Salsa Verde

No time for chit chat today as I've quite the work load ahead of me. But enjoy this wonderful salsa verde. It's a treat with chips alone, but salsa verde also makes a great white chili base and in addition to playing well with chicken in a slow cooker.

Enjoy!

Recipe courtesy of Driftless Organics

yields about 2 cups


The Ingredients:
1 lb tomatillos, hulls and stems removed
1 medium yellow onion, quartered
2-3 cloves garlic, peeled
3-4 jalapeño, stems and seeds removed
¼ cup cilantro, coarsely chopped
1 Tbsp salt
1 Tbsp lime juice

The Process:
Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F

Arrange the onions, jalepenos, garlic, and tomatillos, stem side down, in a single layer on a baking sheet.

Roast, turning the vegetables once, until the tomatillos are softened and slightly charred, about 10 mintues.

Combine the roasted vegetables along with the cilantro, salt and lime juice in a food processoe. Blend and process until smooth.

Store, covered, in the refrideratro for up to 1 week.

Tomato Beet Salad with Balsamic Dressing

This dish is in the run for one of the most colorful salads of all time. Just look at it! What a perfect way to show of those gorgeous heirloom tomatoes! Sungolds, Cherokee Purple, Green Zebra, Valencia...

And any number of vibrant beets.  Wouldn't chioggia beets be pretty on this platter?

This is why I love my CSA.

adapted from Martha Stewart

serves 2

The Ingredients:
3 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil 
1 Tbsp Balsamic vinegar  
3-4 small beets, scrubbed (about 1/2 lb)
2-3 large heirloom tomatoes (about 1 lb)
1/2 pint cherry tomatoes
2-3 Tbsps crumbled feta
1/4 cup fresh cilantro leaves
Salt and pepper

The Process:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. 

In a small jar, combine the oil and vinegar. Seal tightly and shake until well blended. 

Trim the tops and root tip off of the beets. Wrap beets in foil and bake, 50-60 minutes or until tender. Allow to cool. When cool enough to handle, rub beets with a paper towel to remove skins. Slice crosswise 1/4 inch thick. 

Slice the tomatoes, and halve cherry tomatoes.  Arrange with beets on a platter. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Top with feta, cilantro, and drizzle with balsamic dressing. 

Thai Cucmuber Salad

This is the last of the Thai inspired recipes. At least for a little while. I really can't make any promises.

The search for this recipe was inspired by the continuous onslaught of cucumbers from our CSA farm. If only they sent us slightly smaller cucs...I'm itching to try a few fermented pickle recipes...

Ever notice the trends the circulate among food blogs? Paleo and vegan diets are dominating my news feed. And the spiral cutter was all the rage this summer. Zucchini pasta anyone?

I don't buy the hype. Just let me get to the tasty food...

adapted from She Knows

serves 4

The Ingredients:
2 medium cucumbers, thinly sliced
1/2 cup cilantro, coarsely chopped
2-3 Tbsp cup toasted sesame seeds
2 Tbsp lime juice
1 1/2 Tbsp fish sauce
1 Tbsp tamari or soy sauce
1 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
2 tsp sesame oil
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
1 clove garlic, minced
salt and pepper to taste

The Porcess:
In a medium bowl, combine the cucumber, cilantro and sesame seeds.

In a small bowl, whisk together the lime juice, fish sauce, soy sauce, vinegar, sesame oil, red pepper flakes and garlic. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Drizzle the dressing over the cucumbers and toss to coat.

Lemongrass Dubbel Marinated Chicken

At it again...cooking with beer. I've been in the possession of The American Craft Beer Cookbook for a few months now and I have yet to post any of the recipes. Although, until recently I hadn't a good opportunity to try any of them out. The book runs the gamut from simple to elaborate to slightly convoluted. Some dishes can be thrown together from everyday items in your pantry, while others call for a touches a bit more exotic. The hummus and beer-mosas featured can come together in a pinch. The pork belly corn dogs with truffle mustard or the smoked bologna mousse on chicken skin crostini however...

