southwestern bean salad
I like traditional three-bean salad, and I also like southwestern recipes. I decided to create a cold salad from these two ideas. This bean salad is sweet and tangy, with a little heat. We enjoy it with grilled chicken and baked ham, but it would be a nice accompaniment to most meats, poultry, and even fish. If you like low carb recipes, you can use Splenda instead of sugar. Yes, beans have carbs, but they also provide protein and fiber.
Southwestern Bean Salad recipe
Ingredients:
- 2 cans cut green beans, drained
- 2 cans yellow wax beans, drained
- 1 can dark red kidney beans, rinsed and drained
- 1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
- 1 red onion, cut into thin strips
- ½ cup pickled jalapeno rings
- 1 ¼ cups sugar (or Splenda)
- 1 cup apple cider vinegar
- 2/3 cup oil
- 2 tablespoons lime juice
- 1 tablespoon liquid from jalapenos
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 2 teaspoons minced garlic
- 2 teaspoons paprika
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1 teaspoon chipotle powder
Directions: Combine all the beans, the onion, and the jalapeno rings together in a large bowl. In a medium bowl, whisk together remaining ingredients and pour over veggies. Toss well. Cover bowl and refrigerate salad for several hours, stirring occasionally.
Be sure to try the fajita sauce!
Fajitas are some of our favorite southwestern recipes. You can make a tasty fajita out of just about any type of meat, poultry or seafood, so they’re very versatile. Fajitas are also a great way to use leftovers, which is the way I created my smoked pork fajita recipe. We had slow-smoked a pork loin, and it was big. I shredded some of the leftover meat to make pulled pork, and I cut the remaining pork into strips and placed it in the freezer for future fajitas.
These fajitas were really tasty, especially with the simple sauce I made. The fajita sauce was a marriage of salsa and barbecue sauce, which was great with the smoky pork. As I said, I used meat from a bone-in pork loin, but leftovers from any type of pork roast would work.
pork fajitas
Smoked pork fajitas recipe
Ingredients:
- 1 tablespoon cooking oil
- 1 medium onion, cut into strips
- 1 large bell pepper, cut into strips
- About 2 cups cooked pork strips
- 1 tablespoon lime juice
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1 teaspoon chipotle powder
- Salt, to taste
- tortillas (corn or flour)
- sour cream
- grated cheese
Directions: Heat oil over medium, in a large skillet. Sautee onion and bell pepper until soft. Add pork strips, lime juice, and seasonings. Continue cooking until pork is heated through.
Spread sour cream on a tortilla. Top with pork and veggies, and sprinkle with cheese. Drizzle fajita sauce on top.
Fajita sauce recipe
Ingredients:
- 1/3 cup prepared salsa
- 1/3 cup bottled barbecue sauce
- 1 tablespoon vinegar
- 1 tablespoon chopped cilantro
- 1 teaspoon minced garlic
Directions: Combine all ingredients. Store covered in fridge for two or three days.
Filed under American Recipes, Southwestern and Tex-Mex recipes by on Apr 7th, 2012. Comment. 
Venison sausage is great on the grill!
Looking for venison recipes? If you eat venison on a regular basis, you might be looking for something a little different. The following is a venison sausage recipe with a Cajun flair. This venison recipe is packed with flavor, and the links are awesome on the grill! Deer meat is too lean to stand alone in sausage recipes, so I mix in some pork butt with the venison.
Cajun deer sausage recipe
Ingredients:
- 4 pounds venison
- 2 pounds pork butt
- 1 pound pork fat
- 2 tablespoons rubbed sage
- 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
- 1 tablespoon salt
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 1 tablespoon onion powder
- 2 teaspoons black pepper
- 2 teaspoons ground red pepper
- 2 teaspoons garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1 teaspoon dried basil
- Sausage casings
Directions: Cut deer meat into small cubes. Remove any exterior fat from pork butt – there will still be plenty of marbling in the pork. Weigh two pounds of pork flesh and cut into cubes. Cut pork fat into cubes.
