Tag: gluten-free

‘It’s Too Hot To Cook’ Watermelon Salad

Categories Life, RecipesLeave a Comment on ‘It’s Too Hot To Cook’ Watermelon Salad

I don’t know about your neck of the woods, but in mine, we’ve been having a heat wave. And I thought it got hot in South Florida — It does, but this heat is something different. In Miami, you have a nice-to-annoying breeze continually wiping the land clean – dragging humid air in its wake. In NYC, you have humidity as well, but asphalt everywhere and tall buildings that alternately create wind tunnels and block all air from moving. It’s taking some getting used to, especially when the mercury tops out at 103, a temperature I haven’t seen since living in northern Florida.

So, what do you cook for dinner when going outside means flirting with immolation? Watermelon salad. This salad is cool, sweet, hot, savory, and delicious. I’ve been eating big bowlfuls by itself for lunch and dinner, but you could serve alongside some form of quick-cooking meat in tube or patty form to round out a meal for more than one if you can stand the heat.

A note on buying watermelon: This recipe is easiest when made with a seedless varietal, but I wasn’t thinking about that when selecting my melon – I was more excited by seeing something new – the deep green Sugar Baby Red variety – than I was concerned with practicality. If you don’t happen to remember seedless watermelon, no biggie, just more prep work will be involved to pick the seeds out.

‘It’s Too Hot To Cook’ Watermelon Salad

4 c. watermelon, chopped into 1/2 inch pieces (bite sized)
3 Tbsp. fresh basil, chopped fine
Most of a pint of cherry tomatoes, halved
1 cucumber, diced
5 scallions, sliced thin
2 jalapenos, de-seeded and diced
1/2 – 3/4 c. feta, crumbled if in a block (optional)
2 tsp. fresh lime juice
2 Tbsp. the best (thickest) balsamic vinegar you can find

Combine everything in a large bowl, stir to combine, and set back in the fridge for 20 minutes or so to marry.

Makes a ton – I’ve gotten at least 3 big bowls out of the batch I made.

Spicy Potato Salad

Categories Life, RecipesLeave a Comment on Spicy Potato Salad

This potato salad makes the perfect foil for grilled meats on a hot summer’s night and only improves in the fridge. It has enough heat to make things interesting, but not so much that the fire department needs to be called.

20120715-081321.jpg

Spicy Potato Salad

1 lb. baby red potatoes
2 Tbsp. mayo (we use olive oil-based)
3 Tbsp. olive oil
1 Tbsp. lemon juice
1 Tbsp. capers
1 tsp. red wine vinegar
1/4 onion
2 eggs
2 ribs celery
1 Tbsp. canned chipotle

Wash your potatoes, halve (you want potato chunks that are roughly uniform in size and around the 1/2 inch) and place into a large pot. Add enough water to cover by a few inches and a palm full of salt. Bring to a boil and let boil 8 minutes or until soft but not disintegrating.

While the potatoes are cooking, place your eggs into a small sauce pot and cover with water. Bring up to a boil and let boil 4 minutes. Set aside until cool enough to handle. Peel and slice thin.

Dice the chipotle and add to a large bowl. Add the mayo, vinegar and lemon juice and whisk, streaming in the olive oil as you go, until a dressing is formed. Salt & pepper to taste.

Dice the celery and add to the bowl.

Slice the onion wafer thin and add to the bowl.

Add the capers.

When the potatoes are done, drain and add to the bowl. Stir to combine.

Add the egg and gently fold in.

Taste for seasoning and adjust as necessary.

Serves 2 for dinner and 1 for lunch.

Honey Jack Root Beer Float

Categories Life, RecipesLeave a Comment on Honey Jack Root Beer Float

This all started with a chance encounter at a friend’s graduation party. Jack is said friend’s best drinking buddy, and it was inevitable that “he” would make an appearance. I, on the other hand, am not generally a fan, generally thinking that Jack Daniels tastes like yicky and disappointing paint thinner. Enter Jack’s sexy, swingy new cousin: Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Honey (or Honey Jack).

Honey Jack is a smooth talker. So smooth in fact, that this alcohol taste hating girl did shots without attempting to hide under the table and/or talk her way out of subsequent rounds. I took mini shots to be fair, but shots nonetheless. Shots with no chaser or fear of immediate impending death from the taste. This is (?)progress(?).

While sitting in my little chair, enjoying the crazy good potluck buffet and company of my graduate girl and the other people in her life, I hatched a diabolical idea. Honey Jack ice cream. Had to be fabulous. Must be 1st ice cream on menu for summer eating.

