Canning Cookbook- Granny's Four Bean Salad

One thing I have learned since moving to the country is that food trends rarely make their way out here. You will never see a food truck in a small Iowa town, and probably not find butter poached anything in a small town diner. What you will find are the kinds of foods I have always called Church Cookbook Foods. That vinegar coleslaw. Broccoli salad with bacon and raisins. Seven layer salad. Chicken and noodles. Salisbury steak. Rhubarb everything.

Some of my favorite cookbooks are those "church cookbook" type books. They aren't all churches anymore. Lots of organizations put together a cookbook to celebrate a milestone year, or celebrate their history. I love collecting these gems. Reading over them years down the road is a trip down memory lane. My late mother in law made foods like those. She made seven layer salad all the time. She baked every rhubarb dessert you can imagine. She made lots of things with jello.

I can't tell you how many of these recipes ended up on the table at picnics, reunions, barbeques over the years. Pastel colored Tupperware from the 60s was the serving bowl of choice for moms and grandmothers back in my childhood. My dad worked for a small company and their office picnic was always a potluck. The boss bought the chicken or the burgers and dog, and everyone brought a side dish.  Big plastic bowls of potato salad, macaroni salad, plates of brownies and cake squares, baked beans- you name it- always lined the wooden picnic tables. 

My dad was a Baked Beans Connoisseur. I've talked about his interest in cooking, calling him the 70s version of a foodie. He bought a Rival Crockpot as soon as they hit the market and I remember him tinkering with baked beans recipes to get just that perfect sweet and spicy, gooey slow cooked bean. My grandmother was the Bean Salad Queen. I remember her great big house in Minnesota, and sitting down to dinner at the table loaded with- you guessed it- church cookbook foods, including Perfection Salad with a dollop of Spin Blend salad dressing, pea salad, always something with Cool Whip and fruit and Four Bean Salad.

Four Bean Salad is one of those great recipes that lends itself well to home canning- the dressing has plenty of vinegar to make canning the vegetables safe, much like a pickled product. The green and wax beans are cooked briefly before being tossed with the kidney and garbanzo beans, chopped onions, bell pepper and crunchy celery. The sweet and sour dressing is just like Gramma's, and just like those old church cookbooks.

Sadly, on Recipe Making Day I was unable to get garbanzo beans at my little grocery store. Darn it, I should have planned ahead. So we're actually making Three Bean Salad with double the kidney beans (4 15oz cans, drained and rinsed), but it will still be delicious.

Granny's Four Bean Salad
adapted from Ball's recipe

5 cups sliced green beans (cut into 1 inch pieces)

5 cups sliced wax beans (cut into 1 inch pieces)

2 cups cooked kidney beans (canned is fine, rinse and drain)

2 cups garbanzo beans (canned is fine, rinse and drain)

2-3 ribs celery, sliced on the bias

1 1/2 cups chopped onion

1 bell pepper, chopped

3 cups apple cider vinegar

1 1/4 cups water

2 1/2 cups sugar

1 tablespoon mustard seeds (mix of brown and yellow)

1 teaspoon celery seed

1 teaspoon kosher salt

Prepare a hot water bath canner and jars.

In a large saucepan combine the vinegar, water, sugar, salt and spices. Bring to boil, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Keep hot.

So colorful- even before the green and wax beans are added

In a large stockpot place the green and wax beans and celery. Cover with water and bring to boil. Boil for 5 minutes, then drain and toss with remaining vegetables. Pack the vegetables into hot canning jars. 

Ladle the hot pickling liquid over. Remove air bubbles, fix lids and rims and place in water bath canner. Process pints for 15 minutes.

This is a handy salad to have on the shelf. Chill, pop open a jar and serve. Easy peasy. I love having foods like this around so when I need a last minute dish, say a last minute office potluck, or friends drop in when we're getting ready to throw some dogs on the grill, one more dish added to the meal can really stretch things, and I don't have to worry about having nothing to share or serve.

This recipe has been tested for safety by Ball. 

One further word about home canned foods- if you do decide to bring any home canned food to a potluck, you should let people know it was made with home canned foods, as some people are very worried about food safety and don't eat foods canned by others. Don't be offended- they are just being proactive. I'm never offended.

Salad For Lunch

Every Wednesday is Summer Lunch Day in our office. What a great idea- each week a couple different people sign up to bring a lunch dish to share with the team. Doesn't have to be fancy. Most weeks we have a couple salads or a salad and a dessert of some kind. It's a great way to socialize with the team, enjoy some home cooking, and try new dishes. 

