Make this a permanent part of your side dish rotation

This is one of my family’s favorite side dishes.  It is great with steak, chicken, or fish.  I make it even more often now that I can get a two-pound package of asparagus at Costco for something slightly less than a King’s ransom.

Asparagus with Sesame Vinaigrette (4-6 servings)

• 2 pounds asparagus
• 1 teaspoon garlic, finely chopped
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon white pepper
• 2 teaspoons dijon mustard
• 1½ teaspoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 4 tablespoons toasted sesame oil (non-toasted sesame oil works too, but the flavor is much less intense)

Cut off the tough lower ends of the asparagus spears and discard.  Steam the asparagus until just tender.  Drain, pat dry and set aside.  Blend the remaining ingredients in a blender, cuisinart or mini-chopper (I use the mini-chopper).  Both of these steps can be done a day ahead.  If you are doing it ahead of time, put the asparagus along with a few paper towels in a plastic storage container overnight, storing the dressing separately.  Just before you want to serve the asparagus, bring it out of the fridge, plate it and lightly drizzle the sesame dressing over the top and then serve.

Seafood Pasta Salad. Perfect for a Potluck.

If you are wondering what to make to take with you to the Labor Day Potluck (or any other potluck), look no further.  This is it.  As you know by now, I’m all about simple, healthy food that doesn’t take long to make.  This is one of those crowd-pleasing dishes that you can put together in a few minutes of mindless chopping.  My kids like it as a school lunch.  My husband likes it as a weeknight dinner.  My friends like it whenever I bring it somewhere.

Seafood Pasta Salad (6-8 servings)

• 16 ounces curly pasta
• 1 1/2 cups Italian Salad Dressing (I use my own Everyday Salad Dressing, but my Mom buys hers and she uses Girard’s Champagne Dressing – any of the straightforward store bought Vinaigrettes would be fine for this)
• 2 red bell peppers, coarsely chopped
• ½ medium red onion, finely diced
• 1 cup marinated artichoke hearts, drained and chopped
• 3 cups of lightly blanched broccoli, chopped
• 2 pounds of cooked shrimp, chopped (save a few whole shrimps for garnish)
• ½ pound real crabmeat (this is optional – the salad rocks without it if you don’t want to go to the expense)
• 4 tablespoons mayonnaise
• 1 ripe avocado, sliced

Cook and drain the pasta.  Toss with 1/2 cup of salad dressing and allow to sit for at least an hour.  Can be done the day before.

Just toss the veggies and the shrimp together

When ready to serve, combine the prepared vegetables and the shrimp (add the crab too if you have it).  Combine the pasta with the vegetables.

Mayo and Vinaigrette ready to be whisked

Add the mayonnaise and additional salad dressing to taste (I whisk the mayonnaise and the salad dressing in a small bowl first, but you don’t have to do this – it will work fine if you just toss it all in together).

Garnish with a few whole shrimps and the sliced avocado.  Serve.

Home made Tartar Sauce

I know you, my fair readers, just buy tartar sauce when you need it.  Who doesn’t?  At first I thought that tartar sauce fell into the same category as ketchup and mustard – that being the category of things that even though I’m an obsessed home chef, I still buy these items prepared at the store.  I don’t, for example, churn my own butter, nor do I have a cow that I milk in the mornings. My children have recently been lobbying for chickens, live ones, in the yard, in West LA.  This is a losing battle on their part.  I am not going to agree to chickens.  I did decide to follow the advice of my father and try making my own tartar sauce. This is his recipe.  It goes well with all kinds of shellfish.  I like it best on shrimp, but it’s a multi-tasker – this recipe.

• 2 cups mayonnaise
• 2 small boiled potatoes, cold, peeled and mashed (1.5 inch diameter red potatoes)
• 2 teaspoons parsley, minced
• 1 teaspoon capers, finely chopped
• 2 tablespoons of dill pickle, finely chopped
• ⅛th teaspoon freshly ground white pepper
• ¼ teaspoon salt

Thoroughly combine all ingredients and chill for two hours before serving.

The sauce may be thinned with lemon juice if it is too thick.

What an exquisite color - not the plate, the soup!

