Onion Soup Mix

I like to use onion soup mix when I cook a roast, and I added it to my Slow Cooker Pepperoncini Beef for a bit of extra flavor.  When talking to a friend about that beef recipe, I mentioned that I had made my own onion soup mix, and she asked if I could share the recipe.  I had been meaning to post it so that I always have access to the recipe - I currently have it written on a piece of paper, but if the paper ever gets lost I might be in trouble.

So, it's time to share the recipe, for me and for any of my friends who might want to mix some up for themselves. 

Homemade Onion Soup Mix
from Heavenly Homemakers

Ingredients:

• 2/3 cup dried, minced onion
• 3 tsp. parsley flakes
• 2 tsp. onion powder
• 2 tsp. turmeric
• 1 tsp. celery salt
• 1tsp. sea salt
• 1 tsp. sugar
• 1/2 tsp. ground pepper

Directions:

1. Measure all ingredients into a jar; cover and shake until well mixed.  (for best results, shake the jar before each use)
2. 4 Tablespoons Onion Soup Mix = 1 packet of  store bought onion soup mix. (adjust amount of mix to your own tastes)
3. Store in a dry, cool place.

That's it.  It's really simple and uses ingredients you probably already have in your spice cabinet.  I did have to buy the minced onion because I was out, but that's a handy ingredient to have on hand so it was time to get some of that anyway.  The original recipe listed turmeric as an optional ingredient, but I've started putting that in pretty much everything, even my morning coffee, so I consider it a necessary part of the recipe.

Lentil and Potato Salad

It's time again for Secret Recipe Club reveal!  My secret blog assignment this month is The Wimpy Vegetarian.  Susan is a mostly vegetarian (hence the 'wimpy') married to a meat-loving man.  Sounds like quite a challenge, doesn't it?  Susan has met that challenge head on, finding healthy ways to pump up the flavors of her vegetarian dishes and making things tasty and interesting enough that her husband began eating more of her vegetarian 'horse food' - alongside his meat - and even going back for seconds.

Susan and her husband are again able to enjoy meals together, and for the rest of us, The Wimpy Vegetarian is a wonderful resource for anyone who is looking to eat more vegetarian and meat free meals, with great tips and ideas on how to adjust those meals so that even the meat eaters are happy.  There were so many recipes that caught my eye, as I'm sure you'll see when you check out Susan's blog for yourself!  Here are just a few:

• Mexican Casserole with Quinoa
• Mexican Street Corn Tart
• Brown Sugar and Plum Pull-Apart Bread
• Chard and Quinoa Gratin (and this Chard and Quinoa Saute - there seems to be a theme here!)
• and because this one was a previous SRC post, I can't use it here, but I am definitely going to have to make this Mac 'n Cheese Impossible Pie.

When I saw the recipe for this salad, I just knew it was the one.  I had never thought to use lentils in a salad, though I love them in soup, so I was definitely intrigued.  I also had a potluck to prepare for and thought this would be good for that because it's a great make-ahead dish that gets better as the flavors have time to blend.

Lentil and Potato Salad
from the Wimpy Vegetarian

Ingredients:
Salad

• 1 cup lentils
• 6 medium potatoes
• 5 green onions, thinly sliced
• 1/4 cup yellow onion, diced
• 1 seeded jalapeno pepper, minced
• 1/2 cup diced celery
• 1 T dried parsley
• 2 medium tomatoes,diced

 Vinaigrette

• 1/2 cup white wine vinegar
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 1/2 tsp dried rosemary
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp ground black pepper

Directions:

1. Cook lentils according to package directions, just until tender (15-20 minutes). Drain and cool.
2. Cook potatoes until tender.  Cool and dice. 
3. Mix lentils, potatoes, onions, jalapeno, celery, and parsley in large bowl.
4. Whisk together the vinegar, oil and seasonings for the vinaigrette; toss together with salad.
5. Add diced tomatoes and toss gently.  Serve immediately or refrigerate to serve later.  Toss gently before serving as the vinaigrette tends to settle to the bottom.

Makes approximately 10 cups

Susan indicated that her recipe would serve 2 (I'm guessing as a vegetarian main dish), so I doubled everything, needing enough to take to the potluck and share.  It made a very nice sized salad, and I even had leftovers to bring home, so I was able to enjoy it with my lunch several days the rest of the week.  Yeah, it made a lot.

This salad turned out quite tasty; I really enjoyed the combination of potatoes and lentils. It is very good on its own or as an accompaniment.  Susan's recipe called for fresh parsley and rosemary, but I settled for dried since that's what I had.  I also used diced tomatoes instead of cherry tomatoes, because I am getting tomatoes out of my garden now, and I wanted to use some of those.  Oh, and also used a jalapeno because I'm getting a bunch of those from the garden too.  As always, I think that's the best way to cook - use what you have on hand!

The only thing I think needed adjusted was the salt, so just taste and adjust seasonings according to your own taste.  Susan boiled her potatoes in well salted water (which I only just noticed when I sat down to post the recipe), and I baked mine in my crockpot, so I'm sure that made a bit of a difference.

An InLinkz Link-up

Blueberry Nectarine Sour Cream Popsicles

I made these popsicles a couple weeks ago when my grandson Jason was visiting.  The original recipe used just blueberries, but I had a very ripe nectarine that needed used, and I thought it would go quite well with the blueberries.  So I added it, and I doubled the sour cream and almond milk since I had added extra fruit.

I'd say they turned out pretty good.  The first thing Jason said when he tasted one was, "it tastes like ice cream!"  And they really do taste a bit like ice cream - ice cream with blueberries and chunks of nectarine mixed in.

