Garlicky Shaved Brussels Sprout Salad

Here we are, in the midst of a, predicted 8"-16," blizzard, but I suspect we've far surpassed that amount! People are cross-country skiing down my street, into the wind! They're all bundled up, wearing goggles, pulling toboggans filled with small children. . .And I'm craving salad!

I have all the components for one of my 5 Ingredient Salads...but...I also had everything needed for an interesting Brussels sprout salad. And. . .The tiny 'cabbages' won out!

Start by whisking the dressing in a medium bowl then add the fresh garlic:

3T Moroccan EVOO

3T Heinz Salad Vinegar

2t spicy brown mustard

2t Maple syrup

1t lemon pepper seasoning

1 lg. garlic clove minced-smashed into a paste

~ a mortar & pestle works best for this

Add the following to the bowl:

2oz. craisins

1/2c chopped Vidalia onion

1 small celery heart + greens

10oz. thinly sliced Brussels sprouts

Fold everything together and continue to mix until all the chopped vegetables are well coated with the dressing. Heat this in a microwave for 40 seconds to jump-start the blending of flavors. Mix again, then chill a couple hours before serving. This would be great with grilled chicken, lamb chops, steak or salmon. . .Lin

Mediterranean Tuna Pasta Salad

I chopped and sliced everything a day ahead, combining the vegetables with the dressing to marinate 24 hours. The next day, I needed a package of chicken from the freezer - but they were all gone! I changed the meat to tuna and was surprised at how well it turned out. Didn't take ingredient photos, so I'm going from memory now:

2-3T mayonnaise

a big splash of Lemon-Oil Dressing

2 cans of EVOO-packed tuna

I don't remember measurements, but the vegetables I used are marinated-jarred artichoke hearts, bell pepper, celery, Vidalia onion and Kalamata olives. Thin slice all these.

I didn't want the pasta to dominate, so I only used 2/3c dry pasta, cooked, drained and rinsed in cold water, then drained again.

Combine the UN-drained tuna with the prepped vegetables in a medium glass bowl. Good quality EVOO adds to the health benefits of this salad. Check the flavors. I added quite a bit of black pepper, a pinch of cayenne and a good sprinkle of garlic salt. 

I had never made this with tuna, chicken is my preference, but this is one I'll make again. . .Lin

Fruit, Vegetables and Roasted Chicken

Well, this was a nice surprise!

I wasn't planning to blog this (normally I use solid color plates and bowls when I do) but it turned out really well. I snapped a photo before devouring it all, plus the rest of the fruit and vegetable mix - the photo only shows half of what I made!

I roasted an Amish chicken this afternoon. I'll create more recipes with that in the next few days. It smelled so good I decided to quick cook something to go with a little bit of the chicken for an easy dinner tonight. This is only 2-1/2oz. chicken with some Lingonberries.

To serve with the chicken, I combined:

1 lg. carrot

1 slightly underripe Bartlett pear

1/4 lg. Vidalia onion

garlic salt and black pepper

2T single source EVOO

a little water

Scrub and slice the carrot, and peeled onion. Quarter and cut the pear into 1/2" cubes. Start by simmering the carrot in the water and olive oil with the seasonings. After a few minutes, add the pear and onion.

Continue to cook on low, covered, for 5 minutes. Don't overcook. Uncover, stir and continue to simmer until the liquid evaporates. Serve with a 'side' of chicken. This was DE-licious! . .Lin

Crunchy Spinach and Artichoke Pesto Pasta

As usual, I made waaay too much pasta for the previous pasta salad. 

There was 2c leftover, which I almost pitched, then decided I'd add play around with ingredients and ended up with yet another pasta salad. This could also be a quick Mac & Cheese or added to soup or chili.

2c al denté cooked pasta - cooled

1c shredded Mexican blend cheese

1/2 small jar, 3-4oz., of basil pesto

1/4 red bell pepper

1/4 med sweet onion

1/4c ± Lemon-EVOO Dressing

garlic salt and black pepper

This happened in no time and was a nice surprise! Good for the meatless people in your life. For additional crunch and protein, add some roasted sunflower or pumpkin seeds — AND — it would also be good served warm, or hot. . .Lin

Four Onion - Mushroom Soubise

IN A 5 QUART POT:

1 lg. red or Yukon gold potato

½ lg. yellow onion - finely chopped

finely ground red and black pepper

1T black truffle infused EVOO

IN ANOTHER POT:

1T black truffle infused EVOO

8oz. thinly sliced mushrooms

½ lg. yellow onion

1 lg. Vidalia onion

6-8 lg. cloves garlic

3 green onions

1-2t dark, thick balsamic vinegar

4-6c fresh cold water

1-2T Better Than Bouillon - Mushroom

¾c chive-onion sour cream

Finely chop the peeled potato and combine it in a 5 quart pot with the onion and ground peppers in the first group.  Simmer-saute' over low-medium heat until everything's sizzling and there's a little browning on the potato and onion.  Add tiny dribbles of water, as needed, to continue the saute' and keep it from sticking or getting too brown.  When everything's a nice golden color, and the onions are translucent, add just enough water to blend everything well, with an immersion blender.  Pour this into a Pyrex measuring pitcher or a bowl with a spout and set aside.

