3 Pepper Potato Salad

This recipe came from a newspaper out in L.A. back in the late 80's. I fell in love with it's simplicity as well as it's flavor.
I don't know about you, but I get a little skeeved out by all the mayo that goes into summer fare, such as potato salad, macaroni salad and coleslaw. I love that this has olive oil instead. It's still fat, but I feel some relief from the mayo! This is a fantastic dish to take to a cookout or potluck. Everyone loves it!
The recipe calls for 3 different color bell peppers, but I use whatever combination I have. Pictured above, I only had red and yellow. Here is the recipe as I had it written on a scrap of paper...

1.5 lbs. medium potatoes, thinly sliced. (I quarter them lengthwise, and then slice about 1/4" thick)

1 each- red, yellow, green bell pepper--cut in 1/4 inch strips

1/2 cup olive oil- (I use less)

2 tsp minced garlic

2 tsp. dried oregano

1 tsp. salt, and pepper to taste

3 Tbsp. red wine vinegar

Method:

Boil potatoes until crisp tender(10 min) Drain and return to pot

Add peppers, garlic, oil, oregano and salt and pepper.

Cook over medium heat until peppers soften. Remove from heat and stir in vinegar. Adjust seasoning.

I fiddle with this recipe every time I make it, and I rarely measure anything, so try it like this and play with it until it comes out the way you like it. I wish I could find the newspaper clipping, because this was from memory.
Try it and let me know how you like it!

Wild Caught Alaskan Salmon in Parchment

 How many times in life can you serve wild caught Alaskan salmon and say you actually caught the ingredients yourself? If you're like me, it would be once in a lifetime. So far anyway.
I spent a wonderful week last July with some friends who moved to Juneau. We chartered a boat and went to the Icy Straits to fish for halibut at 350 feet, and then later for salmon. Two very different kinds of fishing.
We filleted, had it frozen and sent it back home where we've been enjoying it all year.

Mostly I've been throwing it on the grill, but with the frigid temperature last Saturday night, I couldn't bring myself to stand out there shivering over a flame.

I had to work with limited ingredients because I was overdue for a trip to the market. I had no salad ingredients, and had no idea how I was going to turn this into an interesting meal for a friend coming over.
I had some store bought shrimp thawed out I thought I'd use for something. I decided on jazzed up brown rice for a side dish.

Here is how I prepared the fish:

I chopped up some zucchini, carrot, mushroom, and onion in a small dice. I made two good sized parchment paper hearts and made a bed of chopped vegetables for the fish on one side of the paper heart. I drizzled a little extra virgin olive oil on top and sprinkles some of my favorite seasoning (Hot Rocks) on top. Oh and a sprinkle of fresh parsley I have growing in my window sill.  You could use your favorite seasoning for fish, or just a bit of salt and pepper. It's up to you. Get creative! 

Next I sealed up the packet by folding the other side of the heart over and then folding over the edges all the way around. The oven was preheated to 425, and the fish packets were placed on a cookie sheet and baked for 15 minutes. It's amazing how the vegetables come out perfectly, and the fish is cooked through while staying moist and tender. There is no fish smell in the oven, and you just throw the paper away, so there is no mess either. When it comes out of the oven, simply cut an X in the top of each packet, and pull opposite edges to open the X and allow some of the steam escape. You can serve it right in the parchment, or carefully slide it onto a plate.

 

 

I highly recommend this method of cooking any kind of fish. It works well with more delicate fish like Tilapia as well.You can actually prepare these and freeze before baking. Take them out for individual servings for a quick meal.

The brown rice was short grain brown sushi rice. I love this type of rice. It's sticky and when I cook it with broth, it had a risotto like vibe. I kept it simple by sauteing garlic and onion and cooking the rice with a mixture of chicken broth and water. At the end, I threw in that shrimp I had thawed out because I didn't know what else to do with it, and some roasted red peppers that I'd fire roasted and frozen back in October.

It was a simple, casual, healthy and delicious meal, made by winging it. Winging it is challenging at times, but that's just how I roll.

