Refreshing Cucumber Salad

Posted on June 13, 2014 by melsmosaic

Summer is finally here (temperature-wise) which means quick, refreshing salads are what the menu calls for. Found a great one in a recent edition of Cooking Light that was super simple and delicious!

It was Cucumber, (Black) Olive and Mint Salad. I put Black in parentheses because the recipe calls for Greek olives which are a totally different taste from black olives!

Ingredients:

2 cups thinly sliced English cucumber (I just used a regular cuke)
1/4 cup chopped pitted kalamata olives
3 tablespoons chopped fresh mint
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

The prep is real tough. Slice the cuke.

Then combine cucumber, olives, mint, lemon juice, olive oil, and pepper.

It tasted even better after it sat for a bit. It was served with pork tenderloin and quinoa. Would also be very nice for brunch paired with smoked salmon/lox.

African Meat Tastings

Posted on June 4, 2014 by melsmosaic

When on my trip to South Africa, I was able to try several meats I had never had the opportunity to sample before. I wanted to take every opportunity I could to go local with what they had. I was about 50/50 on them.

First was a Kudu loin. It was served grilled with a cranberry & carrot sauce, spicy parsnip shavings, roasted garlic polenta, and these DELICIOUS, addictive sesame brinjal batons. I didn’t actually know what brinjal was until writing this post and looking it up. It’s eggplant, just the name they use for it in South Africa, South Asia and Southeast Asia (you learn something new everyday). The meat was very, very chewy. Glad I tried it, not my favorite.

Next one I tried was a Springbok Carpaccio. It was a bit ‘tasteless’ — but still nice to have a wild game carpaccio!

Third new meat I tried was Ostrich. Super healthy/lean. According to the American Ostrich Association (there is an association for everything…), “ostrich is similar in taste, texture and appearance to beef. It’s comparable to beef in iron and protein content, but ostrich has less than half the fat of chicken and two-thirds less fat than beef and pork. Ostrich beats the competition with fewer calories, too. That’s why ostrich is the choice of health-conscious consumers who refuse to sacrifice flavor.” It’s tough to determine if this falls under poultry, game or other, but it is classified as red meat. What I do know is that I loved it! So lean, tasty and I wish we could easily get it here! I did research when I got home and the couple places in the DC-area who used to carry it can’t get it anymore because at last count it was $60/lb. Ouch!

The last one I tried that was unique was Warthog. OMG! AMAZING! Get me a warthog farm here in the States. I can’t begin to describe how flavorful this stuff was. Unreal.

Another great part of the trip — some unique food to South Africa, some of which we can’t get here in the States. Just another reason to go back.

Eno

Posted on April 1, 2014 by melsmosaic

Checked out a (new to me) wine bar in Georgetown (DC) last week — Eno. It’s part of a national chain with other locations in San Francisco, Chicago, and Southern California.

They have a both a wine and food menu (oh, beer, too, if needed). They serve wine in flights and by the glass. Oh, they have wine on tap, too ($5 during Happy Hour). They had a special on that day for a blind flight. If you could identify all three wines you received 10% off. I had to try it. I got 1 of 3 right — a very earthy Pinot from Oregon. They only way I guessed it was from how light it was, color and body-wise. Otherwise the flight had a Bordeaux and another old world wine I could never have placed.

Food-wise we went for some amazing olives, a variety of meats and some delicious pizza.

I would definitely recommend giving Eno a try. Many options from food to wine and great service!

From Demo to Homemade…delicious find

Posted on March 10, 2014 by melsmosaic

I was at Whole Foods last week and they of course had all sorts of food demos/samples out in the store. One was this delicious salad that they were charging a good amount for and extra to add salmon or chicken to. I looked at the ingredients and mentioned how I’d love to just make it at home. The girl doing the demo said quietly ‘just google it under Martha Stewart…’ Score! So, last night I served some wonderful Toasted-Quinoa Saute with Lemony Cabbage and Dill with Pan Seared Chicken. There aren’t too many ingredients in the recipe:

1 1/2 cups water
1/2 cup red quinoa, rinsed well
S&P
4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
1/2 head Savoy cabbage (about 1 pound), cored and thinly sliced lengthwise, divided
1 can (15 ounces) chickpeas, drained and rinsed
3 ounces pitted large green olives, such as Castelvetrano or Cerignola, halved (about 3/4 cup) — picked up basic green at Trader Joe’s
1 lemon, zested and juiced
1/2 cup coarsely chopped fresh dill

Step 1

Bring water to a boil in a medium pot over medium-high heat. Stir in quinoa and 1/2 teaspoon salt, and return to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer 15 minutes. Uncover, raise heat to high, and cook until water evaporates and quinoa is dry and tender, about 5 minutes (stir frequently to prevent scorching). *I just cooked it like regular quinoa.

