Archive for the 'salads' Category
Since I was 15 and hung out at Earls with my friend J, who had a real job as a busgirl there, back in the day of the giant papier-mâché parrots and green and white umbrellas and Mocha Kahlúa Pie, I have been a fan of their Hot Chicken Caesar Salad. That is, until I discovered that (not really suprisingly) one contains 1120 calories and 77 grams of fat. Only 12 saturated, but still… and then there’s the 1531 mg of sodium. So. I figure for that price, I might as well get a burger and fries out of the deal.
But I still do love Caesar salad, and today it occurred to me that it would make good use of the bag of frozen shrimp that I so often call into service on days like today when I haven’t really planned anything. It would have made good use of a deli roasted chicken, too.
The chunk of leftover baguette I had frozen was chopped, tossed with canola oil and toasted in a 400 degree oven to make croutons, an essential part of any Caesar. (I would have sprinkled them with some garlic powder or salt if I had any. If I wasn’t so lazy, I would have pressed a clove of garlic into the oil that I tossed the bread chunks in.) The shrimp came cooked in a bag, and only needed thawing under running water in a colander.
For the dressing, I consulted my salad binder (I have 14 binders full of recipes I’ve been collecting over the years, plus a yellow milk crate, plus assorted surfaces throughout the house, plus my computer, plus about ten thousand cookbooks - I exaggerate only slightly) and sort of morphed a bunch of Caesar dressing recipes together. I wish I had a tube of anchovy paste - I love anchovies in my Caesars - but it’s not something I normally keep on hand. The dressing was good, if a little lemony… I know a lot of people like it like that, but I’ve never been one to squeeze that wedge of lemon over my salad. Next time I think I’ll try half lemon, half balsamic vinegar, for a creamy but balsamic-y Caesar dressing. A roasted head of garlic would have been fantastic, too.
In fact, next time I think I’ll try grilling whole hearts of Romaine like they used to do at that restaurant over on 4th Street, and grill the shrimp, and maybe even grill oil-brushed and garlic-rubbed bread to tear into croutons, too.
Caesar Dressing
1/4 cup lemon juice (or half lemon juice, half balsamic vinegar)
1/4 cup low fat mayo
1/4 cup finely grated Parmesan cheese
2 garlic cloves, finely crushed
2 tsp. grainy (or not) Dijon mustard
1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
lots of freshly ground black pepper
Whisk it all together in a bowl or shake it up in a jar.
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June 23 2008 | salads and seafood | 3 Comments »
Dinner was lunch today, as I ate before heading to CBC and then went more or less straight to Julliard to celebrate my brother in law’s graduation, where we had drinks and snacks and cake, not really dinner per se, so again I’m falling back on what was technically my last meal of the day. It was hot enough this afternoon to turn my baggie of chocolate covered pretzels into a bag of pretzels in chocolate sauce in the car, so there was no actual cooking. Fortunately I just came up with this new salad - a cross between pan bagnat (pan ban-YAH) - a sandwich from the south of France made with tuna, olives, tomatoes and hard boiled eggs - and a panzanella salad, which is based on torn up chunks of bread, rather than lettuce, potatoes or other vegetables or grains. The bread soaks up the dressing, and creates a more substantial base; it’s kind of like tearing up your sandwich into chunks and eating it with a fork.
If you want to drizzle the torn bread chunks with oil and toast them they will turn out more like croutons; Jamie Oliver has a similar salad onto which he sets a softly poached egg, whose yolk then dribbles over the greens and mingles with the lemony dressing. That’s definitely on my to-eat list for next week.
