Happy 4th of July!

Happy Independence Day, everyone!  I hope you all have something fun planned and something delicious to eat, as I declare today to be independent of calories!  (Uh, not for real, but see what I did there?)  Anyway, we are celebrating our holiday with close family friends and a cookout, likely to be comprised of hamburgers, hot dogs and...chips and salsa.  Yes.  Chips and salsa - that quintessential American snack food.  What's that you say?  Salsa isn't technically from America?  True, but it is delicious and I have been making it from scratch since I was  a teenager.  Our Fourth of July table (hell, any holiday or festive table, really) just isn't the same without some homemade salsa. 

Now, I am not going to claim that my salsa is the best salsa anywhere, but it is tasty and, like my pancake recipe, it was originally inspired by someone else's version.  I have experimented and experimented with my recipe for years (probably something like 16 or 17 years....geez, am I THAT old?)  and I have my own recipe down to an *almost* science.  I can make this stuff in my sleep.  (That isn't an exaggeration - I could make this stuff in my sleep, but it would be dangerous for a number of reasons.  Obviously.)  I actually make two different versions - a red salsa that has evolved into a mix of true salsa roja and a pico de gallo (I will explain that in a minute) and a green salsa that varies from a traditional roasted salsa verde to a fresh tomatillo-avocado salsa (today's version). 

The original version of the salsa roja (red or tomato based salsa) dates back to a slumber party I went to as a teenager.  My friend's dad (I think) made a delicious salsa that began with roasted beefsteak tomatoes, white onions, fresh jalapenos and distilled white vinegar.  This was all pureed together to make a tangy, spicy, pungent sauce that I devoured, then politely demanded the recipe.  This was back in the days, waaaayyyy before culinary school, when I was best known for my infamous ability to burn everything, particularly beef that I was supposed to be browning, on the stove top.  (My poor mother, seriously.  The woman was working and trying to raise three teenagers on her own and I couldn't even be bothered to start dinner cooking so she could finish it when she got home.  Sorry, Mom.)  Anyway, I am not sure what my mom thought when I announced that I was going to "make" salsa ('cause in those days, our "salsa" came out of a yellow jar from a company that rhymes with "space" and it sure wasn't called salsa.  "Get a rope!")  To her credit, she let me "create" and, that folks, was just the beginning.  Salsa became my signature party food and, as the years went on, I tried more and more variations on that theme.  I am super persnickety about salsa (both mine and others')so much so that, if we try a new Mexican food restaurant and I don't like the *free* salsa, we just won't ever go back. 

At one point, my favorite restaurant was a local chain that was kind of upscale Tex-Mex which, when most joints plunked a tiny bowl of red salsa on the table as pre-appetizer, would serve both red AND green salsa with unlimited chips.  Awesome.  I took note and sought to re-create salsas that looked and tasted like theirs.  Their red sauce had diced, fresh tomatoes and sliced green onions mixed into the salsa, so I appropriated that idea for mine.  Their green sauce was the deep olive green of roasted tomatillos, with diced white onion and more sliced green onions, so I appropriated that idea as well (though the green version I made today was quite different).  My salsa became like most of my cooking - a hodge-podge of an original food inspiration and other ideas and techniques that I collected along the way. 

Today's red began with a chunky puree of cored and seeded roma tomatoes, stemmed and seeded jalapenos and serranos, the juice of a couple of limes and a bunch of cilantro.  I diced two cored and seeded tomatoes, sliced a bunch of green onions and added salt and pepper to taste, then mixed the puree with the "pico de gallo".  Recheck for seasoning and: viola!  Today's green began with fresh tomatillos, green onions, stemmed and seeded jalapenos and serranos, the juice of a couple of limes,  and a bunch of cilantro, pureed until mostly smooth.  I then added three avocados, seasoned with salt and pepper and pureed until it was as smooth as my blender could make it.  Recheck for seasoning and: viola!  Happy, happy 4th of July!  Be safe, eat well and try not to set a piece of our great nation ablaze!

