Happy Birthday Rebecca!

Splendid Raspberry Spinach Salad

This is a salad for salad-haters.  It's sweet taste will win the hearts of any skeptical vegetable eater.  The recipe is from Creme de Colorado. It is a favorite in my family and has been served around Christmas and also in the early summer when fresh berries are in season.


serves 8


Ingredients:

2 Tablespoons raspberry vinegar (or another sweet vinegar like red wine or cider)
2 Tablespoons raspberry jam
1/2 Cup oil (I prefer canola over vegetable)
8 Cups spinach, rinsed, stemmed, and torn into pieces
3/4 Cup coarsely chopped macadamia nuts
1 Cup fresh raspberries
3 kiwis, peeled and sliced


Directions:


To make the dressing you combine the vinegar, jam, and oil in a blender or whisk together.  Do so by first adding the vinegar and jam and then slowly adding the oil in a stream either gently whisking in or pouring in a slow steady stream while the blender is on.

Toss the spinach in dressing and top with raspberries, kiwis, and nuts.

Note: You can also substitute strawberries in this salad by using strawberry vinegar, strawberry jam, and strawberries over top.

Sophie hates anise, but loves oranges

Sophie turned me on to a variation of this recipe.  With her strong dislike of anise, she substituted fresh orange rind instead of anise and made me a delicious orange chicken.  She served it over rice and added additional toppings including chopped peanuts, chopped green onions, and cilantro.

I later tried to recreate the chicken dish and on both occasions managed to deviate even further from the original recipe like a game of telephone.  To be fair though, I never read the original recipe and mainly worked from a vague recollection of Sophie's orange chicken affair.

The first attempt led to a very saucy version of the orange chicken Sophie made.  This time, I served  it over wild rice with vegetables and salad.  It was nice to cut the chicken and toss the rice and vegetables in the extra sauce.  The leftovers tasted like a tasty orange chicken salad. In my second attempt, I omitted the flavor additions entirely and I ended up (by accident) making teriyaki chicken which I ate with a side salad and mashed sweet potatoes.  This time there was less sauce and it more tasted like a chicken smothered in a savory brown reduction sauce.

I recommend looking at this recipe as either a recipe to follow or  a guide to the endless possibilities of sugar, tamari sauce, and chicken.

Sophie's Quick Pickle Salad

Salad with Pickled Red Onion, Cucumber, and Avocado 

Ingredients:

1-2 lemons 

1/2 red onion, cut in half and then sliced thinly

Salad greens, preferably deep green leafy variety

1 cucumber, peeled and sliced

1 avocado sliced 

Dress with olive oil and lemon juice

Salt and pepper to taste

Optional: grated parmesan cheese and additional beloved vegetables 

Directions:

Toss the thinly sliced onions in lemon juice and squeeze the onions lightly.  The citrus from the onions will make a quickly pickle the red onions transforming them from crunch and bitter into soft and sweet.  Proceed with making a salad per usual tossing the greens in oil, salt, and pepper and then topping the dressed greens with the picked onions, sliced cucumber and avocado, and any additional squirt of lemon juice your heart desires.

Recipe Review: Sparkling Ginger Chip Cookies

I made these ginger chocolate cookies a couple times around Christmas and had great success with it.  These cookies pack a mean punch and they aren't meant for eating by the handful.  Just one bite is a mouthful of spicy ginger flavor. I haven't figured out a way to make them gluten free just yet since I made them at a time when I was still using wheat in my baking.  So for now I'll post the recipe for inspiration.

Recipe Review: Spicy Curry Noodle Soup with Chicken

from epicurious.com

I made this recipe several years ago and although it was somewhat labor intensive to make the broth a day in advance, my efforts were greatly rewarded by truly delicious soup, one so good that I was surprised I pulled it off the first time making it.  I adhered to the directions fairly closely and took all the recommendations about advance preparation.  Letting the broth sit overnight helps the flavors become more developed the following day.  

yield: Makes 6 serving

ingredients

• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 3 tablespoons chopped shallots
• 3 garlic cloves, chopped
• 2 tablespoons minced lemongrass* (from bottom 4 inches of about 3 stalks, tough outer leaves discarded)
• 2 tablespoons minced peeled fresh ginger
• 2 tablespoons Thai yellow curry paste*
• 2 tablespoons curry powder
• 1 teaspoon hot chili paste (such as sambal oelek)*
• 2 13.5- to 14-ounce cans unsweetened coconut milk,* divided
• 5 cups low-salt chicken broth
• 2 1/2 tablespoons fish sauce (such as nam pla or nuoc nam)*
• 2 teaspoons sugar
• 3 cups snow peas, trimmed
• 2 cups 1/2-inch cubes peeled red-skinned sweet potato (yam; from about 1 large)
• 1 pound dried rice vermicelli noodles or rice stick noodles*
• 3/4 pound skinless boneless chicken thighs, thinly sliced
• 1/2 cup thinly sliced red onion
• 1/4 cup thinly sliced green onions
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
• 3 red Thai bird chiles or 2 red jalapeño chiles, thinly sliced with seeds
• 1 lime, cut into 6 wedges

Heat oil in heavy large saucepan over medium heat. Add next 4 ingredients; stir until fragrant, about 1 minute. Reduce heat to medium-low. Stir in curry paste, curry powder, and chili paste. Add 1/2 cup coconut milk (scooped from thick liquid at top of can). Stir until thick and fragrant, about 2 minutes. Add remaining coconut milk, broth, fish sauce, and sugar; bring broth to boil. Keep warm. DO AHEAD: Can be made 1 day ahead. Refrigerate until cold, then cover and keep chilled.

Cook snow peas in large pot of boiling salted water until bright green, about 20 seconds. Using strainer, remove peas from pot; rinse under cold water to cool. Place peas in medium bowl. Bring water in same pot back to boil. Add sweet potato and cook until tender, about 7 minutes. Using strainer, remove sweet potato from pot and rinse under cold water to cool. Place in small bowl. Bring water in same pot back to boil and cook noodles until just tender but still firm to bite, about 6 minutes. Drain; rinse under cold water to cool. Transfer to microwave-safe bowl. DO AHEAD: Can be made 1 hour ahead. Let stand at room temperature.

Bring broth to simmer. Add chicken; simmer until chicken is cooked through, about 10 minutes. Add sweet potato; stir to heat through, about 1 minute. Heat noodles in microwave in 30-second intervals to rewarm. Cut noodles with scissors if too long. Divide noodles among bowls. Divide snow peas and hot soup among bowls. Scatter red onion, green onions, cilantro, and chiles over soup. Garnish with lime wedges and serve.

Idy Recipe link

I originally read about idlies in Sandor Katz's Wild Fermentation.  They are yummy little steamed cakes made from fermented lentils and rice and served with chutney.  This link shows the traditional approach to making idlies.  This project requires some special equipment namely the idly steamer shown in the pictures on the link and a pressure cooker.  I found an inexpensive idly steamer at an Indian grocer and it fit nicely inside the pressure cooker I already have.  Katz's recipe suggests using a pressure cooker and I'm not sure if it is possible to fudge your way through this project without these two main pieces of equipment.  But the resulting steamed cakes are a nice doughy treat for someone who can't otherwise enjoy traditional dough.