38 Power Foods, Week 31 -- Walnuts -- Leek-Fennel Soup with Walnut Pesto

Hot!

I didn't mean to do it, but you can see the steam billowing away from this hot Fennel-Leek Soup with Walnut Pesto.  Hearty without being heavy, this is a lovely light lunch with toasted baguette and cheese..

Left:  Roquefort                     Right:  Aged Provolone

or a lemony start to a special dinner.  Simple pictures are often best and this is no exception.  The soup pot ingredients are mostly fresh fennel, sliced leeks, chicken stock, and lemon juice--cooked up in about twenty minutes until the vegetables are just barely tender.   The only complexity involved, and it isn't much, is a gremolata-like pesto made in the food processor using today's power food, walnuts, along with lemon and parsley.  Traditional gremolata contains garlic, but I tossed that in the soup pot intead, so have named the topping a pesto.  You can call it what you like; I also call it good.

As walnuts are the nut grown where I live in Minnesota (there's a black walnut tree right down the street),  I was happy to blog about them today!  Not only are they locally sourced and extra-heart-healthy goodies, they also improve brain function and are full of anti-oxidants. A good source of easy-to-carry protein, walnuts weigh in at about 185 calories per ounce (about 14 walnut halves.) While we think of walnut oil as special salad oil, in France, at least,  it was in years past used in lamps for light along with candles.  I happen to be reading a book just this week  From Here, You Can't See Paris: Seasons of a French Village and its Restaurant, by Michael S. Sanders.  Just at the point were I stopped, a local duck farmer was explaining about walnut oil to the author, as many local gardens featured walnut trees and some farms still had walnut groves:

(100 years ago)...  And of course they force-fed geese, mostly for the fat, rather than for the meat.  FOR THE FAT!  Not for using in preservation, because pork fat is better than goose for that, but for cooking!  And the walnut oil, they burned in little lamps, a shallow dish with a wick suspended above -- you see them in all the antique shops now -- les calèmes.  They had walnut oil, back then, for lights.   Oh, people make such a big cheese of the walnut oil now, eh?  But it's not that good, it goes rancid fast, and back then it was used almost entirely for lighting.  They had no petroleum yet, that was the next thing to come.  So they burned walnut oil or candles. 

Three things: walnut oil was and is probably used for a lot of things,  but it isn't terribly useful for cooking per se as it's heat-sensitive and burns easily.  Also, it does become rancid easily, so buy small quantities and store the oil in the refrigerator.  I have always stored walnuts in the freezer (up to a year); they keep only about a month on the pantry shelf.  Let them come to room temperature before using for baking.

Learn more about walnut here, but first make the soup!

   leek-fennel soup with walnut pesto  

The pesto ready to be made in the food processor.

                    
4 generous main-course servings 
6 small first course servings

      Cook's Note:  While the soup cooks, make the pesto, and have it ready at the table. This soup is easily vegan if vegetable broth is used instead of chicken stock.  Without the toasted cheese accompaniment, it's also gluten-free.

                                                                                                           
 for the soup:

• 1 tablespoon each olive oil and butter
• Pinch aleppo pepper (can substitute crushed red pepper), optional 
• 2 fennel bulbs, trimmed, cored, and sliced thinly
• 6 leeks, white and light green parts only, well cleaned, and sliced thinly
• 1 small carrot, peeled and sliced thinly
• 1 celery stalk, minced
• 1/3 cup fresh parsley, chopped
• 1 teaspoon Herbes de Provence 
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/4 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper 
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1 quart chicken stock (or vegetable broth)
• 1/2 cup white wine
• 1-2 drops hot sauce, optional
• Juice of 1/2 lemon--or to taste (you need to grate the peel for the pesto-do that first!)

 for the walnut pesto:

• 1/4 cup each fresh parsley and walnut pieces-whole or in pieces
• grated peel from 1/2 lemon  

