A hot starter and a cool salad!

Yesterday I went to the beach and browsed through this month's edition of Cooking Light magazine. Two recipes really stood out to me! I fixed them up with some grilled jalapeno bratwursts from our corner meat shop and we had quite the flavor fiesta!

Spanish-style tapas are appetizer-sized portions that allow you to reasonably savor a variety of flavors at a single meal. Piquillos are small, red, spicy-sweet roasted Spanish peppers--I didn't see these at my Byerly's so I opted for sweet cherry peppers in a 15 oz. jar. They worked well but they are definitely for a crowd that likes the heat--luckily my husband and cousin fit that demo to a T and they were a hit! I'll never forget the day we were at Krua eating spicy Thai and Kyle declared, "My mouth is on fire!....And I LOVE it!"

Stuffed Piquillo Peppers












1 1/2 cups water
1/2 cup long-grain brown rice
1/8 teaspoon saffron threads, crushed
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 cup fresh chopped flat-leaf parsley
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 (14.5-ounce) can diced tomatoes, drained
10 piquillo peppers (about 1 [7.76-ounce] jar)
Cooking spray
1/4 cup (1 ounce) shredded Manchego cheese
Flat-leaf parsley sprigs (optional)

Combine first 4 ingredients in a small saucepan; bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 40 minutes or until done. Stir in chopped parsley, black pepper, salt, and tomatoes. Cook 3 minutes. Remove from heat.
Preheat oven to 400°.

Spoon about 3 tablespoons rice mixture into each piquillo pepper. Place stuffed peppers in an 8-inch square baking dish coated with cooking spray. Sprinkle evenly with Manchego cheese. Bake at 400° for 10 minutes or until peppers are thoroughly heated. Garnish with parsley sprigs, if desired.

Yield: 5 servings (serving size: 2 stuffed peppers)

CALORIES 109; FAT 2g; PROTEIN 3.4g;FIBER 1.2g


Fresh Corn Salad

This is SUPER easy and SUPER delicious! I would make this in a heartbeat for a party/picnic/grill-out, you fill in the blank! I honestly never knew that you can cut the corn off a cob and it's ready to eat--no cooking needed! One thing I would change about this recipe is to reduce the 3/4c. light sour cream to 1/2c. fat free. I think the amount of creaminess wasn't necessary. And instead of seasoned salt I used Old Bay--which was perfect!











Ingredients
3/4 cup light sour cream
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
3/4 teaspoon seasoned salt
3 cups fresh corn kernels (about 5 ears)
1 cup finely chopped red bell pepper
1 cup finely chopped green onions

Preparation
Combine first 3 ingredients in a large bowl, stirring with a whisk. Add corn and remaining ingredients, stirring to combine. Cover and refrigerate at least 2 hours before serving.
Yield
8 servings (serving size: about 1/2 cup)

Nutritional Information
CALORIES 112; FAT 2.6g; PROTEIN 4g; FIBER 3.1g