Posts Tagged ‘sidedish’

Let me just say that I LOVE tomatillo salsa. I love tomatillos.  They are so cute in their little paper wrappers, and they are a beautiful color of green.  Did you know tomatillos are in the huckleberry family?

Anyway, here’s a super easy recipe for a delicious tomatillo salsa. It’s a raw one, so it takes NO time at all to make.

8 tomatillos, unwrapped, washed and halved
1 avocado
handful of cilantro
1/2 serrano chili (I seeded mine)
1 lemon
salt
pepper
little water

Load items in your blender and blend away.  I had to put in a little bit of water to get it to the consistency that I wanted.

Taste for seasoning and adjust if necessary. That’s it!

Look at how beautiful it looks!  Spoon over tacos or flank steak or even just eat with chips.

I was at the famers’ market today and was inspired by the lovely tomatoes and whole grain baguette I purchased.  Tomatoes, bread….hmm what to make?  Bruschetta!  It didn’t hurt that I had a ton of basil at home that I needed to use, either.

I hadn’t made bruschetta before so I was winging it, like a lot of my cooking.  My mom has a terrific ability to taste a food and then be able to recreate it.  *side note* Years ago when Cinnabon first came out, she asked them how they made the cinnabons.  Of course they wouldn’t tell her, so she sat at a table in the mall eating one and watching their technique (Ingredients were hidden) and then she came home and made them.  They tasted exactly the same, even the icing! I like to think that I’ve inherited that talent.  I can taste a dish and usually figure out how to make it.  Most of the time I’m pretty close, but some recipes take a few tries.

For the bruschetta I chopped one medium tomato.  A lot of people don’t like the goopy seeds inside tomatoes, so after you cut them in half, squeeze the tomato to get rid of the seeds.  It makes your tomatoes less slimy, and it keeps your food looking prettier.  You can do this any time you dice tomatoes.  Also, my tip is to dice the tomatoes with the skin side down, so your knife is cutting the inside of the tomato instead of going through the skin.

Bruschetta
Dice the tomatoes into small cubes
Mince 1 or 2 cloves of garlic — Traditionally, you rub the garlic on the toasted bread.
1T red wine vinegar – again, traditionally, you’d use balsamic…but I was out.
Healthy drizzle of olive oil
Salt
Pepper
Chop a few large basil leaves
Mix all items together.

I used a whole grain baguette,  sliced it on the diagonal, spread a little butter on each piece and popped it in the toaster.
When the bread was toasted, I spooned the tomato mixture on top and let the vinegar soak into the bread.

Things I did not do:
Some people use onion, but I think raw onions are too strong.  (I could have soaked them in cold water to get rid of the strong onion flavor…maybe next time.)
I didn’t have any parmigiano reggano, but I did think about putting a little goat cheese on top but  in  the end, I decided not too.

This really is a healthy accompaniment to dinner if you use a whole grain bread and limit the cheese.  Please, buy a hunk of good quality parmigiano reggano cheese and keep it wrapped in your fridge. It will last a long time and it’s well worth the expense.

If my sad tomato plants would have had more than 2 tomatoes and I didn’t kill all my basil plants, I could see myself eating this with a nice salad as dinner many nights.  Lots of room for experimenting with this simple recipe.  The goat cheese is going to be spectacular with this, or even crumbled ricotta salata.

A few weeks ago I bought a gigantic bag of green beans from the farmer’s market.  I grilled them a few times and then promptly forgot about the rest of the bag until tonight when we were cleaning out the fridge.  Oops.  I was already planning on making caprese salad with my left over fresh mozzarella and heirloom tomatoes, so I decided to put a twist on the dish.

This really isn’t a recipe, more of a technique. I make 99% of the salad dressings I eat because I don’t really like all the junk in the store bought ones, plus I really like to see what I can whip up. I have a vinegar obsession. Salad dressings are a good way to experiment with flavors.

Lemon Vinaigrette

zest of one lemon
juice of one lemon (maybe 2T)
a few T olive oil (depends on how much salad you have and how much lemon juice you were able to get)
splash of rice vine vinegar
salt
pepper

Add items to a resealable storage container, screw on the lid and shake vigorously.  Taste and adjust seasonings. You may need more olive oil or another splash of rice wine vinegar or even more salt/pepper.