Pan Bagnat Panzanella (Salad)
1/2 loaf crusty bread or baguette, cut or torn into chunks
1 ripe tomato, chopped
1/2 purple onion, chopped
1 can tuna in oil, drained
1 hard-boiled egg, peeled and chopped
a handful of torn fresh basil or Italian parsley
1/2 cup Kalamata olives
Parmesano-Reggiano
a couple spoonfuls of capers, drained
Dressing:
1/2 cup canola or olive oil
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1/4 cup lemon juice
lots of pepper
Make a salad using chunks of bread, chopped tomato, onion, flaked tuna, egg, basil or parsley and olives. Using a vegetable peeler, peel strips of Parmesano-Reggiano cheese over top, and sprinkle with capers. Toss with dressing and serve immediately.
Serves 2-4.
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June 20 2008 | one dish and salads | 1 Comment »
Otsu is a cold soba (buckwheat) noodle salad named, I believe, for a city in Japan. I had seen a couple references to it, and so when I saw fresh buckwheat noodles at the Asian market, I picked up a package, thinking it would make a nice summery dinner. Unfortunately we haven’t seen any sign of summer since then.
Once in awhile, maybe a few times a year, I crave tofu. Identifiable tofu, that is - not blended into a smoothie or peanut sauce. Done right, marinated perhaps but always well crisped - caramelized, even - in a hot pan, tofu can be delicious. The key to giving your tofu a nice outer crust is to start with a firm variety, then press as much excess liquid out as you can. To do this, sandwich it between a couple layers of good paper towel (not the wussy stuff) and put a skillet or something heavy on top to weigh it down for awhile. The longer you press it, the drier it will become, which will allow it to crisp up nicely.
The dressing is a melange of a bunch of recipes I looked up; as I was shaking it together in its jar it occurred to me that it could do double duty as a marinade for the tofu. So I poured some over my slab of tofu and stuck it in the fridge. (As it turned out, it marinated for more than a day, due to our spontaneous shawarma yesterday.)
This is one of those meals that can be classified as real fast food. (Hey - perhaps that should be a recipe category?) The noodles boil in 3-4 minutes, as long as it takes to fry the tofu, which since it’s already cooked only needs to brown on the outside. Slice some cucumber and shake up your dressing, and you’re good to go.
To quote Mike: “I really liked it. I’m not kidding, that was the first time I sort of actually enjoyed tofu.”
Otsu
Dressing:
1/4 cup rice vinegar
1/4 cup soy sauce
2 Tbsp. canola oil
2 Tbsp. sesame oil
finely grated zest and juice of 1 lemon
1 Tbsp. sugar or honey
1 tsp. grated fresh ginger
a squirt of hot chile sauce (the red stuff in the squeeze bottle) - optional
Salad:
about 1/2 lb. (8 oz.) fresh or dried soba (buckwheat) noodles, or as much as you think you’ll need
about a third of a cucumber, halved and sliced
a green onion or two, chopped
half a package of firm tofu
canola or sesame oil, for cooking
as much chopped fresh cilantro as you like
sesame seeds, toasted
To make the dressing, shake all the ingredients up in a jar. If you like, pour some over your slab of tofu and let it sit for a couple hours or up to a couple days. If you want to press it, do it after it comes out of the marinade.
Cook the soba noodles according to package directions, then run them under cold water to cool them down and drain them well. Add the cucumber and green onion, drizzle with about half the dressing, toss and divide among your bowls.
Cut the tofu into about 1″ squares (or bite-sized pieces) and heat a drizzle of oil in a skillet set over medium-high heat. Add the tofu and brown on both (or all) sides. Divide the crispy tofu among the bowls, top with cilantro and sesame seeds, and drizzle with extra dressing. Serve immediately.
Serves 2-4(ish).
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June 08 2008 | one dish and pasta and salads and vegetarian | 2 Comments »
OK, so this was really lunch. But it was late in the afternoon, close to dinner. This evening I was emceeing a fundraiser for a school for autistic kids, and it was a (fairly utilitarian) buffet dinner, not much interesting to write home about, so I opted to default back to lunch.
We were out doing some running around most of the day, and starving. The plan was to pick up a couple of slices of pizza at Wicked Wedge, but when traffic got far too difficult to fight, I told Mike to head home and I’d stir up something great I’d just read about.
