I love the warmer and longer days of Summer because we spend more time outdoors on the deck or around the pool and less time in the kitchen. Last weekend I went grocery shopping to pick up the ingredients to make a Shrimp Boil which was absolutely delicious so I will definitely be making it again. The next time I will document how it was made and also put it in a blog post or video.
It was the 4th of July holiday weekend so we also had to have a few snacks which included no-salt chips and spinach dip, and I also picked up a container of Palmetto CheeseSpread.
As a kid growing up in New Rochelle, NY, Pimento Cheese Spread which came in a small glass jar was a special treat, a treat that we couldn’t always afford. My grandmother would buy a jar during the holidays to spread it onto celery sticks and serve to “company”. I can still remember sneaking a few pieces from the tray to take into my bedroom where I would take my time to enjoy every bite of that pimento cheese spread on a crunchy celery stick, savoring every bite as if it were my last meal.
Now that I can afford pimento cheese spread, instead of simply spreading it onto celery sticks, I decided to copy the pictures from a box of Triscuit crackers and top the Palmetto Cheese Spread with diced cucumbers, sliced tomatoes and Kalamata Pitted Olives.
This quick and easy snack was delicious and has now become one of my favorite summer snacks, there is no need to wait until the holidays!
Palmetto Cheese Spread which is tagged “The Pimento Cheese with Soul” has a kick to it thanks to the diced Jalapeno peppers and it is also Gluten Free if you need that as part of your diet. Palmetto Cheese Spread is one of my favorite summer snacks which I will carry over to the holidays, but of course it will be spread onto celery sticks for “company”. #childhoodmemories
How about you, what is your favorite summer snack?
In the late 80’s, my hubby who at the time was my fiance and I went to Fort Lee, NJ, to visit her at her mother’s house. She had just flown in from Cali with her first born son, RJ and for lunch she made a Taco Salad. Neither one of us had ever had it and it was also the first time I had ever eaten an avocado. I fell in love with the recipe and over the years, have made it during the warmer months. Last week when I chose to make it for this week’s feature I didn’t realize that it would be on her Birthday! Further proof that we were meant to be friends for life!
This is such an easy-to-prepare salad and my men simply loves it, Malik was having a fit because he had to wait until I took the pictures!
Ingredients:
1 lb Ground Turkey – fully cooked
1 package Taco Seasoning
1 Can of Black Beans
Iceberg Lettuce – shredded
1/2 Avocado – diced
1 Package of Cherry Tomatoes – halved
1 Cup of Mexican Blend Shredded Cheese
Catalina Dressing
Tortilla Chips
OPTIONS: Cilantro, Black Pepper, Hot Sauce, Sour Cream
Thoroughly cook the Ground Turkey then add Taco Seasoning and 1/3 cup of water – preparing according to package directions.
Wash veggies, cut tomatoes in half, shred the lettuce and dice the avocado. Drain and rinse can of black beans.
Put lettuce, tomatoes, avocado, and black beans into a bowl and top with taco seasoned ground turkey.
Pour in just enough Catalina dressing to lightly coat then mix.
Serve with Tortilla Chips and top with options, sour cream and Hot Sauce.
Thank you Karen for introducing me to this salad and thank you for being my friend!
Don’t forget to come back at 6:00 p.m. for the #WWDParty!
This week’s Foodie Feature is Slow Cooked Oxtail Stew
Oxtails or tails of cattle is a very popular dish in *South Africaand this bony, gelatin-rich meat is usually slow-cooked. In our Delaware home as soon as the weather cools Oxtails are definitely on the menu-of-must-haves and this is how I slow cook mine.
Unfortunately the cost of Oxtails in the grocery stores can be outrageous which is why I stalk Dutch Country Farmer’s Market to get them!
Put Oxtails into a plastic bag and pour in enough flour to coat, adding as little or as much of the Oxtail Seasoning, Ground Ginger and Brown Sugar according to your tastes. Seal bag and rub all dry ingredients onto Oxtails.
Pour in just enough olive oil to cover bottom of a pan, heat on low and add coated Oxtails turning to brown on all sides.
In the meantime, chop and dice veggies
I also added a little Curry to the browning Oxtails, however, this is optional.
Remove browned Oxtails from the pan, then rinse the lentils or beans. Coat inside the Crock Pot with cooking spray for easier clean up.
