Cucumber Onion Salad

A wide variety of Cucumbers enables most people to enjoy at least one type!

On a hot summer day, enjoy sliced cucumbers as finger foods or in quick salads.

They are delicious low calorie, low carb snacks. At room temperature, they are perfect for cold-day sides.

We offer standard cucumbers, as well as the smaller "pickling" or "salad" cucumbers.

Cool, Crisp Cucumber Salad

Slice cucumbers as desired, and add your favorite sweet peppers, onions, chopped herbs, and salad dressing.

For changes, try adding green or black olives, diced tomatoes and sunflower seeds.

Zucchini Casserole with Ground Beef

Slice vegetables (the 8-ball zucchini is excellent for this recipe, but regular zucchini “coins” or lengthwise cuts are also good!)

Slice Veggies

Season and brown ground beef as desired.

Drain beef and set aside.

Layer the vegetables as you would lasagna...

... with layers of beef and ricotta cheese.

Layer more vegetables.

Continue layering for a deep dish.

Top with Parmesan cheese.

Bake at 350 for approximately 50 minutes until vegetables are cooked to your satisfaction.

In place of beef, tofu, rice or potatoes may be substituted.

In place of zucchini, yellow squash may be used.

For a delicious vegetable side dish, eliminate the ground beef, but layer as shown.

Healthy Easy Corned Beef

adapted from The Food Network

Ingredients:

4 pounds lean raw corned beef brisket

3 tablespoons “pickling spice” (ours was included with brisket)

1 pound large carrots,

1 1/4 pounds large potatoes

2 or more small-to-medium onions

1 head Savoy or regular cabbage, cut into wedges

prepared horseradish, if desired

1/3 cup sour cream

4 pounds lean raw corned beef brisket

3 tablespoons “pickling spice” (ours was included with brisket)

1 pound large carrots,

1 1/4 pounds large potatoes

2 or more small-to-medium onions

1 head Savoy or regular cabbage, cut into wedges

prepared horseradish, if desired

1/3 cup sour cream

Directions

Place the corned beef in a large slow cooker and scatter the pickling spices on top. Add enough hot water (4 to 5 cups) to cover the meat by at least 1 inch, put the lid on the slow cooker and cook on high, 7 to 8 hours.

Remove the meat from the slow cooker and keep warm. Meanwhile, boil one cup of cooking liquid in a small skillet until reduced by half, about 10 minutes. Mix with the horseradish and sour cream in a small bowl.

Cut carrots, favorite potatoes (unless using tiny new potatoes) celery, and other other vegetables your family enjoys into bite-size pieces or slightly larger. In steamer, layer carrots, onions and celery on the bottom, creating a bed for the cabbage quarters. Include cut potatoes and turnips if your family enjoys them on the bottom of the steamer. After meat is cooked and is “resting”, steam veggies until desired doneness.

Slice the corned beef and serve with the steamed vegetables, cabbage and sauce; reserve about a quarter each of the meat and vegetables and 1 1/2 cups cooking liquid for Corned Beef Hash, if desired.

Yellow Squash Soup

This delicious squash soup recipe was submitted by customer Jill Yelverton (April 2012).

Perfect for freezing, Jill's wonderful soup offers a flavorful and pleasant surprises.

(Many thanks to Jill for sending it)

Note: We enjoyed the flavor so much without the evaporated milk, that we left that ingredient out. So please use your imagination to visualize the extra creaminess the evaporated milk would have provided.

Ingredients:

•             1 1/2 pounds yellow summer squash

•             2 tablespoons butter

•             1 medium onion, sliced

•             1/4 lemon, sliced, seeds removed

•             1/4 cup flour

•             6 cups chicken broth

•             1 teaspoon salt

•             1/4 teaspoon white pepper

•             3 to 4 grinds of fresh nutmeg or dash of ground nutmeg

•             1 cup evaporated milk

Preparation:

Wash, slice and cut squash, onions, lemon.

In a large saucepan, melt butter; gently saute onion and lemon. 

Sprinkle with flour and cook slowly, stirring, until flour is absorbed. Add chicken broth gradually, then sliced squash, salt and pepper. Simmer for 1 hour. 

Puree soup in blender or food processor. Add nutmeg. 

NOTE: for safety reasons, pour until blender is 1/3 to 1/2 full, and keep your hand on the top of the lid, because hot liquid responds differently to blending than cooler foods.

To heat, stir in evaporated milk with a wire whisk and cook over low heat. Do not allow to boil. Garnish cream of squash soup with reserved squash slices.

Squash soup serves 8.

We found this soup extremely flavorful, and light. It's perfect alone, as a side, or in a cup. Thank you, Jill, for sharing your fantastic recipe!