Salads with a Mexican Bite
Tonight was one spicy meal. From the grilled London Broil to the fried peppers, from the corn salad to the dressing, there was chili to be had.
The corn salad was a wing-it recipe...
Corn and Pinto Bean Salad
- 2 ears fresh corn
- 1 can pinto beans
- 1 can chopped green chilies
- 2 tbsp mayonnaise
- 2 tbsp Sofrito sauce
- splash Tabasco
- pinch cumin
- salt and pepper, to taste
Cook corn, cool, and cut kernels from cob. Place in bowl with 1 can pinto beans, rinsed and drained, and 1 can chopped green chilies.
Add mayonnaise, sofrito sauce, tabasco, cumin, and salt and pepper.
Mix well and chill.
It was rather good. The flavors and textures played off one another well. It made a goodly amount, so we'll have leftovers for lunch tomorrow.
The beef was another spice-sensation. I did a dry rub of salt, pepper, garlic powder, cumin, and chipotle powder. Lots of chipotle powder. It was spicy! And good. The really thin slices really picked up the flavor.
And then the dressing...
It was pretty much the same dressing as on the corn salad with the addition of lime juice! I wanted something to jazz it up just a bit.
Creamy Sofrito Dressing
- 3 tbsp mayonnaise
- 2 tbsp Sofrito sauce
- juice of 1 lime
- pinch cumin
- pinch cayenne pepper
- splash Tabasco
- salt and pepper, to taste
Mix all ingredients and chill.
The salad itself consisted of iceberg lettuce under spring mix, with some fried peppers, tomatoes, black grapes (love the sweet pop in a spicy dish!) the grilled beef, grilled zucchini, and the corn salad.
It was a lot of flavor for minimal effort.
Let's face it - salads have to be one of the easiest meals to create. They're really not much more than open the 'fridge, pull stuff out, put it atop some lettuce, and add a dressing.
Dressings seem to intimidate people. They really are nothing but three parts oil to one part vinegar - and then stuff added, if you want. Apple cider vinegar, balsamic vinegar, red or white wine vinegar, olive oil, grapeseed oil, peanut oil or safflower oil. They all have their own unique flavors and work with a variety of other things... mustards, honey, maple syrup, soy sauce, rice wine... Usually stuff you already have in the house. And the beauty of making your own dressings is you can make exactly the amount you need and not have a refrigerator-shelf full of partial bottles of molding science experiments (that you have no idea how long they have really been in there). Not to mention the chemicals, additives, and flat-out garbage that so many of those "national brands" seem to have in them.
I mean... you're putting fresh vegetables on a plate. Why would you want to cover them with crap?!?
And herbs! ANYthing fresh from the garden works. Anything. Chop it up and throw it in. But dried herbs work well, also, and herb blends like herbs d'Provence or Italian seasoning take all the guesswork out, completely.
No matter where you live, you should be approaching - if not already in - peak vegetable season.
Do your local economy a favor and make a salad with some locally grown ingredients. Or better yet, with some things you've grown yourself!
Summer Salads
Summertime... and the livin' is easy... Provided the air conditioner keeps running, that is!
It's mid-90's out there. And just a tad humid. I hate it. I grew up 2 blocks from the Pacific Ocean. The very cool Pacific Ocean. Where if it happened to hit 70°, we would go to the beach. 70 degrees. Beach.
No one has air conditioning out there. Don't need it but maybe twice a year, and even then, it's not like this. Heck. I bought my truck in San Francisco. It doesn't have air conditioning, either. Now I leave it at home and take the (air conditioned) car.
Okay. Enough whining about the weather...
Summertime. Salads. Yum.
I actually went just a tad overboard with these. I just kept finding fun things to add to them. I almost added beans, too. I'm glad I showed a little bit of restraint!
First thing I did was make a cucumber salad.
Cucumber Salad
- 2 cucumbers, peeled, seeded, and diced
- 2 tbsp sugar
- 1/4 cup coconut vinegar (I love my coconut vinegar - made in The Philippines - but any white wine-type vinegar will work)
- 2 tbsp assorted herbs, minced
- salt and pepper, to taste
Mix all ingredients. Chill until ready to serve.