Place venison and pork flesh in refrigerator, and put pork fat in the freezer. The meat should be well chilled, and the fat should be very firm.
Grind the meats and fat together. Add remaining ingredients and mix well. Fill casings with sausage. Refrigerate sausage links for up to three days, or freeze links for up to six months.
Filed under American Recipes, BBQ Cooking, Creole and Cajun recipes, Low Carb Recipes, Sausages, Wild Game Recipes by on Feb 27th, 2012. Comment.
low carb sweet, sticky ribs
Can you have sticky ribs by using low carb recipes? Don’t you need sugar in a sticky ribs recipe? Real sugar is not absolutely necessary for wonderfully sticky ribs, and I proved that today with my new oven baked ribs recipe. These pork ribs in the oven are seriously awesome! Forget using sugary barbecue sauce – you won’t need it! These baked ribs will create a flavor explosion in your mouth.
Low carb sticky ribs
Ingredients:
- About 2 pounds rib fingers (baby back ribs or spare ribs)
- 2/3 cup apple cider vinegar
- 3 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
- 2 tablespoons Liquid Smoke
- 2 teaspoons Louisiana hot sauce
- 1 teaspoon minced garlic
- 1 cup Ideal Brown brown sugar substitute
- 4 teaspoons paprika
- 1 tablespoon salt
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 2 teaspoons cayenne
- 2 teaspoons onion powder
- 2 teaspoons lemon pepper
- 2 teaspoons cumin
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon powdered ginger
Instructions: Rinse ribs and dry by patting with paper towels. In a shallow container, combine cider vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, Liquid Smoke, hot sauce, and minced garlic. Add ribs and place in fridge. After ten minutes, turn ribs to expose other side in the marinade. Remove from refrigerator after 20 minutes, total.
You’ll need to preheat your oven and your metal baking pan to 350. An unlined dark metal pan work best for this baked ribs recipe.
Combine all the dry ingredients and place in a shallow pan or pie plate. Remove rib fingers from marinade and coat generously with dry rub. Place ribs on the baking pan, with the meaty side up. Don’t allow ribs to touch, as they need their own space. Bake for an hour.
Filed under American Recipes, Entree Recipes and Side Dishes, Low Carb Recipes by on Feb 24th, 2012. Comment.
jalapeno-ranch cole slaw
We southerners like our cabbage, and we use it in lots of southern food, especially coleslaw. Looking for coleslaw recipes that are something a little out of the ordinary? If so, you’ll enjoy this coleslaw recipe that I just created today. It has a marvelous taste and texture, and it goes great will just about everything. Top hotdogs with the slaw, or serve it with chicken, burgers, ham, or even steaks. We had our jalapeno-ranch coleslaw tonight with a delicious southern food – pulled pork barbecue. Here’s the recipe:
Jalapeno-ranch coleslaw recipe
Ingredients:
- 16-ounce bag slaw mix with purple cabbage and carrots
- ½ cup mayonnaise
- ½ cup sugar
- ¼ cup buttermilk
- 1 tablespoon vinegar
- 1 tablespoon dry ranch dressing mix
- 1 teaspoon minced garlic
- ¼ cup diced jalapeno peppers, pickled
- 2 tablespoons minced red onion
- 2 tablespoons chopped celery
- 2 tablespoons diced red bell pepper
- 2 tablespoons real bacon bits
- 1 tomato, diced
- More bacon bits for garnish, if desired
Instructions: Empty slaw mix into a large bowl. In a separate bowl, combine mayonnaise, sugar, buttermilk, dry ranch dressing mix, and mixed garlic. Stir until smooth. Pour over slaw mix. Add diced jalapenos, red onion, celery, red bell pepper, bacon bits, and diced tomato. Toss. Cover and refrigerate for at least two hours. When ready to serve, sprinkle extra bacon bits on top, if desired.
Filed under American Recipes, Entree Recipes and Side Dishes, Southern food by on Feb 13th, 2012. Comment.
