Father's Day

I know I said I would share a couple chicken recipes, and I still will, but I'm currently marinating chunks of top round in garlic, rosemary, olive oil, sea salt, and freshly cracked black pepper. It smells wonderful. I mention the pepper because I have this amazing pepper grinder that my husband got me at Williams-Sonoma a few years ago. It makes for a really coarse grind - truly cracked peppercorns - a wonderful pepper experience. Then there's the rosemary. I love the smell of fresh rosemary and we have a huge clump - not sure if that's the right term, it's more like a bush - in our backyard. So, garlic, rosemary, black pepper, and well, I'm not the biggest beef fan, but it's Father's Day...

We're planning to grill simple beef kabobs with sweet onion and bell pepper (red and green) for our special dinner tonight. No recipe to share because I'm just winging it.

Later...

OK, so I don't have much experience cooking beef. The kabobs looked great, smelled great, seemed to be cooked perfectly, but they sure gave my jaws a workout and weren't very flavorful either. Apparently, top round (london broil) is not the right cut for kabobs. I'm now being told it should be cooked more slowly, so it has time to tenderize. Oh well - don't ask me for tips on cooking beef anytime soon. Hope your dinner was better than mine!

What to Eat

So, here's the deal... I'm having a hard time lately figuring out what to eat. My mom found out last year that she has a genetic gluten intolerance and, it seems, I inherited that same intolerance. Now, I'm thinking I may have dairy sensitivity too. I haven't, however, made myself eliminate that from my diet yet, to see what difference (if any) it makes.

To add to my confusion, I read (OK, I just skimmed) Robb Wolf's book, The Paleo Solution. According to Wolf, not only should we eliminate gluten and dairy from our diets, but virtually all grains, legumes, and sugars. His argument makes sense to me, but I certainly have not subscribed to the diet at this point.

As you know, I haven't been much of a meat eater in the past as I'm less than thrilled with the practices of the meat industry and the impact on the environment. Finally, my son has a peanut/tree nut allergy, so I avoid nuts for the most part too.

I know I should focus on all the good foods I can eat, and not on the things I should not, but I love cheese (do you hear the whine?) and I don't want to eat gobs of meat. I'm overwhelmed. I am eating more meat. I'm avoiding gluten. But I'm not really feeling any better overall. I guess dairy is next on the hit list. Then, we'll see. Good thing I love salads and vegetables.

Watch for a couple delicious chicken recipes coming soon.

Above Average: Salad with Mozzarella, Tomatoes, Basil, and Olives

I’ve made this salad before and it’s always good. But something happened when I made it for our dinner last night. I’m really not sure what the difference was, but it was way better than usual. Both Dave and I thought so. As we ate, we kept repeating, “Wow! This is really good!”

I don’t have an exact recipe for you. But I’ll tell you about how I generally make this salad and what I did that might have made it go from good to excellent this time. I never measure. I just throw together mixed baby lettuces, mini tomatoes (usually mini pearls or grape tomatoes from Trader Joe’s), marinated mozzarella balls, fresh basil, and sometimes kalamata olives. I eyeball it and add a little more red (tomatoes), green (lettuce, basil), black (olives), or white (mozzarella) until the balance seems about right. I then add a basic combination of extra virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar (nothing too fancy for either one), usually with a little garlic, salt, and pepper.

So, that’s the basic salad I’ve done quite a few times. What was different this time? Well, I found myself shopping at Safeway, which is unusual, and I used their baby lettuce mix. It’s pretty standard, but I do think it has more spinach than most of the bagged lettuce mixes. Dave commented that he really liked all the hearty spinach leaves. I also got tomatoes there – Nature Sweet Cherubs. They were definitely sweet and yummy. Next, instead of using my own olive oil for the dressing, I used the herby oil from the Trader Joe’s marinated mozzarella balls. I’ve done that before, so I don’t think that made all the difference. I do think it may have had something to do with the garlic: At my regular grocery store, Fred Meyer, they only had purple stripe garlic as opposed to the ordinary white skinned garlic they usually carry. And I did notice, as I selected a head, it was very aromatic. And when I minced it up for the dressing, it was juicier, and again, more aromatic than I’m used to. Finally, I added a little extra fresh basil to the dressing – something I don’t usually do since there’s already basil in the salad itself.