Quick, easy, and refreshing.
Next was the Raspberry Poppy Seed Dressing. I had raspberries in the 'fridge that needed using up.
Raspberry Poppy Seed Dressing
- 1 cup raspberries
- 1 tbsp honey
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 1 tsp dry mustard
- 1/4 cup coconut vinegar (I'm on a run... any vinegar will work)
- 2 tbsp minced onion
- 1 cup olive oil
- 1 tbsp poppy seeds
Place raspberries, honey, lemon juice, mustard, vinegar, and onion in a blender and puree. With blender running, drizzle in 1 cup of olive oil. Add poppy seeds, and briefly mix.
Chill until ready to serve.
This worked well - and I think any fruit would work well. Peaches.... yum.....
The salad itself was mixed greens, radicchio, hard cooked egg, avocado, broccoli, zucchini, peach, tomato, cucumber salad, and a grilled chicken breast.
It's going to be a while before I think about dessert.
Scrumptious Salads and Fear of Food
Friday weigh-in. Lost another pound.
I keep thinking that if I was reasonably serious about this, I could actually lose some serious weight. But, on the other hand, by not really trying to lose a lot of weight - and definitely not dieting - the pounds are actually dropping a bit. I really do know how easy it is to gain weight. I could very easily walk into a 12-step program and say "Hello, my name is Tim. I'm a foodaholic."
I love food. I love to eat. I love all types of food, all areas, regions, nationalities, and cuisines. The absolute perfect vacation for me would be to spend 2 weeks in a place - a villa in Sicily, a flat in Paris, or something in the south of France... Someplace with a reasonably-equipped kitchen, a view, and a marketplace within walking distance. I could cook and eat for two weeks and never feel the need to "go out and do something". Hello, my name is Tim. I'm a foodaholic.
And because I love food so much, I just don't understand how so many people can be afraid of it. And so ignorant of it. All day long I overhear conversations from people who "won't eat this because it has carbs in it" or zero in on the 6 grams of fat per serving and completely disregard the 20 grams of protein and other nutrients.
Or won't buy potato chips (1oz = 150 kcal, 10gr fat - 1gr sat, 180mg sodium, 15gr carbs, and 2 gr protein) but pick up bags and bags of "Veggie Chips" (1oz = 150 kcal, 9 gr fat - 2gr sat, 100mg sodium, 16gr carbs, and 1gr protein). I don't buy a lot of potato chips because I know that while they are really crunchy/salty/good, they're also high in calories. I can polish off a bag pretty easy. I don't buy them often. But I also don't try and fool myself that I can have my junk craving by buying "veggie chips".
Of course, my favorite is the evil of all evils - butter.
You know... butter. Ingredients: Sweet cream.
1 tbsp = 100 calories, 11gr fat - 6gr sat, 0gr sodium, 0gr carbs, 0gr protein.
Instead, it's some sort of oil-stuff made to semi-resemble butter. With all sorts of stuff in it. "Leading Brand" Ingredients: Natural Oil Blend (Palm Fruit, Soybean, Canola Seed, and Olive Oils) Water, contains Less than 2% of Salt, Whey, Vegetable Monoglycerides and Sorbitan Ester of Fatty Acids (Emulsifiers) Soybean Lecithin, Potassium Sorbate, Lactic Acid (to Protect Freshness) Natural and Artificial Flavor, Calcium Disodium EDTA, Vitamin A Palmitate, Vitamin B6, Vitamin B12, Vitamin D, Vitamin E (DL-a-Tocopheryl Acetate) Beta-Carotene Color.
1 tbsp = 80 calories, 9gr fat - 3gr sat, 90mg sodium, 0gr carbs, 0gr protein.
Why would I want to eat something like that? What on earth is Sorbitan Ester of Fatty Acids? Oh. Here we go... Sorbitan esters of fatty acid is called sorbitan ester, which is produced by esterification of sorbitol and fatty acid. It is a mixture of sorbitol ester and sorbide ester, which are simultaneously produced as well as sorbitan ester.
