Green Goddess Dip #SundaySupper

Here we are again. Another Sunday Supper, Healthy Green Recipes, this week hosted by Christie from A Kitchen Hoor’s Adventures. Thank you, Christie.

It’s snowing. It’s been snowing. It will never stop snowing.

What do you do when it’s snowing?

Cook

Eat

Bake

Eat

Nap

Shovel

That’s it!

3/4 cup sour cream
1/2 cup firmly packed fresh parsley leaves
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1 green onion, chopped
1 tablespoon firmly packed fresh dill leaves
1 tablespoon firmly packed fresh tarragon leaves
2 teaspoons lemon zest
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 garlic clove
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
Garnish: fresh dill sprig

Process first 11 ingredients in a food processor or blender 30 seconds or until smooth, stopping to scrape sides as needed. Cover and chill 1 hour before serving. Garnish, if desired. Store in refrigerator up to 1 week.

 

Check these other Healthy Green Recipes!

Best Breakfasts

• Get Your Greens Smoothie by Hardly A Goddess
• Green Breakfast Omelet Bites by Momma’s Meals
• Green Eggs and Ham by Feeding Big
• Green Scrambled Eggs with Ham by Cricket’s Confections
• Kuku Sabzi – Persian Herb Frittata by Caroline’s Cooking
• Matcha Overnight Oats by Brunch-n-Bites
• Southwest Breakfast Spinach Wrap by The Freshman Cook
• Super Green Smoothie by Simple and Savory

Dreamy Desserts

• Creamy Pistachio Frozen Yogurt by My Sweet Zepol
• Matcha Mint Coconut Candy by My Life Cookbook
• Sautéed Garlic and Parmesan Chicken With Spinach by My Sweet Savings
• Super Lime Bars by What Smells So Good?
• Gambian Spinach with Peanut Sauce by Tara’s Multicultural Table

Must Make Main Dishes

• Grilled Lettuce and Steak Salad by Sunday Supper Movement
• Pan Roasted Cod on Spinach Basil Risotto with Lemon Butter Sauce by Positively Stacey
• Poached Cod with Pesto Wine Sauce by Life Tastes Good
• Potato Leek Skillet Pizza by A Kitchen Hoor’s Adventures
• Skinny Reuben Wraps with Homemade 1000 Island Dressing by For the Love of Food
• Tequila Chicken Salad by Cosmopolitan Cornbread

Scrumptious Salads

• Brussels Sprout and Kale Salad by Pies and Plots
• Green Goddess Bibb Salad by Palatable Pastime
• Pixie Dust Salad with Avocados, Pixie Tangerines and Radishes by Shockingly Delicious
• Sesame Wedge Salad with Key Lime Vinaigrette & Pickled Green Tomatoes by Gourmet Everyday
• Shades of Green Salad by A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Zucchini Carpaccio Salad by The Bitter Side of Sweet

Stunning Sides

• Colcannon by Wholistic Woman
• Green Goddess Dip by From the Bookshelf
• Grilled Cabbage with Spicy Lime Dressing by Sew You Think You Can Cook
• Irish Cabbage by Turnips 2 Tangerines
• Miso Roasted Broccoli by Life Currents
• Pistachio Parmesan Oven Fries by Cindy’s Recipes and Writings
• Quinoa Tabbouleh by That Skinny Chick Can Bake
• Roasted Brussels Sprouts by Books n’ Cooks
• Soy Glazed Sugar Snap Peas by Food Lust People Love
• Spinach Tots by A Mind “Full” Mom
• Warm Brussels Sprout Slaw by Jersey Girl Cooks

Join the #SundaySupper conversation on twitter on Sunday! We tweet throughout the day and share recipes from all over the world. Our weekly chat starts at 7:00 pm ET. Follow the #SundaySupper hashtag and remember to include it in your tweets to join in the chat. To get more great Sunday Supper Recipes, visit our website or check out our Pinterest board. Would you like to join the Sunday Supper Movement? It’s easy. You can sign up by clicking here: Sunday Supper Movement.

Peach Salsa

When the Dear One and I talked about getting married – really, the hows and wheres and whos part of getting married – it became apparent to us that we wanted only two things out of the ceremony (1) it had to be small and (2) we wanted all of our children there. Wait, maybe we wanted another – we wanted to be married.