Food Confusion and a Veggie and Egg White Breakfast Wrap

This stack of books actually came from my bookshelves, and while it's a little embarrassing when they're all stacked up like that, I'll admit I was a little disappointed that there were still a few missing, I've either lost or lent them out over the years, and never got them back. I wanted the full drama of all the diets and programs I've been on, or at least investigated over the years. (Add to this stack: Body for Life, The Zone, Fit or Fat?, Choices For a Healthy Heart, Healthy For Life and Stop the Insanity--to name a few)

My cookbooks would stack from floor to ceiling without a problem, which leads me to the point of today's entry: What the hell am I supposed to eat? I'm so confused. There is so much conflicting information out there. Not to mention, I love to cook, I love to eat, and to top it off I'd like to drop a few pounds and also write a food blog. There I said it. I want to lose some weight and write a food blog and the two don't seem to go together. I wasn't planning to write a weight loss journal, or a diet plan. I guess it's really not what the hell do I eat, as much as what the hell do I write about?

Having said all that, I have made some progress in this area, and also some inner peace on the subject. For the most part I eat lots of vegetables, fruit, whole grains and lean proteins. I don't omit entire food groups or eat them in rigid combination. Water is my beverage of choice, but only after I've had my morning coffee. I drink green tea and love red wine. Those are my antioxidants!

So what is the confusion you ask? Sounds like I've got a handle on things, doesn't it? I think I just worked it out as I wrote this! I guess I couldn't figure out how I was going to do all this cooking and blogging while trying to lose weight! I didn't want that to be my focus.

Well the heck with it then!  Here is what I made this morning, like it or not it was equal to only 4 Weight Watchers points. Deal with it! ( I'm using W.W. system as a tool only to help me keep track of calories taken in. If they'd like to sponsor me, I'd be more than happy to oblige..) (Oh, and the "Deal with it!" was aimed at me, not you) Trust me folks, I'm coming to grips and working this out as I write. Stay with me!

I put a smidgen of olive oil in a teeny cast iron skillet. Just enough to get some onion started without sticking. If I'd have had an olive oil spray, I would have used that. 

I added a little chopped yellow bell pepper, a couple of chopped mushrooms, and some thinly sliced zucchini.

While they were cooking, I whipped up one whole egg and a few tablespoons of liquid egg whites. 

I found these in a little pint size carton on my last trip to ALDI. I bought it because I hate throwing out perfectly good yolks. I save them and then forget to use them.

If you want to use regular egg whites, you can add one or two, depending on how many vegetables you're putting in your omelet. Sometimes one isn't enough.

I always have the best intentions of making a perfect omelet, but it usually is a hybrid between an omelet and a scramble. So what? As my grandpa used to say, "It all goes to the same place anyway".

To my eggs, I added my favorite ingredient, Rooster sauce, or rather Sriracha Hot Chili Sauce. I can't pronounce the words on the bottle, but it has a picture of a rooster on it. I think millions of Americans call it "Rooster Sauce". It's hella hot, but adds nice flavor if you don't over do it. I added a sprinkle of kosher salt and fresh ground pepper and poured the mixture on top of the vegetables. 

And finally, I put it all in a whole grain wrap. The wrap only has 90 calories and has 9 grams of fiber. That is amazing. That counts as one measly point in W.W. land. The veggies were free. I threw in a point for the oil just because it seems crazy that this could be so few points. I topped it off with a dollop of salsa and really had a good, healthy and filling breakfast.

I use whatever vegetables are in my fridge on any given day. I find if you bulk up your foods with extra veggies, it is a great way to get all your servings in, and fill you up without adding extra calories.

This is only day two of my self inflicted program. I'm very tempted to buy Jillian Michael's book about Metabolism, or Alicia Silverstone's Kind Diet. Anyone have any suggestions? Wish me luck!

Orange Food and Fall Flavors...

I haven't posted anything lately because I noticed I wasn't eating anything other than soups and stews and mostly orange foods. Carrot soup, chicken and butternut stew, cabbage with yams. Lentil soup that looked orange, and finally, pumpkin muffins. In addition, most everything is seasoned with fall flavors like cumin, curry, cinnamon, and smoked paprika.  I've been eating cantaloupes, and about four pounds of oranges per week. Is my body trying to tell me something? Is it screaming out for beta-carotene? I even put carrots and an orange bell pepper in my last batch of turkey chili, people!

