Here is another iced tea recipe from allrecipes.com, this one with pineapple and lemon. The recipe does not specify what type of tea to use, so plain Lipton would work fine, but I used black Assam. I typically do not use sugar in my tea, but felt it was needed in this case. Adjust the sugar to suit your tastes.

4 cups boiling water
7 tea bags
1 1/2 cups unsweetened pineapple juice
1/4 lemon juice
2 tbsp sugar, or to taste

Pour boiling water over tea bags in a heat-resistant pitcher. Steep for 5 minutes or until desired stregth. Remove tea bags and stir in sugar until dissolved. Cool to room temperature.

Stir in pineapple juice and lemon juice. Chill tea for 1-2 hours.

To serve, pour tea over glasses filled with ice. Garnish with lemon wedges if desired.

A Jenn Original Recipe! I wanted to make a simple dish to go with the Macaroni & Zucchini Salad the other night, and this is what I came up with:

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1/3 cup basil, chopped
1 tsp minced garlic
1 tsp lemon juice
1 tsp olive oil
1/2 onion, coarsely chopped
3 green onions, sliced
1/4 tsp salt
fresh ground black pepper, to taste

Combine basil, garlic, lemon juice, and olive oil in a large bowl. Finely dice about a third of the chopped onion and add to basil mixture. Sprinkle chicken breasts with salt and place in basil mixture, turning to coat.

In a large non-stick skillet coated in oil or cooking spray over medium heat, arrange coated chicken breasts and top with any remaining basil mixture. Cook 8-10 minutes on each side, or until chicken is well browned and cooked through.

Add remaining chopped onion and green onions to skillet. Saute with chicken, scrapping any browned bits from the pan, until golden. Remove from heat and serve chicken breasts topped with sauteed onion mixture. Season with pepper as desired.

Pictured here with Macaroni & Zucchini Salad and fresh tomatoes from the Farmer’s Market:

Original title: Orzo and Zucchini Salad from the magazine Everyday Food. I did not have orzo and felt macaroni would be an appropriate substitute, and ended up altering the recipe quite a bit. It doesn’t quite make it a Jenn Original, but definitely my own spin to the recipe.

2 cups uncooked macaroni
2 large zucchini, quartered length-wise and thinly sliced
1 tbsp plus 1 tsp olive oil
1 tsp minced garlic
1 tsp white wine vinegar
1/2 cup chopped basil
1/4 tsp pepper

Bring a pot of salted water to a boil. Cook macaroni per package directions until al dente. Drain and spread on a rimmed baking sheet to cool.

Over medium-high heat, saute garlic in 1 tbsp olive oil to 2-3 minutes. Add zucchini and toss, sauteing 4-6 minutes or until zucchini is crisp-tender. Remove from heat.

Combine macaroni, zucchini, and basil in a large serving dish. Toss well with additional 1 tsp olive oil, vinegar, and pepper. Serve at room temperature.

I bought a pound of green and yellow beans from the Farmer’s Market, but I don’t have time to use them at the moment. This lead to an Internet search on freezing vegetables. From the website PickYourOwn.Org (http://www.pickyourown.org/index.htm), here is a quick and easy way to freeze fresh green beans in 10 Steps:

Step One: Wash green beans in lukewarm water, discarding spoiled/damaged beans 

Step Two: Trim ends and cut into 1-inch pieces with a sharp knife

Step Three: Bring a large pot of water to a boil over HIGH heat

Step Four: Boil (blanch) beans for 3 minutes on HIGH heat, covered

Step Five: Fill a large bowl with ice and cold water

Step Six: Drain beans and plunge into ice water bath

Step Seven: After 3 minutes in ice water bath, drain beans thoroughly

Step Eight: Place drained beans in a freezer zip-lock bag

Step Nine: Remove as much air as possible and securely close bag

Step Ten: Label bag with date and place in coldest part of freezer  

When ready to use beans, thaw or heat as needed. Frozen beans will keep up to 6 months or longer if stored properly. After that, the beans won’t make you sick, but might not taste so great.

Steps One & Two:

Step Six:

Steps Eight, Nine & Ten:

Done!

An interesting iced tea recipe I found on allrecipes.com. I had a hard time finding Irish Breakfast Tea, as most places on had EnglishBreakfast Tea…apparently, there is a difference. I did eventually find Twinings Irish Breakfast Tea at the World Market. It is a full-bodied, brisk, malty brew typically served with milk or lemon. The Irish drink this tea throughout the day, hence the morning-afternoon-night name.

Though it is a blend of several black teas, including Ceylon and Assam, you could easily substitute Assam and forgo the search. The original recipe calls for 4 tea bags and 8 cups of water, steeping for 30 minutes. I used 6 tea bags and 8 cups of water, steeping for 15 minutes. I like my tea nice and strong.

4-6 Irish Breakfast (or Assam) tea bags
8 cups boiling water
1/3 cup honey, or more to taste
2 cups milk
lemon wedges, for garnish

Pour boiling water over tea bags in a heat-resistant pitcher. Steep 15-30 minutes, or to desired strength. Remove tea bags and stir in honey. Allow tea to cool to room temperature and then chill for 1-2 hours.

Stir in milk once tea is chilled. Serve over ice and garnish with lemon.

The best I can describe this iced tea is slightly sweet, mild, and very refreshing!