Fridge Pasta

Sounds super yummy, right?  I know it doesn't, but I entitled this post as such because I once saw an episode of Jacques Pepin's cooking show where he made something he called "Fridge Soup".  The soup was basically a vehicle to use up leftovers and odds and ends in the fridge - an "everything but the kitchen sink" kind of recipe, if you will.  Last night was my night to clean out the fridge (because today was grocery shopping day).  I had a package of bacon, about a pint of *about to start rotting* tiny Roma tomatoes that we bought at a farmer's market on Saturday, an onion and a 3/4 full package of organic spinach, plus a package of whole wheat spaghetti (that was supposed to be used in the spaghetti and meatballs that got bumped to another night). 

I rendered the entire package of bacon in my large dutch oven and, when the bacon was getting pretty crispy, I poured off all but about a tablespoon of the rendered fat and added the onion, which I thinly sliced.  I let all of that kind of confit together while the pasta cooked and, once that was done, I turned off the heat and added the tomatoes (which I quartered) and the spinach.  I seasoned with salt and pepper and added about a tablespoon of red wine vinegar (just to brighten up the flavors).  I tossed in the pasta, mixed it all together and viola!  Dinner was served....to a less than enthusiastic audience.  No one (under the age of 9) liked the spinach and even I had to admit that the bacon was a little overpowering...not to mention soggy.  Ew.  Now I know why you should always remove bacon once it has rendered and then add it back in later.  Duh.  It will stay crispy that way.  Oh well, this recipe did what I needed it to do - it used up all of my odds and ends in the fridge and it fed my family.  Done.  Not to be repeated in this exact manner, but done. 

Fast Salmon and Pasta

What happens when you have too much to do in a given day, but want to make something fresh, fast and easy for your family for dinner?  How about incorporating a little Omega-3 action into your diet with a serving of wild-caught Atlantic salmon?  Add some pasta and some veggies and this is almost a one pot meal!  This is one of my very favorite recipes because it has very few ingredients, can be thrown together in minutes and, now that my son can eat fish, is one of the only salmon recipes that everyone in the family will eat. 

For our family, I take about a pound of salmon with the pin bones removed (in our case it is wild-caught Atlantic salmon that I froze when I brought it home from the grocery store and is currently defrosting in the fridge; not ideal to freeze it, but what are you going to do?) and poach it in a skillet.  (Place the salmon, skin side down, in the skillet and add enough water to come about 1/2 way up the side of the fish.  Season with salt and pepper to taste and turn the heat on to medium or medium high.  Once bubbles start forming along the edges, turn the heat down so it stays at a very light simmer, cover and let the salmon cook until it is mostly opaque and flakes easily.)  While the salmon is cooking, bring a pot of  salted water to a full boil and cook a pound of farfalle (bow-tie) pasta.  (I am using a whole wheat pasta this evening.)  When the pasta just reaches al dente status, toss in a bag of frozen peas and let them come up to temp (you will know they are done when they turn a bright green and start floating to the top of the water).  Drain the pasta and peas, returning them to the same pot (only if you dislike washing extra dishes like me; if you like to scrub things in the sink, then by all means, put the pasta and peas into another serving dish).  Add about a tablespoon of olive oil, a teaspoon of grated lemon zest (you could add the juice of the lemon as well if you would like), and season with freshly ground black pepper.  Once the salmon is done, flake it into large chunks (leave the skin behind) and toss into the pasta and pea mixture, stirring carefully to combine (but not break the salmon up too much).  Finally, add the herb of your choice, thinly sliced into a chiffonade (fancy, Frenchy term for "ribbons").  I usually use mint because it complements the peas and the fish and provides a really bright counterpoint for the sour citrus of the lemon. 

The great thing about this recipe is that you can add anything you like to it.  Prefer asparagus to peas?  No problem - add it instead!  Don't like mint?  Add some basil or parsley!  You'd like some spice with your fish?  Well, slice up a jalepeno or toss in some crushed red pepper!  Maybe you like extra protein with an Asian flair?  Heck, add some shelled edamame and season with soy, teriyaki or hoisin sauce!  Don't like salmon?  Oh.   Hmmmm....well, that's just your loss, friend, but add another kind of fish instead - tilapia and trout are actually great alternatives. 