 I don't know if readers are interested in hearing about my spinach, zucchini, mushroom and egg white omelets, or my low fat turkey meatloaf.  Maybe they are. Maybe food doesn't have to be rich and exotic to get attention. Not like people.....;)

I've been working solely from home all winter so I am home every day. I haven't been going to the gym or getting enough exercise this winter, so I thought the least I could do is make light and healthy meals for myself and my son. Actually this is the way I prefer to eat, but apparently it's the whole portion control  aspect I need to get a grasp of.
I eat when I'm bored, I eat when I'm pissed, stressed, sad, happy, lonely...I guess there is such a thing as too much of a good thing.
It's when I have company that I make all the food I think I should be writing about. The food I think people want to read about. The homemade pizzas, pastas, scones and pies...chicken paprikas.
 But maybe you want to know how I make my brown rice delicious and not bland, or how to whip up something out of the pantry in no time at all.
I am open to suggestions from everyone, if there is something in particular you are in the mood for. It will inspire me to find a recipe or create my own version of something. All you need to do is ask.

I'm Not Re-Inventing The Wheel Pumpkin Muffins

My intention with this blog is only to share recipes and thoughts and stories and jokes and whatever I feel like in the moment. I am not trying to be anything different than the friend you might hang out with and spend some time with around the kitchen island. Sometimes we'll laugh at stupid stuff, and sometimes we'll attempt to figure out the meaning of life.  Hopefully, in the end we'll feel better for having talked.

So when I post what seems to be an everyday recipe, or 'peasant food', it's because it's what I happen to feel like making that day, and not because I'm trying to win a spot on the Food Network. (insert link here ;) )

This morning I saw Joy Bauer on the Today Show. She does the Joy Fit Club segments on the show. I was chuckling because she was talking about easy vegetable soups and stews, almost exactly like I have been posting here so far. Then she suggested eating a cup of it instead of a salad for dinner, or having some while you prepare dinner to stave off hunger and get a serving of vegetables in.
If you read my last post you'll know why I chuckled. And then I thought....and she's rich...and thin!! What gives?

This afternoon I felt like baking something on the healthy side and also wanted to use the gluten and wheat free baking mix I had left over from a friend's visit.
Yesterday I made a batch of banana muffins with it, but a batch only made 9 muffins? Who ever heard of such a thing?
Today I decided to make more muffins, but I had no more bananas. Joy Bauer said she uses canned pumpkin in all sorts of things because it's so low in calories but full of fiber. So I decided to substitute a cup of canned pumpkin for the banana. I also decided to follow the recipe for Banana Loaf Cake instead of the muffin recipe, so that I might yield a full dozen muffins.

I threw in a handful of pecans instead of walnuts and 1 1/2  tsp.of pumpkin pie spice to jazz it up. They're sweetened with 1/2 Cup of honey, and in hind sight I probably didn't need the vanilla.
They were quick and easy, and my son can have a snack when he gets home. I like the idea of using a different flour other than wheat once in awhile, because I think so many things we eat contain wheat. This mix is made with brown and white rice flour.

Though I rarely use a baking mix of any sort, I think it's ok now and then if it's good quality. In this case, I used Pamela's Baking and Pancake Mix.
I'm not trying to reinvent the wheel here, but maybe to just inspire you to look in your pantry and work with what you've got.

 

I managed to squeeze a dozen out of the recipe!

Baby it's cold outside! More mouth watering soups!

I guess winter has finally arrived. I thought we were getting off easy this year, but no. The bitter cold days of January have kicked in, and all I crave are comfort foods. Thankfully the comfort foods I crave right now are more of the vegetable soups and stew variety, rather than the heavy carbs, fat and dairy type. Trust me, I love those as much as the next guy, but I'm just grateful that my cravings are leaning toward healthy.

Last week I made a lentil soup. Pretty basic, but at the end I threw in some diced zucchini. I like to bulk up my soups with lots of vegetables. It's an easy way to get your five servings in. I like to have a cup of vegetable soup instead of a salad on winter's coldest days.  A great tool when dieting, to keep from snacking too much  is to have a cup of it while you're prepping a meal and it'll take the edge off your hunger. I don't know about you, but I'm ready to butter my own arm and eat it around that time of the day.

Tonight I made a variation of a dish I like to make this time of year. It doesn't have a name, but my friend from Argentina made something like it when I lived in California. I never had the spice she had to give it the kick, so I had to improvise. I make an 'inspired by' version.
The basic ingredients are onion, garlic, cabbage, yams, white potato and chicken broth. I had no yams so I used butternut squash. I still have some potatoes from the garden so I used those. I used fat free chicken broth, and I sauteed the onion and garlic in a little olive oil. (Vegetable broth will work fine)

I get the onion to where its starting to get nice and brown, and then add the cabbage and the broth.(I used 32oz. of chicken broth) I cook it down for a couple minutes and add the potatoes and yams. In this case it was butternut squash.