I was romanced by the idea of this chickpea salad by Molly at Orangette. Molly calls this a salad, (and who am I to argue with Molly?) and I suppose technically it is what with the oil and lemon, but my idea of a salad usually includes a few more base ingredients. I can’t really go so far as to call it a recipe; it’s more like seasoning a can of chickpeas. She once said something along the lines of “one of life’s greatest skills is the ability to doctor up a can of beans”, and I couldn’t agree more. I’ve adapted this a bit, partly because it’s easier around these parts to find a 19 oz can of beans, and partly because I like it with pepper.
It wasn’t as earth-shattering as I hoped, but Mike called it “deeelish“, and I found myself thinking about the leftovers in the fridge. It’s one of those last-second formulas that can round out a meal or create a perfect picnic or lunch at work instantly.
Alongside, some sautéed spinach with garlic. I picked up a bag of local Hotchkiss spinach the other day, thinking about that poached egg on toast with sautéed spinach that was so good so many months ago. The combination was good when you got a bit of garlicky spinach on your fork and anchored it by spearing a few chickpeas.
Chickpeas with Lemon and Parmesan
1 19 oz. (540 mL) can of chickpeas, rinsed and drained
1 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil or cold-pressed canola oil
1 Tbsp. lemon juice (about half a lemon)
salt & pepper
1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
Stir everything together; serve right away or put in the fridge to chill. Can be kept overnight; makes a great portable lunch.
Serves 2-4.
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May 31 2008 | beans and salads and veg and vegetarian | 3 Comments »
I know, steak twice in under a week? This time I blame our Vancouver friends, who spied the BBQ and wanted a taste of Alberta beef. All we did was rub them with canola oil, salt and pepper and grill them medium-rare. I took some pork ribs out of the freezer too (best to pawn them off on company, rather than down a rack between the two of us), which, as always, I preroasted on a rimmed cookie sheet, covered with foil, at 300F for a couple hours before throwing on the grill. (You can do this a day or two ahead and keep them in the fridge; the long slow cooking time breaks down tough connective tissues, which is what makes the meat fall-off-the-bone tender.) I crushed a few cloves of garlic and grated some ginger into the last third of the jar of hoisin sauce, and then stirred in a couple spoonfuls of honey. This got brushed onto the ribs before they went on the grill, but promptly caught fire on account of the high sugar content. (This is typical of most barbecue sauces, which usually have sugar as the first ingredient.)
We tried to offset the quantity of meat with an even greater number of salads; the usual brown and wild rice one, a tossed green salad with croutons made of bread that I brushed with garlicky olive oil and grilled, then tore into pieces, and another Ichiban salad since I had leftover dressing. And quinoa with mango and curried yogurt - something I made for a segment on CBC radio this morning, which I was decidedly less thrilled with than the 63 people who voted 97% in favour of it on epicurious.com.
Quinoa with Mango and Curried Yogurt
Dressing:
1/3 cup plain yogurt
1 Tbsp. fresh lime juice
2 tsp. curry powder
1 tsp. finely grated fresh ginger
salt and pepper
2 Tbsp. canola oil
Salad:
1 1/2 cups quinoa
1 ripe mango, peeled, pitted, and diced
1 roasted red pepper, chopped
1 fresh jalapeño pepper, seeded (the seeds and membranes contain the most heat) and minced (optional)
a handful of fresh cilantro, chopped
1/2 cup salted roasted peanuts or cashews, chopped
In a small bowl, whisk together the yogurt, lime juice, curry powder, ginger, salt and pepper. Add oil in a slow stream, whisking until combined.
Rinse quinoa well in a few changes of water, rubbing grains and letting them settle before pouring off water. Cook in a large pot of boiling water for 15 minutes, rinse under cold water to stop it from cooking, and drain well in a sieve.
