Quick and easy salads for Memorial Day picnics

A long weekend and the weather is beautiful! I am off to MD/PA to visit some friends and a new baby. Memorial Day weekend is prime time for picnics, drinks, friends, family, and fun. As I've mentioned, I don't have much BBQ advice for you, but I can help with creating some fresh and tasty salads. BYO drinks, friends, family, and fun.

Both the salads I've shared with you below are super easy, quick to throw together, and flexible. You can use whatever veggies, nuts, or cheeses you have on hand. I've noted a few different options, but I urge you to be creative and have fun. Happy picnicking!

Couscous salad

1 cup couscous (I used whole wheat, it's just a bit heartier)
1 cup water
1 tbsp olive oil
4-6 radishes, thinly sliced (or any combination of vegetables that you have)
~2 cups grape tomatoes, chopped in half
1 English cucumber, diced
1/2 red onion, diced
1/2 bunch parsley, finely chopped
1.5 cups chickpeas (or black beans, or cannellini beans)
1/2 cup toasted pistachios (or pine nuts)
1/2 log goat cheese, crumbled by hand (or feta cheese)
Olive oil and balsamic vinegar, to taste
Salt and pepper, to taste

To make couscous, add water and 1 tbsp olive oil to a small saucepan and heat to boiling. Take off heat, stir in couscous and cover right away. Allow couscous to steam for 5-10 minutes. Fluff couscous with a fork, and transfer to a large bowl.

Meanwhile, chop the vegetables and prepare the other ingredients. Add the vegetables, herbs, chickpeas and pistachios to the bowl and stir to incorporate with the couscous. Sprinkle goat cheese on top, and dress the salad with olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Season with salt and pepper. Gently toss salad again. You can store the salad in the refrigerator, but it's best served at room temperature.

Spinach salad with strawberries, grapes, and bleu cheese


3-4 cups baby spinach, washed and picked over (or mixed greens, or baby arugula)
~2 cups strawberries, hulled and sliced
~1 cup red seedless grapes, sliced in half
~1/4 cup bleu cheese, crumbled by hand (or feta, or goat cheese, or Parmesan)
1/2 cup toasted pistachios (or walnuts, or pecans)
Olive oil and balsamic vinegar to taste
Salt and pepper to taste

Add spinach and fruit to a large bowl and toss. Sprinkle bleu cheese and pistachios over vegetables. Dress the salad with olive oil and balsamic vinegar, then season to taste with salt and pepper. Toss gently and serve immediately (note: you can make this salad ahead of time, just wait to dress the salad right before serving).

Roasted beet and blood orange salad

I'm tired of winter; it just keeps dragging on and on. I'm tired of cold, drab days, heavy coats and snow boots. I'm sick of icy sidewalks and the dirty piles of snow that refuse to melt. I'm even getting a little tired of heavy, meaty comfort foods that seem to fill up winter menus. I long for warmth and sunshine. I long to ride my bike. Most of all, I long for the array of colorful and tender fruits and vegetables that come with spring.

To help fight my winter blues, I've been eating this salad. It includes some of the most colorful, flavorful, and healthy winter ingredients: beets and blood oranges. Simple to make, refreshing and satisfying, this salad is gives me hope that winter is almost over.

You can find the recipe here, by way of 101 Cookbooks.

Pineapple salad

Some very nice people gave me a subscription to Gourmet Magazine for Christmas and I've been awaiting its arrival. I was so excited when I finally got my first edition. Reading through, I marked many recipes I want to try; this was the first and it didn't disappoint.

I love salads that mix in fruit; I love the sweetness and tartness that fruit adds. This salad was a great mixture of taste and texture - sweet pineapple, creamy avocado, crunchy jicama, spotted with little bursts of flavor from the cilantro.

This was quite a lot of salad for 2 people, so I ate it again the next night. This time I added a sprinkling of crumbled feta and some freshly ground pepper -- it was even more amazing! Sweet, savory, light, crunchy, and delicious!


