More Sumptuous Summer Salads
'Tis the season!
Our bountiful bevvy of beauties tonight consisted of:
- Mixed baby greens
- Arugula
- Asparagus, marinated in balsamic and lemon pepper
- Hard cooked eggs
- Nectarines
- Tomatoes
- Gorgonzola cheese
- Avocado
- Grilled chicken
and a dressing made of balsamic, olive oil, honey, champagne mustard, and garlic.
And we had more of that wonderful chocolate cake for dessert.
Baked Alaskan Cod
For the first time in months I've actually written the word "Alaska" and not first referenced their soon-to-be-former-governor. I love the seafood up there but can't say the same for their politicians. Then again, there really aren't too many politicians I do like. They're all politicians.
But politics aside for a moment, Victor cooked up a great Alaskan Cod tonight. Really good!
He made up some fresh breadcrumbs, added a bit of garlic and a pinch of Italian seasoning and a drizzle of olive oil to moisten it a bit. He patted it onto the cod and into the oven it went.
And as a treat, he made a really good tartar sauce - mayonnaise, sweet pickle relish and worcestershire sauce.
Israeli couscous medley and broccoli finished the plate. It was just the perfect mix of flavors - and even more perfect because I didn't cook!
Sumptuous Summer Salads
I've been a bit remiss in my salad-making this summer. It's strange because I've probably been buying a lot more produce than in years past - it's just not ending up on a plate with a dressing. It probably has a bit to do with the charcoal grill vs the old gas grill, too. It was easier to toss something on the gas grill and then use it to top a salad. Now... if I'm starting a fire, I want something a bit more substantial. Trade-offs....
But... the coals were lit tonight for a couple of chicken breasts sprinkled with a bit of garlic, olive oil, S&P. I also grilled some Belgian endive - excellent on the grill!
I also added tomatoes and avocado, and served it atop fresh arugula.
Victor made a vinaigrette with orange juice, balsamic and olive oil, with garlic and herbs from the garden.
I'm going to have to do these more often. (Except tomorrow... I have a couple of steaks that are ready for the charcoal...)
Happy July 4th!
It was a wild and crazy day!
Food and drink were ridiculously bountiful, family and friends and little kids... Hawai'ian music in the background... Definitely a fun day.
It was a Hawai'ian--themed party... What better way to celebrate the 4th, eh?!?
I started off by grilling pork tenderloins that had been marinated in teriyaki sauce, pineapple juice, and allspice. Then brushed with the last of the strawberry BBQ sauce.
And then I made a fresh pineapple salsa to top it off.
I really wanted to make a silly watermelon boat of some sort - a Hawai'ian Outrigger was my first idea - but reality (and time) set in and it became a simple hollowed out watermelon with some lovely-tacky silk flowers (and a paper umbrella).
Marie's mom, Joann made an utterly delicious cherry pie, and Marie brought over banana cakes topped with an assortment of great toppings.
Unfortunately, the camera came out and went away before the party really started, and I never got any pictures of the food everyone else brought! We had homemade candied walnuts, caramel brownies, artichoke dip, strawberry rhubarb pie, a lemonade iced tea cocktail majob that was really good, plus a strawberry salad with a poppy seed dressing, marinated tomatoes, and.... and... potato salad, coconut rice pudding... and hot dogs... and... and...
Yumlicious.
A great time was had by all, and we have leftovers!
Cookin' up a storm!
Okay. Not really. We called for pizza (Peace-A-Pizza... pretty good stuff!) and I made root beer floats for dessert. We have friends staying with us for the holiday and... well... It's more fun to sit around and talk and stuff than cook dinner. Especially since we're getting ready for tomorrow's festivities.
Fun. Fun. Fun.
I did a quick stirfry last night...
...and then a lemon cake with fresh nectarines, homemade fig jam, and whipped cream, foir dessert.
Stay tuned for lots of pictures, tomorrow!
Pork Scallops with LOTS of Mushrooms
When I pulled two thick pork chops out of the freezer, this morning, I didn't have much of a plan, but I did kinda figure they would go on the grill. I still have BBQ sauce as well as a bazillion different things to marinade with.
When I got home from work and opened the fridge, I knew something else was going to become of them - and it was going to involve mushrooms!
I had lots of mushrooms in the ol' vegetable bin, and mushrooms don't usually like to stick around that long. Those nice, thick pork chops were about to get sliced in half, pounded, floured, and sauteed - with a big ol' sliced leek, white wine, a splash of chicken broth, and a pinch of French herbs.
It was a good call, if I do say so m'self! And... it was a lot quicker than firing up the grill!
Lumpy, unpeeled mashed potatoes and steamed broccoli finished the plate.
