Summer Roasted Vegetable Salad with Goat Cheese

Husband-Tested Recipe from Alice's Kitchen

I made this delicious summer salad using what I had on hand. My friend, Teri, who had seconds, said I should put it on the blog, so here it is. Every ingredient was either purchased at Lost River Market & Deli or the Orange County HomeGrown Farmers Market. The basil was from our garden, however, it is available at both the store and the farmers market. Make the salad in two parts, the roasted vegetable part and then the salad part. After that, just put them together for a colorful, yummy dinner.

Roasted Vegetable Part
3 plum or Roma tomatoes (I used red and yellow) cut lengthwise into fourths
2 poblano peppers, seeded and cut into strips
1/2 small red onion, cut into chunks
2 portobello mushrooms, stemmed, gills scraped off and then mushrooms should be sliced
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 Tablespoons fresh thyme, chopped (I used the lemon thyme)
2 Tablespoons fresh oregano, chopped
2 Tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Kosher Salt & Freshly Ground Pepper

Preheat oven to 425 F degrees. Place the vegetables and fresh herbs in a large bowl. Drizzle with olive oil to lightly coat and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Place this mixture on a rimmed baking sheet and roast for about 15 minutes or so until the vegetables become tender and somewhat charred. Meanwhile, prepare the salad part.

Salad Part
1 Tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1 Tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 box or bag of baby salad mix
1 Tablespoon fresh basil, stack leaves, roll up the stack and cut into slivers
2 oz. plain goat cheese (feta or blue cheese would be good substitutes)

Put vinegar and olive oil in a small jar and shake until combined. Drizzle this over the salad mixture and toss to lightly coat the lettuce leaves.
Remove the roasted vegetables from the baking sheet with a slotted spatula. Top the salad with the roasted vegetables. Crumble goat cheese on top and sprinkle the whole thing with the basil leaves.

Tortilla Chips with Grilled Corn and Cheddar

Tortilla Chips with Grilled Corn and Cheddar

Recipe from Martha Stewart Living Magazine and Husband-Tested in Alice's Kitchen
Makes approx. 2 dozen appetizers

When we had friends over the other evening, I gave this recipe a try and it was a big hit!! I made the corn mixture in the morning, topped the tortilla chips with the corn mixture about an hour in advance of our company's arrival and then as they pulled in our drive, I slid the chips under the broiler. These appetizers were nice and hot for our guests and went perfectly with cool drinks. Of course, I used locally grown corn, jalapeno peppers and scallions purchased at Lost River Market & Deli. I used the blue corn tortilla chips the store carries not only because they taste great, but they look quite lovely on a platter with the bright yellow corn mixture on top. I used white sharp cheddar cheese from the dairy section of the store and cilantro from the produce section.

2-3 ears of sweet corn, husked
Extra virgin olive oil, for brushing
Kosher salt & Freshly ground pepper
1-2 jalapeno peppers
1-2 scallions, thinly sliced
2 Tablespoons fresh cilantro
1 Tablespoon fresh lime juice
4 ounces white sharp cheddar cheese, grated (1 ¾ cups) (divided)
24 tortilla chips (I used blue)

Preheat grill to medium high heat. Brush corn with oil and season with salt and pepper. Grill corn and peppers, turning occasionally, until corn is tender and the skin on the peppers is blistered. Let cool slightly.
Cut kernels off the cobs and transfer to a bowl. Peel, stem and seed the jalapenos. (Use rubber gloves and don’t touch your eyes.) Dice the peppers and add to the corn.
Add scallions, cilantro, lime juice and 1 ¼ cups of the cheese to the corn mixture. Toss until well combined. (Mixture can be covered and chilled at this point.)
Preheat broiler. Arrange chips in a single layer on a rimmed baking sheet. Top each chip with a tablespoon of the corn mixture. Sprinkle the remaining cheese over the chips.
Broil until cheese is bubbly, about 30 seconds or so.
Garnish with more cilantro, if desired, and serve immediately.

Note: I made a mixture of yogurt and sour cream (equal parts) and placed this mixture in a squirt bottle to serve with these chips. The coolness of the creamy mixture balanced nicely with the spicy heat of the chips.