I love these kind of recipes: easy and easy to make your own.  That is what I love about cooking - getting to make your food suit your tastes.  Make it fun, people!  Cook something awesome tonight!

Poor Lady's Pho

I have recently become a member of a fabulous bulk retailer (who shall remain nameless) and took all three of my kids shopping there a couple of weeks ago.  We actually had a pretty good time, tooling around the store, trying samples and finding all of those "extras" that weren't on my original list.  One of the samples we stopped for was pre-made, frozen meatballs which were sold in either Pineapple-Teriyaki or Mango-Jalapeno flavor.  We opted for the pineapple version, since my kids aren't that big on spice, and stuck them in the freezer when we got home.  I wasn't really sure what I was going to do with them until inspiration (in the form of cleaning out the fridge) struck. 

I had about 3/4 of a box of chicken stock in the fridge, along with a bunch of cilantro, a jalapeno and a few onions (from our garden!) that needed to be used up.  I asked my husband to grab a box of Thai rice noodles (wide, flat noodles, not unlike linguine) from the store and, when he got home, I set the frozen meatballs to simmer in the chicken stock (plus a cup or two of water).  After they came up to temp, I added soy sauce, hoisin sauce and the remnants of a bottle of vegan Worcestershire sauce to the stock, stirred it around and let it continue to bubble away.  I boiled the noodles as per the package directions and, when they were tender, I rinsed them in cold water and drained them thoroughly.  I washed the cilantro, sliced the jalapeno and onion and grabbed some Thai basil from our garden.  I added a couple of wedges of lemon (I didn't have any limes) and we were good to go.  Everyone got a serving of noodles and meatballs (some with more broth than others) and could top it as they saw fit.  The kids mostly went plain Jane (one of them adding a teeny squeeze of lemon), but my husband and I loaded up on herbs, peppers and onions.  It was super tasty and everyone ate (almost) all of their dinner.....but.  But, the next day, both my husband and I were feeling distinctly queasy.  Could it have been the meatballs?  Possibly.  The kids felt fine and, in fact, finished off the meatballs the next day for lunch.  As for me, I love any and all kinds of pho (even my fake, multi-ethnic version), but I could not stomach the thought of eating any more of that meal.  I don't think I will be buying those meatballs again.....

TGIF. For Reals.

So, this week has just gone to shit - personally and food-wise.  Everyone is ok and we have all been fed all week long, but SO so many things happened this week that I am just totally off my cooking game.  Thankfully, I had some of my mother's magical chicken spaghetti in the freezer, so I just dumped the whole cylinder-shaped block of sauce into my pan to defrost.  Soon, my kitchen will be filled with the gorgeous aroma of my mother 's home cooking, my fridge will be stocked with booze (cause, damn.  I need a freaking drink.  Don't judge - I bloody earned it.), and this week will be in my rear view.  Thank God it is Friday hasn't sounded so true in a very long time.

Fun with Hospital Eating

This one is going to be super, extra fast because I am typing this on my phone from a "couch/bed" in my daughter's hospital room.  Food-wise, I've been scrounging it for the past two days.  Yesterday, after our very first ER visit (what a milestone, right?), I realized I had not eaten in over 8 hours.  That's A LOT for me. (I work out a lot, so I usually end up eating every 3 to 4 hours).  I was literally about to fall over from a super fun combination of hypoglycemia and stress, when my sister presented me with the Best Sandwich Ever.  EVER.  It was so good - turkey and mustard with all the fixings, plus jalapeño kettle chips.  Yum.  My husband brought me a burrito for dinner that was probably the size of my head.  Again: awesomely tasty.  

Today's been slightly less yummy and as weird of an eating schedule: I grabbed a latte and pumpkin bread from the hospital cafe mid-morning, then, mid-afternoon, I had a Clif Bar, beef jerky and a Coke Zero. Yeah, that's right...be jealous.  Be very jealous - not of the food, but of my apparently cast iron stomach.  

So, by the time I made it back across town to our house for a shower and some time with my littlest munchkin, I was craving anything real and especially anything green.  I made myself, my son and my mom (who was keeping my son this afternoon) BBQ chicken sandwiches with a salad of romaine hearts and cherry tomatoes.  Good gracious, it tasted good and fresh.  I'm kind of living for tomorrow, when I hope we get to go home for good, mainly because my breakfast is already in my purse, awaiting consumption: a Clif Bar sans beef jerky.  Breakfast of Champions!