I still don’t really know what specifically made the salad so much better than usual, but Dave insisted I write down exactly what I did, so we could make it again. I didn’t actually measure or count anything however, so this is just to the best of my recollection:

Mozzarella Salad with Tomatoes, Basil, and Olives  PRINTABLE RECIPE

SALAD
Safeway baby lettuce mix – about 3/4 of the bag
Nature Sweet Cherubs (tomatoes) – most of the container – halved lengthwise
Trader Joe’s marinated mozzarella balls – most of the container – halved
About a dozen or so large fresh basil leaves – cut into thin ribbons
About a dozen pitted kalamata olives – quartered

DRESSING
Approximately half the oil from the marinated mozzarella balls
1/4 cup or so balsamic vinegar
1 purple stripe garlic clove – finely minced
1 or 2 medium to large fresh basil leaves – finely minced
kosher salt & freshly ground black pepper – to taste

Combine salad ingredients in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk dressing ingredients together. Pour dressing over salad and toss, or spoon dressing over individual salad servings – that’s what we did this time. (Note: we had leftover dressing).

Good luck! I hope yours turns out fantastic!

Mussels & Bruschetta: At least I remembered to take pictures...

Well, I made mussels again, and I remembered to take a picture – see! I also took pictures of the bruschetta I made, and even the kids’ frozen pizza.

For the mussels, I used a recipe from Bobby Flay for Steamed Mussels with White Wine, Tarragon, Shallots, and Butter. First, I must tell you that I love Bobby Flay. It’s kind of lame, I know, to be “in love” with a Food Network star, but what can I say... I want to marry him, cook with him, have babies with him, the whole bit. Now you know.

So of course, I expected these mussels to be great – tarragon, butter, wine, Bobby Flay – they just had to be good. But to be honest, I was pretty disappointed in Bobby’s recipe. The wine overwhelmed the other flavors. There was a slight essence of ocean, but I wasn’t getting the tarragon flavor at all, which is what I was looking forward to most. The broth wasn’t even good for dipping the bread. It was like dipping bread in wine. Not too good.

I also threw together some simple bruschetta that evening. I’m not sure exactly how it’s supposed to be made (to make it authentic). I just brushed some baguette slices with olive oil, then toasted them, rubbed with a garlic clove, topped with chopped tomatoes, fresh basil, olive oil, salt, pepper, and a sprinkling of Parmesan cheese. It turned out great, though it was a little soggy. I think it sat too long before we ate it.

I didn’t try the kids’ pizza, but they seemed to like it.

Nicholas Restaurant: Lebanese Food

It’s not often I find myself mmm-ing through a meal, but today I did just that when a friend took me to lunch at Nicholas Restaurant, a Lebanese/Middle Eastern place on SE Grand. I ordered the Vegetarian Mezza platter with falafel, hummus, tahziki, tabouli, spinach pie, manakish, and pita bread – yes, it was a lot of food!

The one thing I wasn’t crazy about was the spinach pie, maybe just because everything else was so outstanding and this was… well, not bad, but certainly not outstanding.

Manakish was totally new to me. It’s a little round of pizza-like dough topped with thyme, oregano, sesame seeds, sumac, and olive oil. I wasn’t sure at first – the flavors are pretty mild – but the sesame seeds (I think it was the sesame seeds) gave it a nice texture that I can’t quite describe – slightly crunchy maybe? With each bite, I liked it more and more. I had to look up sumac, which, according to Wikipedia, is used as a spice in Middle Eastern cuisine to add a lemony taste.

Just about a week ago I had falafel at another place and I really wasn’t crazy about it. This time, however, I loved it! The texture, the density, and the seasoning were all just right. It had a nice, crisp exterior without being too greasy and it was delicious with the smooth, cool tahziki. The tabouli was loaded with parsley and really great with the creamy, rich hummus and the wonderful, fresh-baked pita bread, still warm from the oven.

Looking around the tiny restaurant, everything I saw on every table looked fabulous: stuffed grape leaves, fried eggplant and zucchini slices, kabobs, baked dough with toppings and stuffings, salads, rice, steaming discs of bread, and exotic-looking drinks. I’ll definitely be going back to try more of the beautiful food at Nicholas Restaurant!

