Apple Spice Cookies

 

Given all the exciting fruit there is to love, from tropicals like kiwi, mango, papaya and pineapple to summer's juicy stone fruits and gorgeous berries, I'm a little boring when it comes to my very favorites. Ordinary bananas and grapes make me happy- and most of all, apples. I like Honeycrisp and Granny Smith best, but any crisp one will do. I think I ate an apple nearly every day of both my pregnancies.

Most of the time, I like them just for snacking, but this time of year I find myself drawn to baking and cooking with them. In the past week and half alone, I've made almond studded whole wheat apple scones, soft granola bars with apple and carrot, cheddar-apple paninis and these cookies. Soft, cake-like and pleasantly spiced, I'm fairly certain these cookies won't ever take the place of your favorite chewy peanut butter or chocolate chip ones, but with apples, cranberries, walnuts and cinnamon, they are a fun treat for fall.

My modifications included the use of butter over shortening, and honey and maple syrup in the place of significantly more brown sugar, as well as the adjustments necessary when baking with natural sweeteners. Smaller changes included swapping out raisins for cranberries and eliminating a glaze that would've made these unbearably sweet. They are delicious warm out of the oven, and even better the next day. Aside a cup of coffee or tea, they could even pass for breakfast.

Apple Spice Cookies
adapted from Glazed Apple Cookies from allrecipes
yields around 2 dozen

1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup honey (I used a Sourwood mixed honey)
1/4 cup pure maple syrup
1 egg
2 cups sifted (prior to measuring) unbleached all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1 cup peeled, cored apple in fine dice (1 1/2 small apples)
3/4 cup chopped walnuts
1/2 cup dried sweetened cranberries

Preheat oven to 375. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

In a large bowl, beat butter, honey and maple syrup over medium speed until light and thickened, 3 minutes. Beat in egg and blend thoroughly.

In a medium bowl, mix flour, salt, baking soda and powder, cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg. Add half of the flour mixture to honey mixture and combine with mixer on low. Stir in apples, walnuts and cranberries. Add remaining flour and mix well.

Drop by heaping tablespoons (1 1/2 to 2 tbsps worth) on prepared baking sheet 1 1/2 inches apart. Bake 10-12 minutes or until golden brown around the edges. Transfer to rack to cool.

Lentil Salad with Grapes, Apple and Feta

My mom is a magazine junkie. She subscribes to at least a dozen cooking and decorating magazines, and every year for Christmas she gifts my sister-in-law and myself each a handful of subscriptions. Sometimes I struggle to have time to read to read them all each month, but I always eventually work my way through them and tear out and save any recipes I might want to make. Each year, she switches up the magazines I receive, but out of those four or five, I always receive Living and Everyday Food. EDF is easily the magazine from which I try the most recipes.

The other day I was skimming through my binder of clippings and came across this lentil salad. I don't remember saving it, and I'll admit wasn't the most eye catching salad in terms of vibrancy, but I'm sure it was the ingredients that caused me to add it to my to-try collection. Lentils, feta, red grapes, walnuts and thyme are all things I absolutely love. Since I had everything on hand I decided to whip up this salad and then just because it seemed like it would be a nice addition, I included a green apple.

As I was in the middle of putting this together, I sampled a bite and at first, found it so-so. But once I seasoned it with salt, pepper and thyme and added the feta, the flavors just popped and became something I immensely enjoyed. This a wonderful make ahead salad, which can be stored in an airtight container container for up to 3 days. I tinkered with the quantities in order to make it 3 servings, so it would be perfect for people who like to make a salad to take for several days of work lunches. It holds up great and is just as delicious on day three.

Lentil Salad with Grapes, Apple and Feta
adapted from Everyday Food
serves 3

1 cup water
1/2 cup green or brown lentils, rinsed and picked over
2 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp red wine vinegar
2 tsp honey
2 tbsp olive oil
1 Granny Smith apple, seeded and diced
1 cup red grapes, halved
1 celery stalk, thinly sliced
1/3 cup toasted walnut pieces
1/3 cup crumbled feta (I used reduced fat)
1/2 tsp dried thyme
kosher salt and fresh ground pepper, to taste
baby spinach leaves, for serving (optional)

In a small saucepan, bring water and lentils to a boil. Cover, reduce heat and simmer for about 20 minutes, or until tender but not mushy. Drain any remaining water, and rinse under cool water and drain again.