Step 2

Heat 1 1/2 tablespoons oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add half the cabbage and 1/2 teaspoon salt, and cook, stirring occasionally, until tender and golden brown in places, about 8 minutes. Transfer to a bowl. Repeat with 1 1/2 tablespoons oil, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and remaining cabbage.

Step 3

Add remaining tablespoon oil to skillet. Return sauteed cabbage to skillet, add quinoa, and raise heat to high. Cook, stirring occasionally, until quinoa is toasted and crisp, about 8 minutes. Remove from heat. Add chickpeas, olives, and lemon zest and juice, and toss to combine. Season with salt and pepper. Stir in dill, and serve with yogurt.

The salad was amazing! And, it’s dairy-free and gluten free! We enjoyed it with two whites (one was opened earlier in the night). Chalk Hill 2011 Sauvignon Blanc and Chateau St. Jean 2010 Chardonnay.

And for dessert we had some of the wonderful Ciao Bella Blackberry Cabernet Sorbet. That stuff is deadly!

New Snack/’Chip’ Find

Posted on March 4, 2014 by melsmosaic

I was in the deadly Wegman’s the other day roaming through the aisles and an aisle-end product display caught my eye. The main ingredients/flavors were things I like, the nutritional value was good, so I had to give them a try. The product — Lesser Evil’s (love that name) Super 4 Snacks, White Bean, Quinoa, Lentil, Chia, with Kale & Roasted Garlic. And, after visiting their site, I noticed a product I’d tried before that’s addictive, the Chia Crisps.

A serving has 46 pieces — that’s a nice amount to be able to eat! And has 110 calories, 3g fat, 2g monosaturated. There are 18g carbs per serving, with less than 1 of the grams being sugars.

The pieces you eat are light and hollow, the shape of ziti. They just sort of float in your hand, they weigh so little!

Very flavorful. They were a little bit salty, and going back there are 220g of sodium per serving. Overall though, addictive… There are a couple other flavors of them, too — Roasted Red Pepper and Cheesy Nacho. And, on the back of the bag, they nicely note, the product fits into a lot of (positive) categories:

-all natural
-gluten free
-beans are low glycemic
-kosher
-corn free
-good source of fiber
-no MSG
-baked not fried
-not genetically modified
-empty calorie free
-no artificial preservatives, flavors or colors
-no milk hormones

Asparagus Hummus

Posted on February 11, 2014 by melsmosaic

Just made this recipe. Delicious!! The only changes I made were that I used a little bit of tahini instead of the olive oil. I also made half the recipe vs the whole. Great, unique flavor!! Thanks for the recipe, Homemade Delish!

Homemade Delish

My family and I love purchasing and making fresh hummus in our house. I was interested in trying to make a new flavor. So I went ahead and made an asparagus hummus to enjoy with some crackers and veggies. The flavor of the asparagus really comes out. I think this is just another way to add more nutrition to your hummus. This hummus has a refreshing finish too. Enjoy as a snack or with your next get together.

Ingredients:

2 (15.5 oz) Can of Chickpeas, drained and rinsed

10 Asparagus Spears

3 Garlic cloves

Salt & Pepper, to taste

1/2 to 1 cup of Extra Virgin Olive oil

Juice and Zest of 1 Lemon

Preparation:

In a medium pot bring water to a boil and add asparagus. Cook for 2 to 3 minutes. In a medium bowl with cold water and ice add asparagus. This will stop the cooking…

View original post 37 more words

Loster Tail!

Posted on February 11, 2014 by melsmosaic

The other day I was flipping through the grocery store ad and they had lobster tail in there. For some reason that just jumped out at me. Hadn’t had lobster for awhile and it sounded so good. Did some quick thinking and determined some good food to match with it and had a delicious basic dinner of lobster tail, asparagus and home fries.

