Quick Recap for Week 2

I'm sorry I've been absent the last few days. I believe I caught a mild bug of some kind. The worst of the symptoms is that I've totally lost my appetite! I've actually still been cooking, just not eating as much. But I don't want these veggies to go to waste, so let me recap you on how I've been using the contents of the CSA box this week.

Even though I didn't get green onions in my box this week, I heard that some others received it, so here's a great way to enjoy a lean chicken burger with that addition.

Chicken Burgers with Peanut Sauce from Cooking Light

Sauce:

2 tablespoons peanut butter
2 teaspoons low-sodium soy sauce
1 1/2 teaspoons dark sesame oil
1 teaspoon water
1 teaspoon rice vinegar
1 garlic clove, minced

Burgers:

1/2 cup finely chopped green onions
1 tablespoon chile paste with garlic
2 teaspoons grated peeled fresh ginger
2 teaspoons low-sodium soy sauce
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 pound skinless, boneless chicken breast, chopped
Cooking spray
4 (2-ounce) sandwich rolls with sesame seeds
1 cup onion sprouts or alfalfa sprouts

To prepare sauce, combine first 6 ingredients, stirring with a whisk until smooth. Prepare grill. To prepare burgers, place onions and next 5 ingredients (onions through chicken) in a food processor; process until coarsely ground. Divide mixture into 4 equal portions, shaping each into a 1/2-inch-thick patty.Place patties on a grill rack coated with cooking spray; grill 4 minutes on each side or until done. Place rolls, cut sides down, on grill rack; grill 1 minute or until toasted. Place 1 patty on bottom half of each roll; top each serving with 1/4 cup sprouts, about 1 tablespoon sauce, and top half of roll.

Yield 4 servings.

• I cheated and used the broiler. I have a confession. I've never learned to start a charcoal grill. I'd really like to invest in a gas grill (hubby is a purist and will be hard to convert) just so I can use the grill with ease during the summer. The broiler worked out fine, but I'm sure it would be fantastic on the grill.
• Did you notice that lovely romaine leaf added to the burger in the picture? I've noticed recently that it's a lost cause asking for lettuce on sandwiches or burgers when ordering out. You never get a beautiful leaf like the one we received from the CSA this week. Instead, you get shredded iceberg lettuce that basically tastes like water in solid form. Makes for a very sad looking sandwich. Sniff.
• To make my life easier, I passed on the food processor and went straight for ground chicken from Whole Foods. It actually was excellent. This dish literally took 5 minutes to put together.
• When will I ever learn? I bought chili paste with garlic for this recipe and took a quick whiff and taste before adding it to the burger. I am a wimp. I could not handle the heat and totally skipped it. My throat was literally on fire from a mere pinch of it. Later, while peeking in the fridge, I noticed another opened jar of chili paste with garlic! It was basically full and it dawned on me that I probably just did the same thing twice. Bought it for a recipe, tasted it and never used it again. Classic Karen.
• The sauce was decent, but I would add a little more water next time. It was very thick and not very appetizing to look at. But tasty, nonetheless.

Also on the menu this week was Roasted Lemon, Asparagus & Green Garlic - inspired by two bloggers. Lori at The Recipe Girl (http://www.therecipegirl.blogspot.com/) and Laura at The Spiced Life (http://www.thespicedlife.blogspot.com/) both inspired me to try roasting a lemon for the added depth in flavor. I just sliced the lemon and placed it on top of asparagus & green garlic on a baking pan. Before I put the lemon on, I added 2 T of extra virgin olive oil and kosher salt and pepper on the veggies. Then I laid everything flat on a baking sheet and roasted it at 400F for 25 minutes. I paired it with turbot cooked briefly (6 minutes on each side) in a skillet with white wine. I added freshly grated parmesan on everything and enjoyed it immensely! The smell of the veggies and lemon roasting was truly out of this world. By the way, as Laura suggested, don't try eating the lemon. Just squeeze the juice onto the veggies and discard the rest.

