Strawberry and Steak Tip Summer Salad

Warm weather always makes me think about my childhood. Running in from the house all sweaty and sitting down to a meal that was likely prepared by Dad on the grill on the back porch... Summer was all about grilling meat, chowing on corn on the cob and eating fresh fruit by the bushel. This salad is the adult version of what summer tasted like to me as a child. 

Although steak and strawberries don't seem like they would play nice on the same plate, the sweet and salty combination of tender meat and crisp fruit is undeniably delicious. 

 Begin with a bed of fresh baby spinach. I make massive portions of this dish since the salad is the entire meal. 

I will sometimes vary the vegetables that go into this salad depending on what is in the fridge. The absolute necessary elements are spinach, cucumber, sweet corn (fresh or frozen - never canned!) and diced bell pepper. On top of the vegetables, I add parmesan and asiago cheeses. 

The next layer of the salad is the best part; fresh sliced strawberries and steak! Mmmmm...

Since James and I are both red meat lovers, we go with small portions on any given day so that we can eat it more than once a week. I buy our steak tips from our gourmet food shop and then season or marinate them at home. A lot of pre-marinated meats contain gluten so I never buy them unless they are clearly marked that they are, indeed, gluten free. I marinated these tips with burgundy wine and garlic and then seared them in a frying pan with a little butter and olive oil. Be sure to drizzle the pan juices over your salad if you aren't counting calories! 

The last step for the salad is to add a splash of balsamic vinaigrette. You really don't need very much because there are so many bright, fresh flavors on this plate already! 

Ingredients: serves 2

1/2 - 3/4 lb of steak tips (marinated or simply seasoned with salt and pepper)

1 bag of baby spinach

fresh strawberries

sweet corn (fresh or frozen)

parmesan cheese

asiago cheese

1 cucumber

bell peppers of your choice

balsamic vinaigrette 

Black Bean and Toasted Chickpea Salad

Sometimes I look in my fridge and I start to panic that food is about to go bad... 

and then I make a salad with those things and all is well with the world. 

It is under those exact circumstances that this delightful little dish was born. I had a bunch of bell peppers that were likely to not last another day so I wanted to build a healthy, tasty, nutrient rich meal based around them. We have been eating a lot of beans lately because it is the perfect finger food for our almost 1-year old, Wesley. I like for him to be a part of our dinner rituals so I always make a dish that he can dig into as well. 

I love simple food that feels good to make, and that I feel good about giving to my family. James works a lot of hours at the hospital and often comes home without having eaten much during a 12 hour shift. I try to pack as much nutritional value as I can into those meals so that he can recuperate his lost energy. Salads are the perfect tool for my gastronomic goals:

1) Nourish my loved ones and myself.
2) Use up food that is on its way out.
3) Make yummy things that look beautiful.








This salad satisfied all of those goals and turned out to be
something that I will definitely make again. Here is how it goes:

Ingredients:
1 can garbanzo beans / chick peas
1 can black beans
1 medium tomato
1/2 red onion
1/2 of each red, green and orange bell pepper
1 green onion - green and white parts
1/2 cup shredded carrots
1 small diced jalapeño
Juice of 1 lime
cilantro
olive oil
salt and pepper

Method:
1) Dice up all the veggies and put them in a bowl.
2) Toast the chick peas over medium heat for just a few minutes; when the skin starts to darken you should take them off the heat. Add them to the bowl
3) Do the same to the black beans.
4) Squeeze the juice out of the entire lime into the bowl.
5) Mix the salad well for a minute.
6) Add salt and pepper to taste.
7) Add fresh cilantro to your taste. I like to wait until just before I serve the dish to add my cilantro to keep it as fresh tasting as possible.

Note: I added cubed muenster cheese to my plate. We had a dairy free guest for lunch so I didn't add it to the original salad. I am 100% that cheese makes everything better... except fish... :) 




                                                             ENJOY!!!!!!

Peach Lime Salsa

Winter bores me. Stuck inside all day... nothing fresh and exciting growing on the trees... the cold... oh, New England...

But the sun is back! And that means that I am finally realizing how asleep I have been since November and it is time to make exciting things happen... So I open the fridge.... and... PEACHES!!

Peaches are one of my all-time favorite foods. Sweet, juicy perfection.

Dinner tonight is going to be turkey sliders (boring) with Peach Lime Salsa (exciting!)
You have seen a million turkey slider recipes so I am not even going to bother with how those are made but I am thrilled to share the method for making this dull dish come alive. I cook for two people so my portions are always quite small. Feel free to double or triple the recipe to feed more people, or to enjoy as leftovers!

Ingredients:
1 peach
1 green onion (white and green parts)
1/2 lime
1/2 red bell pepper
1/2 orange bell pepper
salt
cilantro

Method: Dice up the peach, bell peppers and onion and put in a bowl. Squeeze the lime juice into the mixture and then add some nice salt. I like to let the salsa marinate in the lime juice for a few hours and then add the fresh cilantro just before serving. Enjoy!!

Brussels Sprout Perfection

I loooooooooooooooooooove brussels sprouts.

Thankfully I have a very patient husband; my house reeks for hours after cooking them, which I do at least 3 times a week.

I find these odd little veggies so delightful that I have actually thought to myself on more than one occasion how insane it is that some people just boil them and put them on a plate. Although I have enjoyed them prepared many different ways, and with many different plate-mates, this preparation is by far my favorite. Just three ingredients, so as not to mask the unique flavor...

