What Did You Eat?

Asian Cobb Salad

Last year, I made real Cobb Salad according to Julia Child's specifications. It was one of the best salads I've ever eaten, but took a mind numbing amount of time to prepare all the ingredients. In contrast, this Asian Cobb Salad is much easier to make, taking less than 30 minutes to assemble.  And while it won't supplant Julia's recipe as my favorite, this was quite good and I would be more likely to make this version in the future, due to the ease in preparation.  The salad has shredded Napa and red cabbage, spinach, snow peas, and chicken, along with chopped scallions and cucumbers. But, you can substitute vegetables of your choice, as well as using cubed tofu in place of the chicken.  The dressing is full of flavor and goes a long way.  You can use less of it, if you like, and still get a nice flavor.

Rehab Food: Thai Beef Salad

Pie Weekend is still haunting me, and this coming weekend I'm having Palm Sunday dinner with Nancy and her family.  There should be all kinds of high calorie foods there. In fact, I'm supposed to bring cupcakes.  So, I'm trying to be careful with my meals right now.  Often, when I've had delicious fatty  foods, my body clamors for MORE whipped cream, MORE chocolate or MORE cheese. It doesn't want the party to end.  So that part of me was sent off to a little room in my brain, where the word "Rehab" is written on the door.  Like Britney Spears, there is always the possibility that it will bolt from Rehab, sans panties, seeking out cream pies. But for now, it's going with the program.

One of my favorite low calorie meals is Asian salad.  I enjoy the tangy, sweet and sour flavors of the oil free dressings on these types of salads.  My favorite version of this type of meal is the terrific Vietnamese Chicken Salad from Hot Sour Salty Sweet by Jeffrey Alford and Naomi Duguid.  But, I rarely cook beef, so I decided to try this Thai Beef Salad from Sunset magazine for a change of pace.  It's low in calories, and the dressing is very good. But, my favorite is still the Alford recipe.  You can use leftover steak, but I also think shrimp or grilled mushrooms would be good too.

Arugula Salad With Maytag Cheese, Pears And Candied Walnuts

Arugula salad again? Well, yes.   I had a large bag of it in my fridge, which needed to be used while still in prime condition.  I also had some candied walnuts made by a local grower.  That reminded me of a recipe from Food & Wine that combined arugula, pears, candied walnuts, and Maytag Cheese.  This is a favorite of mine, and the Food & Wine staff where it was developed.  All the contrasting flavors and textures worked together beautifully, from the sweet pears and walnuts to the salty cheese and bitter greens.   It's flat out delicous. I served it with some leftovers black bean enchiladas, and it made the meal seem almost sophisticated.

Earlier in the day, I stopped by the grocery store and my post of several days ago, detailing my addiction to chips and Cheetos, was on my mind. One part of my mind kept urging me to get some Cheetos, while another part opposed the idea.  Remembering that I've been eating high on the hog lately, I decided to forego Cheetos.  Instead, I told myself to substitute something delicious and healthy, to wipe the image of orange fingers out of my mind.  I wound up buying lovely blackberries and raspberries, to serve as counter programming. They were so far beyond Cheetos, I figured they would wipe any snack food urges out of my mind.  That was my plan.

WHB: Zuni Cafe Roast Chicken Salad With Peppers, Pine Nuts, Olives, Bitter Greens, And Thyme Croutons

One of the most well known recipes associated with the Zuni Cafe is the famous Zuni Roast Chicken With Bread Salad.  Less well known is the Roast Chicken Salad with Peppers, Pine Nuts, Olives, and Bitter Greens.  The latter is a wonderful recipe, incredibly easy to make and, for me, almost addictive. While this is one of those recipes that read very simple, the taste is anything but that.  The arugula and the tangy vinaigrette are perfect with the warm chicken, olives and pine nuts. I had a hard time not commandeering the entire salad for myself. 

You can roast a chicken just for this dish, or you can use leftover chicken, like I did.   Frankly, I wasn't feeling good and didn't want to eat, much less prepare a meal. But, this was so easy to make, and the taste of the salad improved my mood enormously.  I changed the recipe slightly, by making thyme croutons.  My thyme bushes looked so pretty, I felt they were begging to be included in this recipe. And it was perfect for Weekend Herb Blogging, which is the brain child of Kalyn at Kalyn's Kitchen, and is being hosted this week by The Chocolate Lady at In Mol Araan.  Stop by her site and see what all the herb bloggers are up to this weekend.

WHB: Baby Snow Peas With Garlic, Mint, And Croutons

This salad was a lot of fun to eat. It's full of bold flavor from generous amounts of garlic and mint, and crispy textures, from freshly made croutons and baby snow peas.  As soon as I saw the recipe in Margaux Sky's Beautiful Breads and Fabulous Fillings, I was smitten.  I love any excuse to make croutons. They're good to have on hand for soups and salads.  I usually freeze them for future use, if I can keep from snacking on them.  There's a good bit of mint in this dish, which makes it perfect for Weekend Herb Blogging, the brainchild of Kalyn at Kalyn's Kitchen.  This week WHB is being hosted by Scott at Real Epicurean.   You will do yourself a big favor if you go over to Scott's this weekend and check out the  efforts of the other herby bloggers.