Meanwhile in a medium bowl, whisk together vinegar, lemon juice and honey. Next whisk in olive oil. Stir in apples, grapes, celery, walnuts and cooled lentils. Add feta and thyme and then season to taste with salt and pepper. If desired, serve on a small bed of spinach.

Cranberry Apple Chutney

If you are looking for an easy-to-make appetizer for Thanksgiving, this chutney is perfect. It comes together in no time, can be made a day or two ahead and is delightful paired with cream cheese atop wheat crackers. It would also make a lovely hostess gift and could be served as a condiment with pork, ham or chicken.

I didn't notice the amount of sugar this originally called for until I'd already began making it. I wasn't thrilled with using all that sugar, but then I had a light bulb moment. I only buy jams and preserves that are sweetened with fruit juice, and I figured I could do the same, subbing the sugar and water with 100% apple juice, although I did add some honey and a touch of brown sugar. I also scaled this back (it makes a good bit) and used a Granny Smith Apple. You could use a sweeter apple if you prefer, however, I personally loved it for its tartness.

For serving, you could fill a small serving bowl with cream cheese, and nestle the chutney in the center, but for an even easier presentation, you could just pour it right over a block of cream cheese, (you know, like that red-pepper-jelly-over-a-block-of-cream-cheese appetizer that is always surprisingly popular on an appetizer table). As for the crackers, I tried a few different types, and I can tell you to skip the fancier ones. This goes best with a simple cracker, such as the whole wheat Ritz ones I used.

Cranberry Apple Chutney

adapted from allrecipes.com

I used an 1/8 of a tsp of cloves in this. Next time, I will use a pinch or two, because it was just a little too much for my taste. Adjust it to your liking.

2 cups fresh cranberries
1 medium apple, peeled, cored and chopped
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground ginger
a pinch-1/8 tsp cloves (depending on your preference)
1/3 cup apple juice
1/4 cup honey
1 tsp dark brown sugar

Combine all ingredients in a saucepan. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly.

Reduce heat and simmer for 15-20 minutes, or until apple is tender and mixture has thickened. Cool completely.

Store in the refrigerator. Serve with cracker and cream cheese or as a condiment with pork, ham or chicken.

Quinoa and Chickpea Stuffed Acorn Squash

I always think it's funny how you can look so forward to trying a new recipe, specifically buying the ingredients and anticipating it's wonderfulness, only to have it turn out so-so, or you can last minute throw something together and it wind up being a huge hit. I'm sure you can guess this was the latter.

Sage plays softball once a week. His game times vary and on the nights he has an early game, there isn't time for a family dinner. He just grabs something light and runs out the door. On those nights, I make something very simple for Beckett and I, usually pasta with peas and parmesan (our favorite quick and easy dinner) or salad and leftovers. When it's a later game, I have to put a little thought into what to make. A few too many times, Sage has found himself on the pitcher's mound with an upset stomach. We've discovered racing around the bases and say, a heavy marinara just doesn't go well together.

When he waited until just before getting off work to inform me he had a later game this week, I pondered out loud what I would make for dinner. When he requested something with chickpeas, my mind immediately went to the Moroccan-Style Stuffed Acorn Squash I've made in the past, as I had a pretty Carnival acorn squash just waiting for a purpose.

The only problem was in that recipe, the stuffing used couscous, which we'd just recently had, and a couple other ingredients I didn't have such as bell peppers and raisins. I decided instead to make a similar version, which included quinoa, apples and dried cranberries. We loved it as much (maybe even more) than the original. In fact, this might've been the first time ever that our ridiculously slow-eating child finished his dinner before I did!

Quinoa and Chickpea Stuffed Acorn Squash

yields 2 stuffed squash halves, with extra filling

1 medium acorn squash (about 1.5 lbs), halved and seeds removed
1/2 cup quinoa, well rinsed
1 tbsp olive oil
1 large carrot, diced
1 celery rib, diced
1/2 large apple, suitable for cooking, peeled and chopped
3 green onions, thinly sliced
sea salt and fresh ground pepper
1 (15 oz) can reduced sodium chickpeas, drained and rinsed
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp coriander
1/2 tsp turmeric
1/4 tsp cinnamon, or more to taste
1/4 cup dried cranberries
1/4 cup apple juice (or vegetable stock)

Preheat oven to 350. Arrange squash halves, cut side down in a baking dish and roast for 30 minutes, or until tender. Keep warm.

In a medium saucepan, bring quinoa and 1 cup water to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer for about 12 minutes or until water is absorbed. Remove from heat and vent lid.