1.  In a 6 quart soup pot, heat the oil and butter with the pepper over medium heat.  Add the fennel, the leeks, carrot, celery, parsley, herbs, salt, and pepper.  Stir, cover and cook about ten minutes, stirring once or twice; turn heat down if browning too quickly.
2. Add the garlic, stir, and cook two minutes. Pour in the stock and the white wine.  Season with hot sauce, if desired.  Bring to a boil, reduce heat to simmer, cover, and let cook another ten minutes or so until all vegetables are tender.
3. Meanwhile, make the pesto by placing all ingredients in the bowl of a food processor or hand chopper and pulsing until finely ground like fresh breadcrumbs.  Place in a small serving bowl with a tiny spoon at the table.
4.  When vegetables are tender, purée soup using an immersion blender or in batches in the food processor or blender.  Squeeze in about half of the lemon juice.  Taste and adjust seasonings as necessary, adding the rest of the lemon juice if you like it.  I liked just a little more salt--this will depend on how salty your stock was. Serve hot with a small spoonful or two of the walnut pesto.

Disclaimer:  For vegan and gluten-free options, please check all ingredients in your own kitchen as some ingredients are available with different options from different manufacturers.  As always, check with your dietician with questions.  
 ... ... ... ... ... ... ...

38 Power Foods is a group effort!   Stop by these other blogs and see what they're cooking each week as we team up to bring you some of the healthiest cooking available.

Ansh – SpiceRoots.com  

Chaya – SweetSav.blogspot.com

Jeanette – JeanettesHealthyLiving.com 

Martha – Simple-Nourished-Living.com

Minnie Gupta from TheLady8Home.com

Mireya – MyHealthyEatingHabits.com 

Sarah - Everything in the Kitchen Sink


All sites may not blog power foods every week.
 
    Are you a food blogger?  Join us!

• We'd like to have you as part of the group.  Get in touch with Mireya from My Healthy Eating Habits:  Mireya@MyHealthyEatingHabits.com

 Sing a new song,
Alyce  

Meatless Mondays--Green Chile-Vegetable Crock Pot Soup

Vegan and Gluten-Free

On Monday mornings, I read the Sunday New York Times. (Read Mark Bittman's article on bread in yesterday's NYT magazine--beautiful.)  I'm totally perverse.  Occasionally I snuggle up on the couch for a Sunday afternoon with it, but I work Sundays...

38 Power Foods, Week 29 -- Pecans -- Light Winter Vegetable Gratin with Savory Granola

Each Friday, a wonderful group of women reaches across cyberspace and joins culinary hands to salute one very healthy food, one single beautiful ingredient from Power Foods : 150 Delicious Recipes with the 38 Healthiest Ingredients.  (Scroll down for the list of blogs.)
 

I won't say it's not a challenge to come up to that gorgeous plate each week.  If I'm busy learning music for church or have my daughter home, or am busy with the soup book, I sometimes can't give the opportunity the intelligent focus and attention it deserves.  I used one great recipe for more than one blog recently....life can get ahead of me sometimes.  Hopefully I'm forgiven!

30-Minute Vegetable Soup a la Provence (Vegan and Gluten-Free) or What I'm Eating for Lunch

If you've been reading along on the blog, you'll know I've made a commitment to lose 10 pounds by Saint Patrick's Day when I always make a vat of potato soup and  loaves of Irish soda bread:

I've got a routine of exercise and cutting back on food so that I subtract 35,000 calories in 8 weeks.  (For instance, no meat 2 nights a week.)  No fancy-schmancy (as Sandy would say) diet; no gimmicks; no cash or meetings.  Just me.  My bean-counter head and my family room and the city of Saint Paul as gym. 

One of the things I've changed is that I can  have only fruit or vegetables 4 lunches per week.  No meat, no bread, no rice, etc.  I am fine with a piece of fruit each day so far and if I'm starving, I cheat a bit to add some Greek yogurt and a little of my homemade, low-fat granola. 

Thanksgiving, 2012

                     "It's not what's on the table that's important.  It's who's in the chairs."

                       
This post includes:

• Guide to cooking and baking hotlines
• Links to great Thanksgiving sites for tips, food, decoration, kids' activities
• My own favorite Thanksgiving photos, recipes, music, wine, and even a blessing or two  ... 

Enjoy!

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

  I can't preach about giving thanks.  I'll just say I think it's healthy.  It's lovely in that it's a discipline folks of any religion or country can take part.  But of course, our fair "Rabbie" had it best:

Some Hae Meat

 Some hae meat and canna eat,
And some wad eat that want it,
But we hae meat and we can eat,
And sae the Lord be thankit.