In my phony butter spread stuff. Because Sorbitan Ester of Fatty Acids is better for my body that sweet cream?!?
I don't think so.
I'm not trying to fool myself here, either. I know what butter is and what it does. Too much of it - or of just about anything for that matter - is not going to be a good thing. It's just a matter of knowing what it is you're eating and knowing that too much of even a good thing is not always a good thing. But real, fresh ingredients will always be better than something that came out of a chemistry class. Our bodies were designed to eat and process food - not stuff that has been engineered and re-engineered to look like food. Do you find it a mere coincidence that as a nation, we have gotten fatter and fatter with the introduction of more and more "light", "lite", and "diet" foods?!?
I don't.
I did put some butter on our homemade whole wheat garlic, fresh herb, and cheese bread tonight. Not a lot. It didn't need a lot.
The bread dough was the no-knead to which I added some chopped fresh herbs and garlic, along with a tiny bit of grated cheese I had left over in the 'fridge.
The salads were mixed greens, heirloom cherry tomatoes, zucchini, diced plums, and a bit of cauliflower with a balsamic vinaigrette Victor whipped up. Topped with half of a thick-sliced grilled boneless pork chop.
Real food. Stuff my body recognizes as food and knows how to process.
And speaking of real food...
It's time for dessert.
A Raspberry Scrippelle.
Leftovers
We don't get a leftover backlog very often, because when we have them, Victor usually eats them for lunch. Alas, he's been looking to lose that elusive 10 pounds and has been eating a bit lighter... cottage cheese and fruit and that sort of fun summer stuff. Great for him, but hell on my dinner planning. I mean, there's just no way I can continue to make new stuff if there's old stuff backing up in the 'fridge.
So... those pork chops are on hold for one more night. Tonight was a revisit with the Mexican Spaghetti Pie and a nice salad. It's great to see those tupperware containers get emptied out.
Part of the salad was leftovers, also - the last of the Corn and Barley salad from Sunday. The rest of the salad was random odds and ends from the vegetable bin. It's getting a good clean-out, as well.
And really, this is what cooking is all about. Taking stock of what you have and making a good meal out of it. It's not that difficult to grab a recipe, go to the store and buy the exact ingredients you need, and come home and make it. It's also not that difficult to open the 'fridge and create something with the odds and ends already in the house. My thought process has always been the worst thing that can happen is I throw it all out and call for pizza.
Well... while I do admit there have been a few things I probably won't make again, I've never had to call for pizza.
And dessert is a bit of a leftover, as well. Fruit Cobbler Victor made last night.
It was great... Cinnamon biscuits atop peaches, pears, blueberries... a bit of a clean-out-the-'fridge-dessert to begin with!
Leftovers are my friend.
Yum.
Burgers and Salads
This was one of those days where I felt like making stuff, but nothing seemed to go together - or, at least, what I had wasn't what I wanted. I made a black barley and corn salad earlier, Victor had made a huge fruit salad, and I had burger thawing. But I didn't want burgers. Or, I didn't want plain ol' burgers. For a brief moment I thought Salisbury Steak, but gravy didn't go with cold corn salad and fresh fruit.
I grabbed my new Lidia cook book for inspiration.
She had a recipe for a meatloaf - but I wasn't in the mood for meatloaf. But I did have all the ingredients. I decided to make the meatloaf into burgers! I mean... meatloaf is just a big hamburger with stuff in it, right?!?
So... dinner is burgers with stuff in them. Problem solved.
Needless to say, I cut the ingredients waaaaaay down - I pretty much quartered the recipe. And it came out real good! Here's her recipe. Try making the meatloaf. I'll bet it's good, too!
