Summer Cooking

We've had a mild heat wave here for the last few days which, of course, always inspires me to make a lot of salads or go down to Leonardo's and pick up one of their Buffalo Chicken Ceasar Salads with bleu cheese. Those things are to die for and for $8 I get two hearty meals. In a perfect world I could convince Lenny to send one of those over to my house 2-3 times a week.

In my opinion Leonardo's is about the best Italian food place in Gloucester. Lenny's Mom makes the sauce and the meatballs and the eggplant parm. Eggplant parm is how I judge Italian restaurants --- good eggplant parm = good restaurant, lousy eggplant parm = lousy restaurant. In fact, I like Leonardo's so much that when I was trying to invent a name for the restaurant that Clair meets Pio in in The Old Mermaid's Tale, I named it Leonardo's!

But anyhow, I have created a couple of new recipes that are low in carbs, easy, and can be kept on hand for hot weather meal emergencies. The first is:

TURKEY BALLS
I make a batch of these and keep them in a ziplock bag in the fridge. You can heat up a couple any time you need a protein hit and they can be used in many ways.

To a pound and a half of ground turkey add: 2 eggs, onion and garlic powder to taste, Montreal Pepper Mix to taste, and ½ cup of grated parmesan cheese. Put a little olive oil in a deep pan and form the turkey mixture into balls. Brown on all sides and let simmer until cooked through. Cool and store. This is also good with half ground turkey and half ground pork or sweet Italian sausage.

VEGGIE SLAW
This is cole slaw with a boost. Dump a package of shredded cabbage in a deep bowl. With a sharp knife shred up a head of raddichio and a Vidalia onion. Make sure is is finely shredded. Peel and grate 2-3 purple topped turnips. Slice a handful of radishes very thin. Toss all together. Stir in mayonnaise to taste (Cain's is best) and 3-4 packets of Splenda or stevia. When well blended, sprinkle on white vinegar tasting until it has a nice sweet-sour balance. Chill and serve.

GREEN STUFF
One of the things I miss, since cutting down on carbs, is what my Mom used to call 3 bean salad --- though she usually had more than 3 kinds of beans in it. However kidney, navy and garbanzo beans are no longer a part of my life. The other day I was at Stop & Shop and they had a sale going on in their frozen veggie case so I got this inspiration. I bought bags of cut green beans, chopped broccoli, sliced zucchini and Brussels sprouts. I left them out to thaw and then put them all in a deep bowl. I sliced the Brussels sprouts in half. Chop one red onion and add. Mix up equal parts white vinegar and olive oil. Add Splenda or stevia to tasteand a heaping tablespoon of grated horseradish (oh, go ahead, put another one in for good luck). You can add whatever spices you like. I have a sort of special seasoning that I use in vinegar-based salads. I have a pepper grinder that I keep filled with pickling spices. I grind this on generously. Stir it up and chill. Remove from the fridge for half an hour before serving.

This is sooooo good and it is loaded with vitamins and a big batch lasts several days --- if you don't eat it constantly.

THE BEST OF ALL STRAWBERRY MILKSHAKES
Chop up 2 pounds of rhubarb and simmer with a tiny pit of water until mushy. Slice up a pound of fresh strawberries and add to the rhubarb while hot. Add Splends or stevia to taste. Ladel about a cup of mixture into individual baggies and put in the freezer. When you get that craving for something cold and sweet take one out, remove from baggie and put it in the blender with some half and half. Blend and enjoy. Yum, yum, yum.

And there you have my contributions to making your summer more delicious, easier and lower in sugar and carbs.

Thanks for reading.