Fairy-tale salad and fresh chicken spring rolls

I loved the way some of my raddishes from the farmer's market turned out to be purple. The purple ones were milder than the hot-pink edged variety. The two together made for a very pretty salad with peas, garbanzos and butter lettuce.
I harvested some of my cilantro, purple basil and globe basil to make spring rolls. The filling also included mung bean threads, chopped cabbage, chopped butter lettuce and strips of baked chicken breast.

My peanut sauce, which is not pictured, is:
big gob peanut butter
splashes vinegar and soy sauce
1 fat clove garlic, minced
mini glob honey
little shake cayenne

Chi-town chow

My mom made sure I got to eat my favorite meals while we visited my side of the family the last three days.Thai Garden on Golf Road has been the subject of a previous post. I love their panang with vegetables and tofu, "Popeye" chicken (served in sweet peanut sauce over wilted spinach) and shrimp pad thai. This was our meal with Nan on Wed night when we first got into town. So good that I even ate leftovers for breakfast one morning.
Lou Malnati's Salad (mushrooms, tomatoes, black olives, proscuitto crunchies and gorgonzola over spring mix tossed in a sweet vinaigrette) and big fat rings of calamari so tender I wondered if it was fully cooked.
Joe and I also managed a casual lunch date at the Corner Bakery attached to Maggianos. I had the California style panini with artichoke, zuch and other veggies. Joe had caprese on a baguette. Thanks to Chappelears for the Maggianno's gift card for Joe's birthday.

Playing catch-up

I've been gone much longer than I intended. And probably a lot of you thought it was because I was busy having a baby. But I'm still pregnant! My last day of work was Friday (not yesterday, but the week before) and my folks have been in town since then. But dad went home Thursday to tend to things at home and in his garden where chinese mystery melons threaten to cover the house in tendrils.

We've been eating well...
Caprice salad from the garden, using lemon boy tomatoes and basil.

Also makes a mighty good open-faced sandwich.

And all the garden eating has been fuel for home improvement projects. Here's dad and Joe putting up bookshelves in our living room/Joe's new office since he got bumped from the nursery.

Speaking of nursery... I'm making a mobile. Here's a sketch of the critters.

Arugala and Radish

Even if my own gardening skills are lacking, I'm blessed to have friends who give me produce from their gardens.
This salad was made from our publisher's arugala - a peppery, mustardy green with the texture of spinach - and crisp radish from our neighbors Ricky and Barb. I toss them with garbanzos, petite peas, cucumber, egg and balsamic vinaigrette.

Frugal sushi and japanese salad

After sleeping half the day away, I woke up and realized there were things in the kitchen that needed to be used and that I could use most of them to make a japanese meal.

Those fishy catfish nuggets? I toasted them with garlic teriyaki marinade and sesame seeds to try to simulate the fried eel that's too expensive for me to buy, even though I really like it in sushi.

Half a cucumber? Perfect for sushi and for salad. Eggs? To make tamago.


Carrot sticks? I grated them, then mixed them with ginger, vinegar, sugar, miso, and soysauce to make that salad dressing they serve at Japanese restaurants.
I must say, I'm in love with my Cuisinart hand stick blender... which I used to make the dressing. Tina Wang has inspired me to make my own baby food. I don't have a food processor, but I think this gaget will do the trick.

Very veggie pasta

I keep making this for Joe and I.

1 box salad spirals
1 pkg frozen spinach
1/2 red bell pepper
1/2 onion
5 mushrooms
1 zuchinni
And whatever other vegetables on hand.

Saute all veg with a little garlic salt. Boil spirals and drain. Toss with olive oil, vinegar, a little sugar, parmesan cheese.

Serve warm or cold. Yum!

Dancing through the daffodils

This weekend we visited LBL with Joe's folks and brother. We really get a kick out of this 60s style scene.


I made a prettier version of Salade Nicoise than my usual. This is a hybrid composed, mixed salad.

Parmesan bowl

The other day there was a free sample issue of "Cuisine" magazine in the mailbox... The very last recipe in the magazine was this parmesan cheese salad basket. They likened it to soup in a bread bowl. Except this is salad in a cheese bowl.

To make it, put a skillet on medium heat and sprinkle shredded parmesan cheese into a circle with lacey edges. Let it cook until the shreds merge and sizzle a bit. Then take it off the heat and cool a few minutes. Carefully lift the cheese round from the pan with a spatula and your fingers, then drape it over the bottom of a glass. Let it cool, then flip onto a plate and fill with salad. Kind of fun, I thought.

Ravioli salad, but not quite

I know this is a rather handsome salad... but I have to confess I got it all wrong. I was craving a perfect replica of the salad Joe and I split our first evening in the Hood River Valley in Oregon. That salad had toasted tomato basil ravioli that were the perfect balance of crunch and give-- not so crunchy as to slow down devouring the salad. The ravioli I used were in the refrigerated pasta case... and they were on sale. I sprayed them with olive oil and broiled them in the toaster oven, flipping once, but a few seconds too late. Mine came out crunchy, but almost sharp on the edges...and after a while they became chewy. The "four-cheese" filling was not exciting at all.

The original salad was tossed in arugula... Kroger didn't sell it, so I bought spring mix, which sometimes has arugula in it. This one didn't. It was all bland greens with a few sprigs parsely and cilantro... not the spicey flavor I was hoping for.

My tomato was flavorless. My avocado smelled OK, but wasn't quite ripe. And the cheese in the Oregon salad was fresh mozzarella. I got confused and bought clearance goat cheese with basil and garlic... It was probably the tastiest thing in the whole salad, but I think I would've liked it better on pizza.

All in all, it was a pretty failure.

Mennonite pasta salad

I brought this salad, adapted from my Mennonite cookbook, to Katie and Mike's shower Sunday. Notice, there's no mayo :-)

Colorful Pasta Salad
7 oz. pasta, cooked (I used gemeli)
1 cup grilled chicken, cubed
1 cup shredded parmesan
1/4 cup olives, sliced
1/4 cup sliced onion
1 zucchini, cut into matchsticks
1 segment red bell pepper, sliced
1/4 cup basil leaves
2 roma tomatoes, diced

Dressing
8 Tbs oil
6 Tbs vinegar
1 Tbs sugar
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 tsp. mustard
1 tsp. basil (I used fresh)
1 tsp oregano (also from the backyard)
salt and pepper

Rachel Ray's rival?

Well. probably not, but I have to thank my dad for the suggestion.
Mom and I made a couple of fast meals:

Salad Nicoise (easy version)
1 can chunk light tuna, water drained
2 smallish potatoes
1 1/2 cup fresh or frozen green beans
2 hard boiled eggs
lettuce
rice vinegar
sugar
dillweed
lemon pepper
sliced black olives optional

Slice potatoes into 1-inch by 1/4 inch pieces, microwave for 3 minutes or until tender. Next nuke the beans with a spoonful of water, until crisp tender. Mix tuna with liberal splashes vinegar, generous spinklings of lemon pepper and maybe a teaspoon sugar. Add the veggies and shake dillweed all over. Slice the egg in quarters long-wise and add as garnish. More dill. Lots of dill. mmmm. Serve this warm salad over a bed of greens. Add a sour dough roll from Schlabach's and you're all set.