~Robert Burns

 Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday.  You could have guessed.
My worlds all come together on that day.
Giving thanks-- being grateful--is a practice or discipline of many religions and cultures, including mine.
I need it.  I need that discipline. And:
Creating a meal to honor that...is my idea of a great day!
I wish you a day of totally beautiful, grateful life.


A grace could be very simply giving thanks for the hands that made the meal, for the workers in the stores, on the trucks, in the gardens and  the vineyards.  Even a toast to all who made it possible would work.  Mark the moment.

Thanksgiving, after all, is a word of action.  
                                                    ~W.J. Cameron
.                          
Awareness.   Awakeness. Appreciation.  Peaceful breath.
A table that includes something you love.
Someone you love.

Some of the best new scripture these days is found on paper napkins.
I have some that say, "It's not what's on the table that's important.  It's who's in the chairs."
Ah, that we have to print that somewhere.

Deep breaths and a sense of warm wonder to you as you prepare to give thanks this year.


          If the only prayer you said in your whole life was, "thank you," that would suffice. 

                                                                                                              ~Meister Eckhart
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Before the fun begins,  thanks for reading and responding:

           Bloggers Without Borders Post on Helping Victims of Sandy 

 

50 Women Game-Changers - #47 - Zarela Martinez' Savory Cornbread

“From my childhood on, cooking meant sharing and security and a way of “speaking” to people.  When I grew up I found that cooking grew also to be a means of celebrating and honoring those who would eat meals that I’d carefully prepared from scratch. Over the years as I lived and thought and learned, cooking grew even more to embrace nearly every aspect of culture and human relationships. I have been lucky to make my career as chef, consultant, and businesswoman a never-ending source of joy and fulfillment.”

                                                                                                              --Zarela Martinez

Each week for the last forty-six, a food-loving group of bloggers has been studying, choosing a recipe, cooking, photographing, and writing  about one very special food expert off the Gourmet Live list of 50 Women-Game Changers in Food.    I jumped on this yummy trolley last January at stop number 32, but a good number of these scribes started right from the beginning.   We're near the end of the line, but this week we're featuring number forty-seven, Mexican chef, author, teacher, philanthropist, and NYC restauranteur-caterer Zarela Martinez.

What's in a name? Welcome to the world Aaron Noah Wilkerson and Pinto Rice Salad with Cilantro-Lime Dressing

You'll have to bear with me and read a while to get the recipe for this salad.  Yum.  It needs a better name.  Be thinking as you scroll down.

What IS in a name?  I'm pretty good with words--usually.  But once in a while I'm just stuck for a name for a recipe I've developed.  Once it was, "What do you call a Fish Taco Salad?"  I had some great answers, but just thought "Fish Taco Salad" really told the tale.  Same thing with the pinto bean rice tunzveg salad I made for tailgating last week. 

Or, just for kicks, I threw in this photo (above) of the kid and the pumpkins.  It's October.  I don't know this kid's name.  I don't remember where I got this picture.  I've looked and looked.  Who is this kid?  What's her/his? name?  It matters; it really does.  But I dunno.  If you know, tell me.

Recipe names are important, too.  They should say what the recipe is, but they should draw you in, too.  Make you want to cook, as it were.

How about here?  This is my Mom and my nephew Michael in the above pic.  Many years ago.  Mom's been gone since 1985 and Michael's in his 30's, married with children.  Mom; she was my mom.  But she had a name.  Even to my kids, she was our "Mom's mom" or "grandma."  But she definitely was Faiery Elizabeth Denny McClendon.  Born today in 1917.  Happy Birthday, Fay.  You're my screensaver, Mom. 

Here's Michael today.  With daughter Allison.  Hmm.  I wish they were here!

But then there's this little punkin.
Aaron Noah Wilkerson. 
Named for himself.
And his big brother, who's no longer here, but is among the names God calls daily in heaven.
Nearly 9 pounds and 20 inches long.  A solid chunk of humanity.  So loved. So awaited.  So beautiful.
They knew just what to call YOU!