One other quick dish I made was a Spinach & Strawberry Salad. We didn't recieve that much spinach this week, but it is so mild and sweet that I prefer eating it raw. I chopped up some spinach, sliced about 4 large strawberries, added 2T of crumbled goat cheese, 1T of sliced almonds and drizzled my favorite balsamic vinegar on everything.

On tap today is soup. We have some amazing collard greens this week. I thought I would create a white bean and greens soup and use the rest of the green garlic, too. I'm totally winging it!

Last day of Passover! Where did the time go?

You know what's strange? I really haven't missed bread at all this week. There was so many fantastic fruit and vegetables available to us this week that I didn't feel denied at all. Last night at the movies I could have used a small popcorn, but that was the only time I felt like I wanted something not kosher for Passover.


I hope you found some recipes this week that helped you to not only "get through" the holiday, but really enjoy your meals. I would love some feedback on any of the dishes you tried.



Sundays are usually our grocery shopping days, so I decided to see what was left in the fridge. Woohoo! We still had our golden beets left. A couple of nice oranges, too. I grabbed a few items like cider vinegar and honey from the pantry and started lunch.



Here we go:


Roasted Beet and Citrus Salad by Cooking Light


1 1/2 pounds small golden beets

Cooking spray

1/4 cup orange juice

1 tablespoon cider vinegar

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 teaspoon honey

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 garlic clove, minced

4 cups mixed salad greens

3 cups chopped beet greens (about 3 ounces)

1 1/2 cups tangerine or orange sections, halved crosswise (about 8 tangerines) 2 tablespoons shaved fresh Parmesan cheese

1 tablespoon coarsely chopped walnuts, toasted


Preheat oven to 400°. Leave root and 1-inch stem on beets; scrub with a brush. Place beets on a jelly-roll pan coated with cooking spray. Lightly coat beets with cooking spray. Bake at 400° for 45 minutes or until tender. Cool beets slightly. Trim off beet roots; rub off skins. Cut beets in half.

Combine orange juice and next 6 ingredients (through garlic) in a medium bowl, stirring with a whisk. Add beets, tossing gently to coat. Remove beets with a slotted spoon, and set aside, reserving orange juice mixture in bowl. Add salad greens and beet greens to bowl; toss well.



Place about 1 cup greens mixture on each of 6 salad plates; top each with about 1 1/2 cups beets, 1/4 cup tangerine sections, 1 teaspoon cheese, and 1/2 teaspoon nuts. Serve immediately.

• I confess. I have basically given up on finding a tasty orange. Most of the time, I buy oranges to zest or juice and get rid of everything else. You see, I've been hurt before and I just don't trust that once I peel an orange it will turn into a sublime snack. Usually they are just mediocre. Even Clementines have started to disappoint me. So, imagine my utter shock, when I peeled this orange- said a little prayer- and popped a slice in my mouth. It was fantastic!!! The best orange I've had in years. Seriously. I was so excited. This salad was going to rock. (Yes, I realize we're just talking about an orange here. I should probably not admit to these things.)


• I sampled the array of nuts I had left, and truthfully, the pistachios were a lot more appealing than the walnuts. So I used them instead. They were so yummy that I didn't even bother to toast them.


• This is the first time I've roasted beets without wrapping them in foil first. Usually when I take them out of the oven and remove the foil, the first layer comes off with it. This time, my heart skipped a beat when I opened the oven and saw charred beets. I burned them! They're ruined! Then I paused a moment and scratched the layer to reveal a perfect golden beet underneath. Now I just feel stupid, but relieved.


• You know what they say. Put quality in and quality comes out. I can't even take credit for how amazing this salad turned out. I did nothing but accidentally put the right ingredients in my grocery cart.

Only two more days to go (stop staring at that bagel!)

Hey, this isn't so tough. It's six days into Passover and I'm not even thinking of bread...much.

