A Smorgasbord!

For those of you who aren't familiar with that word, it means an extensive array or variety according to Dictionary.com. My husband had to work tonight, so I decided that I would make foods that he would never eat. I wanted to focus on making things that incorporated dill. I have a nice, big dill plant that was waiting for a haircut out in my garden.

So, what does my husband not like? Fish, sweet potatoes and raw tomatoes. Harumph! I shake my fist at him. What a combination huh? I must be ill because I am craving vegetables. Crisp, raw, tasty vegetables. Hence the sweet potatoes and tomatoes. Not that I need an excuse to eat tomatoes. They are my favorite food after all. See what I mean about the smorgasbord? I incorporated a variety of foods.

I took some recipes that I found on the net and adapted them for myself. Off to the grocery store I went. I found a beautiful halibut fillet that was 1/3 pound. Perfect serving size for one! What goes good with baked fish? Lemon and dill of course. I needed a lemon. My tomatoes needed company, so I picked up a cucumber and a red onion. What for? To make a salad of course! Not the lettuce type of salad though. You will soon see what I mean. Finally, a nice, ripe sweet potato was in store to make oven-baked sweet potato fries.

Hungry yet?

So without further ado, here is my delicious, tasty and also pretty meal:

Now I know you are hungry.

Since I adapted these recipes from the interwebs, I am going to claim them as my own. These are all very easy to make and take minimal groceries. Here is the breakdown of what everything at the store cost:

$.68 for the cucumber
$.58 for the lemon

$1.50 for the sweet potato

$3.31 for the halibut fillet

$3.29 for the pint of grape tomatoes

$.29 for the red onion

Grand total: $9.65

Now, if you usually keep these things on hand, your total will be slightly less. Or, if you happen to have a bazillion tomato plants growing (like I do), the tomatoes will not cost a penny at some point.

Have at it folks. This was a delicious dinner, and judging by the ingredients, you can tell it is also very healthy. Tons of vitamins and minerals and fiber. Plus, you are eating foods of all colors, so it's visually pretty too!

Baked Halibut

from: Pachey

Halibut fillet (I used one that was about 5 oz)

2 slices of lemon

3 sprigs of fresh dill

1. Spray a pan with nonstick cooking spray.

2. Place the fish in the pan, cover with the dill and then the lemon slices. Cover the pan with foil.

3. Bake at 400 degrees for 15-20 minutes or until the fish is flaky.

4. Remove the lemon and dill before eating.

Oven-Baked Sweet Potato Fries

from: Pachey

1 medium sweet potato

1 tablespoon canola oil

salt and pepper to taste

1. Wash the sweet potato well and dry thoroughly. Don't peel it! Trust me, leave the peel on!

2. Cut the ends off the sweet potato. Cut the sweet potato in half. Cut the halves in half. Then, finally, cut THOSE in half. You will end up with eight fries.

3. Place the fries on a baking sheet. Drizzle the fries with the canola oil. Toss the fries until they are coated well with the oil. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.

4. Bake at 400 degrees for 30 minutes. No need to turn them. They will get crispy.

Tomato, Cucumber and Red Onion Salad with Dill

from: Pachey

1 large cucumber, halved lengthwise, seeded and sliced

1/3 cup red wine vinegar

1 tablespoon Splenda

1 teaspoon salt

pint of grape tomatoes, halved

2/3 cup chopped red onion

1/2 cup chopped fresh dill

2 tablesoons olive oil

fresh ground pepper to taste

1. In a bowl, mix together the cucumber, vinegar, Splenda and salt. Let stand on counter for an hour, stirring to coat occasionally.

2. Add the remaining ingredients. Season with pepper. Stir well and serve.

Thanksgiving Salad

I don't know how your family works, but in mine, we never had salad with Thanksgiving dinner. But, that's okay. I realize that not everyone is like my family. This year, I went over to my in-laws house for Thanksgiving where they typically host about 30 people. It was a slightly smaller crowd this year with only 20. It's similar to a potluck style where everyone brings a side dish. I was assigned to a fruit salad. Again, this is not something that I would have grown up with.

Being a rebel and a rule-breaker like I am, I decided to do a salad with fruit in it but not a traditional fruit salad. Make sense? So, I purused (is that a word?) All Recipes and found the salad below. Hey, it's got fruit in it! Doesn't that typically make it a fruit salad? Like I said, I am a rebel.

The salad below isn't from Weight Watchers, as most of my recipes have been lately. Instead, this one is from All Recipes, but if you use low fat yogurt in place of full fat, it is very healthy. I tasted some (bad Pachey!) to see if it was sweet enough, and yum!!! The cranberries were not tart at all.

I would suggest putting the cranberries in a food processor to chop them. I don't know about you, but I wouldn't want to sit there and chop that many cranberries. The picture didn't turn out so well, but I think the resulting salad is very pretty!

So, Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I hope you enjoy your holiday. Check back with me at a later time to see just how much people liked my salad. It's a little "exotic" for my husband's family, but oh well. Rebel!

