Friday, September 10, 2010

Lemon Bars

Submitted by Melissa Maxwell


1 cup soft butter or margarine

1/2 cup powdered sugar

2 cups flour

Cream butter and sugar; add flour. Mixture should be pea-sized gravel looking for easiest spreading. Spread in 9 x 13" pan and pat down. Bake at 325 degrees for 15-20 minutes (until edges start to brown). While crust is baking, prepare next layer:

4 eggs

2 cups sugar

4 T. flour

4 T. lemon juice

Grated rind of 1 lemon

Beat eggs til foamy, then add sugar, flour, lemon juice and rind. Mix well and pour over hot crust after it comes from oven. Now bake for 15-20 minutes at 325 degrees. Remove from oven and sprinkle with powdered sugar (I put powdered sugar in a small strainer to sprinkle over the top). Cool slightly before cutting.

You can do half the recipe in an 8x8 pan, but it's never enough. Also, this crust works for raspberry bars, putting thinned raspberry jam over the crust and sprinkling some of the crust mixture over the jam.

Orange Cranberry Granola

Submitted by Mandi Cooper



4 cups oats

3/4 cup wheat germ or Grapenuts cereal

3/4 c sliced almonds or other nuts

1 cup shredded coconut

1 cup dried cranberries



Mix together in a big bowl. In a saucepan (or in the microwave), bring the following ingredients to a boil:


1 cup honey

1/2 cup orange juice

1 tsp shredded orange peel

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp cinnamon



Pour sauce over the dry mixture. Stir to coat evenly. Spread evenly on a baking sheet. Bake at 300 for 30-45 minutes, stirring occasionally. Cool at room temperature.

Greek Couscous

Submitted by Emily Daniel

1 1/2 C Couscous (I used white, but next time I'm going to try a mix of white and wheat)


2 1/4 C Chicken Broth

1 can garbanzo beans

1/2 C Feta Cheese, crumbled

diced tomatoes

diced cucumber

diced red bell pepper

fresh basil, parsley and oregano, minced

Sea Salt and Cracked Pepper

Fresh Lemon juice

Greek Vinaigrette



Bring chicken broth to a boil and add couscous. Remove from heat. Cover and let sit for 5 minutes. Fluff thoroughly with a fork and refrigerate. When couscous is cold, toss with drained and rinsed garbanzo beans, feta, vegetables, and herbs. Squeeze juice of half a lemon and salt and pepper to taste. Next time I'll try adding a little Greek Vinaigrette for a little more flavor. But it was delicious anyway!

Fruity Pasta Salad

Submitted by Beth Johnston

1/2 c. vanilla yogurt

2 T. honey

1 T. lime juice

lime zest (optional)



1 1/2 cups (uncooked) rotini pasta, cooked and chill

1 c. strawberries, quartered

1 c. pineapple tidbits

1 c. red grapes, halved

2 kiwis, cut in bite size pieces



Cook pasta, drain and chill in refrigerator. Slice fruit and put in bowl. Mix yogurt, honey, lime juice and zest in a separate bowl. When ready to serve mix pasta, fruit and sauce together. Don't mix too early, it's not the type of salad you want to sit for long.

Spinach and Chick Pea Dish

Submitted by Emily Daniel

1. Put 1 T Canola oil in a large skillet. Heat at medium high heat and add a pinch of whole cumin seeds. Cook until seeds start to sizzle. (Side note: I usually have major issues with cumin, it’s just not a flavor that I love, but the whole cumin seeds are WAY better than the ground powder.)

2. Add half a roughly diced onion. Cook until soft. Be careful not to burn!

3. Add 1 can of diced tomatoes with juice.

4. Add 2 minced cloves of garlic and 1 T minced ginger. (You are going to put the mixture in the blender eventually, so don’t stress about finely mincing anything.) We also threw in a pinch of red pepper flakes for a little heat.

5. Add 1 package of semi-thawed frozen spinach. Cook for 3-4 minutes or until spinach is warmed through.

6. Add pinch of Turmeric.

7. Let mixture cook and then blend in the blender until you have a coarse mixture. Do not puree! Add water if the blender is struggling to process the mixture. Just not so much that you dilute the flavors.

8. Rinse and dry skillet. Reheat, add ½ T butter and ½ tsp of gara marsala. Pour mixture from blender. Heat through.

9. Add one can cooked chickpeas (we made ours fresh in a pressure cooker for the sake of cheapness, but Anamika said canned are fine.)

10. Heat through and salt to taste.

11. Serve with Chipatti bread, pita bread, or whole wheat tortilla.



Or I think Melissa's Pita Crisps would be delicious with this. I usually serve this alongside Jasmine rice, and baked chicken thighs that have been marinated in soy sauce, honey, fresh ginger and garlic.