Stuffed

 Stuffed meats and veggies are a nice change up from the usual lunch and dinner fare. The family will get a kick out of breaking into them for a flavorful surprise. Stuffed main courses also a great way of using leftovers and repurposing them into something tasty and fresh. 

One of the easiest stuffed dishes to make is stuffed tomatoes. These are a diner favorite but easy to make at home.it's just hollowing out a beefsteak tomato and filling it with tuna salad. You could sub in egg salad if you want to but tuna is the usually preferred one. This filling is just a simple mix of tuna mayo and celery. You can decorate the top with dill or parsley leaves or just put the tomato top back on. Chopped avocado can be added for color and flavor. It also gives the stuffing a creaminess too.  You could also turn this vegetarian by subbing the tuna with leftover cooked rice, vegan cheese and a variety of different vegetables. A popular mix are peas, chopped peppers and chopped onions. You could add a tablespoon of the faux mayonnaise  Nayonnaise to make it creamier. Of course stuffed tomatoes can be hot too. Stuff them with a savory mix of breadcrumbs, Parmesan cheese and various herbs. One of the most classic stuffed dishes is stuffed pepper.  These are everyone's favorite and , again, simple to make.  It's using any color bell pepper and scooping out the middle. What is great about them is that the stuffing can be anything. You can use leftover chicken or turkey or fresh ground beef. Stuffed peppers can also go vegetarian. Add beans and spiced rice for a meatless version. You can also stuff onions in the same manner.

Meats can also be farci or stuffed. One of the most famous and most loved is braciole, stuffed Italian beef roll. It's a bit labor intensive but worth it. The filling is a tasty blend of breadcrumbs, Pecorino Romano cheese, basil ,Provolone cheese and parsley. The hard part comes next.It's pounding flank steak to the desired thinness. This requires a meat mallet but you can use a rolling pin if you don't have the first. The bread crumb mixture is sprinkled evenly over the steak and then rolled up. You'll need toothpicks or twine to fasten them. it's then cooking until done in a Dutch oven. Stuffed pork is a great fall dish. Again you can change up the fillings. You can try a sausage and apple one redolent with flavorful onion and celery There's also bread that's been pulsed in a food processor with rosemary, thyme and sage. These are then lightly toasted in butter for more flavor and crispness. Remember to use a mild sausages because hot ones will overpower the pork. The entire roll is made similar to a jelly roll with a boneless pork shoulder. Another filling is made with artichoke hearts and mushrooms mixed with parsley and an herbed stuffing mix. Beef tenderloin is another cut that can be filled, usually with a tasty mix of spinach and mushroom, with a bit of flour added for thickening.

Stuffed veggies or meats make for  a nice main course. They're bursting with the surprise of flavor and color. Try them for a different change of pace.

The Garden Freshness of Celery

Even celery's smell means garden freshness and goodness. this is the most aromatic of all garden vegetables and the most versatile too. You can make a fragrant soup with it or the base for a dip. It adds crunch and flavor to salads while giving subtletaste to dressings. It's also refreshing and low calorie - perfect for foodies on a diet.

Celery comes from the Apiaceae family and is a cousin of the carrot , dill, parsnip and even the pretty weed , Queen Anne's Lace. Both the plant's stalks or petioles or roots can be eaten. The seed is ground into a salt and used for Bloody Mary's as well as Old Bay seasoning. It's also the main spice in Chicago style hot dogs.It is a natural diuretic and hence a well preferred diet food. It's also low in calories with only 9 1/2 calories per cup of diced celery. It's also high in calcium which is good for the lactose intolerant tor milk haters out there.Another good thing about celery is that you can grow it in your garden. It''s known as a filler because people use it and lettuce to fill out any bare patches.

My favorite way to have celery is as an hors d'ouevre . This comes from a family recipe where we stuff cut stalks (usually cut tow to three inches in length) with a mix of hard boiled eggs and cream cheese. Salt and pepper are added for flavor and once the stalk is stuffed, then dusted with paprika. This last is done for coloring and taste. To be honest this is the easiest but also the most elegant appetizer to make. It goes well with summer cocktails or decorating a tray of Italian cold cuts. Celery soup is also a good way of using the veggie. The soup is richly laced with root's fresh , taste and blends well with the other ingredients. A great summer recipe is celery salad with red onion. The stalks are diced, mixed with cut Bermuda onions and tossed with just a simple vinaigrette.

Use celery as often as you can this summer. It's a great way of getting much needed calcium but also a versatile stalk. Add it to your Bloody Mary's or serve it up as an appetizer. Chop it in a salad as well. it;s so versatile. You can use it a hundred ways.