Los Ingredientes:
Brussels Sprouts 
Olive Oil
Sea Salt

If you aren't keen on the brussels sprout flavor (but eat them because you know they are good for you, they were on sale, your partner loves them, etc...) then add a little lemon juice before cooking them.

Method: 
1.) Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

2) Shave the brussels sprouts - make sure that you have some larger pieces and some very fine pieces. This ensures that you will end up with different textures in each bite. You can achieve this with a mandolin or just by slicing them with a knife.

3) Place the brussels sprouts in a dark baking dish. I actually like to use my round cake pan! They should pile up a little and should not be in a flat layer on the pan. Add enough olive oil so that all the pieces are just a little shiny.

4) Sprinkle sea salt.

5) Place in the preheated oven and let cook for about 15 minutes. Stir at least twice during the cooking process so that the little pieces don't burn to the bottom of the pan. They are done when the smaller pieces are brownish and the larger pieces have brightened in their green color.

I like to eat brussels sprouts by themselves for a snack but this also make a wonderful topping for a cheeseburger, a ribeye steak or as an addition to a quinoa salad. I even once made a sandwich out of it by adding a thick slice of tomato, bacon and parmesan cheese. (I'm drooling!)

Best. Dessert. Ever. 3 Ingredients.

I loooooooove dessert. But sometimes I don't have time to bake and I am craving something sweet....

The following recipe is probably the simplest of all the desserts that I make as there are just three ingredients and it takes a total of about 4 minutes to prepare. I love that there is no added sugar needed and you can celebrate almost fresh seasonal fruit by accompanying it with the cream.  I recently hosted a party at our house and was asked at least 10 times how I made the cream... Read on to find out how you can impress your guests, loved one, or yourself with a top notch dessert!

3 Ingredients:

Fresh Strawberries (or any type of berry really; I have made this with raspberries, blueberries, blackberries and sometimes a combination of all of them!)

  Lemon Curd
(I love the Trader Joe's lemon curd... it is only $2.99 and saves me the trouble of making lemon curd from scratch when I am short on time.)

 

 Whipped Cream Cheese

     Sooooo...... 
How do you make these three things taste amazing??

1) Slice the strawberries...  

2) Take about 2 tablespoons of whipped cream cheese... 

(or regular cream cheese- I just find that the whipped kind is easier to stir by hand!) 

3) Add 2 tablespoons of Lemon Curd... 

(I prefer to buy the Trader Joe's brand over making it myself... it is always delicious and is only $3!)

4) Stir like crazy for about 45 seconds... 

5) Put it on a plate and dip the bejeezus out of it!! Yummmmmmmmmmmmmy. 

mmmm.... french fries...

It is no secret to anyone who knows me that french fries are my all time favorite food. Anytime I have the craving, I do the work myself because I don't trust anyone else. Nothing irritates me more than paying money for fries that suck- especially because I don't want to consume all those calories without that delicious crispiness!

Here is the list of ingredients:
Yukon gold potatoes, hand cut to desired thickness (or thinness, in my case)
Canola oil
Shallots
Sea salt
Shredded Parmesan cheese.

                                  It is a good idea to slice the shallots slightly thicker than you usually do when cooking... the deep fry can shrink them quite a bit!

I prefer my potatoes quite thin... 

Fry the potatoes in the canola oil. Place them on a paper towel. Fry the shallots in the same oil. Place them on the paper towel. Add salt. Sprinkle parmesan. Enjoy!!

A meal made from mushrooms!

Using up leftovers, common pantry items and a fresh market purchase. 

Tonight's meal was inspired by these beautiful mushrooms I collected at our Italian-style market. I saw them from across thee aisles and made my way to them like a moth to a flame.

I got home and put away all the groceries except for the mushrooms. I washed them and put them in a bowl and set them on the table, determined to use them. And nothing occurred to me. So I did what any home cook does in this situation. I googled the bejeezus out of it. After my eyes had glazed over from mushroom overload, I decided to close the computer and open the fridge. I am on my own episode of Chopped. I popped off the stems and chopped them up. I pulled out feta, parsley, and green onions. From the pantry, I grabbed lemons, olive oil, dried thyme, rosemary and sage. I put a bit of each into a mixing bowl and started stirring... (Just a reminder, I don't measure anything...)

I brushed each of the caps with some melted butter for extra yumminess and then filled each one with this delicious filling and put them in the oven at 400 degrees.

After 20 minutes, I added a sprinkling of parmesan cheese to the top of each and let them cook for a few more minutes.

Next, I decided to invent a mushroom soup recipe. I grabbed the largest of the mushrooms and grated it down nearly to dust. I threw it in a pot with a few entire chopped green onions, parsley, shredded carrot and some chopped up mushroom stems. I added the chicken stock, a few pinches of salt and let it go! After about 15 minutes, the mushrooms were the perfect tenderness.

So where are we then? I have a soup and a side dish.... I have some poached chicken in the fridge and today is probably the last day I dare eat it so let's figure something out here! I shredded the chicken, put it in a bowl and I headed to the pantry. I came back with a can of organic pinto beans and got the idea to make a ragout. I diced up some red onions, red bell peppers and garlic and cooked them until they were tender. I added the pinto beans and salt and turned the heat down low.

When my rumbling tummy could no longer stand the wait, I added the shredded chicken to a sauce pan with melted butter, parsley, lemon, salt and pepper. After scooping a healthy portion of the ragout onto my plate, I topped it with this delicious repurposed chicken!