A Pile of Mussels

One of my favorite things to get when eating out is mussels. It’s also one of the few things I love that my husband really enjoys too. So, when we go out together, if mussels are offered, we almost always order them. The best I’ve ever had were from Wildwood here in Portland, many years back – mussels in a lemongrass broth. They were divine!

I’m not sure why I never made mussels myself. I think I had this idea they were too complicated. But, flipping through a magazine recently, I saw a recipe for mussels steamed in saffron broth, and as I read the recipe, I realized it was not at all complicated. In fact, it looked really simple. Why had I never realized this before??

There was one strange thing about this recipe. It called for four pounds of mussels to serve four people. Since this was my first attempt, I was only going to feed the two of us, so I bought the smallest bag of mussels I could get at Costco – just over two pounds. Later, when I was rinsing and sorting them, I realized what a ridiculous amount of mussels this was. We had way too many for just two people – way too many!

I went ahead and steamed them all anyway. (What else was I going to do with them?) At this point, I was still pretty nervous that something was going to go terribly wrong – that I’d screw it up and they’d taste awful or make us sick or something – so, I was thrilled when after eight minutes, most of the shells had popped open and the steam smelled delicious.

We sat down at the dinner table with a mountain of mussels. (I really wish I'd thought to take a picture! Will someone please nag me until I start remembering to take pictures of the food I make!) I can’t say we didn’t put a dent in the giant pile, but it was only a dent.

We gave them a rating of "good" – just good. I wouldn’t repeat this particular recipe, but for my first attempt at mussels, I was pretty pleased.

We made a second meal of them the following night. I removed the leftovers from their shells and gently reheated them in a broth of garlic, olive oil, crushed red pepper flakes, lemon juice, fresh parsley, and leftover saffron broth. I tossed it all together with some fettuccine and somehow, this meal was better than the first.

Again, we had leftovers, but I was worried about keeping the mussels for another day, so sadly, we tossed them in the trash this time.

I’ve already found a couple new recipes I want to try – one with lemongrass and chiles and another with shallots and tarragon. I can hardly wait to get going – one pound at a time, this time – and maybe when I find that perfect recipe, I’ll buy the two-plus pound bag again and throw a party. When that happens, I’ll be sure to take a picture and tell you all about it.

Pile on the Veggies: Grilled Vegetable Sandwiches

Dave and I are really digging these grilled vegetable sandwiches lately. I’ve made them a couple times and they’re definitely going to be a regular item at our house this summer, especially since we finally have a new grill – a real one, not a tiny, travel-size grill like we’ve been using for the past few years.

I got the recipe from Cooking Light magazine. It’s so simple, you hardly need a recipe, but I guess the idea has to come from somewhere. I have to say, I don’t do a good job of sticking to the recommended portion size, plus I make my own vinaigrette instead of using bottled salad dressing. So, my version of the recipe may not be all that light compared to the original.

You can do the vegetables on a grill pan on the stovetop or on the outdoor grill with a perforated grill pan or basket (so you don’t lose all the vegetable slices). For variations, I’d try grilling bell pepper, eggplant, or portabellas.

Overstuffed Grilled Vegetable Sandwiches  PRINTABLE RECIPE

1 cup sliced yellow squash
1 cup sliced zucchini
6 (1/4-inch-thick) slices red onion
cooking oil spray
1 cup grape or mini pearl tomatoes – halved
2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
2 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 Tbsp finely chopped red onion
2 Tbsp chopped fresh basil
kosher salt & fresh ground black pepper – to taste
1 loaf (16 oz) French bread – halved lengthwise
1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 cup (about 4 oz) crumbled feta cheese

1. Preheat the grill to about 350°.

2. Lightly spray squash and onion slices (both sides) with cooking oil. Place the vegetables on the grill pan and grill for 4 minutes on each side or until crisp-tender and beginning to brown.

3. Meanwhile, place the tomatoes in a large bowl. Add olive oil, vinegar, chopped onion, basil, salt & pepper, and toss to coat.

4. Add the grilled vegetables to tomatoes and toss well.

5. Brush cut sides of the bread with a little olive oil. Grill bread 1 minute on each side or until lightly toasted.

6. Spoon vegetable mixture over bottom half of bread. Sprinkle with the cheese. Top with the other bread half and press down lightly. Cut crosswise into 6 sandwiches.