As for spices I usually use kosher or sea salt, pepper and then cayenne or crushed red pepper to give it some kick. This time I used a spice blend called Hot Rocks from a company called Pelican Bay Ltd. It's a "Uniquely hot and spicy blend of seasonings, mineral & sea salts, peppers, parsley, lemon and natural flavorings". (this is where I should put a link and try and make some money from Google ads!)

What you end up with is a brothy, spicy, combo of winter vegetables. You could serve it over wide egg noodles if you were so inclined. Serve it as a main dish or along with your dinner as a side. I skipped the noodles and just had a big bowl all by itself. I added a little more kosher salt to my bowl, and a grind of black pepper. I still prefer the yams, but the butternut was a decent substitute. The Hot Rocks were a nice addition.

If you're interested in making either of these, and have questions, just let me know. I know I've posted mostly soups so far and I hope you're not tired of them already! I just need them to get through the coldest portion of winter!

I'll be looking forward to next spring and summer when I plant my garden and start creating dishes from all homegrown vegetables. I hope to share my garden experimentation here on D.R.O.O.L.

Until next time-

d*

Vermont Salad

I want to share a favorite salad recipe that I got from a friend a few years back. It's called Vermont Salad, but I have no idea where the recipe originated. I'm sure the name came from one of the ingredients in the dressing.

It is delicious, and also a crowd pleaser when you serve it to guests or take it to someone's house.

Enjoy!

1/4 Cup cider vinegar

1 Garlic clove

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

1 tsp. Dijon mustard

2 Tbsp. maple syrup (hence the "Vermont")

2/3 Cup olive oil

1/3 Cup vegetable oil

Mixed Greens (baby greens or mescalin mix)

Crumbled bleu cheese and walnuts

Method:

In a blender or processor, blend cider vinegar and garlic clove.

Strain, and discard garlic.

In a bowl, or food processor, add salt, pepper, mustard, and maple syrup. Whisk or process until blended.

Whisk in oils slowly in a steady stream.

(I did mine in the processor, and it did not separate for more than a week in the refrigerator).

You can use this dressing on any salad you like. It is delicious and goes well on anything. However, this recipe with the baby greens with walnuts and bleu cheese is a winner. I personally like to tweak it, like everything else I make.

Here are some variations. You can choose any combination.

Dried cranberries, fresh crisp diced apple, red onion, red bell pepper strips, toasted pine nuts, Gorgonzola or feta in place of the bleu cheese. I like the bold salty cheese with the sweet of the cranberry or apple. The onion adds a little kick, and cuts the sweetness.

It's a beautiful salad to look at, and makes a great presentation! Hope you like it!                                           

Winter Squash and Chicken Stew

As promised, the recipe for this wintry, warming stew. I cannot take credit for this recipe, and I will post it as written, but will also make side notes and suggestions.

I wrote this all out on Facebook the last time I made it, complete with pictures and notes, and then my browser crashed. I'm just getting around to doing this again.

Let's get started. According to my notes, this recipe is from Bon Apetit - November, 1995. Wow, I had been married a little over 2 years and was  3 months pregnant.  How time flies.

The Recipe:

2 teaspoons olive oil

6 chicken thighs - no skin (I like the flash frozen boneless and skinless. They work great)

1 1/3 Cup chopped onion

3 Garlic cloves, minced (diced, sliced, squeezed, pressed... it doesn't matter)

1 1/2 teaspoons curry powder

1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin

1 teaspoon cinnamon

4 Cups peeled, cubed butternut or acorn squash. (I always use butternut, but it's a personal preference)

2 Cups peeled, cubed Russet potatoes (I use whatever I've got on hand)

1 Cup chicken broth

1 14.5 -16 oz can diced tomatoes

2 Tablespoons cilantro (optional)

I used potatoes and onions from my summer garden, and I measured out

the spices ahead of time

 Method:

Heat 1 tsp oil in Dutch oven- Season Chicken with salt and pepper, and brown on all sides. (About 8 minutes) Transfer to plate

Heat remaining tsp. oil - add onion and garlic, saute until golden, about 5 minutes. Add curry powder, cumin and cinnamon and stir one minute.

Return chicken to pot, add squash, potatoes, broth and tomatoes.

Cover and simmer 15 minutes. Uncover and simmer until chicken and potatoes are cooked through and liquid is slightly reduced, about 8 minutes.

