Avocado mango salsa or salad

When avocados and mangoes are both in season I love to make this salad/salsa. It is a great on its own or as a side. It just depends on how much you make. You can use any type of chile peppers, I would recommend experimenting - half a habanero is yummy, red jalapenos make it more colorful, just use what tastes good to you. The same goes with onions, sometimes I use green onions, I prefer red onions, but sometimes all I have in the house is the workhorse yellow.

avocado, mango, onion, serrano, lime, salt (cilantro is optional)

mince your onions and chiles

peel and score your mango for easy cutting

don't peel but score your avocado for easy cutting

just gently squeeze the avocado out of the shell

add salt

and lime to taste and mix - add cilantro here if using

and enjoy as part of a healthy taco night

Mangoes and avocados best friends forever!

Pickled onions

Pickled onions are now another of our new favorite condiments. These are quick and easy to make and they taste great on just about everything. I like to keep have a jar on hand. I have made other versions before, but this one is the best yet. As usual, a recipe from Food and Wine.

onions, vinegar, sugar, allspice, cloves, bay, pepper, and mustard

mix vinegar with spices

add sugar and cook over low heat

until sugar is completely dissolved

thinly slice your onions

add to cooled mixture

let marinate at least three days

Eat on everything!

Winter soup

I know just in time for spring, but I made this last week when we had over a foot of snow. This is a recipe from food and wine for a Nordic soup using winter vegetables. It was one of those recipes where I could read the recipe and tell we were going to like it, so I documented it. It was very yummy and I think you can use other root vegetables, I just wouldn't use potatoes or sweet potatoes since they add too much starch to the broth. The multi-onion base makes the soup.

leeks, onions, garlic, parsnips, celery root, barley, spinach, oil, nutmeg, salt and pepper

slice leeks and onions, mince garlic

saute in oil until softened

stir barley into the onions and cook a few minutes until toasty

cube parsnips and celery root (peel the celery root well)

add to base with bay leaves

add veggie stock (I used my concentrate cubes and water) and simmer until veggies are done

stir in spinach and a generous amount of nutmeg

cook until just wilted

serve with homemade crusty bread

Very satisfying on a cold day.

Onion dip

This is what I make for hubbie as a dip/dressing because he can't eat any dairy. It is actually really yummy and far better than making lipton's onion dip with sour supreme. This can be made with regular sour cream and it can also be made vegan by using vegannaise, both of which I have done with much success.

The trick to this is to make it at least an hour in advance for the dried onions to hydrate and to use red onions for the fresh to give it the best flavor. I have tried other onions and red is definitely the way to go. I keep a jar of dried onion in the house just to make this recipe when the mood strikes.

sour supreme (or cream), mayonnaise (or vegannaise), soy sauce, dried onions, red onion

first add dried onions and finely diced red onion to the sour supreme

then add the mayo and soy sauce

stir it all really well

taste and decide a pinch of sugar is needed, then refrigerate for at least an hour

serve with un-buffalo wings, veggies, chips, etc

Onion-riffic!

Fire roasted salsa

The only thing that makes this harder than making pico de gallo is that you have to fire roast everything first, but if you already have a hot grill, it is easy. Since we like to maximize what we cook when we grill and fill the fridge with yummy leftovers for the rest of the week, this one was an easy one to do. I did add a fresh tomato to the two I roasted when I was making the salsa as the jalapeno was really, really spicy and I needed to cut the salsa a bit.

If you want to make pico de gallo skip the grill and just chop everything up instead of using the food processor and also add some cilantro.

tomatoes, onion, jalapeno, garlic, oil, and salt

grill peppers and tomatoes on a hot flame

and onion and garlic over cooler coals

drop it all into a blender with salt and oil

let her rip

serve with chips or in burritos or over enchiladas or with rellenos or in tacos...

We love salsa!

Potato salad

This is the potato salad I grew up with. We all love what we have known the longest. My grandmother makes this and I can eat other potato salad, especially a nice curried potato salad, but if I am making it. This is the recipe I invariably make.

potatoes, onions, mayo, vinegar, sugar, salt, and pepper

boil your potatoes skin on, and then peel when cool and chop

finely chop your onions, I threw in some chives from our garden

make your dressing, 1 pt vinegar, 1pt sugar, 2pts mayo

then you layer it, potatoes, onions, then dressing

then repeat with a second layer (I am not sure why but it works better this way)

mix it all up with some salt and pepper

refrigerate overnight and then salt to taste

serve with some yummy grilled veggie dogs or for any bbq type occasion

Enjoy!

Veggie hash

Who doesn't love a good hash. This is one of those throw together at the last minute recipes for me when I am scratching my head wondering what we are going to eat tonight. I always have potatoes and onions and oil and salt, so it is just a matter of checking the drawers and seeing what else I want to throw in to make it yummier. I try to stick with root vegetables for hash as they cook well together in the brown round as we call at the end when you are trying to crisp everything up. You can also use a beet or two for a traditional red-flannel hash. I didn't have any on hand.

potatoes, onions, oil, salt, paprika

chop potatoes into small pieces, and look I found some carrots and parsnips

start cooking the vegetables in oil on medium

dice your onion, hey look a hard boiled egg and some sad mushrooms

add onion to the pot and cook covered till potatoes start to soften

throw in the mushrooms if you have them and briefly cook covered

season with salt and paprika to taste
cook flipping in sections till crispy adding more oil if needed

I ate mine topped with chopped egg, ketchup, and tabasco

papa smurf went for tapatio and a over easy egg

A nice stick to your ribs breakfast.