Blueberry Nectarine Sour Cream Popsicles
adapted from marlameridith

Ingredients:

• 1 (very ripe) nectarine, diced
• 1 T sugar (more or less to taste)
• 1 cup frozen blueberries
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1-1/2 cups almond milk (I used Caramel, Almonds, and Cashews Nutchello)

Directions:

1. In large bowl, mix nectarine and sugar; mash slightly.  Let sit for a few minutes.  Add blueberries
2. Whisk sour cream and milk together until smooth. Add to nectarine/blueberry mix.
3. Pour into popsicle molds (I used my 2 oz. Tupperware molds) and freeze until solid.  Enjoy!

I didn't have enough popsicle molds to freeze all of the mixture at once, so I stored the mixture in the fridge and made up new popsicles whenever we ate some.  Then Jason decided he didn't really like the whole blueberries, so I added the rest of the mixture to my Ninja with a ripe banana and mixed that up really well - and we had some very purple popsicles to enjoy too.  The banana added a bit of sweetness, because I really didn't add much sugar to the original mix - just enough to draw a bit of juice from the nectarine - and let the sweetness of the Nutchello be enough.  Both options were really good.

I'm not sure why I never thought to use sour cream for popsicles before, but I am ready for some other versions now, like  maybe these Strawberry and Sour Cream Popsicles.  Mmmm, so many possibilities, and they're such a fun treat on a hot summer day.

Cilantro Lime Quinoa and Bean Salad

I made this Curried Chicken and Barley Salad last week and added some red quinoa along with the barley, just because it sounded good.  But, since I had cooked a cup of quinoa - and only used 1/4 of it - I had 3 cups of quinoa left and wanted to find something to make with it.  I started searching for a simple salad and found a lovely cilantro lime black bean and quinoa salad.  While there may be no better flavor combination than black beans with cilantro and lime, my quinoa was red (and I had other plans for my last can of black beans), so I decided to switch up the beans and use some Cannellini beans.  I think it turned out great.

Cilantro Lime Quinoa and Bean Salad
adapted from Simply Quinoa

Ingredients:

• 3 cups cooked red quinoa
• 1 (15 oz.) can Cannellini beans, rinsed and drained
• 1/2 cup cilantro, chopped
• zest and juice of 1 lime
• 1/4 tsp. chili powder
• 1/4 tsp. sea salt
•  drizzle of olive oil

Directions:

1. Add all ingredients to a large bowl and toss to combine.
2. Serve immediately or refrigerate until ready to serve.

This salad is simple to make, definitely yummy, and can be made ahead so it's ready when you want it.  I'd say it's definitely a winner!

Margarita Sour Cream Muffins

It's time again for Secret Recipe Club reveal!  My secret blog assignment this month is Karen's Kitchen Stories.  Karen likes to try recipes that are a bit of a challenge, and she's constantly learning new cooking techniques which she shares with her blog readers so we can all learn something new.  She's especially in love with all things bread and has been known as the Bread Queen by other members of the SRC, though she considers herself more of a Bread Geek.  Judging by the long list of bread recipes on her blog, I can't argue with either!  There were definitely some bread recipes that caught my eye.
 

Of course, there are plenty of recipes for other things on Karen's blog, too.  Here are some that I really want to try:

• Pecan Kringle
• Kahlua Cake
• Strawberry Whiskey Sour
• Green Tea Ice Cream

They all sound so good, but in the end I came back to the first recipe that caught my eye, these lovely Margarita Sour Cream Muffins.  It's OK to have tequila for breakfast with these!  Nobody disillusion me by telling me that the alcohol will bake off, all right?

Margarita Sour Cream Muffins
from Karen's Kitchen Stories

Ingredients:

• 1 large egg
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1/2 cup tequila
• 1/3 cup orange juice
• 1/4 cup lime juice
• 1/8 teaspoon lime oil (optional)
• zest of 1 lime
• 2 cups unbleached flour
• 1/4 cup cornmeal
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• Coarse sea salt for sprinkling (optional)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400° F.  Generously grease muffin tin or line with paper liners.
2. In a large bowl, whisk the egg, sugar, sour cream, tequila, orange juice, lime juice, lime oil, and lime zest together.
3. Mix the flour, cornmeal, baking soda, and salt together and then stir it into the egg mixture. mixing until just combined.
4. Pour batter into prepared muffin tin;  sprinkle the tops of each muffin with a pinch of sea salt.
5. Bake for 20-25 minutes, until browned.  Cool 5 minutes before removing muffins from pan; cool completely on wire rack.

Makes 12 muffins

These were really fun to mix up.  When you stir the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients, there's a great chemical reaction between the baking soda and the citrus juices.  Preheating the oven is very important because you will want to get these into the oven immediately.

The flavor of these muffins does remind me of margaritas.  They're really tasty, and I love the texture that the cornmeal adds.  While they were good on their own, I thought the muffins could use a little something extra, so I mixed together 2 ounces softened cream cheese, 1 tsp. brown sugar, and about 1/2 tsp. grated lime zest and used that as a spread.  Yum!  (It wasn't quite enough; I really should have mixed up twice as much)

Next time I think I'll use more lime and orange juice and cut down on the tequila - use just enough to get the flavor.  The tequila makes the muffins taste good - you really do get the flavor - but I'm back to thinking that all my alcohol is baking away, and I think I'd rather use my tequila for actual margaritas. I do love a good margarita.

An InLinkz Link-up