Category Archives: Cooking

Vinegar-based Barbecue Sauce

Posted in Cooking, Sides and Sauces by

A few weeks ago I posted a recipe for BBQ sauce – a classic, sweet, molasses-y sauce that’s great with beef, especially brisket.  This sauce has a different flavor – it’s a little more of a Tennessee style, vinegar-based sauce.  It isn’t as sweet – a little more tangy.  It’s especially good with pork and chicken.  When you grill and smoke meat as often as the men in my life, there’s room for a bevy of sauces.

This particular recipe comes from none other than Aaron Franklin – of Franklin’s BBQ fame.  I think his has some “secret” ingredients, but this is the recipe he’s willing to share and it’s pretty stellar.  There’s also something to be said for the combination of the smoker smell happening outside and the sauce cooking inside – your mouth basically waters all day.

Vinegar-based Barbecue Sauce

2 sticks of butter

1/2 of a yellow onion

1 1/2 cups ketchup

1/2 cup apple cider vinegar

1/4 cup brown sugar

1 tsp salt

1 tsp pepper

1 tsp chili powder

1 tsp garlic powder

half of a lemon

1. In a saucepan over high heat, melt the butter.  Chop the onion finely and add to the butter, cooking until translucent (note that the smell of onions cooking in butter is one of the best in the world!).  Add the ketchup, vinegar, brown sugar, and spices.  Stir everything together and cook until it comes to a boil.  Turn the heat down and simmer on the stove for at least 30 minutes, until it has reduced to a thick sauce.

2. Squeeze in the lemon juice and stir to combine.  This sauce has no emulsifiers, so the butter and vinegar will separate.  I store mine in a jar and shake it up before I use it.

Italian Chopped Salad

Posted in Cooking, Entree, Quick and Easy by

I attended a local university for my second two years of college and lived at home.  While a lot of college students would hate living with their parents and teenage brothers, I tend to look back on those days very fondly.  During that time my youngest brother (who was 10-11) had a music lesson every Thursday night across town and my parents, my other brother, and I would ride along (in a minivan, natch), go shopping during his lesson, and then eat at a local Italian place, Joe’s.  The food there was a no-nonsense baked pastas and pizza, but the real standout was their signature salad – The Joe’s Salad.  It was one of those salads so rich in cheese and meat that it could hardly be classified as actual salad, but so delicious that you couldn’t stop eating it.

So, when I found this recipe it went on my menu immediately – and will be repeated often in the coming months.  A dinner salad is one of my favorites in the summer because it requires no cooking – you don’t get a hot kitchen from oven/stove use, and since the meal itself isn’t warm it has a cool, refreshing taste.  I feel like I’ve run about 10 degrees too hot since 2011 since I became pregnant for the first time so anything to avoid heat in the summer is excellent.  Give this salad a try – like all salads, customize it to fit your needs and preferences.  As always, I prefer to serve the dressing on the side so the leftovers don’t become soggy.  Also, I bought a half pound of both the salami and provolone, expecting to use it all, but it was too much.  You could get by with 1/4lb, but I thought 1/3 pound was about perfect.

Italian Chopped Salad

serves 4 to 6 as a complete meal

for the salad:

1 large head of crunchy lettuce (I used romaine, but iceberg, radicchio, or some combination would work)

1/2 of a red onion

1/3 to 1/2 pound of salami

1/3 to 1/2 pound of provolone cheese

1 pint cherry tomatoes

a handful of pepperoncini (or banana pepper) rings

1 can chickpeas

for the dressing:

3 cloves of garlic (or 2tsp garlic powder)

1T dried oregano

2tsp salt

pepper

juice of 1 lemon

1/4 cup olive oil

1/4 cup red wine vinegar

1. Chop the lettuce, finely slice the onion, and dice the provolone and salami into bite-sized pieces (I had them sliced thick in the deli, then cut them into small ribbons.  Cut the tomatoes in half and arrange all of the chopped salad ingredients into a large bowl.  Top with the drained and rinsed chickpeas and pepperoncinis.

2. To make the dressing, smash the garlic cloves, oregano, and salt together with either a knife or a mortar and pestle.  Combine with the other dressing ingredients and serve.  I typically put my dressing in a jam jar so I can shake it to combine, but whisking works fine, too.