Polpettone di Manzo con Ricotta
Lidia Bastianich
Serves 8 or more
- 1 cup milk
- 3 cups day- old bread cubes, from a loaf of country bread
- 3 pounds ground beef (freshly ground preferred)
- 3 large eggs, beaten with a pinch of salt
- 1 pound drained fresh ricotta (about 2 cups), plus more for the sauce if you like
- 1 bunch scallions,finely chopped (about 1 cup)
- ½ cup grated Grana Padano or Parmigiano- Reggiano
- ¼ cup chopped fresh Italian parsley
- ½ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
- 1 tablespoon kosher salt
- Freshly ground black pepper to taste
- ½ pound fresh mozzarella, cut in ½- inch cubes (about 2 cups)
- ¼ cup extra- virgin olive oil
- 4 to 5 cups tomato sauce
Recommended equipment: A sturdy roasting pan, 10 by 17 inches or larger
Preheat oven to 375º. Pour the milk over the bread cubes in a bowl, and let soak for a few minutes, until the bread is saturated.
Squeeze the soft bread a handful at a time, pressing out as much milk as you can (discard milk, or give it to a pet), then tear bread into small shreds and toss back into the bowl. Crumble the ground beef into the bowl, and add the eggs, ricotta, scallions, grated cheese, parsley, nutmeg, salt, and pepper. Fold and toss everything together, and squeeze the mixture a few times between your fingers to distribute all the ingredients evenly. Scatter the mozzarella cubes on top, and fold and mush them throughout the loaf mix.
Brush the roasting pan with 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Gather the meat mixture in the bowl, turn it into the pan, and shape it into a fat oval loaf. Drizzle with the remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil. Cover the pan with foil—tent it so it doesn’t touch the meat—and bake 45 minutes. Remove the foil, and continue to bake until the meatloaf is browned all over and completely cooked through, another 1 hour and 30 minutes or so. (If you check the loaf with a meat thermometer, it should reach a temperature of 160º.) Remove the roast from the oven, and let it rest for about 10 minutes.
Heat the tomato sauce to a simmer in a saucepan as the meat rests. Turn off the heat, and, if you like, stir ½ cup or so fresh ricotta into the sauce. Cut the loaf crosswise in the pan or on a cutting board, in slices as thick as you like. Serve on warm dinner plates, topped with a spoonful or two of sauce, and pass more sauce at the table (or, for family- style serving, arrange the slices on a warm platter, topped with some of the sauce). To accompany this meatloaf, I love braised broccoli rabe (broccoli di rape) or escarole, served on a separate plate or platter.
Note: If you love fresh ricotta, as I do, you can stir some into the tomato sauce, too, just before serving the meatloaf.
The Corn, Black Barley, and Bean Salad was a whim.
I had two ears of fresh corn I wanted to use for something other than corn on the cob. I opened the cabinet and the first thing I saw was the black barley. Hmmmmm... corn and black barley salad. Sounds good. I was thinking black beans would go well with it - but I didn't have any black beans in the cabinet! Pintos, great northern, and red kidney. The kidney won. They're better cold in a salad, anyway.
The dressing was a no-brainer. Ruth and I used to make a shrimp, corn, and pea salad with a lime and mayonnaise dressing. I had limes and I had mayonnaise. A salad was born.
Corn, Black Barley, and Bean Salad
- 2 ears fresh corn, cut from the cob and blanched (or about 1 1/2 cups frozen, thawed)
- 1/2 cup black barley, cooked, drained, and cooled (or grain of choice - rice, farro, wheat berries, wild rice, etc...)
- 1 can red kidney beans, rinsed and drained (or beans of choice)
- 2 tbsp assorted fresh herbs, minced
- 1/2 cup mayonnaise
- 1 lime - zest and juice
- salt and pepper, to taste
Mix corn, beans, and barley. Add the mayonnaise, lime juice, and lime zest. Add minced herbs, salt and pepper.
Cover and chill.
These are some of the easiest and most basic salads one can make, and they're especially good and refreshing on a hot day. The lime brings a fresh taste that cannot be compared. And they're ready in the time it takes to cook the grain. If you have fresh herbs growing in the garden, just grab some and mince them up. It really doesn't matter which herbs you use. It's the freshness that comes through.
You can switch out the vegetable, the grain, the bean, add chicken, shrimp, tofu, or diced cooked pork tenderloin. The constant is the mayonnaise and the lime.
Yum.
Leafy Greens
We had our weigh-in at work today. I only dropped half a pound. But... considering how we've eaten this week - and that ice cream - I'll take not gaining anything as a positive step forward. We did do a bit of munching this week. Well... we do a bit of munching every week, but it seemed a bit heavier this week for this time of year.