Cranberry Waldorf Salad

from: www.allrecipes.com

1.5 cups chopped cranberries

1 cup chopped red apple

1 cup chopped celery

1 cup seedless green grapes, halved

1/3 cup raisins

1/4 cup chopped walnuts

2 tablespoons white sugar

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 container (8 oz) vanilla yogurt

1. Combine cranberries, apple, celery, grapes, raisins, walnuts, sugar, cinnamon and yogurt. Toss to coat. Cover and chill 2 hours.

2. Stir just before serving. Garnish with frosted cranberries and mint leaves if desired. For frosted cranberries, wet cranberry and roll in sugar.

Spaghetti and Salad

These are usually two dishes that you would eat together. A nice spaghetti dinner with a green salad. But, what if they were actually together? The spaghetti and the vegetables. That is what this is. It's a pasta salad using spaghetti, and all kinds of fresh, crisp veggies. I usually don't like raw onions, but in this, if you use a nice sweet red onion, it's delicious. I can't get enough of this salad. I made it for a potluck a few weekends ago, and I was so glad that there were some leftovers. There were leftovers because half the people showed up at the potluck, not because it didn't taste good. I just had to clarify that for a few people.

Speaking of potlucks, this is a great recipe for one. You can chop the veggies and cook and chill the noodles the night before. Then, in the morning, throw everything together with the dressing. Or, you can make it the night before and let the flavors mingle. Either way, it still tastes fantastic.

This salad would be excellent as a vegetarian main dish, or a side with grilled burgers, chicken or steak. I have taken it as my lunch for a week in a row. That is how much I love this stuff.

Do not double this recipe. Why? Because, you will end up with pasta salad for weeks. Seriously, it makes a ton. The only time I would double it is if I was feeding an army. An actual army. The recipe by itself easily serves 8-10 people if everyone has at least a cup full.

I envy anyone that makes this. I would, but I may be pasta salad-ed out for a while.

Spaghetti Salad

from: http://www.allrecipes.com/

1 pound spaghetti
1 (16 ounce) bottle Italian-style salad dressing
1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
8 ounces shredded Cheddar cheese
2 tomatoes, chopped
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1/2 onion, chopped
1 cucumber, peeled and chopped

1. Cook spaghetti in boiling salted water until al dente. Rinse in cool water, drain.

2. In a large bowl place chopped tomatoes, green bell pepper, onion and cucumber. Add Cheddar cheese, and salad seasoning.

3. Add cooled pasta to large bowl with vegetables and pour salad dressing over top. Toss well to coat. Chill for several hours before serving.

Barbeque Season

It's the time of year for barbeque, and that means two of my favorite things: Hot dogs and potato salad. Although we aren't eating hot dogs for dinner, we are eating potato salad.

This is my aunt's recipe which I altered a wee bit. I added some green onions from my garden and some dill. I think it tastes better now, but I won't tell my aunt that. If you don't have dill pickle relish, that's okay. You can dice up some pickles instead.

Tonight, this potato salad is being consumed with cheeseburgers from the grill. I would prefer hotdogs, but I am weird after all.

Potato Salad
from: Pachey's aunt with some alterations

8-10 medium sized potatoes

3/4 cup mayonnaise

2 hard boiled eggs

1 tablespoon mustard (or more if you like mustard, which I do!)

2-3 tablespoons dill pickle relish

pickle juice

salt, pepper, dill, garlic powder to taste

3-4 green onion, sliced

paprika for garnish

1. Peel and cut potatoes into 1-inch cubes. Boil with 2 tablespoons vinegar until cooked. Drain and cool to room temperature.

2. Cut eggs with egg slicer, but do not cut any further.

3. Add all ingredients together and mix well. The eggs will break up while mixing. If mixture is too dry, keep adding pickle juice.

4. Sprinkle with paprika.

Mediterranean Feast

I saw this recipe in Real Simple magazine, which is my favorite magazine by the way. One of the main things that attracts me to a recipe is how it looks. I must admit, I am a sucker for good looking food. This recipe is surely good looking, oh, and I suppose taste should probably be a factor.

This meal was made even more special with the addition of some store-bought hummus and warm pita from the oven. One of these days I will have to break out my food processor and attempt to make homemade hummus.

The salad in this recipe was very refreshing. Even better, the whole prep time and cooking time took less than 30 minutes. This is a perfect meal for busy families. The only suggestion I would make is to add a little extra spice to the mini burgers.

Viva Mediterranean!

Spiced Mini-Burgers with Couscous Salad

from: Real Simple April 2008

1 box (10 oz) couscous

1 pound ground beef

kosher salt and pepper

1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin

1 1/2 teaspoons dried oregano

4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

6 scallions, trimmed and sliced

4 Roma (plum) tomatoes, quartered

1 seedless cucumber, sliced into half moons

3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

Place the couscous in a medium bowl and pour 1 1/2 cups hot tap water over the top. Cover and let stand for 5 minutes before fluffing with a fork.

Form the beef into 12 small 1/2-inch thick patties. Sprinkle with 1 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon pepper, the cumin and oregano.

Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the patties and cook to desired doneness, 4 minutes per side for medium.

Combine the couscous, scallions, tomatoes, cucumber, lemon juice, 1 1/4 teaspoons salt, 1/4 teaspoon pepper, and the remaining oil in a large bowl.

Divide among individual plates. Serve with the burgers.