What is more refreshing during the days of summer than a chilled glass of lemonade or a bowl of fresh, crisp fruit salad? Not a whole lot. Summer's easy – give anyone something cool and fresh with lots of water and he's good to go. But what do we do about winter? What kinds of foods should we eat, especially with New Year's resolutions that deal with weight loom overhead? And something chilled is not a first choice when it's below freezing outside.
There are fruits and vegetables in plentiful array during the fall and winter months, and below are recipes including fruits from pears to apples and vegetables from spinach to potatoes. Following those, is a list of hot drink ideas perfect for drinking after a day of stomping through the snow to class. Some are simple, and some more adventurous.
Side dish: 1-minute Spinach (whfoods.com)
Ingredients:
* 1 pound fresh spinach
* 1 teaspoon lemon juice
* 1 medium fresh garlic clove (pressed or chopped)
* 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
* Salt and cracked black pepper to taste
* Chopped tomato (optional)
Directions:
1. Chop or press garlic and let it sit for five minutes.
2. In a large pot, bring lightly salted water to a rolling boil.
3. Cut stems off spinach and clean (easiest way: leave spinach bundled and cut). Rinse spinach leaves very well to rid your food of soil.
4. Cook spinach in boiling water for one minute.
5. Drain and press out extra water. Toss in remaining ingredients while spinach is still hot.
Health benefits: Stuffed with vitamins, like A and C, plus plenty of manganese and folate.
Side dish: carrots with honey mustard sauce (whfoods.com)
*Perfect in winter because carrots are in season during the fall and winter months.
Ingredients:
* 1 pound carrots
* 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
* 2 teaspoons honey
* 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
Directions:
1. Fill the bottom of a steamer with 2 inches of water.
2. While steam is building up in steamer, cut carrots into 1/4-inch slices.
3. Steam carrots for 5 minutes.
4. Combine mustard, honey and olive oil.
5. Remove carrots from heat and toss with honey mustard mixture.
No Sugar Apple Pie (Allrecipes.com)
Ingredients:
* 2 (9-inch) pie shells
* 3 tablespoons cornstarch
* 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
* 1 (12 fluid ounce) can unsweetened apple juice concentrate, thawed
* 6 cups sliced green apples
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a small bowl, combine cornstarch, cinnamon and 1/3 cup (about three ounces) of the apple juice concentrate. Set aside.
3. In a large saucepan, simmer apples with remaining apple juice concentrate until apples are tender, about 10 minutes. Stir in cornstarch mixture and continue to simmer until thickened. Remove from heat.
4. Spoon apple mixture into pastry-lined pie plate. Cover with top crust. Seal the edges. Cut steam vents in the top.
5. Bake for 45 minutes, or until crust is golden brown.
Sweet Potato, Pear and Pineapple Bread Pudding (Allrecipes.com)
Ingredients:
* 1 cup sour cream
* 3/4 cup whole milk
* 2/3 cup superfine sugar
* 3 eggs, beaten
* 1 tablespoon baking powder
* 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
* 1 teaspoon ground ginger
* 1 cup chopped canned pears
* 1 cup canned crushed pineapple, drained
* 1 (16 ounce) can sweet potatoes, drained and cut into chunks (fresh potatoes can used as an alternative)
* 4 cups French bread cubes
* 1/3 cup packed light brown sugar
* 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
* 1 teaspoon freshly grated orange zest
* 1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
* 1 cup chopped pecans
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Butter a 1 quart casserole dish.
2. In a large bowl, combine sour cream, milk, sugar, eggs, baking powder, ginger and vanilla. Stir in the pears, pineapple and sweet potatoes just to coat, then add the bread cubes and mix until evenly distributed. Pour into the prepared baking dish. Set aside for later.
3. In a separate bowl, stir together the brown sugar, flour and orange zest. Briefly stir in the butter and pecans. Sprinkle over the top of bread pudding.
4. Bake for 30 minutes, until evenly puffed and browned.
Chunky Potato Soup (Allrecipes.com)
Ingredients:
*4 medium potatoes, peeled and cubed
*3/4 cup chopped onion
*1 small carrot, chopped
*1/4 cup chopped celery
*1 1/2 cups chicken broth
*3 tablespoons butter, cubed
*3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
*2 1/2 cups milk
*1 tablespoon minced fresh parsley
*3/4 teaspoon salt
*1/2 teaspoon pepper
*1 cup shredded Swiss cheese
Directions:
1. In a large saucepan, combine the potatoes, onion, carrot, celery and broth. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 12-15 minutes or until vegetables are tender. Then lightly mash.
2. Meanwhile, in a small saucepan, melt butter. Stir in flour until smooth. Gradually stir in milk. Bring to a boil, cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thick. Stir into potato mixture. Cook and stir until thick and bubbly. Add parsley, salt and pepper. Remove from the heat; stir in cheese until melted.
DRINKS:
Hawaiian Coffee (Flora's Drink Hideout)
Ingredients:
* 1/2 cup milk
* 1/2 cup coconut shreds, sweetened
* 1/2 cup coffee
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place the milk and coconut in a saucepan and warm over low heat for 2-3 minutes, stirring occasionally. Strain the milk and place coconut on a baking sheet in the oven until it turns brown, about 8-10 minutes. Add the milk to the hot coffee and top with the browned coconut.
Snow Ice (Flora's Drink Hideout)
Ingredients:
* 1/2 cup sugar
* 1 cup cream
* 2 teaspoons vanilla
* Snow, newly fallen
Directions:
Add sugar to cream, and flavor highly with vanilla (or lemon); if lemon juice is used, more sugar will be needed to offset the bitterness. Stir in snow until it's as thick as ice cream, and any kind of fruit juice may be used instead of cream. In either case, the snow must not be added until just before serving.
Hot Lemonade (Flora's Drink Hideout)
(Great as a sore throat or flu remedy)
Ingredients:
* 1 large spoonful of honey
* 1 cinnamon stick per cup
* 1 lemon
* Hot water
Directions:
Put one large spoonful of honey and one cinnamon stick in one large glass. Slice 1/2 lemon into thin slices, and put into the glass. Squeeze remaining lemon and put juice in glass. Fill glass with hot water, stir and drink.
Apple Spice Drink
Ingredients:
* 3 teaspoons grated orange peel
* 3 cinnamon sticks, crushed
* 3 teaspoons whole cloves
* 1 whole nutmeg, crushed
* 3 cups apple juice
* 6 cinnamon sticks (whole)
Directions:
Combine orange peel, 3 crushed cinnamon sticks, cloves and nutmeg in a small bowl. Tie try ingredients in a double thickness of cheesecloth and make a sachet, or secure in a large tea-straining ball. In a medium pan, simmer apple juice with spices for at least 20 minutes. Ladle into mugs and garnish each with a cinnamon stick.
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