Oh I wish I could make this look as good as it tasted!

My fabulous friend Lissa makes this so often that she doesn’t even look at the recipe anymore. That’s the sign of a good supper! She told me how to make it while The Kiddo and I were visiting last fall, and I can’t [...]]]>

Oh I wish I could make this look as good as it tasted!

My fabulous friend Lissa makes this so often that she doesn’t even look at the recipe anymore. That’s the sign of a good supper! She told me how to make it while The Kiddo and I were visiting last fall, and I can’t believe it took me this long to make it. It is absolutely phenomenal, really. You must make this as soon as possible.

You’ll need:

• 1 stick butter, melted
• 1 lb. smoked sausage, sliced
• 1 can Rotel
• 1 can french onion soup
• 1 can beef consomme
• 2 lbs. uncooked chicken, turkey or peeled shrimp
• 1 bunch green onions, chopped
• 2 cups uncooked rice
• 2 bay leaves
• 14 ounces (or 1 can) chicken broth
• I also added some chopped dehydrated red peppers out of the freezer from last summer’s garden

Steps to easy prep:

1. Mix all ingredients and bake in buttered casserole, covered tightly (I did a tight cover of foil then a lid on top of that) for one hour at 350F; stir and recover, then bake 30 minutes more or until rice is done

Oh wait. It’s only one step. Don’t you love that? This expands a lot as the rice cooks and soaks up the chicken broth so allow yourself plenty of room in the casserole dish (I totally pushed my luck there; overflow crisis narrowly averted).

I served this with shredded cheese, hot sauce and cornbread. It went fast.

It’s another LuLu Buffett recipe! This was every so slightly modified from LuLu’s Crazy Cheesy Queso Dip. I love it especially right now because the red and green peppers look all Christmasey. Aww!

Here’s what I used:

For this I made two cups of sushi rice in the rice maker:

This was such a quick and easy weeknight meal! And a light one too, which I love in the summer. Or spring. Whatever — it’s hot enough to be glow-inducing during the day already, so it sure feels like summer to me.

For this I made two cups of sushi rice in the rice maker:

And steamed two cups of broccoli, then sprinkled on some lemon juice:

And The Yankee grilled some teriyaki-marinated chicken:

Then we layered all that in bowls and added a bit of soy sauce. A la peanut butter sandwiches! Super easy fake-out take-out, minus the MSG headache.

What are your favorite summer meals when it feels too hot to eat?

I eat a lot of salsa. A LOT. I am rather notorious for this, in fact. My friend’s boyfriend once innocently asked if I had anything he could snack on — maybe some chips and salsa? My friend nearly fell on the floor laughing at the thought of me not having chips and salsa in [...]]]>

I eat a lot of salsa. A LOT. I am rather notorious for this, in fact. My friend’s boyfriend once innocently asked if I had anything he could snack on — maybe some chips and salsa? My friend nearly fell on the floor laughing at the thought of me not having chips and salsa in the house. There is no risk of that. Ever.

So when my awesome world-traveling chef cousin came to town for a few days, she offered to teach me how to make roasted red salsa and tamales (more on that later). Can you imagine how much I hesitated? Not. At. All.

And people, this salsa. PEOPLE. With a lifetime of tasting, sampling, and gorging research on salsa, I have never in my life had salsa this good.

Note that this makes a lot — a big mixing bowl full. I’m too embarrassed to tell you how quickly it went here. Without further ado, I give you: The Best Salsa Ever:

• 16 full size tomatoes, or nearly a produce bag full of roma tomatoes (we used roma)
• 2-3 yellow onions
• 20-25 Serrano peppers (remove caps) Note: this many peppers makes it hot. Feel free to reduce # of peppers, or scrape the seeds out of them
• 8-10 cloves of garlic
• 1-2 Tbsp salt
• 1-2 bunches cilantro

1. Halve the tomatoes and onions and lay cut-side up on a cookie sheet along with the peppers and garlic
2. Roast at 375 till the onions look nice and translucent (see bottom left of the next picture), tomatoes look soft, and peppers are getting a nice char on them



3. Let it all cool a bit, then run through the food processor with salt and cilantro (we had to do this in two batches)
4. Stir it all together and eat with abandon. Trust me.

Update 6/24/09:

Got questions? Be sure to see the comments below from The Cousin — lots of great info from the salsa expert!

I have hated broccoli all my life. Hated it. Now I love it! But only if I cook it. And only like this. Hmm. Does this count as a reformation?

You will need:

Ready? This [...]]]> I am reformed!

I have hated broccoli all my life. Hated it. Now I love it! But only if I cook it. And only like this. Hmm. Does this count as a reformation?

You will need:

• Broccoli — preferably fresh, but frozen is fine if you set it out to thaw first
• Olive oil
• Butter
• Salt and pepper
• Lemon juice
• Parmesan cheese

Ready? This is quick and easy.

1. Preheat your oven to 450. It takes my oven about two and a half weeks to accomplish that, FYI
2. In the bottom of a heavy skillet or saucepan, put a single layer of broccoli and toss it with just enough olive oil to coat all the pieces, and throw in a pat or two of butter
3. Salt and pepper with abandon
4. Put in the oven uncovered for about 20-30 minutes or longer, depending on how Southern-style soft you like your veggies (one of The Yankee’s favorite stories is the look on my face when I saw “cooked” green beans in northern Michigan)
5. When they’re as done as you like, pull them out of the oven; they’ll likely be stuck to the bottom of the pan, which is totally fine
6. Now, quickly before it cools down at all, splash some lemon juice in the pan to deglaze it and un-stick the broccoli. It’s like magic, I’m telling you!
7. Sprinkle on a little parmesan cheese and chow down while it’s still hot

Yummy add-ins:

• Fresh garlic roasted with it
• Sprinkled-in crushed red pepper
• Grated lemon zest
• Lawry’s salt
• Anything else? What do you use?