If you're observing the holiday, I would love to hear how you're "breaking" Passover on Sunday. For us, it's almost always pizza. But this year I'm craving some risotto. Mmmmm. Risotto.

(Looking at watch) Only 50 plus hours to go!

For now, we've got salads. Not a crouton in sight. Sorry.

Ina Garten's Tomato & Feta Salad

3 pints (6 cups) cherry tomatoes
3/4 pound good feta cheese
1 small red onion, chopped
3 tablespoons white wine or Champagne vinegar
1/4 cup good olive oil
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons minced fresh basil leaves
2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley

Cut the cherry tomatoes in half and place them in a large bowl. Dice the feta in 1/4-inch dice, crumbling it as little as possible. Add the feta to the tomatoes and then add the onion, vinegar, olive oil, salt, pepper, basil, and parsley. Toss carefully and salt, to taste, depending on the saltiness of the feta. Serve chilled or at room temperature.

• I skipped the cherry tomatoes because the tomatoes on the vine at Whole Foods have truly been perfect recently. And I'm not a huge fan of raw tomatoes, but honestly I could have bitten into these like they were apples.
• I skipped the onions and added a diced yellow pepper and cucumber instead. I also used Champagne vinegar instead of wine. I find that salads like this need to marinate at least an hour in the fridge before serving.
• Add some cooked quinoa with this for a meal or spread some on a piece of matzah for a snack.

Mollie Katzen-inspired Pear, Walnut & Goat Cheese Salad

2 cups of romaine lettuce

1/4 cup of crumbled goat cheese

2 T lemon juice (fresh!)

1 pear, sliced

1/4 walnuts, chopped

2 T walnut oil

2 t Champagne vinegar

First I combined the pear, lettuce, walnuts and goat cheese in a bowl and set aside. I whisked the walnut oil, champagne vinegar and lemon juice together for the dressing and drizzled it on the salad.

Mollie Katzen's recipe substitutes feta for the goat cheese, but I've had a lot of feta lately. Also, she suggests marinating the pears in lemon juice first then finishing off the dish with a freshly ground black pepper.

• You must try this. I think it's the lemon juice that puts this salad on another level. Or maybe it's the walnut oil? I don't know. Just try it and let me know what you think.

Passover memory for today:

It's April 1983 and my parents are taking us to Disney World for spring break! Epcot Center is unveiling the big silver earth thingy and we're truly excited. However, nobody told sis and I that the week my parents chose to go was (drumroll please) Passover! Yes, we visited Epcot Center's France, Italy and Greece. No pastries, pasta or spanakopita for us! We existed on potato chips. Lots and lots of potato chips.

After a few days in the Magic Kingdom, Mickey Mouse's ears started to look like bagels to me.

I'm not still bitter or anything. But I haven't been to Disney World since.

Three Beets, Three Ways

In the house I grew up in, there was likely to be about fifty cans of beets in the pantry at any given time. My dad just loved them. They fell out of the can in a perfectly cylinder shape with ridges mirroring the shape of the can. They were super sweet, bright red and very, very soft. They were served straight up in a bowl. Basking in the glow of performing solo...no accompaniment. In my parents' defense, it wasn't terrible. I ate them. But I didn't love them and haven't been too keen on embracing them as an adult. Seriously, I had eaten enough beets from ages 7-12 for a whole lifetime.

Fast forward twenty or so years and I'm now re-introducing myself to beets. In real life (non-canned variety), they are pretty darn irresistible. And who can pass up a vegetable where you can eat both the root and the leaves? Now that's what I call efficiency! Hubby brought home three beautiful golden beets from his last grocery trip. I didn't want to deal with red hands, red counter tops and even the dreaded red pee. (yes, I just got the yellow flag for violating the first of rule of cooking blogs: no bathroom humor)

Besides being very tasty, beets offer tremendous health benefits. According to the George Mateljan Foundation, beets are particularly rich in the B vitamin folate, which is essential for normal tissue growth and can prevent birth defects -so they play an important role in the diet of a pregnant woman. Also, your kids will love them because they are so sweet yet low in calories.

