blackberry frozen yogurt.

While walking the dogs today, Caleb and I noticed that there are a lot of wild blackberries in our neighborhood, particularly in the empty lot next to ours (I knew that living next to the well lot had to have some benefit).  So, we grabbed a bucket, and this was the result.  I pretty much made this one up, after consulting a lot of different online sources:

Ingredients

I would . . .	You could . . .
2 cups blackberries (food process and press through sieve)	2 cups any berries, including thawed frozen berries
2 cups nonfat vanilla yogurt	2 cups regular yogurt
1/3 c white sugar
2 T brown sugar
juice from half a lemon

Preparation

Mix all ingredients in food processor and pour into ice cream maker.  Freeze according the manufacturer’s directions.

Recipe Extras 

Sex It Up By:
Adding	Chocolate chips or chunks of high-quality chocolate
Calling it	Iced Yogurt with Fresh Blackberries and Chocolate Shavings
Cooking Tip:	Because of the lack of fat in this recipe, it’s likely to get icy with time-it tastes best right out of the ice cream maker.

sweet and spicy barbecued beans.

We belong to a Community-Supported Agriculture program (CSA), which means we get a box full of fresh produce every week.  Our CSA is Roots Farm of Winterville, GA.  I originally heard about it in a local newspaper, and although we are by no means green (working on that one!), we are very attracted to the concept of eating organically and locally, both for health, sustainability, and decreased environmental impact.  We arranged to split a weekly share of produce with a neighbor (who we found out attends our church, after the fact!), and this is our second year.  Even though we split our share, we often find ourselves with more vegetables than we know what to do with.  Kale and other leafy greens are no exception.  And there’s only so many times in a week where you can have “sauteed greens,” so this side dish was a way to use up some of our kale excess.  Although the beans may not look particularly spectacular, they actually taste awesome.  The reason?  BBQ sauce!!

 

Sweet and Spicy Barbecued Beans (adapted from Cooking Light)

Ingredients

I would . . .	You could . . .
2 teaspoons olive oil	2t vegetable or canola oil (but olive is healthiest!)
1 cup chopped onion
4 garlic cloves, minced	more or less to taste
8 cups chopped kale (about 3/4 pound)	whatever you have, but not more than 8 cups
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup hickory barbecue sauce (such as Kraft)
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon cider vinegar
2 teaspoon Frank’s hot sauce	other hot sauce, more or less to taste
2 (16-ounce) cans kidney beans, rinsed and drained	2 (16-ounce) cans canellini beans

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350°.Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add onion and garlic; sauté 5 minutes or until onion is tender. Stir in remaining ingredients; spoon into a 2-quart casserole. Cover and bake at 350° for 45 minutes or until thoroughly heated.

Yield

6 servings (serving size: about 3/4 cup)

Recipe Extras

Sex It Up By:
Adding	3 slices cooked bacon before baking
Calling it	Hickory-Smoked Beans with Kale Accents
Cooking Tip:	You can use canola or vegetable oil in place of olive, but olive oil has more heart-healthy fats and a richer flavor.