This singular obsession took up much of my Jack-addled attention span for the remainder of the party – egg base or yogurt? Lactose light or go for the gusto? Gelato? To Caramel Or Not To Caramel… that is the question.

The Internets came up with a fabulous template for my idea. Over at Ezra Poundcake, a Mad Men-inspired ice creamy dream, Bourbon Vanilla Ice Cream with Salted Bourbon-Caramel Sauce and Buttercrunch Toffee looked beyond drool-worthy. I’m too uncoordinated (read: lazy) to accomplish ice cream, caramel sauce and toffee at the same time for a simple summer (non fete) treat, so I just stuck with a lighter in lactose version of the ice cream. And then, because well enough should never be left alone, served it in a deliciously adult root beer float.

A note about the ice cream: The way I made it creates a boozy dessert with a nice texture (not quite as creamy as knockout rich full-lactose cream but not as ice shard-y as some “alternative milk” varieties). This ice cream was light enough that I didn’t almost die from lactose-induced bloat. I cut back on the sugar content because I always cut back on the sugar content, and this dessert was perfectly sweet to me. My DH wanted a bit more sugar (and in all fairness, the root beer float was his idea). In the float, he said it was perfect. Out of the float, he would have liked the aforementioned caramel sauce. If one of your party isn’t a freak about sugar and in love with savory desserts, go for the float. Or the caramel. I’m dying to have the graduate over so I have to make the caramel (I’m thinking dulce de leche-style creamed caramel with pecan brittle – ‘cuz what’s more Southern than bourbon & pecans?).

Not much to look at, but damn it’s good

Honey Jack Ice Cream

1 cup Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Honey
1/4 cup sugar (I used white sugar, but a brown sugar would probably be killer here. Maybe even honey)
1/4 tsp. kosher salt
1 generous cap-and-a-half vanilla extract (the best quality you can get – I prefer using extract here rather than whole beans)
2 cups heavy cream (I used the “real” stuff here)
1 cup Silk soy milk (unflavored)
4 large egg yolks

Bring the bourbon to a boil in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Once your bourbon hits the boil, add the sugar and salt. Stir until the sugar dissolves (about 2 minutes). Kick the heat back to medium and let go another 2 minutes while you get your next steps ready. The original recipes calls for reducing the mixture by a fourth, but I wanted a more sharp boozy taste, so I kept the boiling to a minimum.

Add the vanilla and cream and heat until a candy thermometer reads 150 degrees F (about 2-3 minutes).

While that is coming together, add your egg yolks to a large bowl and grab your whisk. Start beating the yolks. When your bourbon cream is at the proper temperature, pour into the egg mixture in a thin stream, whisking like a madwoman (or man) to incorporate enough cool air into the mix so the eggs don’t cook. Continue until the liquids are fully combined.

Add the soy milk and transfer to a bowl with a lid (or the bowl you already dirtied with a plastic wrap cover) and refrigerate at least 4 hours until thoroughly chilled. I let mine go for a full 24 hours because I made the base instead of concentrating on making dinner one night.

After everything is good and chilled, make your ice cream like usual. I use a Kitchenaid stand mixer with ice cream attachment (don’t forget to freeze your bowl overnight!).

If your ice cream comes out like mine did, it will be a little on the soft side at first. Mine took a good overnight freezing to set and never got rock-hard. My DH thinks I might not have whipped it long enough, but I think it tasted just fine, and that is all that matters.

Makes enough for 2 nice-sized summer night ice cream bowls and 3 generous root beer floats.

Roasted Corn Salad with Avocado Mousse

Categories Life, Recipes2 Comments on Roasted Corn Salad with Avocado Mousse

This dish makes the perfect accompaniment to any summer grilled entree, from veggie burgers to sausage or steaks. Yum.

Roasted Corn Salad with Avocado Mousse

4 ears corn, shucked
1 red bell pepper
1 avocado, halved and separated from its skin
2 limes, halved
1/4 red onions, diced
1 Tbsp. basil, diced
1 Tbsp. cilantro, diced
2 cloves garlic, diced
1 tsp. cumin
1 tsp. chili powder
1/4 c. creme fraiche
1 squirt sriracha
Salt & pepper to taste

On a medium-high flame, grill the corn until blistered all over and burned in spots. Don’t worry – slightly burned corn tastes great.

Grill the pepper until the skin has blackened on all sides and is starting to split.

Grill the avocado until well marked.

Grill the limes until well marked and juicy. This is the perfect preparation for limes that have gotten a little hard, as the heat brings the juices right back out.

Remove everything from the grill as it is done and set aside to cool.

