Cucumber tomato salad

 

 

Last night was my night to cook and with working these days I try to find things that taste good yet doesn't take me forever to prepare.  This is a quick light salad packed with lots of flavor.  I made bratwurst, roasted green beans and potato salad to go with this salad.  For dessert we had a selection of fruits.  Give this salad a try, I think you'll really enjoy it.

These photo's were taken with my new Canon camera, just love it.  Bought it for our trip to New Orleans, it takes wonderful pictures.  It's a canon S120.  Takes awesome video too.  Will share some of the pictures from New Orleans shortly.

Ingredients

3 tablespoons white wine vinegar
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon sugar
3 cucumbers, peeled and thinly sliced (about 2 lbs)
1 (10 oz) container grape tomatoes, sliced in half
1/2 medium Vidalia onion, very thinly sliced into half moons
2 tablespoons dill, chopped
kosher salt, to taste
black pepper, freshly ground, to taste


In a large bowl, whisk together the vinegar, olive oil and sugar.

Slice the onions and place them in a bowl with ice and water, let soak for about 10 minutes, this will take the bite out of them.  Peel the cucumbers, cut in half and then scoop out the seeds.  Slice.  I cut the cherry tomatoes in circles.

Toss in the cucumbers, tomatoes, onion and dill, and season with salt and pepper. Let marinate at room temperature for 20 minutes before serving.

Thanks for stopping by, have a wonderful weekend and Always rememeber to Find the Time to Do ALL the Things YOU L♥ve.
D♥nna

BLT Strudel

Another dish from our weekly game.  I found this recipe here, she has a wonderful site, so if you haven't paid her a visit you need to put it on your to do list.  I've found many recipes that I will be trying.
This is a great brunch idea (we had it for lunch, though)  And really you could make any combo filling you like.  Also this would be a great Holiday recipe, because you can make the filling the day ahead.  I think this will go on the list for Christmas Morning Breakfast.

 Printable
BLT Strudel
from Paula Deen's Best Dishes 2011

12 large eggs, divided
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1 pound bacon, chopped
1 6-ounce package fresh baby spinach
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup shredded Swiss cheese
1 cup chopped seeded tomato
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 17.3-ounce package frozen puff pastry, thawed

Crack 11 of the eggs in a large bowl and whisk them with the mayonnaise until smooth. Set aside.

Heat a large skillet over medium heat and add the bacon. Cook until crisp, then remove it with a slotted spoon to a plate lined with paper towels. Drain all but 1 tablespoon bacon drippings from the skillet.

To the remaining bacon drippings, add the spinach and garlic and saute until the spinach is wilted, approximately 1-2 minutes. Add the eggs and cook until they are set but not dry, stirring occasionally.

Remove the skillet from heat. Stir in the cooked bacon, tomato, cheese and salt. Transfer the egg mixture to a medium bowl. Cover and chill for 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 400. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.

Roll one sheet of puff pastry to 12x10-inches on a lightly floured surface. Spoon half of the egg mixture down the long center of the pastry, leaving 3 inches on either side and one inch at the ends.  Using a very sharp knife, cut the pastry's 3-inch side borders into 1-inch strips. Crisscross the strips over the filling to make a weave look.

Transfer the strudel to one side of the baking sheet. Repeat the process with the other puff pastry and the rest of the egg mixture.

Whisk the last egg in a small bowl and brush it over both strudels. Then put the baking sheet in the oven and bake for 30 minutes or until the pastry is golden brown.
Just out of the oven

 One of these fed 3.  My friend Micheal is a real good eater.  But I would say that you could feed 4 and maybe 1 small child.
Thanks for taking time from you busy day to stop by.  Have a wonderful day and Remember to Find the Time to Do  ALL the things YOU Love.
Donna

Green Chilli Pizza

Recently we celebrated yet another birthday. This was JR's birthday, I call him my adopted son. :) On birthdays we celebrate by either cooking a meal requested by the birthday person or going out to eat at their place of choice. It's all up to them. So JR said he wanted me to make Pizza, everyone love's my Pizza.......me too! :-) My daughter has made this version before and last time JR and I had pizza together I made this for him and he really liked it. I don't care for things that are hot or spicy but my family and some friends do. They all say this has a wonderful flavor, so hopefully you'll try it and let me know. There's really nothing hard about this recipe. Just make the dough and then add your toppings. I usually make my dough the day before so it has time to sit in the refrigerator. This dough freezes well also. I use provolone and mozzarella cheese on my pizzas I never use shredded cheese.
Printable
Dough:
1 1/2 cups warm water
2 tsp. yeast
2 tsp. sugar
1 tsp salt
1 tsp olive oil
2 3/4 cups bread, ap or high gluten flour
1/2 cup semolina flour
1 small can green chilli's diced (or a couple of Anaheim peppers roasted and chopped or peppers of your choice for heat)
1 - 2 large fresh tomatoes sliced thin
3-4 slices of provolone cheese
3-5 slices mozzarella cheese
1 or 2 springs fresh basil chopped
oil for bowl
corn meal sprinkled on peel *if you have one*
If you don't have a peel, transfer your rolled out pizza dough, onto a large enough size piece of parchment paper then put all your topping on, then put the paper onto a cookies sheet turned upside down and slide it off onto the stone. After about 2 or 3 minutes pull out the paper and bake on the stone for the remaining time.

Dough
Add sugar to water mix well and get to temp *115, then add yeast and proof. When foamy add 1/2 the flour and the semolina flour and mix well. I use a Kitchen aide for all the mixing and kneading. Add the remaining flour until you get a soft and slightly wet dough. DO NOT add too much flour. If you have a dry dough it will affect the end result. Put dough in oiled bowl and let rise covered. Punch down when ready and either use the dough then or put it int he refrigerator for a day. It gives it so much more flavor if used the next day. Be sure to take the dough out 30 minutes before using. *You can also make into balls wrap separately and then freeze until you are ready to use them up to 6 months* If you do freeze be sure to take out the morning of, put in the refrigerator and then 30 minutes before you want to make it leave at room temp.
Roll out dough, Sprinkle just a little evoo then place thin sliced tomatoes around then top with chilli then the cheeses topped with basil. You can reverse the chilli and cheese if you like, no special way to build except for the oil and tomatoes goes first and basil last. Bake in hot oven 500 for about 12 minutes on pizza stone or unglazed quarry tiles, You can use a cookie sheet turn upside down or a pizza pan but you won't get the same flavors or good pizza affect.