 

Salmon Chopped Salad

Posted in Cooking, Entree, Quick and Easy by

Our family has recently rediscovered cabbage, so we’ve been eating cabbage salads every week.  I’m not sure how we ever forgot about cabbage, but the crunch, the color, the healthiness – it’s really a great base for a summery salad.  Last week I shared my chopped chicken salad, this is sort of a variation on that, but it has a little more ginger and a little less peanut.  I made it for my mother-in-law and sister-in-law for a light, summery dinner, but it’d also be a great lunch.

It’s also a good time to point out that I’ve started measuring lime juice in tablespoon and teaspoons recently and not in actual limes.  I much prefer fresh limes, but in the recent lime crisis, I just can’t afford $1.79 per lime, so I bought a big jug of lime juice and I’ve been using that for everything except gin & tonics, which call for true lime wedges.  I typically think a lime yields 2T of juice, but I also don’t really measure things like lime juice with any accuracy anyway.

Salmon Chopped Salad

for the salmon:

1lb. salmon filets (for me, this usually means 2 filets, and I cut each in half to make 4 equal pieces)

1T lime juice (half a lime)

2T soy sauce

2 cloves of garlic

small cube of fresh ginger

1/2 tsp sriracha

salt and pepper

for the salad:

half a head of purple cabbage

6ish cups of spinach (I like there to be about the same amount of cabbage and spinach)

4 green onions

3 carrots

1 mango

handful of cilantro

3T toasted sesame seeds

for the dressing:

2T lime

1/3 cup olive oil

2 tsp sesame oil

1/3 cup soy sauce

2T honey

1T garlic powder

1T ginger (I use granulated)

1 tsp (or more) sriracha

1. Preheat the oven to 400.  Mince the garlic and ginger.  Stir the lime juice, garlic, ginger, soy sauce, and sriracha together to create a glaze.  Brush the salmon on both sides with the glaze and create a packet of foil to bake the fish in.  Bake the fish for 8-10 minutes, until the fish flakes easily with a fork.

2. Chop the cabbage, carrots, green onions, and spinach.  Peel and dice the mango.  Toss together in a large serving bowl.  Chop the cilantro and sprinkle on top.

3. Combine the dressing ingredients together and whisk until well combined.  Serve the salad with the warm fish on top, drizzled with dressing, topped with sesame seeds.

Nutrition: 539 calories for 1/4 of the salmon, salad, and dressing.  25g fat, 18g sugar, 33g protein.

 

Edited to add:

The lime crisis is over!  Use real limes – they’re cheap again!

 

Chopped Chicken Salad

Posted in Cooking, Quick and Easy by

As summer comes upon us, the weather gets warmer, and I want to spend more time in the pool and less time in the kitchen, I find myself craving dinners that are refreshing, easy, and still filling.  Salads with protein are one of my favorite ways to get in some vegetables and a hearty dinner without spending hours over a hot stove.  This chopped chicken salad makes a ton – so if you are only serving a few, you’ll have leftovers for a few days of lunch.  Alternatively, served with cold beers and a killer dessert, it’s great when you have company, too (it’s beautiful to serve).  It’s also one of those meals that you can mix up the ingredients on based on what you need to use up in the fridge – the cabbage and carrots are a must to me, but any other crunchy vegetables would work well, too.  I use finely diced grilled chicken, but any leftover protein would work (shrimp. beef, even tofu).

I’m also excited to share that I’ll be sharing nutrition information for my recipes.  I’ve been pregnant and/or breastfeeding continuously for the past 3 and a half years, so being aware of my calorie intake is important.  I certainly believe that there’s a time and place for splurges (um, see the cheesecake I posted last month), so meals like this that pack in a lot of protein and vegetables without a ton of calories make for a great hearty lunch or dinner – especially when there’s great dessert to be had.  I hope you enjoy this new feature.

Chopped Chicken Salad

2 grilled chicken breasts

1 small head purple cabbage

3-4 carrots

3-4 green onions

1 mango

small handful of chopped roasted peanuts

small handful of cilantro

for the dressing;

2 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp sriracha

1/3 cup soy sauce

1/4 cup rice wine vinegar

2T honey

1/2 cup peanut butter

2T lime juice

2T sesame or olive oil

2T fish sauce

1/2 cup water

1. Chop the cabbage and finely slice the carrots and arrange in a bowl.  Finely dice the green onions and mango.  Chop the chicken into bite-sized pieces and arrange all in the bowl.  Top with chopped peanuts and cilantro.

2. Stir all of the dressing ingredients together until combined (unless you’re using natural peanut butter, the emulsifiers in the pb will keep it from separating).  Either dress the salad or serve with the dressing on the side (my preference).