Meanwhile, heat oil in a large straight sided skillet over medium. Add carrots, celery, apple and onions. Season with salt and pepper and cook for 5 minutes. Stir in chickpeas, garlic, spices, cranberries and apple juice, and continue to cook for an additional 10 minutes, or until carrots are tender.

Mix in quinoa, taste and adjust seasonings, if necessary (I added another pinch or two of cinnamon and some additional salt and pepper). Spoon into squash halves to serve.

Moroccan Chickpea Stew & Moroccan-Style Couscous and Chickpeas

I love chickpeas. So much, in fact, that I typically eat them a couple times a week. My favorite way to enjoy them is with couscous, veggies and a Moroccan-inspired flavor. These two dishes, while containing many of the same ingredients, manage to taste quite different from one another. Its hard to say which one I prefer more. I have no idea if they are anything close to authentic (and most likely not) but I don't care, as they are both so good! This absolutely delicious recipe is from Cooking Light (found on myrecipes.) Its super easy and one of those kind of meals where you find yourself excited about the leftovers. (Or at least I did!) The recipe originally called for serving with brown rice, but suggested trying it with couscous, which I definitely think is the better choice. Due to a sensitive little mouth, I seed my jalapeno, and it isn't hot at all.

Moroccan Chickpea Stew
adapted from Cooking Light (they say 6 servings, I say much more like 4)
2 tsp olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
1 large carrot, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 jalapeno pepper, minced (seeded, if desired)
1 1/2 cups cubed peeled Yukon Golds (Several small or 1 large)
2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp ground tumeric
2 (15 oz.) can diced tomatoes, undrained (you can also just use one)
1 (15 oz.) can reduced sodium chickpeas, rinsed and drained
1 cup vegetable broth
2 tbsp tomato paste
3 cups hot cooked couscous (or brown rice)
plain yogurt (or sour cream,) for serving
cilantro, for serving

Heat olive oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add onion, carrot, garlic, and jalapeño to pan; sauté 6 minutes or until tender.

Stir in potato, spices, tomatoes, chickpeas, broth and tomato paste. Bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 15 minutes or until potato is tender. Serve over couscous. Top with yogurt and sprinkle with cilantro.

This equally wonderful dish has already been shared on my blog once before, as the stuffing for acorn squash. It was great that way, but I loved the "stuffing" so much, I've made some changes and now make it without the squash. It would make a great side dish to chicken, but in our house, we're just as happy to eat it as an entree along with a baked sweet potato, for a filling meatless dinner. If you have leftovers the next day, its just as good hot or cold.

Moroccan-inspired Chickpeas and Rice
adapted from allrecipes (about 5 servings as a side, 2-3 as a meal)
2 tbsp olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 celery rib, finely chopped
1/2 medium onion, chopped
2/3 cup chopped red bell pepper (about 3/4 of a large pepper)
1 large carrot, chopped
sea salt and fresh ground pepper
1/2 an apple, peeled, cored and chopped (I used fuji)
1/3 cup rasins
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground corriander
1/4 tsp tumeric
1/4 tsp cinnamon
2/3 cup uncooked couscous
1 cup vegetable broth

Heat the olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add garlic, celery, onion, pepper and carrots. Season with salt and pepper, and cook 5 minutes.

Mix in the garbanzo beans, apples and raisins. Season with cumin, coriander, tumeric and cinnamon, and continue to cook and stir until vegetables are tender.

Add couscous and broth, mix well. Cover and turn off heat. Allow couscous to absord liquid for 5 minutes. Fluff couscous. Taste and adjust seasonings, if needed.

Peanut Butter Pumpkin Dip

I am very behind on my posts, being that this one is from Halloween! I hate to show up empty handed to a party and a few hours beforehand, I realized I was about to do that. I didn't have time to go shopping, but I had some canned pumpkin on hand I wanted to use.

I did a search and found most dips made with pumpkin used either a block of cream cheese or a jar marshmellow fluff- neither of which I had. But I had peanut butter, and I knew that paired nicely with the pumpkin. There is one basic recipe floating out there, with the slight variations being in the quanities of the ingredients. Since they all seemed nearly the same, I randomly picked one, not really noticing that this one had equal parts pumpkin, peanut butter and brown sugar. If I'd been paying attention better, I'd noticed the other recipes had a much smaller ratio of the sugar. We're talking the difference of a few tablespoons versus 3/4 of a cup! Not being a big fan of super sweet stuff, I sampled it and found it pretty much unedible. But with some tweeking, it became delicious!

