I'm not even sure if it's considered a veggie, for all I know, it could be a fruit, but regardless, I've never tried one! And this recipe was my mom's idea!
It's going to become a delicious avocado salsa over fresh salmon!
The avocado is a little intimidating... luckily we asked Brandon to figure out how to cut it for us because we would have gone about it allllll wrong...
With a little googling and many food shows stored in his mind, Brandon sliced, scored and scooped that avocado like he's been his the kitchen his whole life! I was highly impressed and very glad not to have to handle that huge knife myself...
It just looks delicious! So nice to see a little color in these dreary days of winter! We are salsa freaks in the summer, but I've never made any like this with avocado.
The salsa was great on it's own, and salmon was great on it's own, and together, they were AWESOME! I don't think that the avocado had a very distinct taste, but it blended very well with the salsa! (Salsa is a great way to love any veggie...) Thanks for the new veggie Mom!
I have to thank my Aunt Mary who suggested I try edamame! I've had it once before at a hibachi grill (and thank you to Jess, who got me to try it at the hibachi grill!) but I've never made it myself. I never seen them fresh in the store, but my aunt told me that they are really good frozen too!
They looked yummy coming out of the oven...
And I gave them a shot...
But they left something to be desired, at least with this recipe. They weren't too bad, but not good enough to make again. The combinations of seasoning must be missing something. I followed some reviews and cooked them a little longer and they were still chewy. Luckily, I still had the pods to try the next night!
You can't get much easier than this. Pop the bag in the microwave, already seasoned with sea salt and you're good to go! No recipe needed.
I let them cool and we snacked on them with our meal. I hear they are good refrigerated as a snack too.
Note: You do NOT eat the pod... I must have forgotten to tell Brandon that part - it's not as edible as the beans. You just bite the pod and slide the beans into your mouth to eat!
And the verdict?? Yum!!! I'll try the shelled version again, but the ones in the pods are such a delicious snack! In this case, simple is definitely better!
The portabella is a bonus this week because although it's not a brand new veggie to me, I did just start eating them this summer, thanks to Lexi & Wayne who got us hooked after having them at a cookout. Sooo easy, just marinated in Gazebo Room Greek dressing and grilled or broiled for 6-8 mins on each side until tender.
It is out of this world when paired with a bite of tender steak! (Steak = marinated in Worstershire, garlic & monterey steak seasoning) I cooked these on the same sheet after the steak, so the portabellos cooked in some of the leftover seasoning. Yummmm!
Last week, I met the sweetest little old southern lady at the farmer's market... she recommended I put kale into my Hoppin' John recipe of last week, I bought it, but didn't know how or when to add it, so I've been holding onto it til this week!
PS - I swear this looks like the stuff that restaurants use at their salad bars and on your dinner plate as decoration... Does anyone know if that's what this is? If so, it's def good for more than decor!
 I came across this surprisingly simple recipe that I knew I just had to try, and I happened to already have the kale! Yahoo!!! It's called Baked Kale Chips and lots of people make these to snack on in place of bad snacks like potato chips - these are a lot more healthy and you can decide how to season them! Recipe: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/baked-kale-chips/ I used what I had to make a mini-trial-batch so I would know if I should buy more or not...
I read lots of the reviews on the website and it really helped me with deciding how to do them... there are so many good suggestions... Make sure to wash and dry extremely thoroughly or they will come out soggy! Use only enough oil to lightly coat the leaves and sprinkle with your seasonings.
I used Sea Salt, Garlic Powder and a dash of Crushed Red Pepper. Placed on a non-insulated baking sheet and baked at 340 for 5 mins and turned it down to 330 for the next 5. If they get brown, they taste burnt and not good! You want them to get crispy, but not burnt so keep checking them...
But I didn't burn them and my sister is back this week for my taste test!
Being brave with the kale chips! While baking, they sort of smelled like my sauteed brussel sprouts from Week 1 and there a very slight taste of them too, but that's probably just because they were both cooked with olive oil and sea salt. Fortunately the brussel sprouts were GOOD so that's not a bad thing!