Last Day of School!

Wow!  Here we are, on the morning of the last day of school!  I said it on my Facebook page and I will say it again here: this is always a bittersweet time of year for me.  Even as much as I am looking forward to more time with my kids (which is saying something after a VERY difficult night last night - that is a different story altogether) and all the fun things that summer brings with it, I still look at the end of the school year as just that: an ending.  For us, it is the end of an era - one of my daughters will move on to a different elementary school next year, which will necessitate quite a number of changes in our daily routine, my little one will start preschool, not to mention the more obvious fact that they are all getting older and so am I....aaaaannnndddd I just veered into a Fleetwood Mac/Dixie Chicks (depending on your age) song. 

So, before I get too weepy, let me just say that the last day of school, for us at least, brings lots and lots of food treats.  The girls will each have classroom parties, which my son and I will attend, and which will be packed with snacks and drinks.  Then, as a way to distract my girls, who tend to be as maudlin as me on the last day of school, I promised that if they went easy on the junk at school, I would take them out to get burgers for lunch.  Finally, as is our "tradition", they were allowed to choose our dinner for the last day of school, which will be: shrimp (since my son can eat it now.  Yay!) with spicy ketchup (homemade cocktail sauce), cheese fondue (homemade because I decided I was too cheap to buy the ridiculously priced pre-made variety, imported from Switzerland) and chips and salsa (store bought).  I think....I think I just gave myself a stomach-ache reading our meals planned for the day.  Ah, well.  I have plenty of anti-acids in the medicine cabinet, and we will get back to a semi-normal eating routine tomorrow.  Tomorrow: FIRST DAY OF SUMMER VACATION! 

Happy Memorial Day!

Happy Memorial Day to everyone!  Today, we remember our fallen veterans, who made the ultimate sacrifice and their families that were left behind.  I thank each and every one of you, and as the granddaughter of two veterans (now deceased) of WWII, and the niece of multiple veterans of Vietnam, I respect and honor you all today and everyday.

On a much more superficial note, today we also "officially" kick off the summer season.  My kids still have a week and a half of school to finish, so we are not calling it summer just yet, but it is hot, which, here in Texas (and on my light and fun food blog), means grilling season is in full force.  Fortunately for me, my husband procured a new propane tank for my grill yesterday, not to mention some lovely organic and biodegradable cleaners for said grill.  I decided, at 8:30 last night to try them out; let's just say that, for only owning that grill for a year (maybe not even that), it was NASTY.  Lots of char, lots of grease - it was another fireball waiting to happen.  So, maybe it wasn't the worst thing in the world that my propane ran out mid-dinner preparation the other night.  That sucker needed to be scoured.  So, did that - it's all nice and clean and pretty now.  The plan was to dirty it up again a little with hot dogs for this evening (what kid doesn't love hot dogs, even the nitrate and nitrite free turkey dogs that I insist on buying), but my two year old accidentally kicked me full on in the eye (with shoes on, no less) earlier today, so my throbbing face and I feel that the grill may just be too much freaking trouble for this evening.  Hot dogs taste almost as good cooked in a skillet on the stove, and my family of five will enjoy a fun Memorial Day dinner regardless.  The grill can definitely be dirtied another day. 

A New Vegetable!