This kid-friendly dip can be served with graham cracker sticks or ginger snaps, or a variety of fruits or celery sticks. We had the ginger snaps and apples, but it would be amazing on bananas. Sadly, we got to the party a little late, and no one was really hitting up the food table at that point, so I'm certain the majority of this got tossed at the end of the night. Luckily, I had saved a little of it at home, and my toddler went crazy for it on pears and celery. I feel bad for this yummy dip that it didn't get to be enjoyed as it deserved to have been, so I will be making it again!

adapted from Group Recipes
1 (15 oz.) can of pure pumpkin
1 1/4 cup natural peanut butter
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
2 tbsp reduced fat cream cheese
graham crackers, ginger snaps, fruit or celery, for serving

Combine all ingredients until well blended. (Because I had chunky peanut butter and didn't soften my cream cheese before mixing, I opted to use a immersion blender for a smoother texture.)

Apple-Walnut Salad with Cranberry Balsamic Vinaigrette

Sometimes I will have dinner all figured out, and then right before I start making it, change my mind completely. This was one from one of those nights. I wasn't feeling too good and didn't really feel like cooking- or eating- a big dinner, and suddenly a salad just sounded wonderful.

A half bag of cranberries in the crisper drawer inspired me make a dressing, and then walnuts and apples just seemed like a logical addition. The outcome was a very tasty salad. It reminded me somewhat of a Martha's Vineyard salad, which from our favorite New York style pizza place has the most amazing homemade whipped raspberry dressing. I tend to think of that salad as summery, but using apples instead of pears and cranberry dressing for the raspberry gave a decidedly Fall feeling.

I loved the earthiness of the greens and walnuts, paired with the sweet apples and the very tart dressing. I do think this would've been better with goat cheese instead of the reduced-fat feta. Not that flavor was wrong, I just think the creaminess of the goat cheese would've added so much.

Cranberry Balsamic Vinaigrette (yeilds 1 cup)
1 cup fresh cranberries
1/2 cup water
2 tbsp honey
3 tbsp basalmic dressing
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tsp apple juice
pinch or two of kosher salt

Bring cranberries and water to boil in small saucepan. Boil 5 minutes, reduce heat and simmer another 5 minutes. Add remaining ingredients. Use an immersion blender to blend until smooth. (Or cool, and blend in a mini processor.) Refrigerate until ready to use.

For the salad assembly: I used several handfuls of spring mix, about a 1/4 of a apple (sliced thin,) a handful of toasted, chopped walnuts, and a sprinkle of crumbled feta (but suggest goat cheese) per individual dinner sized serving. Drizzle with Cranberry Balsamic Dressing.

Apple Cheddar Bacon Biscuits

Ever since my mom posted on her Facebook the other day that she was making Apple Cheddar Biscuits, I've had them on my mind. Maybe because I had some apples to use up, as well as a block of cheddar in the fridge, or perhaps because they just sounded yummy. Having too many homemade treats in the house (even if I'm giving most of them away) has proven to be too much temptation, so I wanted to make these before taking a baking hiatus.

I pretty much never eat bacon because it so fattening. Every great now and then I'll indulge with a simple BLT, but I'm not a big fan of it mixed in with lots of other flavors. However, we had some bacon that Sage had bought, and it just seemed like it would be a nice addition to these biscuits. While I could find recipes of other baked goods with the three ingedients together, when it came to biscuits, I couldn't find one. Even Apple Cheddar was hard to come by. (My mom's recipe was using Bisquick, which I don't have.) So I just made a basic biscuit, added the other elements how I thought made sense and crossed my fingers that they'd come out alright.

I'm proud of myself, for not following a recipe, these came out really good. I was just going to drop them, but I didn't have room on my baking sheet, so I spooned them into muffin tins, and I like how they came out. Beckett informed me this morning they they were "muffins" when I called them biscuits. Cute, since I have never heard him even say "muffin" before! Regardless of what you want to call them, they're quite tasty.

makes 16 biscuits

1 cup grated, peeled apple, about 2 small (I used Gala)

1/2 small onion, chopped

1 tsp honey

1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 cup whole wheat flour

1/2 tsp salt

1 tbsp baking powder

1/4 cup cold butter, cut into pieces

1 cup 1% milk

2 cups shredded sharp cheddar

3 slices cooked bacon, crumbled

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Spray muffin tins with cooking spray.

