Casaba Melon with Mint Syrup
Makes 4-6 Servings
½ cup water
½ cup white wine
½ cup sugar
½ cup mint
1 Tablespoon whole black peppercorns
¼ cup orange juice
Orange zest
4 cups Casaba Melon (either balls or sliced) chilled
In a small sauce pan stir together the water, wine, sugar, orange zest, peppercorns and mint. Boil the mixture, stirring until the sugar is dissolved and simmer about 4-5 minutes. Strain the syrup through a fine sieve set over a bowl, pressing hard on the solids to extract all the flavors out, and chill until cold. Stir the orange juice into the syrup. In a serving bowl toss the melon balls with the syrup and garnish with fresh mint sprigs.
Note:
You can serve this nice light dessert to refresh you on a hot summer day.
As for the syrup you can use anything that you can come up with, example you can try a Balsamic Vinegar Syrup and Confectionary Sugar.
For the Balsamic Syrup
½ cup Balsamic Vinegar
In a saucepan reduce the vinegar until about half and thick in constency cool until ready to serve. Slice the melon and drizzle the syrup on top. Sprinkle with confectionary sugar, garnish with a sliced strawberry and enjoy.
Nutritional:
Saturated Fat Free
Cholesterol Free
High in the antioxidant Vitamin C
Fat Fee
Very Low Sodium
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2 c. dried figs
¾ cup water
2 tsp. vanilla
Puree figs, water and vanilla in blender or food processor.
Dried figs are excellent replacement for fat in baked goods. Just remember when using dried figs to replace shortening or oil in baking do not overmix or overbake. Use only half of the normal amount of shortening, margarine, butter or oil, in a recipe when using dried puree. For instance, if 1 cup of margarine is called for, use only ½ cup. Then use ½ of the fig puree. Here’s a simple fig puree recipe to include in your baking recipes.
Recipe from: FruitsandVeggiesMatter.gov |
Glazed Red Bananas (Bananas Foster)
Makes 4 Servings
4 bananas
½ cup butter
¼ cup lemon juice or orange juice
¾ cup sugar or ¼ cup honey
1/3 cup balsamic vinegar
4½ cups of vanilla ice cream
Remove skin from the bananas and cut length-wise or into round coins. Melt butter in a sauté pan and arrange bananas in it. Sprinkle with lemon juice or orange juice, add sugar or honey and balsamic vinegar. Let reduce for about 1-3 minutes, occasionally turning bananas until lightly browned and tender when pricked with a fork. Arrange banana slices over ice cream and top with remaining pan sauce.
Karen's Pumpkin Pancakes
2 cups Bisquick
½ cup pumpkin
2 Tablespoons brown sugar
2 Tablespoons vegetable oil
2 eggs
2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon allspice
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 can evaporated milk
Mix all together. Cook on griddle until deep golden brown. If you'd like to make a healthier version - use reduced fat Bisquick, cut the oil in half, use 4 egg whites and fat-free evaporated milk. Enjoy!
Mean Green Peanut Butter Sandwich
Makes 2 sandwiches
1/3 ripe banana, cut into chunks
4 Tablespoons low-fat cream cheese, room temperature
4 slices good quality pre-sliced whole wheat bread, toasted lightly
4 Tablespoons creamy peanut butter
1 ripe California kiwifruit, unpeeled and sliced into 8 rounds
Place the banana pieces and cream cheese into the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade. Pulse, scraping down the sides of the bowl, until they are just blended. Do not over-process. Alternately, you can mash the cream cheese and banana together until well blended.
Spread the banana cream on one side of two pieces of bread. Spread the peanut butter on the remaining two slices of bread. Divide the sliced kiwi between the two bread slices with banana cream. Top with the peanut butter covered bread.