Welcome to our world, Aaron.  We'll love having you here.  When you're bigger, you can eat some of this salad.  That I'm unsure what to call.  Maybe your Mom can help; she's good with words, too.  Good with making beautiful babies, too.  Well, Dad helped.  And everyone prayed.  And prayed.  I cannot wait to see you baptized!!

Still.  This IS a food blog.  Most of the time.  So here's my tailgating salad.  Try it.  Put different vegetables in it.  Play with the seasonings.  I found it needed citrus--acid and then a little sweetness--the butternut squash and the honey.  This makes a LOT.  And, maybe you can come up with a name.  See this little bowl I used for photography?  You'll need a bigger bowl than that, I'd guess.  We adored this.

Pinto Rice Salad with Cilantro-Lime Dressing  or  Here it is, Loren--you asked for it!!
12-14 servings

This was great with chicken enchiladas and sour cream.  It'd be lovely with tacos--fish  or meat.  It is also an awesome vegetarian meal...leave out the cheese for vegans.  Pretty nice for gluten-free folks, too.  WhooHoo.

3 cups cooked pinto beans (do it yourself or use rinsed canned ones)
3 cups cooked white rice
1/2 c cabbage, finely sliced
1 c cubed (small) white cheddar cheese
2 small zucchini, diced **
1 small yellow squash, diced **
3 stalks celery, diced
1 c butternut squash, cooked, peeled and diced*  (or use acorn squash)
1 avocado, barely ripe, diced
2 ears of corn, kernels cut off*  (or 1 c frozen, defrosted corn)
1 bunch green onions, chopped (white and green)
1/2 bunch cilantro, chopped roughly

Dressing:  Juice of 3 limes and 1/2 c olive oil, 2 cloves finely minced garlic, 1/2 t kosher salt, 1/2 t freshly ground pepper, 1/4 t ground cayenne pepper or to taste

Juices of 1/2 lemon, 1/2 lime, 1 orange; 2T honey

1 c cherry tomatoes, cut in half

In a very large bowl or 10 qt stockpot, mix the beans through cilantro gently.  Pour 1/2 the dressing over all and mix again easily.  Taste and adjust for seasonings.  Squeeze over all the lemon, lime and orange juice.  Drizzle honey over all.  Mix again and taste for and adjust  seasonings.  Garnish with cherry tomatoes.  (Don't mix them in; they'll mush up by the next day if you keep any of this that long.)  Have the courage of your convictions and make this salad your own, changing up any of it.  I really just made it up as I went along, after beginning with the idea of a bean-rice salad that felt and tasted very fresh.

Eat now or chill and serve within 1-2 days.  Use remaining dressing at table or to moisten salad next day.

*Cook the corn and the squash in the microwave: 

 For the corn-- Place whole ears of corn with husks and silks on dampened paper towel.  Cook two ears about 4-5 minutes total.  Remove ears from microwave and wrap in foil.  Let steam for 5 minutes in foil and take off husks/silk.  Cut kernels from corn by holding cob perpendicular to (and resting against)  the cutting board.  Slice downward, cutting between the kernels and the cob itself, moving around and turning the cob as each section falls to the board.

 For the squash--Cut squash in half.  Cook one half at a time.  Place the squash in a 8" square microwave-safe glass container and pour about 1/2" water in the bottom.  Cover and cook on high 5 minutes or so.  Let sit another 5 minutes and remove squash from skin to dice on cutting board.  Make your winter squash like this often and save lots of time.

**I sauteed the zucchini and the yellow squash for just a couple of minutes before adding it to the salad; you can leave it raw or cook it, even in the microwave, too--just as you like.  Another option:  throw in for the last couple of minutes with rice or beans.

Above:  Winter Squash Fast, left, and my drained beans, right.  Try cooking the beans in the microwave, too.  They get done without getting mushy.  I like them cooked up with lots of whole onions (peels, too) and a couple of cloves of garlic..as well as a whole jalapeno and lots of salt and whole peppercorns.  You get a little heat without overwhelming the beans or the salad.  Don't forget to remove the peppercorns before eating!