And since it's hot and muggy outside, we'll have ice cream for dessert later on.
And we're going to have guests starting tomorrow!
Oh boy!
Burgers on the Barbie
Those peppers from yesterday?!? Boy, did they ever make a great burger! As did a bit of the strawberry BBQ sauce, cheese, bacon, tomato, red onion, catsup, mayo, and mustard.
I mixed a bit of the BBQ sauce in with the meat before forming the patties for a bit of added flavor. Not a lot - just enough to add that extra flavor. I normally add just a bit of S&P to the meat - nothing else. This was a good call.
The burgers were huge, of course. Impossible to properly eat. They made a huge mess and required lots and lots of napkins.
Dessert is definitely going to wait awhile, tonight.....
Chicken Salad Salad
Tonight's dinner started with my weekly trek to Gentile's this morning. Sunshine, blue skies, minimal traffic... It was the perfect drive down. I had the wiondows open, the radio blaring. What's that expression... "Dance like no one is looking"? Well... that was me singing in the car. It was rather fun. Wendy Wadsworth and I belting out "I'm Guilty" and me, Dolly Parton and Vince Gill doing a great rendition of "I Will Always Love You". (Eat your heart out, Whitney!) Who knew 8 miles could be so much fun?!?
My timing was perfect, too! The store wasn't crowded and I had time to actually browse around a bit. The very first thing I saw was my oblong watermelon - with seeds! I'm psyched! I have to figure out how to carve it into a Hawai'ian outrigger or something for Saturday! I picked up a lot of fruit that should be perfect on Saturday to chop and fill it up.
One thing I picked up for today was a bunch of long hot peppers for Victor to fry. I like having them in the 'fridge to add to things. And these guys have been pretty hot.
Victor said he would actually grill them this time around, so I got the fire going and cooked off a couple of chicken breasts for salads. Victor was still working, so i charred them nicely, placed 'em in a bag to sweat, and then peeled and seeded them. They smelled fantastic and tasted fantastic. At that point, all I really wanted was a chicken sandwich with peppers, but I also wanted a salad. The salad won - but with a twist.
I made a quick chicken salad with the cubed grilled chicken, a couple of the peppers, diced, a tablespoon of mayonnaise, juice of a lime, salt and pepper. Tart, creamy, spicy. Perfect.
I also had an avocado that needed eating tonight. It was r-i-p-e. It was actually a little too ripe to just slice into the salad, and as I stood at the island, I saw those deep red, vine-ripened tomatoes and thought "Stuffed Tomatoes"! I made a quick guacamole with the avocado and a couple of tablespoons of picante sauce, hollowed out the tomatoes and filled.
Foe the dressing, I added 2 tbsp of mayonnaise to the bowl I had made the guacamole in (there was a tiny-tad left in there), juice of a lime, a tablespoon of picante sauce, and a bit of S&P. Instant Mexican Thousand Island!
Diced green onions, grapes, and apricots finished the plate.
And tonight's dessert will be ice cream.
Strawberry Pineapple Pork Tenderloin
After grilling all day long, I thought I would come home and - grill. What can I say? I'm a glutton for punishment.
Actually, it's pretty much the easiest way to get dinner on the table - and the least amount of mess. (Not that I clean, mind you, but I do like to think of others from time to time...)
Pork tenderloin grilled with strawberry bbq sauce sitting atop grilled pineapple - straight from the Dole can - and a drizzle of more bbq sauce on top. Yes, I could have bought a fresh pineapple - and it really would have been excellent - but I bought 5 cans of pineapple on sale a while back and do need to use them up. It sorta defeats the purpose of getting a deal on something if ya don't use it, right?!?
The rice was cooked in the pineapple juice from the can, a bit of water, and a pinch each of allspice and ginger, salt and pepper. I toyed with the idea of adding some coconut, and then changed my mind. - I thought it might end up being too dessert-like. And green beans fresh from the freezer because my fresh produce is dwindling. I have to go shopping Monday.
It was a 20 minute meal that took forever because the charcoal chimney just wasn't cooperating today. It took three attempts to finally get it going. Oh well... I still like it better than the gas grill.
And... we have slices of Leslie's wedding cake for dessert, tonight.
Life is good.
More Clean-Out and Repurposing
Tonight's dinner is brought to you courtesy of last night's taco filling and the night before's macaroni and cheese. I made too much meat filling (what a shock!) and had more cheese sauce than I needed for the mac and cheese (another "you've got to be kidding!" moment).
It made for a delectable Sloppy Joe with Cheese Fries!
