I’m so behind on posting our Cook’s Club get togethers! July will be soon, I promise! =)
Every month a group of my friends gets together to cook from scratch to learn how to cook and it’s a fun time to try something you’ve never cooked before! We pick 4 seasonal ingredients or have a theme each month. This month our ingredients were: cherry, asparagus, mint & lime
Cherry Tomato Appetizer: Slice off tops of tomatoes and whole out center with melon scoop. Transfer tomatoes onto paper towel, saran wrap & refrigerate until ready to fill. Fill each with 1 tsp. filling of your choice. Goat Cheese Filling: 1/4 lb goat cheese, 1/4 C. minced basil, 1/2 tsp salt & 1/2 tsp ground pepper. Combine & mix well with fork. Guacamole Filling: 1 clove garlic minced, 1/2 tsp salt, 1 lg. avocado & fresh squeezed lime juice. Mash avocado with fork until smooth. Add garlic & some tomato pulp to mashed avocado. Add lime juice.
Asparagus Salad with Lime Balsamic Dressing: mixed greens, asparagus (blanched), cucumber (sliced) & cherry tomatoes. Dressing: 1 C. canola oil, 1/2 C. balsamic vinegar, juice of 1 lime, 1 tsp. minced garlic, dash sea salt & pepper. 1 T. sugar.
Quinoa Orange, Cherry, Mint and Cashews: 1 C. quinoa, 3/4 fresh squeezed orange juice, 1.5 cups water, 2 T. orange zest, 1/4 C. chopped fresh mint, 1/4 C. raw organic cashews and 1/4 C. unsweetened dried cherries (cut into pieces). In a pot bring fresh orange juice and water to a boil. Add quinoa, reduce heat, simmer and cover for 15-20 minutes. Stir and fluff occasionally. Half way through add lightly chopped unsweetened dried cherries and stir well then cover again. The cherries will plump out nicely. The quinoa is finished when the liquid is all absorbed. Add cashews while quinoa is still hot and stir well. Once quinoa cools add the fresh mint and orange zest. Stir well and serve (warm or cold).
Key Lime Pie: 3 egg yolks, 1 can sweetened condensed milk, 1/2 C. key lime juice, 2 tsp. lime zest, graham cracker crust. Beat together yolks and milk on high until light and fluffy, approx 5 min. Gradually add in lime juice & zest. Pour into crust. Bake 350 degrees for 12 minutes.
Cherry Ice Cream Pie: dried cherries, cherry sorbet, vanilla ice cream, graham cracker crust. Soften ice cream & sorbet so it can easily spread. Layer vanilla ice cream and cherry sorbet in graham cracker crust and sprinkle layers with the dried cherries. Serve with homemade lime whipped cream.