Oh. And it's National Donut day today. I ate a peanut butter cream-filled donut whatever (that probably had every known ingredient I refuse to knowingly eat) that was divine. That's the nice thing about standards. They're totally changeable to reflect the situation.
So donut consumed, and a mere half-pound gone, I decided we needed salads, again.
I love salads. Victor loves salads. I just haven't been seeing that stellar produce. Stuff has been "okay". It hasn't been "OMG! Eat me right now!". But it's getting there... So it's back to those leafy green vegetables. And everything else under the sun.
Tonight's dinner started off with a bed of romaine. Not a lot. And then a few grapes. I love grapes. And then some of the hot peppers Victor fried up Monday. And some baby roma tomatoes.
I heated up a grill basket on the grill and played a bit of clean out the refrigerator. Yellow zucchini, green zucchini, bell pepper, broccoli, and asparagus. I drizzled a bit of olive oil on them, some salt and pepper, added some chopped fresh herbs from the garden and it all went into the basket with a piece of London Broil on the grill next to it.
Simplicity.
The dressing was fun. I had a couple of white peaches that were almost past their prime, so into the blender they went with a bit of white wine vinegar, salt, pepper, and a pinch of herbs d'Provence. A drizzle of olive oil made a rich, creamy, and slightly sweet emulsion that worked really well with the beef and the roasted vegetables.
I've decided we need to be ever-so-slightly-good for dessert tonight, so I'm going to skip the chocolate ice cream and make a clafouti. I picked up some Rainier cherries, that, while not the traditional cherry one would generally use, will still totally rock.
Off to pit.....
Super Salmon Salad
While I was working today, Victor was enjoying the first day of his 4-day weekend. And when I got home, I got to enjoy a lovely dinner.
He created salads tonight that were just out of this world. They had everything in them... poached salmon, tortellini, tomatoes, cheese, hard-cooked eggs, marinated artichoke hearts - that he marinated, asparagus, kalamata olives, arugula, other assorted greens, and a simple homemade vinaigrette.
Just perfect.
I do love a man who can cook!
He did leave one chore for me, though - a loaf of bread.
I had the easy job. So I made dessert. A raspberry and banana tarte from La Cucina Italiana magazine...
Time to go put it together.....
Spring Salads
The calendar is saying Spring, but the weather is saying winter. Dayum, it's cold outside!
I did my weekly shopping for decent weather - salads. I'm thinking I'd rather have stew. But I have all of these salad ingredients to use up. So it's damn, the temperature - we're having salads!
The salads were basic mixed greens, grilled beef, tomatoes, broccoli, yellow squash, mushrooms, raspberries, and egg salad. The highlight, was Victor's Tomato Vinaigrette!
It was olive oil, balsamic vinegar, tomato paste, anchovy paste, Greek oregano, minced garlic, salt and pepper.
Perfection.
A couple of slices of raisin walnut bread with last night's tomato butter, and it was a salad to remember!
Back Home
To quote Simon and Garfunkle: Gee, but it's great to be back home. Home is where I want to be.
Yep. So true.
The wedding was a blast. We had a great time with the family, meeting Jessica's new in-laws, finally meeting my nephew Jacob's wife, Rachael. And little Phoebe Rose - the sixth to carry the name Phoebe in our family. I wish we lived closer.
The downside of travel - other than the airports and airplanes which totally and completely disgustingly suck - is not having my own kitchen. Restaurants are great - but not for every meal every day. Fortunately, we had a local restaurant - not a cookie-cutter chain - by the hotel that had some pretty decent food. Fresh chilies in my omelette, fresh chilies on a burger... It was great to be back in Civilized California!
So to start counter-acting all of that restaurant food, it's salad-time around here!
Today I made three different salads. A lentil, a rice, and a pasta. I'm working on portion control, so I didn't make my normal feed-the-entire-neighborhood-and-the-school-down-the-street batches. Nope. Small, reasonable batches. Enough for dinner and tomorrow's lunch. I'm workin' on it...
