The Naughty Blogger's Southwestern Salad

I've been a little absent from the blogosphere as of late, but in lieu of the usual "teaching is taking over my faculties" excuse, I'll just admit it: I've been naughty. If you all were my animals, you'd be standing by the front door with a leash in your mouth and soft eyes pleading for attention.

I haven't been naughty in the kitchen, however, and in my attempt to eat more healthfully during the winter months, I've been darn successful. When I eat fresh and healthy, I have more energy to grade, prepare for lecture, read, and every now and then, BLOG!! Here's hoping that energy keeps on coming.

I have a lot to catch up on this blog, so I'll start with one of my favorite light dinners, adapted from Eating Well. The original recipe called for beef, but I've used everything from leftover shredded chicken and ground chicken, to my favorite, ground turkey. I've listed the specific brand/type of ingredient where necessary, but it's pretty versatile. I had some feta to use up, and my husband prefers cheddar to top, but the saltiness of the feta is a lot like queso fresco (and in this neck of the woods, feta is a lot cheaper).


Southwestern Ground Turkey Salad
(adapted from Eating Well's Tex-Mex Taco Salad)

1/2 cup + 2 tbsp. Muir Glen Black Bean and Corn Salsa
1/4 cup fat-free sour cream
1 tsp. canola oil
1 yellow onion (preferably sweet), diced
1 large clove garlic, minced
1-14.5 oz. can red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
1 lb. ground turkey
2 plum tomatoes, chopped
2 tsp. cumin
2 tsp. chili powder
Fresh ground black pepper, to taste
Large handful chopped, organic cilantro
Small head organic romaine lettuce, shredded
Garden of Eatin Blue Corn Tortilla Chips
Crumbled feta to top (optional)



Directions
1. Mix salsa and sour cream together in a small bowl, and set aside. Heat oil over medium heat and add onion and garlic; cook until fragrant and then add ground turkey. Once cooked through, add tomatoes, spices and kidney beans. Cook until tomatoes are tender. Remove from heat.


2. Add some of the salsa-sour cream mixture and the chopped cilantro to turkey mixture, up to 1/2 cup. Toss salad greens with the remaining salsa-sour cream mixture and arrange among 2-3 plates. Top with meat mixture and arrange tortilla chips around the plates. Sprinkle with feta and enjoy!

My absolute favorite potato salad

I've been making this recipe since I first saw it in an issue of Bon Appetit, and I remember thinking at the time, why the hell didn't I think of putting my yearly bounty of fresh herbs into what is usually a boring, tasteless side dish at BBQs? I've already lamented my hatred for pasta salads, but my hatred for the mayo-saturated, overcooked potato salad has only been able to find solace in this recipe.


I don't follow it to a T since I generally tend to add more herbs than are called for or sub out ones that I don't have on hand for those that are about to wilt, but this is another great way to not only clean out your surplus of fresh summer herbs but satisfy a hungry crowd.


Ian and I used the fresh red potatoes we procured at the Farmer's Market to make this dish, and it made a wonderful accompaniment to the quick frozen burgers we threw on the grill on one of the hottest days of the year for the Palouse. With Romano broad beans and fresh garden sugar snap peas, as well as fresh strawberries and blackberries rounding out the meal, I almost forgot that I have been hot and miserable for the past few days. Almost.








Creamy Potato Salad with Lemon and Fresh Herbs
Bon Appetit 2007

3 pounds baby red potatoes
3 tablespoons unseasoned rice vinegar
3/4 cup mayonnaise*
3 medium green onions, thinly sliced
1 celery stalk, cut into 1/3-inch cubes
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley**
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil
2 tablespoons chopped fresh dill
1 1/2 teaspoons finely grated lemon peel***


Directions
1. Bring potatoes to boil in large pot of water. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer until potatoes are tender, about 17 minutes. Drain; let stand until cool enough to handle, about 20 minutes.

2. Cut potatoes into 3/4-inch pieces. Place 1 layer of potatoes in large bowl; sprinkle with some of vinegar and salt and pepper. Continue layering potatoes with vinegar, salt, and pepper. Add all remaining ingredients; toss. Season with salt and pepper.
1. Bring potatoes to boil in large pot of water. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer until potatoes are tender, about 17 minutes. Drain; let stand until cool enough to handle, about 20 minutes.

2. Cut potatoes into 3/4-inch pieces. Place 1 layer of potatoes in large bowl; sprinkle with some of vinegar and salt and pepper. Continue layering potatoes with vinegar, salt, and pepper. Add all remaining ingredients; toss. Season with salt and pepper.

