{t}blt salad

This salad was delicious. I really love BLT sandwiches but David and I have been on a major salad kick lately. I didn't really miss the bread with this salad but I suspect some homemade croutons or a slice of toasted sourdough might be good with this as well.

Last week, I just happened to have some organic turkey bacon in my fridge as well as some butter lettuce (which I almost always keep on hand since it's my favorite of the lettuces). Here's the kicker with this salad - the blue cheese. I have strong opinions about blue cheese from Stilton to Danablu to Roquefort to Gorgonzola. I love them all but Point Reyes is the BEST. Creamy and salty and just the right amount of blue. Mmmm. Plus you can get it pretty easily (I buy mine at Costco).
4 slices {turkey or regular} bacon
1 large tomato, sliced
1 head butter lettuce {or Boston bibb}
1/2 cup sour cream
2 Tablespoons apple cider vinegar
1 scallion, chopped
1 cup crumbled blue cheese {please go to Costco and buy the Point Reyes kind - I'm serious. no substitutions.}
2 Tablespoons milk, if necessary

Cook bacon in a hot skillet until crisp. Once cooked, transfer to a paper towel to drain and pour drippings into a small bowl (if you used turkey bacon, there won't be hardly any drippings so you can forgo this step - it's healthier but slightly less tasty). Once slightly cooled, chop the bacon.

Whisk sour cream, milk and vinegar into the bacon drippings (or alone in a small bowl if you used turkey bacon) until smooth. Season with a bit of kosher salt and pepper. Add chopped scallion and 3/4 cup of blue cheese. Stir lightly until combined.

Clean lettuce and tear into wedges and toss with salad dressing (as much or as little as you like). Top with tomato slices, chopped bacon, the remaining blue cheese and a bit of pepper to taste.

salmon spinach salad with crispy potatoes

here's a super quick and delicious way to use up salmon burgers without making burgers. it was an incredibly simple supper but I liked it.

Salmon Spinach Salad with Crispy Potatoes
2 Tablespoons olive oil
4 yukon gold potatoes, cut into 1/8 inch thick slices
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 medium shallot, thinly sliced
2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup buttermilk
2 salmon burgers
4 cups fresh baby spinach leaves
1 lemon, cut in wedges

Heat 1 Tablespoon olive oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Add the potatoes and cook until tender, crispy and golden brown, 5 or 6 minutes on each side. Transfer to a plate and season with salt and pepper.

Heat 1 Tablespoon olive oil in a large skillet over medium high heat and add salmon burgers. Cook until golden brown on both sides - about 4 or 5 minutes on each side.

Combine the shallots, vinegar and about 1 Tablespoon of olive oil in a small saucepan. Warm over medium heat. Remove from heat and let cool a minute and then whisk in buttermilk. Place spinach leaves in serving bowls and toss with the salad dressing. Top with potatoes and salmon burger and squeeze lemon wedges on top.

caesar chicken wrap

I know I’ve been out of commission for a long while on this food thing. And believe me, it’s not just on my blog that I’ve been “out of the kitchen”. Poor David has been suffering through a summer of quick pastas, sandwiches and lame leftovers – none of which are very exciting.

I’m really hopeful that once this baby comes, my appetite will return to normal. However, I’m not so hopeful that I’ll have the time or energy to create special meals like I did when it was just the two of us. But with or without the time, I’m dedicated to making this new balance between motherhood and wifehood a success.

I’m also dedicated to saying “so long” to the 30 pounds that pregnancy bestowed on me, so I hope to post more healthy and vegetable laden meals. I’m not going to lie and say that I won’t post the occasional treat here and there (because I can’t completely omit those – I’ve tried) but cutting back never hurt anyone.

Without further ado, let’s start with a delicious meal I made tonight – Caesar Chicken Wraps with Zucchini, Lettuce and Tomato. First of all, my sister (who claims she’s a horrible cook but is quite an accomplished baker) sent me the recipe for these wraps. I believe she adapted it from a King Arthur recipe. She spent a semester of college in Jerusalem and fell in love with the pita type bread they sold on the streets. These wraps remind her of them and I’m going to take her word for it. Two Notes: This a rather strange recipe but follow it. Also, the recipe may seem intimidating but if my sister – who has 4 rambunctious boys, a picky-eater husband, teaches piano lessons, designs custom garden landscapes and dislikes cooking – can do this, then so can you. She recommends making the dough before hand and keeping it in the refrigerator until you’re ready to use. I think that’s a great idea. She also had a bunch of other filling ideas (but more on that another time).

Caesar Chicken Wraps

Wrap Bread
2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 1/4 cups boiling water
1/2 cup potato flakes
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 teaspoon instant yeast

Place 2 cups of flour in mixer. Pour the boiling water over the flour and stir till smooth. Cover and set the mixture aside for 30 minutes.