Personally I really enjoy potluck meals like that. So many of the dishes remind me of foods my mom and grandmother used to make. Casseroles, for example, might be a Midwestern thing but they make a potluck meal really special. Our office has a cubicle we all call The Food Cube. It's set up for potluck meals- power strips for crockpots, containers of plastic forks and spoons, stacks of paper plates and bowls. Packets of condiments, all ready to go at a moment's notice. We even have a team crockpot that stays in The Food Cube in case someone brings food that needs to be heated- no need to lug your own heavy crockpot around.

Pasta salads are always a hit at our lunches. Fresh veggies, fun pasta shapes, sometimes a little shredded or cubed cheese make a filling dish that just about every loves. When it was my turn to bring a dish pasta salad was a natural choice, especially in this house where pasts reigns supreme. With this salad I decided to go with a Greek twist, using the veggies commonly used in a Greek salad, like tomatoes, cucumbers, bell peppers, olives and herbs. Tossed with pasta in a vinaigrette dressing, with Mediterranean herbs and cheese it was a refreshing change from the mayo type dressing.

I prefer orzo in this dish but this time I as unable to get it- our little grocery store didn't have any! I was stuck using pasta rings. Also, feta or goat cheese are lovely crumbled into the salad if you like.

Greek Style Pasta Salad

1 pound small pasta such as orzo

1 small cucumber

2-3 Roma tomatoes

6 scallions

1 cup ripe olives

1 small bell pepper

3 cloves garlic

2/3 cup olive oil

1/4 cup red wine vinegar

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

1 tablespoon chopped fresh oregano

1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil

2 tablespoons chopped fresh mint

2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

squeeze of lemon juice

1/2 cup Parmesan cheese

couple handfuls fresh baby spinach

Heat the olive oil til warm but not sizzling. Lightly crush the garlic cloves and place in the oil. Set aside and allow to steep at least an hour. 

Cook the pasta according to package directions.  Cook to al dente- do not overcook! Drain and rinse in cold water to stop the cooking process. Place in a large bowl and set aside.

Chop the cucumber into small pieces and add to the bowl with the pasta. Cut up the tomatoes and chop into similar sized pieces, removing the seeds if you like. Add to the bowl. Chop the bell pepper and scallions (including the green tops) and into the bowl they go. Slice the olives and add those too. Add the herbs, salt and pepper.

Fish out and discard the garlic cloves. Combine the olive oil and vinegar in a jar. Cap the jar and shake to combine. Pour over the pasta and vegetables, toss well. Add the Parmesan and spinach, squeeze a little bit of lemon juice over and toss again. Cover and chill until serving time.

This salad makes a great lunch entree and as always, you can add grilled chopped chicken, shrimp or any other meat or seafood you like. You might want to keep a little extra vinegar and oil handy in case you need a little extra for serving. I like to be able to taste the punch of the vinegar in my Greek salads. 

Product Review: When It's Too Hot To Cook (Much)

It's been a few months now since I have been making that daily commute back to the city for work. It's been great getting back into the swing of things, and I am really enjoying being part of a big company again. I don't miss the teeny tiny three person office environment one bit. I'm very lucky to be working where I do. The company is very focused on maintaining a happy environment for the employees and we have loads of social activities like barbecues, contests, community volunteering opportunities and so much more. The company brings food trucks onto the campus every week so we don't have to go far for lunch and have a rotating lineup of options. 

Just this past week the company announced they would be hosting a weekly farmers market on the campus. I was so excited to hear this! That has been the one thing I did miss about my previous job- having access to our small ton farmers market, and even participating as a vendor. Now I don't have to worry about missing out on garden fresh vegetables that I can't or don't grow at home. I can stroll over to the market before getting in my car and heading home.

In my office we do a weekly lunch sign-up for fun. Every Wednesday one or two people volunteer to bring lunch for our team. There are twelve of us, so it's not a HUGE endeavor or a full scale catering event by any means, but just a fun way to be social and try some new foods. During the most recent Wednesday lunch one of my coworkers brought in a salad- Asian flavors with crunchy veggies and crispy wonton strips. Really really good. Reminded me of an old church cookbook recipe I used to make using bagged coleslaw mix and uncooked crushed ramen noodles, but it wasn't exactly the same. She shared her secret "recipe"- it IS a bagged salad, a complete salad kit she picked up at the grocery store, and it was so delicious I thought it would be great to use as a starting point for summer meal in one salads on these hot hot hot no-cooking days!

