Salads: Not just lettuce and tomatoes anymore!

The idea of living in a home without air conditioning is a completely alien concept to those of us from South Florida. When I first got to Washington, I thought “wow, these people are savages!” But, as it turns out, all summers are not Miami summers. That being said, I’ve definitely been trying to use my oven and stove for the least amount of time possible. Salads have become a mainstay in my dinner menus since they require little to no stove time. Here’s a new one I’ve been working on the past few weeks. It looks fancy, tastes delicious, and you can pretty much use any grain to veggie combination you like.

Couscous Salad:

1 cup cooked couscous, cold
1 cucumber, diced
1 2 large tomatoes, chopped
1/2 red onion, minced
3 tablespoons chopped parsley
1 small can sliced black olives
1 tablespoon white or apple cider vinegar
2 tablespoons lemon or lime juice
5 tablespoons olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl and stir.

You can do this with any grain you like. I like to use farro, barley, and quinoa as well. You can also add feta cheese to add some richness.

Enjoy!

A recipe for ribs in the oven that actually works and other fun stuff

Having more days off means inventing more projects. At least for me. I had a craving for ribs and had never made them from scratch. I came across a recipe from my Food & Wine Annual Cookbook for Mo’s Sticky Ribs and I have to say, it was really easy and really delicious. The only thing I added was a shot of sweet Thai chili sauce to the recipe’s sauce mixture. I might try it with guava jelly instead of apricot next time too.

I couldn’t just eat the ribs alone, so I decided to go with a kind of BBQ theme and made this German-style potato salad from Bobby Flay. His instructions say to use your pans on the grill, but I just did it on the stove. Here, I added some sliced cornichons for some more tang and texture and some snipped chives in addition to the parsley. You’ll see that it says that it should be served warm, but it’s delicious straight out of the fridge.

Finally, because I didn’t seem to get enough sugar, fat and starch, I decided to make baked beans as well. Below is my aunt Nola’s recipe for New England Baked Beans. These are always a hit at family gatherings and a nice item to bring as a side dish to pot-lucks and such.

3 cup Bushes Original Baked Beans

Bacon (a few slices cut in 1 inch pieces to top beans)

1 large onion

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup ketchup

2 tsp dry mustard

2 tsp Worcestershire sauce

Pepper to taste

Combine all ingredients except bacon.
*You can mix them in a  greased 2-quart dish or, when doubling, a 9×13 pan.

Scatter the bacon pieces on top. Cover with lid or foil. Bake in a 300 degree oven for 2 hours. Uncover during the second hour.

With this one, take note that you are using the original baked beans. I’ve bought the wrong kind in the past and they have been a bit too sweet for my taste.

Et voila!

Three super tasty recipes to serve together or apart!

 

 

Things I have strong feelings about: Salad Dressing Edition

You bought the most beautiful, expensive organic produce. You lovingly chopped up your kale into perfect, bite-sized pieces and arranged your sliced heirloom tomatoes to showcase their jewel-like colors. Maybe you even ever-so-meticulously shaved a nice Grana Padano over it to create that lovely magazine-spread look. And then you slathered the whole thing in a bottle of “Tuscano-inspiration-balsamic-honey-mustard-sriracha” dressing.
No. Stop it. Bottle dressing is the worst. I’m serious.

Now, that’s not to say that there are some appropriate applications for it, just not actually on your salad. More on that later.

It is my personal belief that you can make an excellent salad dressing, without all the sugar and god knows what, at home. Here is my basic recipe. Once you’ve mastered that, and believe me, it will take you three seconds, you can apply the same idea across a wide array of items already found in your fridge and pantry.

Feel free to lower or raise the quantities depending on how big your salad is.

1/2 cup olive oil
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
Salt and Pepper to taste

Pour all ingredients into a small bowl. Beat with fork or small whisk until emulsified (thickened) and drizzle over salad.

Now that you have that mastered, here are some variations:

Add 1 tsp. honey and 1 tsp. mayonnaise for a honey mustard dressing.

Add 1 tbsp. grated parmesan or other hard cheese to add another level of flavor. I find that Romano and Manchego also work nicely.

Add 1 tsp. dried or fresh basil, oregano, tarragon or sage.

You can also substitute the balsamic vinegar for apple cider, red wine, white wine, sherry, or plain white vinegar. Each one brings its own flavor so you can get creative. You can also leave the mustard out as well.

Now go, make salad! I promise you’ll never buy bottled dressing again because yours will be just that good!