Yesterday I posted my recipe for Muffaletta Sandwiches. I included this salad recipe at the bottom of the post because I feel macaroni salad is the perfect side dish to serve with this classic New Orleans sandwich. But then I got to thinking; I really should post this recipe separately because a really tasty pasta salad is a hard thing to find.
It has been my experience that pasta salads, in general, are boring. They tend to lack flavor, crunch, and eye appeal. And I must admit, the salad I served the other evening fit the category of “lacking eye appeal” because I didn’t have a red onion on hand. But sometimes, you simply must go with what’s in your veggie larder. So, I used green onions instead of red onion because green onions were happily residing in my veggie crisper, and the closest red onion was marking time at our neighborhood IGA. (See how that works!)
So, the eye appeal could have been better. But the flavor and crunch were there in spades. And I could have added some fresh tomato for color, but I didn’t. Or some chopped pimento, but I didn’t have any. So, I went with what I had.
That’s the beauty of playing mad scientist in the kitchen. You can mix and match and sometimes come up with a new and better “whatever”. Of course, you can also blow the whole dish to hell. But as in this case, the appealing color factor was the only thing missing.
So, if you too love a good pasta salad, let me recommend this recipe. Also, my recipes entitled Pasta Salad, Veggie Macaroni Salad, Shrimp and Macaroni Salad, and Tuna Macaroni Salad are easy to make and delicious.
And because I so appreciate all the wonderful cooks who post their fantastic recipes that benefit all of us, many thanks to the southernbite.com site for this recipe. Slightly modified by me, of course.
Well, that’s it for today. Mr. C. is rehearsing for a gig this afternoon and playing at a gig this evening. I usually go along, but there are just those times when I need to stay home and play in the kitchen. Mr. C. brought home some lovely ripe peaches a couple of days ago. And if I don’t use them in the next couple of days, they will turn themselves into peach puree. So, why not tempt the fates by creating a recipe for a “crumble topped peachy bourbon-pecan quick bread”? So, that’s exactly what I am going to do after I post this recipe. Wish me luck!
Peace and love to all.
1 c. mayonnaise
1 T. yellow mustard
3 T. white vinegar (the old-fashioned kind)
1 tsp. granulated sugar
1 tsp. seasoned salt
freshly ground black pepper
½ tsp. granulated garlic
¼ tsp. granulated onion
½ c. finely chopped dill pickle
1 T. dill pickle juice
½ c. finely diced red onion* or green onion
½ c. finely diced celery (plus leaves)
3 c. uncooked small elbow macaroni, cooked al dente, drained and cooled by tap water
kosher salt, if needed
In a covered bowl, whisk the mayo, mustard, vinegar, sugar, seasoned salt, black pepper, granulated garlic, and granulated onion together. Then stir in the chopped dill pickle and pickle juice. Set aside.
Place the onion, celery, and cooked macaroni in a covered bowl. Add about 2/3rds of the dressing and toss to coat. Cover and refrigerate the pasta for at least 2 hours. (Refrigerate the remaining dressing too.)
When ready to serve, add remaining dressing and toss to coat. Taste and add kosher salt if needed.
*If you use diced red onion, before adding it to the rest of the ingredients, give it a bath for about 15 minutes in ice water. This will reduce the “bite” that is often associated with red onion. Be sure to drain and pat the diced onion dry with a paper towel before adding it to the salad.
The olive and veggie “salad” and assorted meats and provolone cheese.
The top with a bit of olive oil and the bottom filled with “salad”.
Add the meat, cheese, and tomato and the sandwich is ready to be put together.
All together now, all together now…… (FEEL FREE TO SING ALONG)
Two halves of a whole.
Sorry about all the pictures. But in the case of this sandwich, I thought pictures would be better than a thousand words.
Several years ago, we joined our dear friends Dick and Eloise for a mini vacation to the great city of New Orleans for Mardi gras. We spent 10 days in this amazing city attending parades, eating as much great food as our tummies could accommodate, and of course listened to terrific jazz in small hole-in-the-wall cafes, famous eating establishments, and funky bars so dark you wondered if you had stumbled into a jazz infused spelunking adventure filled with really interesting (think kinda scary) critters.
And frankly, had we not been staying with Dick and Eloise’s son John, DIL Carol, and kidlets in their big, beautiful home, the entire trip would probably not have been such a wonderful experience. Because there’s only so much fun I can handle before I just want to bury my head under a pillow. So, staying in a hotel near the center of all the noise and 24-hour partying might have been more than I could handle. But since we had the great opportunity to stay in a private home, we enjoyed the heck out of our visit to “The Big Easy”.
And as I mentioned above, part of the reason we enjoyed New Orleans so much was the food. On one memorable occasion, Mr. C. and I took a walk around the neighborhood where we were staying and found a small corner market/deli that advertised “great muffaletta sandwiches made to order” or some such phraseology. Never ones to shirk our responsibility to embrace local cuisine, we wholehearted bought into the whole Creole/Cajun/Southern/Italian food scene. And OMG, we were immediately hooked on this famous Italian sandwich invented in New Orleans featuring cured meats, provolone cheese, olive and veggie salad, and great bread.