Cook the green beans in boiling water for a few minutes and then blanch them in ice water to stop the cooking process.
Chop heirloom tomatoes (I used a lovely yellowy orange variety) and grape tomatoes into quarters.
Cut a chunk of fresh mozzarella into cubes
Drain green beans and wipe as much moisture off them as possible.
Chiffonade fresh basil leaves  (as much as you like)

Combine tomatoes, cheese and green beans, basil and mix thoroughly
Shake the lemon vinaigrette one more time and pour half over the salad. Mix and taste, add more dressing as needed.  If you aren’t going to eat all of this salad at once, then I would not pour the dressing over the whole bowl, you can add it to your plate.

Voila, you’ve now used up all those green beans, tomatoes and cheese hanging out in the fridge AND you have a delicious, healthy side dish that tastes equally good the next day.

Added bonus, is that it’s as beautiful as it is tasty.

I’ve been making this modified version of Tyler Florence’s Cold Sesame Noodles for a few years.  It’s a huge hit, especially with people who think they won’t like them.

It’s a very easy recipe that uses a blender or food processor. It can be made spicy or not so spicy and it’s full of protein and flavor.  I usually serve this with grilled chicken, but you can eat it with anything.

I was just looking up this recipe to double check the ingredients and saw that there’s a new version. The one I’ve been making for years is an uncooked sauce that you make in the blender.  The one I’m seeing online now is a cooked sauce using the exact same ingredients (including amounts). I’ll have to try cooking it, but really the uncooked is so good and so easy, I’m not sure I’ll actually do that.

Cold Sesame Noodles (recipe repeated at the end of post without notes and pictures)

• 1 pound of thin spaghetti
• 3 tablespoons dark sesame oil
• 2 tablespoons peanut oil
• 1-inch piece fresh ginger -minced

Yes, I used a little more ginger than the recipe calls for.  I like ginger. A lot.

• 2 garlic cloves -minced
• 1 teaspoon red chili paste

• 2 tablespoons brown sugar

• 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter

• 3 tablespoons rice vinegar
• 3 tablespoons soy sauce (reduced sodium is fine)
• juice of one lime (may need more – adjust to taste)

This is not really a giant lime.  Sometimes I go crazy with the macro zoom.  For the sake of moving on, I am not including photos of all ingredients, just  the coolest looking ones.

• 6 tablespoons hot water (may not use it all)
• 2 green onions, thinly sliced
• fresh cilantro leaves, for garnish
• 1 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds (sometimes I leave these out)

Directions

Cook pasta according to directions.  (Don’t overcook, because it will absorb the sauce later)

Drain immediately, and rinse with cold water until cool, and transfer to a wide bowl.

Toss with the sesame oil so they don’t stick together.

In a blender, add the peanut oil, ginger, garlic, chili paste, brown sugar, peanut butter, rice wine vinegar, soy sauce and lime juice.

Blend together  and add hot water to thin out as needed.  The sauce should be thick enough to coat the pasta, but not so thin that it’s runny.

Best when refrigerated overnight, but who’s kidding who here…it tastes good when freshly blended too.  Make sure the pasta isn’t warm though, that’s really key.

Toss the noodles with the peanut sauce until well coated. Serve at room temperature or chilled. Garnish with the sesame seeds,  green onions and cilantro. Cucumber slices are also acceptable.

Enjoy!

Cold Sesame Noodles

• 1 pound thin spaghetti
• 3 tablespoons dark sesame oil
• 2 tablespoons peanut oil
• 1-inch piece fresh ginger -minced
• 2 garlic cloves-minced
• 1 teaspoon red chili paste
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
• 3 tablespoons rice vinegar
• 3 tablespoons soy sauce (reduced sodium is fine)
• juice of one lime (may need more – adjust to taste)
• 6 tablespoons hot water (may not need it all)
• 2 green onions, thinly sliced
• fresh cilantro leaves, for garnish
• Cucumber slices, for garnish
• 1 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds (sometimes I leave these out)

Directions

Cook pasta according to directions.  (Don’t overcook, because it will absorb the sauce later)
Drain immediately, and rinse with cold water until cool, and transfer to a wide bowl.
Toss with the sesame oil so they don’t stick together.
In a blender, add the peanut oil, ginger, garlic, chili paste, brown sugar, peanut butter, rice wine vinegar, soy sauce and lime juice.

Blend together  and add hot water to thin out as needed.  The sauce should be thick enough to coat the pasta, but not so thin that it’s runny.

Best when refrigerated overnight, but who’s kidding who here…it tastes good when freshly blended too.  Make sure the pasta isn’t warm though, that’s really key.

Toss the noodles with the peanut sauce until well coated. Serve at room temperature or chilled. Garnish with the sesame seeds,  green onions and cilantro. Cucumber slices are also acceptable.