Harvest Grain and Nut Pancakes

For when I am craving pancakes, these are perfect! They are filling, and full of good-for-you REAL food. If you are a fan of the Harvest Grain and Nut Pancakes from I-Hop, these are remarkably similar.

INGREDIENTS:
3/4 cup Quaker Oats
3/4 cup whole wheat flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups buttermilk
1/4 cup applesauce
1 egg
2 teaspoons brown sugar*
1/4 cup almonds
1/4 cup walnuts
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

*optional (the sugar, according to me, isn't necessary, but Kyle thinks it is)

DIRECTIONS:

1. Grind the oats in a blender or food processor until fine, like flour. Remove oats from food processor and place in large mixing bowl. Add nuts to food processor. Pulse until desired texture.
2. Preheat griddle or skillet to medium to medium low heat.
3. Combine dry ingredients separately from wet ingredients, then mix together. 
4. Lightly butter a skillet or griddle. Ladle 1/3 cup of the batter onto the hot skillet and cook the pancakes for 2 to 4 minutes per side or until brown.

NOTES:
These are pretty tricky to cook: they don't spread out like normal pancakes, so attempt to get them as even as possible when initially pouring the batter in. Also unlike regular pancakes, they don't bubble up when they are done on one side. Watch the batter, and when you see it cooked halfway through, turn it. They have a tendency to not get cooked in the middle, so make sure to wait long enough on both sides to cook through.

I like to use pure Maple syrup with these, and a little bit of grass-fed butter to top it off. But they are great with blueberries, or fruit (whole, or pureed).

Ranch Pasta Salad

Easy-to-make pasta salad that goes great with anything and everything you can grill! Add any vegetables or meat that you want. I like to add feta cheese! Yum!

INGREDIENTS:
1 Package Tri-Colored Rotini (I use whole wheat)
2 Cucumbers
15 Baby Tomatoes
1 Can Black Olives
1 Bottle Ranch (or you can make it yourself!)

DIRECTIONS:
1. Cook the pasta until it is just about al dente (if you are serving right away, cook to al dente). 
2. Chop up the vegetables to the size you like. Feel free to add extras.
3. Cool the pasta. 
4. Add the vegetables. 
5. Add Ranch Dressing to taste. If you leave it for too long it will soak in and you will have to add more.

Vietnamese Summer Rolls

Another perfect summer recipe, inspired by Vietnamese cuisine! Fresh and delicious!! It makes a great appetizer or a wonderful light supper.

INGREDIENTS:
1/2 lb steak
1 pkg vermicelli
1 pkg spring roll wrappers (round)
1/2 cucumber (seeded, peeled, and finely julienned)
2 carrots (peeled and finely julienned)
1 bunch scallions (finely cut on bias)
Mint (chopped)
Cilantro (chopped)
Basil (chopped)
Chopped peanuts

NUOC CHAM (Traditional Dipping Sauce):
2 T lime juice
1 T rice vinegar
1 1/2 T sugar
1/2 C water
2 T fish sauce
1 clove garlic (finely minced)
1 T sweet chili sauce

PEANUT DIPPING SAUCE:
2 T hoisin sauce
1/2 C water
2 T peanut butter
1 T sweet chili sauce
1 T sugar
2 cloves garlic (minced or crushed)
1 tsp ginger (finely minced or crushed)

MARINADE:
3 T soy sauce
1 T fish sauce
1 T brown sugar
2 cloves garlic (crushed)
2 tsp ginger (finely minced or crushed)

DIRECTIONS:
1. For the steak:  combine marinade ingredients and marinate as long as possible, up to overnight.
2. To cook the steak:  grill or broil until medium or medium-rare.  Slice against the grain into strips about 1" long.
3. For the nuoc cham:  mix ingredients.  Adjust to taste.  (Personally, sometimes I like a little extra rice vinegar, fish sauce, or sweet chili sauce.)
4. For the peanut dipping sauce:  combine ingredients.  Adjust to taste.
5. Cook the vermicelli per package instructions.  Do this just before you're ready to make the summer rolls.
6. To prepare the rolls:  get a pie plate filled with hot water.  Put a cover over it to retain the heat.  This is how you will prepare the rice wrappers.

When ready to roll, dip your wrapper into the hot water until it softens, 5-20 seconds.  (The hotter the water, the quicker it will soften.)

Take it out, put it on your plate.  Fill the center (not too full!) like a burrito, leaving some room at either end.  Put first your steak, then your vermicelli, then your veggies, then your herbs, and finally your peanuts, if desired.  Fold the two ends in toward the filling, then roll like you would a burrito.  Make sure it's firm, so that it'll stay together!  (Not quite the traditional way, but this makes it easy!)

Enjoy!!

NOTES:
It works best to have everyone make the rolls as they're ready to eat them.  That way, the wrappers stay fresh and soft!  (They can go a bit hard/tough/rubbery if you prepare them in advance.)

Drew's Bruschetta

The best summer recipe ever!! I LOVE this with our homegrown heirloom tomatoes!