Nutrition information:

272 calories for 1/8 of the salad and the dressing.  Note that this does not include the peanuts, which can account for a lot of calories if you aren’t careful.  They aren’t completely necessary, but if you add, say, a tablespoon, you’re adding about 80 calories.  I typically skip them unless it’s dinner and I need some extra protein and calories.

13g fat

10g cholesterol

20g carbs

13g sugars

18g protein

 

Miso Salmon

Posted in Cooking, Goals, Quick and Easy by

In the past decade of dating/being married to my husband he’s made a lot of requests in the food department.  I enjoy a challenge and, with the exception of one ill-conceived and poorly executed pesto, he’s always been happy to eat everything I make.  Lately he’s suggested more seafood and I have been trying some new fish dishes.  We cook with shrimp a lot, but other fish is not my wheelhouse – I am not experienced enough to make substitutes well based on what’s available.  I also have been generally opposed to salmon – it seems like salmon got trendy in the early 2000s and it was everywhere and generally poorly prepared and I just got tired of it.  I never buy it, but it was on sale at the grocery store and Ross wanted more fish, so I gave it a try.

This dish might be the single easiest dinner I’ve ever made.  It takes 3 minutes of prep the night before and 10 minutes of cooking the day of.  That’s it.  I’ve served it with rice and with quinoa, usually with grilled asparagus on the side.  It’s insanely good.  The miso paste may be hard to find, I located it at Whole Foods.  It’s fermented soybean paste – so it stays good forever in the refrigerator.  Whether you’re a long time salmon lover or a salmon skeptic, give this a try.  Mostly because you can make it in 11 minutes.  You do need to marinate it overnight, so keep that in mind.

Miso Salmon

adapted from Keepers by Kathy Brennan and Caroline Campion

2/3 cup red miso paste

2 Tbsp red wine vinegar

3 Tbsp brown sugar

1lb of salmon filets (at my grocery store, this means 2 long filets so I cut eat in half to get four pieces)

1. Place the miso paste, vinegar, and brown sugar in a large ziploc bag or tupperware and mix together until combined.  Add the fish, making sure to coat all sides, and place in the refrigerator overnight.

2. When you’re ready to eat, line a rimmed baking sheet with foil, spray or brush with a little olive oil, and heat the oven to 400.  Arrange the salmon pieces on the foil skin side downand bake for 6 minutes, flip them over, and bake an additional 4 minutes, until you’re just able to flake the fish with a spatula.

Chicken Pad-ish Thai

Posted in Cooking, Goals, Quick and Easy by

Pad Thai is one of my favorite dishes of all time.  The tang of lime, crunch of peanuts, savory noodles – it’s my go-to at any new Thai restaurant.  Ross requested Pad Thai for dinner last week and, after scouring about a hundred recipes, it seemed like all of them required specialty ingredients.  I’m sure that using one of those recipes would yield a more authentic taste, but I couldn’t really picture dragging my toddler and baby across town to an Asian market where I was unfamiliar with the layout, restrooms, and exit strategy.  So I wanted ingredients I could easily find at Safeway or, better yet, my pantry.

I came up with this recipe and it is really delicious, but you could hardly call it authentic.  It lacks tamarind paste, rice noodles, tofu (due to my sucking at cooking tofu, not availability), and bean sprouts.  But if you’re looking for a noodle dish that’s spicy, a little sweet, and has a lovely peanutty taste, then this is your dish.  You could certainly substitute any protein here – I had intended to make it with shrimp, but the ones at our store looked pitiful this week, so I used two leftover grilled chicken breasts.

 

Chicken Pad-ish Thai

12 oz. linguine noodles (or spaghetti or vermicelli)

1/3 cup fish sauce

2T honey

2T sesame oil

1/4 cup rice vinegar

2T lime juice

1 tsp sriracha

1/2 cup water

1 shallot (or half an onion, if that’s what you have)

3 cloves garlic

2 eggs

4 green onions

handful of fresh cilantro

1/2 cup chopped, roasted peanuts

lime wedges for serving

oil for cooking

1. Boil the pasta according to package directions, I usually boil for 20% less time than it suggests (so 8 minutes if it says 10 – taste and see).  Meanwhile whisk the fish sauce, honey, sesame oil, rice vinegar, sriracha, lime juice, and water together in a small bowl and set aside.  Mince the garlic and shallot, slice the green onions.  Lightly beat the eggs.

