Unitarian Universalist Society of Iowa City

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Garden-fresh Recipes
from the Green Sanctuary Committee
 

Desserts
Salads

Sauces
Veggies

Cream Cheese Bundt Cake with Blueberry Spice Sauce
Serves 12

Jeannette Carter


1-2/3 sticks margarine

1-1/2 tsp vanilla extract
2/3 stick unsalted butter
4 eggs
2 cups sugar
2 cups flour, sifted
6 oz cream cheese
Pinch of salt

Sauce:
1 cup sugar
2 long, thick strips of lemon peel
1 cup water
10 whole peppercorns
1 stick cinnamon, broken in two
1-16 oz pkg frozen blueberries, picked over

Do NOT preheat the oven. Grease and flour a Bundt pan, knocking out the excess flour.

Cream together the butter, margarine, and sugar until the mixture is light yellow and fluffy. Completely beat in the cheese. Beat in the vanilla, and then the eggs (one at a time). Beat in the flour and salt.

Spoon into the Bundt pan; put the pan in a cold oven. Bake at 275 degrees until a tester comes out clean, about 1 hr. 10 min. (but test for doneness after an hour).

Let the cake cool before turning it out of the pan. Dust the completely cooled cake with confectioner's sugar.

For the sauce:
Combine the sugar, water, cinnamon, lemon peel, and peppercorns in a heavy saucepan. Bring to a boil, stirring. Cook until the syrup starts to thicken. Remove from the heat and stir in the frozen blueberries.

Let the sauce cool before covering and refrigerating.

Serve slices of cake topped with sauce.

 

Great Pie Crust
(For a large two crust fruit pie)

Jeanette Carter

2 cups flour
1/2 cup cold Crisco
A little salt

Blend first three ingredients with a pastry blender, add 4-5 Tbs ice cold water and blend with fork. Shape this into a ball and let sit a few minutes.

Roll out 1/2 between two sheets of wax paper (wet the surface so the paper doesn’t slide. Place in 10” pie tin, and fill pie tin with whatever fruit filling you are using. Cut up little pieces of butter and put on top of fruit.

Roll out second ½ of crust and put on top. Trim sides and crimp edges. Make a number of slices on top of crust.

Pat top with a little water and spread sugar on it. Put aluminum foil around the edges of the crust.

Cook at 425 degrees for 25 minutes, remove foil. Cook another 23 minutes.
 

Broccoli/Bacon/Raisin Salad
Sue Eberly


4 cups fresh broccoli, broken into flowerets, stems peeled and cut into small pieces
4 strips bacon, fried until crisp, well-drained, cooled, and crumbled
1/2 cup hulled sunflower seeds
1/2 cup raisins

Dressing:
3/4 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup sugar or Splenda
2 Tbs  vinegar (white, or 2 Tbs lemon juice)

Mix together dressing in large bowl. Gently stir in broccoli, sunflower seeds, raisins, and bacon; mix well. Chill for an hour to let flavors blend, stir again and serve.

 

Favorite tomatoes
Sue Eberly


On a hot afternoon, pick, wash, and slice tomatoes, and arrange on a pretty plate.

Sprinkle lightly with sugar and freshly chopped basil. Serve still warm from the garden.
 

Salad Caprese
Lois Lindaman


Arrange, alternating the slices on a platter:

     4 large ripe tomatoes cut in 1/2 " slices
     12 oz. fresh mozzarella, cut in 1/4 " slices

Sprinkle with 1-1/2 cups basil leaves, chopped

Drizzle over the salad 1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil

Sprinkle with salt (kosher) and freshly ground pepper to taste.
 

Too Many Tomatoes Sauce
Jeanette Carter
5 pints

(From one of my favorite cookbooks, Too Many Tomatoes...
a Cookbook for When Your Garden Explodes
)


Sauté until golden, about 10 minutes in large pot:
2 large onions, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced

1/3 cup olive oil

Add to pot and stir in: 15 large tomatoes - peel, cut into eighths

Then add:
2 cups red wine 

12 ounces tomato paste
1 ½ teaspoons salt
¼ teaspoon pepper
2 heaping teaspoons dried oregano
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon crushed dried rosemary

Bring to boil, simmer 1 hour uncovered

Note: Very ripe tomatoes make the best sauce. Freeze in bags or containers. This makes 5 pints, but I double or triple it depending on how many tomatoes I have.
 