Just picked up some red and sweet potatoes and tossed them with rosemary, S&P and garlic powder. Baked them at 425 for about 40 minutes.

For the asparagus, decided to just blanch it. So put it in boiling water for 2-3 minutes then rinsed with cold water (you can be really good and dunk it in ice water, but this can be just as effective for a quick method). For the lobster tail, I boiled them for about 5 minutes and it was perfect.

Come the end, paired this with a nice French white wine — Sancerre. Absolutely delicious dinner. Might just have to make it again.

I actually ate…

Posted on February 6, 2014 by melsmosaic

…goat cheese. Yes, it happened. I admit it, I did it. I normally can’t stand the stuff. I used to not touch it because of lactose intolerance, then I found out lactards (love the name my friends gave us) can tolerate all milk but that from cows. But then I tried goat cheese and it’s just gross…the taste, the texture. I’m saving it for the lovers of the stuff. Then the other day my friends offered some that is dangerous. Trader Joe’s does it again, hurting one’s wallet and waist.

The full, fancy name — Trader Joe’s Goat Cheese – Blueberry Vanilla Chevre. What’s in it, not a ton — pasteurized goat’s milk, wild blueberry (wild blueberries, grape juice), salt, vanilla extract (vanilla beans, water, bourbon), cheese cultures, vegetable rennet, natamycin (natural yeast and mold inhibitor).

It pretty much tastes like blueberry cheesecake. Melts in your mouth. You can eat it on a (graham) cracker, right off your finger or a fork. Would be great with some extra berries, too. Definitely check it out!

Roti

Posted on February 6, 2014 by melsmosaic

I have walked by, read and heard about Roti for quite awhile. Finally got to have it the other day at a catered event. Lives up to the hype! From hummus to salad to pita to all else, stuffed forever! Very fresh, you can see/tell everything that’s in your food and absolutely delicious. I’m a big Mediterranean food fan so was loving all of this. Highly recommend checking it out if you can.

Beef & Rice

Chicken

Greek salads, mostly devoured

Pita chips

Hummus

Couscous

Portuguese Green Soup

Posted on January 26, 2014 by melsmosaic

January, cold, soup weather. It was the perfect day to make something nice and hot for dinner, especially since I hadn’t made a one-pot wonder for awhile. I flipped through several cookbooks looking for a recipe I hadn’t made yet (because I wanted to try something new) and came across a Portuguese Green Soup in my Bon Appetit book. Basic ingredients, could make some changes to use what I had, and sounded delicious.

Ingredients

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 bunch collard greens, center stems cut away, leaves thinly sliced — or sort of chopped/cut into pieces
1 pound fully cooked spicy sausage (such as linguiça, andouille, or hot links), cut into 1/2-inch-thick rounds — I used venison roast that I had and cubed it
5 3/4 cups low-salt chicken broth
1 3/4 pounds russet potatoes, peeled, diced — why peel them? There is great stuff in the skin!
1/2 teaspoon dried crushed red pepper

Preparation

Heat olive oil in large pot over medium-high heat. Add onion and garlic. Saute until onion is soft and golden , about 5 minutes. Note: my apartment smelled SO good.

Add collard greens and saute until wilted, about 4 minutes.

Add sausage (or venison in my case) and saute 5 minutes.

Add broth and potatoes. Simmer soup uncovered until potatoes are tender, about 20 minutes.

Transfer 2 cups soup (without sausage) to processor. Blend until smooth; return to pot of soup and bring to simmer. Mix in crushed red pepper. Season with salt and black pepper.

This is where immersion blenders are heaven!!! Now, it was hard to totally avoid the meat here but it made it kind of cool in the end. I made it not super smooth but not super chunky.

It was a very nice soup. As mentioned, the meat was sort of ‘smoothed’ out from the immersion blender. I had to add more salt — don’t know if it’s because sausage can often have more salt (and the recipe doesn’t call for any to begin with, they mention to add it at the end). I added some garlic salt to give it some more kick. But, I like this recipe. It says 4 dinner servings. Definitely! I have plenty of soup to go around.