What's for Dinner: Super Salad

I have a friend who calls a green salad with lots of toppings a "super salad." I thought I would take a page from her book and give that name to the dinner we had the other night.

As I said before, it is just too hot to cook. It is not unusual for the temperature in our home to rise 10 degrees if I am using both the stove and the oven. Given that our A/C is already working overtime and that I don't want heat radiating up at me as I stand over the stove, I prefer the no-cook, no-unnecessary-heat meals.

So here's what I put in this salad:

• Several leaves of green leaf lettuce (if one was measuring probably about six cups of shredded)
• Half a large cucumber, diced
• One large tomato, diced
• One stalk of celery, chopped
• One bell pepper, diced
• Two carrots, julienned
• Two hard boiled eggs, sliced
• Some dried basil sprinkled over it (fresh would work better)

Other potential toppings could be green onion, red onion, olives, croutons, artichoke, asparagus, avocado, tuna, shrimp, beans, cheese, some sort of fruit, or anything else that strikes one's fancy.

Each person put their salad dressing of choice on after they had dished up. I just used balsamic vinegar and extra virgin olive oil.

My overall opinion on this was that it was worth all the chopping not to make the house any warmer. My husband said that it was "good but would have been better with cheddar cheese shredded on top."

Romaine Salad with Lime-Garlic Dressing

I found this salad recipe at Orangette. She always has excellent recipes there. I haven't tried it yet, but it looks so yummy! Romaine lettuce is my favorite for salads (although I do like a combination of lettuces, too) and the dressing sounds wonderful.

Summer Romaine Salad with Lime-Garlic Dressing

For dressing:
3 Tbs plus 1 tsp fresh lime juice
5 Tbs good-tasting olive oil
¼ tsp minced garlic
1/8 tsp fine sea salt

For salad:
Romaine lettuce, washed, dried, and cut with a chef’s knife into rough ½-inch strips
Cherry or grape tomatoes, halved
Slivered red onion
Greek feta

First, make the dressing. In a small bowl or jar, combine the lime juice, olive oil, garlic, and salt. Whisk until emulsified, and set aside.

In a salad bowl, combine romaine, cherry tomatoes, and red onion in whatever proportions you like. Toss with dressing to taste, and top with plenty of feta. Serve.

Note: Dressing keeps, covered and chilled, for up to a week.

Beverage Update

Well, we tried the strawberry margaritas with gin instead of tequila and they were quite refreshing. We didn't have any fresh mint so we had to make do with dried. My only quibble with the recipe is that it says it makes 5 cups. That is only if one wrongly assumes that one cup of frozen watermelon is the same as one cup of blended watermelon.

We also tried this frappuccino recipe because it was the only one for which we had all the ingredients on hand. (We had to make chocolate sauce.) It was excellent! We made it a second time and it wasn't as good, probably because we added too much ice.

Watermelon-Mint Margaritas

Someone pointed me to this recipe on Southern Living. Although I haven't tried it yet, one of the things that makes it looks appealing is that it specifies that it can be made without alcohol. My husband doesn't care for tequila, but he will still be able to try this recipe. Another thing that looks great about it is that with the watermelon and fresh mint it has such wonderful summertime ingredients.

Watermelon-Mint Margarita Recipe

Prep: 10 min., Freeze: 4 hrs. Use leftover watermelon to make this slushy summer drink.

4 cups seeded and chopped watermelon
Fresh lime juice
Sugar
1/2 cup tequila*
1/4 cup sugar
1 tablespoon grated lime rind
1/4 cup fresh lime juice (about 3 limes)
2 tablespoons chopped fresh mint leaves
Garnish: fresh mint sprig

1. Place watermelon in a single layer on a baking sheet. Freeze 4 hours or until firm.

2. Coat rims of cocktail glasses with lime juice; dip in sugar.

3. Process frozen watermelon, tequila, and next 4 ingredients in a blender until slushy. Pour into glasses. Garnish, if desired.

*1/2 cup orange or apple juice may be substituted for tequila.

Yield: Makes 5 cups

Starbucks Frappuccinos

Although neither my husband or I are coffee drinkers, we both like an occasional frappuccino from Starbucks. Between the milk, sugar, and chocolate or caramel syrup, the coffee flavor is diminished enough to enjoy it.

Given, however, that these cost more than three dollars each it is a rare treat for us. The blogger at It's Just Money was also lamenting the cost. He linked to this nifty site where they have a basic frap recipe as well as several Starbucks recipes which can be downloaded as an ebook. Similar recipes can be found here.

The best imitation frap site looks like it can be found at GourmetSleuth.com. It has a large collection of imitation Starbucks recipes which include other drinks and sweets that either are or have been sold there. I am sure that with all these options, my husband will be happy running the blender to taste test some of them.