In the bowl of a food processor, combine the avocado, creme fraiche, juice of 1 lime, 1 squirt sriracha and half the garlic. Process until smooth. Season with salt and pepper. If this mixture is thicker than you would like, thin with a little water. I wanted a mousse-like consistency.

When the veggies have cooled enough to handle, peel the pepper and chop. Stand the corn up on its cut-from-the-stalk end and run your knife slowly down the cob to separate the kernels, making sure to get down to the hard cob core. You may want to do this in a big bowl or on a big chopping board – things can get a little messy.

Combine the corn kernels, pepper, the juice of the second lime, basil, cilantro, second half of the garlic, cumin and chili powder in a bowl. Taste. Season accordingly and serve topped with avocado mousse.

Serves 2-4

Pea and Pepper Quinoa with Lemon and Miso

Categories Life, RecipesLeave a Comment on Pea and Pepper Quinoa with Lemon and Miso

This quick weeknight meal comes together in a flash. You get a great depth of flavor from the hit of miso and preserved lemon and a light, perfect-for-spring healthy meal.

Pea and Pepper Quinoa with Lemon and Miso

1 cup quinoa
2 c. vegetable stock
1 tsp. preserved lemon, diced
2 c. snap peas, tipped and chopped
1 tsp. white miso
1 orange bell pepper, diced
1 Tbsp. olive oil
S+P to taste

In a medium pot over high heat, bring the quinoa and stock up to a boil. Knock the heat back to a simmer, cover, and cook 20-25 minutes or until the quinoa curlicues open and the grain softens.

Meanwhile, heat 1 Tbsp. olive oil over medium-high heat in a large-ish pan. Add the pepper and sautee, stirring frequently, until the edges start to brown.

Add the peas and continue cooking until they are crisp-tender.

Add the miso and stir until combined.

Add the cooked quinoa and preserved lemons. Toss. Season with salt & pepper to taste.

Serves 2 for dinner + 1 for lunch.

Fire Roasted Tomato & Pepper-y Lentils with Citrus Kick

Categories Life, RecipesLeave a Comment on Fire Roasted Tomato & Pepper-y Lentils with Citrus Kick

I whipped this quick-and-easy lunch up from things I scrounged in the fridge. A half-used can of fire roasted tomatoes, some crazy good fire roasted red pepper spread from Trader Joes, some leftover lentils, citrus salt I made awhile back and some of the gremolata I served at Easter that has been chilling in the back of my fridge.

Fire Roasted Tomato & Pepper-y Lentils with Citrus Kick

1 tsp. olive oil
1/2 cup black lentils, cooked
2 Tbsp. fire roasted tomatoes with green chills
2 Tbsp. fire roasted red pepper paste
2 big pinches citrus salt
handful hazelnut gremolata

In a medium pan over medium heat, warm the olive oil. Add the cooked lentils and cook, stirring frequently, until warmed through and starting to sizzle. Add the tomatoes and red pepper paste and stir (and stir, and stir) until thoroughly combined. Let sautee a few minutes until nice and hot. Toss in a big handful of the gremolata and sprinkle with a couple pinches citrus salt.

Serves 1 for lunch.

Lemony Chickpea Mash

Categories Life, RecipesLeave a Comment on Lemony Chickpea Mash

I made this side to go with Cider-Braised Pork Shoulder with Caramelized Onion and Apple Confit and haven’t been able to stop thinking about it since. The pork was great, don’t get me wrong – soft, sweet, tangy, porky. But the chickpeas, the chickpeas were a revelation. My DH and I are trying to make a conscious effort to decrease the amount of “white” starch we are eating – no more bread, pasta, potatoes or rice noodles at home. Basically, no more of our very favorites and my go-tos for meal planning. Well, I wouldn’t say quite no more, but a limit has been placed on that type of food around these parts. And it’s at turns hard (when all I want to do is make a quick noodle dish) and not very hard at all (I really don’t miss bread).

As such, we are eating more lentils and legumes, more nut butters, a little more “real” meat (apparently bacon and/or eggs doesn’t really count as actual meat), and more straight-up vegetable based meals without the use of starch as a crutch. That’s the hard one. That one has been frickin killing me – I’m the queen of one-bowl dinner salads. Dinner salads and noodle dishes. Luckily, I’ve discovered the joys of cauliflower rice and stumbled upon an offhand mention of chickpea mash.

Think of chickpea mash like a mashed potato. It should be a luscious, decadent feeling puddle – a balm, even. Like mashed potatoes, or even grits. Comfort for the health-conscious (yeah, I know, my recipe uses canned chickpeas – I’m lazy).