Heat small skillet over medium heat. Add onion and apple, top with honey. Cook stirring frequently for about 8 minutes, or until onions are soft and most of the moisture has cooked out of the apples. Set aside.

Add flours, salt, baking powder, and butter to food processor. Pulse just enough to create a coarse crumblike mixture. Transfer to large mixing bowl. Add milk and stir until just blended. Fold in cheese, bacon and apple mixture, again stirring just untill blended. Do not overmix.

Drop by spoonfulls into muffin tins, filling about 3/4 way. Bake for 15 minutes.

Pumpkin Butter & Whole Wheat Oatmeal Quick Bread

Since I had a difficult time finding canned pumpkin for my pumpkin bread the other day, I thought I should save my remaining can for something special, just in case I couldn't find more. Then in the mail this week, I got three magazines, all with taunting Fall covers.

Better Homes & Gardens, the first one I read, was full of pumpkin recipes. For some reason their pumpkin butter recipe jumped out at me, despite there being far more exciting and complex ways to cook with pumpkin. When Living had hardly any edible ways to use it, my mind was made up, before I even could crack open Southern Living. Yet, when I went to make the BH&G's Pumpkin Butter, I realized we didn't have two key ingredients- pure maple syrup and apple juice. (I know, what kind of mommy doesn't have apple juice? The kind whose kid is getting carrot juice and more water lately because he's been drinking too much apple juice, even though I swore I'd never be that mom.)

In searching, it seemed all pumpkin butters had apple juice. Then I found one with applesauce instead. Now, I'll confess, I've never had pumpkin butter that I can recall, so I can't say if it's as good as one made with apple juice, but if the reviews from RecipeZaar are any indication, its actually better! All we know is it is delicious. It's yummy on homemade bread for breakfast or with dinner, or eaten straight out of the jar. And it got a huge toddler thumbs up in my house. He may somehow like it even more than me!

I wanted to make a healthy, easy bread to go with it, and found a nice recipe on the same site. I liked how it had no white flour and my much loved oats. This simple yeast-less recipe produces a dense tasty bread, which can be made vegan by using soymilk and maple syrup. I think its best toasted after being sliced. And smothered in pumpkin butter, of course!

Pumpkin Butter, from RecipeZaar

1 (15 ounce) can organic pumpkin puree
1 cup natural applesauce
1/3 cup packed light brown sugar
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger (I subbed nutmeg)
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

In small sauce pan, combine pumpkin, applesauce, sugar, cinnamon and ginger or nutmeg. Bring to a boil; reduce heat to low and simmer, uncovered, stirring often to prevent scorching, 45 min. Stir in lemon juice. Let cool, then spoon into tight-sealing container and refrigerate. Will keep in the refrigerator up to 2 weeks.

Whole Wheat Oatmeal Quick Bread, adapted from RecipeZaar

1 1/2 cups rolled or quick-cooking oats

1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour

3 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt

2 1/4 tablespoons honey or maple syrup (I used honey)

1 1/2 tablespoons vegetable oil (I used applesauce)
1 1/2 cups skim milk or soymilk (I used 1%)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a 9x5x3-inch loaf tin.

Grind oats in a food processor or blender to form a meal/flour. (I only did this with 3/4 a cup and left the rest whole.) In a large bowl, combine oatmeal, whole-wheat flour, baking powder and salt.

In a separate bowl, vigorously whisk together honey and vegetable oil (or applesauce) to form an emulsion; then stir in the milk and mix well until dissolved.

Add wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix well to form a wet batter. Pour/spoon batter into prepared loaf tin and bake in preheated oven for about 50 minutes or until the top starts to brown slightly. Remove from loaf tin, cool completely on a wire rack.

Apple-Cranberry Oatmeal Bars

Wooed by my grocery store's clever Fall display, I made it home from my last shopping trip with a half peck of Gala apples. In our house, apples get eaten frequently by our toddler. However, even with him eating one or two a day, I knew I needed to start baking or cooking with them to use them up.

When I was making these, Sage said "Aren't we gonna, like, get fat from all this baking you've been doing?" I reminded him that we only eat a little and give the rest to someone else. Well, after tasting these, I'd better come up with some really healthy dinners the next few nights, because these won't be making it into the possession of any of our loved ones! Sage even declared these as possibly the best thing I've ever baked.