Grilled Pork with Chili Maple Glaze

Recipe from Gourmet Magazine June 1998

Adapted and Husband-Tested in Alice's Kitchen


Last night we had our friends Carl and Teri over for dinner. While we had appetizers and drinks on the porch, I put this on the grill. The maple syrup went very nicely with the pork and was not too sweet. The chili powder not only added a good balance to the syrup, but made the pork a very pretty color. I flattened the pork into cutlets and place them in the frideg on a platter covered with plastic wrap until our guests arrived. It only took a few minutes on the grill to cook them. I served this with Jim's Favorite Potato Salad and Summer Roasted Vegetable Salad with Goat Cheese. (Recipes on the blog.) Everything was prepped in advance so this was a easy delicious make-ahead dinner for guests.


2 pork tenderloins (pork chops or pork cutlets will work too)

2 cups water

1 1/2 tablespoons salt

3 tablespoons pure maple syrup

2 tablespoon chili powder

Pour water and salt in a measuring cup and whisk until the salt is dissolved. Pour salt water in a large plastic zip lock bag. Place pork inside the bag and refrigerate overnight.
Prepare grill.
In a small bowl stir together syrup and chili powder. Discard brine and diagonally cut pork into 3/4-inch-thick pieces. Put pork between sheets of plastic wrap or parchment paper and flatten with a rolling pin or meat mallet to make 1/4-inch-thick cutlets. Pat pork dry and season with salt.
Grill pork on a lightly oiled rack set 5 to 6 inches over glowing coals until just cooked through, 2 to 3 minutes on each side. Brush pork with glaze and grill 15 seconds more on each side. (Alternatively, pork may be grilled in a hot well-seasoned ridged grill pan over moderately high heat.)
Each serving has about 217 calories and 5 grams fat.

Jim’s Favorite Potato Salad

Recipe from Miriam B. Loo’s Family Favorites Cookbook

Husband-Tested in Alice's Kitchen

This recipe is from a cookbook I received as a gift the year I got married. (1977) My husband thinks this is the best potato salad ever. I agree. It’s the creamy kind and it has just the right balance of salty, sweet & mustard flavors without any of the flavors overwhelming each other in the salad. I usually double this so that we can have it for guests or a pitch-in and then have enough for lunch. 
Lost River Market & Deli has everything you need to make this delicious salad.

4 cups cubed cooked potatoes

1 cup chopped celery

½ cup chopped onion

¼ cup chopped sweet pickles (not relish)

4 hard boiled eggs, sliced or chopped

2/3 cup mayonnaise (I use Hellmann’s Mayonnaise.)

2 teaspoons mustard (I use Dijon mustard.)

1 teaspoon Kosher salt (If doubling the recipe, start with 1 teaspoon of salt and then add more to taste.)

3 Tablespoons chopped pimento (Look for these in a jar in the olive, pickle section of the store)  (If pimentos are not available, you can substitute one roasted red pepper, chopped.)

2 teaspoons celery seed

Combine potatoes, celery, onion, sweet pickle and eggs. Blend mayo with mustard; Stir in the remaining ingredients. Mix mayo mixture lightly with the potato mixture until potatoes are well coated.  Keep chilled.

Chilly Dilly Lemonade

Lost River Market & Deli deli manager, Linda Boswell, and I went on a food tasting trip to Louisville when the store was being set up. There was a woman there selling fresh herbs and there was a line a mile long at her booth! Of course, we made a bee line over to where the action was. This lady was giving out samples of lemonade and WOW, was it ever good. We asked her for the recipe. I've made it at home many times because my hubby loves it. We now have a vendor at our farmers market who makes it. She calls it "Chilly Dilly Lemonade." You can get fresh locally grown cucumbers at Lost River Market & Deli.

Make a 2 quart pitcher of lemonade. This could be from a mix, a frozen concentrate or from scratch with fresh lemons. Peel and seed a cucumber. Cut it in half lengthwise and then again lengthwise so that you have 4 spears of cucumber. Add it to the lemonade. Then a handful of fresh dill. Give the lemonade a stir. Pour it over ice and enjoy! *The longer this sits, the more strongly flavored your lemonade will be. We like it best the same day it's made.