A couple of weeks ago, I wrote a post about a wonderful three-ingredient pasta recipe that I have and utilize very frequently (often to the dismay of my older kids): Three Ingredient Dinner? Yes, please!  Last night, I played with a variation on that recipe, using organic frozen peas and a new find at my local grocery store, frozen Broccoli Romesco!  I really wish I had taken a picture of either the package or the final product after I was done cooking the meal, but I super suck at remembering to do that, so I will just apologize to my sister (who I know reads my blog and who is constantly telling me that I need to have more pictures and less words and who I apparently don't listen to very often) right now.  Anyway, this Broccoli Romesco stuff is a cross between regular old broccoli and regular old cauliflower and it is the weirdest, prettiest vegetable I think I have ever seen.  You know what broccoli looks like, right?  Tiny, deep emerald green (if you haven't cooked the bejesus out of it) trees?  OK.  Now picture a chartreuse Christmas tree.  Got it?  No?  Well, that is pretty much the only way I can describe this stuff - light, yellowish green and conical shaped.  The flavor was somewhere between that of broccoli and cauliflower (stop saying, "duh"!) - it was lightly nutty and very, very slightly sweet, but completely lacking that kind of sulfurous stank that broccoli can have.  My kids seemed to enjoy it (sort of), but it did get eaten (pretty much).  They all at least tried it and I have to say, I think it really perked up the dish for me.  I also really liked it because it came in a "steams in the bag in the microwave" package, which made it super simple for me to whip together the dinner in less than 30 minutes.  I promise that next time I buy the Broccoli Romesco, I will not only post a picture of the packaging, but also of the resulting dish.

Author's Note: In addition to remembering to take a picture, I also will need to brush up on my Mendelian genetics because my oldest daughter wanted an explanation of how the cross between the broccoli and cauliflower came to pass.  That was fun and you would never know that I had actually studied that stuff in college (I was Pre-Med) the way I was stumbling over terms like "recessive" and "dominant" and "traits".  I am pretty sure she thinks I just made it all up. 

Second Author's Note: The sad part about this story is that I was actually growing purple Broccoli Romesco in my garden and was very excited about it as I had never actually tasted it.  Then, the bunny descended (Gardening Successes and Failures) upon my tender little plants and I am sorry to report that the Broccoli Romesco never had a chance.  Apparently, rabbits know a good thing when they see it as well. 

Cuban Black Beans and Rice

I intended this to be a much longer post, but I am short on time as I am between family activities for the day.  We had my oldest's final softball games this morning and my younger daughter needs to be chauffeured to a birthday party in, like, 10 minutes, so this is going to be super fast with the recipe to follow. 

One of my favorite things to cook when I have few ideas, little inspiration and the need to clean a bunch of stuff out of the fridge is beans and rice.  I tend to dislike Cajun food, so I don't typically go for the red beans and rice variety, but I LOVE Cuban food, so I switch it up and reach for black beans, cilantro and tomatoes instead.  I use a pilaf (or even a bit of a risotto) method for cooking the rice - saute onions, garlic and peppers in oil, add rice in on top, saute until chalky and then add liquid to cook the rice grains.  After the rice is almost completely tender, I add drained and rinsed cans of no salt added black beans and whatever else I need to toss in to clear out the crisper drawer.  The other night, I used up a semi-manky poblano chile, onion and tomatoes in our Cuban-style black beans and rice.  (You can make it Southwestern-style black beans and rice by adding in frozen corn kernels or heck, you could make it Thai-style black beans and rice by subbing out jasmine or basmati rice for the brown rice I usually use, adding soy sauce or fish sauce....really, the possibilities are endless.)  So, I also made tostones (fried plantain slices) to go with the beans and rice, which is very Cuban indeed.  My kids, oddly enough, didn't love the plantains (How many bananas do we freaking eat every week?!), but my husband and I find them tasty and a good way to round out a very vegetarian meal.

Anyway, recipe on this is to follow when I have more time and look for a special post tomorrow for Mother's Day.  Until then....

Three Ingredient Dinner? Yes, please!

A THREE ingredient dinner you ask?  Is that even possible?  Oh, yes, my friends.  Yes, it is indeed. http://makingeverydaygourmet.blogspot.com/p/favorite-recipes.html

Here are the raw ingredients that I started with:

The raw beginnings of a fast and fresh dinner.

 

Whole wheat pasta (not processed with eggs), two bunches of raw asparagus and a four ounce package of plain goat cheese.  Start by cleaning the asparagus - remove the rubber bands, wash and snap the woody ends off of the stalks.  Place them on a rimmed cookie sheet, toss with a little bit of olive oil, salt and pepper and roast at about 425 degrees for about 20 minutes. 