In a large bowl, toss the quinoa with the mango, red pepper, jalapeño and cilantro. Drizzle with dressing and toss to combine; top with chopped peanuts or cashews.
Serves 6.
And here’s something cool: if you moisten a paper towel, sprinkle it with quinoa and top it with another damp towel, it will sprout. (If you live in Calgary, you may have to re-moisten the paper towel once in awhile.) Germination activates natural enzymes and boosts vitamin content, and the wee sprouts are perfect to add to salads.
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May 14 2008 | grains and salads | 2 Comments »
My mother and sister-in-law came for dinner tonight. (Or more accurately this afternoon… they arrived at 3:55, presumably on time for the blue plate special?)
For Mike’s family, the absolute fanciest dinner you can have (with the exception of turkey at Easter, Thanksgiving and Christmas) is steak. (Or cornish hens circa 1982.) So when I was at my sister’s for Mother’s Day brunch this morning, I ran across the street to Sobey’s, one of few grocery chains that sells fresh bison in their meat case, and picked up some steaks.
I know I’ve talked about bison before, but just a reminder: because it’s so lean (containing half the fat of beef, and even less fat than skinless turkey or chicken, or even halibut) cuts like steak need to be given about a third less cooking time than a similar cut of beef. Because it looks and tastes like beef, people tend to treat it the same way in the kitchen, often drying it out. If you’re a beginner, try using ground bison first - it’s foolproof in chilis, meatballs, pasta sauces, etc.
When I did some foodstyling for Trish Magwood a few months ago, while she was in town promoting the 100th birthday of Melitta coffee, she taught me a quick spice rub that included actual coffee grounds. I’ve revised it a little.
Mike: “I can’t imagine ever having steak without this rub on it now!”
Coffee Rubbed Steak
steaks of your choice
Rub:
2 Tbsp. dark Mexican chili powder (or any good quality chili powder)
1 Tbsp. cocoa
1 Tbsp. finely ground coffee or espresso
1 tsp. coarse salt
1 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
Make sure your steak is at room temperature. Combine all the rub ingredients and rub it all over both sides of the steak(s); let them sit for about 10 minutes.
Heat your grill, a cast iron skillet or grill pan over medium-high heat until it’s hot but not smoking. (If you don’t have cast iron, use a regular skillet and drizzle with canola oil.) Put the steak onto the grill or into the pan and cook for 4-5 minutes per side (2-3 minutes for bison steaks) for medium-rare. Let them rest, tented with foil so that they don’t cool down, for 10 minutes before slicing.
The smashed potatoes were simply my easiest option. My in-laws are very much the type to construct dinner out of 1) meat. 2) potato. 3) vegetable, preferably boiled. Mashed potatoes I love, but they are more tedious and require peeling, something I’d prefer not to do. Baked potatoes seemed far too steakhouse; I pondered going the twice-baked route with chives from the garden, but Yukon golds tend to have flimsy skins for that sort of thing. They are ideal, however, for a rough mash. To shake things up a bit, try throwing a small sweet potato into the mix as well; the mashing is so quick that they aren’t completely incorporated into each other, which keeps things interesting.
You don’t need a recipe for this; just like traditional mashed potatoes, add low fat sour cream, buttermilk, oil and Parmesan until you have the consistency you like. Leftovers are sturdy enough to be easily shaped into small patties (with or without the addition of a drained can of salmon or leftover flaked fish) and fried until crisp. (Stay tuned for Day 133.)
Smashed Potatoes
If you ever happen to have a head of roasted garlic on hand, squeeze it into the potato mixture. Or to infuse your potatoes with garlic, toss a few cloves into the water as they boil.
Yukon gold potatoes (I used 5, and have leftovers)
grated Parmesan cheese (a handful)
low fat sour cream and/or olive or canola oil and/or buttermilk
salt and pepper
Cut the unpeeled potatoes into 4-6 pieces and boil in plenty of water until very tender. Drain and return to the pot. Add the Parmesan cheese, sour cream, oil and buttermilk (or any combination of them) along with some salt and pepper, and roughly mash with a potato masher or fork.
