A Jeanne in the Kitchen

We got together with Janet and Bob to hear all about their adventures in Israel. They just returned home a couple of days ago. We started off with dinner at a new little Indian restaurant called Spice Of India. Yes, it would have been more of a themed evening had we gone to a Middle Eastern restaurant, or to Jerusalem in Denver, A Trip to Jerusalem, but they had been talking about this new Indian restaurant for months, and we just couldn’t make it happen until now. So glad we could finally go.

Spice of India is a family owned and operated restaurant here in Westminster, just a hop, skip and a jump away from all of us. It has only been open for about 8 months and it is already growing by leaps and bounds.

The owner, Sudip Khanal, is originally from Nepal. He and his staff were very friendly and helpful. They all had big smiles all throughout the evening.

All four of us love Indian foods of all kinds, and we are all very adventurous eaters. We ordered the mixed combination platter that had both meat dishes and vegetarian foods, as well as one more vegetarian dish and another order of onion naan bread, just to make sure we had enough for the four of us. It was definitely a delicious feast. We have discovered that the best way to try a lot of different foods is to order a wide variety and everyone shares the dishes. Combination plates are always a great introduction to many different dishes as well.

Sudip likes to help serve his customers as well. It was definitely service with a smile, or in this case, with three smiles.

The food was just as tasty as it was colorful. Everything was delicious! We all had our favorites, and each one of us chose something different as our favorite dish, but again, everything was fantastic. You can’t go wrong here. Even though we all love spicy foods, we have all learned from past experience NOT to order spicy Indian (or Thai) foods. So we ordered everything at medium spice. You can choose the heat intensity level of all your dishes. Not only did we have enough food, but we took quite a bit home with us too, to enjoy at a later time.

When we first arrived, there were not a lot of people dining in the restaurant. We purposely arrived early though to avoid any crowds. By the time we had finished our fabulous feast, the restaurant was filling up quickly.

This is Spice of India’s mission statement, in their own words:

“Spice Of India is family-owned restaurant in the town. We are here to serve you with the experience of cooking for more than 20 years. We always believe in providing authentic Indian and Nepalese food and to bring a little spice in your life. All our dishes are 100% home styled, and we believe with no doubt that the creation of finest meals begins with the selection of the best ingredients. That’s why we are always anxious to acquire the best produce from the local market and finest spices around the world. We offer Vegetarian, Non-Vegetarian and Vegan options. We are always happy to know and feel you and we also offer customized dishes of your choices. We also offer beer and wines. Our cuisine is rich and diverse, encompassing a vast scope of traditions, tastes, colors, texture, appearance, and delicacy”.

The decor was colorful and fun, with traditional Indian art adorning the walls.

After we finished our meal, Sudip asked us if we had any room left for dessert. We were pretty stuffed, and had to take a breather for a bit before even thinking about dessert, but Janet and Bob had some delicious baklava from Israel waiting for us. When we told Sudip we were having baklava for dessert, and told him all about it, he asked us to bring him some. He had no idea we really would, and was very pleasantly surprised when we actually did.

Israeli Baklava

NO! We all only had small bits of this delicious baklava. We DID NOT eat all of this! Janet and Bob have been enjoying it with family, friends and neighbors since their return home.

Before enjoying the baklava, we all took a much needed break from food and enjoyed the pictures from Israel. We all had a great time catching up, and traveling together, even if only vicariously, to India, Nepal and Israel.

The next time you are in Westminster, CO, and want to take a culinary trip to both Nepal and to India, definitely give Spice of India a try. You will be in for a very festive feast for sure. Spice of India is located at 12025 N. Pecos Street, Westminster, CO. You can drop in or give them a call at (303) 955-7844. You can even order online and pick it up at http://www.spiceofindiausa.com. Either way, bring a sense of adventure, a big appetite and some friends to help make the experience even more enjoyable. I promise, you will have a fantastic evening and a delicious meal.

Have a great day and make everyday great. Stay safe and stay well. ‘Til next time.

We got together with our friends Jonathan and Priscilla last night for dinner. Priscilla made pasta Bolognese, bread and lemon custard with blueberries for dessert. All of it, as usual, was scrumptious. She asked me to bring a salad. Knowing what the menu was, I had to come up with an equally delicious salad to go with the rest of the meal. And I did. My salad was a hit, and paired perfectly with the meal.

I made an asparagus, red pepper and spinach salad with a light lemon dressing. I literally made just enough for the six of us to enjoy. There was nothing leftover at all. Not even a tiny morsel.

As usual, I started off keeping it simple, then it just kept growing and expanding from there. The more I read the recipe, the more the salad kept growing. The recipe itself said to load it up, and load it up I did.

