More Salads
It was a glorious day - sunshine and blue skies. I spent a few hours in the yard working on the clean-up, clipping branches, raking beds... We kinda let it go last year so there's plenty to do. I did a trip to the dump the other day with a truckload of branches - and I have enough for another truckload just waiting to get loaded. Too bad it's going to rain tomorrow... ::snicker::
It was great being out in the yard, though. I've missed the sun and the outdoors. I'm getting antsy about planting the vegetable garden - but I'm still a month too early. I'm going to have to be satisfied with just getting the soil ready...
But the sunny weather has really gotten me into salads. And that meant I had to use a beautiful bowl made by the wonderful and talented Kel Darling.
This is a simple bean salad with fresh green beans, 1 can of black beans, 1 can of cannellini beans, a bit of leek, chopped fennel, minced garlic, and a simple dressing of olive oil and apple cider vinegar. A bit of S&P, of course...
And then we have a lentil salad...
Cooked lentils, chopped radishes, chopped zucchini, chopped fennel, chopped leeks, chopped carrots... all held together with a dressing of blood orange olive oil and blueberry balsamic vinegar, salt, and pepper. These are serious clean-out-the-refrigerator salads. They're fairly similar, yet always different. It totally depends on what needs using up and then, what oil and vinegar I want to put on them. There are no rules.
And, for even more fun... homemade salad dressings, of course!
The best part of cooking - in my not so humble opinion - is heading into the kitchen with a vague idea and making something good. It doesn't have to be a blockbuster winner every single time. Good, basic food is more than satisfying - and when you do hit one out of the park... well... smile and realize that if you were winging it to begin with, you probably won't be replicating it. And that's okay. There are a bazillion more recipes to be created.
So here's to an abundant garden and lots of fresh produce and continued fun in the kitchen.
Gorgonzola Dressing
'Tis the Season! Its officially Spring - and that means making salad dressings! Dressings are just too easy to make and so much better than the stuff you buy at the store. Simple ingredients - and you can tweak them to your own preferences!
I had some gorgonzola in the 'fridge, so I thought a take on a nice Bleu Cheese dressing was in order.
Gorgonzola Dressing
- 2 tbsp white balsamic vinegar
- 1 shallot, minced
- 1 tsp Blue Cheese mustard (or mustard of your choice)
- 1/2 tsp celery seed
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 cup sour cream
- 1/4 cup milk
- a few drops worcestershire sauce
- 1/2 cup crumbled gorgonzola
- Salt & pepper, to taste
Mix vinegar, shallot, mustard, celery seed, garlic powder, worcestershire sauce, and a hefty pinch of salt & pepper. Mix in the sour cream and then the milk.
Add the gorgonzola and mix well. Taste for seasoning and add salt and pepper, as desired.
Rich, creamy, chunky, and perfect on a salad or as a dip.
Celery and Apple Salad with Pistachios
Spring is slowly becoming a reality - very slowly. But slow or not, Spring means salads.
All winter long we have made big batches of soup for lunch - each batch lasting maybe 4 days before we make the next one. Victor is in the kitchen making the last soup right now - Italian Wedding Soup. It's one of our favorites. When it's done, it will be luncheon salads. The thought is to have two or three different salads in the 'fridge, along with different greens and a few different dressings. The salads will be things like bean salad, lentil salad, roasted vegetable salad, pasta salad... you get the idea.
I'm working on small-batch salad dressings - enough for two or three days - and a nice variety.
To kick-start our new regime, we're going to d a few more salads for dinner - and that's where today's salad comes in.
Victor saw a recipe for a celery and apple salad on the PBS website that looked interesting - but could definitely use some enhancement.
We enhanced.
Celery and Apple Salad with Pistachios
Ingredients
- 2/3 cup roasted pistachios
- 2/3 cup golden raisins
- Juice from 1 lemon
- 1 tbsp red wine vinegar
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- 5 ribs of celery, diced
- 1 apple, diced
- 2 tbsp grated Parmesan
- 2 hard-boiled eggs, diced
Directions
In a large bowl, add the pistachios, raisins, celery, apple, lemon juice, red wine vinegar, oil and a few pinches of salt; toss until combined. Add the parmesan cheese, black pepper, and diced egg. Gently toss together until combined. Check for seasoning and add more S&P, as desired.
Top with shavings of Parmesan.
This is definitely one of those recipes where amounts are truly up to the maker. Double, triple, quintuple - add or subtract. Fresh herbs from the garden will work. Play with it and have fun!
