Category: Favorites

Ginger-Pecan Scones

Recipe here.

I absolutely love ginger, so these were a big hit (3 different kinds of ginger?  At the same time?  Yes, please!).  The fact that the batch makes 12 was a plus, as well.  We had 4 for breakfast one morning, shared some with parents and still had 4 to put in the freezer for another morning.  Highly recommend for ginger lovers.   The ginger flavor is pretty strong for people who aren’t ginger fans.  But, if you’re not a ginger fan, why would you even consider making a recipe that has three different kinds of ginger, anyway?

Awesome Salad (Arugula, Roasted Tomato, Gigante Bean, Sauteed Zucchini and Arugula)

Yum Yum Yum.

This is a concoction inspired by a salad that I had once at the Nordstrom Cafe.

Basically, just layer slow-roasted tomatoes (I made huge batches of these and keep them in ziploc bags in the freezer – they thaw in seconds and are great in salads, pastas, on bruschetta, etc.), sauteed zucchini, and gigante beans (I won’t tell if you substitute canned cannellini beans) on a bed of baby arugula.  Top with slivers of fresh basil and a little balsamic vinaigrette, if you’d like.  Shaved Parmesan (use a potato peeler) or leftover slices of steak would also be fantastic.  Serve with sliced, warm ciabatta bread.  Mmmm…wish I had some of this right now.

Vegetarian without the steak, vegan without the cheese (as shown).  Gluten-free without the bread, or with GF bread.

Blueberry-Banana Pancakes

Recipe here.

These were absolutely fantastic.  Seriously; you MUST try these.  You can’t have more than about three on the griddle at any one time, just because the bananas have to be pressed into the batter fairly quickly after getting the batter down and you have to move fast, but they’re wonderful.  They’re a little more labor-intensive than your average pancake recipe, but well worth it.  The tart blueberries are the perfect foil for the banana, which gets even sweeter as it cooks.

I didn’t want to have to worry about cutting the banana to fit the pancake and what to do with the leftover banana stumps, so I just made the pancakes large enough to accommodate a quarter of a banana each (the same length as half a banana, just split lengthwise, as well.)

Pumpkin Walnut Cranberry Quickbread

Recipe here.

This was a fantastic recipe.  It makes two loaves, so we nibbled on one for a couple of days and then sliced and froze the other, so that we could pull it out, as needed.  I wrapped the frozen slices individually, so that they kids could pull them out and take them to school (they thaw by snacktime.)

I used pecans, instead, because we prefer them to walnuts.

I’ll definitely be making this again.

Pizza Pancakes & Greek-style Lima beans

Pizza pancakes recipe here.  I left the pepperoni out and made a few “veggie” pancakes for Vegetarian Girl first, and then added the chopped pepperoni, for the rest of us.

Lima beans recipe here.

I’ve been making some weird things with pancakes lately, and this recipe is definitely weird, but it was quick and easy and very tasty.  We all really liked them.

The lima beans were even better.  They were outstanding.  I would NEVER have guessed that frozen lima beans would be so good, but they were fantastic and buttery.  I used a larger bag than the recipe called for and didn’t add the final tablespoonful of olive oil that the recipe called for, and I believe it was an improvement.  They would have been WAY too oily if prepared exactly according to the recipe.