Spätzle with parsley and Parmesan.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup cold water
• 1 3/4 cups flour, plus extra for kneading
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 3 quarts low sodium chicken stock
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 1 teaspoon minced garlic
• 2 teaspoons fresh chopped flat-leaf parsley
• 2 tablespoons finely grated Parmesan, plus extra for garnish
• Salt and pepper to taste

Preparation:
1. In a medium bowl, combine water, flour, eggs and salt with a wooden spoon. Place dough mixture on a clean cutting board. Flour both sides of the dough and roll into a long rectangle, approximately 12 by 2-inches and 1/8-inch thick. With pizza cutter, cut into strips, 2-inches in length and 1/4-inch wide.

2. Bring chicken stock to a boil in a large saucepan. Fill a large bowl with ice water. Drop spätzle in batches into boiling stock and cook until pasta floats to the surface. Remove and immediately transfer to the ice bath. Drain spätzle and hold on sheet pan. Continue with the other batches.

3. Once you’ve completed the cooking, in a medium saute pan, add butter, and melt over medium heat until butter turns a light brown. Add garlic and cook until it becomes lightly colored. Add spätzle to the pan to heat through. Add parsley, cheese, salt and pepper, to taste.

It’s really wonderful, very filling and is pretty simple. If you’ve never made your own noodles, this is a great dish to give it a go. It can be made gluten free with Red Mill flour as well.

Sautéd Broccoli with red pepper and garlic alongside our Teriyaki Salmon.

This is a really simple side, but the combination of garlic, crushed red pepper and just the hint of olive oil is really wonderful. You’ll have some interesting aromas in the kitchen and it’s really a nice combination to the sweetness of the Teriyaki glaze on the strong salmon. I won’t bother to go over the fish recipe again. This quick post is really all about the star side!

Ingredients:

• 1/2 pound of broccoli crowns, cut into florets (about 2 or 3 cups)
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 tablespoons of dried crushed red pepper
• Salt and pepper to taste

Preparation:
1. Place raw broccoli into a large bowl and toss with olive oil to coat. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Add red pepper.

2. Heat a large saucepan over medium high heat. Add garlic, broccoli and sauté for about 6 to 8 minutes, or until the broccoli reaches your desired tenderness. You may need to add a little more oil as you go.

3. Season to taste with salt and pepper and serve immediately.

It’s absolutely delicious and really fast. A batch takes no more than 7 or 8 minutes at the absolute most. Enjoy.

I take a little joy in knowing that fall (my favorite time of year) is just around the corner, but am admittedly a little sad to know that warm days lounging in polo shirts (and the best tasting tomatoes of the year!) are almost behind us here in Michigan.

To celebrate the ending of summer, I plan on grilling and whipping up as many cool refreshing salads as I can before the daily temperature continuously drops into the 70s and 60s. One such salad is Vita’s concoction. We eat it almost twice a week. It’s that good, and that easy.

Recipe – Tomato, Green Bean and Mozzarella Salad

Ingredients:

• 15 cherry tomatoes, halved
• 1 and a half cups of fresh green beans
• 1 tablespoon chopped basil (or use 3/4 tablespoon Gourmet Garden Basil because it works great in applications like this and is a wonderful substitute if you don’t have fresh)
• 10 halved fresh Mozzarella balls
• 1 teaspoon Kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil (only use if you opt for fresh basil instead of tubed)

Preparation:
1. Clean and snap ends from green beans. If need be, halve the beans with a pairing knife if they’re particularly long.
2. Salt and boil a large pot of water. Toss in your beans and simmer at a light rolling boil for approximately 4 to 5 minutes.
3. Immediately drain beans in a colander and transfer your beans to an ice bath to stop the cooking process (this keeps your beens crunchy in the salad, and cools them off, which is refreshing!).
4. Place your beans in a large serving bowl.

5. Add tomatoes, mozzarella, salt, pepper and basil to the beans and toss lightly in olive oil.

There you have it. Couldn’t be easier or more delicious. The cherry tomatoes ooze their delicious flavor over the beans in the tossing process and mingles ever so nicely with the flavors of the mozzarella and the cool green beans. It really is one of my favorite dishes that Vita has ever made me. We always make plentiful amounts, because it’s nice, light and healthy. Hopefully, you’ll give it a shot and enjoy some of summer’s parting shots of flavor.

This is super simple, and super quick. It’s also full of flavor.

Ingredients:

• 1 13 oz can of chunk chicken in water
• 1 15 oz can black beans
• 1 19 oz can red enchilada or chile sauce (we like Las Palmas medium for this recipe)
• 3 tablespoons hot sauce
• 1 orange bell pepper (chopped)
• 1 green bell pepper (chopped)
• 1 quarter of a red onion (chopped)
• 8-10 button mushrooms, cut into bite sized pieces
• 1/8 cup cilantro
• Mexican blend cheese for garnish
• 2 tortillas seasoned with Southwest spice blend (see this post for the recipe)

Preparation:

Gumbo
1. Open can of chicken and drain water. Place in a large skillet or saucepan and heat over a medium flame.
2. Add beans and chile sauce, bringing ingredients to a simmer. Add hot sauce, onions, mushrooms and cilantro and allow ingredients to simmer for 10 minutes.
3. Add peppers after 10 minutes. (We do this to maintain the crunch of the peppers. It’s a nice textural element and the cooler peppers make for a break from the heat.
4. Serve in a bowl with a spoon. Garnish with cheese and remaining cilantro.

Fried Tortillas
1. Heat 1 tablespoon vegetable or olive oil (per tortilla fried) in a skillet.
2. Dust cooking oil with southwest seasoning blend.
3. Add tortilla and rub around the pan.
4. Fry each side of tortilla for 1 to 2 minutes. Cut into triangles and serve with the gumbo.

It’s a wonderful dish really. It’s perfect for a cooler evening or when you want something quick, yet hearty. My wife absolutely adores this stuff. Also, Vita did the photography for this post. I’m gonna have to start crediting her for the work. Happy eating.