vegetables Archives - Cupcakes and Cutlery

Garlic Basil Mustard Dip

July 23, 2014 by Sharon Garofalow Leave a Comment

*This post is not technically sponsored. French’s sponsored my post the other day about a picnic. But I also wanted to share the recipe for the dip I made. So this post isn’t sponsored but I DID use mustard they sent me. And this photo IS from that sponsored shoot. Have I covered all my bases? All opinions are mine. Full disclosure, I bought almost all pre-cut vegetables. And then I reused them after the shoot on friends. There. Now you know everything. Veggies and dip. Match made in heaven. But I’m kind of sick of ranch. And a vinaigrette would have been too messy (I will NOT ruin this blanket. It’s my new fave. Is it weird to have a special occasion blanket?) So I decided to modify a recipe for French’s Basil and Garlic Mustard (which I can’t find on their site to link to) and turn it in to a dip.

I first showed you this dip in my summer picnic post from the other day. But today, you get the recipe. This Garlic Basil Mustard Dip is super tangy AND creamy with a touch of heat from the garlic and herbaciousness from mi amor basil. I added some chives for good measure. A quick squeeze of lemon juice and you’ve got yourself a dip! Eat with fresh vegetables and behold the wonder that is nature.

Garlic Basil Mustard Dip

Ingredients

Adapted from French's Basil and Garlic Mustard recipe
1/2 cup French's Classic Yellow Mustard
1/2 cup mayo
2 6oz. containers of Fage 0% Greek Yogurt
2 TBSP chopped fresh basil
2 cloves garlic, crushed
2 TBSP chopped fresh chives
Juice of 1/2 of lemon

Instructions

Combine all the ingredients.
Refrigerate until ready to use.
You can leave out the mayo if you are looking for more of a "clean eating" recipe.

http://www.cupcakesandcutlery.com/garlic-basil-mustard-dip/

Filed Under: Food, Recipes Tagged With: appetizer, Recipes, summer, vegetables

Grilled Vegetable Sandwiches with King’s Hawaiian Buns

July 14, 2014 by Sharon Garofalow Leave a Comment

*This is a sponsored post by King’s Hawaiian. All opinions are mine. I love this company. Ah, summer. I’m so glad it has finally started for us!! School got out late this year so it didn’t really feel like we could really DO summer until a week ago. Now our days are filled with swim lessons and keeping cool. And it finally feels right to barbecue everything. I’m not a huge fan of steak though, and I eat a ton of chicken so I wanted to switch it up a little. Grilled veggies are one of my favorite things to eat so I thought, Hey! Why not make them in to a sandwich?!

A quick trip to the store yielded all the ingredients for the grilled sandwich of my dreams!! But you could easily sub out whatever makes your heart happy. Do not switch out these King’s Hawaiian buns though. I’ve never loved hamburger buns but THESE I could eat on their own. Same great taste as their rolls. And super light and airy. While this is a sponsored post, I totally don’t have to make lifestyle changes based on the writing of a post for one company. But I plan to only use these buns for my burgers from now on. Gross regular hamburger buns, consider yourselves replaced!

I really like to play around with different flavors for my grilled veggies. I love how caramely they can get with a good balsamic vinegar and how flavorful they can be with a drizzle of evoo and some fresh minced garlic. But when I came across this recipe for a mustard and herb grilled veggie sandwiches. I knew I had to try them out! I also knew the sweet touch of the King’s Hawaiian buns would be the perfect balance to the tang of the mustard. If you are not a fan of mustard (which I am usually not) then you can still make this grilled vegetables sandwich by using an easy vinaigrette (mix about 1/4 cup of extra virgin olive oil, 1/4 cup good balsamic vinegar, 1/8 tsp salt, fresh ground black pepper to taste, 1 clove garlic minced, 1/2 tsp dried oregano, 1/2 tsp dried basil).

I made the mustard herb sauce and tossed all my veggies in it. They don’t need to really marinade in the sauce, just need to be coated. I also didn’t baste them throughout the cooking process. I’m a lazy cook… Well, my husband usually does the grilling, but I guess I was too lazy to tell HIM to baste them…

Here’s the kicker you guys. So I love In N Out (a pure California treat! So sorry if you have never experienced it. Put it on your bucket list). On their animal style burgers they do something called “fried mustard” where they grill mustard on to the bun. It’s so great! So I decided to try that out on the grill. All you need to do is spread a light layer of yellow mustard on each side of the bun before placing them directly on the heat.