Moosewood Restaurant Cooks at Home

As I have mentioned before, my husband and I don't eat meat every day. This is for two reasons: 1) Meat is expensive but for the most part vegetables, beans, and pasta are not, and 2) I have a very strong family history of heart disease and my husband has also had some heart problems in his family, so we want to do what we can to counteract this.

Because our meals are often meatless, I am always on the lookout for good (and usable, which is hard in this household) vegetarian recipes. One great resource I have found is Moosewood Restaurant Cooks at Home. It was created by chefs at the famous vegetarian Moosewood Restaurant specifically for people cooking at home who don't have the time or the access to ingredients that a full-time chef would have.

I haven't used it as much as I would like because it is a library book. Every time I go to check it out again someone else has it. That is a good indication of how popular that book is.

Snobby Yet Ubiquitous

I guess a love for cheese and chocolate makes me a snob. Oh, well, that is the price I have to pay for enjoying the finer things of life. It's too bad the quiz didn't mention anything about wine, because that is something that goes well with all French food.

You Are French Food

Snobby yet ubiquitous. People act like they understand you more than they actually do.

What Kind of Food Are You?

HT: Julie D.

What's For Dinner: Greek Wraps

When it is 99º for a week straight one really doesn't feel like cooking or eating a lot of hot, heavy food. It has always astounded me to have dinner at someone's house when it is over ninety and they serve something like soup or chicken pot pie. (One time the family didn't even have A/C!) Don't they realize that foods like that are perfect for winter because they warm us (and the house) up, and horrible for summer for precisely the same reason?

What makes this dish so perfect is that there is no cooking involved! All that is required is lots of chopping. And since it is vegetarian, that also makes it a lighter meal.

Greek Wraps

1 large cucumber, peeled and diced (between 1½ and 2 cups)
2 large tomatoes, diced (about 1½ cups)
1 bell pepper, diced
1/3 cup red onion
½ cup sliced or diced olives (any color)
1 can garbanzo or black beans, rinsed and drained
½ - 2/3 cup feta cheese (optional)
2 tablespoons balsalmic vinegar
1½ teaspoons dried oregano
salt and pepper to taste
6-8 tortillas or wraps, depending on size
6-8 leaves of lettuce

Mix all ingredients except tortillas and lettuce. Add mixture and lettuce to wrap. Fold up and enjoy.

My comments:

The original recipe called for garbanzo beans, but my husband doesn't care for them so I used black beans instead. Also, one could use pitas instead of wraps. I haven't tried this, but I bet that the mixture would be good with corn added as well.

The mixture would make a good salad as a side dish to some sort of grilled meat. In fact, when we ate the leftovers we were out of tortillas, so we just had the mixture as salad for lunch.

Nifty Crockpot Blog

I stumbled upon a site called Slow Cooker Recipes. Unfortunately, it looks like they don't update their blog very often, but hopefully when they do it will be good.

I love the idea of crockpots, but I have a couple objections to the majority of recipes available.

First, almost all the recipes I have seen call for large portions of meat, such as a roast, or a whole chicken. Both for financial and for health reasons, when we eat meat it normally is mixed with other food, such as a pasta dish, casserole or stir-fry. Rarely do we ever have large portions of meat, but that seems to be the norm if one uses the crock pot.

Secondly, many recipes call for convenience ingredients which are expensive and/or unhealthy, such as canned cream of mushroom soup or some sort of soup mix. Sometimes I can substitute a homemade version, but the point of having a crockpot is not to have to do a lot of cooking. Having to take the time to make one of the ingredients defeats the purpose of having a crockpot in the first place.

What's for Dinner: Kebabs

Last night we had kebabs for dinner. No, I have no idea what the difference between that and a shish kebab is.

The wonderful thing about kebabs is that they are so versatile. They can be all meat, all vegetables, all fruit, or a combination of these. Fruit kebabs, though, are usually a dessert food and not for dinner. I have heard of kebabs with shrimp, lamb, pork, even hot dogs. There are so many vegetables that can go on them, and even though I normally like veggies, they seem to taste even better grilled on a stick. The possibilities are endless: bell peppers; mushrooms; tomatoes; white, yellow or red onion; zucchini, potato; pineapple; garlic; mango; etc.

A great thing about these is that you can tailor make them for picky eaters. For example, last night someone didn't like mushrooms and someone else didn't care for red onion. All I had to do was leave those things off some of them and substitute another vegetable instead.

We could have marinated the beef a little longer, but it still turned out very well. The marinade was simply crushed garlic, salt, pepper, olive oil and vinegar.

Mocha Brownies

I found this recipe on Recipe*zaar and decided to try it because it is something that I have done before (brownies) and something new (mocha flavored). It was rated extremely well, which was added incentive since sometimes one has to be cautious about unrated or low rated recipes.

These turned out to be very moist and while the mocha flavor was definitely there, it wasn't too strong either. Most people who tried them thought them to be very good.