LOL, Kate, don't look so confident in my experiments! ;)
And the baked kale chips are a success! So easy and so tasty! I def recommend these... A veggie that's really like a snack! Yum!!! There were some good suggestions for using other seasonings such as parmesan cheese, dry ranch mix, vinegar, cayenne, etc... Of course, those make it less healthy, but still probably better than potato chips. I'll definitely be making more of these and experimenting with the flavors, although the ones I made tonight were pretty good too!
 Uncooked artichokes, I wanted to try steaming them, but I don't have a steam basket yet, so I had to go with the boiling method and then just dipped in melted butter... This is kind of what I did: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/artichokes/
Me and the choke...
These fellas are pretty when they're all trimmed up and ready to go!
I think maybe they sat in the water too long since we weren't ready for dinner yet, but the petals were hard and stringy, and the flesh was gunky... And Brandon didn't think I should try the artichoke heart. He tried it said it had no flavor and the consistency of baby food. I think I'll stick with canned artichoke hearts in the future... sorry fresh chokes! But at least I'll still work with you in the canned form...
Granted, it's the later end of Week 5, but it's still within my week, so at least I made it!
This weeks challenge - the cousin of last's week's Snap Peas, whom I accidently bought... SNOW PEAS! It's Christmas Eve Eve and it's 60 degrees, this is as close as we're getting to snow on Christmas this year!
I didn't actually have any chili oil, so I adapted by using olive oil and adding my own hot chili pepper flakes from the garden last year... I was doubting myself as I choked and coughed as the hot pepper fumes permeated the air, but in the end, it actually gave quite a great taste!
I didn't have any sesame oil or sesame seeds, so I don't know if I really can say I used the recipe, but it's close...
The snow peas are much cuter than snap peas, they're petite and less bulky and intimidating...
Turning good and golden, sizzling away in the skillet...
Me vs. snow pea!
Taste testing...
(PS - Where are you Kate??? The first veggie experiment I had to taste and document without you!?!)
I survived! And enjoyed it!
And I declare it a SUCCESS! Snow Peas are now part of the good veggie list!
Although I didn't actually have any type of sesame to include this time... with kick of the chili oil, sea salt and fresh ground pepper, sauteed in the skillet - where can you go wrong! So delish!!!
When I make it there on Saturdays, I usually buy the mini "Pumpkin Gems" from one of the Amish stands at the Farmer's Market in Lemoyne, they are SO delicious! However, they didn't have any yesterday, so I decided I'd make my own... I didn't feel like making hundreds of tiny ones, so I just made traditional cupcake sized this time.
Watch out Farmers Market, here I come! They are lip-smacking good! (And much lighter and fluffier than pumpkin pie!)
 Believe it or not, Cauliflower is another vegetable that I don't think I've ever given a fair shot... So, I decided to give this recipe a try that was recommended to me from my friend, Travis! The lovely head of cauliflower is going into the oven to become Roasted Garlic Cauliflower! Recipe: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/roasted-garlic-cauliflower/detail.aspx
Sorry, I forgot to take pics of the process, but here is the finished product! I don't mean to give it away, but Holy Yum!!! Now that I've tasted it, this photo is seriously mouth-watering!
Me and the sis prepping for the first try...
Evaluating...
And it's good!!! Yum, I kind of want more of it right now! This is definitely going to be a regular on my meal rotations. It was tender and the roasted garlic flavor was just amazing. Not to mention the parmesan... yum yum yum! I didn't use the full amount called for in the recipe, but it was just enough to give that extra cheesy goodness with out that "cheese whiz" factor that I'm used to seeing with cauliflower.
Dad already loves cauliflower, but as you can see, he fully approved of this recipe too!
So I ran out of time to try my new veggie last weekend and I still plan to make it this week, but in the meantime, I am still eating my veggies! I have probably liked broccoli longer than any other vegetable, even french fries if you count them... So this was no challenge, but the effort of including it in a meal is the important part! Peppercorn pork tenderloin, alfredo pasta and broccoli, yum!
 I've never eaten sweet potatoes besides the french-fry version, so again, this was another big step for me! My mom made these delicious Twice Baked Bourbon Hazelnut Sweet Potatoes with our Thanksgiving dinner and they were SOOO good! Check out the recipe below! Seriously, how could these not sound good? http://aspicyperspective.com/2010/11/count-down-to-thanksgiving.html
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