So yesterday, I had three perfect beets and their greens to make myself a meal. I was shocked and delighted that I squeezed three full meals out of them.

Karen's Roasted Golden Beets and Goat Cheese Salad

1 roasted golden beet, sliced

1.5 oz of goat cheese, crumbled

1 cup of beet greens

2 T extra virgin olive oil

1 shallot, sliced

Kosher salt & pepper to taste

I cut the greens off each beet and put them aside. Scrub, scrub, scrub those beets. It literally looked like a different vegetable once I got the layer of dirt off. Then, I wrapped all three of my beets in foil tightly. Although this recipe called for one beet, I knew I would use all three at some point this week. I placed the beets on a baking sheet and roasted them for 90 minutes in the oven (400F). It's important to make sure all the beets are about the same size, so they will cook evenly. The beets are done when you can slide a fork or knife until them easily. I let them cool for thirty minutes and chose one for my salad. Remove the foil, and wipe the thin layer of skin off with a paper towel. I then sliced it up and put it aside.

Next, the greens. I washed these very carefully and spun them in my salad spinner. Wheeeee!!! I love to see those greens spin. In a medium skillet, I added the extra virgin olive oil and cooked the shallots on medium low heat for about 4 minutes. Then I added the beet greens. Like Swiss Chard, they are hearty, so it took a while for them to soften bit. They will not wilt like spinach, which is much softer. I cooked them until they were tender. Be sure to add salt and pepper to your liking.

Finally, I plated the greens along with the goat cheese and beet slices. What a lovely lunch it was. Later I realized it would have benefited from a drizzle of my heirloom tomato balsamic vinegar. Oh well. Next time.

Later in the afternoon, hubby was coming home in the middle of the day to take me to the podiatrist. The ankle is healing, thankfully, albeit slowly. I start physical therapy tomorrow! Hubby asked for a sandwich to eat on the way. I put this together and I actually enjoyed it more than my salad.

1/2 roasted golden beet, sliced

1/4 cup of red grapes, halved

4 slices of turkey breast (thin deli slices)

1/2 cup of beet greens (steamed)

1 oz goat cheese crumbles

2 t balsamic vinegar

1 sun dried tomato tortilla

After steaming the beat greens in a Simply Glad steaming bag for a minute, I mixed all the ingredients together in a bowl. Then, I rolled the mixture up in the tortilla. Voila! Lunch on the run. Okay, I admit, I did slice a small piece off to try myself. The sweetness of the beets, grapes and vinegar just hit the spot.

Finally, the third and final dish was Cooking Light recipe.

Pasta with Beet Greens and Raisins

8 ounces uncooked pennette (mini penne)

1/4 cup raisins

1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil

2 cups coarsely chopped trimmed beet greens

2 teaspoons bottled minced garlic

1/3 cup slivered almonds, toasted

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon black pepper

Cracked black pepper (optional)

Cook the pasta according to package directions, omitting salt and fat. Drain. While pasta cooks, place raisins in a small bowl; cover with hot water. Let stand 10 minutes. Drain.

While pasta cooks and raisins soak, heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add greens and garlic; sauté 3 minutes or until greens are tender. Stir in pasta, raisins, almonds, salt, and 1/8 teaspoon black pepper; toss to combine. Sprinkle with cracked black pepper, if desired.

• I used whole wheat penne pasta, instead of white. I seriously can not remember the last time I had white pasta. I know it's healthier, but the real reason is it's just simply tastier.
• My pantry is now stocked with dried fruits up the whazoo. I use raisins, cherries, cranberries and apricots all the time to add sweetness to savory dishes. I picked golden raisins for this dish and I think it was the right choice.
• This was absolutely scrumptious. I saved the best beet dish for last!

After all that, I still have a cup of sliced beets left! If you're watching your budget - as we all should - beets give you the most bang for your shopping buck.