British colonialists in response to Indian cuisine designed this style of soup, at least so the story goes.  Translated from the Tamil, the word literally means pepper water, which seems odd to me since there is very little pepper flavor in the soup.  I did some searching on the web to learn more about the soup and I discovered that the various recipes that call themselves “Mulligatawny” have almost nothing in common, save a collection of Indian spices.  This is my father’s version.  I couldn’t find any other recipes out there that included a banana.  I’ll have to ask him how his soup came to have one in it.  Perhaps he slipped and fell into the soup.  When I first started making this recipe my kids were wee (little).  Though they loved the flavor, it was a tad too spicy for them.  To make the soup less spicy add one extra potato, an additional can of coconut milk and two more cups of chicken stock.  The toned down version has the same general feeling of the original but not quite as much heat.

Mulligatawny Soup (10-12 servings)

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 onion, minced
• 2 leeks, white part only, minced
• 1 large shallot, minced
• 1 carrot, chopped medium
• 1 red pepper, medium dice
• ½ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
• 1 zucchini, medium dice
• 1 clove garlic, chopped fine
• 1 stalk celery, medium dice
• 2 medium Russet potatoes, peeled and diced
• 1 tablespoon curry powder
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• ½ teaspoon coriander
• ½ teaspoon white pepper
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• 3 quarts chicken or vegetable broth
• 1 ripe banana
• ½ can full fat coconut milk
• 28 ounce can peeled plum tomatoes
• 2 cups cooked white rice
• 1 cup flaked coconut (unsweetened)
• 4 cups chopped cooked chicken (optional)

Heat oil and butter in large stockpot.  Sauté the chili flakes, onion, leeks, shallot, carrot, red bell pepper for 6-8 minutes over medium heat.  Add the garlic, for 1-2 minutes.  Add the all of the remaining ingredients except the rice,  flaked coconut and chicken. Bring to a boil. Reduce to simmer for 60 to 90 minutes, until all of the vegetables are tender.

Either use an immersion blender or put through a food processor in batches and process all of the soup until smooth.  Add salt and pepper to taste (the need for salt will depend highly on the type of chicken broth used).

Add the flaked coconut.

To serve ladle the soup into bowls and garnish with 2-3 tablespoons of cooked rice set carefully into the soup.  You can also add cooked chicken with the rice as well.

This soup is better the second day.

This used to be a staple in our kitchen.  I made a new batch every few weeks and we used it on salmon, swordfish, halibut and chicken quite regularly (especially in the years when fish was a reasonable alternative to meat in terms of its price point).  And then we discovered Soy Vay.  An Asian style marinade that it widely available on the West Coast, Soy Vay became our go-to marinade for fish for many years.  Recently I’ve decided that the homemade version really is better and is worth the 2 minutes of prep time it takes to pull it together.  It’s also cheaper – if you are a budget conscious home cook.  Usually homemade things are, and this marinade is no exception.  You pay a real premium for things like marinades (my husband, the MBA, calls such things, “high profit margin items” – a term he did not invent but he certainly uses with great frequency).  If you’ve been buying store bought marinades, you might want to give this one a shot.  It gives the fish or chicken a lovely shiny glaze, and oh does it ever taste great!

Asian Marinade

• 1 ¼ cup rice wine vinegar
• 1 cup honey
• ¾ cup soy sauce
• ¾ cup Mirin (available in the Asian food section of most grocery stores)
• 2 green onions, finely chopped, white parts only
• 1 teaspoon minced garlic
• 1 teaspoon chopped fresh ginger
• ¾ teaspoon red pepper flakes

Combine all of the ingredients in a saucepan.  Cook on medium heat for 40 minutes.  Cool and refrigerate.  It will keep in the fridge for a number of weeks.

When you are ready to prepare fish, either brush it on the fish and then grill, OR place the marinade in a dish and set the fish in the marinade.  Don’t leave the fish much longer than an hour.  The marinade is strong stuff and it will begin to cook the fish if you leave it on for too long.

Fresh Corn Salsa

These burgers are meant to be served open-faced on good quality dinner rolls with a large-sized serving of corn salsa on top. The corn salsa recipe is EASY and is an essential part of the meal.  This is great picnic or summer BBQ food.  Grab a beer or a margarita and enjoy a lazy August day.