20120608-115133.jpg

Chickpea mash pictured above with the lovely pork dish mentioned in the head notes and crisped greens with garlic.

Lemony Chickpea Mash

1 can low sodium chickpeas, washed and drained
1 Tbsp. tahini
Juice of 1 lemon
Olive oil
Water to lubricate
Salt & pepper to taste

Add the chickpeas, tahini and lemon juice to the bowl of your food processor. Let spin, using water and a few good glugs of olive oil to get everything moving until you get the texture you want. You’re looking for a thick-ish, velvety spread. Something that isn’t watery, but isn’t a big pile of glop. Kind of like hummus (this would also make a killer hummus-style dip, btw). Taste. Add salt & pepper ’till your heart’s content.

Serves 2 for dinner with a small portion left over for lunch.

No Bread Chicken Salad

Categories Life, RecipesLeave a Comment on No Bread Chicken Salad

This quick and tasty lunch whips up quickly (with leftovers) and is flavorful enough that you won’t miss the bread. Serve for lunch, dinner, or at a party.

No Bread Chicken Salad

1/2 c. beluga lentils, cooked (or any other sturdy lentil that doesn’t turn to mush)
1/2 c. cooked chicken (I used shredded leftover baked chicken)
1/2 apple, chopped (use your favorite kind – mine is Fuji or Gala)
1/2 rib celery, diced
1 small carrot, diced
2 Tbsp. mayo (I use the olive oil type)
1 tsp. capers
1 Tbsp. Horseradish Relish (see recipe below)
Handful hazelnut gremolata
Salt & pepper to taste

Combine all ingredients in a bowl. Salt & pepper to taste. Serve chilled or room temperature alone or with an accompaniment.

Horseradish Relish

2 Tbsp. beet horseradish
1 Tbsp. + 2 tsp. rice vinegar
Juice of 1 lemon
1 Tbsp. pure maple syrup
1 Golden Delicious apple, peeled and grated
1 Granny Smith apple, peeled and grated
Salt & pepper to taste

Stir all ingredients together. Salt and pepper to taste. Goes great with steak, chicken, or fish. Since making it as a steak condiment, I have been tossing a Tablespoon or so in here and there almost everywhere. This relish has a great bright, tangy heat that brings a lot of kick to any party.

Party Dumplings 3 Ways

Categories Life, Recipes3 Comments on Party Dumplings 3 Ways

These are the closest approximations I can come to for a dumpling spread I made to celebrate a good friend’s graduate school graduation. These suckers all went lighting quick – especially the beef version – and were generally raved about by the crowd. I also made a dipping sauce, and kind of just threw everything that looked Asian-y in the pantry & fridge together and added mayo for thickness (olive oil mayo, fish sauce, soy sauce, key lime juice, chili garlic sauce, sesame oil, rice vinegar, rice wine, and ketjap manis). I have no idea on the quantities involved. I just squirted, shook, and tasted as I went. Next time I might add yogurt as a base – I had wanted something thick (hence the mayo), but it didn’t really work out like that.

20120525-132555.jpg

– I know, the picture is just riveting. I completely spaced on taking a picture either before or during the party. Luckily, for some unknown reason, I snapped a shot of the dumpling assembly line aftermath.

Basil Beef Dumplings

Inspired by the Thai Basil Beef Balls from Health-Bent

1 lb. ground beef (I went lean here)
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 eggs
2 1/2 Tbsp jarred red pepper spread from Trader Joe’s
2 Tbsp. soy sauce (or coconut aminos for paleo)
1 Tbsp. fish sauce
1 Tbsp. chili garlic sauce
1 tsp. lime juice
1 tsp. rice vinegar
1 tsp. sesame oil
Big pinch sesame seeds
2 green onions, minced
1 handful fresh basil leaves, chopped
Breadcrumbs (leave out if making paleo)
Wonton wrappers (leave out if making paleo)

Mix all ingredients (minus the breadcrumbs and wonton wrappers) together in a bowl. I mix by hand just like I’m making meatballs. Combine well. Add bread crumbs until the mixture becomes less gooey and more like a cohesive meatball. I added by shakes of the container – maybe about a half cup to a cup?

Line your wonton wrappers out assembly-line style. I did 30 at a time, and that worked just fine. Put a small dish of water within reach.

Start filling your wontons by placing a small ball (mini meatball or nickel to quarter-sized) slightly off center on each wrapper. You might want to just start with one and fold it to make sure you have the ball size right.

