Cilantro savvy in Arizona

I made three key observations on my recent trip to Arizona. First, all the people who told me the dry heat in Arizona wouldn’t be so bad were wrong. 110 degrees is hot. It doesn’t matter if it’s dry, wet or slightly moist. Second, the beauty of the Grand Canyon was everything I imagined it would be. Third, Arizona residents seem to share my affinity for cilantro, and that’s a good thing.

At practically every meal, cilantro made an appearance. I was in the state for a Jostens yearbook workshop, and many of our meals were presented as part of the program. Sunday night we had a banquet which consisted of the usual salad, chicken, potatoes and steamed vegetables and dessert. However, the salad had a great Arizona twist. It was a Southwest salad, complete with cilantro-chipotle ranch dressing.

For one of our lunches, we had burgers, chicken, hot dogs and a variety of salads. The best of these salads was the corn-hominy salad with cilantro vinaigrette. As soon as I tried it, I knew I would have to try to make it once I returned home. I even made a note on my phone so it wouldn’t get lost in all of the other important information that was being crammed in my head during the workshop.

I think I got pretty close to duplicating the recipe. Even my husband who doesn’t really like hominy seemed to like it. Now my next projects are duplicating the corn chowder with cilantro and the yummy cilantro-laden guacamole that I enjoyed during the workshop.

1 can of white hominy, drained

1 can of whole kernel corn, drained

1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and chopped

1/4 c. diced red onion

1/4 c. chopped fresh cilantro

2 T. lime juice

1/4 c. white wine vinegar

1 tsp. honey

1/2 c. olive oil

1/2 tsp. garlic powder

salt and pepper to taste

Combine hominy, corn, jalapeno and onion in a bowl. Combine remaining ingredients and whisk together until well mixed. Pour over hominy mixture and stir. Refrigerate for at least an hour before serving.

International Night – Greece

My son requested Greece for our featured country this week, and it proved to be a bit of a challenge to find a main dish recipe. Many Greek dishes are made with lamb, and none of us really care for lamb, so those recipes were out. I finally settled on pastitsio, a pasta and meat sauce dish that is popular in Greece, particularly around Easter.

To be honest, we didn’t really care for it, but it’s only because I insisted on preparing it the authentic Greek way, with cinnamon and nutmeg as seasoning for the tomato based meat sauce. I don’t know about most readers, but in my family cinnamon and nutmeg aren’t spices we generally use with ground beef and tomatoes.

I remember one time when I was young, my dad accidentally added cinnamon to the chicken and dressing one Thanksgiving because he thought it was sage. I never really ate chicken and dressing, so it didn’t bother me, but the rest of the family gave him a hard time about that for years. I guess he would have fit in nicely as a Greek cook!

If you are willing to try new tastes, you can prepare the pastitsio the way the Greeks do. If you’re not feeling that adventurous, feel free to omit the cinnamon and nutmeg and add the familiar spice of your choice.

The Greek salad, however, was a big hit. It was very simple to make, and I’m going to do my best to approximate the measurements for the recipe since I just threw it together based on the traditional ingredients.

Greek Salad

3 medium tomatoes, chopped

2 cucumbers, sliced

1/4 c. red onion, diced

1 c. kalamata olives

8 oz. feta cheese, cubed

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. cracked black pepper

1/4 tsp. dried oregano

1/4 tsp. dried basil

2 T. olive oil

Combine all ingredients and mix well. Serve on a bed of lettuce, if desired.

Pastitsio

8 oz. penne or ziti pasta

3 T. melted butter

1/3 c. grated parmesan cheese

1/3 c. milk

1 egg, beaten

1 lb. ground beef

1/2 c. chopped onion

1 (8 oz.) can tomato sauce

1 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon

1/8 tsp. ground nutmeg

1/8 tsp. pepper

4 T. butter

4 T. all-purpose flour

1/4 tsp. salt

2 c. milk

1 egg, beaten

1/3 c. parmesan cheese

Cook pasta; drain, and return to pan. Stir in the melted butter, 1/3 cup Parmesan cheese, 1/3 cup milk, and the egg; set aside.

