Warm Kielbasa Spinach Salad

I'm a sucker for spinach, which I consume on a daily basis on one form or another (iron? calcium? folic acid? lets hear it for green leafy veggies!). So, obviously its my go-to basis for any form of salad, but I think it especially stands up well to salads with warm toppings. This salad was inspired by the French Lentil Salad and is similar; this version is very summery, light(ish), and all the toppings can be made on the grill.
Dressing (single serving):
-1.5 tbsp grainy mustard
-1.5-2 tbsp red wine vinegar
-pinch salt
-2 pinches pepper
-tad bit of garlic

Toppings:
-washed spinach leaves
-grilled bell pepper (I like yellow)
-Jenny-O lean turkey kielbasa, cut in half lengthwise, cooked on the grill until hot and splitting
-scallions, if you like, grilled
Basically, make a bed of spinach, top with some chunks of kielbasa, sliced veggies, and the dressing. It could definitely serve 4, and your choice of veggies is your own, but I like the simplicity of just the peppers. At any rate, you're done! Eat and enjoy!

(Whats that you ask? Whats the delicious looking bread product you see in the top picture? why, nothing but beer bread, made with Blue Moon!)

Korean Fusion Tacos- Trader Joes Style

Here in Los Angeles, sometimes it seems like you can't go 3 feet without running into a trendy lunch truck. You can't go 5 feet without one of those trucks selling some kind of fusion taco (like Kogi and Calbi and Bool). I initially had mixed feelings about this, in a city chock-full of awesome regular taco stands (which I partly love because they feed my very severe horchata addiction), but recently I've come around.

Given the profusion of Korean fusion tacos we, as a city, have been experiencing, its no surprise that when I saw Bool Kogi Sesame Marinated Boneless Beef Ribs (no, I'm not a paid advertisement), the first thing that popped into my head was tacos.

A delicious component of these tacos is some kind of vinegary slaw... to make mine, I used Trader Joes (of course) shredded broccoli slaw and some very thinly sliced red onions. I marinated these in seasoned rice vinegar and a tsp or so of sesame oil. (as a side note... my favorite cucumber salad is just thin sliced English cucumbers and rice vinegar- so refreshing!).

I was not in a tortilla kind of mood, so to continue with the fusion theme, decided to use the Trader Joes (you're getting the theme now, yes?) Middle Eastern flatbreads, which are soft and delicious. I lightly toasted them, but you don't have to. You can basically use any wrap-like material that you like.

Now, at just about this point, I realized my grill is either out of gas or in some other way non-functional, which was a shame. I was in too deep to give up, so decided to steal my my Mother's method for cooking meatballs- basically, take a cooling rack, put it over a baking pan, and put the meat on that. I used the broiler, she uses the oven. It works well because the fat is able to drain out as it would on a grill (see exhibit A, below. I apologize to my vegetarian friends for the meat close-up):

All thats left? Assembly!

 

 I served mine with corn (upcoming post) and the remainder of the slaw. I don't eat a lot of red meat, but when I do I like to eat it like this, in a scenario where there can be minimal meat in the context of a lot of veggies. This was really good! I don't know that it'll put the taco trucks out of business, but it would definitely be an interesting twist to throw at your next BBQ!

Container Gardening Success!

I recently introduced you to Bob, my tomato plant, and Sheila, my pepper plant and my efforts at balcony 'container gardening'. Well, I have to say, things are going gangbusters, so I wanted to give an update.

First up... Sheila the banana pepper plant(s) is turning out to be very prolific... I don't have a full shot, but this one shows just one of the at least 4 peppers (with many more blooms). I'm pretty psyched about this one despite not actually being all that sure what you DO with banana peppers... anyone with recipes, please let me know.

Next up... a new addition- some super hot chilies, that are going to be little red chilis that hopefully I can dry. This one also has toooooooons of little peppers and blooms on it.

Now... something very exciting- BLUEBERRIES! we'll see how this goes, its a total experiment. But, an experiment that has yielded at least 15 soon-to-be edible blueberries (I hope).

AAAAAANND, my old favorite. The lime tree, which is benefiting from the much more vigorous watering regime I'm on this year because of all the other plants is also exploding. There are tons of little limes! I don't want to jinx it but this year it might be actually possible to make one or more margaritas from this thing...

Now, you're probably wondering what happened to Bob the tomato plant... well, he's still with us, but Bob has been unfortunately riddled by a team of ravenous (apparently) caterpillars who not only demolished his leaves but also his 2 baby tomatoes (the gall), so he's really not at his most photogenic and to avoid posting humiliating pictures of him on the internet, I'll wait until he looks a little more like himself.

So, things around here are looking good! Once I can actually make something with any of these, recipes will be forthcoming!

Homemade Granola Cherry Parfait

I've posted before about making granola, but I hadn't done it in a while, and man, was that a mistake!
This time, I just threw something together with stuff I had on hand, which admittedly wasn't that exciting. Basically, I had dates (which you've seen as a component of the green breakfast smoothies and the little date gorgonzola appetizers) and almonds (which you've just recently seen in the Lemon Almond Bulgur).

Granola:
-4 cups plain oatmeal
-.5 cup honey/molasses mixture (purely because I didn't have enough honey)
-.5 cup water with a half a lemon squeezed in (would be orange juice if I had it)
-.5 cup chopped almonds
-a bunch of chopped dates (look at the mixture and see if you want more or less)
-quite a bit of cinnamon (but, I really like cinnamon)

Mix everything together, and bake for about half an hour- then let sit and cool completely before storing in an airtight container.
Out of this, I made a delicious parfait for dessert (could have been breakfast):

-1c plain nonfat yogurt
-.5cup chopped fruit (for me, fresh cherries)
-granola, to taste

YUM!