It was an 18 minute dinner - the length of time needed to cook the fries. They went into the oven, I sauteed a bit of red onion (also left over from last night) and a green pepper (just something that needed using up) in a drizzle of olive oil. When it was pretty well cooked, I added the taco filling and a can of tomato sauce. Made it hot. It didn't need any other spices or seasonings. And I finished off an open bag of fries and used a couple more frozen buns. I'm beginning to see into the freezer!!!
Fries came out of the oven and they were topped with cheese sauce and some green onions.
I was actually a little bit bummed. I was talking at work with one of my coworkers and he mentioned cheese fries with bacon and green onions - which is how the cheese fries came about in the first place.
I forgot to cook the bacon!
Oh well...
On a fun note, I just received a big box from Oriental Trading Company. For those who don't know OTC, they are the king of the tacky, cheap, plastic, made-in-China party favors, and such. I love the place.
We're hosting a neighbor July 4th party and decided to do a Hawai'ian Theme. I bought hibiscus everything, plastic sippy cups with lids and straws for the little kids, pink flamingo tooth picks, a whole gross of little drink umbrellas, silk flower picks... dinner plates, dessert plates... Tacky as tacky can be.
It should be fun!
Multi-Meat Tacos and Canned Salad
The cabinet and freezer clean-out continues.
I tend to buy whole beef or pork loins, whole chickens, etc. I have a couple of knives and know how to cut steaks or chops, quarter a chicken - whatever. I portion-and-vacuum-pack everything with my food saver, and into the freezer, it goes. I sometimes end up with a single thin chop, an end to a beef tenderloin, the odd piece of chicken here and there. Things that on their own aren't much use. Victor always throws them into his sauce when he makes it, but I can buy more than he can cook! I get tired of moving them around the freezer. At some point, they all have to get used.
Tonight was that night.
I made beef, pork, and chicken tacos.
I took the reasonably-thawed meat and put it into a pot with half a bottle of Mojo Marinade (a real citrusy Cuban marinade) and a can of chipotle sauce. Covered it and let it simmer for several hours. I drained it, shredded it with two forks, and then put it into a dry skillet. IAs it was heating, I added a can of chipotle sauce and it was ready.
Served it with fried corn tortillas for me and soft flour tortillas for Victor, along with guacamole, sour cream shredded iceberg lettuce, diced tomato, green onions, and shredded cheddar cheese.
And canned salad... I just made this one up to clear out some of the cabinets, as well...
Canned Salad
- 1 can black beans, drained
- 1 can white beans, drained
- 1 can corn, drained
- 1 can diced tomatoes, drained
- 1 small jar pimentos, drained
- 2 stalks celery, diced
- 1/2 small red onion, diced
- 3 green onions, sliced
- 1 tsp Happy Hal's Jalapeno Relish
- 4 radishes, diced
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- 1/4 cup malt vinegar
- 1/2 cup chopped parsley
- 1/4 cup chopped cilantro
- salt and pepper, to taste.
Mix, chill, and eat!
It's really colorful and really went well with dinner, tonight.
And, in keeping with my clean-out mode, tomorrow night's dinner is going to be sloppy joe's made with tonight's leftover meat.
Eating weird and loving it!
Tonight's Dinner and Last Night's Dessert
I've been working at cleaning out the fridge and the freezer. Tonight was all about finishing off those pieces of cheese collecting in the cheese bin and the hunk of ham in the freezer from Easter. There was going to be a cheese sauce, definitely, but there was too much for rarebit, so mac and cheese, it was!
My mother made the best macaroni and cheese. We never-ever had the boxed stuff growing up, and to this day I can honestly say I have never purchased one. Mac and cheese is just too easy to make! I make it like mom did - a medium white sauce with whatever-cheese is in the house, a shot of tabasco and worcestershire sauce, ham if it isn't Friday... and elbow macaroni. Buttered crumbs on top. 350° for about 30 minutes. Comfort-food simplicity.
It was everything I knew it would be - and more. I was bad and even went back for seconds.
I did save juuuuuust enough room for dessert, though!
Victor made this last night from his apple cake recipe.
Victor's Banana Cake
- 3 cups flour
- 2 cups sugar
- 1 cup oil
- 2 tsp cinnamon
- 4 tsp sugar
- 1/2 cup milk
- 4 eggs
- 2 tsp vanilla
- 3 tsp baking powder
- 2 large bananas, mashed
Preheat oven to 350°. Mash bananas. Add 4 tsp sugar and 2 tsp cinnamon and stir together.
Combine flour, sugar, baking powder and set aside.
Beat together eggs, milk, bananas & vanilla. Add oil, mix in flour mixture.
Pour into a well-greased tube pan. Sprinkle cinnamon and sugar on top.
Bake at 350° for 1 1/2 hours or until cake tests done.
Cool before slicing.
It's really good!