Roast chicken - southern style
Chicken is a favorite southern food, and we cook it in all sorts of ways. An easy, stress-free way to cook the poultry is with a good roast chicken recipe. This roasted chicken recipe includes some of the favorite flavors of the South, and the bird is tender, juicy, and delicious. The flavors are also reminiscent of Lowcountry recipes. Serve the roast chicken with roasted vegetables and potatoes, with mashed potatoes, or with rice. It’s also good with sweet potatoes.
Southern Roast Chicken
Ingredients:
- 1 whole, dressed chicken (about 5 pounds)
- Salt
- Coarse black pepper
- 2 green onions
- 2 celery stalks, 3-inches long, each
- 1 teaspoon chopped garlic
- 2 tablespoons melted butter
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
Directions: Rinse chicken and pat dry. Rub salt and pepper into cavity. Place the green onions, celery, and garlic inside chicken.
Combine melted butter, Worcestershire sauce, and vinegar. With a paper towel, swab the mixture all over chicken. Salt and pepper outside of chicken.
Cover chicken with foil and bake at 400 degrees for 30 minutes. Remove foil and continue baking for one hour longer.
Filed under American Recipes, Entree Recipes and Side Dishes, Southern food by on Feb 10th, 2012. Comment.
teriyaki-garlic steak recipe
This is a great steak recipe for sirloin. Sirloin isn’t always the tenderest of beef cuts, and the marinade I use for this recipe makes the meat tender. It also gives it a lot of wonderful flavor. I like to slice my sirloin steaks into long strips to give it more surface area so that it’ll soak up more of the marinade. An easy way to cut the steak into strips is to roll the steak up and then slice it, across the grain. Before rolling it up, however, you might want to rub some meat tenderizer into the beef. If you do, use unseasoned meat tenderizer.
Teriyaki-garlic sirloin
Ingredients:
- One pound sirloin steak
- 5 tablespoons teriyaki sauce (thin kind)
- 2 tablespoons pineapple juice
- 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
- 1 tablespoon cooking oil
- 1 teaspoon minced garlic
- 2 green onions, sliced (with tops)
Directions: Place steak strips in a large zip-loc food bag. Add remaining ingredients and move meat around so that all the strips are exposed to the flavors in the steak marinade. Leave the meat in the steak marinade, in the fridge, for at least two hours. Rearrange the pieces of meat occasionally.
Remove steak from marinade and place on paper towels to drain away liquid. Drizzle a black iron skillet with a small amount of cooking oil and heat over medium-high. When pan is hot, add steak. I usually include the onions, too. Cook both sides of the steak to desired doneness.
Filed under American Recipes, Entree Recipes and Side Dishes by on Feb 8th, 2012. Comment.
southern food: seafood salad
This is another of my pescatarian recipes. It’s a great way to use leftover boiled shrimp and blue crabs. Actually, you can use any type of crabmeat in this recipe, but I think blue crabs are the tastiest of all the different varieties of crabs. In fact, I find that blue crabs are best in most of the crab recipes I make. That could just be because I’m from the South, and we can catch our own blue crabs.
Southern Seafood Salad recipe
Ingredients:
- ½ pound fresh or refrigerated crabmeat
- ½ pound boiled shrimp, peeled and deveined
- ¼ cup chopped Vidalia onion
- ¼ cup finely diced sweet red bell pepper
- 2 tablespoon chopped celery
- ¼ cup mayonnaise
- 2 tablespoons bottled ranch dressing
- 1 teaspoon hot sauce
- ½ teaspoon chili powder
- ½ teaspoon Lawry’s garlic salt with parsley
- Lime juice
- Paprika
Instructions: Check crabmeat for any shell fragments. Place crabmeat in several layers of paper towels and remove as much “juice” as possible.
Place cooked shrimp in a bowl and chop. Add crabmeat, onion, red bell pepper, and celery.
In a small bowl, combine mayonnaise, ranch dressing, hot sauce, chili powder, and garlic salt to make a dressing. Toss crab and shrimp with dressing.
Place a scoop of the seafood salad on a tomato or mixed greens and drizzle with a little lime juice and sprinkle with paprika.