Fresh garden salsa
Makes about 3 cups
Sue Eberly


2-3 fresh tomatoes, a mix of red and yellow tomatoes is nice
1/2 white or yellow onion
1/2 cup finely sliced green onion/scallion tops
1 hot banana pepper (or other moderately hot pepper), chopped fine (seeds out if you prefer milder salsa, leave them in if you like it really hot)
Juice of one lime
1/2 tsp dried cumin or 1 tsp fresh cumin
1/4 cup dried or ½ cup fresh parsley
1 Tbs  finely chopped fresh garlic
Salt and pepper to taste

Chop tomatoes, onion, pepper as finely as desired. Cut green onion tops into round, thin “rings”; chop garlic very fine (or mash). Gently stir all together.

Add lime juice, cumin, parsley, salt, and pepper; toss well but gently.

Chill in a covered glass/pottery dish for at least two hours so flavors combine.

Serve fresh. Can also be frozen; be sure to carefully exclude all air from container before freezing.
 

Baked Sweet Potato Fries
Mary McMurray
4 servings


Heat oven to 425 degrees

2 medium sweet potatoes, scrubbed and dried
1 Tbs  olive oil
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp paprika

Slice each sweet potato lengthwise into 8 pieces. Toss with oil, salt, and paprika. Spread in a single layer on a baking sheet and bake until lightly browned on the bottom, about 15 minutes.

Turn slices and bake until bottom is browned and potatoes are tender, about 10 minutes more. Serve hot.
 

Beets in Cream
Diane Martin
Serves 4


Combine 1/2 cup sour cream
2 Tbs milk
1 Tbs sliced green onion
1 Tbs vinegar
1 tsp sugar
1/4 tsp salt

Heat through, but do not boil.
Spoon over 3 cups sliced, halved beets, cooked and drained.
 

Grandma J’s Green Beans
Sue Eberly
 


3-4 cups fresh green beans, whole; washed, tipped, and topped
4 slices bacon
Salt and pepper

Fry bacon, being careful not to burn. When crisp, remove from pan and set aside.
Add beans, stir well to coat with bacon grease, and then add about 1/2 cup water.

Cover pan and steam, stirring occasionally, until beans are fork tender and all water has cooked away. Again, be careful not to burn.

Crumble bacon and sprinkle over beans. Stir, season to taste, and serve.
 

Quick Pickled Beets
Mary McMurray
About 6 servings


1 pound washed and trimmed beets
7 Tbs sugar
6 Tbs apple cider vinegar
1/2 tsp salt

Boil the beets until tender – 15 to 45 minutes, depending on size – then drop into cold water and peel them.

Slice small beets into 1/4 inch rounds; quarter larger beets before slicing. Put into heat-resistant bowl or jar.

Make pickling syrup by combining the sugar, vinegar, salt and 1-1/2 Tbs water in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil, stirring, then pour the syrup over the beets.

Serve at room temperature or cold. They will keep for several weeks in the refrigerator.
 

Roasted Beets
Mary McMurray


Do not peel the beets but scrub them under running water.

Cut them into quarters, season with some salt, pepper, and olive oil, and roast in a 400-degree oven until they are tender.
 

Sautéed Zucchini and Fettuccine
Lois Lindaman


1 pkg. (9 oz.) refrigerated fettuccine
4 Tbs  extra-virgin olive oil
1 Tbs  minced garlic
2 lg. zucchini, thin sliced
¼ to ½ cup pine nuts, toasted
½ tsp. salt
¼ tsp. black pepper
1 Tbs freshly squeezed lemon juice (I use frozen lemon juice)
2 oz. shaved or thickly grated Parmesan cheese

Cook fettuccine following package directions. Drain and place in a large serving bowl.

Heat a large nonstick skillet over high heat. Add 2 Tbs of the olive oil, garlic and zucchini. Sauté for 1 minute.

Add zucchini mixture to pasta in bowl along with pine nuts, salt, pepper, lemon juice and remaining 2 Tbs of olive oil; toss to combine.

Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and serve immediately.
 

Zippy Zucchini
Lois Lindaman
Makes 6 to 8 servings.


In large saucepan, sauté 1 cup onion in 3 Tbs  butter until lightly browned.

Add approximately 2 lb. zucchini cut in thick slices and 1 lg. tomato, cut in wedges.

Stir in 1 envelope Good Seasons Italian Salad Dressing mix.

Bring to a boil and reduce heat. Cover and simmer about 10 minutes or until zucchini is tender.
 

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Unitarian Universalist Society of Iowa City

10 S. Gilbert Street
Iowa City, IA 52240
319-337-3443
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Standing together, inclusive and free -- the Unitarian Universalist Society of Iowa City,
a liberal religious congregation since 1841.

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