Cobb Salad and a new Green Goddess Dressing

     Yesterday my friend Penny brought me some Shiso.  Also known as Perilla, Shiso is a leafy herb.  There are two varieties:  green and red.  Penny was growing the red kind.  It's more of a purple color and has broad leaves.  Penny had done some research and knew that for the most part, Shiso is used in Asian cooking.  I researched a few recipes and saw a sidenote that caught my eye:  If you don't have Shiso around, you can substitute Tarragon. 
     When I was on my walk by the river today I got to thinking about what I wanted to make for dinner.  It was hot today; who wants to cook when it's hot?  I thought a big cobb salad would be good...I could grill shrimp to go with it.  More importantly, I could make Green Goddess dressing to go with the salad, and I could use Shiso in it!
     I got home tonight and got started with dinner:  First I started thawing the shrimp.  I like the raw e-z peel shrimp that you can get in the frozen foods section.  They are almost always on sale!  I also put some eggs on to boil.  While all that was happening, I started the dressing:

I took liberties with the Green Goddess dressing recipe.  It didn't call for garlic or lemon grass.  Still, I was using the Shiso, which is more of an Asian ingredient, so I threw in a few more.  I started with:  1 cup of mayo/sour cream (mostly mayo), 1/4 cup of parsley, several (3-4) shiso leaves (it's the purple stuff on the right), about 2 tsp chives, and 1 tsp lemon grass puree.  I also added 1 clove of garlic.  I pureed all this in the food processor.  From there I just added parsley and shiso until the flavor was strong enough for my tastes.  I also added about 1/2 tsp black pepper.  Then, to thin the dressing out a little, I added 1 tbsp rice wine vinegar (add more if you want) and about 1/4-1/2 cup milk.  Start with 1/4 cup and add until it's the consistency you want. 

Here's my finished product.  Creamy, cool, and herby.  I put this in a container in the fridge while I readied everything else (that I forgot to take pictures of during the process).  The wind was too gusty for me to light the grill, so I broiled the shrimp with olive and sesame oil (like 1 tsp sesame oil) for about 5 minutes or until opaque. 

Here's my beautiful salad sans dressing.  I knew it wouldn't look as pretty once I added that!  From top to bottom:  a mix of spinach and red leaf lettuce, blue cheese, sugar snap peas/carrots/tomatoes/vidalia onion, boiled egg, and shrimp.  It was a great dinner on a hot, windy night.  Experiment and make your own Green Goddess dressing tonight!

Chimichurri and Chipotle

   *Excuse the photos.  I couldn't find my camera and had to use Voodoo Biker's. I'm not used to it!*  Ok, I'll admit it - I like Guy Fieri.  I think he's hilarious and I love watching "Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives."  Even the Voodoo Biker likes that show!  Therefore, last night before bed we found ourselves watching an episode in which he visits a place that only cooks fish.  One of the things they make a lot of?  Fish tacos.  Here in the condo, we love fish tacos.  All day today I craved fish tacos.  So I thought, "well I guess that's what we're having for dinner!"  I also decided that I wanted to make chimichurri sauce.  I had seen a recipe on the NYTimes website recently and then saw another on the Food Network.  I had had it before and remembered really liking it, so I thought...why not?

     I had 2 flounder fillets in the freezer and a whole bag of raw easy peel shrimp.  I find the pre-cooked shrimp seem too watery and they have a weird texture.  The raw ones seem much better to me.  Anyway, I set out about 2 cups of shrimp and the 2 flounder fillets to thaw and got started on the chimichurri because it needs a little time to set and kind of infuse itself with flavor.
     

So, you'll need 1 cup (packed) chopped parsley

1/4 cup chopped cilantro (you can see I used a little more)

2 peeled cloves of garlic; 1/2 cup olive oil; 1/3 cup red wine or white wine vinegar; a sprinkle of red pepper flakes, cumin, and salt

Blend everything in the food processor and then taste.  I added a tad more oil and herbs to mine. 

I spooned a little chimichurri on my fish and shrimp and then grilled them for approximately 2 minutes on each side.

In the mean time my corn tortillas got all toasty in the oven.

I melted cheese on my tortillas and then added shrimp to one and flounder to one.

Next, I topped each with chimichurri sauce, chipolte cream sauce (chipolte in adobo pepppers and sour cream mixed in the food processor), chopped onion, and coleslaw mix (cabbage).

Fish tacos are much better with a "diet" margarita!  1 shot of tequila and triple sec (3/4 tequila, 1/4 triple sec), a big squirt of lemon juice, and diet 7-up.  Don't frown on my cheap tequila - if you're adding all that stuff to  it you don't need the super expensive stuff ;)

These fish tacos were SO good.  The sauces were good, the grilled fish was great, and my craving has been taken care of for another week or so...