Mocha Brownies with Coffee Frosting

½ cup shortening
½ cup butter
1 cup cocoa
2 cups sugar
1 tablespoon hot water
4 teaspoons instant coffee
4 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 cup flour
½ teaspoon salt

Frosting
½ cup butter, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups confectioner's sugar
1 ½ tablespoons milk
2-3 teaspoons instant coffee

1. Preheat oven to 350°F Grease a 13x9 inch pan.
2. Melt shortening and butter over low heat or in the microwave.
3. Remove from heat and add cocoa, blend well.
4. Add sugar and mix well.
5. Dissolve instant coffee in hot water and mix into creamed mixture.
6. Add eggs one at a time, beat well, by hand, after each addition.
7. Stir in vanilla, flour, and salt.
8. DO NOT OVER BEAT!
9. Bake 25-30 minutes.
10. Cool completely before frosting.
11. For frosting, cream butter and vanilla.
12. Add powdered sugar and mix in well on medium speed.
13. Dissolve instant coffee in milk and add to mixture.
14. Beat on high until light and fluffy.

Potluck Dessert

Tonight is the last night of classes before my husband gets his M.A. Tomorrow his professor is throwing a party at his place and has requested that we bring a dessert. Now, I love opportunities like this to try new and exciting recipes. My husband, on the other hand, hates me trying new things because he is afraid it might not turn out well, or worse, he might not like it.

So here I am, trying to comb the Internet and my cookbooks, trying to find something that is a) something he will like, b) something that has a good chance of turning out well and c) has chocolate in it, because, in case you haven't guessed, we have a propensity for it. I will post what I have decided on when I am done sleuthing.

Joy of Cooking

This cookbook is one of the most comprehensive cookbooks available. Often it is called the "Bible" of cooking. Although it includes an extremely wide variety of recipes, what makes this book so good is its explanation of cooking techniques. It also explains the background of the recipes and the proper way to follow it. For example, rather than listing all the ingredients and then telling the reader the instructions, it says first to bring all ingredients to room temperature, then beat two eggs, cream with a cup of butter, etc. For some recipes this can be pedantic, but for more difficult ones it makes the difference between a mediocre and a fantastic dish.

Wikipedia also has a brief, but interesting article on Joy of Cooking. You can get the classic Joy or the new version at Amazon.

What's For Dinner: Tamale Pie

This is one of my husband's favorite meals. It combines all his favorite ingredients except pasta. The only problem I have with it is the prep time. Today it took me an hour to get everything done before it went in the oven, and that's not counting clean-up. I did use frozen hamburger, though, so that added a little bit of cooking time.

Tamale Pie

½ pound ground beef
1 chopped onion
1 chopped green pepper
2 8-ounce cans tomato sauce
1 and ½ cups whole kernel corn
½ cup pitted ripe olives, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1 teaspoon salt
2 to 3 teaspoons chili powder
Dash of pepper

***

6 ounces cheddar cheese, shredded (1½ cups)
¾ cup yellow cornmeal
½ teaspoon salt
2 cups cold water
1 tablespoon olive oil

Cook meat, onion, and green pepper in a large skillet till meat is lightly browned and vegetables are tender. Stir in tomato sauce, corn, olives, garlic, chili powder, salt, and pepper. Simmer 20 to 25 minutes, or until thick. Add cheese; stir till melted. Turn into greased 9x9x2-inch baking dish.

Cornmeal Topper: Stir cornmeal and ½ teaspoon salt into cold water. Cook and stir till thick. Add olive oil; mix well. Spoon over hot meat mixture.

Bake casserole in moderate oven (375°) about 40 minutes. Makes 6 servings.

My comments:

I made the filling in a cast iron pan, so instead of using a casserole dish, I just poured the corn batter on top and put the whole pan in the oven. The presentation isn't as nice, but it makes clean-up easier.

I used only about 1/3 pound ground beef because I don't think that small difference matters very much.

I used frozen corn, but drained canned corn would work as well.

You can substitute butter for the olive oil.

Depending on your tastes, you should be able to use less salt.

The original recipe called for American cheese instead of cheddar, but both my husband and I don't care for it.

Plato's Kitchen

For several months now I have been wanting to begin a food and cooking blog. The Internet has been a great resource for broadening my recipe collection and sometimes they are so good that I want to share them with others. Also, there are times when I find an article or blog post to be interesting or helpful and think others will benefit from them as well.

As for the title, I debated on whether I should name it after Plato. On one hand, the Platonic recipe is the best recipe, but on the other, Plato criticized "cookery" in the Gorgias because he considered it a skill harmful to one's health. I opted for the former because I hope that most of my recipes will be nourishing rather than harmful, as well as tasty enough to be a worthy contender for the Platonic forms. (Don't worry: that doesn't mean that I won't include a dessert every now and then!)