Peach Salsa

So, every post I've done this month is about peaches. Peach season is just about over on Long Island, so this may be the last one. I'm sad to see them go, but you can expect apple posts in the near future as apple season has already arrived! And maybe I'll actually start cooking again, instead of spending all my time in the kitchen making desserts. Maybe.

Normally I'm a fan of spicy food, but I knew Logan would be eating this with me so I kept it mild. Add more jalapeños for an extra kick!

Peach Salsa

Serves 4

• 2 large white peaches, peeled and diced
• 1 cup of cherry tomatoes, diced
• 1/4 cup red onion, diced
• 1/4 cup chopped sweet pepper. Any variety of sweet pepper, like bell, will work.
• 1 small jalapeño, seeded and diced
• Juice from 1/2 a lime
• 1 Tbsp. cilantro

1. Combine all ingredients together in a bowl.
2. Let the salsa chill in the fridge for an hour or so before serving. 

Smashed Chickpea Avocado Salad

I've had very little time to cook lately, let alone blog about my kitchen creations. I've gone to back to work, and I'm starting to see the challenges of being a working mom. Logan is having a hard time dealing with me being gone, so when I'm home he's super clingy and doesn't let me get anything done!

Office with a view

My garden is taking a lot of my time also. I'm not sure what kind of gardening people refer to as "relaxing", but vegetable gardening isn't it. At least not when you're starting from the ground up, literally. I already have one existing 5 x 6 raised bed to work with, but I want bigger! With the help of the best dad in the world I built three 6 x 8 planting beds. After filling two of them with three yards of compost (that I filled myself!) and planting some seeds that withstand the cooler temperatures (not that we've been having any on Long Island) I finally have my garden going. It took me so long that it deserves it's own blog post, so maybe it will get one.

What I'm getting at here is that with all my time being expended in other areas, I've been looking for quick, easy recipes. I found just that with a mashed chickpea and avocado sandwich. It took only about 5 minutes to make, and my sandwich was assembled while the carrots for honey mustard carrots were steaming. It made for a light week night meal, and the leftovers were great for lunch the next day.

Smashed Chickpea Avocado Salad

Makes about 4 sandwiches

• 1 15 oz can of chickpeas, drained and rinsed
• 1 avocado
• Juice from 1 limes
• 1/4 cup of cilantro leaves
• 2 Tbsp. scallions
• Salt and pepper to taste.

1. Using a potato masher, mash the chickpeas and avocado together in a bowl.
2. Mix in the cilantro, scallions, salt and pepper.
3. Serve on your bread of choice with lettuce.

Southwestern Stuffed Spaghetti Squash

Ahh Pinterest, you've inspired me again. I was so set on making this, that I went to three different stores to find spaghetti squash. Even at the third store the only ones I found were pretty tiny, so I used two small ones. I hope this doesn't mean that it's done for the season! Winter squash may be one of the only good things about the cold weather. I deviated from the original recipe by eliminating cheese and using what I had on hand, so the ingredients are pretty flexible. 

Southwestern Stuffed Spaghetti Squash

Serves 2 as an entree, or 4 as a side

The cooked squash.

• 2 small spaghetti squash (or 1 large one, but only if you're making an entree for two people)
• 2 Tbsp. olive oil
• 1/2 red onion, chopped
• 3 garlic cloved, minced
• Loose handful of fresh spinach
• 1 jalapeno, seeded and chopped
• 1 red bell pepper, seeded and chopped
• 1 Tbsp. ground cumin
• 1 Tbsp. chili powder
• 1 15 oz. can of black beans
• 1 1/2 cups frozen corn kernels
• 1/2 cup of cilantro.
• Salt and pepper, to taste

1. Preheat the oven to 400º.
2. Roast the squash: Cut the squash in half and remove the seeds. Place cut side down on a baking sheet. Cook until easily pierced with a fork, 30 minutes for small squash and up to an hour for large squash.
3. In a skillet, saute the onion and garlic in oil.
4. Throw in the spinach, and saute until the leaves begin to wilt. 
5. Add the rest of the ingredients, except the cilantro and cook until everything is warm, about 15 minutes.
6. Add the cilantro and cook for another 5 minutes.
7. When the spaghetti squash is cool enough to handle, scrape out about half the flesh with a fork to create "spaghetti". 
8. Add the scraped spaghetti to the skillet, and mix with the rest of the ingredients.
9. Spoon the contents of the skillet into the cavities in the squash.
10. Serve immediately. 

Salsa

This salsa and I, it's love.

I found a salsa on Pinterest that used fire roasted tomatoes. How delicious does that sound? If I had more ambition/time/hands I would have roasted my own tomatoes, but I found a can at Pathmark, and it did the trick. The Pinterest recipe called other assortments of cans and jars, but I found fresh substitutes that worked, too. I found fun little peppers at a great little produce place in my neighborhood. I'm not sure what kind they are, the sign just said "mixed peppers", but they were a great addition to the salsa. They look like jalapenos, but are red, yellow and orange, and they're sweet. I guess any kind of sweet pepper would work here, so if you want to reproduce this recipe and can't find them, a bell pepper would do the trick. The great part about salsa is how versatile it is. You can add more of what you like, leave out what you don't, and experiment with different ingredients. I've tried other salsas before, but this one is my best to date. I've made it catered to my taste (more jalapeno and cilantro please!), and it's totally me.

Salsa

Makes 3 cups-ish

• 14.5 oz can of fire roasted tomatoes
• 2 tomatoes on the vine, diced
• 1/2 cup cilantro
• Juice of one lime
• 1 clove of garlic, minced
• 1/2 cup red onion, diced
• 1 jalapeno, seeded and diced
• 5 small mixed peppers (or 1 red bell pepper), seeded and diced
• 1/2 tsp. cumin
• 1/2 tsp. salt

1. Combine everything in a blender or food processor and blend until you've reached the desired consistency. 

The makings of a perfect salsa.