So, if you too would like to have a taste of what New Orleans has to offer in the way of fantastic food, then give this sandwich a try.
And if you ever get the opportunity to visit New Orleans, try as much of the local cuisine and listen to as much jazz as your body and soul can handle. Because N’awlins is the birthplace of jazz. And the jazz performers in New Orleans are top drawer. And while you are listening to these fabulous musicians, eat everything in sight.
For additional recipes that might take you back to or introduce you to some of the types of dishes you might experience in New Orleans and environs, go to the “Categories” area on this site and search under “Creole/Cajun Recipes”.
Well, that’s all I have to say today. Except of course, peace and love to all.
For the olive and veggie salad:
2/3 c. extra virgin olive oil, or more if needed
¼ c. red wine vinegar
1 c. pitted kalamata olives, chopped
¾ c. pimento-stuffed green olives, chopped
¼ c. chopped pepperoncini
2 garlic cloves, finely minced
2 T. drained capers, roughly chopped
2 T. finely chopped fresh parsley
½ c. finely chopped celery
¾ c. finely chopped carrot
1 tsp. dried oregano
freshly ground black pepper
Combine all ingredients in a glass container with a lid. If the olive oil doesn’t cover all the chopped ingredients, add a bit more until all is covered. Refrigerate until needed. Best made at least a day ahead.
For 8 homemade individual round flat dinner rolls:
2¼ c. warm water
1 T. instant yeast
1 tsp. granulated sugar
1½ tsp. fine sea salt
5¼ c. unbleached all-purpose flour (more or less)
olive oil
In the bowl or your stand mixer, combine the water, yeast, and sugar. Ignore for 5 minutes.
Add the salt and a bit less than 5 cups of the flour. Mix with your bread hook until a soft dough has formed. Add additional flour as needed. (There should be a bit of dough hanging out on the bottom of the bowl. That’s what you want.)
Pour a bit of olive oil in the mixing bowl and using your hands and a stiff spatula form a dough ball covered in oil.
Cover the bowl loosely with plastic wrap. Allow the dough to rise at room temperature for about 80 minutes or until doubled in size.
Place a bit of flour on a pastry cloth or clean kitchen counter. Transfer the bread dough onto the floured surface using a stiff spatula. Then flour your hands and form the dough into 2 large equal sized balls. Then divide each ball into 4 pieces. Form each piece into a fairly flat round roll. (Do not knead the dough or handle it more than necessary.)
Place the formed bread dough on top of a parchment paper lined baking sheet and using a serrated knife, gently carve 2-3 diagonal cuts on the top of each loaf.
Rest the formed dough while you fill an oven proof pan with 2-inches of water and place it on the ovens’ bottom rack. This will create steam that will help the crust become a bit hard as it bakes. Then set the oven to heat at 450-degrees.
Once the oven has come to temperature, transfer the bread to the middle rack of your oven.
Bake for about 13 minutes or until golden brown all over and the internal temperature reaches about 200-degrees.
Remove from oven and transfer the loaves to a cooling rack. Allow to cool completely before slicing the loaves in half crosswise.
To put the muffaletta sandwich together:
8 round flat dinner rolls*or a large Italian loaf of bread (unsliced)
¾ lb. deli sliced Genoa salami
¾ lb. deli sliced ham
¾ lb. deli sliced mortadella
¾ lb. deli sliced provolone cheese
thin tomato slices
For each roll, hollow out the bread halves by pulling out about half of the insides. If using a long loaf, cut crosswise and into about 2½-inch wide pieces and remove about half of the soft bread. (Hint: Do not throw this nice lovely soft bread away. Toast it in your oven for the next time you need plain breadcrumbs.)
Coat the inside of each roll or sliced loaf with the olive oil marinade from the veggie salad. (Place most of the marinade on the top half since the salad goes in the bottom half.)
Spoon salad into the bottom halves.
Layer the salami, ham, mortadella, and provolone evenly over the salad. Add the tomato slices and place the top half of bread firmly on the tomato slices.
Serve immediately, or cover sandwiches tightly with plastic wrap and place in your fridge for several hours. Muffaletta sandwiches can be served cold, at room temperature, or slightly warmed.
Great served with thick potato chips, Classic Southern Macaroni Salad (see recipe below), and a cold beer.
*I like to use round, flat dinner rolls because I can “capture” the filling better than if I use sections from a long loaf of bread. Just a personal preference.
