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It's the start of a heat wave, or so I've heard, and I'm not about to turn on the oven. And I recognize that it would appear as if I haven't turned on the oven in the past 11 months!! I just realized while watching the French Open this morning, that my last post was in reference to Wimbledon. In July. Of last year. I obviously have a thing for eating while others are playing some hard core tennis. And I'm a super lazy blogger.
Rather than make something sweet today (I did actually get off the couch to go to the gym) I decided to jump on the zoodle bandwagon. For the record: 1. I hate the word "zoodle." 2. It would be a terrible band name. Anyhow...this recipe substitutes fresh zucchini noodles (totally uncooked!) for the more typical egg noodle, therefore saving a few extra calories and excess heat from your stovetop.
I happen to have a really small spiralizer gadget from OXO so will occasionally make some zucchini (or other veggie) noodles because it doesn't take up a ton of space and it makes me feel healthy...until I pour another glass of wine. Add as much garnish and protein as you like to make this a more substantial salad. Note: The longer your zucchini sits in the sesame sauce, the more watery it will become. Good to know if your sauce is a bit thick. (Like me.) It will ultimately thin out. (I wish!)
Cold Sesame Zucchini Noodles
2 tablespoons sesame oil
1/3 cup tahini, peanut butter, almond butter or a combination
3 tablespoons soy sauce, or to taste
2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon rice or white wine or other vinegar
2 teaspoons minced fresh ginger
1 teaspoon minced garlic
Hot sesame oil, chili-garlic paste or Tabasco sauce to taste
2 large zucchini, trimmed and spiralized
2 medium carrot, trimmed and spiralized (if desired)
Optional: Sliced cucumber, cubed tofu, chopped peanuts, sesame seeds, hot sauce
1. Whisk together the sesame oil, nut butters, soy, sugar, vinegar, ginger, garlic and hot oil in a large bowl. Taste and adjust.
2. Toss zucchini and carrot noodles with the sauce. Garnish as desired. Serves 2 main portions or 4 appetizer portions.
Remember those old Chunky soup commercials? "The soup that eats like a meal?" (Here's a highlarious reminder. What is going on with that roommate sitch anyway?) Those wacky commercials were on the air back in 1985 and it seems like it's been as long since my last post! Whoopsie!
Speaking of meals (not that I have been making many lo these past few weeks), I may not be cooking all that much, but I have been eating a slew of salads thinking that I am super healthy. And then I realized that these so-called salads have the word "chef" or "cobb" in front of them. Who am I kidding? Meat, cheese, bacon? Hello!
Well, how about adding some quinoa to justify the healthfulness? Totes. Done and done. A classic cobb, minus the grilled chicken, plus the quinoa, equals...a salad that eats like a meal.
Classic Cobb Salad (Plus Grains)
Adapted from Bon Appétit
6 ounces bacon (about 6 slices), cut into 1-inch pieces (plus more for snacking)
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons minced shallot (about 1/2 medium shallot)
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 small garlic clove, grated
1/4 teaspoon honey
1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 cups baby greens
3 cups cooked grains (such as quinoa, semi-pearled farro, or wild rice), cooled
2 hard-boiled eggs, peeled, quartered
1 ripe avocado, halved, pitted, peeled, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1 ripe tomato cut into 1/2-inch wedges
1/4 cup crumbled blue cheese
1. Cook the bacon in a large skillet over medium-high heat until crispy and most of the fat is rendered, 7–8 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer bacon to a paper towel-lined plate.
2. Whisk the lemon juice, shallot, vinegar, Dijon mustard, garlic, and honey in a medium bowl. Gradually whisk in the oil. Season the dressing to taste with salt and pepper.
3. Place the lettuce on a large platter. Arrange the the bacon, grains, eggs, avocado, tomato, and cheese over. Drizzle with the dressing. Serves 6.