In the empty pot, combine the EVOO and mushrooms, stirring to wilt and brown them, adding a little of the water as needed.  Reduce the heat and let this simmer to create its own flavorful brown broth.  After 15 minutes, stir in the four types of thinly sliced onions and vinegar.  Add water in small amounts as needed, so as not to let the onions stick.  When everything is beginning to brown, just a tiny bit and soften, pour in the remaining water, soup base and simmer, over low heat 20-30 minutes, or until all the garlic and onions are translucent.

With a wooden spoon, whisk or the immersion blender, incorporate the sour cream into the blended ingredients. Pour this into the big pot, stir to combine. Heat everything until just beginning to steam. Serve topped with fresh grated Parmesan cheese and some crispy croutons.

This would pair very nicely with fresh mixed greens, tossed in an EVOO-Lemon Vinaigrette Dressing. . .Lin

A BIG Allium Adventure!!

I didn't know onions were in the Lily family!  They're also known as alliums!
I've become sort of compulsive with certain cooking and kitchen related things in the past few years.  You know how people collect things. . .well, I have quite the collection of Hall's Superior Kitchenware bowls and covered casserole dishes.  They're useful and so beautiful!  More recently, I've been buying onions, a variety of them, different colors and flavors for different recipes.  I finally decided I need to do something with them since I have so many.  Especially since a couple days ago, a friend and I made tacos for 110 people, and we chopped WAY too many onions. 😜 I split them with another kitchen worker, but we still each had 4c of finely chopped Vidalia onions!!  Oh my!

So today's the day!
I was going to make all these ingredients into a nice pot of soup. Well, problem is, I don't have anyone to share this with right now. I chopped and chopped, then mixed them all together, then realized this is WAY too much onion for a little 3 quart pot of soup! Yup, I was right, it's 12 cups of assorted chopped alliums. Garlic, Purple Shallot, Yellow Onion, Purple Onion, and of course, those Vidalias! 😄

Purple Onion, Vidalias, Shallots, Yellow Onions, Garlic in the center

The greens in the little vase, are mostly for garnish.  Garlic shoots from some cloves I planted, as well as some lovely chives I have in my yard.

I'm using 4 cups of the mixed onions for this recipe, but freezing the remainder in four 2-cup packages for future soups, stews or chili.  

4c mixed, chopped alliums

3-4T butter

2c of filtered, cold water

1t-1T Rosemary Seasoning *

2 sm.-med. new red potatoes

1-2T Chicken Better Than Bouillon

2-4 additional cups of filtered, cold water

½-1c sour cream - optional

'Sweat' the onions and butter over low heat, in a heavy-bottomed, covered pot for about 10 minutes, before adding the next group.  I decided to use a couple scrubbed, finely cubed potatoes to thicken the soup, rather than four, keeping it gluten-free.  Simmer all this together, covered, for another 20 minutes or so, adding more water as needed.

When the potato cubes are soft it's ready to be blended.  An immersion blender is wonderful for this, but you can also use a regular blender.

After blending, check flavors and make any adjustments needed.  Cool for 10 minutes before stirring in the sour cream.  Serve with minced chives, a dab of sour cream and croutons if you want. . .Lin

Pollack and Vidalia Onions

I've had a lot of health issues lately and in the midst of this, there have been times when it almost felt like certain foods have saved my life.  Dramatic I know, but when you're totally spent and run down, sometimes eating something you crave is completely rejuvenating.

Today I went to town, and then when I got home it felt like a good day to take the dogs for a much needed 6-block walk each.  It was a cooler sort of grey day here, my favorite kind since I'm not a hot, humid, sunny-day kind of person.  Taking them out was a bit of a struggle, but the exercise actually felt good.  When I got home all I could think of was FOOD. . .I NEED FOOD!!  REAL FOOD!!

I quick thawed a couple wild-caught Pollock filets (on my black iron thawing device.)  These were combined with chopped Vidalia onion, drizzled with Tuscan Flavored Olive Oil, pepper and a little seasoned salt, then quick sautéed.  

I scooped out the onion after only a few minutes, then added a little white wine and turned up the heat to deglaze and sear the fish at the end of the cooking time.  It turned out just perfect.  I drizzled the fish with some Thai-Chili mayonnaise combined with cilantro chutney, which was just amazing.  The side of chopped Vidalia onion was wonderful and I also added some of the 6 Grain Rice Tabouli I made the other day.  Ahhhh, wonderful!  Listen to your body!  It often knows exactly what it needs, nutritionally.  :-)