CLASSIC SOUTHERN MACARONI SALAD – based on a recipe I found on the southernbite.com site
1 c. mayonnaise, or a bit more if needed
1 T. yellow mustard
3 T. white vinegar (the old-fashioned kind)
1 tsp. granulated sugar
1 tsp. seasoned salt
freshly ground black pepper
½ tsp. granulated garlic
¼ tsp. granulated onion
½ c. finely chopped dill pickle
1 T. dill pickle juice
½ c. finely diced red onion* or green onion
½ c. finely diced celery (plus leaves)
3 c. uncooked small elbow macaroni, cooked al dente, drained and cooled by tap water
kosher salt, if needed
In a covered bowl, whisk the mayo, mustard, vinegar, sugar, seasoned salt, black pepper, granulated garlic, and granulated onion together. Then stir in the chopped dill pickle and pickle juice. Set aside.
Place the onion, celery, and cooked macaroni in a covered bowl. Add about 2/3rds of the dressing and toss to coat. Cover and refrigerate the pasta for at least 2 hours. (Refrigerate the remaining dressing too.)
When ready to serve, add remaining dressing and toss to coat. Taste and add kosher salt if needed.
*If you use diced red onion, before adding it to the rest of the ingredients, give it a bath for about 15 minutes in ice water. This will reduce the “bite” that is often associated with red onion. Be sure to drain and pat the diced onion dry with a paper towel before adding it to the salad.
OK, I am always trying to find more and easier ways to serve fresh veggies. I love to cook, but salads have always been my least favorite dish to prepare. Especially green or raw veggie salads. I don’t know why, because I love fresh veggie salads. I think it’s because I have made so darn many of them that it’s just become a boring chore. So, when I find some new way to dress a veggie, I actually look forward to the new adventure. And when the salad is as easy to make and delicious as this recipe produces, I can’t wait to share it with you. And the best part, all the ingredients are refrigerator or pantry staples. (Or should be!)
This lovely recipe, with admittedly a few minor changes from me, comes from the aspicyperspective.com site. Great site BTW. And even though I have two recipes on this site already featuring chimichurri sauce – Grilled Argentine (Like) Marinated Flank Steak with Chimichurri Sauce and Argentine Picadillo Empanadas with Chimichurri Sauce, I never thought of using chimichurri as a salad dressing. But believe me, I will be using it on other salads, and on various grilled meats, over breakfast scrambles, and even in place of garlic butter on toasted baguette slices. The uses for this delicious sauce are endless. (And it’s bloody easy to make! Hurray!)
And not to worry. The sauce is not spicy hot. In fact, it’s perfectly seasoned.
So, grab some fresh parsley out of your fridge, peel a garlic clove, and throw all the ingredients in a food processor, and call it good. No, call it GREAT!
And in case you don’t own a small food processor, let me recommend the Waring Commercial Pro Prep Chopper-Grinder. They aren’t cheap ($171.97 on Amazon), but I have had mine for many years, and I absolutely find it to be the best tool in my kitchen. Well, right up there with my KitchenAid stand mixer, that is! And lest you forgot, I do not make money by recommending any product on my site. I just tell it like it is for me. And yes, I am as passionate about both my small food processor and my KitchenAid mixer as any other tool lovin’ fool! Because good tools are very important, no matter if its building homes, painting pictures, or enjoying the entire kitchen experience.
Well, that’s it for today. Mr. C. has another outdoor gig this evening. Last Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and Monday evenings he also had outdoor gigs. And yes, there were predictions of possible rain, thunderstorms, and heavy wind for each of those performances too. But the bands made it through, even though the chances of “raindrops keep falling on my head” was there. And just to keep everyone on pins and needles, that same chance of precipitation is looming its ugly head for this evening’s event. (Ah Western Washington. How do I love thee, let me count the ways!) (At least it’s not 116-dgrees. For which I am truly thankful!) And so far, the extreme weather predictions have happened. They have just held off until the bands stopped playing. (The weather gods must love jazz and upscale classic rock as much as I do!) But even if it had rained on these events, we would always be able to come home to a dry and safe place to get out of the storms.
May you too always have a place where you can escape the cold, hot, wet, unhealthy air quality, etc., that so many people on planet earth do not have the luxury of experiencing. We who have a safe haven are truly the lucky ones.
But we can all help. We can vote in the upcoming presidential election for decency, humanity, empathy, and a positive future for the United States. If you have doubts about our future, one way to learn more, from a historian’s perspective, is to follow Heather Cox Richardson.
And especially now, with so much at stake for our country, please learn about the candidates before just voting the party line. That approach might have made sense in the past, but it truly isn’t acting responsibly in today’s crazy political arena.
As always, peace and love to all.
¼ c. packed fresh Italian parsley leaves (I use Italian parsley exclusively)
1 sm. clove garlic, cut in half
2 T. extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp. red wine vinegar, or more to taste
1 tsp. dried oregano
¼ tsp. ground cumin
¼ tsp. kosher salt, or more to taste
freshly ground black pepper
4-6 crushed red pepper flakes
1 pint cherry or grape tomatoes (2 cups), cut in half
Place the parsley, garlic, olive oil, red wine vinegar, oregano, cumin, salt, black pepper, and crushed red pepper flakes in a small food processor. Process until the parsley and garlic are broken down a bit. (Chimichurri sauce is meant to be rustic.) Taste and adjust seasoning.
