Tuscan Style Cannellini Salad

This is one of the most used recipes I have from Cooking Light. I LOVE THIS SALAD! It is easy and yummy - two reasons it makes great summer fare.

Tonight I served it with BLT's made on our everyday bread and baby dill pickles. This dinner was a huge hit with everyone.


Tuscan Style Cannellini Salad
Serves 4

1 16oz. can cannellini beans, rinsed well
3 roma tomatoes, diced
1/4 c. chopped vidalia or red onion
1 clove garlic, minced
3-4 basil leaves, chopped into ribbons (chiffonade)
2 Tbsp. red wine or balsamic vinegar
1 tsp. extra virgin olive oil
1/2 tsp. dried rosemary
1 Tbsp. Italian parsley
pinch of salt
2-3 turns ground black pepper

Mix all ingredients into a bowl. Place in fridge and let sit for an hour for flavors to marinade.

What to do with hocks?

When you have a pig slaughtered, there are some parts that you just don't want. Fatback, lard, liver, kidneys, heart, etc. all fall into these categories for me. However, hocks I have kept. I've never eaten hocks nor cooked them until last night.

While last evening's dinner was pretty basic, I think it turned out pretty good although a bit fattier than I would have liked. It certainly felt like comfort food for me. I think the beans more than make up for the small amount of meat in the dish. The bread was delicious too and went well with the meal.


Hocks & Beans

4 large hocks
1 lb. dried beans (navy works well)
2 c. chopped Italian green beans (these were the last from my garden)
~1 c. frozen spinach
rosemary
thyme
minced garlic
minced onion
red pepper flakes
oregano
salt
pepper

Place the hocks into a crock pot. Mine were frozen solid so I cooked them on high. Add garlic, onion, rosemary, thyme, oregano, salt & pepper over the top. Add 1/2 c. boiling water. Cover and let cook for about 4-5 hours. I did turn mine over a couple of times during the cooking process.

During the cooking time, prep your beans. Because I don't ever make menus, I am always using the quick soak method for the beans. I don't find the difference from the overnight soak noticeable at all.

When the beans are done soaking, add them into a stockpot with more onion, garlic, salt, pepper, red pepper flakes. Add boiling water and simmer them with the lid partially on until almost cooked. Add in the green beans & spinach. When beans are complete, remove the hocks from the crockpot and add them into the beans. Strain the juices at the bottom of the crock (try and get as much fat out as possible) and add them to the beans. Right before serving, remove the hocks and cut out the meat, dice it and add it back into the beans.

This recipe likely could serve about 8 adults. We had some leftovers, but the 4 youngest kids def. ate kid sized portions and didn't take seconds (they liked the taste - no complaining, but all have issues when foods are all mixed together in one pot).

Harvest Bread

1 1/3 c. milk
2 eggs
3 Tbsp. butter, cut up
3 1/3 c. flour
1 c. whole wheat flour
2/3 c. toasted wheat germ
1/4 c. brown sugar (I used 1/4 c. of molasses & honey instead - ratio about 1/2 & 1/2)
1 tsp. salt
2 tsp. yeast

Heat the milk until warm. Add the eggs & cut up butter. Mix together the flours, wheat germ, salt & yeast. Add in the sugar (or molasses & honey). Slowly add the milk mixture and knead, adding flour if necessary. Place into a well oiled bowl and cover. Let rise for about 45 mins. Punch down and form - cover while preheating the oven to 350. Bake for about 40 mins.

Yields one large loaf.

Three Bean Chicken Chili & Cornbread

So dinner yet again was a spur of the moment type thing. I remembered I had 6 chicken thighs frozen and I'm usually well stocked with dried beans so I decided to whip up a chili. It was pretty decent and while it had a little bit of heat, I toned it down for the kids.

As far as the cornbread, I am always in search of "the recipe" that has the flavor I'm looking for. The cornbread I love the very most is made at a local supermarket's bakery and has an astronomical price per small tray. I suppose I could ask if they had a recipe, but I'm terribly afraid it is from a box mix. So even though this recipe was not the one it was very moist and I will likely play around with it some more to see if I can get it right. I should mention that the "general" recipe came from the back of the cornmeal container. The additions and changes I made will be in the Cook's notes.


Three Bean Chicken Chili

6 frozen bone in chicken thighs
1/2 bag of black beans, dried
1/2 bag of red kidney beans, dried
1 can diced tomatoes
1/2 can small tomato paste
1 can cannellini beans
1 c. frozen peas
1 large onion, diced
2 Tbsp. oil
2 Tbsp. honey
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
1 1/2 Tbsp. chili powder
1 1/2 tsp. cumin
1 tsp. oregano
1/4 tsp. white pepper
Salt & black pepper

Soak beans either using overnight method or quick method. Boil chicken thighs in large stock pot until cooked through. Drain, saving cooking liquid. Remove meat from thigh bones and set aside. In same large stock pot, heat oil and add onion cooking for a few minutes until onion is translucent. Add in garlic, chili powder, cumin, oregano, peppers & salt. Add in chicken liquid to bring liquid level up to about half (doing this through a sieve will keep out any chicken scum). Add in thigh meat, beans, peas, diced tomatoes, tomato paste and honey. Simmer for about 2 hours or until beans are tender. Serve with Mexican blend grated cheese.

Cook's notes: So I pretty much whipped this up off the top of my head as I went along. I liked it although truth be told I'd prefer it spicier and thicker. The kids did really well with it although the littlest one hates anything that resembles a soup or stew.

Cornbread

1 1/4 c. flour
3/4 c. yellow corn meal
1/4 c. sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 c. skim milk
1/4 c. oil
1 egg, beaten

Preheat oven to 400. Grease 8 or 9" baking pan. Combine dry ingredients. Stir in wet ingredients until just moistened. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake 20-25 minutes or until light golden brown & toothpick comes out clean. Serve warm. 9 servings.


Cook's Notes: I doubled this recipe and made the following changes: I added one can of creamed style corn and 1 c. of low fat plain yogurt as a substitute for one cup of the skim milk. I also melted 4 Tbsp. of butter and poured it on top of the batter once it was in the greased 9x13 pan. I did not serve the cornbread with butter/margarine and it didn't need it. Both my hubby and the kids loved the cornbread so I guess this will be the go to recipe - I will play around with the flour to cornmeal ratio as well as the sweetness. If I get it right, I'll re-post my recipe.