Holy Schnikies, that's one tasty salad!!

As much as I appreciate delicious food, it's pretty rare for me to have a reaction like I had last night. I was suddenly rendered monosyllabic.

Wow. Whoah. Soooo. Good.

Maybe it's because I was doped up on Aleve for the ankle, but I think I had a religious experience while eating this salad. If you're going to try anything on my blog, TRY THIS.

I stumbled upon this recipe yesterday while surfing the net with my foot propped up on an ottoman under a nice cold bag of sugar snap peas. There's not much I can do right now besides rest and dream of recipes I want to make. My husband has added to his duties of chief taster and clean up visionary (yes, he has many ideas on how to decrease the pileup), to Whole Foods mystery shopper and reluctant sous chef. Seriously, he's the best.

Are your reading Kitchen Queen Victoria? You are going to love this.

Oh, you wanted the recipe already? Here it is:

Spinach Salad with Caramelized Onions and Apples by Alison Anton

CURRIED APPLES AND ONIONS

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 yellow onion, sliced thin

1 apple, sliced thin

1/2 teaspoon mild curry powder

DRESSING

4 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

2 tablespoons honey

1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

Pinch salt

6 tablespoons olive oil

2 tablespoons walnut oil (or use more olive oil)

CANDIED PECANS OR WALNUTS

1 cup pecans or walnuts

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons maple syrup

SALAD

4 handfuls of baby spinach

2 ounces goat feta

Heat the olive oil in a large saute pan over medium heat. Add the sliced onion and apple. Saute for 2-3 minutes, turn down the heat to medium-low and cover. Add curry. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 35-45 minutes, until the onions have released their natural sugars and begun to caramelize. They should be a nice caramel color.

In the meantime, prepare the dressing and candied pecans. For the dressing, whisk all of the ingredients together in a small dish. Let the dressing sit at room temperature for at least 15 minutes to allow the flavors to develop.

For the pecans, heat a medium skillet over medium heat. Place the pecans in the pan, stirring and flipping constantly, until the pecans are lightly toasted, about 8 minutes—watch out, they burn fast at the end.

Add the spices and salt; mix about 30 seconds to toast the spices. Turn the heat to low and add the maple syrup. Stir constantly, cooking until the mixture has thickened and is very sticky, about two minutes. Remove to a plate and cool completely.

Place a handful of spinach onto four salad plates. Drizzle with the dressing. Place 1/4 of the warmed caramelized onions over each of the plates of spinach and top with the candied pecans and feta. Give each a grinding of fresh black pepper. Serve while the onions are still warm.

• First, check out Alison Anton's blog at http://www.wholegourmet.blogspot.com/. I must have spent an hour perusing it last night. I found at least 10 recipes I want to try.


• You know what's great about caramelizing onions? Even though it takes a while, it's pretty effortless and the result is outstanding flavor. I was being careful not to stand up too long, so basically I covered the pan for 30 minutes and checked in only twice for quick stirs.


• I highly recommend using walnut oil in the dressing rather than using extra olive oil. It adds a unique touch.


• I had both walnuts and pecans on hand, so I used a half cup of each. After we made the spiced nuts, it's amazing that any landed in the salad. They are outrageously good.


• I wish I could make this blog "Scratch & Sniff." Remember those stickers? Curry & Cinnamon. Wow. I'm starting to feel monosyllabic again.

When I sent hubby out to Whole Foods yesterday for a grocery run, I armed him with one of my favorite things from www.knockknock.biz:

Splat!

