Sesame Squash Salad

Since I seem to be in a 'healthy cooking' frame of mind, I decided to remake spicy cold sesame/peanut noodle salad.  This makes 1 lunch sized serving or an app for 2-3 people and is best if you let it sit in the fridge at least overnight.

2 cups baked spaghetti squash, stringed
1 tbl sesame seeds
2 tbl natural peanut butter (I like crunchy but you can go with plain if you don't like discernible chunks of peanut)
1 tsp sesame oil
2+ tbl red pepper flakes depending on your heat tollerance
1 tbl ground ginger
3tbl to 1/4th cup stock (I used chicken, veggie or beef would work also.)
several green onions, chopped. a shallot works in a pinch as well
splash of rice wine vinegar
salt and pepper to taste

Microwave your peanut butter 30 sec or so so it will mix well, and mix in your sesame seeds, oil, spices, stock, and vinegar.  Taste for heat and adjust accordingly.  Toss in your squash and green onions and mix well.  Let sit in the fridge and serve cold.  This makes a great lunch with a side of quick pickled cucumbers (let them sit overnight with rice wine vinegar, salt, and pepper).

Herbaceous Fruit Salad

Listing the ingredients as if you are making 1 serving of this salad, scale up for the number of guests. (If you have an odd number of guests either just throw the extra peach in there or snack while chopping)

2 cups Arugula, baby arugula, baby spinach, or mixed greens
1/2 chopped up ripe peach (peeled if desired)
1/4th cup blueberries
3-4 large basil leaves (or 5-6 small ones)
8-10 mint leaves
2 tbl balsamic vinegar
4 tbl good olive oil
salt/pepper to taste

This is super simple. Roll the herbs up and slice them into nice confetti like pieces and put them in a plastic baggie or a small bowl with the oil and vinegar. Stir and let sit, you can make this way ahead. When ready to serve, toss the greens, fruit, dressing and some salt/pepper if desired.

I love this salad as part of my Summer BBQ Gone Sideways menu.

Southwest Steak and Avocado Egg Rolls

This recipe looks more complex then it is because there are several components to make, but altho a few of the steps are time consuming it is really simple.

for steak component:
Heat up a pan (I vastly prefer cast iron) and season some room temperature flank steak with salt, pepper, cumin, and garlic powder.  Cook about 3-4 mins on each side (set a timer or something do NOT poke at it, do not flip more then once).  Let it rest for at least 5 mins before you cut it up into very thin slices.

for veggie component:
Sautee 1 green bell pepper, 1 yellow onion, 1 tomato, 2-3 cloves garlic with salt, pepper, cilantro, thyme, and oregano until the pepper and onion are carmelized and the tomato is mushy.  Put the whole mess into the blender/food processor and process until you have a smooth sauce.

for sauce:
Smash up 2 cloves garlic, some salt, corriander seeds, and peppercorns in a morter and pestle.  Add one ripe avocado and smush together, then add about 1 cup sour cream to thin it out into a sauce.  Bonus points if you let your sour cream sit in the fridge for a few weeks so it is actually sour and has some flavor to add.

Gather a barely ripe avocado cut into bite sized pieces, a few handfuls of arugula or spinach (raw), and egg roll wrappers.  The back of the package for the egg roll wrappers should have a handy diagram showing you how to fold them up, because really trying to describe it with words wouldn't go very well.  In each egg roll, place a few tbl of the veggie component, several arugula leaves, 1 slice avocado, and 2-3 slices steak.  Roll as directed.  Do not stack your egg rolls all up in a container if you are going to cook them later, they will get all mushy from the veggies.  Lay them out on a cookie sheet that is coated in kitchen spray as you go, then brush the tops with some olive oil when you are done making them all.  Bake at 450 for about 15 mins.  (You can also pan fry them in batches or deep fry them if you are sure you have rolled them well enough to withstand frying.)   Serve with the sauce.  Hopefully they will all be eaten bc I don't think they reheat very well.

Mushroom Stuffed Mushrooms

• Brush off/rinse 3-4 mushrooms per serving, and remove their stems.
• Cut off the woody end of the stems and toss it.  Mince the rest of them up into little bits.
• Saute the minced mushrooms with: 1 tbl butter, 2 tsp thyme, and 1 chopped clove garlic per serving.
• Once mushroom has cooked down some, pull from heat and add 2 tbl plain breadcrumbs (can crush up crackers in a pinch) per serving.  
• Stir in bread crumbs, then add 1-2 tbl fresh grated parm per serving.  Add 1/2 egg (use just the white if you are making an odd number of servings, do not muck about trying to figure out what 1/2 of the egg actually is) per serving to bind.  Taste and add salt and pepper accordingly. (Yes, I know I recommended eating a raw egg. It is just a bite of one, shush.)
• Brush your reserved mushroom caps with a tiny bit of olive oil or melted butter, and fill them with the stuffing.
• Bake at 350/400/whatever your oven is on for the other things you are probably cooking for 10-15 mins.
• This is a pretty effortless dish to make if you have people randomly show up, while they are snacking on this it buys you time to make some actual dinner.  It would also be a pretty good lunch on its own with a salad.

