Watermelon Lemonade

Prepare Fresca de Sandia as mentioned in the previous recipe and add fresh squeezed lemon to taste. If you're entertaining, it's fun to garnish with a slice of lemon and a wedge of watermelon. If not, you probably won't have enough time to garnish before you chug this down and make another glass.

Fresca de Sandia / Watermelon Juice

Depending on where you're from, this summery delight could be called Agua de Sandia, Fresca de Sandia, Jugo de Sandia. And in the end, it's all the same . . . delicious, refreshing, summer in a cup. I love summer's fruits that fill our pitchers with delicious, fresh "frescas" on a regular basis. My favorite is probably watermelon because I can make the most with it.


Slice Watermelon in half. Place the open side down (flat) and slice in half again. Now slice that half in half so you have a fourth. I like to slice that in half again and then cut the watermelon right along the curved line of seeds so that I can easily remove them. Place the large chunks of watermelon in the blender. Blend with sugar and water to taste.

1/2 Watermelon
Sugar to taste
Water

Most official recipes I've read online direct you to make a "syrup" out of the sugar and water because sugar granules don't dissolve well in cold water. In all my time amongst Latin-Americans (where this drink is like OJ on their breakfast table) I have never seen them do this. And quite frankly, I'm lazy.

Another tip I have learned from my in-laws is that they go to the market and buy all their fruit once a week. So, when they don't get around to eating it right away, they slice it up and freeze it to make "frescas" later. Sometimes they even slice it and freeze it right away if they know they will be making the fruit into juice. I'm following suit and right now I have strawberries, mangoes, pineapple, watermelon, and cucumber in my freezer just waiting to be turned into some delicious juice concoctions. More on that to come.

Vegetable Wheat Soup

We had this soup at a church activity a few weeks ago and my girls devoured it. I loved that it was packed with vegetables and was healthy and have made variations of it a couple times since then. Here's some general instructions to the best of my memory:

Cook 1-2 cups of wheat grains in a crockpot with plenty of water overnight.

In a large soup pot saute:

1/2 onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1-2 roma tomatoes, diced

Add:
3 stalks celery, chopped
4 carrots, chopped

Turn up heat and add:
Chicken Broth. Bring to a boil.
Add cooked wheat.

Just before all other vegetables are finished, add veggies that cook quickly and that you don't want to turn soggy:

I added 1-2 small zucchini, chopped.
a handful of chopped cilantro

On the second go-around, I didn't have zucchini, so I added broccoli instead. And it was delicious. I was also hesitant to add cilantro as I was taking some to a friend who I wasn't sure liked cilantro, so I substituted with parsley.

This soup can be so versatile. Add any veggie you prefer and it's delicious. And hearty. And healthy. And it's so light, I wouldn't even mind having it in the summer with a salad.

One last suggestion. The first time I made the wheat, I had plenty, so I put half in the soup and froze half of it. The next time I wanted to make it, I just threw in the frozen wheat and it thawed very quickly in the boiling water. It took a whole long step right out of the process.

Salsa Mexicana con Aguacate: Mexican Hot Salsa with Avocado

I have always loved me a good batch of fresh salsa on . . . anything. And generally would make a "pico-de-gallo" mild version. But since we've moved west, I have made friends who would laugh at the thought of eating something like my "fresh salsa." They say "sin chiles, no tiene sabor!" (without hot peppers, there's no flavor!) I do still appreciate the flavor blends of pico de gallo, but I think I am finally beginning to understand that hot peppers really do give flavor . . . they're not just meant to burn your lips and throat.

A neighbor taught me how to make this delicious salsa a few days ago and Armando and I are both hooked. The first [huge] batch only lasted about 3 days and I've made about 3 batches since then.

So, this is what you'll need:

About 10 roma tomatoes
10 dried chile de arbol (you can find this in the Mexican spice section of your local grocery store)
a bunch of cilantro
1-3 cloves of garlic
a thick slice of onion
3-4 avocados
Salt (to taste)

Place about 10 Roma tomatoes in a large pot with water.


Remove the stems from the dried chiles de arbol (my neighbor explained that if you leave these on, they leave a bitter taste).