Happy Fall, dear ones.  Cook a pot of beans.  Make some winter squash.  Feel autumn come. 
Sing a new song,
Alyce

Peaches, cream, and more

If its August.  If it's Colorado.  I'm eating peaches.  Any day. Every day.  For at least two weeks.  By themselves.  On Greek Yogurt with Colorado honey and slivered toasted almonds.  Or granola.   On top of vanilla frozen yogurt.  In a salsa on pork chops.  Etcetera.

Here are a few of the yummy things I've done.  Of course the best?  Above.

Grilled peaches:

Preheat clean grill to medium-high heat.  Cut peaches in half and remove pits.  Brush each half with a little bit of canola oil and place cut-side down on grill.  Let cook about 3 or 4 minutes and turn over when grill marks are well-established, but not blackened.  Cook another 2 or 3 minutes until tops of cut-side are somewhat visibly drying.  Remove and cool briefly.  Enjoy as is or try another good idea...

Grilled Peaches with Goat's Cheese, Honey and Thyme

God had to have been in on this creation.  Of course.  Here's how:

Grill peaches as above.  Top each with 1-2 T plain goat's cheese (softened a bit).  Drizzle with your favorite honey and sprinkle with a few leaves of fresh thyme.   (recipe copyright Alyce Morgan, 2010)

Grilled Peach Salsa

Lovely on BBQ Pork Chops (Really),

Salmon

Shrimp Tacos

Grilled Fish

Tortilla Chips?  Of course.  Here's how:

2-6 t very finely minced jalapeno (to your taste--start with 2t and more if you'd like)
1/3 c finely minced onion
2 large peaches (Colorado preferred), cut in half and grilled*, peeled after grilling, and chopped into 1/2"  pieces
1 ripe avocado, peeled and diced
1/2 ea medium red sweet pepper and green sweet pepper, diced
1/2 c chopped fresh cilantro
Juice of 1/2 a lime
Dash of kosher salt and a couple of grates of fresh ground pepper

In a medium bowl, mix all ingredients gently but thoroughly. Taste and correct seasoning if necessary. (Add more jalapeno, etc) Serve on with grilled pork chops, shrimp or salmon or on seafood or fish tacos. (recipe copyright Alyce Morgan 2010)


Wine? If you make the bbq pork chops or salmon, try a little inexpensive Beaujolais. Other reds or bigger wines, will overwhelm this meal. It's summer and something lighter and refreshing will turn on these peaches. If you make the shrimp or fish tacos, a cold Spanish Albarino (lovely white) or even an Oregon Pinot Gris could do the trick.

(If you'd like to make the green bean salad, here's the blogpost for it, though I dressed it differently here.  Rather than a mustard vinaigrette, I mixed a bit of top-quality light Ranch with some roasted salsa for a dressing.)

Lovely frozen yogurt from David Levovitz' book THE PERFECT SCOOP. (Click for the recipe.)  Of course, we then had it like this:
 

                 Vanilla Yogurt with Sliced Colorado Peaches
 
Two-Dog Kitchen and Around the 'Hood
 

Our tomatoes are ripe.  Salads are every day now.
 

Skippy Jon Jones and Tucker saying, "Hi!"
 

Emily's home for a week or so.  Here she helps beat melted chocolate, a little cream, and sugar for a frozen chocolate yogurt testing that looked like this when done:

 
I'm still working on this...want to try it with toasted almonds, etc.  I'll admit it was tres tres tres like it was... made with Valhrona Chocolate.  Definitely.  Oh my.  Ask for it if you're coming to dinner.

Speaking of coming to dinner:  I have one space left in Cooking with Music for September 18 at 12:30.  It's an Italian class with pizza appetizer, two main-course soups, and an apple crostada (free form apple pie) for $50.  Includes dinner (you also get to invite a friend) and wine.  Email me if you're interested.
-
Right now, the sun is shining so brightly.  But on the windows I hear the tip, tap, tip of rain.  Opening the shades (closed to keep the sunroom cooler), I see it's definitely raining.   Sun, Rain=Rainbow!  I'll be watching out east for it.