In a a skillet or large saucepan, cook ground beef and onion until meat is browned and onion is soft; drain excess fat. Stir in tomato sauce, the 1 teaspoon salt,  cinnamon, nutmeg and pepper; set aside.

In a saucepan, melt 4 tablespoons butter, then mix in flour and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Slowly stir in the 2 cups milk, stirring well after each addition so that no lumps form. Cook and stir on medium high until cream sauce starts to thicken; stir for one minute more, then remove from heat. Beat egg in a small bowl, then pour into cream sauce, stirring briskly. Blend in the 1/3 cup Parmesan cheese.

Layer half the pasta mixture in a 11" x 7" (or 2 quart) baking dish. Spoon the meat mixture evenly on top, then the remaining pasta. Pour cream sauce over top, to cover completely. Bake, uncovered, at 350F for about 40 minutes, or until hot and lightly browned. Let stand for 10 minutes.

International Night – Italy

Spaghetti, pizza, lasagna – all very familiar Italian dishes to the average American. However, for our third International Night we decided to feature a meal from Italy that isn’t commonly served outside of the country. As I do each week, I started with the Wikipedia entry on the cuisine of our chosen country. This proved a daunting task this week, as there were 19 different regional cuisines listed for Italy! This was going to be much more than pizza and spaghetti!

After reading over the different regions, I decided to feature a main dish from the Basilicata area. One of things that caught my eye was the fact that peperoncini are often used in the recipes from this area. I knew that would be a popular choice with my husband, so I quickly settled on a dish, pollo alla potentina, chicken stewed with white wine, tomatoes and peperoncini peppers. I had some fresh mozzarella cheese in the fridge, so I decided to step out of Basilicata a bit and add a caprese salad to the evening’s meal.

Here are the recipes from our Italian night:

Pollo alla potentina

1 chicken, cut into pieces

2 cans petite diced tomatoes

3 T. olive oil

1 medium onion, chopped

1 c. dry white wine

10-15 peperocini peppers, chopped

Chopped fresh basil

Chopped fresh parsley

1/2 c. grated parmesan cheese

salt and pepper to taste

Saute onion in oil for 3 minutes. Add chicken and brown. Add wine and peperocini. Reduce wine by half. Add tomato, basil, parsley and parmesan. Cover and reduce heat to a simmer. Cook for 1 hour. Season with salt and pepper. Serve with pasta and garnish with additional parsley and cheese.

Caprese salad

4 medium tomatoes, sliced

1/2 lb. fresh mozzarella cheese, sliced

1/4 c. chopped fresh basil

3 T. extra virgin olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

Alternate tomatoes and cheese on a serving plate. Sprinkle with basil and drizzle with olive oil. Add salt and pepper.

July 4th Fare

First I want to apologize for the fact that I have no pictures to accompany my recipes today. We were in a mad rush to get out the door to our family gathering, and I just didn’t have time to snap any photos. A couple of the things I made turned out really good, though, so I wanted to share the recipes even without the pictures. If after heating up the leftovers they still look good, I’ll add some images later.

Since my husband and I married four years ago, I’ve become a part of his family tradition on the 4th of July. They rent a clubhouse at a youth camp in the woods (and I do mean in the woods – like “Bigfoot sighting” woods), and lots of family and extended family gather each year for lunch and swimming for the kids afterward. After four years, I still don’t know a lot of the people there, but maybe I’ll eventually learn everyone’s names.

Growing up my family was never big on 4th of July celebrations or extended family gatherings, so this has all been new to me. We really never did much of anything special on July 4, probably because for years my dad was working. With this new tradition in my life comes a new challenge to find food to prepare each year. I don’t like to bring the same things to a gathering every year, so I start scouring cookbooks and the internet for ideas on what to bring, just like I do at Thanksgiving and Christmas. This usually works out well, but the first year I went to this event, I apparently made a strawberry dessert that a couple of people there really liked. I have absolutely no idea what it was or where I found the recipe, but I’m usually reminded of how good it was and how I should make it again. At least now with this blog I’ll have a record of what I brought each year!

