Aromatic sweet peppers fill your senses with whimsical summer days no matter the season. I love the versatility of hummus. You can mix it up with what you have on hand, adjust the level of flavors to suit your audience, and it’s healthy in moderation. Click on for the recipe!

This hummus is best served on the second day!
Two Days to Sweet Pepper Hummus
Created by: A. Saucy Chef, Bend, Oregon

2 15 ou cans organic garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
4 full size roasted sweet peppers, packed in water - include liquid from jar
1 tablespoon garlic, minced (jar or fresh)
2 teaspoons lime juice, or to taste
1 cup Arrowroot Mills Organic Sesame Tahini

1/4 cup olive oil
Salt and freshly ground pepper

Place ingredients, except for olive oil and salt/pepper, into food processor. Drizzle approximately 1/4 cup olive oil as you mix in processor, adding more or reducing as needed to reach desired consistency. Pause to add salt and pepper to taste. Blend throughly. Refrigerate in a sealed container. Best consumed on 2nd day.

Chef notes: Try adding fresh parsley or cilantro.

A Hummus Dip for Everyone
By ~ a. saucy chef, Bend, Oregon

2 cans - 15 ounce each, garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained
2/3 cup tahini paste
1/2 to 1 capful of Original Mrs. Dash (for my son)
4 TB extra virgin olive oil, plus 1 TB for garnish
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice (or bottled for a mild flavour)
5 garlic cloves, skin removed

Sea salt and freshly ground pepper

1 tsp. Hungarian paprika (smoked or sweet)
Fresh parsley, finely chopped

Combine first fix ingredients in a food processor. Blend until somewhat smooth. Dip will be slightly coarse. Add a bit more of olive oil if mixture seems too thick. Season with salt and pepper.

Scoop into a shallow serving bowl. Drizzle olive oil over the top, followed by a generous sprinkling of paprika. Garnish with freshly chopped parsley (or grated fennel for a unique twist!).

Serve with tortilla or pita bread and fresh raw vegetables. Refrigerate leftovers. Enjoy!

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A delicious Sunday afternoon fiesta at home. You won’t miss those specialty wings at the restaurant with this recipe. Great for potlucks, parties, or gatherings. This recipe is designed for four to six pounds of wings.

Southwest Chicken Wings
Day ahead: The Sauce

10 TB of butter, melted
6 TB hot pepper sauce (Tabasco or Crystal types)
3 tsp ground cumin
2 heaping tsp chipotle chile pepper
1/4 cup fresh cilantro, finely chopped
6 TB fresh lime juice (about 6 small limes)

Mix well. Set aside for about an hour or so, then refrigerate overnight. This sauce is quite strong straightaway but mellows out and is just right once it is incorporated the next day.

Day ahead: The Chicken Wings
You can prepare the wings a day ahead or on the day you wish to serve them. I recommend the following:

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees. Place about 4 pounds of chicken wing pieces in a large rectangular oven-proof baking dish. Pile them up - it doesn’t matter as these will bake up until almost tender while the juices self-baste. Place the wings in the oven for about 30 minutes or so. No need to disturb them during the cooking process. You want them cooked, but not so tender they fall apart. Transfer to a few plates or a cookie sheet. Allow to cool. Refrigerate until the next day. Do not apply sauce at this time.

The next day:
Place sauce in a large rectangular baking dish. Warm in microwave for a few minutes at reduced power until the butter has melted, but not separated. Set near grill.

Oil and heat grill, whether charcoal or gas. Add soaked hickory wood or specialty pellets for a slight smoking, if desired. Once heated, lower the temperature and slide the wings onto the hot grill. Close lid and cook until golden brown, using tongs or a spatula to turn as needed. Your chicken wings should be heated to a safe temperature of 165 degrees. Remove chicken wings and place in the sauce, straight from the grill. Toss gently until wings have been thoroughly coated.

* Serve warm with black bean dip and tortilla chips *

Warm Black Bean Dip
Can be prepared a day ahead then heated while wings are cooking.

1 Roma tomato, chopped
1/2 red onion, rough chop
3 TB cilantro, chopped, plus springs for garnish
2 cans (15 ounce each) black beans, drained and rinsed
1 TB ground cumin (or whole, ground and toasted for extra flavor)
2 tsp hot sauce (Tabasco or Crystal types)
2 TB fresh lime juice (about two limes)
4 ounces of aged white cheddar (Tillamook aged smoked black pepper white cheddar is fantastic!), cubed
Sea Salt. (start with 1/2 tsp and adjust if necessary)

Blend/pulse all ingredients except cheese in food processor until a coarse consistency is achieved. Add aged cheddar and continue to pulse until you have a coarse consistency again. Spray ramekins or smaller baking dish with non-stick spray (or grease). Fill baking dishes with black bean mixture and warm in the oven. Do not over bake as this dip is best when cooked only until warm. Sprinkle with a bit of grated cheese before removing from oven, continue to heat until melted. Serve with cilantro garnish and tortilla chips (homemade flour tortilla chips work well with this dish). Enjoy with Southwest Chicken Wings!

Flour Tortilla Chips
To make homemade flour tortilla chips, heat canola or peanut oil in a deep frying pan or frying pot (or fryer). Cut flour tortillas into shapes (triangles, squares, etc) and fry until light golden brown, turning as needed. Place on paper towel to absorb any residual oil.

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WASHINGTON, June 8, 2007 - Tyson Fresh Meats, Inc., a Sherman, Texas, establishment, is voluntarily recalling approximately 40,440 pounds of ground beef products due to possible contamination with E. coli O157:H7, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service announced today.