Butternut Squash Gnocchi
We had a productive day, today... I cleaned up part of our front side yard and Victor made homemade butternut squash gnocchi. The yard is shared with neighbors and was over-planted by 3 neighbors ago - and it's gone wild, ever since. It was time to try and tame it, a bit...
While I was toiling away with my new-found energy, Victor took to the kitchen to use up a butternut squash I bought last week. The weather is ever-so-slowly starting to turn - it's not going to be squash and gnocchi time much longer. He took advantage of it.
The difficult part about trying to write a recipe for something like gnocchi is that ingredients vary too much. The squash Victor used, today, was pretty wet after roasting - more so than others - so more flour was needed. You really need to just start making it and go with your own trial and error.
The basic is baking off potatoes and butternut squash – and then sending them through a ricer.
Then, it’s mixing in 2 eggs, salt, maybe a pinch of nutmeg, grated cheese… and slowly incorporating a bit of flour…
When it all comes together, it’s rolled into a rope, cut, and then shaped.
It's not difficult - it just needs time and practice.
I cut up asparagus, green onions, and a zucchini and sauteed it all in a bit of butter and olive oil. I then added a bunch of mixed mushrooms, garlic, salt, pepper, and white wine.
When it started getting saucy, I added some gorgonzola cheese and a handful of chopped parsley. I mixed in the gnocchi, let it cook together for a minute, and dinner was served.
If you're in the kitchen, have some fun and just go for it.
The absolute worst thing that can happen is you throw it all out and call for pizza.
Eggs Poached in Tomato Sauce
We caught a Lidia Bastianich program on PBS last night that had a recipe we knew we were making immediately - eggs poached in a marinara sauce served on toast. I mean... how perfect could something possibly be?!?
The premise is simply to heat the sauce in a shallow pan, crack the eggs in, cover, and simmer for a few minutes until the eggs are cooked to your liking. Serve on toast.
She made a quick fresh tomato sauce - we had some in the freezer. Even easier.
To make it a complete dinner, I added some grilled sausages.
Our CharBroil Grill has seen better days, so last week I ordered new heat spreaders, new grill racks, and a new warming rack to hopefully get us through another season. They arrived today via FedEx - with a damaged box and one of the three grill grates missing.
I went to the CharBroil website and sent off an email. In less than 20 minutes, I had a phone call from CharBroil and a replacement grate was on its way. Twenty minutes! I was dumbfounded. The woman I spoke with - Elizabeth - was on top of it, immediately. No hoops to jump through, no questioning my motives... Just honest quality customer service. I really was impressed.
Needless to say, when it does become time to get a new grill, CharBroil will be the brand!
So...
Perfectly-grilled sausages and perfectly-runny eggs poached in marinara sauce and served on toast and a wonderful customer service experience.
In spite of the fact that it's been raining all day, I'd say today has been a success!
The Olive Bar
As a kid growing up, I was not a fan of olives. I didn't put them on my fingers and wiggle them ever-so-cutely. I pretty much just left them alone.
And while I know I didn't like them as a tyke, I have no idea when I started actually liking them. It's almost like a switch was flipped when I wasn't looking.
Today, there's not an olive I don't like - which leads me to the olive bar at the grocery store. I've taken to grabbing a container and just walking around picking up a bit of this and a bit of that. Not a lot of rhyme or reason - just things that catch my eye. I then generally bring them home and make a pasta sauce of sorts. It's a total no-effort meal.
On my last trek, I picked up roasted garlic, cipollini onions marinated in balsamic vinegar, little biquinho peppers, some tapenade, and several olive varieties - all mixed together in the same carton.
Tonight, I chopped the garlic and onions and put them in a pan with a drizzle of olive oil. When they were nice and sizzling hot, I added a splash of red wine and let it cook down. Then, I added a can of diced tomatoes and cooked it all down even more. Nothing else was needed - no salt, no pepper, no nothin'. It was perfect on top of a grilled pork tenderloin.
On the other side of the plate we had roasted vegetables. I cut up a golden beet, a rutabaga, a small celery root, a few mushrooms, and a broccoli crown, drizzled it all with olive oil and some salt & pepper, covered it, and put it into the oven for 45 minutes at 425°F.
A perfect blend of flavors.