Turkey Burgers with Fresh Corn Salsa (6-8 servings)

Burgers:

• 2 lbs ground turkey
• ¾ cup finely crushed tortilla chips (my children LOVE crushing tortilla chips almost as much as they love stomping on bubble wrap)
• 4 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
• 1 tablespoon chili powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 ½ teaspoons cumin
• ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1 cup grated cheese (I use a Mexican blend)
• Square sourdough dinner rolls, cut in half

Salsa:

• 1 cup prepared Pico de Gallo salsa (I use spicy salsa but you can use whatever makes you happy – I’m all about happy)
• 4 ears of white corn, kernels removed
• 1 can black beans, drained
• 2 tablespoons chopped cilantro
• 3 plum tomatoes, chopped

Pre-heat the BBQ to medium-high.

Turkey Burger Prep

Combine the turkey, crushed chips, cilantro, chili powder, salt, cumin, pepper, eggs and cheese in large bowl. Using a fork mix it together well. Form 6-8 patties.  I find that it is just slightly easier to manage the burgers on the grill if you refrigerate them slightly after you’ve formed them.  Even 20 minutes in the fridge will help.

Spray a hearty dose of vegetable spray on your grill otherwise your burgers will stick and you’ll end up eating turkey shards instead of turkey burgers.  Grill the burgers on medium until they are cooked through, about 5 minutes per side.  If you over-cook them they will be DRY and miserable.

Fresh Corn Salsa Prep

While the burgers are cooking, mix all of the corn salsa ingredients together in a medium-sized bowl.

Serve the burgers open-face on dinner rolls with a good-sized serving of corn salsa on top.

My kids think these are the greatest.  My younger son can eat five in one sitting, my older son too.  Who would have thunk it that balls made of spinach and cheese could bring such delight to my offspring?  They work well as an appetizer for an informal dinner amongst friends – or as a part of a brunch menu.

Spinach Cheese Appetizers (30 balls)

• 2 10-ounce packages of frozen chopped spinach, thawed
• 2 cups herb-seasoned bread crumbs
• 4 eggs, lightly beaten
• 1/2 cup melted butter or margarine
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• ½ cup shredded Swiss cheese

Prep work for Spinach Cheese Appetizers

Squeeze the liquid from the spinach.  This is no easy task.  Seriously.  Get out a big flat spoon and press the spinach against the sides of a strainer.  It’s helpful if the strainer is in the sink, otherwise you get green spinach water all over everything which really only works out if you have on green clothes and are working in a green kitchen.  Otherwise, it’s a misery.  You really want to press out a lot of the liquid.  They aren’t very good if they are full of water.  Combine all of the ingredients.  Cover and refrigerate overnight.

Prepped and ready to go nightie night.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Shape into 1-inch balls and place on a greased cookie sheet.  Bake the balls for 15 minutes.  Serve hot or at room temperature.  These freeze really well.  My kids like to eat them for breakfast on school mornings.  I make a big batch, freeze them, and then just defrost a handful for them.

Super Steaks

We love to order steak at restaurants – however, they are rarely as good as the ones my husband makes at home.

• 4 Ribeye steaks (New York steaks work just as well)
• olive oil
• coarse salt (we use Camargue salt)
• garlic powder
• ground black pepper

Preheat BBQ on high heat.  It is best if the BBQ is quite hot before you put the steaks on.

Places steaks on a baking sheet.  Brush both sides of steaks lightly with olive oil.

Spread salt, garlic powder and pepper liberally on both sides.  Err on the side of more salt, garlic powder and pepper than you think is necessary.  These are thick steaks and can handle quite a lot of spice on them.

Turn grill down to medium high.  Place steaks on the grill and cook on medium-high heat until desired doneness (about six minutes a side for medium rare).  Serve

Greek Salad

Like many things, this salad improves dramatically depending on the quality of the ingredients. Using heirloom tomatoes, good quality olives, high-end greens, really good olive oil, etc. will take you from an everyday salad to a thing of beauty and we all want to be surrounded by beauty, don’t we?