That was the unfortunate sound my body made when it met the ground yesterday. A very well intentioned jog turned into a recipe for elevation, ice and rest. Long story short, I had a great run with a friend of mine which ended with a flying leap off the sidewalk to the grass. I'm told it was quite impressive. So, I'm nursing a sprained ankle at the moment, but still managed to hobble over to the kitchen to make lunch today. I sought comfort in some fantastic blueberries. I'm not a huge fan of them usually, but when they're good I can't resist them. Here's what I did:

1/2 cup of cooked bulgur (made with low sodium chicken broth)
1 cup of baby romaine lettuce
1/3 cup of fresh blueberries
2 T slivered almonds
1 T shredded Parmesan cheese
1/3 cup of steamed broccoli
1/3 cup of chopped orange bell pepper
1 T Newman's Light Balsamic Vinaigrette

I'm optimistic that an infusion of superfoods will accelerate the healing process!!

If I could have maintained my balance longer, I would have definitely made my own dressing. I think Newman's Own and Maple Grove products are pretty decent, but nothing really compares to homemade. Plus I just purchased a bag of limes and lemons for just this purpose this week. Oh well. Best laid plans.

Speaking of limes, this creamy lime-fig dressing is to die for.

Creamy Lime Fig Dressing from Greens Glorious Greens!

3 dried Turkish or Calmyrna figs (stems removed)
3 T Freshly squeezed lime juice
1 T apple cider vinegar
1 T mirin
1 small garlic clove, minced
1/3 cup canola or olive oil
3/4 cup of water
salt to taste

To make dressing, place figs, lime juice, vinegar, mirin, garlic, oil, water and salt in a blender. Blend for 2-3 minutes until creamy and smooth.

• Figs are a great source of calcium, iron, potassium (which helps control blood pressure) and fiber. I've always been a big fan of fig newtons (not so much of figgy pudding). It's nice to learn they're a nutritional heavyweight!
• I usually drizzle this dressing on a bowl of spring mix and fig slices.

One more time for the cheap seats:

SPLAT!

A Dish Served Best Cold. (Nope, not revenge.)

Hi folks. Sorry for then lengthy pause between postings. Over the last week, I've made a medley of old favorites - turkey meatloaf, baked turbot with lemon, cauliflower with scallions and orange zest, sauteed broccoli with roasted garlic, poached salmon with wine and dill, roasted root vegetables, mixed greens with hazelnuts and nutty dressing, etc. I even went out to eat (gasp!!) twice. I've posted most, if not all, of those recipes before. However, if you would like to try any and need the link, just leave me a message in the comments section.

I finally cracked a cookbook this weekend and tried a new recipe or two. Basically I surveyed what I had on hand - which was not much. I'm down to just a few bags of fresh produce - swiss chard, kale, italian parsley, scallions, shallots, sweet pototoes plus a garden of fresh herbs growing on my dining room window sill (apple mint, basil, thyme). We were totally out of chicken, ground turkey and fish in our freezer. I'm amazed. I never thought I would be able to clean out our freezer on a monthly basis. Oh, and I used up all of my eggs when I made scrambled eggs with Gruyere and Parmesan for breakfast on Saturday. As you can see, I've been busy. But I was still hungry last night. There was meatloaf left, but one can only have so much in a weekend. Oh, and the last thing I wanted to see on a Sunday night was a sink full of dishes.

So, the challenge was this: easy, fast, vegetarian and limited mess potential. Here we go:

Soba Noodle-Vegetable Salad by Ellie Krieger

4 ounces soba noodles, or whole-wheat spaghetti
1 large shallot, very thinly sliced
1 1/2 cups shredded carrot
1 red pepper, julienne
1/3 cup shredded fresh basil leaves
1/3 cup shredded fresh mint leaves
1 tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro leaves

Dressing:
1/4 cup rice vinegar
1 teaspoon sugar
1 tablespoon walnut oil (or canola oil)
1/2 teaspoon sesame oil
1 teaspoon finely minced garlic
1/2 teaspoon chili flakes
1/2 teaspoon lime zest
1 teaspoon lime juice
1/2 teaspoon fish sauce, or 1 teaspoon low-sodium soy sauce
Salt
6 large Bibb lettuce leaves

Boil noodles according to package directions. Drain and cool. In a medium to large bowl, combine noodles, shallot, carrot, pepper, basil, mint, and cilantro. Combine all dressing ingredients, season with salt to taste, add to noodle mixture, and toss lightly.