In case you were wondering what to do with the leftovers from your latest grill & chill (aside from eating the leftovers standing in the dull glow of your fridge - just me? figures!), make a big salad! Make a STEAK HOUSE salad! Puh-leeze. With a combo of grilled rib eye (or strip or flank, whatevs) and The Wedge, how can you go wrong? You can't! Except for not having bacon...that was totally my bad. How totes obvs for this salad to necessitate bacon. Doh!
The Ultimate Steakhouse Salad
Leftover grilled steak, sliced thinly against the grain
Fresh lettuce, such as romaine or butter lettuce, torn
Heirloom tomatoes, sliced or halved if miniature
Leftover roasted mushrooms, (or grilled) as desired
Several slices of cooked bacon, crumbled
Blue Cheese Dressing
Freshly ground black pepper
Assemble ingredients as desired. Serve.
I'd like to make a suggestion. Stay away from me for the next 48 - 72 hours. Far far away. Really. Give me a WIDE girth. I am going to be cranky. Crazy. Cray-cray. Touched. Literally. I know it is super lame and uninteresting to talk about the weather (although I am obsessed), but the forecast for 97 degree highs in NYC for the next 2 days fills me with fear. And loathing. Unless you are offering me enough ice cream to bathe in or unlimited air conditioning, I'm not interested.
That also means that I won't be braising any meat, baking any cakes, or having anything to do with my oven or stove top. But I might open my fridge...just to stand in front of it. I have actually been trying to figure out what I could do with some leftover buttermilk that's been languishing in my fridge for...ever (without baking up some biscuits or coffeecake) so decided that salad dressing was the way to go, both from a calorie saving point of view and general heat avoidance.
The recipe that I stumbled upon was the best of many others that included mayo. Ummm...why would you use something low fat like buttermilk only to yuck it up with mayo? I even used low fat Greek yogurt in place of regular yogurt because it still has an amazing consistency. If you wanted to cut back on the cheese, I would either reduce the amount of buttermilk or increase the yogurt a bit until you have a nice creamy dressing. Dump it over a chopped salad filled with your fave ingredients and enjoy. Follow with a tub of ice cream. And a frozen margarita. Not necessarily together.
Buttermilk Dressing
Adapted from Martha Stewart
3/4 cup low-fat buttermilk
3/4 cup finely grated Pecorino Romano cheese
2 tablespoons plain low fat yogurt
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
1/4 teaspoon coarse salt
1. Whisk together the buttermilk, cheese, yogurt, olive oil, zest, lemon juice, pepper, and salt in a medium bowl. Makes about 2 cups.
I have a friend who almost always (at least 95% of the time) orders a Caesar salad to start any meal out. I've got to think that of those salads, at least 95% of them have to be terrible. When I order a Caesar salad from a place I've never been, I wind up with an overdressed salad that's been tossed with crappy bottled dressing. Great Caesar's ghost! Who could eat that garbage? The restaurants that actually make their own Caesar dressing seem to be few and far between, and making a Caesar salad table side seems to have gone out with Prohibition.
The origin of the Caesar salad is up for some debate, but supposedly was invented by restaurateur Caesar Cardini on the fourth of July in 1924 when due to a rush, his restaurant became low on supplies. In order to keep serving his customers he just started throwing things together on the fly, tossing the historic salad table side for dramatic effect. What an innovator!
Fortunately (for me!) the food geeks at Cook's Illustrated decided to break down a classic Caesar salad recipe in the latest issue. My only attempt has been to make a faux Caesar dressing out of tofu. (I know!) My favorite discovery in the Cook's recipe is that they make garlic "paste" by grating a clove on a rasp style grater. Amazing! The pieces just disappear. Why didn't I think of that before? Anyway, this recipe is for diehards since it includes raw egg yolks and anchovy fillets in the dressing. It's what makes a Caesar a Caesar...though supposedly Cardini didn't use anchovies, but then again, he isn't available for questioning. 