Pour the chimichurri sauce over the tomatoes and toss to coat. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve. Remove from fridge about 30 minutes before serving. (I find tomatoes have more flavor when served at room temperature.)
I love teriyaki. I don’t care if it’s chicken or beef, as long as the meat has lots of flavor and hasn’t been cooked to death. (Isn’t that a stupid statement. Anything you cook, be it meat or vegies, is already dead. But I digress.)
Anyway, I am currently on a mission to use up the meat in our freezer that Mr. C. has deemed “obviously abandoned”. And included in that category were two small packages of mystery meat. One contained a small piece of sirloin steak (as it turned out), and the other, half a flank steak.
So, while the meat was thawing, I went to work finding a new and exciting way to give this meat the respect it deserved. And I landed on this teriyaki marinade recipe from the heartnaptime.net site. (Great site BTW.)
And OMG, what a wonderful teriyaki dinner we had last evening. Along with steamed brown rice, I prepared Teriyaki Salad Dressing over Romaine, Carrot, Celery, and Green Onions. (Recipe to be published in the next few days.) (But get a preview by scrolling down to find the recipe below.)
Now, this is not a wimpy marinade/sauce recipe. It is bold, brazen, and any other word you might think of to mean “holy moly powerful”! So, go slowly into that good sauce when it comes time to decorate the grilled meat before serving.
Well, that’s all I have to say today. Mr. C. has a gig in Anacortes at 3:00 this afternoon. So, I am going to keep this preface short and sweet. Which reminds me, this teriyaki marinade/sauce is not too sweet. A taste of honey, as the old song title goes, but not in the least bit overpoweringly sugary. Perfectly balanced.
So, next time you get a hankering for teriyaki, give this recipe a try. Easy, and relatively inexpensive to make. And better than most beef teriyaki you can find in restaurants.
Happy Saturday to all. And of course, peace and love from our home to yours.
½ c. low-sodium Tamari or soy sauce
¼ c. water
2 T. toasted sesame oil
2 T. honey
2 T. Worcestershire sauce
2 garlic cloves, finely minced
2-3 tsp. minced fresh ginger
1½ lbs. flank steak, fat and silver skin removed
sliced green onions, garnish
Combine the soy sauce, water, sesame oil, honey, Worcestershire sauce, garlic, and ginger in a glass bowl. Whisk until combined. Pour 1/3rd of the marinade in a small pan. Set aside.
Add the flank steak to the remining marinade, cover, and place in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes. (Best when marinated for 4-6 hours.) Remove from fridge at least 30 minutes ahead of grilling.
Preheat grill to medium-high heat.
Place the steak on the hot grill and cook for 3-4 minutes. Turn the steak over and grill another 2-3 minutes. For medium-rare (135-degrees).
Remove from grill and let rest for about 5 minutes before thinly slicing on the diagonal. Serve with remaining marinade (now teriyaki sauce) which has been brought to a boil, reduced to simmer, and cooked for about 5 minutes.
TERIYAKI SALAD DRESSING FOR ROMAINE, CARROT, CELERY, AND GREEN ONIONS
For the dressing:
½ c. mayonnaise
1 T. rice vinegar
2 tsp. granulated sugar
1 tsp. soy sauce
tiny pinch granulated garlic
1 tsp. toasted sesame oil
freshly ground black pepper (not too much)
Whisk together the mayo, rice vinegar, sugar, soy sauce, granulated garlic, sesame oil, and black pepper in a covered container. Refrigerate before serving.
For the salad:
3-4 c. chopped romaine or iceberg lettuce
½ c. shredded carrot
½ c. thinly sliced celery or cabbage
2 finely chopped green onions
Place in a bowl and toss lightly with salad dressing just before serving.
The other day Mr. C. and I were shopping at our local IGA here on the island. He happened to notice that in the freezer section with all the other seafood options, appeared a shrink-wrapped package of thick, boneless, skinless tuna steaks. He showed it to me and said, “what do you think?” I said, “let’s go for it!”. And oh, am I glad I said that! Because Nagi’s recipe on recipetineats.com for Tuna Steaks served with Sauce Vierge (slightly modified by me) is one of the best and easiest entrées I ever made or eaten. Absolutely delicious! And the whole meal had been exceedingly easy to prepare.
I served the fish with Easy Plain Polenta (recipe below) and steamed broccoli. Yum, yum, YUM!
So, if you too have ever wondered if frozen tuna was worth the effort, I can only tell you, my experience. The tuna was perfect. I let it thaw completely and then used paper towels to dry it off a bit. Then went from there with the recipe below.