Snap off Bibb lettuce leaves and wash and dry. To serve, scoop spoonfuls of noodle salad into the lettuce leaves.

• Having just purchased my herb garden last week and hoping my inner green thumb would surface, I was delighted to see my herbs growing with vigor. It was really gratifying to have enough healthy looking herbs to take a pair of kitchen shears to and cut the amount of mint and basil I needed for this recipe. Our house gets a lot of great light, but the best southern exposure is in our dining room. Here's hoping everything is still thriving next week!
• Please don't get angry with me, but I have a confession to make. I really dislike cilantro. I know many cooks out there love it and include it in everything, but the flavor is too strong for me. I usually substitute it with italian parsley. They are in the same family, but the parsley has a more subtle taste.
• Do you have a Bloom supermarket near you? If so, I highly recommend you check this chain out. The layout is different than any grocery store I've ever been to (I'm positive the planners were drinking a lot good wine one night and drew up a sketch on a napkin placing the packaged sweet rolls in the middle of the produce aisle and hid the milk to encourage shoppers to take part in a scavenger hunt. But I digress.) There must be some genius to their madness, because the store is doing well. The reason I mention it is because I hit paydirt the other day while looking for some speciality items. They seem to carry everything in this store. This is where I picked up hazelnut and walnut oil. My point...oh, right. This recipe calls for walnut oil!
• I used whole wheat linguine instead of soba noodles and I used soy sauce instead of fish sauce here. Did I have fish sauce? Yes. Did I screw up my attempts to open the bottle and was left cursing at the fish sauce even though it was not the bottle's fault? Yes.
• Where is my microplane grater?? It wasn't in the dishwasher or any of the drawers. Sadly, my attempts at zesting a lime with a box grater were unsuccesful.
• Even with all of these mishaps, this was a nice, light, fresh dish. I mistakenly heated up a bowl for lunch today and found that this salad was meant to be enjoyed cold -hence my post title.
• By the way, what a cute idea to scoop it up with Bibb lettuce. Since I was on my own, I nixed this idea, but when company's over this will be fun to try.

Finding new treasures in old friends

Armed with paperclips, bright yellow post it notes, and an eagle eye, I sat down with three of my cookbooks recently to make some new discoveries. As I cook and learn and gain more confidence in the kitchen, I'm going back to old cookbooks that I thought I had exhausted and finding new gems. I'm really able to chart my own growth this way. Over the last few months, my spice rack has doubled in size and I now have the "international" shelf in my pantry. Last year at this time, I craved sugar in a big way. My nutritionist suggested cooking with new flavors and seeing if I could learn to love those, too. I've taken that advice to heart and it's turned out to be true for me. A little heat from curry. The tanginess from lime juice. The rustic, earthy tones of mushrooms. The richness of gruyere. I crave them all now, and so much more. So, I don't really need to shop for any new cookbooks for all ("Amen to that!" cheers my hubby as reads this..), because there's still so much these hold in store. Currently, on my bedside table lies the following:


The Earthbound Farm Organic Cookbook's Food to Live By

by Myra Goodman with Linda Holland and Pamela McKinstry


The first twenty pages tells the very compelling story about Myra and her husband starting out their lives by growing, harvesting and selling their organically grown raspberries in 1984. Over the next twenty years, they grew tremendously and now their bagged mixed greens can be found in supermarkets around the country. She writes, "When we first moved onto the property, we knew absolutely nothing about farming. The previous owner gave us a quick course in rasberry horticulture, teaching us how to add chemical fertilizers...but when the time came for us to follow the procedures, we couldn't bring ourselves to do it. We hated the way the chemicals smelled and instinctively we knew they weren't healthy for us, our future customers, or the environment." You can tell they have a passion for what they do. And you can taste it in their recipes. She devotes one whole chapter to raspberry recipes! My favorite section of her book deals with salads and homemade vinegrettes. I've completely given up on store bought salad dressings now that I've had salads dressed with fresh ingredients. It's just no contest.


