I made a couple quarts of applesauce today, and it took about 10 minutes of my time, and about 45 minutes of cooking time. I used slightly tart Jonathan apples, and sliced them with my trusty corer (above). If you leave the skins on, it’s super fast. Plus the skins make the applesauce pink which is very fun. Clean, core, cook, and enjoy. Home made applesauce is way tastier than store bought — flavorful and fresh!

Here’s how to make it:

Chop and combine the following veggies, all measurements are approximate.

• 1 cup red cabbage slices
• 1 cup green cabbage slices
• 1-2 carrots
• 1/2 cup cilantro
• 2 tbs black sesame sees (optional)

Then mix in the following flavors, again all is approximate.

• 2+ tbs olive oil
• 1-2 tbs rice vinegar
• scant 1 tsp honey or agave
• salt and pepper to taste

Let the mixture mingle for about 1/2 hour before serving. This will keep for a few days in the fridge.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup quinoa
• 2 cups water or vegetable broth (vegetable broth will add more flavor)
• 1 tsp very thinly sliced red onion
• 1/2 cup chopped bell peppers (red, green, yellow)
• 1/4 cup chopped tomato
• 1 cup fresh baby spinach (or chopped regular spinach)
• 2 tbs olive oil
• 1 tsp cumin (Be forewarned, this salad is generous on cumin. If you’re not a fan, you can scale it back.)
• juice of 1 lime
• salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Rinse quinoa and remove any debris or discolored grains.
2. Add quinoa plus liquid (either water or broth) to pot. Bring to a boil and then simmer for approx 15 minutes or until liquid is absorbed.
3. Meanwhile, combine olive oil, lime juice, cumin, peppers, onion and tomato and set aside. (This is all the ingredients except the spinach.)
4. After quinoa is cooked, move to colander and set aside to cool.
5. Combine warm quinoa, bowl of spices and veggies and spinach. Mix well.

Note: Let the quinoa cool based on your preference for crisp spinach or wilted spinach or somewhere in between. I like my spinach ever so slightly wilted, and I let the quinoa cool for about 7-8 minutes before combining with the spinach, so the heat from the quinoa can soften it up just a little.

So I decided to get crazy. (I’m on the 4th night of my husband being away, after all.)

I started with this. (looks pretty good, huh?)

I split it in half, dropped a little bit of oil on each side, and sprinkled salt and pepper. Then off to the grill it went.

Success! It was easy and yummy.

side note: Beside the eggplant is a ground turkey burger I pulled out of the freezer. I stole this recipe from Whole Foods. One day they were grilling these burgers in their parking lot. And they are so nice about listing the ingredients for everything. So I got out my pen. To the best of my memory, it’s:

• ground white meat turkey
• green curry paste (about 2 T. per pound)
• coconut milk (to keep it moist)
• cilantro
• green onion
• lime juice

I over-cooked the turkey burger, so I poured some left over pesto over it.

Ingredients:

• white potatoes (1 large)
• sweet potatoes (1 medium-large)
• hard boiled eggs (2-3)
• mayo (2-3 tbs) — I use Hain’s Safflower mayo, which is dairy-free.
• brown mustard (1 tbs)
• fresh chives (1 tbs)
• fresh parsley (1 tbs)
• capers (1 tbs)

Directions:

1. Peel potatoes. Cover with water, boil and cook until soft.
2. Drain and set aside to cool.
3. Hard boil eggs. (I place eggs in boiling water, cook for 12 minutes. Remove and immediately place eggs in ice water.)
4. Chop herbs. Put herbs, mustard, mayo, capers in a mixing bowl.
5.  Add potatoes to the herb mixture and mix well.
6. Chop eggs (in quarters or eights), add to mixture and lightly mix.

This is tasty when warm, or after refrigerated. You can easily double or triple this if you’re taking it to a picnic or family reunion.

