Tag Archives: I made this shit up dudes!

Taco Salad

Posted on by

0

Most folks think they know what taco salad is–a salad of taco fillings inside a bowl-shaped tostada shell–and most folks are incorrect. Edible bowls are dumb because if you eat it you lose a very functional bowl and where does your food go? And if you don’t eat it your meal is missing an important ingredient. LAME-O. Proper taco salad is ALL the taco goodness tossed into taco bliss! Today we had this version:

A few big leaves of green leaf lettuce, chopped
1 amazingly meaty and juicy tomato, chopped
About 1/4 cup Beecher’s Flagship cheese, grated
2 green onions, diced
Handful of raw pepitas (pumpkin seeds)
1/2 a huge avocado, chopped
1/2 pound ground beef, pre-cooked and pre-seasoned from our freezer
About a cup tortilla chips, crushed a bit by hand
About 1/4 cup whisked-up dressing: EVOO, lime juice, clover honey, cumin, paprika, and black pepper

The spices, olive oil, lime juice and tortilla chips were non-local Pantry items and the avocados are my one caveat ingredient. The rest is legit, including the beef previously bought from Olsen Farms a couple months ago.

We ate this with sliced up yellow nectarine as dessert and it was sooooo good and soooo summery. Gettin’ into the swing of this whole local thang!

Summer Garden Salad

Posted on by

0

Salad Fixins
1 cup mixed salad greens, rinsed and revitalized
1 large zucchini, shaved into ribbons on a mandelin, torn into bite size pieces
1 ear of husked corn, broken in half
1/2 pound green beans, cut into 2″ pieces
1 cup heirloom cherry tomatoes, quartered
1 slice of Field Roast’s “celebration roast,” diced

Dressin’
2 tablespoons orange juice
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 teaspoons stone-ground mustard
1 shallot, diced
A drizzle honey
A few grinds black pepper
Dash sea salt
EVOO

Set water in a fairly deep but not necessarily large steamer over high heat. Once it’s reached a rolling boil, add the 2 corn on the cob halves to the water. Place the steamer basket on top and plop the green beans in, cover and steam for 5-8 minutes. Remove the green beans and transfer to a cold bowl. After a few more minutes remove the corn and set on a cutting board to cool.

Add a dash of olive oil to a frying pan and place over medium heat. In goes the celebration roast! Toss to coat and keep an eye on it. Stir occasionally and cook until golden brown with some crisp edges. Remove from heat.

Make the dressing in a small mixing bowl. Add orange juice, balsamic vinegar, mustard, shallots, honey, salt and pepper, and whisk together. Continue whisking while you add EVOO in a slow stream.

Add all ingredients–except the dressing–to a large salad bowl. At this point the salad can be transported or refridgerated for later. Add dressing and toss to combine and coat thoroughly right before serving.

 

B.L.A.T. Salad

Posted on by

0

I’m pretty darn proud of this one! It satisfies all your food cravings save chocolate (after all, this is a salad I’m talking about). The key is delicious fresh produce and this wowzer of a dressing. BLAT!

Salad Ingredients
1 lb. of your favorite bacon, cooked and chopped
4 perfectly ripe avocados, chopped
4 juicy Roma tomatoes, chopped
1 head butter (Bibb) lettuce, torn into bite size pieces
1 head red leaf lettuce, also torn into bite size pieces
1 Romaine heart, chopped
4 slices of good sourdough bread, cut into 1/2″ or 3/4″ square pieces

Dressing Ingredients
1/4 cup Lemonnaisse (regular mayonnaise is OK)
1 large or 2 small lemons, juiced (+1 if using reg mayo)
1 tsp stone-ground mustard (+1 if using reg mayo)
1/4 cup EVOO
1 tsp bacon grease (!!!!)
Several grinds of black pepper
Pinch sea salt
Optional: a little lemon zest never hurt anybody 🙂

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Fill your kitchen sink with cold water and dump in all the lettuces. Let them hang out there for about 10 minutes while you attend to other stuff, then remove and give them a few whirls in a salad spinner. This was enough lettuce that I had to go in 3 batches but maybe your spinner is bigger. Once they’re as dry as they’re going to get transfer to a very large serving/salad bowl and set aside.

Cook the bacon however you prefer, drain on paper towels, and reserve a teaspoon of the drippings.

Get out a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Arrange bread evenly in one layer, drizzle with olive oil, and season with a little S&P. Pop into the oven and toast for 5-10 minutes. If the bread is fresh it will take more towards 10, if it’s dryer 5 will be fine, but also it depends on how crunchy you like your croutons so just keep an eye on them. Set aside to cool when they’re ready.

Onto the dressing! In a medium sized mixing bowl, plop the Lemonnaisse, stone-ground mustard, lemon juice, and bacon grease. Whisk together and season with fresh ground black pepper and sea salt. While continuing to whisk, add the EVOO in a steady stream. If it looks a little thick add more EVOO, if you want it creamier add some more Lemonnaisse, if you really like pepper add some more of that, etc. Pour over the lettuce mixture in the very large salad bowl.

Reuse the post-dressing mixing bowl to combine the chopped tomatoes, avocadoes, and bacon. Squirt with some lemon juice so the avocadoes stay green. Add a serving spoon and to table this bowl goes.

Add the croutons to the big salad bowl and give it a good tossing to coat both lettuce and croutons. Add whatever salad-serving-utensils-you-use and this baby’s ready to join its buddy at table.

When serving, give yourself a nice bed of lettuce/croutons/dressing and then top that off with the avocado/tomato/bacon mixture. BAM!

This is better than any BLAT sandwich…although, to give credit where credit is due, this was totally inspired by my beloved Hi-Life’s heavenly lunch creation. The lemon aioli they use makes the sandwich POP! in your mouth, I only ever wish there was more lettuce/tomato/avocado because of my more veggies-to-meat ratio obsession.

Spring Risotto

Posted on by

0

Whipped together a pretty yumtastic spring meal tonight, using mostly cupboard and fridge staples but wih some delicious fresh seasonal goodies. Warning–these measurements are super approximate!

Spring Risotto
EVOO
3+ cups veggie broth
2+ cups milk
1 cup pre-made pesto
1-2 cups (unpacked/loose) Parmesan-Reggiano
1-2 lbs fresh asparagus, ends snapped off (1/3 tips removed, 2/3 chop into 1-2″ pieces)
1-2 cups frozen peas
1/2 cup quinoa
2 cups arborio rice

Heat some EVOO over medium heat, tadd rice and quinoa, and toss to coat. Toast for about 2 minutes. Add a cup veggie broth and stir fairly continuously. Bring the broth to a simmer and add remaining broth and milk a cup at a time as it gets absorbed into the rice (don’t cover). Continue to add liquid until rice is cooked through and consistency is creamy and thick. This will take a good while–give it good attention.

Meanwhile, boil a medium sized lot of water. Blanch the stems of 1/3 of the asparagus, scoop out of the water, and purée in Magic Bullet or food processor (add some pesto if moisture would ease the process). Plop the purée into the now-coming-together risotto, along with all the pesto. Return water to boiling and blanch the rest of the asparagus. Add peas and asparagus to risotto. Add Parmesan and incorporate well. Heck YES dudes!

I served this with a green salad (Butterhead and some red variety) with paper-thin radishes, almond slices, diced fresh chives, and this delightful dressing: 1 lemon’s zest, 1 lemon’s juice, a good dollop of stoneground mustard, drizzle honey, EVOO, salt & pepper. Very light and bright and the perfect accompaniment to rich risotto!

20120417-232618.jpg