The Healthy Hedonist by Myra Kornfeld

I would definitely classify myself as a "flexitarian." I prefer meals made of vegetables, fruit, grains and beans. I always make them my main focus when cooking, but I really enjoy a nice piece of fish on a regular basis. This is a wonderful cookbook for the family with a wide range of eating habits. I have to admit when I first looked through the book, I hardly recognized any of the ingredients. I would suggest this book for the more adventurous and experienced cook. If you've been there and done that, this book will take you to new sights! Yesterday, I bought hazelnut oil in order to try this vinaigrette in her section on salads:



3/4 cup balsamic vinegar

1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard

1/2 cup toasted hazelnut oil

Salt

Candied Hazelnuts (1 cup of nuts toasted at 350 F with 2 T maple syrup and 2 T of natural sugar -ouch my teeth hurt already!)



Pour vinegar into a small saucepan & bring to a boil. Lower heat and simmer rapidly, uncovered, until the liquid is reduced to 1/4 cup, about 10 min. Pour the reduced vinegar into a small bowl and stir in the mustard. Slowly drizzle the hazelnut oil into the bowl, whisking constantly until the oil and vinegar are emulsified.





I think this will be great over a bowl of mixed greens. Delish, no? One more comment about this book, there are no pictures. None at all. This is the one drawback.


A Year in a Vegetarian Kitchen by Jack Bishop


This one may already be sitting on your cookbook shelf. It's mentioned often on the Cooking Light Community Boards. I love his philosphy of eating seasonally for so many reasons. Primarily because the food just tastes better. It's as simple as that. The chapters of this book are Spring, Summer, Fall and Winter. His family belongs to a co-op and they pick their own produce directly from the farm from May-October! I would love that. When you have that kind of connection to your food, you just want to highlight it's natural flavors. His recipes do just that and are mostly very simple and can be prepared rather quickly. On almost every page, there's a sidebar which explains how best to prepare an ingredient, how to pick it out, or just a general cooking or storing tip. It makes you feel like you're sitting in the kitchen with him getting the inside scoop. One final thought - I love that the majority of the recipes call for ingredients that are already present in my pantry and fridge. I can open this book up in a pinch and make something fabulous with what I have on hand.

A Light Refreshing Salad

There's nothing like a bright beautiful green salad that isn't overpowered with dressing to make me feel like I'm on the right track. I cook with spinach a lot, but for a long time I wouldn't touch it raw. Ever since I found this recipe, it's now one of my weekly staples. Also, I am a big fan of making my own salad dressing. Now, I just need to buy a salad spinner and my life will be that much easier. Make this recipe on a Sunday and enjoy it throughout the week as a starter before your main meals.

8 cups baby spinach (or spring mix)
1/3 cup (1 1/2 ounces) shaved fresh Parmesan cheese
2 tbsps red wine vinegar
1 tbsp Dijion mustard
2 tbsps extra virgin olive oil
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1/8 tsp sugar

Combine 8 cups salad mix (arugula or spinach preferred) and 1/3 cup (1 1/2 ounces) shaved fresh Parmesan cheese, and toss well. Combine 2 tablespoon red wine vinegar, 1 tablespoon Dijion mustard, 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, 1/4 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, and 1/8 teaspoon sugar, stirring well with a whisk. Drizzle juice mixture over salad; toss gently.

• Not sure how to shave parmesan cheese? I use a vegetable peeler to create thin, long slices from a nice chunk of parmesan. It's so much prettier than using grated cheese in this salad.
• Turn this side salad into a main course by adding grilled chicken or fish.
• Yum...I'm enjoying this salad for dinner tonight. I added chickpeas (garbanzo beans) and they bring much needed texture to this dish. I also think a crumbled hard boiled ege would be delish, too.