

Vegan Black Bean Tacos

Matt has had several vegetarian dinners lately and has not complained once... I'm not sure what is going on, but I'm here to ride that train!  I made vegan black bean tacos tonight and they were great! They were even better when topped with my super easy salsa verde!

Vegan Black Bean Tacos

Vegan Black Bean Tacos

Ingredients:
1 tsp. vegetable oil
2 cups black beans (1 can is good too, rinsed and drained)
1 small zucchini, diced
1 green bell pepper, diced
1/2 white onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
Salt and pepper, to taste
4 corn (GF) or flour tortillas
Optional for Serving: diced tomatoes, cilantro, salsa verde

Preparation:
Heat oil in large skillet over medium heat.
Add black beans and onion.
Cook until onion is translucent, about 4 minutes.
Add zucchini, bell pepper, garlic.
Saute until zucchini is soft, but not mushy.
Meanwhile, heat tortillas in microwave under a damp paper towel for 30 seconds.
Season with salt and pepper.
Transfer a scoop of bean mixture into a warmed tortilla.
Top with desired toppings.
Enjoy!

Salsa Verde

Here in New Mexico, there is an abundance of fresh veggies that I would normally not have an abundance of in Philly... not that they're not there, but they're hella expensive.  (I'm not sure if I've ever said "hella" before, but it's happening now I guess!)  Tomatillos are super cheap. Cilantro is super cheap. Okay, that's it because everything else in this salsa is about the same cost wise, but the tomatillos were like $2.00/lb. cheaper!

This salsa was great on my vegan tacos, but was also great with tortilla chips!

Salsa Verde

Salsa Verde

Ingredients:
1 tsp. olive oil
1 1/2 lb. tomatillos, husks removed
1 poblano pepper, stem cut off
1/2 small white onion
2 cloves garlic
1/2 cup cilantro
1 Tbsp. lime juice
Salt, to taste

Preparation:
Heat oil over high heat in a large skillet.  Add tomatillos, poblano, and onion.
Saute on high, flipping after about 2 minutes.  (They should be nice and charred).
Transfer to a blender or food processor.  Add garlic, cilantro, and lime juice.  Blend until combined. (You may have to transfer tomatillos in batches, I did!)
Salt to taste.
Chill in refrigerator.
Enjoy!

Recipe adapted from Chef Savvy

Avocado Quesadilla

Are you ready for the easiest lunch of all time?  Perfect.  It's an avocado quesadilla.  Not interested?  Good, more for me.  This is a little surprising because it is a VEGAN lunch.  No, not vegetarian, VEGAN.  If you've ever read my blog, you're probably in shock, what!? No chese!?  That's correct!  The creamy avocado means you don't even need cheese, so get ready for a healthy quick lunch!

Avocado Quesadilla 

Do my plates look different?  That's because this is my first post from Santa Fe!  Matthew has a job here for 6 weeks, so here we are for the summer!

Avocado Quesadilla

Ingredients:
1 tsp. vegetable oil
1 avocado
1 small roma tomato, diced
1 scallion, sliced
2 fajita size tortillas (corn or flour, use corn to make GF)

Preparation:
Place frying pan over medium heat.

Add vegetable oil. 

Meanwhile, spread avocado on one tortilla. 

Once vegetable oil is hot, place tortilla with avocado on heat.  Add diced tomato and scallion.

Place second tortilla on top of tomatoes and scallions.  

Once bottom tortilla is golden brown, flip quesadilla over.  

Cook until second tortilla is golden brown. 

Enjoy!

Recipe adapted from The Garden Grazer

Thai Curry Butternut Squash Soup

This soup was delicious!  It's perfect for fall and had just the right amount of spice!  I was a bit surprised that it was so filling being vegan, but I got a thumbs up from Matthew, which is the true test of how good vegetarian/vegan meals are.  The best part is that the spiciness can be modified for people who are a little more sensitive.  I served this with homemade bread for a great fall meal.

Thai Curry Butternut Squash Soup

Thai Curry Butternut Squash Soup

Ingredients:
2 Tbsp. vegetable oil
1 medium butternut squash, cubed (you of course may cheat and buy pre-cubed butternut squash which will greatly cut down on the labor of the soup)
1 onion, diced
4 cloves garlic, diced
1 Tbsp. Thai red curry paste (you can go more or less depending on your spice level, but this is very spicy)
1 (15 oz.) can coconut milk
3 cups vegetable broth
1 tsp. grated fresh ginger
1/2 lime, juiced
Salt
Pepper
Cilantro, for garnish

Preparation:
Place a large pot over medium-low heat.
Add vegetable oil.
Add onion and garlic and cook until translucent, about 4 minutes.
Add curry and ginger.  Stir until well-incorporated.
Raise the temperature to medium. Add vegetable stock and squash.  Cover and cook until squash is soft, about 20 minutes.
Take the pot off of heat.
Either use an immersion blender or carefully put into a blender and blend until a puree.
Add coconut milk, lime, salt, and pepper (to taste). Stir. Heat for another 5-10 minutes, until soup is hot.
Garnish with fresh cilantro.
Enjoy!

