Broccoli Salad- Made with Yogurt and Dates

Broccoli Salad can be found at just about any North American BBQ or potluck. The classic recipe being a mix of broccoli, raisins, red onion, mayo, sunflower seeds and bacos. While my mom never used bacos or bacon she stayed close to the classic recipe. I love yogurt and it is no surpise that I'm using the plain stuff in place of mayo. Saeid doesn't like raisins so I'm using dates, but so many other dried or fresh fruits work well in this recipe. Try using some pomegranates in the fall it works like a treat!
Broccoli Salad- Made with Yogurt and Dates
Makes about 4 cups
1 head of broccoli, washed and chopped (use the stem too)
1/4 of a red onion chopped
1 cup of dates chopped
1/4 cup sunflower seeds
1/2 cup of plain yogurt
2 tsp of fresh lemon juice
1 tsp cummin
salt, pepper, hot pepper

Mix the plain yogurt with the lemon juice and spices. Add the vegs, dates and half of the sunflower seeds and mix well. Top the remaining seeds.
This salad gets better with age. Fell free to add anything you like to it but try the plain yogurt.

Baked Pasta with Chicken and Veg.

This is the story of two kinds of canned milk and how never ever to use them.

What happens if you make Key Lime pie with evaporated milk when your recipe calls for sweetened condensed milk? A friend of mine tried it yesterday and sadly it did not come out well. Too bad, because that person (who is still nameless) makes great pie!



It got me thinking about evaporated milk. My whole life there has been an opened can in my parents frig waiting for my father's morning cup of coffee. What I just learned is that his 'can milk' habit was inhered from his mother. My Grandma puts it in coffee, mash, mac and cheese and just about everything else she makes. What if one day I stared to cook with it? Maybe I would use cream of mushroom soup or broccoli and cheese too! Worried about my fate I decided to make an anti-can pasta bake.



Take:

1 leek sliced
2 cups mushrooms sliced
2 chicken breast (optional)
2 bay leaves
fresh thyme

Cook until the mushrooms stop giving off water.

Add:

1 broccoli crown chopped

Cook for 3 more min. Remove the veg and return the pan back the heat and start the rue.

Rue:
Add
2 Tbs butter into the pan and let melt
Then
2 Tbs flour stir into the butter for about 1 min
Finish with
2 cups of milk stirring until thick ( I also added mustard and nutmeg at this point)

Salt and Pepper

Mix:

Everything together with 3 cups cooked pasta. Top with cheese and into the oven (200c) for 20 min.