Picky Palate A Little Bit of This and A Little Bit of That...

What a fun and crazy day. Spent the day at the mall with the kids to get some last minute school clothes, met the new teacher tonight and went to see Mama Mia with some ladies. I love how it was 99% women in the theatre! As it should have been, the music and dancing would have driven my husband and probably most other husbands’ nuts !

There are some people who truly have a knack for writing and I found someone named Susan who wrote an article on Gather.com all about Picky Palate. I was so surprised and touched that this person, who I do not know, would write such wonderful things about my recipes. Susan, if you happen to read this, I want you to know that I really appreciate the time you took to write such a beautiful article about me and Picky Palate. If I’m ever having a bad day, I’ll just read your article and get cheered right up. Thank you, really.

This is kind of a hodge podge post, but some really tasty recipes that needed to get posted. Hope you’ll find some inspiration to cook something tasty and healthy!

Pancetta Sauteed Haricot Vert with Cherry Tomatoes and Feta

½ lb washed and trimmed Haricot Vert
2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
4 thin slices pancetta, diced
Salt and Pepper
1 ½ Cups Cherry tomatoes
¼ Cup Feta Cheese

1. Heat olive oil into a large sauté pan. When hot, add pancetta; cook and stir until browned. Add haricot vert, pinch of salt and pepper, and cherry tomatoes. Cook for 3-5 minutes or until beans are crisp tender. Transfer to a serving plate and sprinkle with Feta Cheese.

This cucumber salad is soooo good. It’s cool, refreshing, healthy and completely tasty!

Fresh Creamy Dill Cucumber Salad

2 medium cucumbers, cut in half and sliced
5 oz container of greek plain yogurt
¼ Cup sour cream
¼ Cup fresh dill weed finely chopped
Pinch of salt, pepper and garlic salt
Squeeze of lemon juice

1. Place cucumbers into a large bowl. Combine yogurt, sour cream, dill, salt, pepper, garlic salt and lemon juice into a bowl until combined. Pour over cucumbers and stir to coat. Serve or refrigerate until serving.

Ahhh, can one ever go wrong with potato cakes? Especially parmesan crusted smoked cheddar ones! Use up those left over mashed potatoes in a very good way!

Parmesan Crusted Smoked Cheddar Potato Cakes

2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
4 Cups cooked mashed potatoes, firm and cold
1 Cup smoked cheddar cheese, Tillamook preferred
¾ Cup Grated Parmesan Cheese
¼ Cup flour

1. Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Stir together the mashed potatoes and smoked cheddar then scoop about ¼ Cup mashed potatoes and form into equal size small patties. Combine parmesan cheese and flour into a shallow dish and press potato patties into mixture. In batches, place patties into hot skillet and cook for 2-4 minutes per side or until golden brown. Transfer to a paper towel lined plate. Serve warm with ranch dressing if desired.

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Thanks to Angela from Creative Homemakers for the Brilliante Weblog award!! She has an awesome site, do check it out. And to Aggie’s Kitchen for a music meme, I’ll have to think about that one, how do you pick just 5 songs!!?

Coming up next is a very special cookie recipe you won’t want to miss! Have a great weekend!