A new twist for rice

     That's right - rice.  We love rice here in the condo...in fact, right now we have 4 kinds of rice:  brown, medium-grain white rice, arborio rice and calrose rice.  Brown is our go-to rice when we have the time to cook it.  White is, of course, what we use when we're in a hurry.  Arborio is used for making risotto - it is a very short-grained rice.  Calrose is used for sushi.  So see, they're all necessary!  Tonight I was in a hurry.  I'd gone biking after work and was, of course, starving!
     Everyone knows 1 cup of rice is cooked in 2 cups of liquid...but what liquid to use?  Regular old chicken broth?  Maybe.  BUT I looked in the cabinet and found a can of lite coconut milk.  Hey, why not?  We'll take a Thai twist on dinner.  So I measured out 1 cup of rice (had to use a little Arborio because I was about 1/4 cup short of regular white).  I heated the can of lite coconut milk and enough chicken broth to equal 2 cups total liquid in a pan.  When it came to a boil, I added the rice, turned the heat down, and set the timer for 20 minutes. In the meantime...
     When I left to go biking, I got a package of chicken tenders out of the freezer to thaw.  I took those (once thawed) and coated them with Thai spicy peanut sauce (I used enough to cover the bottom of a plate) mixed with about 1 tbsp soy sauce.  While they were hanging out, I fired up the grill.  These cook SO fast!  Once the grill was hot (it's propane so it gets hot pretty fast) I put the tenders on the grill for 2 minutes.  Then I flipped them and cooked for another 2.  I added a little more peanut sauce on top (from the bottle, not the raw chicken plate) and cooked for 1 more minute.  Seriously, that's it!  They were done.
     The rice turned into a wonderfully creamy dish in its 20 minutes of cooking.  It needed a little something else, so, in sticking with my Thai theme, I added about 1/4 cup of cilantro.  You could also add chopped roasted peanuts (like pad thai) or even a bit of lemon juice or lemon grass. 
     I also made a spinach salad, but it had nothing to do with the Thai dishes... ;)
     So there you have it - Coconut Rice and Chicken Satay in 30 minutes! 

How I spent my lunch break

It's feast or famine some days at my job...today is a famine day...until the next RFP comes in or something...anyway.  I headed home for lunch today wondering, among other things, what I was going to make for dinner.  Today is one of those days when I have plans to bike after work and therefore don't have much time to cook dinner.  But I am determined to continue my efforts to cook something on these nights - not call Nick and Willy's or Papa Murphy's for a take-and-bake pizza.

I decided to make some pesto.  It's fairly quick to whip up in the food processor and you guys know how I love pesto!  I'm calling this one "Four Herb Sunflower Pesto."  So when I get home tonight I'll cook some pasta, sautee some cherry tomatoes with garlic just until they pop (might throw in some anchovies) and then I'll add some feta cheese to it all and mix in the pesto.  Ta-da!

Clockwise from Top Left:  Curly leaf Parsley, Italian Parsley, Basil, Tarragon

Throw a bunch of it in the food processor.  This probably equals 1 1/2 cups. There is also a clove of garlic in there.

Once you pulse that a bit, add about another 1/2 cup of herbs, 2 tbsp each parmesan cheese and sunflower seeds (or walnuts, or pistachios, or pine nuts...)

Ooooh.  Ahhhh.  This is after you've streamed in at least 1/4 cup olive oil.

I added about 1 tsp lemon juice to help keep it from getting brownish before dinner.  It's such a pretty color!

Then I made cinnamon iced coffee.  This is 3 heaping spoonfuls of coffee and 1/2 tsp cinnamon.  I added about 10 oz water and let it steep for 6 min.  Then I poured the coffee over a travel mug full of ice with 1/4 cup of vanilla soy milk added.  Perfect pick-me-up after lunch!

Totally Tostadas

Tonight I made tostadas.  Ok, let me back up...around 9 a.m. today this is what I was thinking:  I'll just pick up a pizza from Papa Murphy's.  I really want to finish that freelance work tonight and I don't know that I'll have time to cook.  Voodoo biker is working...so I might as well just get a pizza.  At noon I came home for lunch (I am very fortunate that I can do that.).  I flipped on the Food Network and Rachel Ray was on with a MYOTO (Make Your Own Take-Out) episode of 30-minute Meals.  She reminded me that no matter what, you always have time to make a 30-minute meal. 

So since I have an hour for lunch, I took some chicken out of the freezer to defrost and set about chopping up 1/2 an onion, 3/4 of a green bell pepper, and a handful of baby bella mushrooms.  I did all this in the 8 minutes it took for my electric kettle to boil water and my coffee to do its thing in my French Press.  (I was dragging and needed an iced coffee for the afternoon).  I put that stuff in the fridge in a storage container and headed to work, leaving the chicken out to thaw.  (It was only 4 hours, I knew it would be fine).

The wind was blowing, literally, 33 mph when I got home, so grilling was out of the question...I poured some honey teriyaki marinade on the chicken (I use it whether I'm making mexican, asian, or just grilling chicken.  It's great!) and threw the chicken in a glass 8x8 pyrex dish.  I baked it at 350 for about 40 minutes or until it was all cooked through.    While it was doing its thing, I got down to business with my freelance work.  When the chicken is done, slice it and reserve for your tostadas.