Asparagus, Red Pepper and Spinach Salad

1 red bell pepper, cut into thin matchsticks

1 lb asparagus

1 shallot, sliced very thin

1 TBSP garlic

6 cups baby spinach, stems removed and chopped

6 TBSP olive oil, divided

3 TBSP lemon olive oil divided

2-3 TBSP lemon balsamic vinegar or sherry or champagne vinegar

coarse salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste

2 hard boiled eggs, crumbled

1/3 cup toasted nuts – I used slivered almonds

4 oz of either feta or goat cheese,

Get a small skillet very hot and add about 3 TBSP of olive oil and about 1 TBSP of the lemon olive oil. Add the peppers, garlic and shallots, and cook for about 2 minutes.

Cook the asparagus. My favorite asparagus are the smaller, thinner stalks. I like to boil them for just about 3-4 minutes. Get the water boiling, then add the asparagus, bring to a boil once again. Do not over boil, or the asparagus will turn to mush. You want them to still have a little snap left to them and to be bright and vivid green. After the asparagus is cooked, cut it into pieces about 1 inch in size, cut at an angle. You can also saute the asparagus, with the peppers and garlic after it has cooked for about 2-3 minutes. If this is your preferred method of cooking the asparagus, cook it all for an additional 2 minutes and add the salt & pepper.

Toast the nuts. I used slivered almonds this time, but you can also use pine nuts, walnuts, or pecans. I usually toast mine in a dry skillet, just long enough for them to turn a nice golden brown, shaking the skillet often so they don’t burn. But you can also toast them in the oven as well.

Add the nuts and vegetables to the chopped spinach after they have cooled slightly.

Add the remaining oils and lemon balsamic vinegar or sherry vinegar. I also added more fresh ground black pepper at this point as well. I like my salads peppery. Gently toss everything together. If you are using the cheese, you can add it to the salad at this point as well, and toss it all together, or you can leave it on the side and have people add it later. I used feta cheese, but left it on the side.

Top the salad with the crumbled egg and serve immediately.

The hard boiled eggs and nuts are optional, but both really make the salad. A lot of Europeans and South Americans top their salads with eggs and/or nuts, and I tend to use both as well. I like the added color and textures that both nuts and eggs bring to the salads. This colorful salad was a big hit with everyone, and as I mentioned above, there was none left.

Have a great day and make everyday great. Stay safe and stay well. ‘Til next time.

We eat a ton of vegetables as well as a very wide variety of vegetables. And I like to prepare them in many different ways. One of the vegetables we eat frequently is broccoli. Broccoli is a very nutritious and much loved vegetable, but sometimes, if it is always cooked the same way, time after time, let’s face it, it gets … boring. That being said, this can apply to anything if there is never any change. We all need to shake things up a bit, get the juices flowing once again and bring new life to things.

I came up with a new way to prepare broccoli that is colorful and tasty and gives it a whole new twist. It’s herb crusted broccoli.

Herb Crusted Broccoli

1 1/2 lbs of broccoli florets

4 TBSP chopped pecans

1/2 tsp marjoram

1/2 tsp thyme

1/4 cup chopped red onion

1/4 chopped bell pepper, any color

1 TBSP garlic

2 TBSP olive oil

1 TBSP lemon olive oil, optional

1 TBSP lemon balsamic vinegar, optional

coarse salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste

Get a large skillet very hot and add the oils. Then add all the vegetables, and seasonings and saute for about 5 minutes. Add the chopped pecans and cook for about 3-4 more minutes, or until the pecans are toasted. Add the lemon balsamic vinegar right at the end. Top with the chopped parsley. You can also add breadcrumbs to the mix as well. I didn’t have any at the time, so needless to say, there are no breadcrumbs in my dish, this time.

Serve it up next to your favorite main dish and enjoy. It’s bright, colorful and full of flavor. It’s broccoli that’s all dressed up for a party.

Add as much color and texture to your vegetables and salads as you like. It’s all good. The more colors and textures, the healthier and more nutritious they will be.

Have a great day and make everyday great. Stay safe and stay well. ‘Til next time.

All my spring birds are flying back and settling in for the season. I saw my first Cormorants of the season. There were two, but one was real shy and only stayed around for a minute. The other one was proudly on display for all to see. He was claiming his territory and letting everyone know.

Have a great day and make everyday great. 🙂

Well, it is spring in Colorado, which basically means anything goes. We have had beautiful, sunny weather for the past few days and today the temperature has dropped about 20* F. Tomorrow it is supposed to rain with another chance of light snow in the evening. You just never know what to expect at this time of year. But we did officially kick off salad season at our house. We enjoyed a delicious salad out on our beloved deck before the weather changed directions yet again.

