(This is great for a nice picnic, pack up this salad (chill it well first), some bread and wine)
3/4 pound tomatoes, chopped
1 large red bell pepper, seeded, chopped
1/4 pound feta cheese, crumbled
1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 cup chopped pitted black olives
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons dry vermouth or dry white wine
1 tablespoon dried thyme
6 green onions, chopped
3 large garlic cloves, chopped
3/4 pound cooked bay shrimp
Mix first 10 ingredients in large bowl. Add linguine and shrimp and toss to blend. Season salad to taste with salt and pepper. (Can be prepared 30 minutes ahead. Let stand at room temperature.)
6 servings
(From epicurious recipe file)
I love strawberries and in the May issue of Good Housekeeping they had some great recipes and quick desert ideas made with strawberries. Here are some.
Frozen Strawberry Margarita Pie
Crumb Crust:
1 1/2 cups vanilla wafer crumbs
5 tablespoons margarine or butter, melted
1/2 teaspoon grated lime peel
Strawberry Filling:
1 pint of strawberries
2 limes
1 can (14 ounces) sweetened condensed milk
2 tablespoons orange-flavor liqueur
1 cup heavy or whipping cream
Prepare Crumb Crust: Preheat oven to 375. In a 9 inch pie plate, with fork, stir crust ingredients until crumbs are moistened. With hand, press mixture onto bottom and up side of pie plate, making a slight rim. Bake crust 10 minutes. Cool crust on pie plate or wire rack.
Prepare Strawberry Filling: Hull enough strawberries to equal 2 cups; reserve remaining berries for garnish. From limes, grate 1 teaspoon peel and squeeze 1/2 cup juice. In food processor with knife blade attached, pulse hulled berries with lime peel and juice, undiluted sweetened condensed milk, and orange-flavor liqueur until almost smooth. Transfer mixture to large bowl.
In small bowl, with mixer at medium speed, beat 2/3 cup cream until stiff peaks form; reserve remaining cream for garnish. Gently fold whipped cream into strawberry mixture, one third at a time.
Pour filling into cooled crust. Freeze at least 4 hours or until almost firm. (If not serving pie in foil or plastic wrap and freeze up to 1 week.)
If pie freezes completely, let it stand at room temperature 10 minutes before serving for easier slicing. Meanwhile cut each reserved strawberry in half. In small bowl, with mixer at medium speed, beat remaining 1/3 cup cream just until stiff peaks form. Mound whipped cream in center of pie and top with strawberry halves. Makes 10 servings.
*Each serving: About 360 calories, 5 g protein, 39 g carbohydrate, 21 g total fat (9 g saturated), 57 g cholesterol, 180 mg sodium.
Last Minute Desserts
Balsamic Berries: Toss sliced fruit with 1 tablespoon melted margarine or butter until just coated. Stir in splash of balsamic vinegar and a pinch of coarsely ground black pepper for a sweet and tangy flavor. Enjoy as is, or spoon over ice cream or angel food cake.
Soft Serve: Turn frozen berries into instant ice cream by whirling in a food processor with 1/2 cup heavy cream until velvety smooth; sweeten as desired.
Super shake: In blender, combine berries with 2 scoops vanilla ice cream or frozen yogurt and honey to taste; pour into tall glasses, and serve with straws.
Pudding Perfect: Alternate layers of sliced strawberries with store-bought or homemade rice pudding.
5 Minute shortcake: Toast slices of pound cake in toaster oven for toaster until lightly golden. Top with sliced berries and sweetened whipped cream.
Filled Flowers: Cut stem ends from jumbo berries. Cut an X in tip of each and gently spread apart to resemble petals. Lightly sweeten mascarpone or whipped cream cheese, and spoon or pipe into openings.
Big Dippers: Dunk plump strawberries, with caps still attached, into plain yogurt, then brown sugar.
Elegant Finale: Slightly sweeten whole, hulled strawberries. At serving time, spoon into goblets and splash with orange-flavor liqueur.
Blender Sauce: Puree half a pint of strawberries with
sugar to taste and 1 to 2 tablespoons cassis or berry-flavor liqueur.
Add remaining half-pint and pulse until coarsely chopped. Serve over
ice cream, tapioca or vanilla pudding, sliced peaches, or sponge cake.