Then you send your husband outside with a whole lotta veggies to grill. And then give him instructions like, “Look pensive. Now really sell it. You ARE summer grilling!” while taking photos of him making your dinner. We just got one of those bbq grill pans, btw and it is awesome!! My husband no longer gives me the stink eye when I give him tiny little pieces of veggie to try to balance on the grill.

Once the veggies are done you are ready to assemble the sandwich. How yum do those crusty mustard buns look?!

Stack the veggies in any order you want. Leave off what you don’t want and put on what you do. The buns will have a nice little crisp edge to them but I felt like I wanted to have a little bit more texture for my sandwich so I grabbed some crispy onion straws.

The taste is tangy and sweet from the mustard and the King’s Hawaiian bun. It feels hearty from the thick cut veggies and fresh from the herbs in the mustard sauce. You can pair it with anything from chips like I did since this was my husband’s night to help with dinner and since he was grilling I didn’t want to have to make anything…lazy. But this would go really well with a salad, baked beans, coleslaw, etc.

I can’t wait to make these again! And a quick side note, the leftover vegetables were fantastic cold the next day!

Thank you for supporting the brands that let me keep doing what I love. Which is eating, finding quick recipes and sharing all of this with you!

Grilled Vegetable Sandwiches with King’s Hawaiian Buns

Ingredients

(Mustard Herb Marinade recipe is from French's)

For the Veggie Marinade

1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 Yellow Mustard
2 tbsp chopped fresh basil
3 cloves garlic, minced

For the Sandwich

1 Eggplant
2 Red Bell Pepper
2 Green Zuccini
2 Yellow Zucchini
1 Red Onion
1 package King's Hawaiian Sandwich Buns
Crispy friend onions (optional)

Instructions

Mix all marinade ingredients together in a bowl.
Slice all vegetables into "steaks" and coat with whatever marinade you prefer.
Grill vegetables.
Spread mustard on each half of the bun and grill on direct heat on the grill.
Assemble the sandwiches to your liking topping the vegetables with crispy fried onions if desired.

http://www.cupcakesandcutlery.com/grilled-vegetable-sandwiches-kings-hawaiian-buns/

Filed Under: Food, Recipes Tagged With: bbq, grilled, summer entertaining, vegetables

August Loves

August 30, 2013 by Sharon Garofalow 7 Comments

This month I couldn’t get enough of…

Cotton Candy Grapes : : I found out about these from my friend Pattie Cordova. They sell them at Sprouts markets and of course I had to try them. They really DO taste like cotton candy. It is so odd! And delicious.

Foam magazine :: I’m kind of obsessed. I always hesitated picking it up at my local bookstore because I’m not a surfer and I didn’t want to be a poser. I thought it was for awesome surfer chicks. And it is. But it’s for everyone else too. Fashion, ocean, art, music. I have been reading it the past few months and LOVE it. It took me everything I had to save the music issue to read until I was on vacation.

You may remember I mentioned my love of Moscow Mules but for the times when I shouldn’t be imbibing, I just drink the Ginger Beer. I have had to limit myself to one a day. Reed’s is my favorite brand (flavor varies depending on the brand you buy) with a crisp, refreshing ginger flavor. I add about an ounce of fresh lime juice and ice and sip away.

I finally got my husband to hang my Willams-Sonoma Channing mirror up in our bedroom. I LOVE it. And my husband got excited when he saw Jeff Lewis use the same mirror (or one VERY similar) in an episode of Interior Therapy.

I took this Sun Bum sunscreen with me on vacation. Remember my previous post about sunscreen? Well, the one thing that I had missing was the smell of a tropical scent in my skin protection. It may seem crazy, but it really mattered to me. When I found out that Sun Bum smells amazing AND comes in a 50 plus SPF I just had to try it. And I’m a fan. The can says it is hypoallergenic and is anti-aging. Sold. While summer might be coming to a close, don’t forget that you need to be wearing sunscreen all day, every day.

