Wednesday, March 04, 2009

Beet Salad Recipe


This is the beet salad I mentioned in yesterday's status update on facebook. I made it a bit differently. I used baby greens and shredded broccoli instead of the chard and dandelion greens, I also didn't have any tarragon. It was really fabulous. I've also made just the dressing before for use on a regular garden salad, it so worth the few short minutes it takes to throw it together.

Emeril's Roasted Beet Salad With Walnut Dressing
Recipe courtesy Emeril Lagasse, Emeril’s Food of Love Productions, 2008
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By Planet Green ContributorSilver Spring,MD, USA Mon Jul 21 19:46:00 EDT 2008

3 to 4 small beets, (red and/or golden) tops removed and washed
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons olive oil
3 tablespoons water
1/2 teaspoon salt plus more for seasoning
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper plus more for seasoning
1/4 cup sherry or banyuls vinegar
1 tablespoon finely chopped shallots
1 tablespoon honey
1/4 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1/2 cup grapeseed or olive oil
1/2 cup toasted, chopped walnuts
1 teaspoon minced tarragon
1 bunch baby dandelion greens, washed, de-stemmed and cut into bite-size pieces
1 bunch rainbow chard, washed, de-stemmed and cut into bite-size pieces


Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.Cut a piece of aluminum foil about 12 inches square. On one half of the square, place the beets, 2 tablespoons olive oil, water, 1/4 teaspoon salt and 1/8 teaspoon pepper. Fold the opposite side over to cover the beets; fold all edges to form a tightly sealed packet. Place the packet on a baking sheet, transfer to the oven and cook until beets are tender, about 45 minutes. (Beets are done when a pairing knife is easily inserted into the middle.)Remove the beets from the foil packet. When cool enough to handle, rub the skin of the beet gently with a paper towel and remove the skin. Slice the beets into 1/8-inch thick rounds (if possible, use a mandoline) and set aside.In a blender, combine the mustard, vinegar, shallots, honey, tarragon, 1/4 teaspoon salt and 1/8 teaspoon pepper and mix well. While the blender is still running, slowly pour the oil in a slow, steady stream into the blender to emulsify the mixture. Transfer the dressing to a mixing bowl and stir in the walnuts.Pour 2 tablespoons (or more to taste) of the dressing over the prepared dandelions and chard, season with a pinch of salt and pepper and toss to coat. In a separate mixing bowl, toss the sliced beets in 1 tablespoon of dressing and season with a pinch of salt and pepper. Place about 1 to 1 1/2 cups of the dandelion greens on a plate. Serve with the sliced beets and cheese crisps. If desired spoon more dressing over each salad to taste.Yield: Salad 4 to 6 servings; Dressing 3/4 cup

Monday, February 23, 2009

A New Favorite Recipe


Pan-Sautéed Chicken with Vegetables & Herbs
From: Campbell's Kitchen
Prep: 20 minutesCook: 1 hour
Serves: 4


Ingredients:
1/8 tsp. ground black pepper
1/8 tsp. paprika
2 tbsp. all-purpose flour
4 bone-in chicken breast halves
2 tbsp. olive oil
2 small red onions, cut into quarters
1 lb. new potato, cut into quarters
8 oz. fresh whole baby carrots (about 16), green tops trimmed to 1-inch-long
1 1/2 cups Swanson® Chicken Stock
3 tbsp. lemon juice
1 tbsp. chopped fresh oregano leaves
Chopped fresh thyme leaves

Directions:
Heat the oven to 350°F. Stir the black pepper, paprika and flour on a plate. Coat the chicken with the flour mixture.
Heat the oil in a 12-inch oven-safe skillet over medium-high heat. Add the chicken and cook until it's well browned on all sides. Remove the chicken from the skillet.
Add the onions and potatoes to the skillet and cook for 5 minutes. Add the carrots, stock, lemon juice and oregano and heat to a boil. Return the chicken to the skillet. Cover the skillet.
Bake at 350°F. for 20 minutes. Uncover the skillet and bake for 15 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through and the vegetables are tender. Sprinkle with the thyme, if desired.
Serving Suggestion: Serve with corn muffins and steamed broccoli flowerets. For dessert serve red grapes.
Cost per recipe: $9.65
Cost per recipe serving: $2.41
Total cost of meal (including serving suggestion): $14.13
Kitchen Tip- To use 4 skinless boneless chicken breast halves instead of the bone-in chicken:
Heat the oven to 350°F. Stir the black pepper, paprika and flour on a plate. Coat the chicken with the flour mixture.
Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a 12-inch oven-safe skillet over medium-high heat. Add the chicken and cook until it's well browned on both sides. Remove the chicken from the skillet.
Add the remaining oil, onions and potatoes to the skillet and cook for 5 minutes. Add the carrots, stock, lemon juice and oregano and heat to a boil. Return the chicken to the skillet.
Bake, uncovered, for 25 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through. Sprinkle with the thyme, if desired.
Nutrition Information
Calories 406, Total Fat 15g, Saturated Fat 3g, Cholesterol 82mg, Sodium 311mg, Total Carbohydrate 34g, Dietary Fiber 5g, Protein 35g, Vitamin A 192%DV, Vitamin C 27%DV, Calcium 7%DV, Iron 16%DV

Saturday, November 08, 2008

Moving to Facebook

I've lost my passion for this blog for now. Friends and relatives looking for the latest pictures, please sigh up for Facebook and add me to your friends list. This the spot where all the pictures are these days...

Monday, May 12, 2008

While My Guitar Gently Weeps

I updated the iPod for my car yesterday. We have over 30 gigs on music on our computer hard drive, but my iPod only holds 4. This means hard decisions need to be made. Mostly I default to adding everything on my five star playlist and then a few selected playlists with newer purchases or portions of playlists. So what ends up happening is I keep mostly the same songs with a few slight changes on the same iPod. I realized I was missing some good stuff so I started going through the library to rate more songs and get more songs on the five star list. Well after about 45 minutes of this I realize I’ve only hit less than a quarter of the library so I tried a new method - Favorite albums. I made a smart list of favorite albums, all the go-to albums that I used to put on when we had CD’s instead iPods. Of course this list is too big for the measly 4 gigs I have to work with so I then created another playlist from that playlist that randomly crops it to a size that will fit. But what ended up happening is a bunch of good songs that may not have been rated are now on my iPod, really mixing up the mix.

So this morning, and really this is the point of this post, I plugged in the iPod for my commute in the pouring rain, and yes I still have sore throat, and immediately the music sucked me in. New songs (well, new old songs) came on and really perked up my drive. I was actually enjoying my rainy commute! Here was this morning’s playlist. If you are looking for some songs to perk up your iPod, I definitely recommend you download a few of these.

Night and Day – Ella Fitzgerald
Arabian Waltz – Chicago Symphony Orchestra
While My Guitar Gently Weeps – The Beatles
Rich Woman – Robert Plant & Alison Krauss
Out of My Mind – Patti Rothberg
Oh Shooter – Robin Thicke
Old Dirt Hill – Dave Matthews & Tim Reynolds
Precious Things – Tori Amos
In the Name of Love – U2
Could You Be Loved – Bob Marley & the Wailers

Now I only wish this same theory worked as well with my closet.