I decided this year to make some grilled chicken legs since they are a good choice for our Weight Watchers plan. After marinating the legs overnight, my husband grilled them, and they were quite good. I also made some pinto beans and potato salad that I adapted slightly from recipes I found online. The big hit of the day, however, was a dish that I decided to throw together at the last minute, crab and shrimp stuffed jalapeno popppers. A couple of years ago we made some grilled jalapeno poppers that basically consisted of stuffing shredded cheese in jalapenos and wrapping it with bacon. Those were good (according to the people who ate them), but in trying to keep the pepper intact, it was nearly impossible to deseed them completely. As a result, they were apparently very, very hot! For this variation, I just cut the peppers in half and stuffed each half separately before grilling. Even though I didn’t eat them, everybody else seemed to love them.

I hope everybody had a fun and safe holiday. Let me know if you try any of the recipes.

Here are the recipes that I prepared this Independence Day:

Seafood Stuffed Jalapeno Poppers

12-15 large jalapeno peppers
1 (8 oz.) pkg. cream cheese, softened
1 can crab or tiny shrimp, drained
1/2 c. shredded cheese
2 T. Old Bay seasoning or Emeril’s Essence
1 T. lemon juice
Paprika

Cut jalapeno peppers in half lengthwise. Remove seeds and veins completely. Combine cream cheese, crab or shrimp, cheese, seasoning and lemon juice. Place some of stuffing mixture in each pepper half. Sprinkle with paprika. Grill using indirect heat for 10-20 minutes. Serve immediately. Any type of shredded cheese will work with this recipe, just use your favorite.

Texas Style Pinto Beans (adapted from allrecipes.com)

1 pound dry pinto beans
1 (29 ounce) can chicken broth
1 large onion, chopped
1 fresh jalapeno pepper, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon cumin
salt and pepper to taste
water, if needed

Soak beans overnight, drain. Combine beans, chicken broth, onion, pepper, garlic, and spices in a large pot. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to medium-low, and continue cooking 2 hours, stirring often, until beans are tender. Add water as needed to keep the beans moist.

Grilled Chicken Legs

3 to 5 lb. chicken drumsticks
1/2 c. soy sauce
1/2 c. Worcestershire sauce
1/2 c. teriyaki sauce
Juice from 2 limes
1 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. red pepper flakes

Place chicken legs in a a gallon zip loc bag and add remaining ingredients. Shake to mix well. Refrigerate overnight to marinade. Preheat an outdoor grill for medium-low heat and lightly oil grate. Drain the marinade from the wings and discard. Cook chicken on the heated grill, turning occasionally, until juices run clear, 25 to 30 minutes.

 

Tex-Mex Potato Salad (adapted from kraftfoods.com)

5 cups red potatoes, unpeeled and cut into large pieces
2/3 cup  Light Miracle Whip
1 tsp. chili powder
1 tsp.  onion powder
salt and pepper to taste
1 can (11 oz.) whole kernel corn, drained
1 can  (4 oz.) chopped green chiles, undrained
1/2 cup chopped celery

Cook potatoes in boiling water 15 minutes or until tender. Drain and cool slightly. Combine Miracle Whip and remaining ingredients. Add potatoes and mix well. Refrigerate several hours or overnight before serving.

Summer salad series – cucumber-tomato salad

I want to first apologize for failing to post on here for over a week. I had my 20 year class reunion on June 27, and I was doing a lot of the planning for the event. As a result, I put things like cooking, cleaning, laundry, etc. on the backburner to focus on the task at hand. Since I didn’t do much cooking, I didn’t really have anything to blog about!

The reunion was a lot of fun, but as a result of my good time I gained 1.2 pounds at my weekly Weight Watchers weigh in yesterday. Since joining on June 1, I had lost 10 pounds, but now I’m back to just 8.8. After weighing in yesterday, I went grocery shopping at Sam’s, and of course, I was focused on buying stuff that would help get me back on my weight loss plan. I often buy tomatoes there because their on the vine campari tomatoes actually have a flavor and texture that resembles a “real” tomato, unlike most grocery store varieties. After putting some tomatoes in my cart, I noticed something else that looked appealing, a three pack of seedless cucumbers. I bought these as well with nothing in particular in mind for them. I suspected that they would also be more flavorful than the big waxy skinned cucumbers I usually find at the grocery store.

