It sits alone and untouched at the end of a long buffet table -- a bowl full of apples and bananas, maybe a seedy orange tossed in as an afterthought. Don't let your fruit salad meet this awful fate, spruce it up instead!
Kids' Menu: Miniature speared caprese salad bites
Years ago, my friend showed me pictures of her tasty speared caprese salad appetizers -- a mainstay at her cocktail parties. Now, whenever it comes time to think about funky salads or tasty appetizers, I think back to her skewers and wonder how I can change them up into something new. What follows is one way that is absolutely perfect for kids.
Miniature Speared Caprese Salad Bites
Ingredients:
Miniature balls of bocconcini
Cherry tomatoes
Fresh basil
Sea salt
Freshly cracked black pepper
Extra-virgin olive oil
Vinegar (optional)
Plus: plastic cocktail swords
Assembly:
All the kids need to do is grab a cocktail sword, and alternate between the ingredients until its full. The easiest way would be to either do a cheese-basil-tomato-cheese configuration, or a tomato-basil-cheese-basil-tomato configuration. How much will fit on each sword depends on the size of the tomatoes, and the cheese. If size becomes an issue -- cut the bocconcini and tomatoes in half before skewering.
If your kids are allowed to use knives, they can slice the tomatoes in half first, or keep them whole. If you're not able to get fresh basil, substitute a sprinkling of the dried variety. It's not quite the same, but it will do in a pinch.
After they're assembled on a plate/tray, drizzle lightly with your evoo (and vinegar if it's being used) and then sprinkle the top with some salt and pepper.
What results is a fun appetizer or finger food start to the dinner, and it's one that your kids can have fun both making and playing with after -- once the mini salads have been eaten.
The ugly salad that actually looks darned tasty
She might call this an ugly salad, but the Yum Neua (Thai beef salad) recipe that Pim posted about yesterday looks so very delicious -- the crinkle of the salad, the pink burst of the watermelon radish, and most importantly, the juicy red hue of a tasty piece of steak. These days, we're living in a world where lunch places think dry and grey is a good hue for roast beef, so this salad is making my inner foodie whimper.
Think about a dressing of limes, sugar, fish sauce, chili powder, shallots, and rice powder. Sounds good, doesn't it? And this mysterious rice powder -- it is utter simplicity. Pim says you just dry toast some rice grains until they're "brown and toasty." After they're cool, grind them up in your grinder of choice. It lasts as long as it takes you to eat it.
Now my brain is scheming up a million uses for rice powder...
A couscous salad from Cooking for Mr. Latte
I have worked my way through Amanda Hesser's Cooking for Mr. Latte more than five times. Each time I read it, I dog ear a few more recipes that I think would be good to try. A couple of weeks ago, I had some friends over for dinner and while most of it was potluck, I took responsibility for the main course (baked salmon) and a side. I chose to make the couscous dish that Mr. Latte makes for Amanda when they are first dating, having both read and drooled over the recipe on more than once occasion.
It turned out perfectly, and I'm planning on keeping it in mind for all those summer picnics and rooftop potlucks that pop up throughout the warmer season. It also has the added benefit of keeping well (we ate it happily for the three days it took to use it all up). Check out the recipe after the jump.
Continue reading A couscous salad from Cooking for Mr. Latte
Dick Sargent's Chinese Chicken Salad
Time again for another concoction from Frank DeCaro's archive of recipes from celebrities of the past and present (and future, I guess). This one comes from Dick Sargent (that is the correct spelling of the name, by the way), who replaced Dick York as Darrin on Bewitched. A lot of people prefer York to Sargent, but I like both of them equally. They both put their own spin on the character.
The recipe for Chinese Chicken Salad. I don't think I've ever had rice sticks and I had deep frying stuff myself, but that's one of the things you have to do to make this.
Cobb Salad Sandwich
One of my favorite cookbooks is The Comfort Diner Cookbook, by Ira Freehoff and Pia Catton. It has a ton of comfort food recipes from the famed New York City eating establishment, everything from classic American sandwiches and breakfasts to pies and other desserts and great side dishes. This one sounds especially intriguing. It's the Cobb Salad Sandwich. Hey, why have a salad as a salad if you can have it as a sandwich?Pizza Pasta Salad
You ever have one of those days when you're not sure what you want to have to eat? You're trying to decide between pizza or maybe pasta or maybe go the healthy route and have a salad. Well, now you don't have to decide.
This recipe for Pizza Pasta Salad has everything: you have your penne pasta, your tomatoes, your pepperoni, your salami, your mozzarella cheese, even Italian salad dressing and Parmesan cheese. Sounds like a recipe that you can experiment with.
(OK, it's not the healthy salad route mentioned above but it sounds pretty good.)
Conan O'Brien's Stew (Not!)
OK, this is a couple of days late, but on Monday's episode of Late Night with Conan O'Brien, the host mentioned that in the new edition of Good Housekeeping, there's a recipe for the St. Patrick's Day Stew that O'Brien is famous for. Only one problem: it's not O'Brien's recipe, he doesn't cook, and he has no idea who sent this to the magazine. Here's video from the episode to see Conan's reaction (March 17 episode, around the 8:10 mark, right after the monologue).
Of course, that doesn't mean that we can't post the recipe here! It's after the jump.