I roasted a lot of veggies - it's difficult to just do halves of beets and rutabagas, and the like - so, tomorrow, we're having salads for dinner and I'm turning the leftover veggies into a roasted vegetable salad. It will be a nice side with the bean and corn salad I made.
That trek to the produce store is producing a lot of salad sides...
It will be the perfect meal for the first day of Spring. I hope Mother Nature cooperates.
The End of Week Thirty-Five
Weight-loss this week is being measured in ounces, not pounds - but it's in the loss category. I'll take it.
It's also being measured in the pain category. Our trainer is ramping it up, again. He had us working the core, today. I wanted to die several times. The core muscles are just that - the abdominal muscles, back muscles and the muscles around the pelvis. They are where it all begins - and, where I may meet my end.
Strengthening the core means actually doing things with your body instead of with weights or machines. Weights and machines are a lot easier. If weight-loss was measured by perspiration, there would be nothing left of me.
But... it's all working. Slowly and painfully - but it's working.
The weather is working, as well. It is 74°F outside, right now. We're already planning our yard clean-up - called the local recycling center and got info about bringing in yard waste and buying some topsoil and compost - and starting to think about the garden and what we plan to grow, this year.
I'm totally ready for Spring!
But while I'm ready for Spring, Mother Nature still has a few tricks up her sleeves. Temps are set to drop, again. Our final frost date is April 30th, which means I can start doing a few inside seeds any time, now...
In planning for the better weather, the grill parts I ordered will be here on Tuesday. I had planned on grilling a chicken breast, tonight, on the falling-apart grill, but Victor volunteered to do cutlets - and I'm always ready for a change in plans. I'm much more flexible mentally than I am physically.
The cutlets were a simple chicken breast, sliced and pounded, dipped in flour, egg, and breadcrumbs seasoned with salt, pepper, garlic powder, and oregano. The potatoes were baby yukons with olive oil, garlic powder, oregano, parmesan cheese, and salt and pepper - in the oven at 350°F for 35 or so minutes.
And the bean salad from yesterday.
Another successful gym day and dinner.
To toast our success and kick off the St Patrick's Day weekend, those glasses on the top right of the photo hold The Sexton - an outrageously good Irish Whiskey - created by one of the few female Master Blenders in the industry.
She did well.
Here's to more success.
Almond and Raisin Butter
One thing I have learned living on the east coast is crystal blue skies mean cold. Gray skies mean hot. Today, we have really blue skies.
It's nothing like what's happening just west of us, but it's still damned cold - and getting colder as I type. We're forecasted to drop to 0°F (that's -18°C) with a wind chill of -10°F (about -24°C) later today and tonight. That's pretty flippin' cold.
One way to stay warm is to bake bread. I did that, yesterday. Bread, of course, needs something to put on it - and Victor took care of that, today!
He's been making his own nut butters for a while, now, having tired of the supermarket offerings. We always have nuts in the house - and even have a bit more, right now, leftover from the holidays. One recent batch was hazelnut - and then a hazelnut and chocolate, like a gianduia - think Nutella.
Today, he took about a pound of blanched almonds and made an almond and raisin spread that is out of this world! Just a bit on fresh bread set my taste-buds singing.
Almond and Raisin Butter
- 1lb almonds
- 2 tbsp honey
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 tbsp grapeseed oil
- 1/2lb golden raisins, divided
Place almonds and salt in food processor and process until it begins to come together as a paste.
Add the honey and salt and continue mixing.
Add half the raisins and continue mixing.
Drizzle in grapeseed - or other neutral oil - until desired consistency.
Stir in remaining raisins, and enjoy.
The beauty of making your own nut butters is controlling the various ingredients - and being able to play with flavors that are just not available in the grocery stores.
Almond and raisin is simply stellar. I can't wait to see the next batch!
Pork and Cauliflower
Tonight's dinner is brought to you by purple cauliflower from the Lancaster Farmer's Market.
I went down to the fish store today to buy some dungeness crab for Christmas Eve. We'll be making Crab Cioppino for dinner that night - La Vigilia, or the Feast of the Seven Fish. It's sold frozen 3000 miles from the west coast, so buying it today was a lot better than waiting until the week before Christmas when the fish store is packed with people. I've been making room in the freezer.
Driving home, I passed by the farmer's market so I decided to stop by and see what was there. I don't shop there often because things can be rather expensive. However, I wanted to see if they had a celery root to make a chicken dish our friend Ann sent to us a few days ago since the local grocery store didn't have any. They did. And while I was there, I picked up some golden beets, some candied peel for cookies, and a purple cauliflower. And roasted sweet potatoes for Nonna - she really likes their sweet potatoes since they're roasted on a rotisserie with chickens and get dripped in chicken fat as they spin around and around. What's not to like?!?
