Simple By Cindy

Red, White and Blueberry Trifle

Jul. 1
2016

Do you want to make something extra special for your Fourth of July celebration?

This recipe will exceed all your expectations.

This delectable treat is a simple trifle with a lemony cake base, delicious whipped cream cheese, whipped cream, and of course, red and blue berries!

Most of the ingredients are store-bought, with the exception of a simple lemon sauce and whipped cream. You can simply buy whipped cream and add it in to make it even easier, but why would you? This trifle has all the elements of perfection! It will definitely make a wonderful impression at your 4th of July festivities.

Celebrate your red, white and blue with this trifle. Everyone will be glad you did!

Happy 4th of July!

Ingredients for the Trifle

1/4 cup plus 1/3 cup sugar
Juice of 1 lemon
1 store-bought angel food cake cut into 1-inch slices
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese
1 cup heavy cream
4 cups fresh raspberries
4 cup fresh blueberries

In a small sauce pan, combine the sugar, lemon juice, and 1/4 cup of water over medium heat. Bring to a boil, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Take off heat and set aside to cool.

Using a mixer, beat the cream cheese with 1/3 cup of sugar on high speed until light and fluffy (about 2 minutes). If you do not have an additional bowl for mixer, take the cream cheese mixture out of bowl using a spatula and set aside. Wipe out bowl.

Place the bowl in your freezer for 15 minutes. Reattach to your mixer.

Pour heavy cream in bowl and beat on medium heat for about one minute. Change the speed to high and continue to beat until you see fluffy peaks with the consistency of whipped cream (about 1-2 minutes). Do not over whip or it will be flat and lumpy.

Brush the cake slices with the lemon mixture on both sides.

Arrange half the cake pieces on the bottom of a trifle bowl or any similar serving bowl. A clear bowl will allow you to see the beautiful layers.

Spread half of the cream cheese mixture over the cake slices.

Layer with whip cream mixture.

Scatter half of the raspberries and blueberries on top.

Layer again with cakes slices, creme cheese mixture, whip cream mixture and berries.

Cover, and refrigerate for at least one hour or overnight.

It’s that simple!

Chicken with Honey-Soy Sauce

Jun. 29
2016

I was looking for some fast and easy chicken recipes. After selecting a few, I chose all my favorite ingredients and created my own recipe.

The most important thing to know about cooking chicken is how to brown it. The crispy skin gives it a delicious added texture and yummy goodness that will ensure a flavorful outcome. You do not even need to add a sauce if you want a quick dinner. Just brown it up and serve; it will still be wonderful and tasty.

I found the sauce to be a perfect compliment to this dish. It was sweet and salty, and added a whole new layer of flavor.

It was on the dinner table in less than an hour and my family adored it!

It serves 6 people and I know they will love it!

Ingredients for Chicken with Honey-Soy Sauce

1/2 cup of butter or margarine (1 stick)
4-5 garlic cloves, minced
3 tbsp. soy sauce (you can also use low-sodium)
3 tbsp. honey
3 tbsp. fresh parsley, chopped
4 tbsp. olive oil
2 tbsp. salt, divided
1 tbsp. pepper, divided
6 chicken thighs, skin-on

Drizzle chicken thighs with 1 tbsp. salt and 1/2 tbsp pepper.

Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat.

Place chicken thighs, skin down in skillet. Do not overcrowd skillet, or chicken thighs will not brown.

Set your timer for 7 minutes. Do not move chicken thighs.

Drizzle 1 tbsp. salt and 1/2 tbsp. pepper over the other side of chicken thighs.

After 7 minutes, turn over chicken thighs and cook for about 5 minutes.

If you have to do this in batches, lower your timing by 3 minutes each side. This is because the oil gets very hot and the chicken will cook faster after each batch.

Preheat oven to 350.

Take chicken out of skillet and set aside.

In a small saucepan over medium heat, combine the butter or margarine, garlic, soy sauce, honey and parsley.

Cook until the butter melts, take off stove and set aside.

Place chicken in a baking dish, skin side down, and pour the butter mixture over it.

Place in the pre-heated oven. Set your timer for 10 minutes.

After the 10 minutes, turn the chicken over and set oven to 425.

Place the chicken into the oven for 15 more minutes, or until tops of chicken are crispy golden brown.

If they are not, turn your oven to “broil” and cook for 2 minutes, until tops are crispy golden brown.

Remember each person’s oven cooks at different times, so watch carefully.

Take chicken out of oven and place on serving dish. Serve hot.

It’s that simple!

Snow Peas

Jun. 27
2016

I have received a few requests for a really “simple” recipe; and this one is perfect!

Peas come in several different varieties, two of which are sugar snap peas and snow peas. Sugar snap peas have plump, round edible pods that are tender, soft, and easy to chew. Snow peas have translucent pods with peas inside. Their pods are also edible, but a little tougher than sugar snap peas. They contain a lot of fiber, are low in calories and easy to make. You can use them in a variety of different dishes, such as salads, an easy side dish or pasta.

This recipe is about as simple as it gets. Do you have some garlic, onion, fresh lemon juice, salt and pepper in your pantry? If you do, then you are good to go!