Caesar Salad
(Adapted from Cook's Illustrated January/February 2011)
Croutons
1/3 cup olive oil
1/2 teaspoon garlic paste (from 1 clove grated on a rasp)
1/2 - 3/4 loaf ciabatta cut into 3/4-inch cubes
1/4 cup water
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons freshly grated Parmesan cheese
Dressing & Salad
3/4 teaspoon garlic paste (from 1 clove grated on a rasp)
2 - 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
6 anchovy fillets, minced fine and mashed to a paste with a fork
2 large egg yolks
5 tablespoons canola oil
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
3/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
Freshly ground black pepper
2 - 3 romaine hearts, cut crosswise into 3/4-inch pieces, rinsed and dried very well
1. For the Croutons: Combine 1 tablespoon oil and garlic paste in a small bowl and set aside. Place the bread cubes in a large bowl and sprinkle with water and salt. Toss, squeezing gently so that the bread absorbs the water. Place the remaining 4 tablespoons of oil and soaked bread cubes in a 12-inch nonstick skillet. Cook over medium-high heat, stirring frequently, until browned and crisp, 7 - 10 minutes.
2. Remove the skillet from the heat and push the croutons to the sides of the skillet to clear the center of the pan. Add the garlic/oil mixture and cook with the residual heat of the pan, 10 seconds. Sprinkle the croutons with Parmesan and toss until the garlic an cheese are evenly distributes. Set aside.
3. For the Salad: Whisk the garlic paste and 2 tablespoons lemon juice together in a large bowl. Let stand 10 minutes.
4. Whisk the Worcestershire sauce, anchovies, and egg yolks into the garlic/lemon juice mixture. While whisking constantly, drizzle the canola oil and olive oil into the bowl in a slow steady stream until it fully emulsifies. Add 1/2 cup Parmesan and pepper to taste. Whisk until incorporated.
5. Add the romaine to the dressing and toss to coat. Add the croutons and mix gently until evenly distributed. Taste and season with up to 1 tablespoon of lemon juice. Serve immediately, with the remaining 1/4 cup Parmesan. Serves about 4.
Do you remember the Big Salad episode on Seinfeld? Elaine asks George to pick up a Big Salad for her when he goes to lunch at the coffee shop with his friend, Julie. George buys the salad but Julie gives it to Elaine, thus passively taking credit for the purchase. Typically, George goes completely insane. (Incidentally, the Julie character is the same actress that plays Maryann on True Blood!) Anyway, I am as much a fan of the Big Salad as Elaine, but not many places make them well. I find that they don't have enough stuff in them and are mostly a big pile of bland lettuce masquerading as a big salad.
I was originally thinking of creating a new salad to complete the week o' salads, but then realized that I had a ton of crap in my fridge that I had to get rid of before making or buying anything new. Enter: my Kitchen Sink Chopped Salad. The KSCS totally qualifies as a Big Salad. After chopping up all of the different ingredients, you'll need a big bowl!
The easiest way to throw this together is to first make the dressing in a medium/big mixing bowl, and then start adding your favorite ingredients from there. I used a few leafs (only a few) of romaine leftover from my Tofu Caesar; grape tomatoes, feta, and cucumbers leftover from my Greek Salad; beets leftover from my Beet Salad; and hearts of palm, chickpeas, and sliced almonds that were just hanging around. But use whatever you like!
Tina's Kitchen Sink Chopped Salad
3 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil
2 teaspoons red wine vinegar
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1/2 garlic clove, minced
3 small leafs of romaine, chopped
1/3 cup grape tomatoes, sliced in half
1/3 cup chopped beets
1/3 cup chopped hearts of palm
1/3 cup chopped cucumber, peeled and seeded
1/4 cup chickpeas
1/4 cup crumbled feta
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons sliced almonds, toasted
1. In a medium bowl, whisk together the oil, vinegar, mustard and garlic.
2. Add the romaine, tomatoes, beets, hearts of palm, cucumber, chickpeas, and feta to the bowl and toss to coat. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
3. Plate the salad and sprinkle the almonds on top. Serves 1.
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