Salad 101 or Don't Skimp on the Dressing

     Why is it that salads never taste as good at home as they do at fabulous restaurants, or actually even at Soup or Salad?  It's the dressing.  I used to think the only way to have a tasty salad dressing was to make it at home, which is a rare occurrence at my house.  Not true.  You know the dressings they keep refrigerated in the produce area?  Those are for the most part worth every penny.  I have recently discovered that having a delicious dressing ready to go in my fridge almost guarantees, as long as there is something green and leafy in there too, that salad will be served with dinner.   I never thought the day would come when I could go months without throwing out rotten greens, but it has.
     Also, you can throw just about anything into salad and I usually do.  Apples, oranges, nuts, pomegranate, beans(kidney, black, garbanzo, or even pinto just make sure to drain and rinse), cheese (romano, gorgonzola, and dubliner are my faves), raisins, craisins, cooked squash, corn, beets, red onion(I've used yellow too), grapes...etc.  The more the merrier.  I buy the big plastic containers full of organic (it's just a couple of bucks extra) spring mix and spinach, bags of nuts I keep in the freezer and just take what I need out and throw directly it into the salad, peas and corn I also keep frozen-just thaw under warm running water, I like to buy crumbled cheese on sale and the Dubliner they sell at Costco in a medium-sized block, and Costco also sells huge resealable bags of craisins.  During the winter months when squash is plentiful cut it up into 1" cubes and boil for 20-30 minutes then cool, keeps in the fridge for a couple of days.
     Last, but not least, the dressing!  I like the Organic series from Litehouse, my fave is the Balsamic.  At Smith's there is also a local brand called Wild Coyote that makes a tasty light ranch.  Sometimes I'm already working hard on the main and side dishes and I don't want to fuss with the salad.  Because the dressing is so good, I can just throw it on the greens and toss and everyone still loves it.  I always dress and toss the salad in a large bowl to ensure that there is enough/not too much dressing and everything gets coated because, admit it, that's what makes it taste good.
     The point is don't be cheap when it comes to salad and you will probably want to eat it, all the time.

Bon Appetit!
-Natasha

Cookbookish

     I have this thing for cookbooks.  I feel like it's wrong because I just don't use them enough to warrant buying one and bringing it home, but I do anyway.  It's a guilty pleasure for me, like trash magazines and reality tv, an escape from my reality.   For example, I bought this fantastic Spanish cookbook at work called La Cocina de Mama by Penelope Casas.  It features "more than 175 recipes from Spain's hottest chefs and finest cooks".  When I first brought it home, I sat down and read for at least an hour about things like braised chicken in brandy sauce and octopus with paprika in simmered onions.  While I read I pictured myself preparing these elaborate meals, laughing and talking with friends in a kitchen that looks like something out of Martha Stewart Living or one of Oprah's houses.  In this foodie fantasy I'm in the South of France and there are beautiful people running around next to a vineyard and there is a long table beautifully set with vintage tableware and flowers, classical music is playing in the background, and then the food is brought out, everyone is eating and laughing.  I receive accolades from all around the table, everyone loves my food...nirvana.  Then I finished reading the cookbook put it away and have cracked it open only once or twice to get some inspiration for a couple of dishes.  That's usually how it goes when I get a new cookbook.
     What I did learn from this particular cookbook is to use paprika more often.  I mean this thing is loaded with recipes using paprika!  However, it calls for the snobby paprika that you have to buy at specialty stores.  I just use the stuff you buy at Smith's.  I actually buy it in a plastic bag in the hispanic foods area and refill my spice jar at home.  The package costs around 70 cents and it has less packaging so it's "greener".  Take that Penelope Cruz, I mean Casas.
      In conclusion, I urge you to use paprika liberally and the next time you find a cookbook that you want and you think-no I will never make any of the recipes in it-buy it anyway.  Let it inspire you, that's what a good cookbook should do anyway.

-Natasha

Foodist Field Trip

     Yesterday I visited Sur La Table (pronounced seur la taableuh or something like that but we always said sir la tawb which still sounds stupid-just stop using hard to pronounce french names-this is america and the french hate us anyway-just kidding I love the french, seriously I do), my last place of employment before I left the workforce to stay home with my baby.  This past weekend I worked on inventory to help out and so I'm eligible for the employee discount for the entire week!  How could I pass up this chance to stock up on much needed items for my pantry?  It would really be a shame.  Also, it's perfect segue for some pantry talk.  I'm creating a section on my blog called The Pantry(what else?) that will feature a running list of essentials for the kitchen.  So here are a couple of must have's for the pantry from SLT:

     A must for any kitchen is sea salt.  I like it in flake form rather than the rock because it's easier to evenly distribute.  Contrary to popular belief sea salt does not have a lower sodium content so you still have to watch your intake!  

     This is one of my new favorite things.  It's Steven Raichlen's Slider Spice and it is insanely delicious.  Steven Raichlen is one of the best bbq/grilling chefs in the world.  He has a show on PBS and probably something on cable too, but I wouldn't know because I'm too cheap to subscribe.  This spice mix was created to use in "sliders" which is fancy talk for "mini-hamburgers".  Really you can put this stuff on any meat and it will probably be amazing.  I've used it on (regular) burgers, steak, and even rice.  Buy it, put it in your pantry and when you are too lazy to make a red wine sauce for your next steak dinner use it.   It will not disappoint!

PS-Williams-Sonoma is good too but my heart belongs to SLT!

-Natasha

     

Cooking on the Fly

     There is a blog I love called The Pioneer Woman.  She is truly a renaissance woman.  She does everything and then she blogs about it, which makes her more of a 21st century woman I guess.  She makes me feel bad about myself because I can't do everything and then take step-by-step pictures of it and then upload it to the internet and then write about it all.   I've decided that my blog is for those of us without the time, capital, emotional energy, and general desire to overachieve in the kitchen but still want to eat like we do.
     I'll probably drop some recipes here and there,  review food gadgets, give some light cooking tips and discuss cooking using my three basic tenants of a good meal: quick, inexpensive, and delicious.   By the way I rarely follow recipes anymore, it's too time consuming.  For example, last night I made up my own American style version of Fried Rice and it was hit.  Here's the how to: cook 1 cup Jasmine rice with vegetable bouillon until done, then in a large skillet saute 1/4 cup onions, 2 t sea salt, and 5 slices of honey cured bacon(I used a local brand) in 2 T of olive oil-you can start this halfway through the rice cooking time-until done but not too crispy!  Chop bacon coarsely and add rice to skillet stir until all of the flavors have mixed and mingled.  Delish!

-Natasha

Foodist? Really?

Foodist is not a real word.  I looked it up in the Merriam-Webster Dictionary online and it's not there.  Though some people, who are very serious people, who read a lot of books and listen to NPR and make over 75K a year and eat at fancy restaurants actually use this word as if it were one, but it's not.  This is one of the many reasons I am reluctant to call myself one.  Also, I LOVE to eat which can become a problem late in life when your body decides that it needs to hang on to every last morsel of fat just in case...why, oh why?   Last but not least, thanks to the recession and my new stint as a stay at home mom, I cook all the time...on a budget.  SO my love/hate relationship with food has finally reached a tipping point.  Well I've decided that sharing my insights and anecdotes about this food madness might be therapeutic, thus the blog.  I hope to entertain, as well as enlighten.  Stay tuned for more.  It's time to start dinner.

-Natasha-The Reluctant Foodist