I had never tried roasting green beans before this recipe. I had only ever stir-fried or sauteed them. However, now that I know how easy it is to get perfect results when roasting green beans, I don’t think I’ll ever go back.

Lemony Roasted Green Beans with Goat Cheese and Hazelnuts

Ingredients

• 1 pound green beans, trimmed
• 3 tablespoons olive oil, divided
• ½ teaspoon sugar
• Salt and pepper
• 1 clove garlic, minced or pressed
• 1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
• 2 teaspoons lemon juice
• ½ teaspoon Dijon mustard
• 1 tablespoon minced fresh chives
• 1 ounce goat cheese, crumbled
• 2 tablespoons hazelnuts, toasted, skinned, and coarsely chopped

Directions

1. Move oven rack to lowest position and heat oven to 450°F. Toss green beans with 1 tablespoon of olive oil, the sugar, ½ teaspoon of salt and ¼ teaspoon of pepper. Spread onto a rimmed baking sheet and cover tightly with aluminum foil. Cook for 10 minutes.
2. Remove foil and continue to cook for 8 more minutes, stirring beans halfway through. Beans should be spotty brown when done.
3. While beans are cooking, stir together garlic, lemon zest and remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a medium, heatproof bowl. Microwave on high for 1 minute until bubbling. Let sit for a minute, then whisk in the lemon juice, mustard, ⅛ teaspoon salt and ⅛ teaspoon pepper.
4. Add cooked beans and chives to the bowl with the dressing. Toss to coat. Divide beans evenly among 2 to 4 dishes, and top each with goat cheese and hazelnuts.

• Cut down on added sugar.
• Eat less meat, especially red and processed meats.

I’m not a huge stickler on either of these things — I still let my kids eat the occasional treat and include meat at some of our meals. But I believe that cutting down on these two things in particular will offer my family the most benefits in terms of improved health.

Can you believe that the recipe for these muffins does not include added sugar or any other type of sweetener? The sweetness only comes from the dried cranberries (which on their own, most likely do contain added sugar) and sweet potatoes.

Now, I have made no-sugar-added muffins before, but that was because I actually just forgot to put in the sugar. And they didn’t taste nearly as good as these ones. My hubby almost never eats things like muffins, but when I offered him one of these freshly baked beauties, he said “these are blog-worthy”, which he only says about things that he really likes.

So now you can go ahead and make these lower sugar treats for yourself. And even if you’re not actively trying to cut back on sugar, I encourage you to try these. They really are very good, and not just “good for low-sugar baked goods” good.

Dried Cranberry Muffins with Pecans and Sweet Potatoes

Serves 12

Ingredients

• ¾ cup pecans, divided
• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1¼ cup dried cranberries, divided
• ¾ cup unsweetened applesauce
• ⅔ cup buttermilk or plain kefir
• 2 large eggs
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1⅓ cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup whole-wheat flour
• 1½ teaspoon baking powder
• ¼ teaspoon baking soda
• 1¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground allspice
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 small sweet potato, shredded (about 1¼ cups)

Instructions

1. Heat a small skillet over medium heat. Toast pecans until they become fragrant, about 6 to 8 minutes. Transfer to cutting board to cool.
2. Return skillet to medium heat and cook butter, stirring often until golden brown, about 4 to 5 minutes. Transfer to a medium heat proof bowl to cool.
3. Coarsely chop ¼ cup of the dried cranberries and transfer to a small bowl. Coarsely chop the toasted pecans and mix ¼ cup of them with the chopped cranberries.
4. Move oven rack to the middle position and heat oven to 375°F. Grease the cups of a 12-cup muffin pan with any remaining browned butter from the skillet or with canola oil.
5. Whisk applesauce, buttermilk (or kefir), eggs and vanilla into the browned butter. In a large bowl, whisk together the all-purpose flour, whole-wheat flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, allspice and salt. Gently stir in butter mixture with a large silicone spoon or spatula. Fold in sweet potato, reaming cup of dried cranberries and remaining ½ cup of the toasted pecans until incorporated.
6. Divide batter equally among 12 muffin cups. Top each muffin with a portion of the chopped cranberries and pecans. Bake until golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out with moist crumbs attached, about 18 to 20 minutes.

This is one of my hubby’s favorite dishes, and he has been politely bugging me to put the recipe on the blog for some time now. I didn’t do it earlier because I make it slightly different every time, trying to perfect the recipe. The good news is that this corn is versatile. You can make it either in the oven or on the grill with equally appealing results.  So apartment dwellers can make this just as easily as those with a backyard grill. And grill lovers don’t have to worry about turning on the oven when it’s hot.