The pasta salad was first.
I cooked up about six ounces of mini cheese-filled ravioli. I added 3 stalks of blanched asparagus, sliced, a minced green onion, 6 sliced pepperoncini, oil cured kalamata olives, and about a half-cup of red pepper and onion relish and about a half-cup of fig and caramelized onion sauce. Clean out that refrigerator!
The Lentil Salad started off with about a cup of French green lentils. I cooked them up and added some golden raisins, currants, walnuts, celery, diced red onion, green onion, herbs d'Provence, salt, pepper, red wine vinegar and olive oil.
For the rice salad, I cooked up a half-cup of whole-grain brown rice. To it, I added some walnuts, celery, diced carrots, peas, dill, salt, pepper, and white wine vinegar and olive oil.
They all went into the fridge.
For the salads, I plated some iceberg lettuce and baby romaine, topped it with the three salads and some grilled beef tips. I made a quick 1000 Island dressing with mayonnaise, chili sauce, and pickle relish.
It's great to be back in the kitchen!
Rice Salad and Focaccia
What started out as just something to use up the last of the no-knead dough turned into dinner tonight. I like it when meals just sort of evolve.
Victor will be out of town for a couple of days and we head to California for my niece Jessica's wedding when he gets back, so cooking-wise, it's going to be a use-up-whatever-is-in-the-house next few days.
This is always a fun challenge.
Tonight started it off with the aforementioned no-knead dough because whenever Victor leaves for a few days I have a habit of eating hot dogs. Well, chili dogs to be precise. I thought I'd give myself a fighting chance to eat something different.
I oiled a sheet pan, spread the dough out, drizzled it with more olive oil, and then covered it with tomatoes, mushrooms, and bell pepper. A bit of garlic powder, and then a good shredding of Locatelli and some pepper. Into a 450° oven for 25 minutes.
I also made a nice big batch of rice salad.
Rice and Oat Salad
- 1/2 cup black whole grain rice
- 1/2 cup mahogany whole grain rice
- 1/2 cup wild rice
- 1/2 cup whole oats
- 1 qt chicken broth (use water or veg stock to make vegetarian)
- 1/2 tsp cardamom
- 1/2 tsp turmeric
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 1 star anise
- 4 allspice berries
- 8 peppercorns
- 1 can garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained
- 1 carrot, diced
- 1 stalk celery, diced
- 1/2 large zucchini, diced
- 3 green onions, minced
- 1/4 cup parsley, chopped
- 1/2 cup golden raisins
- 1/4 cup strawberry balsamic vinegar
- 1/2 cup olive oil
In a large pot, bring first 11 ingredients to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and cook for 45 minutes. Cool.
When rice is cool, mix in remaining ingredients. Mix well and refrigerate.
And, I had taken some bone-in chicken breasts out of the freezer before planning dinner, so I poached then and shredded the meat.
I am now set for meals until Victor gets home!
(I also made cupcakes!)
Spring Salads
The thermometer outside may say Winter right now, but the calendar is saying Spring! Spring means salads. Besides, I had to pay another buck at work today. I know I'm maintaining by the scale at home, but the one at work is giving me grief. But... It's the one we're all using, so as long as I know I'm really not gaining weight right now, I'll drop the buck into the kitty.
In the meantime, I do need to be a bit more serious about this.
And I really do like salads.
Grilled chicken, peppers, strawberries, blackberries, yellow tomatoes, hard-cooked eggs, a bit of cheese - and spring mix lettuce.
And fresh-baked homemade bread.
Yum.
Friday Weigh-In
Well... it was too good to last. Two weeks of effortless (albeit small) weight-loss turned into reality this morning. I gained a half-pound.
I saw it coming. I'm actually surprised it was only a half-pound. I was not a good boy this week. I haven't been eating breakfast which starts the non-stop munching when I get to work. Self-control is not in my vocabulary on days like that.
So... it's a half-pound reality check. It cost me a buck, too.
The weather has turned warm and we're finally starting to see produce that's at least grown in the United States. (I just refuse to buy out-of-season produce from New Zealand or wherever.)
So... Here's to being a better boy this week!