With the chicken done, I set about cooking some brown rice.  Another 30-40 minutes free to work!  Rice is so easy to just get started and forget about...(with a timer set!)  When the rice was close to done and I was through working, I heated about 2 tbsp olive oil in a pan and dumped in all my chopped vegetables from earlier.  I added 1 chopped garlic clove and chopped another one for some pico de gallo.  I then also chopped about 1/4 of an onion (1/2 cup) and 1/2 of a jalapeno pepper.  I put all that in a bowl with the garlic clove and then added about 2 cups of chopped golden cherry tomatoes (my favorite until the locally grown ones come out).  I added about 1 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp black pepper and mixed it together. 

The pico...or what was left after I ate ;)

So, the rice is almost done, the vegetables are browning and cooking over medium heat until the peppers are soft...better add a bit of cumin (1/2 tsp) and some salt (to taste) to that.  Now it's time to heat up some refried beans and work on my corn tortillas.  I've discovered how to get them nice and crispy without frying them:  the toaster oven.

Use your toaster oven tray.  Put 2 corn tortillas on the tray and spray one side with olive oil spray.  Toast until the edges start to get crispy and dry.  When you see that happen, slide the tortillas out and spread refried beans on them.  Top with some grated cheese and return to the toaster.  Toast until the edges of the tortillas are browned and super crisp.  Everything should be ready by now.  Here's what I do:  Add my veggies, sliced chicken, and pico on top of each tostada.  I also add some sour cream and tabasco of some sort.  On the side I make a small bowl (1/2 cup) of rice topped with pico and hot sauce.

I love tostadas because corn tortillas have about 100 calories less per serving than burrito-sized flour tortillas.  They are tastier too and you can eat them one-handed!  Change up your typical tacos, fajitas, or burritos and make tostadas!

Greek without pics

And once again I forgot to take pictures.  I DID take a picture of the salad, but not of anything else.  Sigh.  I've got to get better at this!  Suffice it to say tonight's dinner was Greek inspired.  We had a Greek chopped salad, Greek pizza, and "Baklava" ice cream.  I'll try to recreate the recipes for you (there was also a lot of beer which is why I almost spelled recipes, "recipeas.")

Salad:
Cucumber (English, preferably)
1 lb small golden cherry tomatoes (or grape tomatoes)
1 heirloom tomato (I got a cool green one)
1 plum or roma tomato
1/2 red onion, soaked in ice water for 5 min.
Mix all that together then add:  1/2 block of feta cheese and about the same of goat cheese, if available.

Dressing:

Olive oil
Lemon juice
splash balsamic vinegar
1 garlic clove
1 tsp oregano

I cannot tell you how much olive oil and lemon juice...2 to 1 is the ratio I think, so follow that until it tastes right.  Oh, and add salt and pepper!

Pizza:  1 whole wheat pizza crust (or whatever you have)
sauce:  tomato sauce (spaghetti sauce is what I use)
toppings: goat cheese, red onion, spinach, artichokes in oil, mushrooms, 1 sliced plum tomato with seeds removed, mozarella

Cook according to crust directions.

Ice cream:  Your favorite vanilla ice cream.  Toast walnuts in toaster oven or pan until lightly browned.  Sprinkle nuts with cinnamon (about 1/2 tsp).  Put 2 scoops ice cream in a bowl or cup.  Top with toasted walnuts and honey.  Everyone will love you and say things like, "I'm never brushing my teeth again!"  (Direct quote from Brooke B.)!!!!

Creole Fried Rice

     Forgive me.  Once again we got half-way through dinner and I said, "Oh no!  I didn't take a picture of the finished product!"  So, you get a picture of the half-empty pan of creole fried rice.  This dish seems sort of like a combination of jambalaya and gumbo...without as much sauce or roux.   It was really great and was a nice twist from our usual weeknight dinners.

You'll need: 
1 cup uncooked long-grain rice
2 cups chicken broth
1 lb skinned and boned chicken thighs (I used boneless, skinless chicken breasts.)
1 1/2 tsp creole seasoning, divided
2 tbsp vegetable oil
1/2 lb. andouille or smoked sausage, sliced. (I used smoked turkey sausage.)
1/2 small onion, chopped
1/2 small green bell pepper, chopped
2 garlic cloves, chopped
1 cup frozen sliced okra, thawed
3 plum (roma) tomatoes, chopped
2 green onions sliced (green part only) (I didn't use these.)

So, cook the rice according to the directions on the package.  When it's done, spread it out on a baking sheet (I put aluminum foil on mine first) and then stick it in the fridge so it can cool off.

Next chop up your chicken into bite sized pieces and sprinkle with 1 tsp creole seasoning.  (Sorry the picture is sideways.)  Cook the chicken in a large skillet in hot oil for about 3 minutes.  Add in your sliced sausage and cook 3-4 more minutes until everything starts to get nicely browned.  Add in the onions, peppers and garlic.  Cook until the onions are soft, about 5 more minutes.  Stir in the okra and last 1/2 tsp creole seasoning.  Increase heat to high and add the cooled rice, stirring constantly for 4 minutes or until everything is heated through.

Add in the tomatoes and green onion at this point and serve immediately.  We added tabasco to our's as well :)