Dip your finger in the water and dampen 3 corners of the wonton. Fold the dry corner over the meatball, forming a triangle. Pick up and pinch everything together so the air comes out and you have a triangle with a meat lump.

dampen one of the long pointy sides, fold over the triangle and join with the dry long pointy sides. Pinch together. You should now have something resembling a little hat.

If that isn’t working for you, just dampen 3 sides of the wonton and fold over to form a rectangle. It will still be fabulous.

After all your wontons are ready to go, heat a thin layer of canola or other high smoke point oil in your largest frying pan with a lid over medium-high heat. Add the wontons carefully spaced out enough so they aren’t right up against each other and fry until deeply browned (but not burnt) on the bottom.

With your lid held as a splatter shield, add a big splash of water, lower the lid quickly, and steam 5 minutes.

Serve whenever – I put all my wontons on foil overnight in the fridge and pulled them out 3 hours before the party. They were all served room temperature.

Makes about 30-40 dumplings.

These beef dumplings were the first to run out and were wildly popular with the party crowd.

Asian Chicken Dumplings

Inspired by the Asian Pork Meatballs with Dipping Sauce from Health-Bent

1 lb. ground poultry
1 egg + 1 egg yolk
1/4 tsp. sesame seeds
2 tsp. to a Tablespoon fish sauce
2 cloves garlic, diced
2 green onions, diced
1 tsp. ginger, minced
1 Tbsp. chili garlic sauce
Handful parsley, chopped
1 tsp. sesame oil
Bread crumbs (leave out if making paleo)
Wontons (leave out if making paleo)

Pretty much follow the same exact directions as those for the Beef Basil Dumplings. I varied the way I folded these dumplings so they wouldn’t get mixed up when serving.

To fold: put your meatball in the center and dampen all the edges. Pick up, make a circle with your thumb and forefinger, and tuck the ball into the hole. Pinch the edges up and together until you have a little purse. Pinch and stick. Again, if that isn’t working for you, go the easy route. People will still be impressed and they will still taste awesome.

Cooking directions are exactly the same, as are the portions.

On to dumpling 3, because I’m not an overachiever and was worried about vegetarians.

Pea Dumplings

This is a riff on Heidi Swanson’s Plump Pea Dumplings on her blog 101 Cookbooks. I make these dumplings every single time we have potsticker night, and my DH said that this is my best batch ever. They were pretty frickin good.

1 bag frozen peas, thawed
1 c. ricotta (I will update if I find a good paleo sub here – I’m thinking some sort of cashew based cream would work nicely for thickness)
Zest & juice of 1 lemon
1/4 to a half tsp. fresh grated nutmeg
Big pinch or 2 citrus salt
1/4 tsp or so white pepper
A glug of extra virgin olive oil
Wontons (leave out if making paleo)

Add all ingredients to a food processor and let go until smooth (or mostly smooth). While the peas are working, toss in a glug or 2 of olive oil if things aren’t moving fast enough. Taste. Adjust seasoning as needed. I ended up adding more salt at the end and maybe a dash more pepper. You want this filling to pop and sing on its own before you stuff it into a dumpling. If you want to eat the whole bowl standing over the sink – screw the party – then you’ve got it right.

I folded these the lazy way. I plopped a teaspoon or so down the middle, dampened 3 sides of the wonton and folded over until I had a rectangle. Some squirted out the edges on each, but that is okay.

Cooking and portions are the same as the rest. I ended up having extra of each type of filling and have been using it in dinner recipes since. Last night was pea risotto with chicken meatballs. Recipe coming soon, that one was good (though the meatballs were slightly out of balance with the peas…).

Spring Pea Risotto

Categories Life, RecipesLeave a Comment on Spring Pea Risotto

This dinner comes together in about half an hour – perfect for a fulfilling and rather healthy weekday comfort food dish. I served this risotto with meatballs made from leftover chicken dumpling filling.

20120524-201856.jpg

Spring Pea Risotto

1 cup arborio rice
1 cup leftover pea dumpling filling
2 cups vegetable stock
1/2 bulb fennel, chopped
1 Tbsp. olive oil
1/2 cup white wine
1 tsp. lemon thyme, chopped

Heat the oil in a medium pot over medium heat. Add the fennel and cook until starting to brown around the edges.

Add the rice, stir well and cook 2-3 minutes.

Add the wine and cook until mostly absorbed.

Add the stock, half a cup at a time, until the rice stops absorbing liquid. Stir frequently. This should take 20-25 minutes.

When the rice is finished, stir in the pea purée and thyme.

Serves 2 for dinner + 1 for lunch.