The Ichiban salad is a throwback to the 80s, when my Mom made it a lot. It’s made with ramen noodles (but sorry, I can’t bring myself to call it ramen noodle salad) - the kind that come in the little packets of instant soup, not deep fried chow mein noodles. I haven’t had it for probably two decades, but thought of it as I wondered how to use up the last of the head of cabbage I’ve been chipping away at for the past two weeks. I’m glad I rediscovered this; to be honest it was my favorite part of the meal, and I finished it off straight from the bowl. (Hey, the noodles are just going to get soggy by tomorrow anyway.)
Ichiban Salad
This salad is great with shredded leftover roast chicken.
1 pkg. Ichiban or other ramen noodles
1/4 cup sliced or slivered almonds, and/or sesame seeds
2 cups thinly sliced cabbage
1/4 small purple onion, thinly sliced (optional)
1 carrot, grated
Dressing:
1/4 cup rice vinegar
2 Tbsp. sugar
1/4 cup oil - I use about 1 Tbsp. sesame oil and 3 Tbsp. canola oil
the packet from the noodles
Crumble the ichiban noodles onto a baking sheet, sprinkle with the almonds and/or sesame seeds and toast in the oven or under the broiler until golden and fragrant.
Toss the salad ingredients in a bowl. Shake all the dressing ingredients up in a jar. Toss them together.
Because I completely burned my first batch of noodles and sesame seeds, I had to open a second package, which meant an extra seasoning packet, and you know how much I hate throwing stuff away, so I mixed up a second batch of dressing to keep in a jar in the fridge. It will go very well with any sort of Asian noodle salad.
The pavlovas I made so that I could bring half to brunch this morning and use the rest at dinner. They seem fancy, but are one of the easiest things you can make. All you do is beat egg whites with sugar until you have a stiff mixture you can spoon onto a cookie sheet and scoop a divet into the middle of; they can be any size you want. Then bake them at 250F for a little over an hour, until they are dry on the outside but still chewy and marshmallowy on the inside. As a bonus, they will take care of dessert anytime you need to feed someone who has an intolerance to wheat or lactose or fat. And you can top them with cream, custard, ice cream, and any kind of juicy fruit that’s in season.
This recipe will make about 40 small (two or three bite) pavlovas, which could not be more perfect for a summer party. One passionfruit will pretty much do the lot of them. I adore passionfruit with pavlova - the sweetness, crunch and cream offsets the intense flavor, juiciness and incredible tang of the passionfruit.
(This is what to look for. I got mine from More than Mangos, at the Canyon Meadows Community Hall every Friday from 2-8pm.)
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May 11 2008 | bison and salads and veg | 3 Comments »
Conclusion: the roast chicken stuffed with crumbled falafel was a stupendous success.
I decided that since the bird had already been given a middle Eastern theme, I’d dress it up a little with a rub - a paste made with 2 Tbsp. olive oil, a crushed clove of garlic, 1 tsp. cumin, 1 tsp. paprika, 1/2 tsp. salt, 1/2 tsp. pepper and 1/4 tsp. allspice. (Mashing it together proved once and for all that my mortar and pestle is useless. Pretty, but the smooth marble does not promote grinding; it rather allows everything to slide around unless you directly bash it with the end of the pestle. I’ve seen those coarse ones at Winners for under $20, and imagine they’d do a much better job of it.)
I’ll spare you the photo of the goopily rubbed raw chicken. It just doesn’t look appetizing at all. But after an hour and a half in the oven:
Huge success. The rubbed-down crispy skin was fantastic paired with the falafel stuffing, which was admittedly mushy, but in the best possible way, all loosened up by the chicken juices. I could hardly contain myself from picking at the crispy bits coming out of the bird and in the bottom of the pan. OK, I didn’t restrain myself at all.