I think the main reason the tuna was so perfect is because when fish is frozen within hours of harvest, the freezing process stops deterioration and actually preserves the freshness of the fish. Plus, when seafood is frozen at sea and sold still frozen, we the consumer get to decide when to defrost the fish and can thaw it right before cooking. So, will I be buying more frozen tuna next time I go to the store? You bet your sweet bippy!
And since I’m sure you were wondering – Sauce Vierge is the French version of salsa. Salsa apparently can be traced back to the Inca, Mayan, and Aztec civilizations of Central and South America. Whereas Sauce Vierge was popularizedin the 1980s by Michel Guérard, a French chef, author, and one of the founders of nouvelle cuisine.
And since I needed to have “nouvelle cuisine” defined for me, I thought you might appreciate the definition too.
According to the Oxford dictionary, nouvelle cuisine is “a modern style of cooking that avoids rich, heavy foods and emphasizes the freshness of the ingredients and the presentation of the dishes.”
Well, that’s it for today. I am spending my week getting ready for a 3-band picnic here at Chez Carr next Sunday. So, I am spending a bit of time each day baking, mixing, shredding, dicing, whisking, etc., and generally dirtying up my kitchen in preparation for the gang. In other words, I am doing what I love. Feeding people, I know and love, and those I hope to know better. And trying in my own way to spread a little joy.
It’s a tough reality we are living through right now. Most of what is happening to our country makes no sense to most of us. It’s a tumultuous time, to say the least. So, getting together with friends and family and sharing a meal, or going for a hike, or teeing off for a round of golf, etc., can serve as a reminder of what is still wonderful about our own little corner of this crazy world. We need each other. And we all need to know we are not alone.
So, invite a friend over. Bake a batch of cookies and share them with your neighbors. Take someone a bouquet of flowers from your yard. In your own way, let people know how much they mean to you. It’s the simple gestures that make the most impact.
What the world needs now is love, sweet love It’s the only thing that there’s just too little of What the world needs now is love, sweet love No not just for some but for everyone
(Thank you Hal David.)
And as always, peace and love to all.
For the Sauce Vierge: (make this before you cook the tuna steaks)
3 T. extra virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling
1 T. fresh lemon juice
¼ tsp. anchovy paste
¼ tsp. finely minced garlic
½ tsp. finely minced parsley
½ tsp. finely chopped basil
1 tsp. capers, drained and roughly chopped
pinch kosher salt, or more to taste
freshly ground black pepper
1 tsp. finely diced shallot
6-8 cherry tomatoes, diced
6 kalamata olives, sliced
Mix ingredients in a bowl. Taste and add more salt if needed.
For the Tuna Steaks:
8-12 oz. thick, boneless, skinless, tuna steaks
extra virgin olive oil
fine sea salt
freshly ground black pepper
On a small baking pan or dinner plate,drizzle olive oil over the tuna. Smear the oil with your fingers over one side, then lightly sprinkle with salt and pepper. Flip and repeat.
Heat a skillet (preferably a skillet with grill lines) over high heat until smoking hot.
If your skillet is not well-seasoned, brush the skillet with olive oil or take pan off stove and spray with any cooking oil.
Place tuna steaks in the skillet and cook for 45 seconds.
Turn steak 45 degrees. Continue cooking for another 45 seconds.
Flip the tuna carefully, then leave for 1 minute or until the internal temperature in the middle reads 118-degrees.
Remove tuna from skillet and place on a cutting board. Rest for 5 minutes. (The tuna will cool down to almost room temperature. That’s what you want!) Slice the steaks into 1-inch pieces. Plate the tuna and spoon the Sauce Vierge over the top. Then drizzle just a bit more olive oil over the whole mess. Serve immediately.
Great with Easy Plain Polenta. See recipe below.
EASY PLAIN POLENTA
1½ c. water
½ c. whole milk
rounded ¼ tsp. fine sea salt
freshly ground black pepper
½ c. polenta (not instant)
2 T. unsalted butter
In a medium saucepan, bring water, milk, salt, and pepper to a boil. Once boiling, turn the heat down to medium. While whisking, slowly pour the polenta into your liquid over the course of about 1 minute. Take it slow! This ensures that there will be no lumps in your cooked polenta.
Once all the polenta is in the liquid, continue whisking until it starts to thicken, about 2 minutes. Then turn down the heat to low and cover the pan. The polenta should be gently bubbling but not fully simmering. Set a timer for 30 minutes and be sure to whisk the polenta every 5 minutes or so to keep it from sticking to the bottom of the pot.
After 30 minutes, test your polenta. It should be soft and creamy, with no lumps or graininess. If you want your polenta to be slightly thicker, let it cook for another 10 minutes.
Remove from heat and stir in the butter. Taste again and add more salt or butter if you want a more savory or salty flavor.
Great side dish or base for any prepared food that would be perfect over mashed potatoes, quinoa, rice, etc.