These were so tempting, we couldn't even wait last night for them to properly cool before sampling. Then we had to wrap them up and force ourselves to go to bed. Warm, they don't hold their shape well, but would be perfect for topping with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and eating with a spoon. For me, these are definitely a dessert and not a grab-and-go breakfast. They are quite sweet (although the sweet taste is much stronger cooled than warm) so when I make these again, I will reduce the sugar, add another apple or two, and I am pretty sure I could use whole wheat flour and they'd still taste amazing. A great thing about these bars is you could switch out the filling, using different types of fresh and/or dried fruit, or even jarred chunky applesauce, as the recipe originally suggests. I will definitely be experimenting with this one.

adapted from the Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook

2 apples suitable for baking, peeled, cored and diced

1 cinnamon stick

2 tbsp water

1 cup all purpose flour

1 cup quick cooing oats

2/3 cup brown sugar

1/4 baking soda

1/2 cup butter

1/2 cup dried sweetened cranberries

dash of ground cloves

Combine apples, cinnamon stick and water in a saucepan. Cover and simmer until apples are very tender, about 20 minutes. If there is excess water, drain most off. Remove stick, and mash apples with fork. Set aside.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Mix flour, oats, sugar and baking soda in a meduim bowl. Using a pastry cutter, cut in butter until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. (I don't have a pastry cutter, so I just pulsed it in the food processor and other than the oats gettting slightly chopped up, it worked just fine.) Reserve a half of cup of crumb mixture. Press remaining into an ungreased 11x7 baking pan.

Add cranberries and cloves to apples and stir to mix well. Spread over top of crumb layer. Sprinkle with reserved crumbs. Bake for 30-35 minutes, until golden brown. Cool and cut into bars.

Curry Pasta Salad

For the 4th of July, I wanted to make some kind of pasta salad, but something different than the typical Italian or Greek styles I normally make. I remembered a curry pasta salad I'd once had. The flavor of the dressing had been really good but it was basically just pasta, raisins or currants and celery. It just hadn't had enough to it for my liking.

I browsed a half dozen recipes that I found online and got ideas for what I'd put in mine. I really enjoyed this! With each bite you got a wide range of flavors and texture. I enjoyed a bowl the next day with the addition of a little honey drizzled on top, so I may experiment with adding a little honey to the dressing next time. And while I liked it with the mini bow-ties, I will most likely make it with orzo next time just to be different. I will also add extra apple. As a time saver, I bought my carrots precut into matchsticks and chopped them, instead of shredding them.

.

8 oz. (1/2 of a box) mini farfalle pasta
1 fuji apple, chopped ( I drizzled with lemon juice to keep from browning)
¼ cup chopped celery
½ cup golden raisins
1 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1/3 cup carrots, shredded or julienned and chopped
Toasted almond silvers

Dressing:
3 tbsp light mayo (I used the kind with olive oil)
2 tbsp lemon juice
2 tsp curry powder
1 tbsp olive oil
Salt to taste

1. Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain and cool under cold running water.
2. Meanwhile, in a large bowl, blend dressing ingredients.
3. Add pasta, chickpeas, carrots, celery, raisins and apple to bowl, and mix gently.
4. Chill until ready to serve. Top with toasted almonds just before serving.

Apple Walnut Rice

My mother-in-law brought us a big bag of walnuts today. I was trying to decide what to make for dinner, and in my mind I kept pairing the nuts with apple...and brown rice? My husband loves rice (I'm a pasta girl at heart) and I've learned to enjoy rice a lot more in the past few years.

I jumped on allrecipes.com as I so often do for inspiration. I found such a recipe, although made with instant white rice, and I totally made my own version. I paired it with turkey kielbasa, which in my opinion was kind of a nice contrast with the salty and sweet. While he LOVED the rice, Sage didn't care for the two together so much. We both decided it would go perfect with pork tenderloin. Next time I'd like to add chopped celery but I didn't have any. And I may make less, since it isn't great leftover.

1 ½ cup plus ¼ cup water, divided
1 cup apple juice
½ tsp salt
½ tsp ground cinnamon
Pinch of celery seed
1 cup long grain brown rice
½ cup chopped onion
Cooking spray
1 small apple, peeled and chopped
2/3 cup chopped walnuts

1. In large saucepan, bring 1 ½ cup water and apple juice to a boil. Add rice, cinnamon, salt, and celery seed. Stir, cover, and reduce heat to low. Cook for 45 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, sauté onion in small skillet coated with cooking spray.
3. When rice has cooked for 45 minutes, add ¼ cup water, sautéed onion, apples and walnuts. Cook 5-10 minutes or until rice is done and apples lose their crispness.