More Salads
Salads. ya gotta love 'em. Greens mixed with whatever... Just lots of fresh produce put on a plate. As Tony the Tiger said... "They're Grrrrrreat!"
I put a small piece of London broil on the grill and proceeded to overcook it a bit. We were out front gossiping with our new neighbors - much more fun than standing over the grill!
But the salad was great, nonetheless. The plates were a Goodwill find many years ago right after we bought our home in San Leandro, CA. Victor went away for three days on a business trip, and when he came back, I had put a table in the back yard, painted each of the four chairs the same colors as the plates... Matching tablecloth. It was so festive and gay... What was I thinking?!?
But the plates are fun - and they do remind me of summers past. And I think I paid 25 cents a piece for them.
What a deal!
Turkey on the Barbie
No, I haven't stopped cooking. in fact, I'm probably cooking more than ever. It's just that I haven't been making the time to 1) take pictures, and 2) actually sit down and write here.
I've been pretty busy updating websites, lately. After finally learning the basics of CSS, I'm redoing a whole slew of sites. It keeps me off the streets.
So... yesterday during my weekly shopping excursion, I picked up a turkey breast. It's called a "hotel" breast, because it just has the top part of the carcass - breast and wings - and all bone-in. I put it on the grill.
I heated the grill, and then turned off the center heat. After wrapping the bird in bacon I placed it in the center, turned down the other two knobs, closed the lid, and walked away. About three hours later, we had a GREAT bird!
I was craving a good ol' turkey sandwich, so...
- Whole wheat bread slathered in mayonnaise...
- Sliced heirloom tomatoes
- Sliced avocado
- the aforementioned bacon
What a taste treat!
I served them with a manchego and apple salad I found in Bon Appetit a while back:
- 1 chopped apple
- 1 cup cubed manchego cheese
- 1/2 cup marcona almonds
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
Dinner was yummy - and now I have all sorts of turkey to play with!
Tonight... salads...
Spring Means Salads
Okay. I've had it with this weather. The latest "storm of the century" is slated to hit in a few hours with rain, freezing weather - and maybe even some snow. Hasn't Mother Nature noticed that the calendar reads April 24th?!? Sheesh! Enough, already!
On an intellectual level, I know I can't fight Mother Nature. I can do nothing to stem the wind, the rain, or the temperature. But that doesn't mean I still can't fight back.
And I'm fighting back with SALADS! Mid-April means fresh produce in my house, and fresh produce, it is. Dinner Salads are now the rule - regardless of what the weather outside may be.
Tonight we had a great salad of mixed greens (lots of arugula!!) and a dressing of strawberries, balsamic vinegar, olive oil, garlic, salt and pepper. Simplicity.
The salad itself consisted of the aforementioned greens, roasted red peppers, broccoli, mushrooms, kalamata olives, strawberries, blackberries, blueberries, cucumber, and a few ounces of perfectly cooked london broil that Victor marinated.
I love the balance of sweet fresh fruit and savory vegetables and meats. It's easy to prepare and every bite becomes a new taste sensation. The salads are colorful and as yummy as they are eye-appealing.
So do your damnedest, Mother Nature. You're not going to win!
Still Cooking
No, I haven't stopped cooking. I haven't stopped eating, either. I just haven't been making the time to write about it. Just busybusybusy.
That's the problem with doing something like this. One starts it when one has alllll the time in the world - and then the world decides to catch up.
Our friend Paige is in town right now - I'm doing a website for her - and we're spending an inordinate amount of time in front of the computer checking, rechecking, editing, tweaking... all of the things that one must do if the site is going to look right. (Just published! http://www.paigerpenland.com) We're all eating well, too! Man (or woman) does not live by website, alone. I do have my priorities slightly in order - at least when it comes to eating...
Wednesday night we started off with a Saga brie baked with Apple/Cranberry chutney and almonds. Yum. I roasted a chicken (picked up at the Lancaster Farmer's Market) stuffed with a fig and walnut dressing. Smashed potatoes, brussel's sprouts, a lovely mixed salad with cranberry stilton and pumpkin dressing - a take on a salad we've been making at work for the past few years...
We also had fresh apple dumplins - but were too full to eat them!
Thursday night was chicken soup. I had that lovely carcass from the night before... Handfuls of everything, from brown rice to wild rice, fresh lima beans, celery, carrots... all the fun stuff! Tres bueno! And those delicious apple dumplings were the perfect dessert!
And nary a leftover.....
Italian Bread Salad and Tuna and Cannellini Beans
Okay... it's been a bit hot outside. Too hot to do any serious cooking, but never too hot to eat! Even though the A/C is running and the house is comfortable, I just haven't been in the mood for anything too heavy. We decided to do an Italian Bread salad at work this week. We have these REALLY good roasted red tomatoes that are just perfect for anything! Even though I've consumed more than my share of it there, decided I wanted to make it at home, too. It's yummy! The basic recipe is:
- 1 container Roasted Red Tomatoes
- 1 jar Marinated Artichokes
- 1/2 container Perlini Mozzarella
- 2 cups cubed Artisan Italian Bread
Mix tomatoes (undrained) with artichokes (drained) perlini mozzarella (drained) with the cubed Italian bread in an attractive serving bowl. Eat. That's it! No muss, no fuss!
At home, I added red onion and roasted red peppers because, well... I wanted to.
And then Victor made the most yummy Tuna and Cannellini Bean Salad to go along with it! Talk about gastronomic heaven!