Let's start on a the slightly less ambition end. This recipe features a beer marinade, using one of my favorite styles: the Belgian Dubbel. The most exotic ingredient is the lemongrass. Every once and again fresh stalks will appear alongside the ginger at our local grocery store. More frequently, I'll find a few stalks in a blister pack by the organic produce. When all else fails, hit up an Asian market.

adapted from John Holl's American Craft Beer Cookbook

serves 3-4

The Ingredients
4 chicken thighs, bone in and skin on
2 lemongrass stalks, trimmed and mince
1/4 cup fresh cilantro, coarsely chopped
1 Tbsp ground pepper
2 Tbsp minced fresh ginger
2 tsp ground coriander
2 tsp salt
1 Tbsp brown sugar
juice and zest of 1 lime
1 cup dubbel

The Process:
Pat the chicken dry. In a large bowl or zip top-bag, combine all of the ingredients. Toss, stir or shake to coat. Cover or seal, and refrigerate for at least 2 hours or up to a day.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Remove the chicken from the marinade. Place skin side down in a large cast iron skillet. Bake for 15 minutes. Flip the chicken and cook for another 20-25 minutes or until the juices run clear and the internal temperature reaches 180.

Switch the oven to broil. Broil the chicken, skin side up for 2-3 minutes or until the skin has begun to brown.

Remove from oven and allow to rest 3-4 minutes before serving.

Steak Tacos with Radish Relish

The relish really makes this dish. The entire meal comes together incredibly quickly, which is good. After all, who wants to spend a lot of time in a hot kitchen with gorgeous summer nights to look forward to.

adapted from Bon Apetit

serves 4

The Ingredients:
2 Tbsp oil, divided
1 lb skirt or flank steak
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
4-5 radishes, trimmed and chopped
2 green onions, thinly sliced
1/2 serrano pepper, seeded and finely diced
1/2 lime, juiced and zested
8 corn tortillas
2 oz queso fresco or feta cheese, crumbled

The Process:
In a large cast iron skillet over high heat, heat 1 Tbsp of the oil. Season the steak with salt and pepper. Sear the steak, 4-5 minutes per side. Remove from heat and allow to rest for 5 minutes.

At the steak rests, in a medium bowl combine the radishes, half of the cilantro, green onion, serrano pepper, remaining oil, and lime juice. Season with salt and pepper.

Heat the tortillas in a dry skillet, 1-2 minutes per side. Cover and keep warm.

Slice the steak cross grain. Divide steak among tortillas, and top with relish, cheese and remaining cilantro.

 

Cilantro-Lime Steak with Tex-Mex Quinoa

Tonight's dinner came courtesy of Pinterest. Periodically, when attempting to draw up a grocery list, I turn back to boards overflowing with legitimate recipes and dotted with flights of pure fancy. Usually something will catch my eye and inspiration will hit, as was the case with the one-skillet quinoa recipe.

Not surprisingly, I already had all of the ingredients in my pantry for this lovely little dish.  Billed as a vegetarian main course, the quinoa certainly stands well on it's own, but we were in a protein mood. And the sirloin tip steaks beckoned at us from the butcher counter.

A note on the avocado...it is lovely stirred into the quinoa just prior to serving, but does not stand up well as leftovers. When in doubt, serve it on the side. Thin bright green slices do make a lovely garnish.

Steak marinade adapted from Danny Boome's recipe at Foodnetwork.com
Quinoa adapted from Chung-ah's recipe at damndelicious.net

serves 4

The Ingredients:
for the steak
4- 4oz sirloin tip steaks
2 limes, juice and zest
1/2 cup olive oil
2 cloves of garlic, minced
2 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
small handful fresh cilantro, finely minced
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper

for the quinoa
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 jalapeño, seeded and finely diced
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 small yellow onion, diced
1-15 oz can black beans, drained and rinsed
1-15 oz can diced tomatoes
1 cup uncooked quinoa, rinsed
1 cup corn kernels, fresh or frozen
1 cup vegetable broth
1 Tbsp chili powder
1 tsp cumin
salt and pepper to taste
juice of 1 lime
small handful fresh cilantro, minced
1 avocado, peeled pitted and diced

The Process:
Marinade the steak:
Place the steaks in a shallow dish or zip-top bag. Whisk together the lime juice and zest, garlic, oil, vinegar, salt, pepper and cilantro. Pour over the steaks, turn to coat. Refrigerate for 30 minutes. Prior to cooking, remove from fridge and allow to come to room temperature, about 10 minutes.

Cook the quinoa:
In a large skillet set over medium heat, heat the oil. Add the onion, garlic and jalapeño. Sauté stirring frequently, until fragrant and the onion is translucent



, 6-8 minutes.