OK, I know. I already have 2 very similar broccoli salad recipes on this site. That’s because I REALLY LOVE BROCCOLI SALAD! But the one I served yesterday for our JazzVox pre-concert meal was even more spectacular than my other recipes. (Sorry guys, but the truth shall set me free!) I think it was the use of apple cider vinegar rather than another type of vinegar, and the addition of dried cranberries that made this version so amazing. Also, the fact that I made it the day before and let it sit overnight in the fridge. This I learned from Holly, creator of the spendwithpennies.com cooking blog. (A fabulous site BTW. You simply must check it out!) So, this is basically Holly’s recipe with a couple of minor ingredient amount changes of mine.
And I must say, this salad literally disappeared yesterday. One moment there was still some left in the bowl. The next time I looked, it was all gone. It might have been because of all the bacon. But I am choosing to believe that people are finally realizing that broccoli is an excellent source of vitamins C, K, and A. And that it also contains several important minerals, such as potassium, calcium, and iron as well as several antioxidants, including vitamins C and E, β-carotene.
Anyway, if you want to make a broccoli salad that is sure to be a hit, this is the recipe for you. And it can be made ahead. And who doesn’t love that kind of recipe. Especially when entertaining.
Well, today is a down day for me. Not mentally, but after feeding 41 people yesterday, my body is rebelling at even getting up from my desk to grab a drink of water. (My body saying – You want me to walk all the way to the kitchen. Have you no compassion for tired legs and feet? Don’t you remember that the kitchen is your enemy? Etc. etc. ad nauseam!) So, my brain having a mind of its own, I am choosing to surrender and keep my butt firmly planted in my desk chair today.
But I’m still coherent enough to wish peace and love to all.
⅓ c. finely diced red onion
1 c. ice water
1 c. mayonnaise
3 T. apple cider vinegar
1 T. granulated sugar
¼ tsp. kosher salt
freshly ground black pepper
8 c. broccoli florets and peeled stems, cut into bite-sized pieces and thoroughly dried
½ c. dried cranberries
½ c. sunflower seeds
1 c. cooked tiny meaty bacon pieces, plus more for garnish
Combine the red onion* and ice water in a small bowl. Make sure the onion is under water. Let the onion mellow out while you make the dressing and chop the veggies. Then drain the onion and pat dry really well before adding to the bowl with the other ingredients.
Whisk the mayonnaise, apple cider vinegar, sugar, salt, and pepper together in a small bowl. Set aside.
In a large bowl, combine the broccoli, cranberries, sunflower seeds, bacon pieces, and drained and dried onion. Pour the dressing over all and mix well.
Cover and refrigerate overnight for best results. Remove from fridge about 30 minutes before serving. Garnish with bacon.
*It seems to me that red onions seem to be getting “hotter” than I remember them being in the past. So, letting the cut onion spend some quality time in ice water helps reduce the hot or bite. This is true for other onions and shallots too.
OK, now for something healthy and mind boggling delicious.
As some of you know, salad is usually my least favorite dish to prepare. Why that is, I still have no idea even after all these decades of putting food on a table. Perhaps it’s the repetitious chore of washing the veggies, chopping the veggies, and drying the veggies that holds no challenge for me. After all, it’s not like preparing a perfect Beurre Blanc Sauce (recipe on this site BTW) for heaven’s sake. Chopping veggies for a salad is simply a cut-and-dried task! Where’s the adventure?
So, for me, the only redeeming feature, apart from my love of a good salad, is in making the dressing. And if possible, like in this salad, keeping the veggie prep to a minimum.
So, below you will find a recipe for a salad that is easy to prepare and scrumptious. And reasonably healthy as well! And isn’t that a perfect combination.
Well, that’s it for today. We have a busy week ahead of us, so I plan to take it kind of easy today. Read my book this afternoon until I fall asleep in my chair. Then try a couple new recipes this evening for Egg Foo Young and broccoli in an Asian inspired sauce. If the recipes work, I will share them with you. If not, I will chock the whole thing up to trial and error. (The error being me trying the recipes in the first place! Or me putting my own spin on someone else’s perfectly good recipes and ruining them in the process. That I’m sure has happened more often than I care to admit. Even to myself!)
But as always, I keep on experimenting with food. Some people make art. (I used to do that.) Some folks make music. (I used to do that too.) Now, I just make a mess in my kitchen. And for me that’s the perfect way to spend my time.
Peace and love to all.
¼ c. extra virgin olive oil
zest of 1 lemon
juice of 1 lemon, or more to taste
tiny pinch crushed red pepper flakes
¼ tsp. kosher salt, or more to taste
freshly ground black pepper
2 hearts of romaine lettuce, chopped into bite sized pieces
1 head red leaf lettuce, chopped into bite sized pieces
1 c. finely grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese
Whisk the olive oil, lemon zest, lemon juice, crushed red pepper flakes, salt, and pepper together in the bottom of a salad bowl. Taste and adjust seasoning.