This Nixon speaker totally made our vacation to Cabo. My husband and I love music and new we wanted to take a speaker with us. What is so awesome about this one is that it was designed to withstand the elements, like sand, and is shock and water-resistant. I came in to our family room to find my husband egging my son on to throw it on the floor! And so he did. Several times. We had it with us on the beach every single day and never worried about where we set it. The sound is also crazy good, which is well, good for a speaker. One of my favorite parts is the voice. Todd Richards, a pro snowboarder, lends his voice for several phrases that come out of the speaker. He will tell you when you are about halfway through the battery life (about 12 hours!) and when you turn it off he says, “See you later.” This speaker is smart AND polite.

I have always disliked mushrooms. But all the sudden, my 7-year-old decided that he liked them and has been asking me to make them for him. So I did and now I love them. We have them about twice a week. I keep it simple using Trader Joe’s pre-chopped onion, shallot and garlic sautéed in a little olive oil. Then I add the mushrooms and whatever other veggie we think we need and over the pan. We let the veggies cook down a bit and then take the lid off and let the moisture evaporate. Takes about 15 minutes and then we eat our faces off. Mushrooms are super high in Vitamin D so at least I know we are getting some sort of health benefit. But I have promised him every 3rd time that I will cook them with bacon. It’s all about compromise.

*Disclosure: This is not a sponsored post. These are just things I love. Pottery Barn (a sister company to Williams Sonoma) sometimes sends me products at my request. The Channing mirror is one such item. All opinions are mine.

Filed Under: Things I Love Tagged With: cotton candy, favorites, Foam, fruit, ginger beer, grapes, home decorating, Magazines, mirror, mushrooms, music, Nixon, pottery barn, skin cancer, speaker, Sun Bum, Sunscreen, Things I love, vegetables

{Recipe} Apple Juice Braised Brussels Sprouts with Bacon

February 6, 2012 by Sharon Garofalow 5 Comments

Please forgive my food photography. I made this brussels sprouts recipe twice in 4 days and just have to share it with you. This was the second time that I made it so I just took the pictures while I was getting dinner ready. Which means there were screaming matches to contend with, toys to step over and other dishes to make sure I didn’t burn. I tried channeling Lisa and Bev to no avail. But seriously. Go make these. My parents had been telling me how good theses brussels sprouts were for months. They finally wore me down and I made them. And now I want them all the time.

Did I mention they are super easy? Did I mention they have bacon? Ok then. Wash your brussels sprouts and cut the stalk end off and cut them in half. Brown the bacon in a pan and then transfer to a plate to drain. Reserve a tablespoon of the bacon grease and add the brussels sprouts. Saute the brussels sprouts to give them a little color.

Be sure to keep your eye on the bacon. It starts to disappear.

Add the apple juice to the pan. Cover and let them steam until tender.

Let the rest of the apple juice cook out and then add the bacon back to the pan. And then proceed to eat the entire batch. What? It happens. If by chance you happen to have some leftover (which I did but only because I doubled the batch the second time I made it) it tastes delicious the next day. Even cold. It took a few minutes of coaxing to get my boys to try them but they did. One of my picky eaters really liked them and ate all of them on his plate. My youngest didn’t eat them. But he only likes gummy snacks. So you can’t let him be the judge.

These are SO good!

Recipe: Brussels Sprouts with Bacon {adapted from Cooks.com}

3 Slices bacon coarsely chopped {I do at least 6. So}

1/4 cup chopped pecans {I leave these out because nuts are the devil at our house}

2 boxes (10 oz) frozen brussels sprouts, thawed and halved or 2 cups fresh brussels sprouts, halved

1/4 cup apple juice {I use 1 cup – this probably helps to remove any healthiness that was in this recipe}

1/2 tsp salt

In a large skillet cook bacon over medium heat for 5 minutes, stirring frequently, until crisp. Stir in pecans and cook for 1 minute, until toasted. With a slotted spoon, remove bacon and pecans, if using to paper towels to drain. Drain all but 1 to 2 TBSP of bacon grease from the pan. Add brussels sprouts and stir to coat with fat. Saute for a few minutes, mixing gently to get some nice brown color on the brussels sprouts. Stir in apple juice.

Cover and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat to low and simmer 8 – 10 minutes (for frozen) or 10 – 12 minutes (for fresh) until brussels sprouts are tender. Allow for the apple juice to cook almost all the way off. Before serving, add bacon, pecans and salt and pepper.

Put them on a plate, bowl or trough and cram as many in your mouth as you can.

You’re welcome.

Filed Under: Family Life, Recipes Tagged With: family meals, Recipes, vegetables