Mexican Pineapple Salad
adapted from Gourmet Magazine February 2009

1 (3lb) pineapple, peeled and diced
1/2 lb jicama, peeled and cut into 1/4-inch peices
1 avocado, diced
1 small red onion, thinly sliced (I actually only used half the onion, it was plenty)
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
2 Tbsp olive oil (I doubled this)
1 Tbsp distilled white vinegar (I used 2 Tbsp white wine vinegar)

Toss ingredients together and season with salt and pepper.

Note: I suggest you make this salad one day in advance and store in the refrigerator. To serve, bring the salad to room temperature and sprinkle with crumbled feta and add some freshly ground pepper to taste.

Pulled pork, cole slaw, and a household chore

I secretly look forward to household chores that take all the day; they provide an opportunity to make slow-cooked meals I think about often. Braised meats, sauce and meatballs, soup, stock, etc... all tasty and easy, but who has time to stay home all day to mind the stove? Not me, usually. That's why all-day-household-chores are such a treat. This past Saturday the plan was to make pulled pork and clean the basement. Exciting, I know.

I woke up early to prep the pork. I cut off excess fat from the meat, and covered it in a rub (recipe below). I wrapped it up tight in aluminum foil, and stuck it in the oven at 250 degrees*. That's it. The day was off to a great start.

I went to the basement, and there the day took a turn for the worse. I discovered that much of our stuff covered in mold. MOLD! So gross. The majority of the day was spent picking through moldy items, tossing stuff, and washing the rest. Hours later, and after a trip to Home Depot for shelves and plastic tubs to ward off any future mold, the basement was neat and organized. But I didn't feel the sense of satisfaction normally associated with finishing a chore like that. Instead, I felt sad and sick. Sore throat, cough, sneezing; the mold got me. To make matters worse, the hot water heater needed to be repaired, so I had to wait for the repairman to return before I could take a shower.

Defeated, I went upstairs, washed the mold off my face and hands, and took a peek at the pork. It looked (and smelled) fabulous! Slow cooking all day, it was ready to be shred into tasty goodness. Bf kindly offered to chop the veggies for the slaw. The repairman showed up just as I was shredding the meat and adding some barbecue sauce. It smelled so good, he must have been jealous. Thirty minutes later, the hot water heater was fixed, and we sat down to some sandwiches and slaw. Just the kind of meal you need after a day of fighting mold.

*Special thanks to my friend Chris who shared his pulled pork technique with me.


Pork rub:
4 tbsp. paprika
2 tbsp. salt
2 tbsp. granulated sugar
2 tbsp. brown sugar
2 tbsp. cumin
2 tbsp. chili powder
2 tbsp. ground black pepper
1 tbsp. cayenne pepper

Mix together & rub all over pork.

Cole slaw:
1/2 head cabbage, chopped
1/2 head red cabbage, chopped
1/4 large yellow onion, minced
1 carrot, shredded
1/4 cup white wine vinegar
1/4 mayonnaise
1 tbsp. sugar
salt & pepper to taste

Chop vegetables and place in a large bowl. Mix together vinegar, mayonnaise, and sugar, then add to slaw. Toss to coat. Season with salt and pepper.

Hold the lettuce

This happens all the time. I run out of lettuce or other greens, but still have lots of fresh veggies to make salad. But I don't mind. Salad made out of just the extra bits is tasty business. This one includes red peppers, cucumbers, grape tomatoes, red onions, chopped avocado, fresh cilantro, and a sprinkling of creamy goat cheese. I finished it with some freshly ground black pepper, a splash of olive oil, and some quality balsamic vinegar. The perfect way to round out any meal.

all dressed up

I can make it better at home

Have you ever gone out to a restaurant, read a description of a dish on the menu that had you drooling with excitement, only to be disappointed with the taste? I hate it when this happens. There's nothing more aggravating than paying to have bland, mediocre food served to you. I could serve bland, mediocre food to myself at home for less than half the cost. You never know what's going to happen when you eat out; that's part of the fun. But, in an effort to avoid repeat mistakes, at the end of every restaurant meal I ask myself, "Can I make this better at home?" If the answer is yes, then I don't order that dish (or go to that restaurant - depends on the situation) again. If the answer is no, then I'll go back.