Twenty-five dollars later, I left with my small bags and headed home.
I thought I needed to do something with the cauliflower other than steam it, since the color pretty much leaves it once it hits water. Roasting sounded better. I saw a recipe on the NY Times cooking site that looked interesting, so I thought I'd take a stab at making something similar since I didn't have all of the ingredients they were calling for. As I've said many times, recipes are guidelines and, if nothing else, are there to inspire creativity.
The pork is the same - a recipe that I switched around to suit my needs.
Cauliflower and Almonds
- 1 medium head of cauliflower, cut into florets
- 1/4 cup cup roughly chopped almonds
- 1/4 cup shredded cheese
- 1/4 cup olive tapenade
- 2 tbsp chopped Italian parsley
- pinch crushed red pepper flakes
- salt & pepper, to taste
Preheat oven to 425.
Drizzle cauliflower with olive oil and sprinkle with red pepper flakes and a bit of salt and pepper. Place on a sheet pan and roast until done - about 25-30 minutes.
Remove from oven and stir in chopped almonds, cheese, and parsley.
Can be served hot or at room temperature.
The pork was equally easy to do. Make a simple spice rub and then fry the individual cutlets in a smoking hot cast iron pan or grill over high heat just a couple of minutes per side.
Pork Spice Rub
- 1 pork tenderloin, in half-inch slices
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp ground coriander
- 1 tsp smoked paprika
- 1 tsp sweet paprika
- 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp pepper
Mix all ingredients and liberally apply to pork slices.
Grill or fry over high heat 1-2 minutes per side, until cooked to desired doneness. Because the pork is in small pieces, you really don't want to over-cook them, so watch them!
It really came out good - rich flavor and just the right amount of heat. The flavors really went well, together.
The star of the plate, though, was the cauliflower. It's amazing how a little olive tapenade can so totally change a dish. The original recipe called for adding green olives, but the tapenade worked much better, in my not so humble opinion.
Tomorrow starts the cookie-baking! We're completely changing things around this year - making only biscotti - lots and lots of different biscotti. The first one will be the newly-created Justin Trudeau.
Details, tomorrow...
The End of Week Fifteen
I'm down Thirty-One Pounds. Victor is under 200 lbs for the first time since he quit smoking and is down six pant sizes. This has put a huge smile on my face. I haven't cracked 200, yet, but I'm working on it! We're both looking - and feeling - pretty damned good. I plan on getting to my Disco-Weight - without the illicit drugs of yore!
When I first quit smoking in 1992, I gained 60 pounds. Everyone said it was better to be overweight than be a smoker, so I went with it. I lost some of them and then started smoking again, around 1997. I lost even more - but was still close to 20 over where I was in my prime smoking days. Then I quit, again, around 2006 - and the weight came back with a vengeance. I've been walking around with an extra 60 pounds for the past few years.
What didn't register with me was how much the excess weight was slowing me down. I'm the king of justification. I just attributed slowing down to getting older - as I reached for another slice of cheesecake. Homemade, of course. I didn't have a desk job - I actually had to move a little bit at work - so I figured I was getting my exercise. And all of those cookies and snacks and other foods I was consuming at work were negligible. And the desserts I was making every night were being split between the two of us - it's not like we were eating all of it at one time...
Riiiiight.
As I said, I'm the King of Justification.
But what a difference a few months makes. I have energy. I can get up out of a chair without grunting. I can make it up and down the stairs without being winded. My body is actually starting to work like it's supposed to. What a concept.
Our trainer is smart. He works us Monday and Wednesday, and then on Friday he pulls out all the stops. It is not easy by any stretch of the imagination. What really gets me is he will have us doing something that really looks as basic as basic can be - and either I can't do it at all, or I can barely eek out the most minimalist part of it - and then he adds another 10 pounds. He keeps pushing, knowing that little-by-little, we're making progress. He's not rushing us, but he's not letting us be complacent, either. I still can't touch my toes - but I'm down past my knees. I cannot sit on the floor with my legs straight out - but I can squat and get back up without effort. All things that 15 weeks ago were unheard of.
I never knew what I couldn't do because I compensated in other ways. I'm being taught how to un-compensate and do it right. The blinders are off and we're doing it right.
