Apple Extension

In every way.

Food of the month and for snacking.

They’re just so good they’re sticking around.

Tonight they’re dehydrating or as I prefer to say, “schnitzing.”  My mom-in-law gave me a dehydrator that was just sitting in storage.  I plan on making it work pretty hard now that it’s out.  Thanks Lori!

As always, ingredients were assembled.  I even assembled a little corner of black bean tortilla chips for me.  I didn’t want to eat all the goods. 

Various things can be used to prevent browning apples, including sodium bisulfite and ascorbic acid.  I went for the real food item that I had on hand, lemon.  Most of the juice for the apples and a little for me.

Lemon juice with one part water and one part green tea makes a refreshing mocktail when you’re tired of drinking just plain old water.  Enjoy while you…

I soaked in the juice of one lemon and about 3 cups of water.  Don’t forget to drain.  Since the goal is to draw all the moisture out, no need to make your heat source work twice as hard.

My new to me dehydrator is apparently going to be hard at work for 6-12 hours.  This will test my patience.  I can’t wait for my old favorite snack!

Although I’ve never tried it, apparently you can also dry apples in the oven.  Your oven should be less than 200 degrees.  You should also leave the door open for air circulation.  Not ideal, but possible.  It’s also supposed to be faster!

Hopefully I’ll see you back tomorrow with good results.  Until then…

What’s testing your patience these days?

Suggestions

Have I ever told you that I can’t follow a recipe to save my life?!  I can’t.  Absolutely not.

Tonight I tried.  Again.  I frequently enter dinner prep fully prepared to follow a recipe.  The cook book is out.  I have all the ingredients.  I am ready!

That’s how tonight started.  I was making a veggie curry dish from Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution cook book.  I bought ingredients that were very specific to this recipe.  Lemon.  Cauliflower.  Red bell pepper.  I even bought…ginger root!  Seriously.  I have never bought this in my life.  I’m not even a huge fan of ginger, but I thought if I wanted the full effect of the recipe, I better buy it.

As far as ingredients go, the only part I drifted on was the curry paste.  I happened to have some peanut sauce already in the house that I’ve been wanting to use.  HA!  I don’t know why this didn’t tip me off that I was yet again going to treat this recipe merely as a suggestion of what foods to combine and cook.

It’s was all downhill from there.  Don’t feel like peeling ginger and chopping garlic, eh, throw the big chunks in.  Wok too full to use all the cauliflower, oh well, just use half.  Green peppers from the garden that need to be eaten, ok, replace some of the red peppers with those.  Mistakenly think you have diced tomatoes, but you don’t, it’s fineeeeeeeee, use crushed.  Get my point?

I drift and I drift and I drift.  Eventually I have a completely different meal than what I set out to make.  Sometimes it’s a success.  Sometimes, not so much.

Tonight, huge success.

I’m going to call it….

Veggie Stir Fry with Tomato Peanut Sauce

Heavily inspired by Jamie Oliver.  And please do check out the real recipe.  It too looks delicious.

• 1 red bell pepper, chunked
• 1 green bell pepper, chunked
• 1 medium onion, chunked
• 1 banana pepper, finely chopped
• 2 whole cloves garlic, peeled
• 1 thumb size piece ginger root, halved
• 1 small butternut squash, peeled and cubed
• 1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
  
• 1/2 large head cauliflower, pieced
• 15 ounce can chickpeas
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1/2 cup peanut sauce
• 1/2 cup peanut butter
• 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
• 28 ounces crushed tomatoes
• 1 cup water
• plain Greek yogurt
• 1 lemon

1. Sauté all peppers and onion in olive oil until just softened.
2. Add garlic, ginger, and squash and sauté for a minute to begin to infuse flavor.
3. Add cauliflower and chickpeas and toss everything to mix.
4. Add peanut sauce, peanut butter, balsamic vinegar, crushed tomatoes, and water to make the sauce.
5. Mix everything well, bring to a boil, and hope your pan isn’t  over flowing at this point!
6. Reduce temperature and simmer for 30-45 minutes or until vegetables are softened to your liking.
7. Serve over brown rice with a dollop of Greek yogurt and a squeeze of lemon.

I’ll warn you, it’s lots of chopping and not a quick meal, but it’s worth it.  I didn’t think it was while I was standing and chopping, but I can tell you now, it is!  And if you’re like Steve, a self proclaimed “sauce man,” you’ll really love it.

So thanks Jamie Oliver, for your inspiration.  You helped me remember how much I like cauliflower.  You helped me learn how nicely ginger can compliment a sauce.  And you helped me realize that a splash of lemon juice at the end of a meal really can make all the difference.

I knew there was a reason I bought cook books!

Tell me about your recipe following abilities!  Do you follow recipes to a tee or use them for inspiration?