Zesty Cook » vegetables

How to Make Barbeque Chicken Sauce

zesty — Wed, 12 Jan 2011 12:37:48 +0000

Ever want to escape the weather? Some choose to go to an all inclusive resort, other choose to have special weekend away in seclusion and than there is some that just pretend to relive the summer and make a kicked up barbeque chicken sauce in the middle of January.

I guess for this week I am the latter of the three described above. For me, nothing beats the barbeque. The thrill of the grill and the flavors make my mouth water, hairs stand up and belly growl. For today, I thought I would share one of my favorite sauces to have on hand – homemade barbeque chicken sauce. This BBQ sauce can we used on just about anything… from chicken, beef, pork, vegetables, rice, nachos, you name it.

I am pretty sure you could smear this BBQ sauce on your car bumper and love it.

Barbeque (BBQ) Chicken Sauce Recipe

Ingredients

1 Cup Brown Sugar
2 Tsp. Dry Mustard
2 Tsp. Smoked paprika
1 Clove garlic ( crushed)
4 Tsp. Chili powder
1 Cup Ketchup
1 Cup cider vinegar
3 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
1 Tbsp. Salt
1 Tbsp. Pepper

Method

Preheat large sauce pan over medium heat
Stir all dry ingredients together and than add remaining liquid.
Mix thoroughly and bring to a gentle boil ( stirring occasionally )
Reduce to a simmer for 25-30 minutes
ENJOY!

Zesty Tip: The longer you simmer this barbeque chicken sauce, the better it will be. If you notice it getting to thick, just add a little water. Package this in resealable jars and give it to your friends, they will be happy.

OK, so you have to try this sauce… not because I love barbeque but just for the shear excitement of your taste buds. Let me know if you do give it a try and let me know your thoughts and alterations if you made any. Have a super day and I will talk to you on Friday.

Take care

zesty

Oven Baked Salmon on a Bed of Vegetables

zesty — Wed, 08 Dec 2010 13:00:33 +0000

Good morning everyone. Have I got a fun dish for you to try today. Simple, easy and very tasty. I was extremely impressed with the roasted vegetables in this dish. The broccoli flavored with the onions and carrots were nice and tender yet crispy. The flavor on the salmon was very good. I used a sun-dried tomato and oregano vinaigrette which added a nice contrasting flavor to the basil and paprika.

This literally took 5 minutes to prepare and about 45-50 to cook. The addition of the bread crumbs and the parmesan cheese at the very end added a nice texture to the salmon. The overall outcome makes me believe that fish fillets baked on a bed of vegetables, makes an easy and nutritious one dish dinner.

Ingredients

3-4 Salmon pieces
2 Tbsp. Fat free Vinaigrette
1 Tbsp. Fine dried bread crumbs
1 Tbsp. Finely grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 Tsp. Paprika
1 Tbsp. Olive oil
1 Cup Broccoli florets
1 Cup Carrot ( chopped )
1 Cup Frozen corn ( thawed )
1 Small onion ( chopped)
1 Tsp. Dried basil
1/4 Tsp. Black pepper

Method

Place fillets in a shallow dish and brush with the vinaigrette. Cover and refrigerate.
In a small bowl, combine the bread crumbs with the paremesan cheese and paprika

Preheat oven to 425. Brush a 13 * 9 oven proof dish with oil.

In a large mixing bowl, mix together broccoli, carrot, corn, onion, basil and black pepper. Cover with foil and bake for 35-40 minutes or until the vegetables are just tender
Uncover the dish and top the vegetables with the salmon. Cover again and bake for 8-10 minutes or until the fish is just cooked and still moist in the thickest part.
Uncover the dish and sprinkle with bread crumb mixture. Bake, uncovered, for a further 2-3 minutes or until the topping is golden. ?
ENJOY!

Zesty Tip: When using dried herbs make sure they are fresh and do note that they should be added at the start of the cooking process as they take longer to add impact to the dish. Fresh herbs can be added at the very end of the cooking process. You can also re-hydrate the dried herbs by tossing them in a little olive oil. I recommend keeping dried herbs no longer than 6 months.

Have a super Wednesday! I am going to get caught up on some work now as I made the big mistake of taking yesterday off…… bad idea zesty. Let’s get cracking and I will talk to you on Friday.

Take care

zesty

Zesty Tries Kamut!

zesty — Fri, 25 Jun 2010 12:00:10 +0000

Happy Friday. As promised, a fun little post today thanks to some free goodies that were sent to me from the fine folks at Swanson Health products. Included in the package last week are Natural Organic Almonds ( YUM), Raw Organic Honey and some Eden Organic Kamut Pasta Vegetable Spirals.

I have never tries Kamut before so I was quite anxious to give it a whirl. I will try anything once but I was a little unsure what to pair it with. I decided to keep it an all “vegetarian” dish. Anyone proud of me? Really simple dish that was quite long lasting and filling. The pasta had a great flavor and I will definitely eat it again. Not sure I can buy it here so I will have to hit up Swanson or the Eden folks for some more.

Ingredients

2 Cups Kamut Vegetable Spirals
1 Can 15 oz Black Beans ( drained and rinsed)
2 Cups baby spinach
Handful of grape tomatoes
1 Tsp. Olive oil
1 clove of garlic ( chopped)
Splash of lemon juice
1 Tsp. cumin
Salt and pepper

Method

Cook Kamut according to the directions.
In a separate sauce pan, heat over medium and add olive oil
Toss in black beans and tomatoes and begin to cook through
Add garlic, lemon juice and cumin and let cook for 3 minutes
Toss in spinach, salt and pepper.
Drain pasta and add in to bean mixture. Mix well and serve.
ENJOY!

Zesty Tip: Be gentle on the black beans, you do not want to have them turn into mush so when you are stirring them be sure to stir underneath them and try not to break them down.

I love getting free stuff sent to the house. I am just like a kid when that happens. I get so excited and get the whole family involved. If you are a blogger, what was the favorite package you ever received?

Have a super Friday and a fantastic weekend. Mine is action packed and will fill you in on Monday. Rumor on the street is that we may be going to the Stock car races. Zesty Junior’s eyes lit up like glow plugs and cannot wait.

Take care

zesty