The Verdicchio Wine is from the last batch we bottled, last year, at our favorite winery InVINtions. InVINtions, A Toast to InVINtions! We finished off the last of our Easter herbed popovers too. The salad was a delicious chicken and vegetable salad with a sun-dried tomato lemon vinaigrette.

Sun-Dried Tomato and Lemon Vinaigrette

As with most dressings and vinaigrettes, this was simple and easy-peasy.

1/2 jar of sun-dried tomatoes packed in oil, with the oil

2 tsp garlic

1/2 cup olive oil

2-3 TBSP lemon olive oil

2-3 TBSP lemon balsamic vinegar

1/4 cup balsamic vinegar

3-4 basil sprigs

fresh ground black pepper and coarse salt to taste

I just put everything into the food processor and processed it until it was ready, and the tomatoes were cut into very small pieces.

For the salad, well, I like stuff in my stuff. I just loaded it up with all kinds of fresh vegetables. I started off with chopped Romaine lettuce, then added some red onions sliced very thin, shredded carrots, cooked green beans, grape tomatoes cut in half and some avocado slices. Larry’s salad got some cubed Havarti cheese sprinkled around, mine did not. Then I added chicken slices and a sliced hard boiled egg to each salad and topped it with dressing. I like a lot of textures to my salads, so I also added some toasted pepita seeds on top of mine. The result – a very colorful, healthy and delicious salad. 🙂 The more colors and textures added usually means a lot more nutritious the salad will be.

We eat a lot of salads during spring and summer, but we may not be eating any more for a few days, with the weather being what it is currently. Our salad days are definitely fair weather meals. 🙂

Add lots of colors and textures to your foods. Make them pretty and fill them with lots of nutrients.

Have a great day and make everyday great. Stay safe and stay well. ‘Til next time.

Spring is most definitely here. All of my winter birds are disappearing and my spring birds are coming back. I saw my first Egret of the season, and he was proudly posing in a tree, allowing me to click away to capture him in all his glory.

There is magic in the air and all around. Take it all in. Have a great day. 🙂

The timing of Easter coincides with pagan springtime festivals, and lamb has become associated with rebirth and a fresh new season. Lamb forms the centerpiece of Easter celebrations in many Mediterranean and European countries. This paschal lamb evokes the lamb served at Passover. The iconography of the early Christian church is rich with lamb symbols, from the biblical references to Jesus Christ as “the lamb of God” and “shepherd to his flock” to the depiction of lamb in ecclesiastical paintings and sculptures. Lamb decorates altarpieces, stained-glass windows and carvings in Christian churches worldwide.

Lamb or sheep were among the first domesticated animals, dating back to 10,000+ years, originating in Mesopotamia. They were also among the first livestock to be kept for their meat. Because they could thrive on pasture as well as on rocky terrain, sheep were prized animals. Early civilizations used every part of the animal—the skin for parchment, the fat or tallow for candle wax and even the rams’ horns as musical instruments. From Mesopotamia, lamb and sheep then spread to Central Asia and then out to the rest of the world from there.

Lamb is among the most common livestock consumed throughout the world, linked to feasts and religious observances. Christians, Jews and Muslims celebrate with lamb, an essential part of the cuisine on Easter, Passover and Ramadan. Lamb is symbolic of spring, sacrifice and fertility and it unites people around a table of delicious food. For centuries, in humble homes, on the street and in the finest restaurants, this versatile meat has been grilled, seared, braised, roasted, stewed and served everywhere. From earliest antiquity, sheep and lambs were sacrificed to the gods and acquired the symbolic value of an innocent victim. Since then, lamb meat has often been a delicacy served as an expression of welcome. It has been featured in banquets and celebrations and on special occasions in people’s lives, such as births, circumcisions and weddings for millenia.

Lamb is the preferred meat and protein source in the Mediterranean countries. Lamb is very nutritious and is a very good source of iron. It contains more iron than chicken or fish. Greeks have the highest per-capita consumption of lamb in the European Union. It is also a very popular meat source in both Australia and New Zealand.

“Traditional meat dishes from the Mediterranean regions are made with almost more vegetables than meat and are intended to be served like a sauce, with a complex carbohydrate, whether pasta, rice, potatoes, or polenta”. (p. 312 The Mediterranean Diet Cookbook, Nancy Harmon Jenkins).

As you all know, I love to recreate from my leftovers. I used my leftover Easter lamb and recreated it to make a traditional Greek lamb and artichoke stew. Of course, I mixed and matched and made it it my own, but I also kept it within the traditions and spirit of the Mediterranean cultures. Would you expect anything any different from me? 🙂

I served my lamb stew over the tri-colored pearl couscous with my leftover herbed popovers. Because it was lamb, which is a red meat, I served it with a fruit forward, medium-full bodied pinot noir.