The Dole Chopped Salad Kit is such a great idea. I chose the Asian Sesame variety, the same as the one my coworker brought to lunch. Everything you need is in this one bag- the salad greens including kale, shredded carrots, sliced almonds, those crunchy wonton strips and Sesame Ginger Vinaigrette.
  

I am dressing mine up with some fresh additions. Chopped scallions, because I happen to have them on hand, and some julienned baby bok choy are going in the bowl. 

Baby bok choy is has a crisp crunch and great flavor

Because I am serving this salad for dinner I thought it would be nice to get a source of protein in there as well, so I am pan-grilling some shrimp, which have been seasoned with Feiny's Chesapeake Bay Rub, and quickly seared in a wok. They literally cook in a minute or two so I am in and out of the kitchen super fast and they are delicious and perfect with the Asian flavors in the salad. 

The shrimp were juicy and delicious with just a hint
of caramelization from the hot skillet or wok

Dinner prep went super fast. I bought shrimp with the peels intact so I had to take a few minutes to peel them and pull off the tails before tossing with the Chesapeake Bay Rub and that was the most difficult part of "cooking." I wish I had grabbed a cucumber because that would have been a great addition to this salad, so would water chestnuts! It took just seconds to toss the veggies in a large bowl with the dressing and extras, plate up a serving and top with some of the shrimp. Done!

Yes, that IS an autograph on the package- because I am a
dork like that. Actually, Adam hand-packages his rubs and
sends them out as ordered so you always get a freshly
mixed batch. 

You can find this salad kit at just about any large grocery store. Of course I picked it up shopping in the city after work, it's not available out here in our teeny grocery store. You definitely want to get yourself some Chesapeake Bay Rub too- get that by clicking HERE.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I have not received any compensation for writing this post. I have no material connection to the brands, products, or services that I mentioned. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 55: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."

Sherri Williams' Avocado Ranch Dressing

Nobody cooks like Sherri!!!  With her incredible resume of culinary victories and visits to the World Food Championships and now television, she has become a force to reckon with in the food world for sure. 

Last summer Sherri kicked some culinary butt on the Travel Channel show American Grilled. On the episode titled Pensacola Beach Brawl, Sherri beat out her three competitors to take home the win. I think the whole country was cheering her on, as she has friends literally everywhere and a very supporting family!

photo from The Travel Channel

Sherri shared this recipe with her friends on Facebook for Valentine's Day with her beautiful Pan Seared Sirloin, Butter Poached Lobster and Mixed Green Salad with Pork Chop Croutons and Avocado Ranch Dressing. That expertly seared steak would have been plenty to make this girl happy, but Sherri brings the flavor big time with the butter poached lobster and that salad.

photo by Sherri Williams

Yes, yes I did say Pork Chop Croutons. How did she make them? Cubes of leftover breaded and fried pork chop rind, recrisped in a little olive oil. Amazing!!! How does she think of this stuff? 

The salad dressing though, really really sounded delicious. I have never been a fan of store bought salad dressings. I don't like foods that have ingredients with half the alphabet in their names. Sherri's dressing started with a perfectly ripe Hass avocado and creamy mayo, sour cream, herbs and spices. Nothing chemical or artificial, just fresh, handmade and delicious. Not sure what a Hass avocado is? It's the typical dark green bumpy-skinned avocado most often seen in the grocery stores.

Here is what you need for Sherri Williams' Avocado Ranch Dressing:

1 Hass avocado

1/4 cup mayonnaise

1/4 cup sour cream

juice and zest of a lemon

1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar

2 tablespoons heavy cream

1/4 teaspoon granulated garlic

1/4 teaspoon granulated onion

1/8 teaspoon dill

salt and pepper

Combine everything in a food processor- pulse/process until smooth. Adjust seasoning to taste. Sherri mashed the avocado first so I did as well- makes it quicker to get that great smoothness.

Use on beautiful salad greens and if you have a leftover chop- make Sherri's Pork Chop Croutons too!

Sherri's domination of the cooking scene is still going strong. As a competitor on Food Network's new show, All Star Academy, the lucky duck gets to meet and work with some true giants in the food world- Alex Guarnaschelli, Michael Symon, Bobby Flay, Curtis Stone and Ted Allen along with several other very talented home cooks! I'm still star struck just thinking about Alex Guarnaschelli!

photo by Sherri Williams

Anyway, All Star Academy starts on Sunday, March 1 at 9/8 central time on Food Network. Set your DVRs people! #TEAMSHERRI !!!

Disclosure of Material Connection: I have not received any compensation for writing this post. I have no material connection to the brands, products, or services that I mentioned. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 55: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."