It’s pretty fast and very easy to make this corn, too. If you think you’ll be in a rush at dinner time, and you need to make it even quicker, you can make the mayonnaise mixture that you brush on the cooked corn ahead of time and store it in the fridge. You can also go ahead and get the corn shucked and ready to go. I have tried pre-cooking the corn, and then brushing with the mayo mixture and reheating under the broiler at mealtime, but ended up with dried out corn. Not worth it.

If you’re looking at the ingredient list and wondering about the queso fresco or cotija, they are both Mexican cheeses that are pretty commonly available in Latin markets or larger grocery stores. Queso fresco is a soft, fresh cheese that’s fairly salty. Cotija is a harder cheese more like romano. I bought mine pre-shredded. I have used both types of cheeses with great results, and when I used to make this in Canada, I used crumbled feta with equally delicious results. So don’t hesitate to make this recipe if you can’t find the Mexican cheese — it’ll still taste great!

Mexican Street Corn

Corn on the cob is good on its own, but even better when it’s coated in a tangy mixture of mayonnaise, chili, garlic, lime and cilantro and topped off with salty cheese.

Serves 6

Ingredients

• ¹⁄₃ cup light mayonnaise
• 2 tablespoons minced cilantro
• 1 tablespoon lime juice
• 1 clove garlic minced or pressed
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• ¹⁄₈ teaspoon salt
• 6 large cobs of corn, shucked
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 ounce queso fresco or cotija cheese, crumbled (see note)

Instructions

In a small bowl stir together mayonnaise, cilantro, lime juice, garlic, chili powder and salt. Set aside or refrigerate until ready to use.

Oven Method

1. Move oven rack to highest position and turn oven to broil. Lightly spray or brush corn cobs with olive oil and set on a rimmed baking sheet.
2. Place baking sheet on the top rack in oven and broil until tops of corn are browning, about 10 minutes. Flip cobs over and continue to broil until the other side is browning, 5 to 10 additional minutes.
3. Remove baking sheet from oven and brush mayonnaise mixture evenly over each cob of corn. Sprinkle crumbled cheese over the corn. Serve.

Grill Method

1. Turn all burners to high and preheat for 15 minutes. Lightly spray or brush corn cobs with olive oil and set on a rimmed baking sheet.
2. Place corn directly on the grill. Grill for about 10 minutes until the bottoms are beginning to brown. Turn cobs and continue to grill until the other side of the cobs are browning, 5 to 10 more minutes.
3. Remove cobs from grill and place on a platter. Brush mayonnaise mixture evenly over each cob of corn. Sprinkle crumbled cheese over the corn. Serve.

Recipe Notes

If you can’t find queso fresco or cotija, use crumbled feta cheese.

This recipe comes from my grandma, in the form of a photocopy of a barely legible handwritten recipe. Both her and my mom have been making it for years, and as soon as I had my own rhubarb to cook with, I started making my own version. I made three main changes to my grandma’s original recipe.

The first was a matter of preference to me: I wanted a higher filling-to-crumble ratio, so I cut the recipe for the oat crust/crumb topping in half without changing any of the amounts for the filling recipe. That change was a carry over from my mom as that’s the way she always made it (though in her case, she doubled the filling recipe and made the whole thing in a bigger dish).

The second change was to make the crisp gluten free, at least to those who can tolerate oats. Instead of using flour in the crust along with the oats, I simply ground some of the oats into a flour-like consistency to give the crust the texture I was looking for. Added bonus: It simplifies the ingredient list by cutting out one extra ingredient and adds a little more fiber compared to using all-purpose flour.

The final change I made was the use of Greek yogurt. My grandma’s rhubarb crisp recipe called for sour cream instead (as do most of her recipes). Since Greek yogurt became mainstream, I almost never use sour cream for anything anymore. I just don’t keep it on hand, and I substitute Greek yogurt instead. It’s typically lower in fat and higher in protein and, in most cases, I don’t notice a change in the results. This recipe is no exception. You can use vanilla Greek yogurt instead of plain, but you may want to cut down the sugar in the recipe to avoid going overboard on sweetness.

Old Fashioned Rhubarb Crisp

Rhubarb crisp is an easy and tasty recipe that is perfect to use up plentiful rhubarb in spring and early summer. 