INGREDIENTS:
Tomatoes (best quality possible, preferably heirloom, diced)
Mozzarella (cubed)
Basil (Genovese, torn or chiffonade)
Olive oil (best quality possible)
Sherry vinegar
Salt
Baguette (cut into pieces at angle)
Procuitto (best quality possible)

DIRECTIONS:
1. Put tomatoes, basil, and mozzarella in bowl.
2. Gently mix in a decent amount of olive oil and sherry vinegar, to taste.  It shouldn't be so that the tomatoes are drowning in oil, but it should be enough so that there's some "juice" when you put it onto a piece of bread.  Don't put so much vinegar in that you overwhelm the oil or tomatoes!  You want the flavors to dance together subtly, rather than hitting you over the head.
3. Add salt, to taste.
4. Toast the pieces of baguette, preferably on a charcoal grill.  Get them toasty, with slight char marks.  You want crunch, so that texture will offset the juicy softness of the topping.
5. When ready to serve, set out the tomato mixture, the warm bread, and the procuitto.  Have everyone assemble their own:  bread, topped with the tomato mixture (with a bit of the "juice") and then a piece of procuitto.  Enjoy this lovely taste of summer!!

NOTES:
You want good quality tomatoes for this to work.  The tomatoes you usually buy in the grocery store smell and taste like plastic!  Go to your local farmer's market...or grow your own!  You want slicing tomatoes; paste tomatoes just won't work here.  I like to add color, so I use green, yellow, orange, pink and red tomatoes.  It makes my plate so pretty!

Cambodian Meatball Sandwich

This is my sister's version of the num pang: it is basically a Cambodian version of the bahn mi! One of my favorite sandwiches! Since it comes from my sister, there is one slight problem with it: no measurements! They do everything to taste, so experiment away. Really. Once you get the hang of making it, it's not very intimidating at all!

INGREDIENTS:
Meatballs
1 lb ground beef (or veal)
fresh breadcrumbs
1-2 eggs
1/2 onion (diced and sauteed a bit)
1-2 cloves garlic (minced)
Cilantro
Thai basil
Salt
Pepper
Spicy Mayo
Mayo
Sriracha
Honey
Salt
Pepper
Pickled Carrots
Shredded Carrots
Salt
Sugar
White Vinegar
Other Toppings
Good-quality, chewy french loaf
Cilantro
Sliced cucumber

DIRECTIONS:
1. To make the meatballs:  combine the meat with the garlic, onion, chopped cilantro, chopped basil, salt and pepper.  (All of this is to taste!  Depending on your taste buds, you can go heavier or lighter on the spices.  Don't overwhelm the meatballs with it, though!)  Add in enough breadcrumbs and eggs to make it moist and sticky.  I like to use 2 eggs, since it makes the meatballs very light and fluffy!  However, if you like heavier meatballs, only use 1 egg.
2. To form/cook the meatballs:  Don't over-mix the meatball mixture, but make sure everything's evenly dispersed.  Form into small meatballs.  I find that just a bit smaller than golf-ball-size works best for me.  Place on a baking sheet and bake at 350* until done.
3. For the spicy mayo:  Mix together mayo with a bit of salt and pepper.  (Not too much!)  Add in a few drizzles of honey and a few drizzles of sriracha.  Adjust to taste.  (More sriracha = more heat.  If you do too much, add more mayo or honey.)
4. For the picked carrots:  You're going to want to give these a chance to sit out.  Half an hour works fine, an hour's better, and overnight's best.  Mix white vinegar (maybe 1-2 cups) with a decent amount of sugar (maybe 1/4 cup).  Add in salt (a decent amount), then stir to mix.  Add in about 1-2 cups of shredded carrots.  Make sure most of the carrots are covered in the vinegar!  Let it sit out on the counter up to 2 hours, or in the fridge if longer.  These are ADDICTING and can be used on any sandwich!
5. To assemble the sandwich:  Warm up the bread just a bit.  I like to pick out the inside of the bread, so that I have room for my sandwich innards.  Put spicy mayo on top and bottom.  Put meatballs on the bottom part of the bread.  Add on pickled carrots, cucumber, and cilantro.  Put together and enjoy!!

Seven Layer Bars

Yummy!  Quick to make and addictive to eat!

INGREDIENTS:
1/2 C butter
24 crushed graham crackers
1 1/3 C flaked coconut
1 C chocolate chips
1 C butterscotch or peanut butter chips
1 C chopped nuts (walnuts or pralines work best)
1 (14 oz) can sweetened condensed milk (I prefer Eagle brand)

DIRECTIONS:
1. Melt butter in 9x13 pan.  Add graham crackers and spread over bottom of pan.  Layer chocolate chips, butterscotch/peanut butter chips, and nuts.  Pour condensed milk over the bars, then sprinkle the coconut.
2. Bake at 350* for 25 minutes.

Kelli's Orange Barbecue Chicken

This tastes like summer to me. Me and the rest of the kids absolutely love this chicken anytime, anywhere. But it especially tastes amazing in my parent's backyard with a campfire going. 

INGREDIENTS:

1/2 C Zesty Italian Dressing

1 lb chicken

1/4 C BBQ sauce

2 T orange marmalade

DIRECTIONS:

1. Marinate the chicken with 1/4 C dressing.

2. Mix rest of dressing, BBQ sauce, and marmalade.  Brush on while grilling chicken.