(Note: you may not be able to make it better at home for various reasons - availability or access to certain ingredients, time, skill, etc - the reason is less important than the answer.)

An example:

Not so long ago, I went out to a restaurant, hungry and looking for a good meal. Reading through the menu, I see this appetizer: "Beets and fresh goat cheese, blended with herbs, stacked high and served on a bed of field greens. $7.59."

Sounded like tasty business to me!

Not even close. I got 3 little piles of sad, ice-cold, canned beets, stacked with a little bit of goat cheese (no herbs), stained pink from the beets. Even the greens were wilty and sad. The whole thing was bland and nasty. You could tell these pathetic little things had been stacked up in kitchen walk-in for days, waiting for some chump to order them. Sadly, I was that chump.

But still, the description sounded so tasty. I asked myself, "Can I make this better at home?"

You're damn right I can. I made them & they were fabulous! I suggest you make 'em for yourself.

First, I scrubbed the beets, drizzled them with some olive oil, wrapped them in foil and roasted them until they were soft.

Crazy beets!

Once cool, I peeled and sliced the beets & stacked them with slices of fresh, creamy goat cheese (I didn't use any herbs). I drizzled the stacks with some tasty olive oil and seasoned them with salt and pepper. I served them with baby arugula dressed with olive oil, lemon juice, salt & pepper. I topped the dish off with some toasted pecans (next time I would use walnuts). Yummy!

Best part: According to my calculation, I made this meal (2 servings) for ~$5

On a totally different note, beets come out red on the other side. Don't worry, you probably don't have colon cancer, colitis, or some other horrible disease.

Summer BBQ "CT Style"

"CT style" barbecue means meat cooked on a gas grill by a bunch of New Englanders who have no idea what the hell they are doing.

I know about real barbecue because I've been to Texas and I've seen the ways. I've eaten the tasty business and I dream about eating tender, juicy, mesquite-smoked brisket again someday. Thankfully, I have some friends who know a thing or two about barbecue who live in the area. A particular buddy, a certain someone from Missouri, can cook up a mean piece o' pork on the campfire.

I know for sure that I won't find that kind of tasty business in CT. However, I will find my family there and every summer we venture out to the deck and fire up the grill only to confirm that we just can't barbecue. Thankfully, we had lots of tasty side dishes and plenty of wine and beer.

I dedicated a fair amount of time to making my own barbecue sauce. The sauce was good. The grilling was a disaster. Burnt chicken on the outside, raw meat on the inside. Nothing tasty about it.

Chicken pieces on the grill (don't be fooled, it only looks tasty because it hasn't been grilled yet):

Potato salad (light and tasty with lots of fresh herbs):

My mom made this orzo salad with chick peas (yah!), feta and green onions:

Overall, not too bad. My brother kicked it up a notch with a fancy birthday cake. But no worries, I rose to the cake challenge at the the next picnic. Pictures of that coming soon.

Herbed Potato Salad
Adapted from Cooking Light

2 pounds potatoes
3 tablespoons white wine vinegar
1 tablespoon canola oil
1/2 cup plain fat-free yogurt
1/4 cup reduced-fat sour cream
1/2 cup finely chopped red onion
2-3 cloves finely chopped garlic
Chopped fresh parley
Chopped fresh dill
Salt
Pepper

Peel, chop & boil potatoes in salted water until tender. Drain and cool.

In large bowl, mix yogurt, sour cream, oil, onion and garlic. Gently fold in potatoes. Add parsley, dill, salt and pepper to taste.

Chill for several hours before serving.

BBQ Sauce

1 large onion, chopped

3 cloves minced garlic

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1 cup tomato paste 1 cup cider vinegar

1 cup honey

1/2 cup Worcestershire sauce

1 cup Dijon mustard

1/2 cup soy sauce

1 cup hoisin sauce

2 T. chili powder

1 T. ground cumin

1/2 T. crushed red pepper flakes

In a large saucepan on low heat, sauté the onions and garlic with the vegetable oil for 10 to 15 minutes, until the onions are translucent but not browned. Add the rest of the ingredients. Simmer uncovered on low heat for 30 minutes. Use immediately or store in the fridge, or freeze.