Filed under American Recipes, Seafood and Fish Recipes, Southern food by on Jan 18th, 2012. Comment.
spicy vegetarian soup recipe
All vegetarian recipes don’t have to be boring. In fact, I have several hearty soup recipes that don’t contain any type of flesh. The one I’m sharing with you today is an easy soup recipe that’s not only hearty and delicious, it’s also healthy and super easy to make. The beefy flavor and texture comes from Meal Starters, a product made by Morning Star. Its texture and flavor are very similar to hamburger meat that’s been browned and then broken up into crumbles.
Spicy vegetable soup recipe
Ingredients:
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1 small onion, chopped
- 1 can cream of mushroom soup
- 1 soup can water
- 1 can tomato sauce
- 1 cup V-8 juice
- 12-ounce package Meal Starters
- 2 cans Veg-all, with liquid
- 1 can diced tomatoes, with juice
- 1 can whole kernel corn, with juice
- ½ cup rice
- 2 tablespoons Liquid Smoke
- 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
- 1 tablespoon Tabasco sauce
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 1 tablespoon chili powder
- 2 teaspoons garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon dried basil
- Salt and black pepper, to taste
Directions: In a large Dutch oven, melt butter and add chopped onion. Sauté onion until soft. Add cream of mushroom soup, water, tomato sauce, and V-8 juice. Stir briskly with a whisk. Turn burner to medium high. Add all remaining ingredients and stir.
Bring pot to a boil and boil for one minute. Place lid on Dutch oven and reduce heat to simmer. Cook for 25-30 minutes. Add more water, if needed.
Filed under American Recipes, Autumn and Halloween Recipes, Entree Recipes and Side Dishes by on Jan 15th, 2012. Comment.
Hoppin' John - one of the better-known Lowcountry recipes.
If you live in the United States, you’ve probably heard of Lowcountry recipes, although you might not be completely sure about what they are. Perhaps you’ve also seen the term presented as Low Country recipes. Lowcountry recipes are cooking techniques, ingredients, and traditions that originate in the Lowcountry. The Lowcountry is usually considered as the coastal area and small offshore islands of South Carolina, although many people also include the coast and sea islands of Georgia in the term. The name comes from the fact that this is a geographically low-lying area of flat plains, marshes, estuaries, and beaches.
Lowcountry cuisine has been strongly influenced by several different groups of people. Perhaps the most important came from the Gullah, African slaves who once worked the vast rice plantations. Other culinary influences came from the Caribbean, where slaves from Africa often spent time before entering the U.S. Huguenots from France also had an influence on Lowcountry cuisine. Of course, the foods available in the area helped to shape all these influences, creating a unique and wonderful cornucopia of Lowcountry recipes.
Obviously, the Lowcountry is rich in seafood. Lowcountry recipes often include finned fishes, crabs, shrimp, and oysters. As a nod to its history, the Lowcountry foods are also dominated by rice. Meat and fish dishes are often served over or with rice. Locally grown produce is important, also, including sweet potatoes, onions, bell peppers, greens, beans, legumes, squash, okra, tomatoes, and corn. The Gullah often raised their own pigs and chickens, so pork and poultry are important ingredients in Low Country recipes, too. You might also find Lowcountry recipes for cheap cuts of beef, including cow tongue, liver, and oxtail.
Some Lowcountry recipes that you might have heard of include shrimp and grits, Lowcountry boil, crab cakes, okra stew, hoppin’ John, roasted oysters, she-crab soup, braised oxtails, Frogmore stew, crab pie, Savannah red rice, Brunswick stew, rice pudding, purloo, fried cornbread, Huguenot torte, sweet potato pone, and seafood muddle.
If you get the chance to sample some Lowcountry recipes, by all means, take it! Even better, make your own, as I often do. My cooking heritage is rich in Lowcountry cuisine, as my grandmother, great-grandmother, great-great-grandmother, and great-great-great-grandmother all grew up in the Lowcountry. You’ll find several Gullah and Lowcountry recipes on this site, and more will be added.