Recipe adapted from How Sweet It Is

Sweet Potato Black Bean Burgers

So, you guys know how much Matt and Alyssa like vegetarian things, especially if they're not covered in cheese.  But here I was, being so sneaky, I made homemade veggie burgers that were VEGAN.  No jokes.  Now, they weren't a huge hit, but they were eaten.  So, I will take a victory where I can get it.  I will say, that I thought they were pretty good, though a little mushy.  Probably because I didn't wait long enough for them to crisp in the oil, but I was hungry!  Oh well, they were tasty!

Also, I made mine vegetarian by putting some tzatziki on top, but Alyssa and Matt had onion, avocado, and mustard for my vegan friends.  

Sweet Potato Black Bean Burger

Sweet Potato Black Bean Burgers

Ingredients:

1 large sweet potato, cooked and skinned

1 can black beans, drained

1 Tbsp. tahini

1/8 cup flour

1 tsp. lemon pepper

1/4 tsp. cayenne

Panko bread crumbs (I'm not sure how much I used, I filled up a plate and used most)

2 Tbsp. olive oil

Toppings: avocado, onion, tzatziki, whatever you want

Preparation:

Mash potato and beans together in a large mixing bowl. 

Add tahini, lemon pepper, cayenne, and flour.  If mixture is loose, add more flour until a consistency you can form into a patty.  Place patty into bread crumbs to coat. 

Heat olive oil in large pan over medium heat.  

Place patties into pan and cook until golden brown on first side.  Flip until golden brown on the other side.  

Serve topped with avocado and onions on a roll.  

Enjoy!

Recipe adapted from Healthy.Happy.Life.

Applesauce

Apparently Matt and Alyssa didn't know that the apples on the counter were ours, so they were getting pretty mushy by the time they asked.  They were a little too bruised to eat raw, so I decided to bake with them.  Along with apple crisp, I decided to make some applesauce.  My issue was that all the recipes I could find were for giant quantities of apples... like thirty!  I finally found this one, and I used about seven apples to make a small batch.  

Applesauce

Applesauce

Ingredients: 
About seven small apples, peeled and cored
1 cinnamon stick
3/4 cup water
1 Tbsp. lemon juice
2 Tbsp. orange juice
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 Tbsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ground ginger

Preparation: 
Add all ingredients to medium stock pot over high heat, stirring occasionally.  Bring to a simmer.
Turn heat to low and cover.  Cook about 20 minutes, or until apples are very soft.
Turn off heat and remove cinnamon stick.
Enjoy!

Recipe adapted from The Kitchn

Thai Red Coconut Curry

I love Thai food.  It is delicious.  I tend not to cook it that much, but only because I usually don't have the ingredients.  That all changed last week though when coconut milk was on sale.  Boom.  Thai food.
Also, as a note, I made this with chicken, but this can be made easily into a vegetarian/vegan dish with the addition of tofu and/or more vegetables.

Thai Red Coconut Curry

Thai Red Coconut Curry

Ingredients:
1 Tbsp. oil
1 lb. chicken breast, cut into bite-sized pieces
1 red pepper, cut into bite-sized pieces
1 bay leaf
1 15 oz. can coconut milk
*1 Tbsp. red curry paste (or more, depending on how spicy you want it)
**Other optional ingredients: tofu, eggplant, etc.

Preparation:
Heat oil in skillet over medium heat.  Add chicken.  Saute until almost cooked.  Add the rest of the ingredients.  Simmer over medium-low heat until desired spiciness.
Serve over jasmine rice.

Recipe Adapted from At the Corner of Happy and Harried

*Red Curry Paste can be found at Asian specialty stores

Beer-Battered Fish

I found a recipe for beer batter awhile back on Pinterest and thought, "Hey!  I could do that," so tonight, I did.  You could use this recipe as a base beer batter for anything you feel like cooking- onion rings, fish, chicken, green bean fries, etc... it's very yummy, plus then my vegetarian friends can get in on this!
The recipe itself was very good, though I did change it a bit, however the actual cooking of the fish was only okay.
If I had deep-fried it, everything would have been fine.  I tried to be a little healthier and pan-fried it instead.  That also probably would have been fine, except the fish was still a bit frozen, so I had to flip it more times than I intended and it kind of fell apart.  Oh well, it still tasted damn good.
I also halved the recipe and it is a good thing I did!  I coated two large pieces of cod as well as a pound of green beans in the stuff and had quite a bit leftover.  If you are cooking for a small army, perfect!