Grilled Rosemary Chicken with Lemon Almond Bulgur

Well, the cooking around these parts has been a little sparse. I'm working on a grant deadline, which basically means that I'm doing things like cooking mass quantities of chicken and bulgur and then proceeding to eat it for every meal. Fortunately for you, this was some freaking delicious chicken.

Chicken:
-1 ziplock baggie (I swear, this makes a difference)
-juice of 1 lemon (REAL lemon juice, people)
-a few sprigs fresh rosemary (I suppose dry would do, but fresh is exponentially better)
-boneless skinless chicken breasts (despite living alone, I used 4, because of the aforementioned plan to live on it)
-salt, pepper
-garlic (a few cloves, or if you're lazy like me and use the stuff in a jar, a teaspoon)

Bulgur
-1.5 cups dry bulgar
-2.5 cups water
-diced onion (2-3 tablespoons)
-garlic (a few cloves, or 2 tsp)
-red pepper flakes to taste
-chopped toasted almonds (I toasted mine in a dry skillet)
-just enough olive oil to saute the onions
-lemon zest (from the lemon you used for the chicken)- 2 tablespoons
-a squeeze of lemon juice if you have more

Basically, the chicken is the easiest thing ever- I dumped everything in the list in the ziplock baggie, pushed the air out of the bag, and stuck it in the fridge for 3-4 hours. The reason I swear by the baggie is that I think that it keeps the marinade closer to the meat. Also, periodically I go and squish around the meet to rearrange it. When I was ready, I popped it on the grill, and voila! I also tossed some zucchini and onions on the grill as long as it was on, as you can see- really, these could be any veggies you like.

The bulgur is also easy, I love bulgur because it tastes good and has a cous-cous like feel, but is more nutritious. Plus, it cooks incredibly quickly which is always a plus. Basically, saute the onions and garlic in the olive oil until a little brown, then pour in the water and bring to a boil. Once boiling, turn off heat and dump in the bulgur. After 5 minutes, stir in zest and almonds, and make sure that there is still a bit of water to absorb. Let sit 5-10 more minutes, then fluff and serve.

This was simple, and delicious (and, healthy). Of course now I've had about 6 meals out of it in different permutations (it was a lot of chicken) so I'm a little sick of it, but still, it was good! Very light and summery, and I really enjoyed the texture of the almonds in the bulgur and the freshness that the lemon brought.

Strawberry Chocolate Cake... Buckle Your Seatbelts.

I have a favorite bakery. It is an amazing place, chock full of mind-blowing desserts that I crave. When getting ready for my Mom's birthday, a 2 hour drive away, I immediately thought of my very favorite of their cakes. Unfortunately, buying the entire cake, rather than by the slice as I usually do, turned out to be a bit out of my budget. In addition, I wasn't sure how it would fare on a ride down the highway on a warm spring weekend. So, I decided to recreate it. I'm going to describe the normal recipe first, with an addendum on my clever transportation strategy.

(First just take a moment and bask in the glory)

Ingredients:
cake:
1 box dark chocolate cake mix
3 eggs (as called for in cake mix)
1 cube butter (replaces cake mix oil, .5 cup)
milk in same amount as water called for in cake mix

whipped filling:
1pt whipping cream (do NOT sub with redi-whip or similar. it will melt and you'll regret it)
.5 tsp vanilla
2-3 tablespoons powdered sugar
1 lb FRESH strawberries stemmed and diced

ganache (chocolate topping and filling):
2 cups heavy cream
16 oz semisweet chocolate (not chips)

Bake cake mix in 2 layers, according to the ingredients. Replace the oil with melted butter and the water with milk- this is a great tip to make the cake taste less mix-like. (If you're motivated, make your own cake, I didn't have time). Cool until COMPLETELY cool. Once cooled, slice each layer in half, resulting in 4 relatively even layers.

While the cake is baking, take care of the filling:  1. Beat the whipping cream, vanilla, and sugar. The whipping cream needs to be really really really stiff. It has to stand up to the rest of the cake!! Chill until needed. Now work on the ganache (which was far easier than I expected). Basically, heat the cream until just barely boiling, then turn off heat. Stir in chocolate pieces and gently whisk until melted and incorporated. Thats it! (can you believe it?) Now chill- the longer you chill, the stiffer it'll be. you want it spreadable but not too runny.

Now for the assembly. Place the first layer on your serving platter of choice (the astute chef will place strips of waxed paper around the bottom edge so the plate does not become covered in frosting). Cover with a thin layer of ganache. Top with 1/3 of the whipping cream, and 1/3 of the strawberry pieces. Repeat for additional layers, saving about half the total ganache for the top and sides. Once layers are assembled, use a plastic scraper to spread ganache over the top and sides.

Place the whole shebang into the fridge for at least 3 hours, and preferentially more (over night is ideal). Then, just slice and serve!

Something about the fresh strawberries really complements the moist cake and the deep chocolate ganache. It is absolutely amazing and there is no way that this won't get widespread compliments. Its summer, strawberries are abundant... try it!

ADDENDUM: Ok, so as a side note, this was a traveling cake. I made the layers at home and transported them in their cake pans. I also chopped the strawberries and made the whipped cream. I transported berries and cream in a small cooler. When I got to my destination, I made ganache, chilled it, and  assembled the cake, putting it in the fridge to eat the next day! Easy and impressive, whats more to ask.