2. In a large pot or wok, heat 2T of oil over high heat.  Add the shallot and garlic to the pan and cook for a few minutes until fragrant, about a minute.  Add the eggs and stir constantly to scramble the eggs – about 30 seconds.  Add the cooked noodles, green onions, and chicken, then toss the mixture together.  Pour the sauce over the top and allow it all to cook together for a few minutes.

3. Chop the cilantro and peanuts for garnish.  Serve warm with cilantro, peanuts, and a lime wedge.

 

Tortellini Salad

Posted in Cooking, Quick and Easy by

When I became a stay-at-home Mom, lunch took on a whole new meaning.  On one hand, it was awesome – I wasn’t restricted to 30 minutes with only a microwave for cooking.  I could use a stove!  Any ingredients I wanted!  I could eat whenever!  It was all fine and good until I found myself with 2 screaming kids who also wanted to eat and a menu that basically varied between taco bell and peanut butter sandwiches.  Something had to change.  Once I had my head above water with 2 kids, I made an effort to improve my lunches.  It’s nothing fancy – typically a wrap sandwich, salad, leftovers, etc.

This tortellini salad is a great lunch option whether you work or stay at home.  It’s good cold and actually improves during it’s time in the refrigerator.  You can add or subtract anything from the recipe – depending on what you have.  I like to make a big tupperware full of this and eat a bowl for lunch every day.  As the dressing soaks into the veggies and pasta, they get better and better.

Tortellini Salad

1 large package cheese tortellini (I use the 20oz. Contadina)

1 small container feta cheese (or goat, if that’s what you have)

1lb. cherry tomatoes

1 cucumber

1/2 to 1 cup kalamata olives

1/2  of a red onion

1/4 cup olive oil

3T red wine vinegar

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp dried oregano

salt and pepper

1. Boil the tortellini according to package directions, but subtracting about 20% of the cooking time (if it says 10, only go 8).  Half the cherry tomatoes, chop the cucumber, kalamata olives, and onion.

2. Whisk the olive oil, red wine vinegar, garlic powder, and oregano.

3. Run the tortellini under cold water.  In a large bowl stir the tortellini, olives, tomatoes, cucumber, onion, and crumbled feta.  Pour the dressing over the top and toss to distribute evenly.  Chill before serving.

Classic Barbecue Sauce

Posted in Cooking, Quick and Easy by

My family is definitely a cooking family.  Some of my best memories in life center around the kitchen – bustling around with my parents and brothers, my husband and sister-in-law, and now my kids.  As with anything, after you’ve cooked enough meals together everyone sort of falls into their own specialty – my dad will set an alarm every three hours all night to feed the smoker, my grandma makes amazing potato salad, my mom pulls together insanely good sides, I typically make dessert, and, in the case of a bbq, Ross always makes the sauce.  The recipe comes from one of our dearest friends, James, and exists only in an email sent from him to my husband 8 years ago (it’s a picture taken of a recipe).  I haven’t changed anything about the recipe, but I’m tired of searching through the archives of Ross’ email every time I want to make barbecue sauce so I’m sharing it here.  James is one of the best barbecue-ers (meatists?) I know, so his authority on sauce is commendable.  It’s only fitting that I share it now, as he’s about to move across the country and we won’t be seeing him for a while (though, he offers us an excellent excuse to visit L.A.!)

The smell of smoking brisket and homemade barbecue sauce is one of my favorite smells in the world and given that our sense of smell is tied so closely to my memory, it’s no wonder I have so many wonderful memories of cooking.  If you’ve never made your own sauce, give it a try – it’s not very hard and it tastes a million times better than what you could purchase at a store.  We’re hoping to try some new varieties this summer (I’ve grown some awesome peppers in my garden, so a spicy version is on tap for the near future).  This makes about a quart of BBQ sauce, enough to serve and have plenty left to keep in the refrigerator.  It you reduce it enough it fits perfectly in a large mason jar.

James’ BBQ Sauce

3T olive oil

3 cloves garlic

2 1/2 cups ketchup

3/4 cup chicken broth

3T soy sauce

6T brown sugar

5T molasses

3T red wine vinegar

Salt and pepper to taste

1. Mince the garlic.  Heat the oil in a saucepan over medium-high heat.  Add the garlic and cook for about a minute, until fragrant.

2. Add the other ingredients, stir, and allow the mixture to come to a boil.  When it does, turn the heat to low, and allow the mixture to simmer and reduce for 20-30 minutes.  Taste and add salt and pepper as needed.