Beer Batter

Beer-Battered Fish

Beer-Battered Fish

Ingredients: 
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. black pepper
1 tsp. paprika
1 tsp. garlic powder
1 1/8 cup beer, plus more for correct consistancy
4 large white fish filets, such as cod
Vegetable oil, for frying

Preparation:
In a medium bowl, add flour, salt, black pepper, paprika, and garlic.  Mix well.
Add beer.  Whisk.
If mixture is too dry (mine was!) add beer until the consistency of a batter.
Add about 2 Tbsp. oil to large skillet over medium-high heat.  Coat two fish in batter.  Add to pan.  Cook until golden brown on one side, flip until golden brown on the other side.  Set aside to a plate.  Cover.  Add 2 more Tbsp. oil to skillet and add battered fish.  Repeat.
Enjoy!

Recipe Adapted from Buzzle

Chocolate Pumpkin Cookies

These cookies are vegan!  This was one of the deserts we made for our dinner party!  (Good thing, they offset my Bacon Cheeseburger Dip!)  I was a little skeptical about vegan cookies... I mean how could we make them without eggs or milk?  However, these turned out much better than I expected!  Yum!

Chocolate Pumpkin Cookies

All right, so these look gross in the picture, but I promise they're delicious!

Chocolate Pumpkin Cookies

Ingredients

Dough:

3/4 Cup flour

6 Tbsp. plus 1 tsp. cocoa powder

scant 1/4 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. baking soda

1/4 Cup plus 2 Tbsp. sugar

2 Tbsp. agave nectar

2 Tbsp. soy milk

1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

3 Tbsp. plus 1 tsp. oil 

Filling:

3 Tbsp. pureed pumpkin

3 Tbsp. peanutbutter

1/4 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 Tbsp. sugar

1/8 tsp. vanilla extract

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 330 degrees

Combine all ingredients for dough in a bowl and mix well.  

In separate bowl, combine filling ingredients. 

Roll dough into small balls and flatten.

Place a small scoop of the filling in the center of the dough and fold up the sides and fold around the filling.  Bake for about 10 minutes. 

Let stand 10 minutes.  

Enjoy!

Recipe adapted from Shape Magazine

Quick Pickled Cucumbers

Cucumbers are not my favorite vegetable.  Actually, I almost never eat them unless they are in something.  Actually, I always pick them out and only eat them in tzatziki and as pickles.  Oh well, I like other vegetables, so give me a break!  However when I was home, my uncle gave me a bunch of vegetables from his garden and that included two cucumbers.  When I got back to my apartment, I thought, what in the world do I do with these?  One became tzatziki and the other was turned into this delicious Asian-inspired recipe for Quick Pickled Cucumbers.  Yum!  I thought they would be a nice light addition to my stir fry!

Soaking in all their glory!

Quick Pickled Cucumbers

Quick Pickled Cucumbers:

Ingredients:
1/3 cup water
1/4 cup cider vinegar
1 teaspoon sugar
1 clove minced garlic
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
1 thinly sliced english cucumber

Preparation:
Combine all ingredients except cucumber in a small saucepan; bring to a boil. Remove from heat; add cucumber.  Let stand 30 minutes (or longer for deeper flavor).  Drain.
Enjoy!

Source: Cooking Light

Coleslaw

This is my favorite coleslaw.  It's vegan (plus!) and it's just plain delicious!  I make this all the time in the summer, and this recipe is nice because I often halve the recipe for just Matt and I and then throw the rest of the coleslaw shreds into a stir fry. 

Coleslaw 

Coleslaw

Ingredients:
2 Tbsp. dijon mustard
2 Tbsp. lemon juice
1 clove garlic, minced
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 bag (or 6 cups) shredded cabbage
1 red pepper, diced
1/3 cup scallions, chopped
1/4 cup parsley, chopped
Salt and pepper

Preparation:
Make the dressing first by combining the mustard, lemon juice, and garlic.  Add the oil a little at a time, whisking continuously until combined.
Add cabbage, pepper, and scallions to a large bowl.  Add the dressing and toss to combine.  Sprinkle with pepper and salt.
Refrigerate at least 1 hour to let flavors mellow and cabbage to soften.
Toss with parsley just before serving.
Enjoy!

Recipe adapted from How to Cook Everything by Mark Bittman