In a separate bowl whisk together the remaining ingredients. Add this to the cooled flour/water mixture, stir, then knead for about 5 minutes to form a soft dough. The dough should form a ball but will remain somewhat sticky. Add additional flour only if necessary; if kneading by hand, keep your hands and work surface lightly oiled.

Let the dough rise, covered, for 1 hour.

Divide the dough into 8 pieces (each about the size of a handball, around 3 ounces), cover, and let rest for 15 to 30 minutes.

Roll each piece into a 7" to 8" circle, and dry-fry them (without oil) over medium heat for about 1 minute per side, until they're puffed and flecked with brown spots. Adjust the heat if they seem to be cooking either too quickly, or too slowly (cooking too quickly means they may be raw in the center while too slowly will dry them out).

Transfer the cooked breads to a wire rack, stacking them to keep them soft. Serve immediately, or cool slightly before storing in a plastic bag.

Caesar Dressing
1 to 4 large cloves garlic, to taste, peeled and minced
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
2 tablespoons Dijon-style mustard
2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
1/4 cup sour cream
3/4 cup olive oil
1 cup grated Parmesan, Pecorino Romano, or aged Asiago cheese
1 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper

Grilled Chicken-Vegetable Filling
1 pound boneless chicken breasts or thighs
1 large red bell pepper, seeded and quartered
1 large onion, peeled and sliced in 1/2" slices
1 medium zucchini, sliced crosswise into 1/4"-thick slices
Romaine Lettuce

To make the dressing: Stir together the minced garlic, lemon juice, mustard, Worcestershire sauce and sour cream. Whisk in the olive oil. Stir in the Parmesan cheese and ground black pepper. You may do all of this in the food processor by processing together the garlic, lemon juice, anchovy or Worcestershire sauce, and sour cream. Drizzle the olive oil through the feed tube with the motor running, then gently pulse in the Parmesan and black pepper. Set the dressing aside. Refrigerate it if you're not going to use it within an hour or so.

To make the filling: Grill the chicken and vegetables over medium coals until done (or sauté them in a skillet). Cool, then slice the chicken and cut the vegetables into bite-size pieces. Place a lettuce leaf on each bread. Spoon some of the filling down the center, atop the lettuce. Top with dressing, wrap and serve immediately.

turkey joe's + cucumber & tomato salad

have I given you all the full force of how much I love rookie cookie? she is the best. I used her advice and made "turkey joes". that's what I call them anyway. I served it along with a yummy cucumber and tomato salad. I used some heirloom tomatoes, persian cucumbers, a splash of olive oil, balsamic vinegar, rice wine vinegar and sprinkled on kosher salt and pepper and some sliced fresh mint. it was pretty much heaven.

turkey joe's

1 pound extra-lean ground turkey

1 Tablespoon olive oil
1/2 onion, diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 jalapeno, minced (seeds and ribs removed)
1 red bell pepper, diced
1 (15 ounce) can small red beans or pinto beans, preferably low sodium drained and rinsed
1 (15 ounce) can no-salt-added tomato sauce
2 Tablespoons tomato paste
1 Tablespoon red wine vinegar
1 Tablespoon molasses
1 Tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon mustard powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
Freshly ground black pepper
8 whole-wheat burger buns

Brown the meat and the onion in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat for 5 minutes, breaking up the meat into crumbles as it cooks. Add the garlic, jalapeno, and red pepper and cook 5 minutes more, stirring occasionally. Stir in the rest of the ingredients, reduce heat to low, and simmer for 5 minutes more. Toast buns and place a half-cup scoop of the mixture onto each bun and serve.

from Rookie Cookie blog (slightly adapted)

summer fruit salad

I made Rookie Cookie's Summer Fruit Salad with Honey Lime Syrup (who got it from Food Blogga) for my family party on Labor Day. My sisters and sisters-in-law (even an occasional brother-in-law) were raving over how delicious it was. Seriously, it's things like this that make me love cooking (or, in this case, chopping).
Summer Fruit Salad with Honey Lime Syrup

1 cup cubed watermelon
2 nectarines, pitted and cut into chunks
1 cup hulled and quartered strawberries
Zest of 1/2 lime
1 lime, juiced
3 Tablespoons honey
Pinch of salt

In a small bowl, combine zest, lime juice, honey and salt. Whisk until combined.

In a medium bowl, combine the watermelon, nectarines and strawberries. Drizzle syrup over the fruit. Stir well.

Serve chilled for best taste.

In conclusion -
Make this.
Enjoy the praise.
Thank me later.