Season with salt and pepper

Sprinkle with cilantro

This is a great recipe used just as written, but I find that it easily adjusts, and you can play with it. I don't measure out the potatoes or squash or onions either. I just use the entire squash because it's almost always more than 4 cups. Also, there is no law against using more garlic in my opinion!
I started using boneless chicken thighs simply because no one wants to deal with trying to get the meat off the bone in the middle of their soup bowl.
The same with my preference to Butternut, I find Acorn to be a pain to peel!
As far as tomatoes, I think I used stewed tomatoes last time. Sometimes I add more broth, water or tomatoes, depending on what is available and how much extra vegetables or chicken I'm using.
Go ahead and experiment. Sometimes I use more chicken...or less! You can't mess it up.
The only thing I do measure out is the cumin, curry and cinnamon. These are potent spices and can overwhelm a recipe if you have a heavy hand. I find this blend is perfect just as written. The cinnamon is a subtle surprise. I would never have thought of using it in stew before.

I love cilantro, but I won't make a trip to the store for 2 Tablespoons. I appreciate it when it's there, but don't miss it when it's not.

I hope you'll try this recipe, and share your thoughts and results.
I appreciate you when you're here, and miss you when you're not. Not like that silly cilantro!

So long decade; it was nice knowing ya...

Happy New Year!  That phrase really doesn't have a ton of meaning to me anymore. Maybe I'm jaded;  I can't get that jazzed up over a flip of the calendar page. It's like a birthday. Remember the excitement about turning another year older?  When did that lose it's charm? I'm guessing around age 30...

What is it about  new year's eve that makes people want to scream, wear hats, blow horns and makeout? Personally I blame the movies. I remember sitting home as a young girl and dreaming about the days I'd be dancing deleriously  in the streets at midnight on New Years Eve. I attempted a few times. I went through the motions, but secretly I knew I was missing something, because truth be told, I felt nothing.
In my twenties, New Years Eve became the ugly sister to Valentine's Day. If you didn't have plans, or you weren't kissing someone at midnight, you may as well join a convent. Not being Catholic, the convent was not an option. I probably just stayed home and stuffed my feelings. I'm chuckling right now, but you know there is probably some truth to it.

My crazy vision of New Years Eve antics

Here is a memory that just flashed through my mind:
The year my brother came back from Vietnam, he and I sat up and watched Come Back Little Sheba. A depressing little movie with Burt Lancaster and Shirley Booth. He was probably really depressed that he wasn't out whooping it up, and I was feeling all happy and special to be sitting up past midnight with my big brother. I remember him leaning over to me at midnight and saying, "Wanna sip of my beer?" I politely refused because I knew if it smelled like skunk pee, it probably wasn't something I was interested in tasting.
 I have a vague memory of us going outside and him firing his gun  once into the air. I don't know if that really happened or not. I wonder if he remembers this at all. I shall ask him today!

My oldest brother Rick and I,  pre-Vietnam days

So as far as the new year? I look at this from the standpoint that this is the end of a decade. A decade that started out really shitty. Like, the shittiest ever in my entire life. (Forgive me if I exclude world events such as 9/11/01, the wars, the housing bubble and financial collapse. I'm speaking strictly for my inner self)

During the last decade I  endured a divorce, early menopause, the death of both parents and 2 other friends. I changed jobs 5 times while raising my son, caring for my mom after dad died, and building a freelance hair business. Oh yeah, and I turned 50! What the hell else do you want to throw at me? Bring it!


But here's the good thing! It sent me headlong  into my journey of self discovery. A spiritual awakening if you will. I went to sweat lodges, group therapy, art therapy, energy healings and any and everything else I could find to get down beneath all this pain and anger I was feeling.  Not just from my marriage, but I went way back to uncover  and face the hurt from my past.
I can look back and see how much I've grown. I can look back and sigh a sigh of relief that the worst of it is now behind me. I have by no means 'arrived', but now I am so self aware. Now when something comes up, I can discern when it is my issue, and not someone elses. There may be nothing I can do about it in the moment, but self awareness is 90 pecent of it. The new milleneum showed me what I was made of.

So yeah, Happy New Year. Or Happy New Decade. The last one was hard, but as Maya Angelou said, "I wouldn't take nothin' for my journey now". I don't regret any of it because it was a period of such profound growth for me. Well...except maybe the turning 50 part....