Ah, food art set to classical music
I love art, especially when it's done with food. If you are also a fan of this kind of thing, you should check out the Tate Modern Fluxus extravaganza on the weekend of May 24.
American artist Alison Knowles will perform her "Make a Salad" piece. It's pretty self explanatory. She will coordinate a group of chef's in making a giant salad (big enough to feed 300 audience members) all set to the music of Mozart. It's an artwork designed to "blur the line between art and everyday activity."
If you're a foodie who's also into art, this may be the perfect event for you. How many other times are you going to be able to combine two of your favorite things?
Butternut squash and carrot soup
I haven't been posting many recipes lately, mostly because I've been in something of dry spell when it comes to cooking. However, I haven't been staying totally out of the kitchen. Last weekend I made a pot of butternut and carrot soup that ended up being really tasty and the perfect thing to eat for lunch all week long (one of the wonderful things about this new job of mine is that it's only a block and a half from my apartment, so I can run home for lunch).
I admit that when it comes to this soup, I "cheat" a little bit. What I mean by that is that I use a pack of pre-peeled and chopped butternut squash from Trader Joe's (I've also seen it at Whole Foods). Then all I have to do is roughly chop an onion, saute it quickly in a little olive oil, toss in three or four chunks carrots, pile in the prepared squash and cover it with water or stock (I typically use one box of stock and then make up the difference with water). Then it just gently simmers until the veggies are tender. I recently acquired a far more powerful immersion blender, and it has made my blended soup far smoother than they used to be.
You might be wondering about seasoning with this soup. I actually change it up each time I make it. Sometimes I'll grate a little ginger in, or go with a spoonful of curry. This last time I used a bit of fresh thyme and a sprinkle of cinnamon. It might sound a little untraditional, but it was delicious. I also happened to have about a quarter cup of cream in my fridge and I added that in as well for a little extra smoothness. But you should feel free to make this soup your own.
Food Porn Daily: Roasted vegetable salad
Most of the United States will be springing an hour early this Sunday morning, and so in honor of this early arrival of spring, I thought I'd post a yummy-looking picture of a salad that seems appropriate for the season. Prepared, photographed and I'm assuming eaten by Flickr user ccharmon, this is a salad I see myself recreating at some point down the line.
If your cooking is taking a turn for the spring-like, why don't you take some pictures and share them with us over on the Slashfood Flickr page. Go on, tempt us with your delicious creations.
Food Porn Daily: Matzo Ball Soup
I realize that we're still more than a month out from Passover, but I've already got matzo ball soup on the brain. As I looked around our Flickr group last night, I came across this image and it said to me, "I am the platonic ideal of a bowl of matzo ball soup. Feature me!" Rachael, the blogger behind the always visually stunning site Coconut and Lime, is the woman behind this picture. If you're so inclined, you can get the recipe on her blog.
Don't forget to head over to the Slashfood Flickr site, join up and add your pictures. We want to see your kitchen creations!
Food Porn Daily: Salad Lyonnaise
There's something about this photo of a salad that calls out to me. The bright yellow of the broken egg yolk, contrasted against the neatly cut bits of bacon and the tangle of greens. Topped with a dusting of black pepper, nothing would make me happier than if someone would put this down in front of me and hand me a fork. There's even a blog post about it here.
If you've made a gorgeous salad lately, you should head on over to the Slashfood Flickr group and share your creation. Maybe it will even end up featured in this space!
How to treat a cold naturally
I woke up yesterday morning with some achiness and a stuffed up head, sure signs that a cold was coming my way. My standard method of dealing with the moments when cold and flu season hit me is lots of orange juice and a large pot of chicken and rice soup. This is mostly because that's how my mom handled it when my sister and I were growing up.
According to Sally Squires, who writes the Lean Plate Club column at the Washington Post, chicken soup is supposed to help clear up a cold. Scientists have found that the steam from the soup bowl "helps soothe and open bronchioles." The carrots, tomatoes and garlic aren't bad for you either. She dug around a little bit more, to discover other natural ways to ease the effects of a cold or flu. In talking to the experts, what she learned is that honey, especially the natural, unprocessed is good. Cherry bark extract can also help and most natural food stores carry it (it is also one of the ingredients in throat coat tea). Mint and black elderberry can also help calm a cough.
However, time is really the only dependable cure for the standard cold or flu. Frustrating, isn't it!
Global: The Los Angeles Times Food section in 60 seconds
This week, the Los Angeles Times Food section touches on every corner of the world:
- Zakuski is the Russian version of tapas, made just for vodka. The recipes are Spinach Pkhali, a dip, Salad Olivier, Quick Khachapuri (Georgian cheese pie), Eggs stuffed with caviar, and Smoked salmon and shiitakes on toast.
- From Japanese cuisine, there is shiso, with recipes for Broiled citrus with shiso, Italian tuna and shiso sandwich, and Angel hair pasta with fresh shiso-herb mix.
- On the restaurant scene, SIV goes Italian and gives Melograno two stars (**), while Linda Burum adds Ecuadorean at El Caserio in Silver Lake.
A fraking amazing Battlestar Galactica cake
Iced Tea 101
Pierogies + cheese + onions + kraut = Parmageddon!
