Spiced Up Cornbread For Red Gold's Summer Grilling Event {Through 7/23/14}

**Disclosure: We received products in order to facilitate a review and recipe. No compensation was received. All opinions are 100% my own.

While shopping at the grocery store and picking up a few things for the kitchen, I am sure that you often see cans of Red Gold. Well, did you know that Red Gold is from Indiana? Red Gold is a family company launched in 1942 that has been packing Midwest tomatoes ever since. Pretty neat, huh? Well, this summer Red Gold is holding its second Summer Grilling Party over on Facebook with recipes and giveaways! Many winners will win a festive Red Gold apron and one lucky winner will win a Big Green Egg Grill and a Red Gold grill pack! Awesome! The giveaway is going on through July 23!

Red Gold did provide me with some delightful tomatoes to try out--- Red Gold Diced & Green Chilies, Chili Ready, Basil Garlic and Oregano, Lime & Cilantro and Diced Tomatoes. Bet you didn't know they had so many varieties! The Red Gold Diced & Green Chilies inspired me to make an amped up cornbread. I have seen a number of spicy cornbread recipes in the past but have never tried one myself. This week seemed like the perfect opportunity and the result was a lovely cornbread with a nice bit of edge!

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Salads Perfect for your BBQ!

Greek Inspired Barley Salad

I am sure everyone has summer BBQs on the mind. I thought that I would do a little round up of the salads we have featured on the blog in one post for anyone needing inspiration. BBQs are certainly fun with a number of festive salads to sample! Hope everyone has some great BBQs this year!


Greek Inspired Barley Salad {with feta, of course}
Dijon Potato Salad {one of my faves}
White Bean Salad {naturally colorful}
Pineapple-Sage Relish {versatile--can be eaten with grilled meat or fish or even on its own}
Quinoa Tabbouleh Salad {enjoying a superfood}
Chicken Avocado Salad {a new spin on some favorites}
Spontaneous Slaw {super easy}
Watermelon Cucumber Salad {having fun with watermelon}
 

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Watermelon Cucumber Salad {Munchie Monday}

We had a surprisingly tasty watermelon salad during a recent date night. After devouring it, I knew that I had to try to replicate it. This evening, my husband and I came up with this easy and refreshing recipe. Perfect for picnics!

Ingredients:

1-1.5 cups watermelon, cubed with seeds removed
1/2 cup cucumber, cut into thin wedges
1 radish, sliced very thin
1/4 cup + 1 Tbsp rice wine vinegar
1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 Tbsp honey
1/4 tsp fresh dill

Directions:

Whisk together rice wine vinegar, olive oil, honey and dill. Place prepared watermelon, cucumber and radish in large bowl. Add dressing and toss. You are ready to serve! Very easy!

**Tip: Measure olive oil with tablespoon first. Then, use the same tablespoon to measure out the honey. It will not stick!

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Cucumber-Lime Water {Munchie Monday}

Last night I went to bed thinking that I had forgotten something. Then, it occurred to me----I had forgotten the Munchie Monday post! With all of the nice weather, I have been starting to lose track of the days. I will probably have no concept of time before Summer Break even starts!

To go with the beautiful weather, my post this week is for a refreshing, lightly flavored water. Some of my flavors of the moment happen to be lime and cucumber. It is amazingly easy to freshen up your water a bit with just a little fruit! We have only been flavoring our water this way over the past year or so. I am kicking myself for not doing it sooner!

Ingredients:

cold water
1 lime
1/2 cucumber (we used an English cucumber)

Directions:

Juice your lime. Then, rinse and slice your cucumber. Slices should be about 1/4 inch thick. Put the lime juice and cucumber slices in a pitcher. Fill the pitcher with water. Then, refrigerate for a few hours to let the flavors mix and diffuse.
 

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Asparagus and Lemon Risotto from Cooking Light {Munchie Monday}

Tonight, we tried the Asparagus and Lemon Risotto recipe from Cooking Light and really enjoyed it. I was not sure how I was going to like the lemon. However, I found it pretty refreshing and it went well with the asparagus.

We followed the recipe pretty much entirely. I did drop the butter down to 1 Tbsp. We only had 2 cups of vegetable broth, so I changed the 3 cups of chicken broth to 2 cups vegetable broth and 1 cup of water.

The recipe was pretty easy. The only complaint that I have is that the entire dish is made in the microwave. We made the risotto in the microwave for the first time but will try stove top the next time. I am always worried about the glass in the microwave even if the glass is microwave safe. Plus, I feel like the flavors meld better on the stove top.

One recommendation---definitely add a little freshly ground black pepper. My husband and I both think that the dish did not need any additional salt, so you can probably omit extra salt from the recipe. Also, I think that mushrooms would also be a nice addition.

Here is a look:

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Avocado Cumin Mashed Potatoes {Munchie Monday}

Our recipe for this week is a special one! We received Klondike Rose potatoes from Klondike Brands and Johnny's Seasoning Salt from Johnny's Fine Foods in order to develop a recipe. I have been thinking about making a mashed potato recipe using avocado as a healthy fat alternative, so I thought this would be a great time to try it out!