Just before serving, toss in the lettuce. Add the Parmigiano Reggiano cheese and toss again. Serve immediately.
I love it when the salad and side dish are one and the same. Of course, I can always go completely nuts and serve another veggie or homemade rolls or biscuits. But why? As in this case, I’ve got my side grain or starch dish and veggie (spinach) all in one bowl. And having only two dishes to prepare equates to less work and time spent in the kitchen. Which is becoming more and more appealing the older I get! And another wonderful thing about this salad; it is even better when made ahead. And who doesn’t love that option.
When a combination dish is as delicious as this modified version of a recipe I found on the borrowedbites.com site, I truly feel like I have won the lottery. So, served with a simply prepared chicken breast, lamb or pork chop, or seasoned ground beef patty, dinner is on the table in no time flat. And this makes for a very nutritious and easy meal to prepare and fancy enough for even the most discerning guests.
So, I suggest you make this salad soon. It is truly delectable.
Well, that is all I have to say today. We have reservations this evening at the Mirkwood Public House in Arlington for dinner and a show. The show being “A Vaudeville Cirque Extravaganza” (New Old Time Chautauqua*), featuring the Flying Karamazov Brothers, the Fighting Instruments of Karma Marching Band/Orchestra, and other vaudevillian luminaries. Should be fun. A little out of our normal entertainment framework. But isn’t that the way we grow. We try something new. We choose a new author, we visit a new land, we meet new people, we expand our horizons by letting go of our comfort zone. Not to the point of making ourselves uncomfortable. But as I have often said, I can put up with almost any type of entertainment, within the bounds of decency, for 2 hours. I may never want to hear or see this kind of show again. But then I at least have real experience with, not just some pre-conceived idea of why I don’t want to attend this type of event. I can at least say – once was enough. However, what I hope to be able to say is – when’s the next show?
Peace and love to all. And happy adventures.
1¾ c. quinoa**
1½ c. chicken broth
1 lg. garlic clove, finely minced
2 T. extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp. lemon zest
3 T. fresh lemon juice, or more to taste
½ tsp. kosher salt
freshly ground black pepper
1 tsp. Italian seasoning
2 T. chopped fresh parsley
1½ c. chopped fresh spinach
¾ – 1 c. crumbled feta
½ c. toasted slivered almonds
Rinse and drain the quinoa thoroughly in cold water. In a medium saucepan, add the quinoa to the chicken stock. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce the heat to a simmer, cover the pan, and cook until all the liquid is absorbed, about 12 to 15 minutes. Remove from heat, take off the lid, and set aside.
While the cooked quinoa is off heat, whisk the garlic, olive oil, lemon zest, lemon juice, salt, pepper, and Italian seasoning together in a bowl.Stir into the warm quinoa.
Just before serving, stir in the parsley, spinach, feta cheese, and slivered almonds.
You can serve this wonderful salad right after preparing, but it is even better the next day, after having spent the night in your refrigerator. But if you plan to serve it the next day, don’t add the parsley, spinach, feta cheese, and almonds until just before serving.
*A Chautauqua began in 1874 by the opening of the Chautauqua Institution. A Chautauqua is a camp that focuses on learning and entertainment, with lectures, concerts, and presentations by religious leaders, philosophers, and specialists in a variety of fields.
**Though technically a seed, quinoa is classified as a whole grain and is a good source of plant protein and fiber.
Oh, how I wish I could take credit for this recipe, but my parents taught me not to tell lies. And believe it or not, I actually paid attention to some of their dictums. Mind you, not all their wise “suggestions” stuck. But telling untruths, unless they are little white lies meant to spare someone a hurtful truth, are something I have tried very hard to keep in my “how to be a good person” bucket. So, in full disclosure, I found this recipe on whatsgabycooking.com. And this vinaigrette is FREAKING AMAZING. Absolutely the best basil vinaigrette I have ever tasted. Perhaps even the best salad dressing of any kind I have ever tasted! (It really is that good!)
It all started because I was making Peposo (an Italian braised beef and black pepper dish) for dinner. (Very rich.) (Recipe to be posted later.) So, I needed a simple salad to go with my entrée. And I had a bunch of fresh basil that needed to be used. Well, as they say – the rest is history! I went online. Gaby’s recipe looked perfect. I actually almost followed the recipe to the letter. (I used less crushed red pepper flakes than Gaby suggested.) And now I am sharing this marvelous recipe with you. And believe me when I say – THIS IS YOUR LICKY DAY! And Gaby, thank you so much for sharing your culinary talent with all of us. We are all in your debt.
Well, that’s it for today. I’ve been busy. Making traveling plans. Attending musical events. Seeing friends. Reading good books. All the fun things that make my life so wonderful. May you too have joy in your life. We only go around once, so make every single solitary day count.
And as always, peace and love to all.
2 T. roughly chopped shallot
2 c. tightly packed fresh basil leaves, stems removed
2 lg. garlic cloves, roughly chopped
pinch crushed red pepper flakes, opt.
