The post What You Can Do With Winter Veggies appeared first on Element Deer Valley Blog.
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When winter falls upon our Phoenix, AZ apartment community, we get excited about all the fruits and veggies that come into season. All the colorful produce is such a welcome change that brings new flavors and recipe ideas to the dinner table. If you're looking for the best way to utilize winter vegetables, we've got some great ideas.
Make Soup
Soup is the quintessential winter-weather food, and it provides a channel through which you can enjoy many of this season's fresh vegetables all in one place. Consider making a vegetarian kale soup or imbibe on some creamy carrot soup alongside a grilled cheese sandwich. The following winter veggies work great in soups and stews:
- Parsnips
- Collard greens
- Radishes
- Red cabbage
- Rutabagas
If you're looking for a boost of protein, look for recipes that incorporate meat, beans or lentils into the mix.
Make Sassy Side Dishes
Forget boring, bland side dishes. This season's vegetables are ripe for a little creativity in the kitchen. Brussels sprouts, for example, love being served with panko breadcrumbs and parmesan cheese. If you want to put potatoes to use in a way that'll blow standard spuds out of the water, try your hand at making homemade latkes. Roasted beets pair well with feta cheese and make for a great complement to meaty main dishes.
Try Something New
Have you ever heard of celeriac? It's a greenish-white root vegetable that's not known for its looks, but it makes up for its appearance by offering a healthy dose of daily fiber, vitamin C and phosphorus. You can make it in many of the same ways you'd make potatoes and other root veggies. Have you been turning up your nose at turnips? Perhaps this will be the season in which you step out of your comfort zone and sprinkle a little cheese on these winter vegetables.
Get Gourmet With Your Salads
Leave boring lettuce and dressing for another day. This time of year, embrace cabbage, winter squash and carrots in new and exciting ways.
Are you searching for a Phoenix apartment that features the kind of kitchen you'll want to spend time in? Our Element Deer Valley community features designer kitchens that are a dream for any amateur chef. Stop by so we can show you around today!
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You know you should eat your vegetables, but don't you get tired of the same ones? And are they a hassle to prepare along with whatever main course you’re fixing? With ratatouille, you can change things a bit every time you make it, using whatever vegetables you have on hand or the ones that look good in the store. And it’s great cold. Once you’ve cooked a batch, stick it in the fridge and have a ladleful or two with your next several dinners.
Ratatouille Ingredients
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Vegetables! There’s no fixed list, but try 1-inch pieces of these: 2 yellow onions, 1 medium eggplant (with skin), 2 zucchini, a summer squash, a couple of different color peppers, and half a dozen tomatoes. Also 5 smashed garlic cloves.
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Fresh spices: ¼ cup parsley, 1 tbsp thyme, 1 tbsp rosemary, ¼ cup basil.
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¼ cup of white wine.
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A big pinch of salt, a few grinds of pepper and a generous pinch of red pepper flakes.
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2-3 tbsp red wine vinegar.
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Olive oil to film a skillet.
Ratatouille Directions
Use a large, deep skillet, and saute the onions and garlic in oil for 2-3 minutes. Add the eggplant and both kinds of squash and soften 2-3 minutes. Then stir in all peppers, tomatoes, wine, parsley, thyme, rosemary and sprinkle on salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes. Lower heat, cover, and cook until very soft, about 45-60 minutes, stirring occasionally. If it looks dry, dump in some more wine. When everything is tender, stir in the vinegar and basil and add salt and pepper to taste. Let the ratatouille cool to room temperature before serving.
Eat as much as you like and refrigerate the rest. Bring it to room temp or serve it right out of the fridge. Either is great, and it gets better as the flavors meld.
If you’re looking for a new home where you can be in your own element and try out great recipes, check out Element at Deer Valley. These Phoenix, AZ apartments offer all the convenience of the north metro plus easy access to Phoenix, Scottsdale and the airport. See the web site for layouts from studio to 4-bedroom or call at (866) 367-3402.
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The regular season is over, but that doesn't mean football's finished. In fact, the big game is just weeks away, which means you have just enough time to plan your get-together. The residents of our Phoenix, Arizona, apartments have been feverishly coming up with entertainment ideas for this year's end-of-season football game. We thought we'd share some of their ideas with you.
Buffalo Chicken Potato Skins
Potato skins are an essential ingredient for any tailgating party, but this recipe takes it up a notch. By incorporating protein into the skins themselves, you're delivering a more satisfying situation to your guests than any bland potato could ever provide.