Servings: 8

Ingredients

Crumb crust and topping

• 1 cup rolled oats, divided
• ¹⁄₂ teaspoon ground cinnamon
• ¹⁄₄ cup brown sugar
• ¹⁄₈ teaspoon salt
• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into half-inch pieces

Rhubarb filling

• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 3 tablespoons cornstarch
• ¹⁄₂ teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 large egg, lightly beaten
• 1 cup plain Greek yogurt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3 cups rhubarb cut into 1/2″ pieces

Instructions

1. Move oven rack to the middle position and heat oven to 325°F.
2. Grind ¹⁄₃ cup of the rolled oats into a flour-like powder using a food processor or spice grinder. Transfer to a medium bowl.
3. Add the remaining ²⁄₃ cup rolled oats, cinnamon, brown sugar and salt to the bowl with the ground oats. Stir until combined. Add the butter and cut in with a pastry cutter or your fingers until the butter is distributed and the oat mixture forms clumps. Press ¹⁄₃ to ¹⁄₂ of the mixture into a 9×9″ baking dish or similar sized casserole dish. Reserve the remaining topping.
4. In a small bowl, whisk together the sugar, cornstarch and cinnamon. Set aside.
5. In a large bowl, whisk together the egg, yogurt and vanilla. Whisk in the sugar mixture until mixed. Fold in the rhubarb. Carefully pour the rhubarb mixture over the crumb crust into the baking dish. Sprinkle the remaining topping evenly over the top of the filling. Bake until the filling is set and the topping is golden brown, about 55-65 minutes. Cool for at least 20 minutes before serving. Serve warm or at room temperature. Serve with ice cream, whipped cream or vanilla yogurt if desired.

Miso is a fermented soy bean paste that tastes salty and umami. It comes in several flavors and colors and is commonly known as the main flavoring in miso soup. It’s rich flavor makes it an ideal ingredient to flavor meats, vegetables, salad dressings and popcorn, as it turns out. I like to top my Miso Butter Popcorn with furikake, which is a Japanese spice mixture used to season rice. You can also use shichimi togarashi, which is another Japanese spice mixture made of ground peppers, citrus and sesame seeds that is quite spicy. If you don’t have either of these, sesame seeds work well too, but it also tastes great without any other adornment.

Miso Butter Popcorn

Change it up and make Miso Butter Popcorn to add a hit of savory and salty umami flavor to your favorite crunchy, whole grain snack. 

Servings: 2

Ingredients

• ¹⁄₃ cup popcorn kernels
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 2 teaspoons miso paste
• Furikake or Shichimi Togarashi seasoning (optional, see note)

Instructions

1. Pop the popcorn kernels by the method of your choice. While the popcorn is popping, melt the butter in the microwave, about 25-30 seconds, in a small bowl. Whisk in the miso paste until it forms an emulsion (it will become smooth and shiny and will no longer look curdled).
2. Add the miso butter to the popcorn in a large bowl and toss very well to distribute. Sprinkle with furikake or shichimi togarashi if desired.

Recipe Notes

Furikake is a Japanese seasoning for rice. It is made of seaweed, sesame seeds, salt and sugar and tastes slightly umami, sweet and salty. Shichimi togarashi is made of dried peppers, sesame seeds, dried citrus peels and other spices. It is quite spicy.

I will say that aside from the name, homemade pistachio pudding has very little in common with the boxed version.  The texture is different — since this one is made with real ground nuts, it contains bits of them in the pudding, even after straining. The color is also different — less of a pastel green and more of a beige/khaki color. However, this might depend on the pistachios you use. It did cross my mind when I was measuring out my pistachios that the ones I was using were less green and more brownish than other pistachios I’ve eaten in the past.

The flavor of this homemade pudding is also different — it actually tastes like pistachios. Imagine that. Because of these differences, I was afraid that my husband wasn’t going to like it. But he definitely did, and so did I — I believe I will be making this on a regular basis.

Homemade Pistachio Pudding

Serves 6

Ingredients

• ¹⁄₂ cup lightly salted shelled pistachios (see note)
• ¹⁄₂ cup sugar, divided
• 2 Tablespoons water
• 2 cups whole milk (see note)
• 2 large egg yolks
• 2 Tablespoons cornstarch
• pinch salt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• chopped pistachios, to garnish (optional)
• whipped cream, to top (optional)

Instructions

1. Add pistachios to the bowl of a food processor. Process until the pistachios are finely ground. Add sugar and water and continue to process to form a paste.
2. Add pistachio paste and milk to a small saucepan. Heat over medium heat until steaming, stirring often to prevent scorching.
3. Meanwhile, whisk together egg yolks, remaining ¹⁄₄ cup sugar, cornstarch and salt in a medium bowl or 2 cup measuring cup (it will be thick).
4. Stir ¹⁄₂ cup of the hot milk mixture into the egg mixture. Add another ¹⁄₂ cup of the milk mixture and stir until smooth.
5. Transfer the egg mixture into the remaining milk mixture, and continue to heat over medium until the mixture comes to a boil. Continue to simmer until thickened, about 2-3 more minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla.
6. Transfer pudding to 6 individual dessert dishes, or one larger serving bowl. Cover with plastic wrap, so that the plastic is actually touching the pudding. Chill completely, at least 2 hours.

