Ingredients:
1 large bunch broccoli
1 tbsp. olive oil
1 tbsp. butter (unsalted)
2 medium leeks (white and light green parts only, thinly sliced)
1 medium baking potato (peeled and cut into 1-inch pieces)
1 garlic clove (thinly sliced)
3 cups water
3 cups low-sodium chicken broth (vegetable broth for vegetarian option)
3/4 tsp. salt
pinch of freshly ground pepper
1/4 cup half and half (optional)
1/4 cup snipped chives

Separate broccoli stems from florets. Remove tough outer layer from stems with a vegetable peeler (if necessary) and slice into 1/4 inch thick “coins.” Break the florets into small pieces and set aside.

In a soup pot, heat oil and butter over medium heat. Add leeks and cook, stirring often, until softened and fragrant, about 3 minutes. Add broccoli stems, potato and garlic and cook 2-3 minutes. Add 3 cups of water, broth, salt and pepper and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover partially and simmer until broccoli and potato are tender, about 12 minutes.

Add florets, bring to a boil then simmer for 5 minutes. Use an immersion blender to puree until smooth. Add half and half (if using) and chives and re-heat before serving. I usually freeze the soup in 1-2 serving portions and sprinkle cheddar cheese on top when serving.

Notes:

I rarely take the time to chop up garlic, but get the jar of minced garlic from the grocery store and save myself two minutes of my life once or twice a week when cooking.
I rarely measure out salt and pepper, and sometimes I even leave them out because I prefer to add it later when I’m serving the dish, since every one likes a different amount.
I do not add the half and half, because I usually use extra broccoli and that makes it thick enough, plus I get the dairy when I sprinkle with cheddar.
I usually forget to buy fresh chives, or don’t want to be stuck with extra, so I use the dried chives from my spice rack, use only 1/8 of a cup and add with the florets so they get softened by cooking a little.

This is originally from an Oprah cookbook.

Ingredients:
1 avocado
1 cup cooked green peas
1/4 cup chopped fresh tomato
2 tbsp. chopped fresh cilantro, plus more for garnish
1 tbsp. chopped red onion
1 tbsp. chopped fresh parsley
2 tsp. fresh lime juice
1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp. garlic salt
1/2 tsp. black pepper
3/4 tsp. Tabasco sauce

Combine all of the ingredients in a large bowl and blend with an immersion blender until smooth. Garnish with cilantro. Serve with tortilla chips.

Notes:
I would probably double this recipe, especially if taking it to a party, plus where can you actually buy such small amounts of these ingredients anyway???
I will rarely juice a lime or lemon for a recipe… instead get the cute yellow and green bottles of juice at the grocery store.
This is from Bethenny Frankel: http://www.bethenny.com/

Add all ingredients to browned meat and simmer 3-4 hours. Serve to taste: over vermicelli spaghetti, with kidney beans (recommended: 2 cans), with chopped onion (recommended: 1 onion), topped with cheddar cheese or oyster crackers.

3 pounds of Red Skinned or other pretty colored Boiling Potatoes
1/2 Cup Chopped Fresh Chives or Green Onions
1/2 Cup of Chopped Fresh Parsley
2 Tablespoons of Drained Capers
3 Tablespoons of White Wine Vinegar
1 Tablespoon of Caper Liquid from Jar
1 Teaspoon (or a lil’ more) of Dijon Mustard
1/2 Cup of Olive Oil
Kosher Salt and Cracked Black Pepper
Paprika

Wash and cut potatoes into cubes. Boil in salted water until just tender (fork tender). Drain and add chives, parsley and capers, Set aside.

For the dressing: Combine vinegar, caper liquid and mustard in a small bowl or jar and whisk in oil. (or shake).

Season salad with salt and pepper. Then pour dressing over potatoes and adjust salt and pepper as needed. Dust with Paprika. Can serve at room temperature or make the night before and serve chilled or warm up in oven

I’m only now discovering how easy it is to whip up a yummy pasta salad.

INGREDIENTS
1 pound tri-color pasta – cooked
2/3 cup Italian dressing (I’m sure Greek dressing would taste excellent too)
1 cucumber – sliced and cut into quarters
1 pint cherry tomatoes – sliced in half
1 can of pitted black olives – sliced in half
1 cup crumbled feta cheese

DIRECTIONS
Cook pasta as directed, drain. Mix in Italian dressing while pasta still warm to help prevent pasta from clumping. Add rest of the ingredients, except the feta. If the pasta has cooled enough so that it won’t melt the feta, add the feta. Cover and chill 3-4 hours. Enjoy!

This one was definitely sweet, almost a little too sweet for me even. I may have added too much brown sugar, I can’t remember. Either way, this particular brisket reminded me of shredded pork barbecue and was great on a roll. Joe didn’t necessarily like the sweetness though. I made it just before Dad came to help move us out. He definitely had no problem finishing it off.

Recipe adapted from Smitten Kitchen who adapted it from Emeril. I halved the recipe, which is reflected here.

