Candied Citrus

I have a lemon tree in my backyard, which is great, except now I have a ton of lemons that I don't know what to do with.  Which wouldn't be that bad, only my mother sent me a huge stockpile of oranges and grapefruit she got as part of a fundraiser.  Now I have oodles of citrus, and I can't eat it fast enough before it will go bad.

I've made lemon ice cream, frozen lemon juice, frozen lemon zest, sweet and sour mix...what's next?

CANDY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Every year on Christmas Eve my family has a large extended family gathering.  Everyone brings food and a great time is had by all.  After dinner, pictures, and presents we have appetizers (a little backward I know, but hey we are who we are).  I wanted to bring something and I thought why not kill two birds with one stone?  This year I brought Candied Lemons and Candied Oranges to Christmas Eve.  They went over so well my aunt asked me to candy some kumquats from my Dad's garden for her!

I used Martha Stuart's recipe for the lemons.  The second batch I made I altered a little bit, the lemon's only needed to cook for 45 minutes.  I halved the amount of sugar for the oranges, they are sweet already, and added a cinnamon stick for extra measure.  The oranges cooked for 45 minutes as well.

Once the citrus cooled I cut them into fourths and piled them high into a serving dish.  I recommend serving these bit sized fruity treats with toothpicks, they stay quite sticky.

If you are looking for an easy dish to wow party goers I highly recommend these! They are easy, delicious, and make you look so cool!  Candy away my friends!

It's the Holiday Season

I love entertaining during the holiday season.  A few weeks ago I had several friends over for dinner and multitasking to get everything ready is what I thrive on.

I made a goat cheese asparagus pasta from Smitten Kitchen.  It was super easy and a huge hit!  Goat cheese is one of my favorites and a perfect pairing with the asparagus and lemon juice.

 

I served it alongside a simple bagged salad (gotta keep things easy you know), some great local bread, and wine my guests had brought.

In addition to the wine I also made a homemade sweet and sour mix for whiskey sours.  I love wine with food, but if I'm going to have a cocktail I love whiskey drinks. 

 

 

I've made whiskey sours for the family this Christmas as well and the recipe won several people over.  I only use lemon juice in mine (mostly because I don't have fresh limes) and it still turned out well.

 

Down south we need cold cocktails, even during the Christmas season.  If you have a powerful blender I recommend making whisky slushes.  1 part whiskey for 2 parts sweet and sour mix, add as much ice as you would like to water it down, and blend away!  

African Peanut Stew

This recipe came from the December issue of Clean Eating Magazine.  If you are looking for healthy, budget friendly, delicious recipes you should really check out Clean Eating.  Most of their recipes are not vegetarian, but focus on lean meats with lots of protein and healthy fats.  If you are vegetarian, a lot of the recipes can be easily modified to fit your lifestyle.

I was a little skeptical when I started this recipe.  As you will see from the ingredients, they aren't items that usually go together.  However, it was awesome!!!!  Even the omnivore roommate was singing it's praises.  It's perfect for the winter season.  This stew is warm, slightly sweet, spicy, and chock full of delicious and nutritious vegetables.  

African Peanut Stew

Ingredients

2 cups brown rice

1 tbsp cooking oil (sunflower, olive, canola, peanut)

2 yellow onions diced thickly

6 cloves of garlic, minced

3 jalapeno chili peppers, seeded and chopped  (I only used two, because they only had giant peppers at the grocery store)

2 tbsp curry powder (Apparently I don't have any curry powder.  Oops.  Instead I used equal parts of chili powder, paprika, and cayenne)

1 tbsp minced fresh ginger

4 cups low sodium veggie broth

2 cups boxed or jarred chopped/diced tomatoes with juices

1/3 cup smooth or chunky peanut butter

1 3/4 lbs sweet potatoes, diced into 1 inch squares

4 cups shredded green or red Swiss chard

sea salt to taste

1/3 cup chopped fresh cilantro

Directions

1. Cook rice according to package directions, cover and set aside.

2. In a stock pot heat oil on medium.  Add onions and saute, stirring occasionally, until tender, 5 to 7 minutes.  Add garlic, jalapenos, curry powder (or other spices), ginger and saute for 1 more minute.

3. Stir in broth, tomatoes and peanut butter (wear an apron or clothes you don't mind getting messy, I got tomato juice all over myself).  Add potatoes and chard and increase heat to medium high.  Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to a simmer and cook until potatoes and chard are tender, uncovered, 12 to 14 minutes.  Season with salt.

4. Divide rice among serving bowls.  Top with stew and cilantro.

Y'all this was so good! I didn't even mind eating it everyday for lunch.  It was that good!  

Let me know what you think of it!