My lamb was already cooked, which obviously reduces the cooking time, but I will give you the recipe for uncooked lamb.

Greek Lamb and Artichoke Stew

1-1 1/2 lbs lamb, cubed

3 TBSP olive oil for cooking

1-2 TBSP lemon olive oil, optional

1 onion, diced

1 TBSP garlic

2 carrots, diced

3-4 tomatoes, diced

1 cup sliced olives, I like to used mixed olives

1 can artichokes, drained

1 can white beans, drained and rinsed

1 cup dry white wine

1 TBSP flour mixed with 1/2 cup water

1/3 cup lemon juice

salt & pepper to taste

fresh cilantro and parsley, chopped for topping

Heat the oil(s) in a large skillet and then add the meat. Brown the meat thoroughly, then remove and set aside.

Add the onions, garlic and carrots and cook for about 5 minutes, or until the onions are translucent and the carrots are tender.

Add the tomatoes, artichokes, beans and olives and mix together well. Then add the wine, flour and water mixture and seasonings.

Re-add the lamb. I cut my lamb into thin strips. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to a simmer, cover and continue to cook for an additional 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Add the lemon juice and adjust the seasonings as needed at the last couple of minutes of the cooking process. Then serve over rice, pasta, potatoes or couscous and top with the cilantro and parsley.

Delicious! This is the type of dish you will find all throughout the Greek Isles, as well as any other Mediterranean country. It is filled with all kinds of vegetables and proteins and goodness.

Have a great day and make everyday great. Stay safe and stay well. ‘Til next time.

You know spring has sprung in my neck of the woods when the weather gets warmer and my turtles start coming out to sun themselves. I have seen a few turtles already, but they have been camera shy. Today, however, I had a fairly large snapping turtle just enjoying himself and soaking up the sun.

These snapping turtles always look like they are still part of the dinosaur age.

Be like Mr. Snappy here, and just chill and enjoy. Have a great day and make everyday great. 🙂

When Larry smoked the brisket on Easter Sunday, that was just the beginning. But it was not quite done. The flavor was delicious, however, it was still tough and needed more cooking. So I cooked it in the slow cooker with beef broth for about 5 hours. Then it was ready. It came out so juicy and tender. It just melted in our mouths.

Every Monday evening, I attend my Bible study group which is a potluck. It was my turn to bring a main meal. Wendy, Lauren and I all attend the same group, so we all decided we would bring our Easter leftovers to share with everyone. You all know how I always love to recreate from my leftovers.

This time, I turned my brisket into sliders. But my sliders needed a sauce to go with them, so I made a sun-dried tomato aioli that complimented the beef brisket perfectly. I also brought along some Havarti cheese to top the sliders for all the cheese lovers. Not being a cheese eater, I stopped at the cheese section of my local grocery store and told the cheese expert what I was making and asked what the best type of cheese would be to go with my sliders. She is the one who graciously explained the different properties of the cheeses she thought would go best with my sliders and we decided on the Havarti.

Lauren brought her leftover ham, which we also turned into sliders. I made some honey mustard to go with that. I also brought along some caramelized onion jam to use as a topper as well.

The sun-dried tomato aioli was super easy to make and very tasty. I just put all the ingredients into the food processor and mixed it all up until it was smooth and creamy.

Sun-Dried Tomato Aioli

1 cup mayonnaise

1/4-1/3 cup sun-dried tomatoes packed in oil

1 TBSP lemon balsamic vinegar or lemon juice

fresh ground black pepper to taste

The honey mustard was just a combination of Dijon mustard and honey.

The sliders were, easy-peasy and delicious and were a big hit. Making sliders is yet another quick and easy way to re-use and repurpose your leftovers and they are always a popular choice, especially if you are taking them on-the-go.

Things don’t always have to be complicated. Sometimes the best things are the simple things. Have a great day and make everyday great. Stay safe and stay well. ‘Til next time.

Saturday our church held yet another very successful Easter Egg Hunt. Our numbers were almost doubled to what they were last year. We had about 139 children from the community participate in this annual event. All the kids had so much fun.

I was one of the church photographers once again (one of my favorite jobs), and once again, I took a ton of pictures. I won’t share them all with you, but I will share enough to show how much fun the kids were having.

We had a puppet show.

We had Easter eggs filled with candy.

We even had some special Easter eggs with tickets for a free bike.

We had baby bunnies and ducklings. Kids of all ages were loving the bunnies and the ducklings.

Even Pastor Matthew was getting some bunny love.

We had horses too.

And at the end of the day, we had empty Easter eggs.

Another successful Easter egg hunt on the books. We all have a little respite with some time to rest before our next event.

Have a great day and make everyday great. Stay safe and stay well. ‘Til next time.