Touchdown-Inspired Elements
A home printer can turn a simple piece of paper into a work of post-season football art. Utilize your printer to create name badges your guests can stick on their drink cups, or get a little more creative by printing football-field designs that can hold popcorn, chicken wings and other delightful appetizers.
Superbowl Bingo
There are certain things that are bound to happen during the big game. It's in your best interest to make those situations fun and entertaining. Build bingo boards, filling in the squares with things that are most likely to happen during the three hours the most famous football game of the year is being played. Was there a beer commercial? Check! Did the other team just get a holding penalty? Check! This is a fun way to engage in the game, even if you don't really care who's playing.
The Essentials
The easiest way to make sure you have enough food and drinks is to ask all of your guests to do their part. When everyone brings something that's edible or drinkable, you can focus on supplying the rest. Make sure you have a plethora of plates, cups and napkins available. Don't forget to get a few extra rolls of toilet paper if you'll have guests in your home; you never want to be the host who leaves people high and dry, so to speak.
If you're looking for an apartment that's entertainment-ready, you've come to the right place. We invite you to stop by Element Deer Valley so you can envision your next home in real life.
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There is so much to do around the holidays, and it can really become overwhelming fast! One area that can be difficult is managing all of the food for holiday dinners. Even if you are not planning the entire thing and are just bringing a side, it can be a lot to manage. Luckily, there are a lot of things that you can make in a crockpot that do not take a lot of effort and are still delicious. These are a few recipes to try this year and make your holiday cooking that much less stressful.
Slow Cooker Mac and Cheese
Everyone loves a good dish of mac and cheese around the holidays. This recipe is super easy, and you do not even need to cook the noodles before you throw everything into the pot. This is a very cheesy recipe and one that everyone will love this year. The best part is that it is so simple to make for the whole family.
Cheese Mashed Potatoes
Mashed potatoes are a staple around the holidays, but they can be very difficult to make because of all the work that goes into them. Luckily, it is now a lot easier because you can make creamier mashed potatoes and add a bit of cheese for less than half the work as traditional recipes by using this one instead.
Yummy Cinnamon Apples
This can be a side dish or part of the dessert menu. This is an easy recipe, and it is also one that results in better flavor because it is the best way to bring out the natural flavors in the apples with less effort.
These recipes are just a few to get you started. There are a lot more that you can find online if you are looking for a different variation of the ones above or if you are looking for something completely different. If you are looking for a new place to call home and make these delicious recipes, be sure to check out these apartments in Phoenix. Stop by today to take a tour of the apartment and the property as well as to find out what we have available to see if it meets your wants and needs.
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]]>The post Simple and Tasty Salad Dressing Recipes appeared first on Element Deer Valley Blog.
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Contrary to popular belief, it is possible to enjoy a diet that is both healthy and delicious. The key to making health-conscious meals that appeal to your taste buds is being innovative and creative. For example, if you're constantly eating boring salads, consider spicing things up with a new dressing. Here are a few simple and tasty salad dressing recipes that you should follow.
Greek Yogurt Ranch
Not only is Greek yogurt ranch healthy, but it also goes very well with a leafy salad. Fortunately, the recipe for Greek yogurt ranch is fairly simple. All you need is whole milk Greek yogurt as the base and garlic powder, dried parsley, dried chives, onion powder, black pepper, Dijon mustard, buttermilk, and salt to turn the yogurt into ranch. If you want a lighter dressing, you can use low-fat Greek yogurt instead of whole milk Greek yogurt. However, you will be sacrificing flavor if you choose low-fat Greek yogurt over whole fat.
The Greek yogurt ranch recipe only calls for a little buttermilk. However, if you're tired of buying large containers of buttermilk and throwing the rest out, you should freeze the buttermilk in cubes. That way, you will always have frozen cubes of buttermilk on hand when you need it for biscuits, dressings, and pancakes.
Chile-Lime Salad Dressing
Another salad dressing recipe you should try is chile-lime. This topping is perfect for loaded taco salad. This salad dressing is spicy, lemony, and bright. The ingredients you will need for chile-lime salad dressing include zest, limes, red wine vinegar, soy sauce, honey, extra virgin olive oil, finely minced clove garlic or garlic powder, red pepper flakes, ground cumin, and salt. The spicier you want the dressing to be, the more red pepper flakes you should add. This dressing is great for not just taco salads but also for bean salads and marinating chicken or shrimp for your tacos.
Undoubtedly, you will not be disappointed if you decide to try out either of these salad dressing recipes. To learn about moving into a new apartment in Phoenix, AZ, don't hesitate to contact us.
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