Look at our beautiful potatoes:

The Klondike Rose potatoes have a nice, thin red skin and a soft, creamy flesh which makes them easy to work with. The resulting mashed potatoes were nice and fluffy-the perfect consistency.  Johnny's Seasoning Salt has some paprika in it, so it has a little kick. I thought that Johnny's Seasoning Salt would be perfect to add a little something extra to these mashed potatoes.

Ingredients:

3 large Klondike Rose potatoes
1/2 ripe avocado
1/4 cup low fat milk
juice of 1 lime
1/2 tsp Johnny's Seasoning Salt
1 tsp chili powder
1/4 tsp cumin

Directions:

First, set a pot of water to boil. Make sure there is enough water in the pot to cover your potatoes and add a little salt to raise the boiling temperature a little. While the water is heating up, clean your potatoes and peel the skins if you would like mashed potatoes without the skin. Then, quarter your potatoes. Remove the pot from heat and put in your potatoes. Next, heat your pot back up to boiling. Reduce heat to medium. Check your potatoes at about 20 minutes for doneness. If not done, heat a little longer and test them again.

Once your potatoes are done, drain them in a colander. Let the potatoes cool a little in a bowl. Assemble the remainder of your ingredients. Mash the potatoes a little with a potato masher. Then, mash in the avocado. Next, add your milk and lime juice and continue to mash until you have reached the desired consistency. Add the spices and stir or mash in. Time to serve. Yum!

**Disclosure: Products were received for the purpose of creating this recipe. No other compensation was received. All opinions are 100% our own.

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Greek Inspired Barley Salad

My husband recently stumbled on an Easy Greek Barley Salad recipe from the National Barley Foods Council. We are always looking for ways to sneak new grains into our diets. We also love recipes that we can put some extra vegetation into.  This recipe accomplishes both, so we gave it a try this weekend. We did make some changes to the recipe, so here is what we came up with: (Kuddos to my husband for making this yesterday so I didn't have to put dinner together!)

Ingredients:

1 cup pearl barley or whole grain barley
3 cups water
1 Tbsp olive oil
2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
2 Tbsp red wine vinegar
1 1/2 tsp fresh oregano
1/4 cup finely chopped red onion
1/4 cup red bell pepper, chopped
1/4-1/2 cup red cabbage, finely chopped
5 oz fat free feta
Salt
**possible addition: black olives

Directions:

In a medium saucepan, bring water with a little salt to a boil. Next, add your barley and return to a boil. Once boiling, reduce the heat to low. Cover and cook for approximately 45 minutes (50-55 minutes for whole grain barley). Barley should be tender and liquid absorbed. If there is a little fluid left once the barley is tender, you can pour it off.

In a bowl, whisk together olive oil, lemon juice, red wine vinegar, oregano, and 1/4 tsp of salt. Then, mix the dressing with the warm barley. Allow the mixture to cool. Stir in the remaining ingredients. Note: I tried the salad with red cabbage and I loved the addition. It added more color and crispness. My husband suggested adding black olives, which we will do next time.

This recipe makes 6 healthy servings. It is a great option for upcoming Super Bowl parties as well as luncheons and BBQs. By cutting the amount of olive oil in the original recipe as well as choosing fat free feta, we significantly lowered the fat content of this dish without losing the flavor!
 

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Summery Caprese Sandwiches

My husband and I absolutely love the Caprese Sandwiches at one of our favorite restaurants, Cooper's Hawk. When I ran across a recipe the other day, I thought, 'We have to make these!' This recipe would be a great one to use with goodies from the garden--it uses fresh basil and tomatoes.

The other night, my husband made the Caprese Sandwiches for dinner. Not only did I have a yummy dinner, but I didn't have to make it myself!

Here is the recipe adapted from one from My Recipes:

Ingredients:

4 slices sourdough bread
1 Tbsp olive oil
10 fresh basil leaves (rinsed)--we used Thai basil from the garden
1 medium sized, ripe tomato
4 oz fresh mozzarella, sliced to fit on sandwich
salt and pepper
Balsamic Vinegar

***The recipe calls for the sandwiches to be broiled. However, I negated the olive oil and baked one for myself today and it came out just fine!***

Brush one side of 2 pieces of bread with a little olive oil. Place it oil side down on a baking sheet. Layer with basil, tomato, and mozzarella. Sprinkle with a little salt and pepper. Put another bread slice on top of each sandwich. Brush with a little olive oil.

Broil sandwiches. Once the tops are golden brown, flip the sandwiches. Continue to broil until the "new" tops are golden brown and the cheese is melted.

**The original recipe did not call for balsamic. Once my sandwich was ready, I peeled off one slice of bread and drizzled some (ok, a lot) of balsamic on my sandwich. I think that the balsamic really brings it together!**

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