Just be careful of the timing when you are cooking them. Take them off the heat when they are bright green to ensure you have crispy, beautiful snow peas.

They are absolutely delicious and I think you will enjoy every bite!

Ingredients for the Snow Peas

1 (10 ounce) package snow peas
1 small red onion, diced
3-4 gloves of garlic, minced
Juice of 1/2 lemon
3 tbsp. olive oil
1/2 tsp. kosher salt
1/4 tsp. of pepper

Heat olive oil in large skillet on stove over medium heat.

Add onions, cook until they are translucent, about 3-5 minutes.

Add garlic, cook for 1 minute.

Pour in lemon juice.

Scatter the snow peas into the skillet and toss to coat.

Cook for about 5 minutes, or until the snow peas turn bright green.

Perfect for any summer meal!

It’s that simple!

Oatmeal Brownies

Jun. 24
2016

Any recipe with oats grabs my attention immediately.

While looking for an “easy” dessert to bake, I came across this one and decided it was a “must try”.

Not only did it seem to be a great dessert, I knew it would be great for breakfast too!

This has to be one of my favorite desserts ever. It had a “brownie” type of consistency, but the addition of the oats gave it a whole new texture and dimension. It was light, chewy and scrumptious; and great for “breakfast on the go”.

You can choose to augment this recipe with any number of desirable ingredients. For example, you can add chopped walnuts, pecans, or chocolate chips, individually or all together.

I like things simple, but if you want to add them, go for it!

This recipe is courtesy of “allrecipes.com”.`

How many does it serve? Well cut them as large or small as you want, see how fast they go, and you be the judge!

Ingredients for Oatmeal Brownies

1 cup butter at room temperature
1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 cup old fashioned oats
1 cup raisins

Preheat oven to 350.

Grease and flour a 9×13-inch baking pan.

In a large bowl, beat the butter, brown sugar, and white sugar until thoroughly mixed and creamy. This will take some time, about 6-8 minutes on medium speed, so be patient. You will be able to see when the mixture becomes creamy.

Beat in the eggs, one at a time, mixing well after adding each one.

Stir in the vanilla extract until well-mixed, and mix in the salt.

Change your mixer to a paddle attachment and mix in baking soda, baking powder, flour, oats and raisins. Mix well to moisten all ingredients, and spread into the prepared baking pan (the dough will be sticky, just use a spatula to spread it evenly).

Bake until golden brown, about 20 25 minutes (or more if you need). Just set your timer to 5 minute increments to monitor the baking process.

Let it cool in the pan for about 5 minutes before cutting.

It’s that simple!

Tomato and Sea Asparagus Salad with Balsamic Glazed Figs

Jun. 22
2016

While visiting my local farmer’s market, I came across a vendor that sold very unusual vegetables.

He asked me to try several of these “different” treats. One of them was a long, very thin vegetable that resembled asparagus, yet it was much smaller with several stalks emanating from the main one. It was called “Sea Asparagus”, sometimes referred to as beach asparagus, sea beans, sea fennel, or marsh samphire.

It was a delightful and delicious surprise! It had a crunchy texture and a salty flavor that reminded me of the ocean. This is because they grow in sea marshes. They are small with jointed stems and small branches. Their harvest time is during the summer months of June and July.

After tasting this, I knew I had to buy it and try it out in a recipe.

I found this recipe on “gourmetfury.com”, which I altered a bit. It was simple, fast and had a gorgeous presentation. The balsamic figs were heavenly and they created a delicious mix of salty and sweet.

So, the next time you are at the farmer’s market, look for this flavorful vegetable. It is definitely worth it.

The recipe did not indicate the number of servings, but I would estimate it serves 4-5 people.

Ingredients for the Tomato and Sea Asparagus with Balsamic Glazed Figs

2 tomatoes on the vine
2 yellow tomatoes
10 cherry tomatoes
1/2 lb fresh sea asparagus
1/2 lb. figs, quartered
10 large bocconcini (small mozzarella)
8 fresh basil leaves
1 cup Balsamic vinegar
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Kosher salt
Black pepper

Slice both the red and yellow tomatoes into thin circles and place them on paper towels to absorb the juices.

Cut the cherry tomatoes in half.

Blanch the sea asparagus in a pot of boiling water for about 1 minute. Immediately drain and place in a bowl of ice water to stop cooking process. When it is thoroughly chilled, place on a paper towel to dry.

Place balsamic vinegar in a pot over medium het on the stove. Bring to a boil and let it reduce by half, about 5-8 minutes.

Take the balsamic vinegar off the heat and toss in the figs. Set aside.

Tear the bocconcini into small pieces.

Cut the basil leaves into thin slices.

Arrange the yellow tomato slices in a circle on a round serving plate.

Place the red tomato slices in a smaller circle inside the yellow tomato slices.

Drizzle with a small amount of olive oil, salt and pepper.

Toss the basil and sea asparagus with a drizzle of olive oil and place in center of tomato slices.

Place the bocconcini, figs, and cherry tomatoes around the tomato slices and sea asparagus.

Drizzle with the balsamic reduction, add a small amount of salt and pepper.

It’s that simple!