Put in the Oxtails…
…add lentils or beans
…top with sliced and diced veggies
Pour in 2 containers of broth or use water seasoned with Beef Bouillon Cubes – enough to cover all ingredients
Cook on low for 8 hours or on high for 4 depending on your Crock Pot/Slow Cooker
I had to work late and none of my men took pictures so I don’t have the finished product, but trust me it was good! You can add any vegetable or potato or omit the beans and serve over rice. No matter how you make it, it’s oh so good and filling especially on a cold winter’s night!
What is your favorite Slow Cooked Stew?
* This post was written only a few hours before Mr. Mandela’s death
In today’s Friday Foodie I am featuring the Grand Opening of the Middletown African Market located on 725 North Broad Street. Owners Abena Mansah and Kwaku Duah are recent transplants from the Bronx, by way of Ghana. In partnership with other family members they also owned an African Market in Yonkers, NY.
During their many visits to family and friends in Delaware they were often asked to load up the car with food items to bring with them. These visits also highlighted the need for a place to purchase authentic African and Caribbean foodstuff. However, in not finding anyone who was interested in doing so they decided to take a leap of faith and left New York to open the Middletown African Market in the Middletown Square Shopping Center.
Abena and Kwaku along with their son came to visit Delaware, fell in love with Middletown and never left, “we love it here”, says Abena, “the people are friendly and the school district is wonderful”.
The Middletown African Market hopes to meet the needs of the large African population in Delaware so they no longer need to travel to Philadelphia or as far north as New York. The Market’s shelves are fully stocked with African and Caribbean food items, clothing, music, movies, jewelry, beauty and novelty items.
Freezers are stocked with smoked fish, turkey, chicken, beef, cassava and other root vegetables. Long shelves contain canned meats, fruits, vegetables, bags of rice, wheat, potatoes, dry beans and snack foods. Authentic oils, spices, canned goods as well as fresh Sweet Yams and Plantains are available.
Kente Cloth, Waist Beads, Kufis, and beauty products including lotions with Shea Butter and Coconut Oil, Black Soap, shampoos and conditioners are neatly displayed across the back shelves.
Saturday’s Grand Opening was both exciting and lively with many customers, both African and non-African shopping, sharing and filling their baskets with food items to be used for Sunday’s dinner.
Middletown African Market accepts all major credit cards, EBT and is open Monday to Saturday, 9:00 am to 8:00 p.m., closed on Sunday.
Abena offered to teach me to cook a few authentic African meals, so expect to see them showcased in a future Friday Foodie Features.
The days are getting shorter and school started this week so I am lining up my recipes for the Fall. Chicken is a staple in our house and this was an easy breezy “4 ingredient-less than 40 minute” recipe.
What happens when it’s Friday night and you don’t feel like cooking, ordering pizza or going out and a bowl of cereal just won’t cut it? In our house when that happens we head straight to the garage and to the freezer. There is where I try to keep microwavable meals and snacks specifically for those occasions and last Friday night it was Lean Pockets Pretzel Bread Sandwiches.
I am not a big proponent of frozen meals & snacks because of the excessive sodium some of them contain but these Lean Pockets brand sandwiches are only 250 calories with 650 mg of sodium which isn’t a lot compared to others that contain well over 1000 mg of sodium.
The Lean Pockets Sandwiches were filled with Spinach and 3 Cheeses, Fontina, Romano and reduced Fat Mozzarella. I zapped one in the microwave for 2 minutes 30 seconds in the crisping sleeve then cut it in half. It didn’t seem like it had a lot of filling and could have had more spinach, but to my surprise it was quite good and hit the spot. The soft pretzel bread encased a flavorful mix of spinach and cheeses that paired well with my glass of Friday night wine!
Speaking of wine, I want to reintroduce my “play cousin” Cook E doe Face. She is a down to earth YouTube Vlogger who will have you in stitches as you watch her create some delicious dishes and “knock you on your butt cocktails”.
Cook E de Face is from Philly and I fell in love with her atty-tud (Philly slang) from the very first video I watched. In today’s world it is so easy to get caught up in the negativity but you know me, I like to keep it light. Cook E doe Face has me laughing out loud and reminds me of my own New York cousins. If it were left up to me she would definitely have a show on the Food or OWN Network!
This week’s Foodie Feature is a 4 ingredient but less than 40 minute meal. I was in 3 different grocery stores last week, Sunday at Safeway with hubby for the major shopping, then after work on Tuesday at ShopRite and again on Wednesday at Food Lion with my son who needed to get supplies for a BBQ on Friday.