This jalapeno seeder was perfect for this recipe, and it's fun to use!

Blurry picture, but I liked the way everything looked layered in here. 

Tacos and Kumquats

Sounds dirty.

I tried my first kumquat the other day. Tiny, orange citrus fruits that taste as exotic as they sound. To eat, roll one between your fingers to release the oils, and pop the whole thing in your mouth. Before I googled this helpful bit of info, I thought you had to peel them. Big mistake. The pulp inside is so tart! After peeling a little bit off of the end, I squeezed the juice onto my tongue and was not prepared for that. I had to pass it around the table to Andrew and our two friends, who all made hysterical faces after trying the juice. Too bad I didn't have a camera ready! As tart as the inside is, it's balanced by the sweetness of the peel.


It's not my favorite fruit, but I had a whole package that I had to do something with. I googled recipes, none which sounded appetizing. The only one seeming palatable was a salsa, but even then I couldn't imagine it being appealing with chips. Tacos came to mind, so I got to work making kumquat salsa. Since I wanted a thicker, more simple version than the recipe online called for, I made some changes and had dinner made in about 10 minutes.

The salsa still had somewhat of a tart taste, but it was masked pretty well by the earthy flavors of cilantro and the sweetness of the pepper and red onion. The juice of the kumquats marinated everything together to create a delicious, unique blend. It tasted even better wrapped in a tortilla with refried beans. The original recipe had the kumquats sliced, but I had to dice them even further since they were kind of tough to chew. I've been known to put unconventional topping on tacos, but this salsa takes the cake.

Kumquat Salsa

Makes about 2 cups

• 2 cups of kumquats, sliced and diced
• 1/2 cup of red onion, diced
• 1/4 cup sweet red pepper, seeded and diced
• Loose handful of cilantro, chopped.

1. Mix everything together and let sit for at least an hour to blend the flavors. 
2. Serve over tacos with refried beans. 

Pumpkin Seed Cilantro Pesto

The mild weather we've been having this week really has me looking forward to summer. Traditional pesto is one of my favorite summer meals. I've been craving it, but fresh basil is hard to come by this time of year (summer please hurry!). A quick Internet search turned up a recipe for a pumpkin seed pesto. I didn't have all the ingredients, so I searched for a few more similar recipes and decided to combine them using what I already had.

The result was very interesting. At first all I could taste was the cilantro. Like swamp soup, this is a recipe for cilantro fans. After I few seconds I started to taste the pumpkin seeds. The nutritional yeast and garlic added a kick to the flavors to give this dish a unique taste. It's no basil pesto, but it'll do until I get those basil plants growing!

I planned on eating this with spaghetti squash, assuming I had one. It was actually a butternut squash that I had, so I served this over pasta instead. I ate this cold, but it was just as good warm when I ate the leftovers the next day.

Pumpkin Seed Cilantro Pesto

Makes 4 servings

• 2/3 cup raw pumpkin seeds
• 1 bunch of cilantro, thick stems removed
• 4 Tbsp. olive oil
• 1 Tbsp. nutritional yeast
• 1 garlic clove
• Dash of salt
• Roasted red peppers for garnish

1. Combine all ingredients (except the peppers) in a blender or food processor and blend until smooth.
2. Serve over pasta or spaghetti squash, and garnish with roasted red peppers and extra pumpkin seeds.

Swamp Soup

This soup tastes a lot better than it looks, I promise. I found it on a website listing it as a detox soup. I don't know how detoxifying it was, but it was very simple to make, tasted good, and is very healthy. You'll only be able to stomach this if you like cilantro. I absolutely love the stuff, and I put it in everything from quinoa to homemade tomato sauce. When my dad announced he didn't like it and thought it tasted like dirt, I was shocked. Not only because I've never heard him say he didn't like anything, but because who doesn't like cilantro? I just recently came across an article listing the 10 most polarizing foods,with cilantro topping the list. Apparently dad isn't the only cilantro hater. So if you're like my dad, steer clear of this recipe. If you are a fan of the leafy weed and are looking for a quick and healthy way to warm up this winter, go for it.

The ingredients are few and basic. Once you scoop the solids out of the pot and into the blender, the leftover broth can be saved, and reused later. Every time I steam veggies, I save the liquid left over underneath the steamer and freeze it in a large, glass container. I add vegetable scraps to it to, like the ends of carrot sticks and the skin from squash. When the container is full I throw in some fresh herbs like basil and thyme and put it back in the freezer. This is all used later as a vegetable stock. It tastes different each time so it adds an unpredictable variety to my cooking. The taste can always be adjusted when it's being thawed to your liking with other herbs and spices. Best of all, this helps me keep a New Year's resolution I made about reducing food waste. 

Swamp Soup

Makes about 3 servings

• 1 quart veggie stock
• 1 bunch swiss chard, stems and leaves chopped
• 2 zucchini, diced
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1 bunch of cilantro, chopped (leaves only)
• Juice from 1/2 lemon
• 1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper

1. Bring the stock to a boil in a large pot.
2. Add the swiss chard stalks and simmer covered for 4 minutes.
3. Add the swiss chard leaves, zucchini and salt and simmer covered for 4 minutes. 
4. Add the cilantro, lemon and cayenne, and cook for another minute.
5. Remove the solid veggies from the pot and into a blender with a slotted spoon.
6. Blend until everything is thoroughly mixed, and enjoy right away.