Recipe Notes
I used pistachios that were labeled “lightly salted,” and they tasted just as described. You can also use unsalted pistachios if you can find them. If you can only find salted pistachios, omit any added salt in the pudding.

You can use 1% or 2% milk or soy milk instead of whole, but the pudding won’t be as creamy.

Please don’t let the long ingredient list and long cooking time prevent you from making this stew. Yes, it’s a bit of a time investment. But make it on a weekend, and you will be reheating it throughout the week. Trust me, it’s worth it. I have made it countless times for my family (my super picky kids even love it), extended family and friends, and everyone raves about it every time!

Polish Hunter’s Stew

Serves 8

Ingredients

• 4 slices turkey bacon
• 1 ring chicken or turkey kielbasa sausage, cut in half and sliced into 1/2 inch half moons
• 1 pound chicken thighs, cut into 1 inch pieces
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 large onion, diced
• 8 ounces white mushrooms, wiped clean and sliced
• 4 medium carrots, peeled and cut into 1/2 pieces
• ½ medium green cabbage, shredded
• 16 ounces sauerkraut, drained
• 2 tablespoons canned tomato paste
• 2 bay leaves
• 2 teaspoons smoked paprika
• 1 teaspoon sweet paprika
• 1 teaspoon dried basil
• 1 teaspoon dried marjoram
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
• ¼ teaspoon caraway seed
• 1 pinch cayenne pepper
• ¼ cup dry red wine (or 2 Tablespoons red wine vinegar)
• 5 cups low sodium chicken broth
• 14-ounce can diced tomatoes

Instructions

1. Heat oven to 350°F. Cook bacon and sausage in an oven safe dutch oven over medium high heat until browned. Transfer with a slotted spoon to a bowl and set aside.
2. Add chicken thighs to dutch oven and cook until browned on all sides. Transfer to the bowl with the bacon and sausage.
3. Add garlic, onion, mushrooms, carrots, cabbage and sauerkraut to the dutch oven and cook until softened, about 10 minutes.
4. Add the tomato paste, bay leaves, smoked paprika, paprika, basil, marjoram, salt, pepper, caraway, and cayenne. Stir and cook for 30 seconds, until fragrant. Slowly pour in red wine, scraping up any browned bits from the bottom of the dutch oven.
5. Stir in the chicken broth and diced tomatoes, then add back the bacon, sausage and pork. Bring to a boil, then cover and transfer to the oven. Cook for 2.5-3 hours.

Needless to say, we were about to leave and I was left with about four pounds of uneaten plums. Always hating to waste food, I figured I had better do something with them. I thought drying the plums into prunes would be pretty easy… and I was right!

Step 1: Remove the Pits

I find prunes with pits to be indescribably annoying and inconvenient, so I decided to remove them. After a little trial and error, I found my method: I cut a slit lengthwise down the plum, being careful not to cut it totally in half; then I stuck my fingers in and pulled out the pit. It took about 15 minutes to get through four pounds. If you’re drying other fruits, you might try preparing them in the following ways:

• Plums: pits removed, whole
• Cherries: pits removed, whole
• Blueberries or cranberries: whole
• Apples or pears: cores removed and cut in thin slices or rings
• Bananas: thinly sliced
• Strawberries: hulled and sliced or quartered
• Mangos, papayas or pineapple: pits or cores removed and thinly sliced

Step 2: Into the Oven

I don’t have a food dehydrator. Even though there are plenty of models for sale, I am not ready to make an investment in another kitchen appliance that takes up space. Instead, I used my oven for drying. This method takes a long time, which means your oven will be occupied for hours on end, so make sure you don’t need to use it for anything else that day.

I dried the plums on a rack over a baking sheet to help air circulate and reduce the amount of juice that would burn. If you’re drying smaller fruits, such as cherries or blueberries, a rack may not work since they will fall through. Instead, try lining a baking sheet with a silicone mat or parchment paper to prevent sticking.

Drying should be done at a low temperature — about 200°F. I used my oven’s convection mode in hopes the job would be made faster (since I didn’t try it on the regular baking mode, I’m not sure if it was faster or not).

Since all ovens are different, and the rate of drying depends on the size and juiciness of the fruit, as well as the humidity in the air, keep a close eye on your fruit. I checked mine every hour (see the progression in the photos). This means you need to be home and available the whole time. Remove the fruit when it is dried to your preference.

Step 3: Storing

After removing the dried fruit, let it cool and place in an airtight container. One thing to remember with homemade dried fruit is that it is preservative-free, which means it will not last as long as store-bought dried fruit. In fact, if you leave it at room temperature for extended periods of time, it likely will develop mold. If you know you won’t eat the dried fruit within a week, store it in the freezer and thaw at room temperature when ready to eat.