To go with it, a Greek salad. Chopped tomato, cucumber, slivered purple onion, crumbled feta, tossed with a balsamic vinaigrette - Newman’s Own Balsamic Vinaigrette makes a perfect Greek salad dressing, but I don’t buy bottled salad dressings since they’re so easy to make - particularly balsamic vinaigrette.
Greek Salad
2 tomatoes, chopped
1/2 English cucumber, chopped
1/2 small purple onion, slivered or finely chopped
1/2 cup crumbled feta (or as much or as little as you like)
Balsamic vinaigrette:
equal parts balsamic vinegar and canola or olive oil
a small squirt of Dijon mustard
a small clove of garlic, pressed (or bash it and leave it in the jar to infuse the dressing, but don’t let it pour out when you top your salad)
drizzle of honey or maple syrup
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May 09 2008 | chicken & turkey and salads | 2 Comments »
Dinner at C’s house tonight, to celebrate her birthday.
C is a picky eater. She doesn’t like anything weird (like marmalade), or anything containing raisins, or sausage, or any food hiding in another food that shouldn’t be there. (Example: I gave her a zucchini brownie once, and she loved it until I told her halfway through there was grated zucchini in it. She thought it was such a mean thing to do.) She just, in her late 30s, started eating eggs and banana bread, and discovered she adores them.
But the things she loves, she loves passionately - like this orzo salad my Mom and I created on the fly one day with what we could scrounge up out of the pantry and fridge. Sometimes we make it with rice, sometimes with orzo, and it’s a toss-up as to which is better. This is how you make it: cook as much orzo or basmati rice as you want to make - the rice or pasta will take up about half the volume of the finished salad. Rinse it under cool water and drain well. Add a chunk of purple onion, finely chopped; some crumbled feta; about half a bag of baby spinach, torn or sliced; the grated zest and juice of a lemon or two, then drizzle with some rice vinegar, olive or canola oil, salt and pepper. We’ve never measured any of it, just adjusted each to suit our taste. This stuff is great to keep in the fridge to dip into for a few days, and bring to work for lunch.
But I had no idea what kind of cake to make, except that it could not be zucchini with raisins.
I settled on a deconstructed Black Forest cake, so that if there were any offending ingredients, she didn’t have to eat them. When I first pondered a sunken chocolate cake, my motivation was primarily ease of decoration: the great thing about sunken cakes is that you don’t need to frost them, only dollop a big billowy mound of whipped cream in the middle, and it always looks beautiful. It occurred to me that I could sneak some cherries in between the cake and cream, creating a sort of newfangled Black Forest cake without all the layering and decorating muss. Too overwhelmed by the sheer number of cookbooks on my shelves, I poked around Epicurious for a recipe and instantly came across these sunken chocolate-orange cupcakes. It was a birthday miracle: I had forgotten I was out of flour and, by sheer coincidence, down to only 4 eggs.
Still, they were revamped a bit: I took out the orange (potential for weirdness, plus I don’t much like raspberry or orange interrupting my chocolate) and added a bit of espresso, and used my toasted whole unblanched almonds - why use blanched when you can grind them up with their skins?
I have to say: these turned out to be one of my tastiest experiments ever. The edges are light and crispy, the insides soft, dense and fudgy. They are nubbly with nuts, and will make anyone who can’t eat gluten very, very happy. And I can’t think of a more easily transportable cake; brought still in their tins, they aren’t going to slide or sink on you. I stopped at the grocery store on the way over and picked up a can of cherry pie filling (I confess to loving the gelatinous canned stuff; a hangover from my childhood obsession with the Hostess Fruit Pies advertised in the back of Archie comics and unavailable in Canada, no doubt) and, because there was no cream in a carton, a can of whipping cream too.