Last night I started to make dinner and decided to throw together a salad using my Sam’s veggie finds. This was truly one of those “create as you go” recipes, but it turned out great. As a bonus, it has zero points value for any of my fellow Weight Watchers! As I was eating it last night, I thought it would have been even better with some diced red onion, but I’ll try that next time. Here is the recipe as I first created it last night:

1 large cucumber, sliced
2 small or 1 large tomato, chopped
1 tsp. dried dill weed
1/4 tsp. celery seed
1/4 tsp. garlic powder
3 T. balsamic vinegar
salt and pepper to taste

Combine all ingredients and refrigerate at least 30 minutes before serving.

Summer salad series – spicy crab salad

 

The second in my summer salad series is an example of how sometimes I just throw stuff together and hope something edible turns out as a result. In this case, my husband confirms that it is indeed not only edible but also quite tasty. He is my taste tester for this recipe because I don’t like crab or imitation crab.

My dad always liked crab salad prepared with imitation crab, mayonnaise, macaroni, peas and celery. After my mom died, I would occasionally make him up a batch of it, and he would eat on it for days. I was always really surprised that he liked that so well because he was definitely a “meat and potatoes” kind of guy. I seem to recall that the first time he had it was at a company Christmas party at a restaurant, and after that he had my mom make it for him every so often.

My husband, however, is not a fan of mayonnaise or Miracle Whip. He tolerates it in my chicken salad as long as I keep it very light. Since we’ve been trying to lose weight he likes to snack on imitation crab meat, so I thought I’d find a way to add a little variety in it for him. I had a few leftover fresh ingredients from my salsa and chicken salad that I needed to use, so I combined some of them with the crab for a delightful, light salad that is perfect to serve with crackers or on a bed of lettuce:

1-1 1/2 lb. pkg. imitation crab meat, flaked
1 lime
1/4 c. fresh cilantro, chopped
2 ribs celery, chopped
1 jalapeno, seeded and chopped
1/2 medium onion, finely chopped
1 T. white wine vinegar
2 tsp. light olive oil
1 tsp. minced garlic
1/4 tsp. celery seed
salt and pepper to taste

Squeeze the juice from the lime and pour over other ingredients. Stir well to combine. Refrigerate at least 1 hour before serving.

Summer salad series – lightened up chicken salad

Roasted chicken salad served in lettuce leaves.

I don’t think I tried chicken salad until I was in my 20’s. Tuna salad sandwiches were pretty common, and I even remember ham salad and egg salad sandwiches on occasion. However, chicken salad was never on our menu at home as far as I can remember. If we did have chicken salad, I probably wouldn’t have cared for it anyway, because I’m sure it would have been made with canned chunk chicken. With a few exceptions, I don’t care for canned chicken in recipes because of its weird, soft texture.

As I got older, I tried some good chicken salad, but I never tried to make any until I was giving a baby shower and needed something to put on croissants. It was around the time I first started exploring the internet, and one of the earliest sites that I fell in love with was allrecipes.com. I still have printouts of the chicken salad recipes I looked at and combined elements of to make my own recipe. I don’t make it very much, but it gets rave reviews every time. In fact, my chicken salad was one of the first meals I made for my husband when we were dating, and I think it was one of the big factors in him falling for me!

Usually I rub some olive oil, salt and pepper on a whole chicken, wrap it in foil and cook it in the oven or on the grill. After it cools, I skin and debone it to get all the meat off to use in the salad. However, I’ve discovered a wonderful shortcut that results in an even more flavorful salad. When I was in Wal-Mart last night, the rotisserie chickens were on sale for $2.98, much less than a whole raw chicken. I bought the traditional flavor, but I think any flavor other than barbecue would be great. I bought two chickens and used half the meat for the salad and put the rest in the freezer. It was a much quicker way to make the salad, and I will no doubt look for rotisserie chicken sales again.

