Cucumber Mediterrranean Salad

A couple of weeks ago I drove over to my Son's place to pick up my granddaughter Chloe who was going to spend a couple of days with Grandma (me) and Grandpa. My wonderful daughter in-law Noelle (she is a great cook herself) made this delecious salad and I wanted to share with you. It is a great way to use cucumbers and a great tasting summer salad.

Cucumber Mediterranean Salad
Ingredient's:
2 Cucumbers, peeled and cut up into small chunks
2 Sweet Peppers (I used orange and yellow to give it some color)
8-10 Kalamata Olives diced
1 small sweet onion sliced up
10-12 Cherry tomatoes cut up
5-6 Basil Leaves cut up and diced
1 Lemon
1/2 C olive Oil (or Canola Oil)
1 tablespoon Mediterranean spice seasoning
Salt and Pepper to Taste
1/4 C of Feta Cheese (or a little more if you wish), I used the Feta Cheese with tomato and basil spices

Put all of the ingredients (cucumbers, peppers, olives, onions, tomatoes and basil) into a medium size bowl, adding in the Mediterranean spice and mixed it all up.

Take the lemon, slice up into quarters and squeeze the lemon juice over the salad mixture and then add the olive oil and mix together.

Salt and pepper to taste and then add the Feta Cheese and serve up for dinner, otherwise put into the Refrigerator to chill. You can make up the night before and/or a couple of hours before you serve.

I made this up the day before and it tasted great with having the seasonings have some time to blend in with all of the ingredients.

Meatballs in BBQ

Well I have now made this dish twice and it has been a big hit so I decided to share, it is so easy to make

Ingredients:
1 Bag of Frozen Meatballs (w/at least 48 in the bag)
1 Small Can of Crushed Pineapple w/the juice
1 Bottle of Kraft Sweet and Tangy BBQ
3-4 Tablesppons of Honey
1/2 Cup of Brown Sugar

Put everything in a crock pot and put on High for about 1 hour, then turn the dial down to Low for about 2 hours.

When your party gets started just put on simmer

Now you can add a little more BBQ sauce if you wish and would say to mix in regular BBQ sauce.

Try it and you and your friends/family will enjoy it.......

Eggplant Parmesan in the Crock Pot

Yes it is true you can make this in the crock pot. Heard of doing this on the group thread that I belong too on Ravelry.com. So since I like eggplant decided to give it a try.

Eggplant Parmesan
Ingredients:
2 medium to large sized eggplants
1/3 Cup of bread crumbs
1/2 Cup of Shredded fresh Parmesan cheese
2 eggs
1/3 Cup of water
3 tablespoons of Flour
32 ounces of Marinara Sauce (I used Prego)
16 ounces of Mozzarella cheese sliced
Olive oil
1. Slice the eggplant (do not peel eggplant) into about 1/2 inch slices. Layer on a dish with a little bit of salt sprinkled on top of each layer. Let the eggplant sit for about 30 minutes. Then using a paper towel pick up the moisture.
2. Mix together the egg, water and flour in a medium size bowl. Then you dip the eggplant in the egg mixture and saute in a very hot oil pan quickly a few slices at a time. You do not want to cook until done, just a little brown on each side.
3. Mix together the parmesan cheese and bread crumbs.
4. Now you layer in the crock pot as follows: 1/4 of the eggplant (enough to cover the pan), 1/4 of the bread crumbs, 1/4 of the marinara sauce, 1/4 of the sliced mozzarella cheese. Repeat this about 3 or 4 times (depends on the size of your crock pot)

Then cook on medium for about 5-6 hours. Serve with some sliced Sourdough bread.

It came out very good and was a pretty good hit with the family.