It's time for a little music, a candle or two, cell phones on off, and watches stored.  Friday.  A bit of dinner together.  Breathing how blessed I feel to have almost my whole family in my house.
Alyce

Sole on Leeks with Salad

For six or seven months, I've been loving fish cooked in vegetables or with vegetables or as a part of a salad.  Maybe longer.  Just think of it.  Simple white (any color, really)  fish that absorbs the flavor of vegetables, is a complete dish (or almost) when it comes out of the pan,  and lets you eat your carbs at the other meals.  Or not.  To say nothing of getting your however many servings of vegetables.  Right there.  Right then.

I've done fish "tacos" this way,  fish salads with proscuitto, snapper in tomatoes, onions and olives, etc.  I even put sole in a spicy broth and felt naughty.  After all, sole is supposed to be...

Well, what is sole supposed to be?  I always think of meuniere when I think of sole.  And I make that fairly often.  Especially for just me.  What's easier?  While I link to Ina's recipe for it, really you can make it without a recipe, I'd think.   Very lightly  flour, salt and pepper up your sole, saute it in butter for a couple of minutes,  take it out of the pan onto a heated plate.  Add another tablespoon of butter into the pan, melt, and squeeze in a lemon.  Pour that over the fish on the plate and scatter some chopped parsley on top.  I like another dusting of salt and pepper.  If you have some greens on your plate, the sole and lemon butter will create your dressing.  Et voila, dinner is served in... how many minutes?  And how much sole do you need?  How hungry are you?  1/4 of a pound is ample.  If you buy a half pound, cook it all and eat the rest cold the next day with some green beans or tomatoes.

This sole, however, was a dream before I cooked it.  Fish cooked on leeks and just a smidge of garlic.  Nestled in some greens and a little tomato and yellow pepper for color.  No dressing that's made ahead  per se, but a dressing is definitely made, once again, by lemon and olive oil.  Quick and healthy and lovely for a hot night.  Add a little Sauvignon Blanc, maybe a bite of bread and butter or cheese,  and there you are!

Sole on Leeks with Salad  serves 2

1t butter
2T olive oil, divided
6 leeks, whites and light green only, trimmed, washed very well, and sliced thinly
1 garlic clove, minced finely
1/4 c fresh parsley, divided
2T fresh chives, chopped, divided
Kosher salt and fresh ground pepper
1/2 # sliced fresh Dover sole
1 lemon, halved
1/4 c white wine or chicken stock
3c salad greens
1 tomato, chopped finely
1/4 yellow sweet pepper, chopped medium

In a large skillet, heat butter and 1T of the olive oil over medium heat.  Add leeks and cook about 10 minutes, stirring often.  Add garlic, 2T of the parsley and 1T of the chives.  Sprinkle liberally with salt and pepper.  Cook another minute or so until vegetables are very wilted and beginning to brown.

Add sole in a single layer over the leek mixture.  Add a little more parsley and chives, along with a pinch of salt and pepper.  Add wine carefully.  Squeeze lemon over all and cover.  Cook for 3-4 minutes until fish is opaque, but still quite tender. 

 Meantime, on a large platter, scatter salad greens and top with chopped tomatoes and peppers.  Season with salt and pepper.  When fish is done, slowly, using a large flat spatula, remove vegetables and fish onto or in the middle of the greens.  Season with the remaining tablespoon of olive oil, drizzled over the fish and salad.  Squeeze the other lemon half over the entire platter.  Finally, dust with a last pouf of fresh ground pepper.

Serve with a little seeded bread and salted butter, as well as a few slices of cheese.  A light white wine, particularly Sauvignon Blanc, would be the perfect accompaniment.  But I said that already.

Bon appetit!

Note:  the herbs are all from my garden...  Quite fun to wander around outside, hoping nothing burning on the stove, while I decide which herbs go in which part of what dish.  Some things I just love about summer.

Two-Dog Kitchen and Around the 'Hood

 

Thursday night dinner guests:  Froncie, Julie and Teresa for Grilled Chicken Caprese (another post.)

Froncie is an old college friend; Julie and Teresa are her sisters.  Wow.  What an evening outdoors.

How cool to see an old friend....

We babysit Moss.

He likes it.

Sunbird for brunch.

Someone else cooked!

Why I have goldens.

Summer in the front garden.

Russian sage...bees love it...

Still waiting...