Between us, there are 4 children (I always in include my dear daughter-in-law in that number), 7 parents, 4 sisters and 2 brothers, as well as their husbands, boyfriends, girlfriends. There is NOTHING small about that group of people. There is nothing intimate about that group of people. There is nothing simple about placing all those people in the same place at the same time.

Okay, so how about just you and me, our kids, someone to marry us, a best man and maid of honor. Everyone else? Well, we’re adults, this isn’t the first time for either of us, this is our choice and, hopefully, they will just be happy for us. We chose to be married this way and at our age not anyone else’s place to have issue or commentary.

Trying to put the 4 kids in the same place at the same time was proving impossible. We tried for 6 months and just couldn’t manage. It had to be all of them or none of them. How do you explain to the ones who couldn’t be there on a specific date and time that others would be there and we would just go on without them. Sadly, after trying to arrange something, it had to be none. We didn’t handle it very well – correct that – one of us didn’t handle that very well and it isn’t the one typing. Okay, okay, I didn’t handle some things well either.

But I honestly believe that it’s all about how you recover from your mistakes that really counts. If you make a mistake, and don’t admit the mistake and do nothing to rectify it, you’ve learned nothing and will likely do something very similar again. I believe that parents should apologize when they’re wrong – and we were wrong. I believe now we’re in a very good place together as a family. Our definition of family.

There is, though, one person, who I doubt will read this, thank you from the bottom of my heart. Your words meant more to us than you can possibly imagine. We will keep that note always.

We realized then, that as much as we love that small army of people, we married each other – not our mothers or fathers or sisters or brothers – each other. To a certain extent our children – it takes a village, don’t you know. We have a favorite son, a favorite older daughter, a favorite younger daughter and a favorite daughter-in-law. Mix them all together, add lots of love and a little understanding and patience, two adults who just love them to bits – oh, really, there’s no place else I’d rather be and no other people I’d rather be here with.

It’s that melding of people – all very different, things in common here and there, but somehow melded to make a family unit that bring me to … TADA! Peach Salsa.

This past summer we had TONS of peaches! You remember the Peach Liqueur – I think I do! There will be Peach Jam coming up.

I found this recipe in Small Batch Preserving. I’ve had it book marked forever, but I’m not quite comfortable with canning yet, so I would look at the book and cast it aside and then look and cast … the more I delve into it, the more I do like it.

The peaches bring a certain sweetness, a bit of kick from the jalapeño, tartness from the lime, they just all come together for one incredible bite.

The worst part of this salsa is peeling and chopping the peaches. IF – and that’s a big IF – I made a single batch, it might not have been so awful, but I doubled it. By the end of dipping them into boiling water, you JUST DON’T CARE.

• 2 C chopped, peeled peaches (about 4 medium peaches)
• 1/4 C finely chopped red onion
• 1/4 C finely chopped red pepper
• 1 T finely chopped jalapeno
• 2 T honey
• 1/4 t pickling salt
• grated rind and juice of 1 lime
• 2 T finely chopped mint

NOTE: To peel the peaches, bring a large pot of water to a boil. On the counter next to that pot have a large bowl of ice water. Place a couple of peaches in the boiling water for 20 or 30 seconds, transfer to the ice water. After a few seconds, the skins will pop right off. By the end you and your kitchen will be covered in sticky peach juice, but it’s totally worth it!

Combine peaches, onion, peppers, honey, salt, lime rind and juice in a medium stainless steel or enamel saucepan. Bring to a boil over high heat, reduce heat and boil gently, uncovered, for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Stir in mint and stir for 1 minute.

NOTE: Not a huge mint fan so I used half the amount.

Remove jares from canner and ladle salsa into jars within 1/2 ” of rim (head space). Process 10 minutes for half-pint or pint jars.

NOTE: I process the jars in the dishwasher. I try to time the end of the dishwasher cycle to the salsa being ready.

 

Grilled Oysters with Spicy Tarragon Butter

There’s a birthday in the house. A very special birthday. Our dog Bob is 2. We rescued him just about a year and a half ago. It was hard. He wasn’t very sure he wanted us and we weren’t sure we could handle all of the neurosis this rescue dog came with. We knew all about these difficulties when we decided to rescue him. He was born in Georgia. He and his siblings were immediately put into a shelter. They had to have been abused. He was adopted and returned (was this the abusive person?). He was then sent to another shelter – one of those horrific kill shelters. At 3 months he was rescued from that awful place, and then rescued from one rescue organization by the fabulous folks at Underhound Railroad. He spent 3 months under the care of Underhand Railroad living with a foster mom a few miles from here.