You've undoubtedly noticed we're eating pretty well around here. No dieting. It's smaller portions and better choices. I like bread. I still bake bread and I still eat bread - pretty much daily. Desserts are generally fresh fruit. I have no cravings for the ooey-gooey desserts of yesteryear. I actually miss making them more than I miss eating them - but I'm getting over it.
Dinner, tonight, was a steak and a baked sweet potato - with a lot of stuff in it. I pretty much just grabbed stuff out of the 'fridge and went for it.
Sweet Potato Casserole
- 1 large sweet potato, baked and riced
- 1 cup chopped fennel
- 1 leek, chopped
- 3 green onions, chopped
- 3 large mushrooms, chopped
- 1 carrot, chopped
- 1/4 cup dark rum
- 3/4 cup coconut milk
- tbsp sambal oelek
- salt & pepper, to taste
Sauté fennel, leeks, mushrooms, carrots, and green onions until wilted and they start to soften. Add the rum, cover, and steam until vegetables are tender.
Stir in coconut milk and sambal oelek and bring to a boil.
Stir in riced or mashed sweet potato and mix well.
Fold into a small casserole dish and bake at 350°F for 20-30 minutes.
It's only taken me 66 years to open my eyes and see what was right in front of me. That's okay, though. A younger me would have just reached for another piece of pie.
Beets and Pears
There is a new batch of produce in the house! It was starting to look a bit bleak...
I do pretty much weekly shopping and then figure out what I'm going to cook based upon what's in the house. I have never been able to plan menus for the week because I'm never sure on Monday what I'm going to feel like eating on Thursday, and I don't know what's new or fresh or coming into our out of season until I'm at the store. I know that some folks really do need to be more organized and actually plan things, but this is a system that works for me...
One thing that looked really good was a bin of fresh golden beets - individuals, not the normal bunches with greens. I picked up one - the size of a softball - and figured it would be more than enough for the two of us. Another thing I constantly work on is remembering that there are only two of us eating this stuff and there are only so many meals in a week. Walking through a produce store is like being a kid in a candy factory. There are just too many things to make - and only so many meals in a week...
Restraint has never been one of my more dominant attributes - but I'm working on it.
Armed with my golden beet - and a cart-full of other goodies - I headed home.
I knew that steaks were on the menu tonight, so I thought roasted beets would be the perfect accompaniment. And after peeling and cubing the beet, I drizzled it with olive oil, salt, and pepper, and put it into the oven - covered. While it was cooking, I glanced over at the pears I had bought and thought that pears and beets sounded like a good combination. I pulled the beets out, sliced and cubed a pear, mixed them with the half-cooked beets, drizzled everything with Calvados - because, why not?!? - recovered the dish and back into the oven they went.
Ya know what?!? Red pears and golden beets go really well together - especially doused in Calvados!
I liberally doused the steaks with Penzey's Mitchell Street Steak Seasoning and started them in a cast iron skillet on the stove and then finished them in the oven, since it was already on cooking the beets and pears.
The end result was an excellent - and really simple - meal.
Cranberry Pepper Jam
I headed out this morning to see about putting the garden to bed for the season - and found another six pounds of peppers. The tomatoes were pretty bad this year - but the peppers just keep on giving!
It's rather amazing how many we've gotten. I really do love them, but I think I mentioned the lack of freezer space... what to do... what to do...
First step was to make a quick cranberry pepper jam. I had picked up a bag of cranberries, yesterday with no real plan for them other than something fairly savory - or to use with something savory. As soon as I came in with the peppers, I knew what to do!
Cranberry Pepper Jam
- 12 oz bag cranberries
- 1/2 red onion, minced
- 4 hot peppers, minced
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 1/3 cup Limoncello - optional
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 cup water
- pinch salt & pepper
Lightly sauté onion, peppers, and garlic in a drizzle of oil. Add the sugar, water, and limoncello, if using, and bring to a boil. (You can add a bit of fresh citrus - orange, lemon, or lime in place of the limoncello to add a bit of freshness!)
Stir in cranberries and a pinch of salt & pepper.
Cook until it achieves a nice, thick consistency - about 10-12 minutes.
Cool and refrigerate.
I wanted a nice and spicy jam so I added for peppers - unseeded. Adjust the peppers to your own liking.
It came out really good. Not too sweet and just hot enough!
I think I'm going to see about frying the rest of the peppers and then canning them.
Wish me luck.