More Healthy Dinners

This is the wonderful time of year. It's the time of the first harvest of many of the garden vegetables.Since it's just the second batch of green beans, you aren't tired of picking yet and don't want to secretly smash the plants in the middle of the night. Life is good.

In an effort to use more garden produce and use up the balance of last years bounty, I'm adventuring into unknown worlds. I've never been known for my cooking. In fact, I once did a television commercial for a local chain of groceries where I knelt down at the end and offered my family a plate of cookies. My daughter watched it with me the first time it aired. As I knelt down and pushed the plate of cookies toward my family, Jenn jumped up and yelled, "Danger! Danger! Warning Will Smith!" That should give you some idea of my reputation. However, it's tough to destroy fresh vegetables and I'm finding I have a knack for using some of the herbs also.

Potato Bean Salad with Mixed Fruit and Nuts as a side make the perfect well balanced meal. Add a few slices of cucumbers and your belly will be full by the end of the meal.

Potato Bean Salad
You can make this recipe vegetarian as shown or add mozzarella cheese, ham or bacon to the salad if you choose.
Ingredients

4 large red skin potatoes cooked and cut in 1 inch hunks (leave the skins on)
2 1/2 cups of cooked fresh green beans cut in 1 inch lenghs
1 cup of corn (you can use frozen or if you're like me, cut the corn off uneaten ears left over from a previous supper)
1 stalk of celery
1 red pepper cut in slices (I used a frozen one from last year but cut it in smaller pieces than I would have if it were fresh. It still tasted good in the salad.)
1/2 Vadalia onion sliced and chopped
1/2 cucumber (I have to get rid of them. The neighbors won't answer their door anymore. This is optional)

A bottle of Zesty Italian dressing

Simply mix all the ingredients together. You can add extra spices if you like. I was going to add lime basil or cinnamon basil but it was raining out and I didn't feel like it. I added some dried parsley and chives instead. You also can make your own vinagrette dressing but I'm not that dedicated.

Fruit and Nut Side Dish
This dish contained our protein for the evening so I packed extra walnuts in it. (And got rid of the last of the bag.)
You can mix any fruits you like but ours were all deep purple and red leftovers.
10 Black pitted cherries and quartered
10 large black raspberries
6 large stawberries quartered
1 cup of blueberries
1 1/2 cups of walnuts (give or take a few)

Mix and serve.

Tonight, we'll simply put the leftover fruit on top of a spring salad mix, add some shredded cheese, celery and a few tomatoes and have a supper.

I may not be a great cook, but I can chop fruit and veggies with the best of them.

Resource: Personal experience