Stir in quinoa, broth, beans, tomatoes, corn, and spices. Bring to a boil, cover, and reduce to a simmer. Cook until quinoa is cooked tender, about 20 minutes. Fluff with a fork. Stir in avocado, lime juice and cilantro.
 Sear the steak and serve:
Place a seasoned 10-inch cast iron skillet in the oven and heat the oven to 500 F.  Once the oven has pre-heated, remove the skillet and place on HIGH heat on the stove.  Remove the steaks from marinade and place directly into the hot, dry skillet. Sear, without moving for 30-45 seconds. Flip and sear an additional 30-45 seconds. Place the skillet and steaks into the pre-heated oven. Cook about 5 minutes for medium rare, 7-8 minutes for medium.

Remove from the oven and transfer steaks to a plate. Loosely tent with foil and allow to rest 2-3 minutes before serving. Plate along with quinoa.

Carrots with Garlic and Cilantro

Carrots, carrots carrots.  Enjoyed raw with dip.  Oven-roasted.  Stir-fried.  Brown sugar glazed. Tossed into soups, fried rice or casseroles.  It is a vegetable we go through a lot of in this household.   Thanks to our CSA, we now have another simple method of preparing this bright orange jewels.

recipe courtesy of Driftless Organics

serves 4

The Ingredients:
2 lbs carrots
Salt & pepper to taste
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 tsp fresh lemon juice
2 Tbsp fresh cilantro, chopped


The Process:
Clean the carrots and slice on the bias into 1/2-inch pieces.

Add the carrots to a medium saucepan with just enough water to cover. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat.  Cover, reduce heat and simmer the carrots until almost tender, about 8 minutes.  Add salt and pepper to taste.  Continue to cook another 6-8 minutes uncovered, until liquid is reduced.  Drain any remaining liquid.  Toss carrots with garlic, oil, and  lemon juice.  Cook another minute.  Stir in cilantro and serve warm.

The Review:
Simple. A little over cooked...but I  fault the cook, not the recipe.  I adored the bite of fresh garlic and crispness of the lemon on top of the carrots' natural sweetness.  The cilantro I would not have missed much.  I suspect the recipe would be equally as tasty with another herb sprinkle.  

Chilled Cilantro Green Bean Salad with Almonds

East meets West in this lovely cold green bean salad.  With the scortching hot days we've been having, I've little desire to stand around in my kitchen.  Perhaps I'd have a different view if the overworked window unit actually had any affect in our house on days like this.  But until the luxury of central air is added to our home, I've little choice but to endure the heat.


One of the joys of this salad is the short amount of time needed over a heating element.  Only a quick blanch in boiling water.  Toss with the other ingredients and serve. Think of is as a chilled green beans almondine with a ginger sot dressing and generous helping of cilantro.  Asian-influenced green beans?  Ginger-soy dressings? I do seem to repeat myself, don't I?

recipe courtesy of NPR

serves 4-6

The Ingredients:
1 lb slender green beans

1 cup slivered almonds, lightly toasted
2-3 scallions, finely sliced on the diagonal (use both white and green parts)
1/2 cup fresh cilantro, chopped

for the dressing:
2 inch piece of fresh ginger,  minced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon sesame oil
2 tablespoons rice vinegar


1 teaspoon soy sauce

The Process:
Wash the green beans and trim away the stem ends

Prep an extra large bowl or the basin of the sink with cold water and 1-2 dozen ice cubes.   Set a colander near at hand.

Bring a large pot of generously salted water to a boil.  Once the water comes to a rolling boil, add the beans and cook briefly: 1 or 2 minutes for thin haricots, 4 or 5 minutes for more mature beans.  Once the beans turn vibrant green but are still firm, drain quickly into a colander.  Immediately submerge the colander into the ice bath to shock the green beans, preventing them from cooking further.   Agitate them briefly to evenly chill (about a minute). Remove the colander from the ice bath and allow to drain. 

Once the beans have drained, slice them on the diagonally into 1  to 1-1/2 inch pieces

To prepare the dressing, pound the ginger and garlic into a paste using a mortar and pestle.  Or mince them together as finely as you can, and mash with the side of a chef's knife or the back of a spoon.   Add to a large bowl and whisk in the oil, vinegar,and soy sauce.. Add the blanched beans, scallions and cilantro; toss to coat. Sprinkle with almonds.  Serve chilled or room temperature.