* I used Vegenase
** I sometimes use cilantro or a mixture of both
*** I throw a little lemon juice into the mix

Beeler's Natural Pork, Fontina and Mizuna Panini and Arugula Salad with Grilled Peaches

It may be quite pricey, but this past Sunday shopping trip, Ian and I couldn't resist buying half a ham of Beeler's All Natural Pork from the Moscow Co-Op. They don't have a deli slicer in the meat area, so we used Ian's trusty work slicer to slice up some of the best deli meat I've had in a long time. Sometimes I forget that deli meat actually tastes like meat, and without all the preservatives that make deli slices slimy (shudder) I couldn't resist taking tiny bits from the fridge all night.


The Co-Op also sells a wonderful salted French bread that I just knew would be perfect for panini. With the help of a little Fontina, some of the very fresh mizuna I picked up the farmer's market, caramelized local Walla Walla sweet onions, a dab of Veganase and stone ground mustard, I had a serious monster of a sandwich on my hands.


I also picked up some very juicy local peaches at the farmer's market and decided to grill them up and serve them on a bed of arugula, along with chopped fresh almonds, cherry tomatoes, and a mixture of balsamic vinegar, honey and olive oil (which I basted the peaches with after grilling).


This was one fantastic, almost entirely local meal on a beautiful summer day!

Southwest Chicken Salad with Homemade Buttermilk Ranch Dressing

I've never been a big fan of bottled ranch dressing, or really any dressing for that matter. There's something really fake about it...well, that's because it is fake and full of preservatives that make it taste like the salad condiment version of Twinkies. Bleck. When forced to order salad dressing or purchase it, I generally opt for blue cheese, but I don't keep salad dressing on hand.

With store bought salad dressings seriously disappointing me, I threw out all hope a long time ago and began making my own. I adopted my mom's light rice wine sprinkle or I add a little balsamic, olive oil and pepper in a pinch, and while pureed roasted red pepper and olive oil with fresh basil is fantastic, but what to do when I crave the mother of all American salad dressings?


I've adapted Elise's wonderful recipe for Buttermilk Ranch dressing below, and after arranging leftover grilled chicken, corn, black beans, a hardboiled egg, and an assortment of fresh vegetables, this recipe was just what the grad student ordered. This, my bloggy friends, is comfort in a food processor.




Ingredients ready for a quick whirl around to a certain absent valley











Presto!











Buttermilk Ranch Dressing
Adapted from Simply Recipes

1/2 cup buttermilk
1/4 cup Veganaise or light mayo
1/4 cup non-fat Greek yogurt (such as Chobani or Fage)
1 tsp. lemon juice
1/2 tsp. paprika
1/4 tsp. mustard powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. fresh ground black pepper
2 tbsp. fresh chopped flat leaf parsley
1 tbsp. fresh chopped chives
1 1/2 tsp. fresh chopped dill

Directions
1. Place all ingredients into food processor and pulse a few times until smooth.
2. Serve immediately or refrigerate for up to one week.

Tuna and beer (yes, you read that right)

After the rich food overload of the winter months, Ian and I had been craving something a little lighter. I've had quite the miracle food breakthrough with my picky eater husband as of late, and since I'd already introduced him to scallops (something he *refused* to try when we first started dating) and the wonders of mahi mahi, I decided it was time for the mecca: seared tuna steaks.



















Luckily, the Clarkston Costco is a hop, skip and a jump away from one of my other jobs (it will be wonderful if one day I just had *one* job) so I hopped on over for a seafood special they had going a few weeks back. For three tuna steaks, locally produced (er, 350-400 miles local, that is) I only paid $10.50. I believe I even skipped out the door until someone in a cowboy hat gave me the "that's unlady-like" look. Damn you, Idaho.



In addition to the light dinner we prepared for a lazy Sunday afternoon, we also happened to find a new beer offered at our local Moscow Co-Op: He'Brew Pomegranate Ale. As a Jewish person in the middle of Christian nowhere, I believe I also did a little skip to the car. Until some hippie in Moscow gave me the "oh dear that's so uncool" look. I can't win in Idaho. 0-2.

















The combination of He'brew and tuna steak salads was just the spring pick-me-up I needed, and even though he seemed a bit apprehensive biting into pieces of rare tuna, I think Ian might agree. The Origin Pomegranate Ale had a little bite to it, which was a great companion to the Cajun seasoned steaks. Even though we only dressed the greens in a little balsamic and olive oil, the fresh ground black pepper lightly sprinkled on top was like gefilte fish to this girl's soul.













































Seared Tuna Salad
(Note: Salad greens and veggies are not listed because....it's a salad. You know what you will eat!)


2-3 thick tuna steaks
1 tsp. cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp. white pepper
1/4 tsp. garlic powder
1/4 tsp. onion powder
1/4 tsp. kosher salt
1 tbl. olive oil


1. Pat steaks with the pre-mixture of spices listed above and cook in a skillet with olive oil on medium-high for 1 1/2 minutes on each side (rare), or cook until desired. Serve over greens and veggies (only you know what you like!) drizzled with good quality balsamic, olive oil and a sprinkling of freshly ground black pepper.