Recipes Discovered

Watermelon Tomato Salad Recipe

I know this sounds like a bizarre combination, but I saw the recipe in a magazine and the picture made it look so good. With all of the extra tomatoes we have, it’s nice to have another recipe to use them as well. The salad is very simple – watermelon, tomatoes, red onion, parsley, basil, and lime juice. I diced the watermelon pretty small, so it was about the same size as the grape tomatoes I used. I also used dried basil instead of fresh. The salad has great flavor though. The combination of the herbs with the watermelon is outstanding, and the tomatoes add a nice pop. It’s easy, simple, and tastes great – perfect for summer!

Peachy Chicken Recipe

I had seen this recipe for peachy chicken in a magazine a few weeks ago and thought it sounded really good. The recipe called for canned peaches, but since we have a lot of fresh peaches, I decided to try it with those.

First, I peeled and sliced 2 fresh peaches and put them in a bowl with about a teaspoon of sugar. I let them sit for about an hour to sweeten them up a bit. In a large skillet, I browned the chicken breast in a little oil and then removed them while I made the sauce. I added orange juice, peaches and onion soup mix to the pan. To replace the peach juice, I added 1/2 cup of chicken broth. It sounded like a good idea at the time, but I think I needed to add something with a sweeter taste. I also omitted the brown sugar, which probably wasn’t a good idea either. Anyway, I boiled the mixture for a couple minutes before returning the chicken to the pan and reducing the heat to low. I cooked it another 20 minutes and then served it over brown rice.

After tasting the chicken, I think the peach juice and brown sugar are probably a big part of the dish. The chicken was good, but a little over powered by the onion flavor. The peaches also tasted very salty. It wasn’t a bad dish, but it wasn’t as good as I expected either. I would like to try to dish again, and maybe follow the recipe next time.

Watermelon Gazpacho Soup Recipe

Since gazpacho is becoming fairly popular (I see it in a lot of restaurants now), and I like the traditional version, I thought I would try an alternative. I found a recipe for watermelon gazpacho that called for watermelon, tomatoes, and cucumbers as the base. Along with those ingredients, I added vinegar, scallions, parsley (instead of cilantro), jalapeno, lime juice, and a bit of salt and pepper. I omitted the oil from the recipe, which may have been my mistake, I don’t know. I blended everything in the blender until pureed and refrigerated it for about 2 hours to chill and let the flavors meld. Upon tasting it, I discovered it was possibly the worst thing I have ever tasted. I don’t know if I missed something, if the oil was a big contributor to the taste, or if it’s just a bad recipe, but the soup was horrible. I think I’ll stick to traditional gazpacho or leave it to the professionals from now on.

Peach Pie Recipe

Seth’s favorite cookie may be these Chocolate Surprise Cookies, but I know his favorite pie is definitely a fresh peach pie. This pie can only be made with fresh, ripe peaches, so there are only a few weeks in the summer that it can be made, but it is a delicious treat.
The pie is fairly simple and the hardest part is actually getting the peaches ready. I peeled, pitted, and sliced five large peaches to make a 9-inch pie. An easy trick to peeling peaches is to pour boiling water over whole peaches for a couple seconds and then run cold water over them. The skin should peel right off. I usually sprinkle the peaches with a little fruit fresh to keep them from discoloring. >> Read more

Blueberry Delight Recipe

If I had to pick my favorite dessert not in the chocolate family, I would definitely choose Blueberry Delight. It’s an amazing dessert that is sweet, tart, and absolutely delicious. My parents live near a blueberry farm, and every summer we used to go pick fresh blueberries to make this wonderful dessert. It can be made with other fresh berries, or even peaches, but blueberries are the best in my opinion. It can only be made with fresh fruit, so while blueberries are in season, we make this dessert a lot!

The dessert is layered, and it begins with a graham cracker crust. I usually make a 13×9 pan, but the recipe can be scaled down to the 9 inch prepared crusted that can be bought in the grocery store. For the larger pan, I crush a pack and a half of graham crackers (15 sheets), which turns out to be about 1 1/2 cups crushed. I mix the crushed graham crackers with a half stick of melted butter and press it into the pan using a piece of waxed paper. Sometimes I bake the crust for 8 minutes in a 350 degree oven and other times I don’t bother. It’s usually hot in the summer, and I don’t want to heat up the oven. The dessert is fine both ways.>> Read more