Tomatoes Stuffed with Grilled Corn Salad

Mother and Daddy came up for lunch today. Mother is a more adventurous eater and will try just about anything, but Daddy is a meat and potatoes man, so cooking for them is a fun challenge for me. I made Herbed Hoosier Pork (recipe on this blog), homemade applesauce using apples from our trees, roasted potatoes and this recipe, Tomatoes Stuffed with Grilled Corn Salad. Mother and my hubby, of course loved it all and Daddy cleaned his plate too, so I consider this meal a big success. The tomatoes are plentiful now, so we're all looking for different ways to prepare them. You can get wonderful produce that this recipe calls for from Lost River Market & Deli and/or the Orange County HomeGrown Farmers Markets. Goat cheese (and feta or blue cheese, which would also taste great as substitutes in this recipe) can be found in the dairy section of the store and I saved time by stopping at the salad bar to get the crispy bacon bits I needed. Melinda and Linda a.k.a. the Deli Chicks, cook up bacon for the salad bar. (Of course, you can cook your own and if you're a vegetarian, this dish could be made without the bacon.) Grilling the corn gives this dish nice flavor, but you could just put the corn in fresh without cooking it on the grill and I think it would still be yummy. If you have the pretty cherry tomatoes (even the gold ones) you could add a few slices to the stuffing for color and flavor. I had about 1 1/2 cups of stuffing left and plan to snack on it for lunch tomorrow.

3 ears corn, with husks
4 beefsteak tomatoes
1 tablespoon olive oil, plus more for grates
1/2 cup chopped scallions
1/2 cup crumbled soft goat cheese (feta or blue cheese would make nice substitutes)
1 tablespoon white-wine vinegar
Coarse salt and ground pepper
3 slices cooked bacon, crumbled (optional)

Pull back corn husks, leaving them attached at base of ear. Remove and discard silk; pull husks back over corn. Place ears in large bowl or baking dish; cover with cold water. Let soak 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, cut off and discard top third of tomatoes. Using a paring knife, cut around wall of tomato to loosen flesh. Gently squeeze out seeds; discard. With a melon baller, scoop out tomato interiors, leaving the wall intact. Coarsely chop interiors; transfer to a large bowl.
Heat grill to high; lightly oil grates. Drain corn; arrange ears on grill. Cover and cook, turning occasionally with tongs, until husks are slightly charred and corn is tender, 15 to 20 minutes. Remove ears from grill. Holding bottom of hot ears with a towel, peel back husks and cut kernels off cob; transfer to bowl with tomatoes.
Add scallions, all but 2 tablespoons goat cheese, vinegar, and oil. Season with salt and pepper; toss to combine. Spoon filling into hollowed tomatoes; sprinkle with remaining goat cheese and, if desired, bacon.

Herbed Hoosier Pork

Every year, Greg Rago of Nick's English Hut in Bloomington, IN, visits the Orange County HomeGrown Farmers Market for a Farm to Fork Demonstration. This year he made this really tasty pork on the grill. I've tried it at home twice using pork tenderloin and then pork chops. It's super easy. I've used the thyme and rosemary, as the recipe suggests, but I've also used fresh oregano and sage too. Any mixture of fresh herbs would be great! You can get locally raised pork at Lost River Market & Deli.

Note from Greg Rago:
Fresh herbs enhance the great flavor of local, all natural pork. Your favorite salad and grilled vegetables would make this a perfect summertime feast. If you notice my recipe has an internal temperature of 135°F. I like my pork medium- medium well. The Indiana Dept. of Health recommends an internal temperature of 145°F for 15 seconds. If you are elderly or have some health issues, by all means follow the state guidelines. There will be a 10 –15 degree carry over in the internal temperature of any cooked meat product.
Provide good but safe food for you, your family and friends, wash your hands and work surfaces thoroughly when handling raw proteins.

Fresh thyme and rosemary
Extra virgin olive oil
Sea salt or kosher salt (available @ Lost River Market & Deli)
Freshly ground pepper
Locally produced pork loin (available @ Lost River Market & Deli) (Pork tenderloin or pork chops would work too.)