What's on my counter and in the frig?

counter:

Sweet potatoes for a frittata

Fresh mint in a small watering can--for tea

Big gladiolas

Onions

Shallots

Garlic

Tomatoes

New potatoes

Apples

Sea salt

new Le Creuset pan; Dave burned up my old 3 qt one:):(

frig:

Big hunk of Gouda

Goat's Cheese

Ricotta

Lemons and Limes

Zucchini

Peppers

Jalapenos

Side of salmon (friends for dinner)

Chuck steak (testing chili for Cooks' Illustrated)

Oregon chardonnay

Blueberries (making blueberry frozen yogurt)

Melons

Pelligrino

3 qts of iced tea

Sing a new song; cook some fish,

Alyce

Let's Diet-You go First or Hot Springs Salad with Lemon Vinaigrette

Let's diet.
You go first.

In an effort to increase health (which includes weight loss), I've been on a kick to include more vegetables in our diet, and have been eating a lot of stir-fries, etc.  While we like Thai food a lot, I had a craving for something like that, but with more Mediterranean flavors....   Read that olive oil, lemon, basil, garlic and so on. 

Yesterday, we had a huge old frittata for breakfast, trying to use up a bunch of eggs before our delivery arrives on Monday and we then have more eggs than at Easter.  Lots of vegetables (and a tiny slice of ham) went into that, but I still had tons left.  Also, dinner promised to include meat and pasta, so lunch needed to be all vegetables for balance.

Salad?  No, I was tired of it.  I wanted real food but didn't want rice, pasta, bread, meat or dairy for caloric purposes.   HMMMM...  I  finally just pulled stuff out of the vegetable bin, grabbed a huge saute pan, and cranked it up.   You could call this a French stir-fry, maybe?

Big yum and absolutely no guilt.  Try it with whatever YOU have.

Here's what I did....

Hot Springs Salad with Lemon Vinaigrette
serves 2

3t olive oil, divided
6 c fresh spinach
1/4 c fresh parsley leaves, whole
½ medium red onion, diced/divided
1 stalk celery, diced
½ yellow bell pepper, diced
2 small zucchini sliced about 1/3” thick
1 small yellow squash, sliced about 1/3” thick                                     
6-8 stalks asparagus, well-trimmed, cut into 1” pieces

1 clove garlic, grated or smashed and minced                     
1/4 t kosher salt               
1/8 t fresh ground pepper
Pinch of crushed red pepper, optional
8 cherry tomatoes, cut in half
4T fresh basil, chiffonade (sliced very thinly)
2T fresh lemon juice

 (Above, right:  cooking spinach, parsley leaves and red onion)

Vinaigrette: 2T each olive oil and fresh lemon juice, good pinches of kosher salt and fresh ground pepper (Whisk together well in small bowl.  This makes plenty; you might want less.)


DIRECTIONS:
In a large skillet, warm 2t olive oil. Add spinach, parsley leaves, and half of the red onion. Saute over medium heat, until spinach has begun to wilt. Remove from pan and divide into two large, shallow bowls, pushing spinach to the edges of the bowl to form a ring.

Put other 1t olive oil into skillet and add rest of onion, celery, pepper, squashes and asparagus. Saute over medium heat, stirring often, for about 5 minutes. Add garlic and season with salt and pepper. Add crushed red pepper if desired. Saute another 2 minutes, stirring often. Remove from heat. Spoon these veggies into the middles of the bowls so that they are surrounded by the spinach ring. At center of each bowl, make a little mound of the cut cherry tomatoes and then sprinkle entire dish with the fresh basil. Squeeze fresh lemon over all. Drizzle with dressing and eat hot, warm or at room temperature.

                Cooking the squash, asparagus, celergy, onions, garlic and peppers

Need more to eat?  Serve with some whole wheat baguette or cook a little pasta or rice to go under the "salad."

Wine?   Chenin Blanc (or Vouvray) would do nicely...off-setting the acid from the lemon.

Dessert?  A strawberry or two.

                             The hot salad, ready for its close-up....

Spring a new song,
Alyce

TWO-DOG KITCHEN.....  WITH SPECIAL GUEST........

.......Today is Holocaust Remembrance Day.....

I went to Bergen-Belsen once.

I don't think I'll forget.