Thayer in the Kitchen

This is a very simple salad that is worth making.  Arthur said this one has to go on your blog.  "It would convince someone who thought they didn't like quinoa to reconsider it."  I didn't make the dressing because I didn't have any fresh basil.  Next time I'm going to try the salad with the lemon basil dressing.  I used some of Annie's Raspberry Vinaigrette as a substitute. First cook the quinoa: 1 cup quinoa (rinse thoroughly if the package does not say it has been prerinsed) 2 cups water 1/2 teaspoon salt Place the ingredients in a saucepan and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat and simmer covered for about 15 minutes or until the quinoa is cooked.  Remove the lid and fluff the quinoa with a fork.  Let it cool it to room temperature. Fruits and Vegetables: 1 cup fresh blueberries 1 cup cubed ripe mango 1 cup diced cucumbers 2 tablespoons dried cranberries 1/4 cups pecans (optional) Add desired dressing to the quinoa, next...

I've been trying to go through my home office and weed out books I no longer want.  I've also been going through old magazines.  I have a terrible time throwing out magazines without looking through them one more time.  Sometimes my reviews pay off.  I found this recipe in an old copy of Healthy Cooking.  It suggested taking a pancake mix and making some healthy additions.  I thought it produced a lighter, more tender pancake than most whole grain mixes without these additions. I use Lonesome Stone Pancake Mix which is a blend of whole wheat and rye flours.  I highly recommend trying their products.  They use locally grown grains in their mixes.  Their products are available at a number of stores in Madison.  Check out their website:  http://www.lonesomestonemilling.com/index.html . 2 eggs  (these coudn't be any more local; they are from my daughter and her husband's back yard chickens) 2 tablespoons plain yogurt (I recomm...

Our extended CSA winter share was coming to an end along with all the wonderful sweet potatoes we got in our boxes.  When I was a child I was convinced I hated sweet potatoes except for the sweet potato puffs we had for Thanksgiving.  I never make those anymore but I have come to really appreciate sweet potatoes and their versatility. This recipe is for a hearty winter soup which features sweet potatoes. Sweet Potato Corn Chowder 2 sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed     1 tablespoon   oil  (sunflower oil which we get from our CSA farm is good)                                      12 oz. frozen corn kernels, thawed                1 cup water 1 tablespoon oil 1 ...

I'm straying a bit from my mission to post recipes using local foods, but this recipe for Shrimp & Grits was so good I didn't want to lose it.  It was from a Family Circle magazine article. 1   pound    cleaned raw shrimp  It is OK to use frozen shrimp; just be sure they are uncooked. 1 1/2   teaspoons    Old Bay seasoning 1/4   teaspoon    salt 1   cup  coarse ground corn grits, either white or yellow works (such as Bob's Red Mill)* 2   slices bacon, cut into thin strips 3   cloves garlic, sliced 1   14 ounce can   creamed corn 3/4 - 1   cup    heavy cream 2 scallions, trimmed and sliced I got some excellent grits from the Old Mill General Store in Pigeon Forge Tennessee when we were on our trip to the Smoky Mountains.  They have an old grist mill to grind their grains.  Just don't use instant grits. 1.   In a medium bowl, to...

As I mentioned in my last post we have lots of carrots.  While searching for recipes to help use some of our carrots I came across this recipe.  I made the waffles this morning for breakfast.  We had hoped to go to the indoor farmers' market for breakfast but with below zero wind chill conditions we decided to take a pass. These waffles are an interesting mixture of healthy and decadent.  I'm sure you could make changes to make them healthier but I followed the recipe from the blog site Baking A Moment.  Ingredients For the Whole Wheat Carrot Cake Waffles: 1 cup whole wheat pastry flour 1 cup all purpose flour 1 cup chopped walnuts 1/4 cup light brown sugar 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt 1 1/2 cups milk 1 1/2 cups finely grated carrot 3/4 cups finely chopped fresh pineapple, or canned crushed pineapple, drained 1/2 cup (1 stick) uns...

We subscribed to a Winter Veggie Lover's Share again this year from our CSA Farm Driftless Organics.  This share is a regular season-sized CSA box delivered every other week and stuffed full of potatoes, carrots, sweet potatoes, a head of cabbage or kale; and a small assortment of roots like beets, turnips, winter radishes, parsnips and garlic. 7 total boxes are delivered over the course of 14 weeks.  We did this last year and really liked prolonging our CSA season a bit longer.  Their carrots are beautiful and we got a lot of them--not a bad thing. This was one of the soups that I made which we both agreed was excellent. 1 medium onion, chopped 1 rib celery, chopped 1 garlic clove, minced 1 teaspoon vegetable oil 1 lb carrots, cut into 1-inch pieces 3 ⁄ 4 inch fresh gingerroot, peeled and sliced thin 1 ⁄ 8 teaspoon hot red pepper flakes 3 cups chicken broth 1 1 ⁄ 2 tablespoons soy sauce 1 1 ⁄ 2 tablespoons peanut butter 1 te...

This is a recipe for the cheesecake that I made for our last gourmet club dinner.  We brought dishes from private eye novels.  It is mentioned in the book Crimson Joy by Robert B. Parker that Spenser eats cheesecake.  I'm not sure this is the cake that he had, but if it isn't it was his loss.  The texture and flavor of the cake and topping are just right.  Plus it is a very easy cake to make. It is an added bonus if you happen to have some Door County cherries in your freezer to use to make the topping.  Ingredients 1 2/3 cup graham crackers 2 tablespoons sugar 7 tbsp butter  melted 1 16 oz sour cream container 24 oz cream cheese (3 8 oz. packages) 5 eggs  1 cup sugar 1 tbsp vanilla extract  1/2 tsp almond extract 6 tbsp flour  all-purpose 1 16 oz red tart cherries  bag frozen 1 cup sugar 1/4 tsp almond extract 2 tablespoons cornstarch Preheat oven to 350°F. Combine graham cracker...