We talked about a dog. We talked about rescuing a dog. We scoured sites looking for the perfect dog. AND THERE HE WAS.

We met him. He wouldn’t look at us. He wouldn’t come near us. He hid behind his foster Mom (thank you, Jamie).

We glanced at each other across the lawn and knew. He needed a home. He needed love and support. He needed us. We wanted to be those people for him. We decided his name had to be Bob. Twofold – (1) Canned Heat from Woodstock – Woodstock Boogie “I’ve got a dog his name is Bob” and (2) the movie What About Bob – we say this an awful lot.

The first three days he spent under a table – shaking. Then we lost him, in the woods, for 3 days. Wet, scared puppy, rain, halter *poof* gone. When he came back we just weren’t sure anymore. Bob was just NOT happy with us. I talked the Dear One off the ledge. He talked me off the ledge. The folks at Underhound asked us to give it more than a week. So we did. Their support was incredible – phone, emails, texting.

Then Bob fell in love … with me. Not so much the Dear One at first, which was very difficult when WE wanted a dog and the dog didn’t want BOTH of us. Be patient, he will come around. Those words became our mantra.

We were patient. We were frustrated and sad. Our hearts were aching for this poor little dog who had to have been so badly treated that he had no faith in humans, even those who walked him and fed him and gave him treats – or our friends who fed him under the table when they thought we weren’t looking.

Suddenly, once day, without our realizing when or how it happened, OUR dog appeared. The one who jumps up and down when he hears my car. The one who wants only the Dear One to chase him around the yard. The one who knows if I say “time to brush your teeth” to come running to the kitchen. My secret service agent. The Dear One’s play mate. He is more of a puppy now than he was at 6 months old when he first entered our lives.

Happy birthday, sweet dog. Thank you for letting us put a silly hat on your head. Thank you for trusting us. Thank you Dear One (as always) by indulging me with really wanting this insane dog. Perhaps this insane dog found the perfect insane home with two insane humans and all their insane friends.

So when Bob turned 2 and he was really and truly now OUR dog, he needed a special dinner. Enter the birthday dinner …

A meatloaf cupcake, wrapped in bacon, mashed potato frosting and carrot candles. Maybe it was gone in 2 bites.

The grownups, however, didn’t want Bob’s birthday dinner surprise so we had Baked Oysters with a Spicy Tarragon Butter. This is a Bobby Flay recipe from Food & Wine.

We have a friend who grows oysters. When he calls and says he has oysters the only answer to be given is – OH.YES.PLEASE. We ate a bunch of them and had a bunch left over, but no shucking knife. Our dear friend said to just bake them in a hot oven and they’ll open right up.

These are so fresh, so sweet, so perfectly briney and grown just off the coast a few miles from our house.

• 2 sticks (1/2 pound) unsalted butter, softened
• 3 tablespoons chopped tarragon
• 2 tablespoons hot sauce
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
• 3 dozen medium to large oysters, such as Gulf Coast or Bluepoint

NOTE: The oysters we used were farmed by a friend the day before. These are, without a doubt, the best oysters I have ever eaten.

Light a grill.

NOTE: It’s February – in Maine. The grill is away in the shed, shivering, waiting for spring to make an appearance. I turned the oven  up to 500 and baked the oysters for 10 minutes. The top shell lifted right off and we continued from there.

In a food processor, pulse the butter with the tarragon, hot sauce, salt and pepper until blended. Transfer the tarragon butter to a sheet of plastic wrap and roll it into a 2-inch-thick log. Refrigerate the butter until slightly firm, about 15 minutes. Slice the butter into 36 pats.

NOTE: I had 2 dozen oysters, but made the same amount of butter. There would have still been a lot left over with 36 oysters. I sliced the butter and froze it. There’s a salmon somewhere just itching for this butter!

Place the oysters on the hot grill, flat-side up. Cover the grill and cook until the oysters open, about 5 minutes.

NOTE: A baking sheet and 500 degree oven for 10 minutes did the same thing.

Using tongs, transfer the oysters to a platter, trying to keep the liquor inside. Quickly remove the top shells and loosen the oysters from the bottom shells. Top each oyster with a pat of tarragon butter and return the oysters to the grill. Cover the grill and cook until the butter is mostly melted and the oysters are hot, about 1 minute.

NOTE: Turned on the broiler and put the baking sheet back into the oven.

Serve right away.