The Review:
After many a hot green bean dish, this salad was a treat.  Slightly blanched beans are incredibly sweet and still hold onto their amazing crispness.  Too often have I bit into an overcooked bean and lamented the lack of that pleasant snap.  Watch them carefully...green beans, particularly thin fresh ones, take little more than a blink of an eye to cook.

Another concern...toss the beans only immediatley before serving.  I learned this the hard way from a three bean salad.  Three hours after prepping the salad, the taste was still fresh and fragrant, but the green beans had turned a unappetizing shade of olive from soaking too long in the vinegar.  Lesson learned.

This salad did not last long at all.  I hope yours is equally as successful!

Thai-Inspired Roasted Chicken

I do not roast chicken frequently enough.  Which is a huge shame.  They are so ridiculously simple--a bit of salt, pepper and oil; a hot oven; one hour.  Done.  The bird practically presents itself.   And my favorite part...picking the last bits of meat off of the carcass and making my own stock.  Growing up that was one task I was always happy to help my mom with after we had eaten our fill (as did the dog...I wasn't too terribly careful about keeping a scrap to two from hitting the floor).

It doesn't take much to make a memorable meal.  Nor is much needed to notch the roast chicken up to the next level.  Dara certainly sent this simple roast through the roof with this amazing Thai-inspired recipe.  I was eagerly waiting the opportunity to try this recipe out.

adapted from Dara's recipe at Generation Y Foodie

serves 4-6

The Ingredients:

for the marinade

1 1/2  cups low sodium soy sauce
2 Tbsp fish sauce
2 Tbsp fresh ginger, minced
4 cloves of garlic, minced
1/4 cup or a small handful fresh cilantro
2 Thai chilies (seeded for less heat)

2 tsp ground coriander
2 small limes, juiced and zest

1 Tbsp tamarind paste

for the chicken
4 to 5lb roasting chicken
2 Tbsp olive oil
2 medium yellow onions, thinly sliced

1 lime, juiced

fresh cracked pepper to taste
1 Tbsp coarse sea salt
1 small handful of cilantro, washed
1 lime, quartered

The Process:

for the marinade

Rinse the chicken inside and out, drain and pat dry.  Place in a gallon-sized freezer bag.

In a food processor or blender, combine all marinade ingredients and pulse until pureed. Pour marinade over the chicken in freezer bag.  Squeeze out excess air and zip shut.  Marinate in the refrigerator for 3 or more hours or preferably overnight.



to roast:
Preheat the oven to 425.

Lightly oil a roasting pan slightly larger than the size of the chicken.  Layer the sliced onions on the bottom of the pan, building them up more towards the side.

Remove chicken from the bag of marinade and and loosely pack cilantro and quartered limes into the cavity.    Discard the remaining marinade.  Place the chicken in the roasting pan amid the onions.  Rub the chicken with olive oil.  Drizzle with lime juice and sprinkle liberally with salt and pepper. 

Roast at 425 for 45-60 minutes  or until internal temperature reaches 165 and the juices run clear.  Remove from oven, tent loosely with foil and allow to rest for 10-15 minutes before carving.


Transfer to a serving platter with the onion, garnish with additional lime and cilantro.  Carve and serve!

The Review:
The picture does not do this bird justice.  Though it is hard to set up a good photo with a hungry crowd in the wings!   My husband understands the quirkiness our mealtimes have become infused with.  He'll smile in quiet bemusement.  Dinner guests and friends still eye me and my camera with bewilderment.... 

As with many other brined and marinaded meats, this bird was amazingly moist and tender.  The skin crisped up beautifully (though I think mine could have benefited from another 5-10 minutes in the oven.  The lime penetrated the meat through and through provided a wonderfully refreshing tang. 

While the bird was incredibly flavorful, much of the uniqueness of the marinade dissipated.  Hints of lime, cilantro and fish sauce were present, but not the heat I was expecting.  Granted, my bird did only marinate for about four hours. I do think quite a bit more garlic, ginger and perhaps a bit of lemongrass is called for should I try this version again. That being said, the stock I made from the carcass was infused through and through with the wonderful Thai influence.  I'll have to save it for a Southeast Asian inspired soup!

Though honestly, I think the onions were my favorite part. After simmering in the lime and cilantro scented chicken drippings, these were bursting with sweet and savory flavor.  It was a shame I only sliced up two!