In Shoprite I was looking for ingredients to make the Turkey Tacos and noticed the Veetee Thai Jasmine Rice, my men really like Jasmine Rice so I bought a pack to try. In Food Lion the Campbell’s Skillet Sauces were on sale and even though I didn’t have my coupons I got it to use with chicken I had in the frig.
Ingredients
Chicken
Veetee Thai Jasmine Rice
Campbell’s Skillet Sauce (Thai Green Curry)
Vegetable or Olive Oil
Heat 1 Tbls oil then add 1 lb of chicken breast, slice or diced according to your preference
Cook until no longer pink, 10-12 minutes then add Campbell’s Skillet Sauce
Reduce heat, cover and cook an additional 5 minutes
Microwave Thai Jasmine Rice for 2 minutes
Spoon chicken over rice and serve
It’s a bit spicy but my men loved it and I was out of the kitchen quickly!
This week’s Foodie Feature is a 4 ingredient but less than 40 minute meal. I was in 3 different grocery stores last week, Sunday at Safeway with hubby for the major shopping, then after work on Tuesday at ShopRite and again on Wednesday at Food Lion with my son who needed to get supplies for a BBQ on Friday.
In Shoprite I was looking for ingredients to make the Turkey Tacos and noticed the Veetee Thai Jasmine Rice, my men really like Jasmine Rice so I bought a pack to try. In Food Lion the Campbell’s Skillet Sauces were on sale and even though I didn’t have my coupons I got it to use with chicken I had in the frig.
Ingredients
Chicken
Veetee Thai Jasmine Rice
Campbell’s Skillet Sauce (Thai Green Curry)
Vegetable or Olive Oil
Heat 1 Tbls oil then add 1 lb of chicken breast, slice or diced according to your preference
Cook until no longer pink, 10-12 minutes then add Campbell’s Skillet Sauce
Reduce heat, cover and cook an additional 5 minutes
Microwave Thai Jasmine Rice for 2 minutes
Spoon chicken over rice and serve
It’s a bit spicy but my men loved it and I was out of the kitchen quickly!
Is your palate stuck in a rut…do you find yourself always ordering the same foods…pizza, cheese steaks or Chinese takeout? Do you want something different while supporting a new local business, then I suggest you try Swahili Kitchenon Main Street in Middletown.
Swahili Kitchen specializes in East African cuisine, specifically recipes from Tanzania, and although the menu is new it’s actually the second part of Manhattan Bagel, also owned by Rishen Patel and his wife Heeral.
The concept of adding a different offering in an already thriving breakfast business was a great idea, Rishen stated that after 2 p.m. no one was coming in to buy bagels so he decided to offer his native foods. In Middletown you can find every type of food except African style which is what motivated the Patels to open Swahili Kitchen.
On Sunday, hubby and I stopped in and decided to try the chicken and beef items from the promotional menu, which also included Pork Kebabs, but you know we don’t eat pork. If you like mildly spicy foods you will definitely enjoy the Chicken dishes, especially the marinated leg quarters called Sekela. There was just the right balance of seasoning including curry and the chips weren’t soggy even with the veggie topping. The promotional prices, currently $5 and under were very reasonable considering the portion sizes which were more than enough for leftovers.
The Chicken Mishkaki is listed as being served on a skewer, but since we had take out it was simply placed in a Styrofoam container. The Tamarind Sauce was a perfect compliment to this dish of very tender chicken cubes, potatoes, green peppers and onions slices.
What are called “chips” in Africa are actually what we call “fries”, and they are topped with a veggie mix of shredded carrots, cabbage and red onions and a perfect blend of spices.
Chicken Pili Pili is a spicy BBQ leg quarter served with white rice and coleslaw
Dinner was excellent and the side sauce added just the right amount of “fire” for me!
So this weekend if you are in the mood for something different head over to Swahili Kitchen which is located at 400 W. Main St. and their hours of operation are 5 p.m. to 9 p.m., Tuesday through Sunday (closed Monday)
My sons are continuing their quest to “eat me out of house and home” and the foods that I featured in the Summer Snacks post are not filling enough! During a recent shopping trip to Shoprite I came across two items that may keep them satisfied until dinner!
They can make cheesesteaks, Gyro’s, Stir Fry or I can use them to make Moroccan Lamb Couscous. These steak sandwiches are also available in Halal Beef and Chicken.
 "Lean Pocket Sandwich in Crisping Sleeve")
 "Lean Pocket out of the microwave")