Ingredients:

• potatoes
• onion
• olive oil (or butter, if that’s your thing)
• balsamic vinegar (optional, but recommended if you go the olive oil route)
• salt & pepper

Preparation:

1. Peel and quarter the potatoes. (They’ll cook way faster in chunks, rather than a whole potato, plus it makes it easier to share.)
2. Reassemble the potato on a piece of foil.
3. Insert onion slices between the potato parts.
4. Splash with olive oil and a tiny bit of vinegar. Or insert a pat of butter in the center of the potato.
5. Sprinkle salt and pepper all over the potatoes.
6. Wrap in foil and put on the grill.

They usually take about 25-30 minutes, which is usually longer than burgers or other grillables. So get them on first! If you’re not sure if they’re cooked, pierce them with a fork. If the fork goes in easily, they’re ready.

Ingredients (all measurements are approximate, use your intuition):

• 3-4 cups green cabbage (shredded)
• optional: 1 cup purple cabbage (Purple cabbage has a much stronger flavor than green.)
  
• 2 carrots
• 1/2 cup parsley
• scant 1/4 cup mayo (Hain’s safflower mayo is dairy-free)
• 1 tbs olive oil
• 1 tsp fresh lemon juice
• 1 tsp brown mustard
• 1/2 tsp honey
• salt

Very thinly slice the cabbage, then chop the thin slices. Do the same for the carrots. Finely chop the parsley. Put all the sauces & spices in the bowl with the veggies and mix thoroughly. This coleslaw will last for several days.

Pressure cooker filled with white beans and water, with sage leaves and garlic on top. The sage is tri-colored sage from my herb garden.

Ingredients (all measurements are approximate):

• White beans (1 1/2 or 2 cups)
• Fresh Sage (12-15 leaves)
• Garlic (5 cloves)
• Parsley (1/4 cup)
• Olive Oil (3 tbs)
• Green Onions (2)
• Lemon (1 tsp)
• Honey (1/2 tsp)
• Vinegar (1 tsp)
• Brown Mustard (1 tsp)
• Salt & Pepper

Part One:

1. Rinse beans and remove any ugly beans or hard debris.
2. Add to pressure cooker and cover with water about 3 inches above the level of the beans.
3. Peel and coarsely chop 5 garlic cloves, add to pot.
4. Add sage leaves.
5. Add 1 tbs olive oil.
6. Seal pressure cooker and cook for 60 minutes.
7. When cooked, empty the excess water and discard the sage. (Leave the garlic.)

Part Two:

1. Add lemon juice, 2 tbs olive oil, lemon, honey, vinegar and mustard to large bowl.
2. Add a dash of pepper, and some salt (approx 1 tsp).
3. Finely chop green onions and parsley and add to bowl.
4. Mix well.
5. Add the beans and stir to coat.

The beans are especially tasty when served still warm, but can be enjoyed at any temperature. Rich and buttery (without butter!), great side for any season.

Tomato/Mozzarella Salad
4 ripe roma tomatoes, sliced 1/4-inch slices
4 balls of fresh whole mozzarella, sliced 1/4-inch slices
Fresh Basil
Balsamic Vinegar
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Salt and pepper to taste

Arrange tomatoes, cheese and basil in alternating order around serving plate. Lightly drizzle oil and vinegar and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Serves 4.

One of our favorite recipes during the cooler months is my roasted new potatoes recipe. It’s simple, healthy and can be prepared quickly and best of all, everybody loves it. I serve this as a side dish to grilled cherry-chipotle chicken breasts and fresh from the garden steamed asparagus.

Roasted New Potatoes

1lb small red potatoes (may substitute any fingerling)
extra virgin olive oil
kosher salt
fresh cracked black pepper
4-5 sprigs of fresh rosemary

Preheat oven to 400°. Wash potatoes and remove any bad spots. Slice each potato in half so that all pieces are approximately the same size to promote even cooking. In a 9X13 glass dish, evenly distribute the potatoes. Drizzle olive oil over potatoes sparringly, just enough to coat. Toss. Season with kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper. Top with rosemary sprigs. Cover dish with aluminum foil and place into oven for 50 minutes. Remove foil, toss potatoes and continue to bake for an additional 12-15 minutes until potatoes are slightly golden brown. Enjoy.