Preheat and clean grill.
Clean and chop fresh herbs.
Rub pork with olive oil (Use a brush or wear rubber gloves and use your hands.)
Liberally rub salt, pepper and herbs onto pork.
Lay pork on the grill, fat side down, over direct heat (directly over coals).
When the fat has been rendered a bit, and a good, brown crust has formed on the grill side of the pork, turn and put over indirect heat (not directly over coals).
Cover grill and cook pork until it has reached an internal temperature of 135° F. Let the roast sit for at least 15 minutes or so before serving. If you like your pork well done cook to 155°F.

Roasted Tomato Soup

Husband-Tested Recipe from the kitchen of Alice Wootton

Serves 6-8
The plum (Roma) tomatoes are ripe right now, so it's time to make this easy, but wonderful soup. There's no peeling or seeding involved, so it's a snap to make. You'll even be able to freeze it, if you wish, so that on those cold winter nights, you'll have something that tastes of summer to warm you up. The recipe below is just the "basic" one. (In fact, now I don't even measure anything when I make it. I just dump it all on the baking sheet and go.) Often I'll make it by adding other veggies to the tomato mixture, like squash, zucchini or eggplant, cut into chunks and/or corn on the cob, cut into rounds (you'll need to take the corn off the cob afterwards, of course.) By adding a variety of peppers, you can control the heat. This soup/sauce is another way to use up the herbs you have from your garden, the Orange County HomeGrown Farmers Market or Lost River Market & Deli. Add broth to your liking. If you want this to be a sauce for pasta, add less broth. If you want this to be soupy, add more. Don't be afraid of using the whole head of garlic. You'll be roasting the garlic which makes it sweet, not pungent. If you don't have an immersion blender (which I think is a must in the kitchen) you can pour this in a food processor or regular blender to puree it. An immersion blender is a great tool because it allows you to puree your concoctions right in the pot, so there's no mess. If you decide to get one, I advise getting one with a metal housing which allows you to put it in hot liquids. KitchenAid makes a good one for about $50.

3 lbs. (approx.) ripe plum tomatoes 1 large yellow onion
2 peppers 1 large entire bulb of garlic
1/4 cup (approx.) Extra virgin olive oil 2-3 teaspoons kosher salt 1 1/2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper 1 (14 oz.) can of chicken or vegetable broth
Fresh thyme, basil or even Eric's Pesto (recipe on this blog)

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Cut tomatoes in half, lengthwise. Place in a roasting pan or cookie sheet with sides. Peel onion. Cut into chunks. If using peppers, cut into large chunks, discarding seeds. Add onion and peppers to tomatoes. Leaving the skin on, slice the top off of the entire bulb of garlic. Add the garlic bulb in with the tomato mixture. Drizzle the olive oil over all. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Toss mixture until everything is coated with the oil. Roast, uncovered, in the oven for approximately 30 minutes. Vegetables should be tender, but not scorched. Pour contents, with juices, into a soup pot. Using several paper towels to protect your hands from the heat, squeeze the garlic bulb until the tender cloves pop out into the mixture. Discard the garlic skin. Add the broth. Add some fresh thyme or basil leaves or a couple of tablespoons of pesto. Using a hand blender, puree the soup. Cook over a flame until heated through.

Sauteed Corn, Bacon and Scallions

Recipe from Everyday Food Magazine and Husband-Tested in Alice's Kitchen
Serves 4

Lost River Market & Deli not only sells locally grown sweet corn and scallions, but they sell local bacon too! Only 4 ingredients go into this dish, but they go so well together. Your hubby will love it!

4 slices bacon, cut into 1-inch strips
4 cups corn kernels
Coarse salt and ground black pepper
Pinch of red-pepper flakes
2 to 3 scallions, sliced (green onions)

Cook bacon in a large skillet over medium-high heat, turning occasionally, until browned, 4 to 6 minutes.
Add corn kernels; season with salt, pepper, and a pinch of crushed red pepper. Cook, stirring often, until corn is tender, 5 to 8 minutes. Stir in scallions. Serve immediately.