INGREDIENTS

1.5 large onions, sliced
1.5 tablespoons vegetable oil
3 garlic cloves, peeled and halved
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoons salt
3/4 teaspoons garlic powder
1/2 teaspoons black pepper
3/4 teaspoons onion powder
1/8 teaspoon cayenne (adjust to your heat preference)
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
1 cups beef stock (unsalted or low salt)
1/2 cup ketchup
1/2 cup chili sauce
1/2 cup brown sugar (light or dark)
4 to 5 pound brisket

DIRECTIONS

Prepare the sauce: Heat a large skillet over medium high heat and sauté onions in vegetable oil, stirring occasionally, until caramelized and most of liquid has evaporated, about 15 minutes. Add minced garlic cloves and saute for 3 minutes more. Stir in spices and seasoning (paprika, salt, garlic and onion powders, black pepper, cayenne, oregano and thyme) and cook for 2 minutes. Set aside.

In a large bowl, stir together the beef stock, ketchup, chili sauce and brown sugar. Don’t worry if your brown sugar is lumpy (mine always is), the acidity of the ingredients will quickly break it down.

While my husband eats onion rings, he doesn’t eat sauted onions (who knows). So, once I made the sauce, I used my Ninja (love that thing!) to puree everything. (Yes, I’m trying to hide the vegetables and it worked!)

If baking in oven: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place brisket in a baking dish or casserole, spread onion mixture over the top, then pour sauce mixture over the entire dish. Cover tightly with foil bake until very tender but not falling apart, about 3 to 4 hours.

If making in a slow cooker (which I did): Place brisket in a slow cooker and pour pureed mix over it. Cover with the lid and place in fridge over night. In the morning, cook on low for 8-10 hours. Smitten Kitchen has lots of other directions, which I omitted. At this point, I just let it cool slightly and then sliced and enjoyed.

1 tbsp. Vegetable Oil
2 pounds Beef Flank Steak
1 Cup Beef Broth
1 8 oz. can Tomato Sauce
1 small Onion, sliced
1 Green Pepper, seeded and sliced into strips
2 cloves garlic, chopped or pressed
1 6 oz. can Tomato Paste
1 tsp. Ground Cumin
1 tsp. Chopped Fresh Cilantro
1 tbsp. Olive Oil
1 tbsp. White Vinegar

Directions:

1. Heat vegetable oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Brown the flank steak on each side, about 4 minutes per side.

2. Transfer beef to a slow cooker. Pour in the beef broth and tomato sauce, then add the onion, bell pepper, garlic, tomato paste, cumin, cilantro, olive oil and vinegar. Stir until well blended. Cover and cook on high for 4 hours or low for up to 10 hours.

The meat will shred itself in the crock pot and then you can serve with rice or tortillas. I like to serve it with fried plantains (peel and slice plantains lengthwise and saute in a pan with vegetable oil until golden brown).

Serves 4
Total Time: 35m

The trickiest thing about this recipe is getting the right pizza dough. I usually hit up a local pizza place and ask for a ball of dough. It costs about $3 and tastes so much better than stuff from the grocery store.
Directions

1. Brown ½ pound ground beef; stir in ¼ cup barbecue sauce. (Or ground turkey.)
2. Oil a 10-inch ovenproof skillet and press 1 pound plain or whole-wheat pizza dough (thawed according to package directions) into the bottom and up the sides. Top with the beef and 1 cup grated Cheddar.
3. Bake at 425° F until golden brown, 20 to 25 minutes. Top with arugula, sliced tomato, and sliced red onion. Drizzle with olive oil.

Submitted by LOJ adapted from Steamy Kitchen.

The original recipe doesn’t make a sauce. Joe loves to dip his wings in a little extra sauce, so I added that here.

Recipe adapted from Greg Remp on the BBQ Central Radio Show.

INGREDIENTS

Wings:

3 pounds chicken wings, joints separated, tips removed (save for stock)

3/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon cayenne powder
2 teaspoons paprika
1 teaspoon salt
freshly ground black pepper

Sauce:

1/2 cup brown sugar
1 clove mince garlic
1 tablespoon butter
3/4 teaspoon cayenne powder
1.5 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon salt
fresh ground black pepper
2 tablespoon chicken broth or water

DIRECTIONS:

Wings:

Mix all of the ingredients for the dry rub. Rub on both sides of chicken wings. Place on cookie sheet lined with parchment paper (makes clean up so much easier!). Bake in preheated 400 degree oven for 15-20 minutes. Flip and bake another 15-20 minutes.

Sauce:

Melt butter in small sauce pan. Add ingredients and any remaining rub. Stir until melted. You may need to add more or less water/chicken broth to get to desired consistency.

Submitted by LOJ

Recipe adapted from The Mixer Bible.

INGREDIENTS:
1 Can (14oz) Coconut Milk
1 2 inch piece of ginger root, peeled and cut into matchsticks
2 pounds sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into cubish shapes
3 cups chicken stock
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 – 1/2 teaspoon cumin (I kind of just sprinkled some in, so I’m estimating here)
Pinch cayenne pepper
Freshly ground pepper
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lime juice

DIRECTIONS:
In a dutch oven (or large saucepan), simmer all ingredients, except the lime juice, over medium heat for 20 minutes, or until potatoes are tender.

Use immersion blender to puree ingredients. (The Mixer Bible instructed me to use the fruit/vegetable strainer, but I don’t have one, so I just used the immersion blender). I’m sure you can put the ingredients into a blender or food processor and get the same result.

Add the lime juice. Adjust seasonings to taste.

Enjoy!