(Gluten Free) Sunken Black Forest Cakes
1 cup almonds (whole, sliced, slivered or blanched)
8 oz. dark or semi-sweet chocolate, chopped
1/2 cup butter (next time I’ll try using less, but this was no time to experiment)
1 cup sugar, divided
4 large eggs
1 tsp. instant espresso or coffee powder, dissolved in 1 tsp. water (optional)
1 can cherry pie filling, or canned, drained Bing cherries, or pitted fresh cherries
whipped cream or vanilla ice cream
Preheat oven to 350°F.
Place almonds in a food processor and pulse until they are coarsely ground. Line 12 muffin cups with paper liners. In a small bowl, microwave the chocolate and butter on high for 30 seconds; stir, then put it back in for about 30 seconds longer. Stir until it’s melted and smooth. Set aside to cool for a few minutes.
Separate the eggs, putting the whites in a clean glass or stainless steel bowl, and the yolks in another large bowl. Add the sugar and espresso to the yolks and whisk to combine them. Stir in the ground almonds and chocolate.
With an electric mixer, beat the egg whites until soft peaks form; add the remaining 1/4 cup sugar and beat until they are stiff and glossy, and stiff peaks form. Fold the egg whites into chocolate mixture in 3 additions. Divide the batter among the muffin cups (about 1/3 cup batter in each) and bake until edges are firm and tops are cracked all over, about 20-25 minutes. Set on a wire rack to cool (they will sink quite a bit as they cool).
Serve each topped with a spoonful of cherries and whipped cream or ice cream. If you like, shave a few chocolate curls over each using a vegetable peeler. Serves 12.
C made spaghetti, curried squash soup from Best of Bridge (which was supposed to be served over bits of brie, set into the bowl with the hot soup ladled overtop - how great an idea is that?) and apple pies, which were fantastic. She promised me the recipe, but as a full-time doc and mom of 2 toddlers, we’ll see…
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April 06 2008 | dessert and pasta and salads | 2 Comments »
I’m just finishing up an article on the subject of picnic food for the summer issue of a Toronto kids’ magazine, and in it one of my menu suggestions is a heartier version of pasta salad - one made with stuffed tortellini instead of the usual rotini or penne or whatever. The recipe says cheese tortellini, but when I ran over to Safeway to buy some so I could take a photo, they had smoked chicken tortellini (just the Safeway brand - I’d pull out the package to refer to, but when I went to boil them I turned on a burner, changed my mind and used another burner, turned the first one off and then mindlessly set the plastic package down on top of it) so I bought that instead (it looks identical to the cheese version, so you won’t be able to tell in the photo anyway), and a package of feta. Boiled the tortellini, ran it under cold water and drained it, then tossed it in a bowl with a drained can of red kidney beans, a few chopped sun-dried tomatoes, a handful of crumbled feta and a couple spoonfuls of pesto (on account of it being W’s magic elixer; also flavorful and works instead of vinaigrette, and won’t spoil as easily as mayo-dressed pasta salads in the hot sun). I left half in the fridge to marinate, and packed the other half to bring on our impromptu road trip to Banff. It was perfect to pick at in the car, and when we got to the hotel we found it has a little fridge! So W picked at it in the bath, lining the tortellini up along the edge of the tub, I picked at it at the little hotel-room desk, and I just noticed it’s past dinnertime (the boys are at the pool) and we don’t really have a plan. Chances are, the tortellini (it’s still not finished) and assorted car snacks will suffice.
I did take photos. But it seems I can’t upload them on my laptop… you’ll have to wait!
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March 25 2008 | beans and one dish and pasta and salads | 1 Comment »
Despite my abhorrence for any connection between guilt and food, I couldn’t help but look at dinner tonight as penance for last night’s rib free-for-all. Mike looked glumly at it and asked, “what’s this to go with?” Nothing, that’s it. But it was delicious, really, and even Willem gobbled it down once I added a bit of shredded roasted chicken from the freezer to somewhat disguise the chick peas. I actually think I enjoyed it as much as the ribs. Mike thought that was pushing it a bit, but agreed to feeling much better afterward.
