This recipe is a total crowd pleaser. It’s easy, makes a ton, and as an added bonus involves a lot more vegetables than average party fare. Also dairy free! It can easily be halved for a smaller but still substantial batch. Sorry there’s no picture at this time.

2 cans black eyed peas, drained
2 cans shoe peg corn, drained
2 cans Ro-Tel tomatoes, drained
2 lg. bell peppers, chopped
12 sm. green onions, chopped (stem and all)
3 ripe tomatoes, chopped fine
1 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. garlic salt
1 tsp. parsley flakes
1/2 16 oz. bottle Zesty Italian dressing
1 can black beans, drained (optional)
juice of one lime
one chopped jalapeno (optional)

Combine all ingredients and refrigerate for several hours (or don’t, if you can’t wait). It’s a very forgiving recipe if you don’t have every single ingredient, but don’t skip the Ro-tel. Serve with Frito Scoops or tortilla chips.

While navigating this allergen-free diet, this sorbet has been a life-saver. It satisfies the craving for something sweet and creamy and tastes like a Wendy’s frosty to me. You’ll need an ice cream maker for this one.

The recipe comes from Perfect Scoop, and I found it through a blog called Taste and Tell.

Chocolate-Coconut Sorbet
from The Perfect Scoop

1 cup water
1 cup sugar
Pinch of Salt ( I guess I forgot the salt, but I didn’t miss it)
8 ounces bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped     (I used less—5 oz of Enjoy Life chocolate chips are perfect)
2 cups Thai coconut milk (full fat and NOT sweetened coconut milk)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Warm the water, sugar and salt in a medium saucepan, stirring, until the sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat. Add the chocolate and whisk until it is melted. Whisk in the coconut milk and vanilla. Chill the mixture thoroughly, then freeze it in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions. If a layer of coconut milk has firmed on top, simply whisk it in before churning. (This seems to happen if you leave it in the fridge a long time as opposed to an hour or two.)

1 large cabbage, shredded or package of shredded cabbage
1 green bell pepper, sliced

1 red bell pepper, sliced

1 lg. sweet onion, sliced

1 or 2 carrots, sliced

Mix well in a large bowl.

Dressing:

2 Tbs. sugar

3 tsp. salt

1 tsp. dry mustard

1 tsp. celery seeds

1 Cup cider vinegar

2/3 cup vegetable oil

For dressing, mix all together in a small saucepan and bring to a boil over moderate heat, stirring until sugar melts. Pour over cabbage mixture and toss well to mix and coat. The heated dressing sort of just barely cooks the veggies down, which makes them a really nice texture. Cool to room temp. Transfer to container, cover and refrigerate until ready to serve. Keeps for several days.

It helps to have an herb garden for cooking in general, certainly for this recipe. I just run out and snip some herbs when I need them—much easier and cheaper than buying them at the grocery store.

For other Foster’s Market recipes, check out www.fostersmarket.com or the actual book, which is chock full of goodies.

4-6 chicken breasts

3 sweet potatoes, peeled and chopped

1 onion

1/4 c olive oil

1/4 c balsamic vinegar

2 tsp fresh thyme or heaping 1/2 tsp dried thyme

6 leaves fresh basil cut into strips

1 c Herbed Vinaigrette (recipe follows)

salt and freshly ground black pepper

A few handfuls green beans (I used frozen Trader Joe’s for convenience)

Toss the sweet potatoes and onion with the olive oil, vinegar, and thyme in a large bowl to coat evenly. Spread evenly on a baking pan and roast about 30 minutes. Add green beans about 20-25 minutes in. When  potatoes are lightly browned and soft, remove from oven and set aside to cool.

FM has you roasting the chicken breasts, which I’m sure is the best way, but I just sauteed mine, and I think grilling would work fine as well. So, saute the chicken breasts and cut up into large chunks. Or cut up first and then saute.

Mix chicken with sweet potatoes, green beans, and onions. Add basil and vinaigrette and toss to coat. Salt and pepper to taste.

Herbed Balsamic Vinaigrette

 1/3 c balsamic vinegar

juice of one lemon

2 T mixed chopped fresh basil, parsley, and thyme

1 tsp freshly ground black pepper

1/4 c olive oil

1/3 c canola or safflower oil

Combine the vinegar, lemon juice, herbs, and pepper in a small bowl and stir to mix.

Slowly add the olive oil and the canola oil and whisk until all the oil is incorporated. Refrigerate in an airtight container until ready to use or up to 1 week.