The products subject to recall include: [View Labels]

* 1.5-pound trays of “ANGUS STEAK BURGER ALL NATURAL, 85/15, 6- 1/4 POUND PATTIES.”
* 1.33-pound trays of “ANGUS STEAK BURGER ALL NATURAL, 85/15, EXTRA THICK, 4- 1/3 POUND PATTIES.”
* 2.25-pound trays of “73/27 ALL NATURAL GROUND BEEF, CARNE MOLIDA DE RES.”
* 5.5-pound trays of “73/27 ALL NATURAL GROUND BEEF, CARNE MOLIDA DE RES.”

Each label bears the establishment number “Est. 244S” inside the USDA mark of inspection as well as a “Use or Freeze By” date of “JUN 13 07.”

The problem was discovered through trim sampling done by the company. The ground beef products were produced on June 2, 2007 and were distributed to retail establishments in Alabama, Arkansas, Colorado, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Missouri, Mississippi, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Tennessee and Texas.

2 medium zucchini, rough chop
5 garlic cloves
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice
1-2 tsp. sea salt
1/4 - 1/2 tsp. chipotle chile pepper (omit for raw diet)
1 jalapeno, rough chop (optional)
1 1/2 tsp. paprika

To blend in later:
3/4 cup hemp seed
1 cup organic, no-salt tahini

Blend the first eight ingredients in food processor until smooth. Add 3/4 cup hemp seed (adds a nutty flavor). Blend again until smooth. Add 1 cup tahini and blend again. Garnish with parsley and paprika. Serve with yellow bell pepper, mushrooms, celery sticks, cucumber slices or your favorite seasonal vegetable. Yellow bell pepper complements this dip especially well.

For non-raw vegans, try adding tortilla bread (which is different than tortillas), or pita bread. It makes a fantastic sandwich!

USDA Meat and Poultry Hotline 1-888-MPHOTLINE or visit www.fsis.usda.gov

Consumers should only eat ground beef patties that have been cooked to a safe temperature of 160 °F. When a ground beef patty is cooked to 160 °F throughout, it can be safe and juicy, regardless of color.

The only way to be sure a ground beef patty is cooked to a high enough temperature to kill harmful bacteria is to use an accurate food thermometer.

Color is not a reliable indicator that ground beef patties have been cooked to a temperature high enough to kill harmful bacteria such as E. coli O157:H7.

Eating a pink or red ground beef patty without first verifying that the safe temperature of 160 °F has been reached is a significant risk factor for foodborne illness.

Thermometer use to ensure proper cooking temperature is especially important for those who cook or serve ground beef patties to people most at risk for foodborne illness because E. coli O157:H7 can lead to serious illness or even death. Those most at risk include young children, seniors, and those with compromised immune systems.

WASHINGTON, June 3, 2007 - United Food Group, LLC, a Vernon, Calif., establishment, is voluntarily recalling approximately 75,000 pounds of ground beef products because they may be contaminated with E. coli O157:H7, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service announced today.

Click on the link above or read the rest of this post for more information and which products are affected (such as MORAN’S All Natural 96/4 ground beef).

Consumers with questions about the recall should contact company Customer Service Representative James Turner at (800) 325-4164. Media with questions about the recall should contact company Vice-President for Sales and Marketing Brian Levy at (323) 588-5286.

The labels of the products subject to recall bear the establishment number “EST. 1241″ inside the USDA mark of inspection or printed on the package. All of the products bear a sell by date of “May/06/07,” a freeze by date of “May/07/07″ or a produced on date of “April/20/07.” Products subject to recall include: [View Labels, PDF Only]

* 10-pound casings of “MORAN’S All Natural, 73/27 fine ground beef.”
* 10-pound casings of “MORAN’S All Natural, 90/10 fine ground sirloin.”
* 2-pound chubs of “INTER-AMERICAN PRODUCTS 93/7 ground beef.”
* 1-pound chubs of “INTER-AMERICAN PRODUCTS 80/20 ground beef.”
* 1-pound chubs of “MORAN’S All Natural 73/27 ground beef.”
* 5-pound chubs of “MORAN’S All Natural 73/27 ground beef.”
* 3-pound chubs of “MORAN’S All Natural 73/27 ground beef.”
* 1-pound chubs of “MORAN’S All Natural, 90/10 fine ground sirloin.”
* 2-pound chubs of “MORAN’S All Natural 93/7 ground beef.”
* 2-pound chubs of “MORAN’S All Natural 96/4 ground beef.”
* 3-pound chubs of “STATER BROS. MARKETS 73/27 ground beef.”

Ingredients: Fresh cucumbers, fresh tomatoes - seeds and juice removed (heirlooms in season are the best!), sweet Walla Walla onions (salad or full-size), green bell pepper, vinegar, castor sugar, sea salt, and freshly ground pepper. Prepare ratios and flavors as desired. I enjoy this mix: couple of cucumbers, a tomato (sometimes large, sometimes medium - whatever is fresh and available), one bell pepper, one onion if large, or three if using the baby Walla Wallas). Marinate in one cup of champagne vinegar, 3/4 cup castor sugar, salt and pepper for a few hours or overnight.

Refrigerates up to a day without any troubles. Enjoy!

Ingredients: whole wheat angel hair pasta, sesame oil, canola oil, shallots, garlic, ginger, walla walla salad onions, large prawns (shrimp), bok choy (white and green portions), soy sauce, unsalted butter. salt and fresh ground pepper. This one is for the cookbook!