WHB: Creamy Chicken Enchiladas And Cilantro Cole Slaw

This year my friend Nancy invited me to her house for Thanksgiving, so I have no leftovers.  That means I can't make turkey sandwiches or soup with the carcass.  And I can't make turkey enchiladas.  Every year, I always use some of the turkey leftovers to make enchiladas.  But, although I can't make carcass soup, I can buy a rotisserie chicken at the store and make a sort of homage to turkey enchiladas. After-all, it's still poultry.  These enchiladas are from a Sunset Magazine Readers Favorite Recipe, popular because they're extremely easy to make and tasty.  I've found that most people enjoy them a great deal, both adults and children. So, they're a nice party food.  They're rich, there's no doubt about that, and their creamy flavor is perfect with a cilantro cole slaw that I found at Epicurious.  The cilantro also makes this a good recipe for Weekend Herb Blogging, which was created by the lovely Kalyn at Kalyn's Kitchen, but is being hosted this weekend by the equally lovely Haalo at Eat (Almost) Anything Once.

As you see,the cole slaw contains a healthy dose of cilantro. Yes, cilantro again!  I'm sure the cilantro haters must be rolling their eyes.  If you can't abide it (and it's not your fault, this is a genetic thing), leave out the cilantro and substitute mint. Oranges would also be a nice addition to the salad. The enchiladas are very rich and creamy, so a crunchy, acidic salad is perfect with them.

Happy Birthday, Julia!

Today is Julia Child's birthday!    Lisa, at Champaign Taste, extended an invitation several weeks ago, asking bloggers to celebrate by cooking a recipe from one of Julia's cookbooks. Go to her site to learn about the other bloggers who are celebrating Julia's birthday. It was a great idea Lisa!

It was hard for me to decide what to cook. Should it be a cake?  Or maybe one of the recipes my mom and I adored, like Fish Souffle On A Platter?  But, I finally settled on a recipe for Cobb salad from Julia Child and More Company.

WOBAT: Bibb Lettuce Salad With Okra Croutons And Buttermilk Dressing

Most people think of Paula Deen when Southern cooking comes up.  But, for me the best cookbook on Southern food is Ronni Lundy's From Blackberries to Butter Beans.  When I first read this book I was immediately transported back to my childhood in the South, eating speckled butter beans, gumbo, and gathering dewberries (a form of blackberry) for my grandmother's cobblers.  The book's title comes from a wonderful story where the great Southern writers William Faulkner and Katherine Ann Porter had just finished a fabulous meal in France.  As they looked at the food debris on their table, Faulkner mused, "Back home, the speckled butter beans are in."  And Porter replied wistfully, "Blackberries."   As a Southerner who no longer lives in the South, I immediately understood their sentiments.  Those foods are a part of me, and I always think about them when their season arrives. 

Paula Deen's Chinese Salad

I'd never heard of this salad until I saw Paula Deen prepare it on her Food Network show. I was intrigued because she scattered uncooked ramen noodles on top of the salad, which didn't seem very appetizing to me.  I've since learned that this salad is a popular dish, frequently seen at potluck parties.  I also learned that many people know that uncooked ramen noodles taste pretty good.  So, if you're out of the loop on this kind of thing like I am, reading this will bring you new knowledge. But, I suspect a lot of people will be saying, "Has she been living in a cave?"  I thought using the ramen was unusual and this would be a good recipe to try in honor of Glenna at A Fridge Full Of Food, who hosts a little shindig called Weekend Obnoxious But Amazingly Tasty recipes (WOBAT).  If you go over to her site I promise she will have something much more outrageous than this little salad.

Proceed With Caution: Chinese Chicken Salad with Sesame Noodles and Rice Vinegar Cucumbers

Ever since I received my Mustards Grill cookbook I've wanted to make their Chinese Chicken Salad recipe.  I'm very fond of Asian style salads in general and often prepare Vietnamese Chicken Salad, which is quick and delicious.  I could see that the Mustards Grill recipe was more involved than most salads, but it didn't discourage me from making it.  Even though the recipe contained the warning, "this is a fairly complicated recipe, but keep in mind that a lot of it can be done ahead of time," I failed to recognize that they were waving a big red flag at me to proceed with caution.  It wasn't a hard recipe by any means, but it required a great deal of busy work that could have been done at my leisure, days beforehand.   Instead, I blithely launched into it in the late afternoon and soon realized that I was a very foolish woman in not heeding the nice warning.  When I finally finished the salad, I was tired, annoyed at myself and faced a kitchen looking like a team of chimpanzees had a food fight in it.