Easy Vanilla Ice Cream

Posted in Cooking, Quick and Easy by

Memorial Day, like Thanksgiving, is one of those holidays that I never really “got” until I was an adult.  As a kid, I was fine with the day off from school, a few flags in the neighborhood, and a tasty barbecue, but really, there were no fireworks, no gifts, no parades to speak of, so it wasn’t anything special.  As an adult, it has become one of my favorite holidays, partially because it truly signifies the start of summer.  As a stay-at-home-Mom, with no end of the school year to trigger the “summer” vibe, I like that Memorial Day weekend marks the start.  We usually swim for the first time, eat watermelon, spend time outside in the heat (though this year it rained all three days), and, of course, it’s the first day of the year that I make homemade ice cream.

For me, ice cream is one of life’s greatest pleasures.  Having spent two of the last three summers extremely pregnant, I acquired a whole new love for frozen desserts, and I felt like I was making homemade ice cream all the time.  I’ve made several vanilla ice cream recipes, and this one is undoubtedly the easiest, but it’s weirdly also the best.  During my second pregnancy in a bizarre nesting/hot/hungry rage I made several varieties in one day and hosted a blind tasting to determine the best – and Philadelphia style (no eggs) won out unanimously.

One way to make this easier is to purchase vanilla bean paste instead of vanilla beans.  I started using the paste many years ago and I haven’t purchased a single vanilla bean since.  The paste gives the correct look, taste, and consistency without the trouble (and expense!) of real vanilla beans.  The bottle may seem expensive, but it will last for a long time.  Pair this with some homemade chocolate sauce, a handful of strawberries, and some toasted pecans and it’s basically heaven.  This recipe makes the perfect amount for my 1.5 quart Cuisinart ice cream maker and serves about 6.   I purchased a second bowl for my ice cream maker a few years ago so I make 2 batches for a crowd.  As with all homemade ice cream, getting the ice cream to harden is difficult, so making it the night before so it can benefit from a night in the freezer gives it a great consistency if you aren’t into soft-serve.

Vanilla Ice Cream

2 cups heavy cream

1 cup milk (I used 2%)

3/4 cup sugar

1 Tbsp vanilla bean paste

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/4 tsp salt

1. Pour the sugar, 1 cup of the cream, the salt, and vanilla bean paste into a saucepan and cook over medium heat until the sugar has dissolved (don’t bring it to a boil, it doesn’t need to be that hot).

2. Pour the mixture into a large bowl and stir in the milk, the second cup of cream, and the vanilla extract until combined.  Place the bowl in the freezer or refrigerator for at least 30 minutes to chill.

3. Make the ice cream according to directions on your ice cream machine.  Mine usually takes 20 minutes or so and makes a soft-serve consistency.  Transfer to a container and move it to the freezer to harden before serving.

Chilaquiles

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I had chilaquiles (chee-la-key-lays) for the first time at Tila’s an adorable restaurant in Montrose  near our old apartment in Houston.  I am pretty sure I only ate inside once, as they had a fabulous patio like so many Houston restaurants.  See, in Houston, June-August is really, really awful and hot, but September through May is absolutely gorgeous.  You basically transition from summer to the rainy season (hurricane), then it’s lovely weather for 6 months before it gets dreadful and those 6 months were ideal for margarita sipping on patios.  This was back before we had kids and actually ate at restaurants other than Taco Bell.  Chilaquiles are basically a nacho casserole – and from my understanding you can pretty much put anything you want on them.

I love the pickled onions and avocados on these, it makes the dish really summery.  You can throw this together in a matter of minutes, depending on what you have on hand.  I made my own salsa verde, but you could certainly use jarred salsa as well.

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Chilaquiles

2 jalapenos

1 red onion

2 limes

1 bag tortilla chips (Calidad are my favorite)

2-3 cups cooked chicken (I used 2 grilled chicken breasts)

3 cups green salsa

1 cup queso fresco

sour cream

cilantro

2 avocados

1. Finely dice the jalapeno and slice the onion into strips.  Place both in a small bowl and juice the limes into the bowl.  Allow the mixture to sit at least an hour, but you could let it sit in the refrigerator overnight.

2. Preheat the oven to 350.  Cube the chicken, grate the cheese.  In a large casserole dish, arrange half of the bag of chips along the bottom of the pan and spread the chicken over the top.  Pour the green salsa over the top and sprinkle the cheese over the whole dish.  Bake for 10-12 minutes.  While it’s baking, slice the avocados and chop the cilantro.

3. Top the hot chilaquiles with the pickled onions from before and the sliced avocado.  Serve with the cilantro and sour cream on the side.

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