I usually put a combination of celery, grapes and sunflower seed kernels in my chicken salad, but I modified the recipe this time because I’m currently doing Weight Watchers. I left out the sunflower seeds and added mandarin oranges instead. It tasted great, but feel free to try it with the sunflower seeds if you’re not watching your fat intake. I think the most important ingredient (other than the chicken, of course) in it is dill. I absolutely love the taste of dill, and fresh dill is the best. Most of the time, however, I can’t find fresh dill at our local stores, so I just use dried instead. Another modification I made this time was to use light Miracle Whip and cut down the amount I use to around 1/2 cup. I didn’t miss the extra dressing one bit. It’s great to serve in a wrap, a sandwich or on lettuce leaves.

I served the chicken salad to my husband in a wrap with some pretzel sticks, sliced tomatoes and a pickle. A very filling yet low fat, low calorie meal for us Weight Watchers folks.

Here is my lightened up version of roasted chicken salad:

1 whole rotisserie chicken, skinned, deboned and chopped
1/2 c. chopped celery
1/2 c. light Miracle Whip
4 T. chopped fresh dill or 2 tsp. dried dill
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
salt and pepper to taste
1 c. red seedless grapes, halved
1 c. mandarin oranges

Combine chicken, celery, Miracle Whip, dill, garlic, salt and pepper in a large bowl. Stir to mix well. Fold in grapes and oranges. Refrigerate at least one hour before serving.

Mama’s potato salad

For my first recipe, I decided it was only fitting that I prepare my mom’s “famous” potato salad. Although it’s very simple, she was well known within our family for her potato salad. It was especially beloved by those on my dad’s side of the family, and they have delighted in the few times that I have prepared it for family gatherings since she has died. I don’t make it that much because I’m not a huge fan of potato salad, and I hate peeling potatoes. As potato salads go, though, it’s pretty good. I have taken a short cut before and used refrigerated prepared mashed potatoes, and it pretty much turns out the same. If you’re like me and hate peeling potatoes, feel free to make this change.

The first year I was teaching at my school, I became the class sponsor for that year’s sophomore class. As a fundraiser, I helped them put together a cookbook, and it was a huge success. While I was gathering recipes, I asked my mother to write down some of her best dishes. She had to really think about what measurements to put down because, like me, she rarely measured things when she cooked. One thing I specifically requested from her was the potato salad recipe because I knew how much the family enjoyed it. That year I gave the cookbook as a Christmas present to my dad’s side of the family, and they were especially glad to have mom’s best recipes all in one place. I’m especially glad that I forced her to write these recipes down since she died just a few months later.

Here is her beloved potato salad recipe as she wrote it down for Mustang Country Cookin’:

6 large white potatoes, peeled and sliced
1/2 stick margarine
1/4 c. milk
salt and pepper to taste
1 medium onion, chopped
1/2 c. chopped dill pickles
3 hard boiled eggs, chopped
4 Tbsp. mustard
1/2 c. mayonnaise or Miracle Whip

Cook potatoes until tender; drain. Add margarine and beat with electric mixer. Add milk if potatoes are too stiff. Add mayonnaise and mustard and blend with mixer. Add onions, pickles and eggs. Mix well.

My friend Deb looks at a lot of cooking and home blogs, and she said she likes it when they have a picture of the ingredients as well as the finished product. I was making a small batch tonight, so I only used five small potatoes. Please keep in mind that I’m not a foods stylist so ignore any imperfections in my pictures.

This is how I served the potato salad. My husband grilled some hot dogs, and I served them with a variety of toppings, which my husband refers to as my “fixin’s bar.” I like to top my dogs with tomatoes, pickles, onions, yellow mustard and celery seeds. I think that’s kind of like a Chicago hot dog. I also microwaved some canned baked beans that I souped up with some barbecue sauce, spicy mustard and Strawberry’s barbecue shake.