Greek Salad (8 servings)

Salad:

• ½ a large English or 2 Persian cucumbers cut lengthwise and then into half rounds
• ½ cup pitted Kalamata olives
• ½ pound tomatoes sliced into small chunks
• ½ cup sweet onions (Vidalia or Maui) sliced into thin half rounds
• 10 ounces mixed greens
• 1 cup feta crumbled (I’m partial to Israeli Feta)
• pepper
• coarse salt

Dressing:

• 1 small shallot put in mini-chopper, chopped very fine
• juice of ¼ lemon
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• pinch of pepper
• ¼ cup best quality red wine vinegar
• 1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
• 1 cup best quality extra virgin olive oil

Put all of the dressing ingredients in a mini-chopper. Pulse.  Gradually add the olive oil. Taste for salt.

Put all of the salad ingredients in a large salad bowl. Toss the salad with half as much dressing as you think you need, then taste it and add more dressing if necessary.  Add freshly ground black pepper and ½ teaspoon of crunchy sea salt.  Serve immediately.

A note on olive oil and salt – there is extra virgin olive oil and then there is extra virgin olive oil.  You may have noticed that most grocery stores have started to carry a wide range of olive oils.  Fancy pants olive oils do taste noticeably different than cheaper ones.  They are often nuttier, and more rich in flavor than lesser olive oils.  Though I don’t sauté in expensive olive oil, I do splurge for salad dressing.

A real crowd pleaser.

This is one of my Totally Trader Joe’s recipes.  I was chatting with some friends the other day and we were discussing our cooking habits.  All of us shop at Trader Joe’s and love trying to bring together different Trader Joe’s products into new, tasty combinations.  This recipe takes my Simple Chicken Soup recipe and by adding three Trader Joe’s products, transforms the soup into a savory, soulful meatball minestrone.  This is great on a rainy day, is very easy to pull together and can be made with the same products from a different vendor if you aren’t a Trader Joe’s shopper.  [Trader Joe's Disclaimer:  In case you worry about such things, I don't work for Trader Joe's, I'm not related to anyone who does and they've never given me a nickel, let alone any free food.  Despite their lack of largesse, I continue to be a devoted shopper and I do occasionally try to think creatively about how one might use their products - since it's clear to me I'm not the only one who likes to shop there].

Savory, Soulful Meatball Minestrone

• 1 tablespoon grapeseed or olive oil
• 4 half chicken breasts with bones and skin
• 1 ½ cups carrots, chopped
• 1 ½ cups celery, chopped
• 2 medium onions, chopped
• 2 leeks, well cleaned and chopped (white part only)
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 3 32-oz boxes chicken broth (preferably organic)
• 1 cup dry white wine
• 3 packets chicken flavor liquid concentrate OR 3 cubes chicken bouillon
• 1 6.7-oz jar prepared basil pesto (Trader Giotto’s Pesto alla Genovese)
• 1 25-oz jar marinara sauce (Trader Giotto’s Organic Marinara Sauce)
• 1 12-oz package chicken meatballs, cut in half or quarters (Trader Joe’s Gourmet Chicken Meatballs with Sun-Dried Tomatoes, Basil and Provolone or frozen meatballs or you’re own homemade meatballs work just as well)

Heat grapeseed or olive oil in large soup pot.  Add chicken breasts and brown on medium/high heat, about three minutes per side.  They should be golden.  Remove chicken from pot and set aside.  Turn heat down to medium and add celery, carrots, onions, leeks and butter to pot.  Brown the vegetables until they are soft, about 10-12 minutes.

Add three boxes of chicken broth and the wine to the softened vegetables.  Turn heat up to high and bring broth to a boil.  Immediately turn down to a simmer and add the chicken breasts and any accumulated liquid.  Simmer for 20 minutes.  Do not allow to boil.  Remove chicken breasts from pot and allow them to rest on a cutting board.  Taste the soup.  Most of the time I think the flavor is too mild.  Add chicken concentrate or bouillon.  You could also add butter, but I try to keep that to a minimum.

Pull the chicken off of the bone and chop into cubes.  Add chicken cubes back to the pot.  The chicken should be just cooked through.  If it still has pink spots, don’t worry, it will finish cooking when you add it back to the pot.  Add the pesto, the marinara sauce and the meatballs.  Simmer until the meatballs are heated through.

Adjust the seasoning, adding salt and pepper to taste (it won’t need much, if any).  Serve or allow to cool and freeze.