It started out as something I saw in a recent issue of Cooking Light magazine (one of my favorites, and they don’t even pay me to say that) and quickly took on a life of its own. Now it doesn’t much resemble the original, except that they both have the aforementioned grains and chick peas.
I have to say, it’s a pet peeve of mine when recipes call for 3/4 cup of chick peas instead of a can, or 1 cup of chopped onion instead of 1 chopped onion; those who follow recipes to the letter might wonder what to do if their chopped onion amounts to 1 1/4 cups, or if it comes up short might shave a chunk off a second onion to make up the difference. Some of these quantities just don’t need to be as precise.
I really do love cooking with barley. The very best thing about barley, brown rice, wild rice and lentils is that they all take the exact same amount of time to cook. So that means you can throw any combination in a pot of boiling water, and they will be done in 40-45 minutes. Drain, and you have a great side dish, addition to soup or base for a grainy salad. The original recipe called for almonds and green onions; I had toasted chopped pecans left over from a late-night attempt at a sundae, and no green onions. There were grape tomatoes though, so those went in. I added curry paste to the dressing as well, and boosted the quantity.
Brown & Wild Rice and Barley Salad with Chick Peas
1/3 cup brown rice
1/3 cup wild rice
1/3 cup barley (pearl or pot)
1 19 oz. (540 mL) can chick peas, rinsed and drained
1/3 cup golden raisins
1/2 pint grape tomatoes, halved
a few green onions, chopped (optional)
1 bunch curly or Italian parsley, chopped (optional)
small handful chopped toasted pecans or almonds
Dressing:
3 Tbsp. red wine vinegar
2 Tbsp. canola oil
1 Tbsp. flax oil (or more canola, or olive oil)
2 tsp. mustard
1 tsp. curry paste or powder
In a large pot of boiling water, cook the brown rice, wild rice and barley for 40-45 minutes, until tender. Drain well and run under cool water to stop the grains from cooking. Transfer to a bowl and add the chick peas and raisins.
Whisk together all the dressing ingredients (adjusting them if you like to suit your taste) and pour over top. Chill in the fridge until the mixture is completely cool, or for up to a day.
Add the tomatoes, green onions, parsley and pecans (or save them to sprinkle on top) and serve. Serves 4-8, depending on whether you’re eating it as a main course or side dish. (It would go really well beside a filet of salmon.)
Later in the evening, the ice cream I ran to the corner store to buy last night wouldn’t stop calling to me, so I had to eat it just to shut it up. I hardly ever buy ice cream because it speaks my language, but I did yesterday because I had leftover honey-chocolate ganache (I made another batch of cupcakes for CBC) that I didn’t want to go to waste. Besides, my brain rationalized, I already ate half a rack of ribs and a buttered baked potato; I might as well go for the hot fudge chaser.
For last night’s honey-chocolate ganache and toasted pecan sundae I warmed the ganache, adding a bit of half and half to thin it just enough to make a fudgy, truffley sauce. Tonight there was still a bit left, and I had the bright idea to resurrect it with a spoonful of peanut butter. I set the small saucepan over the heat, stirred in a spoonful (all-natural would have been healthier, but wouldn’t have had as smooth a mouthfeel, so I went with the creamy light stuff) and drizzled it warm over vanilla bean Breyer’s light.
(So much for penance.)
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March 12 2008 | beans and grains and one dish and salads and vegetarian | 2 Comments »
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Since I was 15 and hung out at Earls with my friend J, who had a real job as a busgirl there, back in the day of the giant papier-mâché parrots and green and white umbrellas and Mocha Kahlúa Pie, I have been a fan of their Hot Chicken Caesar Salad. That is, until I discovered that (not really suprisingly) one contains 1120 calories and 77 grams of fat. Only 12 saturated, but still… and then there’s the 1531 mg of sodium. So. I figure for that price, I might as well get a burger and fries out of the deal.