 

While the asparagus is roasting, cook the pasta in salted (like the ocean) boiling water.  Once the pasta is cooked, take about a cup of the water out and reserve.  Drain the pasta and crumble in the goat cheese, adding the reserved pasta water if needed to loosen the sauce.  Cut the roasted asparagus into inch to inch and a half lengths and toss with the pasta and goat cheese.  If desired, garnish with fresh snipped chives and viola!  Dinner is served:

 



A delicious, fresh spring dinner made from a mere three ingredients!



Now, my husband is going to be a bit of a stickler on this point, so, to be fair, I must disclose that the freshly snipped chives are a fourth ingredient, and the olive oil used for roasting the asparagus is technically a fifth ingredient, but come on.  That's just being picky because, start to finish, this takes less than 30 minutes to throw together.  It is also delicious, in my opinion, but I love asparagus and goat cheese.  My older two children do not, so they choked it down with the promise (read: bribe) of dessert, but my son enjoyed his asparagus ("sticks") and pasta.  I enjoyed it, too. 

A Little of Everything and A Lot of Not Much

Today capped off what was an extraordinarily busy week for us.  My business had several bookings (I make and decorate cakes, by the way) for Friday, Saturday and today (Sunday) and I feel like my family literally ran from activity to activity beginning last Monday and ending around lunchtime today.  The title of the post really encapsulates what I have been feeling lately - in regards to both my personal self and my cooking.  Granted, last week was crazy, even by my typical standards (which anyone with kids will tell you means you are busy ALL.  THE.  TIME.).  I do a little of everything and a lot of....well....not a lot.  Last week, my "a lot of not a lot" was cooking.  I just didn't have the time.  I am sitting here, typing this blog post and thinking, "I actually don't remember what the hell I fed my family for dinners last week."  I mean, I remember that, by Friday, I was so physically and mentally exhausted that I caved in and bought us all Sonic hamburgers for dinner.  I know we had sandwiches at some point in the week and I believe I made tomato soup to go with some grilled cheese another day, but honestly, it is all blurred together.

I would like to say that this week will be different and I will not be running so much that I actually, literally, physically won't have time to put a decent dinner on the table, but I think that might be a lie.  Even though this week has a lighter schedule, there are still going to be some days that I am going to struggle to cook.  I have cut myself some serious slack the past few weeks by buying things like bread (because that was one of the first things to fall off of my lengthy to-do list) and diapers (we were cloth diapering exclusively, but have been waging an ongoing battle against diaper rash and my own laziness for quite a while).  I am going to continue to cut myself some slack in those areas this week and have chosen menu items like pork fried rice (a family favorite), pulled BBQ chicken sandwiches (a crock pot recipe that will yield quite a lot of leftovers, hopefully), pasta salad (because I like it and it is easy even if no one else will eat it) and tostadas (cheap and fast to put together towards the end of the week).  There is not a single inventive or interesting thing to be expected on our dinner table this week, but I am pretty sure *most of* the food will get eaten. 

Food this week....

....is probably not going to be my best showing as far as a number of personal criteria go: particularly healthy, nutritious, or unprocessed.  We have stuff going on all week long (new martial arts lessons, other after school activities, meetings, business commitments, etc, etc, etc,) and, I tell you what (can you tell I am from Texas now?)....I just don't have it in me to spend a massive amount of time planning and/or cooking.  I mean, we are going to eat, but our dinners will consist of: bean and cheese burritos (using a more decent brand of store-bought tortillas), chili with cornbread (all of it homemade, because....well, I couldn't completely check out of this week), pulled pork sandwiches (perhaps with some kale harvested from our garden if I am not too lazy) and a leftovers night.  Hmmm....two things just occurred to me: first, this menu doesn't look too atrocious.  I mean, it is definitely kid-friendly and though it contains some processed food items, it is not that bad; and second: I don't think I bought all of the ingredients to make a sauce for the pulled pork.  Crap.  *sigh*  I do have to go to the store in the next day or two for other items, so, if I don't have anything in my pantry that I can cobble together to make a BBQ-ish sauce, I will just pick up what I need when I go out.  I am really not giving myself that hard of a time - I do understand that everyone has off weeks.  Maybe next week I will feel like putting more effort into our dinner meals, but I think I am going to take it kind of easy this week.