Granola

I’ve been on an elimination diet lately, trying to find out what my son, who is nursing, is allergic to. When I found out I could eat oats with no problem, I decided it was time to break out this recipe. I’m still off nuts and wheat but created a nut-free, wheat-free version with pumpkin, coconut, flax, and sunflower seeds. It is every bit as delicious without the nuts, and my whole family chowed down on it as soon as it was cool enough to eat. I believe the original recipe came from my Aunt Nan. It can easily be adapted to your tastes and needs.

Ingredients:

2 cups old fashioned rolled oats

1/2 cup slivered or sliced almonds (substitute pumpkin seeds for nut-free)

1/2 cup sesame seed or pine nuts (substitute flax seed if avoiding sesame)

1/2 cup shelled sunflower seed

1/2 cup wheat germ (substitute ground flax seed if avoiding wheat)

1/4 cup or more coconut (I used the frozen kind with less sugar)

1/2 cup honey

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1 cup raisins, dried cranberries, diced dried apricots or other dried fruit

For ease of clean-up, I suggest spraying the mixing bowl, honey measuring cup, and the cookie sheet with cooking oil spray.

Mix first 6 ingredients thoroughly in a large bowl. Whisk together honey and oil and pour over dry ingredients. Mix well.

Place mixture in a 9″ x 13″ metal pan and toast for 45-50 minutes in a 300 degree oven. Stir a couple of times during cooking. Remove when nice and brown. Stir while cooling to prevent the “granola brick” effect. Add dried fruit when cool.

Ingredients:

Adapted from “Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day,” by Jeff Hertzberg and Zoë François (Thomas Dunne Books, 2007)

Time: About 45 minutes plus about 3 hours’ resting and rising

1 1/2 tablespoons yeast

1 1/2 tablespoons kosher salt

6 1/2 cups unbleached, all-purpose flour, more for dusting dough

Cornmeal.

1. In a large bowl or plastic container, mix yeast and salt into 3 cups lukewarm water (about 100 degrees). Stir in flour, mixing until there are no dry patches. Dough will be quite loose. Cover, but not with an airtight lid. Let dough rise at room temperature 2 hours (or up to 5 hours).

2. Bake at this point or refrigerate, covered, for as long as two weeks. When ready to bake, sprinkle a little flour on dough and cut off a grapefruit-size piece with serrated knife. Turn dough in hands to lightly stretch surface, creating a rounded top and a lumpy bottom. Put dough on pizza peel sprinkled with cornmeal; let rest 40 minutes. Repeat with remaining dough or refrigerate it.

3. Place broiler pan on bottom of oven. Place baking stone on middle rack and turn oven to 450 degrees; heat stone at that temperature for 20 minutes.

4. Dust dough with flour, slash top with serrated or very sharp knife three times. Slide onto stone. Pour one cup hot water into broiler pan and shut oven quickly to trap steam. Bake until well browned, about 30 minutes. Cool completely.

Yield: 4 loaves.

Variation: If not using stone, stretch rounded dough into oval and place in a greased, nonstick loaf pan. Let rest 40 minutes if fresh, an extra hour if refrigerated. Heat oven to 450 degrees for 5 minutes. Place pan on middle rack.

So, here is the groundbreaking tip:

For a juicier burger (especially since we need to cook them more than maybe we used to) use two types of ground beef so that you have both flavor (from a higher quality meat) and some fat for juiciness.

We made our burgers out of half ground chuck (for juice) and half ground round. You could also use ground sirloin as your flavorful choice. Our burgers were super delicious! Thanks again, Gillian.

1 ¾ cup all-purpose flour
1 ½ tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. cinnamon
3 tbsp. canola oil
¾ cup light brown sugar
1 egg
1 egg white
1 (15 oz.) can sweet potatoes, drained or 1 cup fresh sweet potatoes, cooked and mashed
½ cup skim milk
1 ¾ cups chopped or grated, peeled baking apples
1/3 cup chopped walnuts
1/3 cup golden raisins

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder and cinnamon; set aside. In another bowl, mix together oil, brown sugar, egg, egg white, mashed sweet potatoes and milk. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and add sweet potato mixture, stirring until moistened. Do not over mix. Fold in the apples, walnuts and raisins. Spoon batter into paper-lined or coated muffin tins, filling about ¾ full. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until done. Makes approximately 1 ½ dozen muffins.