½ c. extra virgin olive oil
2 T. red wine vinegar
1 tsp. kosher salt, or more to taste
freshly ground black pepper
Combine all the ingredients in a small food processor or blender. Whirl for at least 1 minute or until very smooth. Taste and add salt as needed.
Serve over any of your favorite greens. Or my favorite (so far) – chopped romaine and sliced tomatoes.
And try not to eat all the dressing while you are taste testing it. Good luck with that!
You know how some recipes work out better than others, well for dinner last night I tried 3 new dishes. Two of the recipes (oven fried chicken) and (baked sweet potato chunks) were from food sites I trust. But both recipes were not up to par. And why I tried yet again to expect oven fried chicken to work, I will never know. You would think after at least 147 tries, I would have figured out by now that you simply cannot get crispy “fried” chicken out of an oven. ITIS FLAT OUT IMPOSSIBLE! And that any food blogger who says any different is either crazy or smoking something they shouldn’t be smoking!
Anyway, the left-over chicken is going to be used for enchiladas tonight. And the sweet potato chunks were quickly introduced to our yard waste barrel right after dinner. But what saved the entire meal was this salad.
There are several fine restaurants that we frequent that serve a variation of this delightful salad. So, I decided that I would try my hand at producing a salad that came close. And I do believe I far exceeded even my own expectation.
So, if you too love a good spinach salad with some very tasty additions that just scream “gourmet”, then give this salad a try.
Well, that’s it for today. After yesterday’s dinner fiasco, I’m a little hesitant to try more new recipes today. But then, what the heck, we must eat! If the enchilada and pinto bean recipes work, you will be the first to know. (Well, after Mr. C. and me that is!)
And as a reminder to all of us – don’t give up in the kitchen. Not every dish we prepare is going to be a winner. Because some days, our kitchen witch is not paying as much attention as she should be.
According to Wikipedia, “A kitchen witch, sometimes called a cottage witchis a homemade poppet or doll resembling a stereotypical witch or crone displayed in residential kitchens as a good luck charm and to ward off bad spirits.
There is some debate over where the kitchen witch originated, some claiming Scandanavia and others Germany. But consensus points to older Northern European customs, as it seems to have been more widespread earlier.
The poppet is supposed to depict a “good”witch who inspires productivity and safety in a kitchen, but also counteracts any ill-will directed to the home. It is considered good luck to give a kitchen witch to a friend or family member. So that those unfamiliar with the kitchen witch can understand its meaning, sometimes a note will be hung around the witch’s neckstating something similar to: The Legendary Secret of Goof-Proof Cooking: The Famous Kitchen Witch.”
An interesting article I read on naturallymodernlife.com, “You might be a Kitchen Witch if:
You personalize your space with great intention and care; curating a sense of home
You instantly know if a space resonates with you or not
You love to cook with whole, organic foods as often as possible
You love to grow your own food or visit local markets often
You believe food is medicine
You often cook for others to express affection
You are always cooking or baking up a new recipe
You clean with natural ingredients (and probably make them too)
You enchant ingredients before adding them to a dish
A cup of tea is never just tea -it’s a ritual, it’s a brew, it’s been magically prepared for some reason”
Well, I may not believe in witchcraft, but I certainly fall into many of the categories above. However, I have never enchanted an ingredient, and I don’t even like tea. As far as being a witch, you will have to decide that for yourself.
As always, peace and love to all.
2 T. extra virgin olive oil
2 tsp. white or regular balsamic vinegar, or more to taste
1½ tsp. Dijon mustard
1½ tsp. honey
pinch kosher salt
freshly ground black pepper
3 c. chopped fresh spinach (or part spinach and arugula)
1 roasted beet, diced (see easy way to bake beets below)
⅓ c. crumbled feta cheese
⅓ c. halved toasted hazelnuts
Whisk the olive oil, balsamic vinegar, Dijon mustard, honey, salt, and pepper together in a small bowl.
Dress the spinach with the dressing and place on two salad plates. Then heap on the roasted beet, feta cheese, and toasted hazelnuts. Serve immediately.
EASY BAKED BEETS
1 lg. or 2 sm. beets
2 tsp. extra virgin olive oil
kosher salt
Scrub the beet(s) very well, dry with a paper towel, then cut off both ends. Cut in slices a scant ¾-inch thick. (No need to peel.) (Trust me!)
Then cut into roughly ¾-inch pieces or triangles.
Place on a parchment paper lined baking sheet.
Pour on the olive oil and add a bit of kosher salt. Not too much, not too little.
Mix all together with your hands. (Best tool in the kitchen.)
Bake in a pre-heated 375-degree oven for 45-60 minutes. They are tender when you can stick a fork in them.
Remove from oven and try not to eat all the beet pieces before you use them on this salad. Actually, you can eat a few pieces, because one large beet is too much for the salad. So, lucky you!
