Creamy Lemon Basil Carrot Salad

(I did not take this photo. Obviously.)

Yes, carrot salad. 🙂 Last week I made Pioneer Woman’s Creamy Lemon Basil Potato Salad for the fellowship meal at church. I had some of the dressing left over, and last night I was looking for a way to dress up cooked carrots. Creamy Lemon Basil Carrot Salad was born. I’ll give you the ingredients I used for the dressing. They differ slightly from those in the recipe I linked above because I didn’t have all the ingredients she used.

Creamy Lemon Basil Dressing:

Juice of two lemons
3 T. oil
1/2 – 3/4 C. mayonnaise
salt and pepper to taste
dried basil (the original recipe called for 1 T. basil pesto, which would be better)

Whisk ingredients together. Dice and cook some carrots until fork-tender. Allow to cool. Toss with dressing and fresh basil (chopped if using large leaves). Chill and serve.

Oh. my. goodness. I made an entire pot of carrots, and they disappeared in one meal. (Bronwyn ate them like candy!) This is a refreshing summer side dish and maybe even a bit healthier than potato salad. Enjoy!

Southern Biscuits From Scratch

(click photo to go to source)

Do you like those flaky, mile-high, buttery discs of heaven that come from southern USA and are called biscuits? I do, too. Do you live in a place where you can buy them frozen, pop them in the oven to bake, and eat them? If you do, I hate you (in a Christian way, of course). If you don’t, let me tell you how you can make them. (I adapted this recipe from one I found on the internet. Does that make it “mine” since I made it a few times now? I never know.) You’ll need:

2 C. flour
3/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. baking powder
2 T. butter, frozen
2 T. lard, frozen
1 C. buttermilk

Preheat your oven to 450 F or 230 C. Lightly grease a baking sheet.

Mix the dry ingredients. Grate the frozen butter and lard into the dry ingredients and mix lightly until it’s well distributed. Make a well in the mixture, and pour the milk into it. Working quickly, mix lightly until you have a sticky dough.

Scrape the dough out onto a floured surface and pat it flat. Sprinkle it with a bit of flour, fold it in half, and pat it flat again. Repeat until you have folded it four or five times. Using a biscuit cutter or drinking glass, cut the biscuits. Be sure not to twist the cutter as you cut them out; just push it straight down into the dough. Pushing it straight down means you don’t pinch the edges of the biscuit together, so you’re sure to get the high, flaky layers that characterize a southern biscuit. I think I got about 8-9 biscuits out of one batch. (I rework the scraps into more biscuits, even though they may not get as nice as the first cutting does.)

Place the biscuits on the baking sheet, throw ’em in the oven, and bake about 15-20 minutes.

You can eat these with sausage gravy, with butter and maple syrup, or just on their own right out of the oven. Goodness, my mouth is watering already.

Greek Roasted Potatoes

Image from Martha Stewart

For my Valentine’s menu, I wanted Greek roasted potatoes. I was low on groceries and needed to come up with a decent side dish with four potatoes and two carrots, so I made Greek roasted vegetables instead. I’ve also tried this with turnips, but they weren’t too great. I bet parsnips would be, though!

Garlic. Lemon. Oregano. You cannot lose. Here is the recipEEE!

Greek Roasted Potatoes

3 pounds baking potatoes, peeled and cut into 1 1/2-inch cubes
1/2 cup olive or canola oil
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 1/2 teaspoons oregano or Italian seasoning
1 teaspoon salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup beef stock or chicken stock
1/3 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice

Place potatoes in a single layer in a 9×13 pan and pour oil over them. Add garlic and seasonings and toss well to coat. Bake at 400 for 15 minutes. Add broth, toss, and bake again for 10 minutes. Add lemon juice, toss, and bake till soft, about 15-20 minutes more. Stir occasionally.

Chocolate Mousse

(click on the photo for an alternate recipe using eggs)

Someone requested the chocolate mousse recipe I used for our Valentine’s Day dinner. I got it from Anita a few years ago. My batch actually flopped, so I asked Anita’s mom, Barbara, what I did wrong, and she instructed me in the way I should go. I’ve included her directions in the recipe. Here it is!

2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

1/3 cup icing sugar

1 cup milk

1/4 cup butter

Place the chocolate chips and icing sugar in a blender and process until coarsely chopped. Heat the milk and butter to a boil, then slowly pour into the chocolate/sugar mixture. The chocolate and sugar will dissolve. Pulse a few times until completely blended. Pour into six individual serving cups (anything pretty: I used wine glasses). Chill. Garnish with lots of whipped cream and chocolate shavings.

It’s rich, so the servings are small. You can serve as much whipped cream as mousse if you like.

Make this for your honey or a group of girlfriends sometime. They’ll adore it (and you).