- 1 can Tonno tuna packed in oil
- olive oil
- 2 tbsp red wine vinegar
- 1/3 cup chopped red onion
- 3 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
- 4 tsp chopped fresh sage
- 1 can cannellini bans, drained
Drain oil from tuna into medium bowl. Add enough olive oil to measure 3 tbsp total. Add vinegar. Add onion, parsley and sage. Mix in beans and tuna. Season with salt and pepper.
We served it on thick slices of toasted Italian bread. Damn, it was good! The herbs were fresh from the garden, the bread fresh and lightly toasted... Simple flavors... Ya can't beat it!
Spring Cleaning
I cleaned the grill today. It's not as if it really needed it, or anything. I mean, we only bought it 4 years ago... I always clean the grills, but I haven't ventured inside since I put it together. It was pretty skanky in there. Out came the shop vac, which captured most of the crud. I soaked the grills and the briquettes, cleaned the burners... Put it all back together and it's almost like brand-new! I then got industrious and washed the truck. It had probably been a year since that was cleaned, too. Something about a beautiful Spring day that had me yearning to be outdoors, instead of in front of the computer where I can usually be found...
Before starting my cleaning chores, though, I started marinating tonight's dinner. Another salad, of course. This time, with grilled chicken and grilled vegetables.
I cut up 2 chicken breasts, and put them in a ziplock with chopped lemongrass, basil, cilantro, rice wine, soy sauce, garlic, green onion, a splash of grapeseed oil, chili paste (sambal oelek) and black pepper. Into the 'fridge it went. I turned it a couple of times - whenever I went to get a seltzer water. (No coca-cola for this kid!)
With a clean grill awaitin' me, I chopped up some celery, carrots, broccoli, red pepper, mushrooms, cilantro, and basil and did a quick marinade of rice wine, soy sauce, grapeseed oil, and garlic.
What a difference cooking with a cleaned out grill! If I had half a brain, I'd clean that thing a bit more often! (Don't anyone hold their breath...)
Everything cooked up great. The sun was shining... The smoke and smells were wafting through the neighborhood... A picture-perfect 78 degree day. Everything came off the grill, and back inside to put it all together...
Mixed greens, the aforementioned veggies, a sprinkling of raspberries and blackberries - because I had them - the chicken, and a simple dressing of olive oil, rice wine vinegar, lemon juice, garlic, S&P.
It just doesn't get any better than this.....
Let the Salads Begin!
It's that time of year... My body has been screaming for salads for a few weeks, now. The weather starts turning warm, and I start craving fresh produce. LOTS of fresh produce. It's in my genetic code.
When the weather cools (or gets downright freezing!) soups, stews, and casseroles are what I want. Hearty 'stick-to-the-rib' sort of stuff, but when there's sunshine outside?!? Salad. Big, full-of-flavor-and-texture salad.
I made my weekly trek to the produce market yesterday and found lots of fun food. Little min-eggplants that had my name on them. Broccoli rabe, red and green peppers at an incredible (compared to the grocery store) price, asparagus, mushrooms, avocados, tomatoes, several lettuces, lemongrass, basil, raspberries, blackberries, plums.....
When creating a dinner salad, my only rule is that there are no rules! I really do like to mix flavors and textures, sweet with savory. I love the contrast with a sweet, juicy berry and a tangy vinegar. Or the softness of an avocado with the crunch of a carrot. And grilled veggies?!? I'm in gastronomic heaven!
We received a grill basket a few years ago from friends as a Christmas gift, and I've been putting it to use ever since. I chop up any melange of vegetables, coat with a bit of olive oil and 'whatever' - depends on what flavor theme I'm heading for - and onto the barbie...
Since we're also carnivores, flank steak, London broil, chicken breasts, pork tenderloins - all of them are fair game for the grill - and the salad. Sometimes they go on the grill with little more than salt and pepper. More often, it's a marinade of some sort that sets the theme of the salad.
Last night was a London broil with balsamic, olive oil, garlic, and herbs. I repeated the same basic marinade with the veggies. Onto the grill they went.
The final salad consisted of spring mix lettuce, green peppers, avocado, tomato, cute little grilled eggplant, broccoli, asparagus, raspberries and blackberries - and the london broil. The dressing was something Victor whipped up (he is king of salad dressings!) It was balsamic and olive oil based. We never -ever- buy premade salad dressings. I don't care how "natural" the ingredients are on the label. They're just too easy to make. Plus, it leaves room in the 'fridge for all those other fun things we like!
With that lemongrass in the 'fridge and some fresh Murray's chicken, I think I'm going to go "Thai" tonight.....
Wild Rice Salad
Yummy, yummy! Ruth and I have been making variations of a wild rice salad at work for eons! Using a fully-cooked package of wild rice makes it a quick and easy dish to put together, too!
The basic is:
- 3 cups cooked wild rice
- a dried fruit
- a nut
- some cheese
- some chopped vegetables
- a dressing
Simple and easy!
The salad above was:
- 3 cups wild rice
- dried berry blend
- chopped broccoli
- chopped carrots
- chopped celery
- sliced almonds
- dressed with an olive oil and lemon balsamic vinaigrette
It's simplicity - and it's yummy! AND it tastes even better the next day!
Other variations include our latest Berry Wild Salad, Cranberry Wild Rice Salad, Spring Fling Salad (we made a huge amount of this when we won "Best of Main Line" a couple of years ago.) And the salad that started it all, Wild and Easy Cranberry Salad From Fall River Rice.
No matter how you do it, it comes out great!