Drop the tomatoes and chiles into a pot of boiling water and leave them in just long enough so that the skins break on the tomatoes.

Put a little cold water in the blender (around a cup). Then add all of the ingredients and chop/blend until you don't see big chunks of the chile pepper.

(Note that my pictures are of me blending two tomatoes and 1 chile at first . . . I was so chicken . . . so I blended the chiles separately and added them little by little until I realized that the expert that was teaching, indeed was right. The more chile pepper, the better. We ended up putting the rest in! That's right . . . 10 peppers with 10 tomatoes!)


The consistency should be about like this...quite watery I think with just a little tomato that remains on the spoon.

Now for some flavor boost: Cilantro. My friend instructed me on choosing quality cilantro - she said "the smaller, the better!" You don't want the larger, overgrown leaves because they are so much more bitter.
Chop a bunch. Leave out the stems.

Dice the avocado to your liking. I like chunkier. Armando likes smaller. It's all up to you. The second time around, I didn't have avocados, but I still made the salsa and we ate it all up.

Dump it all in.

Stir slightly.

Serve on just about anything.

I made some for my mom and she said, she'd just like to eat it as a cold soup. I like it with chips, tostadas, jicama, tacos, enchiladas hondureñas, you name it. No matter what you eat it with, it's delicious!

Peanut Butter Oatmeal Bars

This is an old favorite I dug out from the college cookbook archives. If my memory serves me correctly, my friend Kimberlee DeWitt gave me this recipe. She was the kind of neighbor that always had something homemade on her counter waiting for the next visitor. Let me tell you, this recipe was one worth knocking on her door for! They are soft, with a hearty oatmeal texture, the perfect amount of peanut butter and not too sweet.

Ingredients:

3/4 cup butter
3/4 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup peanut butter
3/4 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 c milk
2 1/2 cups flour
3 cups rolled oats or wheat
3/4 tsp baking soda

Cream together butters and sugars. Add eggs, vanilla, and milk. Mix dry ingredients in separate bowl and add gradually to wet ingredients. Drop mixture onto a greased and floured cookie sheet with sides:

Press onto the cookie sheet until all gaps are filled.

Bake at 350 for 15 minutes.

While the bars are cooling make icing:

Frosting Ingredients:
1/2 cup peanut butter
2 cups powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla
milk to desired consistency

Stir together.

And stir a little more til it's creamy and smooth.

Drop onto bars. The original recipe says to let it cool. I personally like to drop it on while they are still warm.

Spread icing evenly.

And then try to eat only one.

Good luck!

Orange Avocado Salsa

I stumbled across this recipes a few years ago, made it in the same day and it has remained among our favorite to garnish fish tacos. The mix of flavors and the exploding citrus makes it perfect for fish.

Ingredients:

1 Tbsp fresh lime juice
1 Tsp honey
Coarse salt and ground pepper
2 large navel oranges
1 firm, ripe avocado, pitted and diced
1/4 cup finely chopped red onion

In a medium bowl, whisk lime juice and honey until combined. Season with salt and pepper; set aside. Slice off both ends of each orange. Following the curve of the fruit, slice away peel and white pith. Cut oranges into quarters lengthwise; slice sections crosswise into 1/4-inch thick pieces. Transfer to bowl along with onion and avocado; toss gently to coat with dressing. (Make sure not to stir this up too much or the avocados will fall apart. The mix of the honey and lime with the pepper on the oranges is absolutely divine!) Set aside to serve.

Taco Soup

Apologies up front for no specific measurements. It's a recipe that's changed over the years from Mom's chili to Daisy's version of Taco Soup.

Brown a pound of hamburger with diced onion, garlic, plenty of cumin, salt, pepper, and chili powder.

Add beef broth (enough to make it like a soup, beans (I use black-canned or homemade are great), a can of diced or stewed tomatoes, corn (I like to use frozen), sliced olives, green chiles and let it simmer to blend flavors. Taste to see if it has enough seasoning.

Oh, if you have a ranch dressing packet on hand, its delish in this dish. Shhhh. That's supposed to be the "secret." (wink. wink.)

Garnish with any combination of shredded cheese, sour cream, avocado, fresh cilantro, and lots of corn chips. It tastes even better when you share it with friends.