Chicken Empanadas

empanada wrappers (goya makes them, can find them in the freezer section) or eggroll wrappers cut into circles
2 lbs ground chicken
1-2 cups chopped green olives
1 yellow onion
8oz can diced tomatoes
4-6 cloves garlic, diced
cumin, salt, pepper to taste
egg wash for wrapping

Saute onion until caramelized.  Add ground chicken, olives, seasonings and cook until chicken is almost done.  Drain off the fat and add the tomatoes and garlic.  Cook until done and taste for seasoning.  Allow to cool slightly.  set up your egg wash and empanada wrappers and a cookie sheet or several plates to rest them on.  Fill each wrapper with about 1/4th of a cup of the meat filling and fold into a half moon shape (using egg around the edge to keep it sealed) and crimp with a fork.  Continue until you have them all folded.  (You can do this up to a day ahead.)  Either fry the empanadas or brush with olive oil and bake at 400 until skins are golden and crispy.  Serve with salsa, sour cream, or guacamole.

Awesome Avocado Salad

1 lb spinach or baby arugula
2-3 small avocados, cut into small pieces
1-2 grapefruits, cut into suprems (cut the sections out of the grapefruit with no membrane/pith on them at all)
2 firm pears, peeled and chopped
few tbl good olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

Toss everything together in a bowl, allowing juice from grapefruits and the olive oil to combine to dress the salad.  Serve before it wilts.  If you are taking this to a party or want to make it ahead, I recommend cutting up the grapefruit and pears and keeping them in a baggie with the olive oil, salt and pepper.  Just pour the greens into a bowl and cut up the avocados and mix it all when you get there/when your guests arrive.  It can sit for an hour or so two but really starts to turn to mush if you let it sit much longer then that.

baked brie

this is not really 'cooking' it is assembly and maybe some chopping up, but it makes an awesome app (could be a lunch with a salad, also) for very little work.

1 prepared pie crust or sheet puff pastry
1 small wheel brie
1/2-1 cup dried tart cherries (could use apricots (cut up a bit) or crasins also)
1 cup walnuts
few tbl sugar
1-2 cut up tart apples or firm pears + crackers to serve

preheat oven to 350 (or whatever the instructions on your pie crust says). place pie crust on a cookie sheet or in a pie tin. unwrap brie (scrape off a bit of the rind if you want, don't have to get it all off by any means tho) and place it in the middle of pie crust. put dried fruit on top of brie, and top with walnuts. sprinkle walnuts with a bit of sugar (brown sugar is best, but w/e works. if you are using sweeter fruit omit or use less sugar). wrap pie crust up over brie, being careful not to make any holes in it. there can be some walnuts peeking out at the top, that's just fine. bake 20-30 mins until golden brown. serve on a pretty platter with fruit and crackers and watch it get devoured.

(you can also do individual versions of this with smaller things of pie crust (or use egg roll wrappers and fry it instead!) and the individual sized little bries they sell at trader joes if you want to really wow people or if you are just having 1-2 guests and don't want to have leftover cheese/overfed food coma'ed guests. if making smaller ones, freeze the brie first so that it doesn't get too too overmelted by the time the crusts cook.)

simple crab cakes

1 6oz container crab meat - real stuff, not imitation.
2-3 tbl mustard (can sub out 1-2 tbl of that for mayo depending on your preference)
salt, pepper, red pepper flakes to taste (if you have something like old bay seasoning in the house that is good too but you don't need to go buy if not)
1 egg
1/3rd cup unseasoned bread crumbs

mix, form into cakes, and let rest awhile. either spray with some pam and broil or sautee in a bit of olive oil till browned. makes 3-4 crab cakes. these are awesome with tatziki sauce.

zucchini chickpea fritters

smash up 1/2 a cup of chick peas.
grate 1 mid sized zucchini, and discard the extra moisture by squeezing it over the sink (or use cheesecloth if you have)
mix those together. add 1-2 oz crumbled feta, a few chopped up kalamata olives, and a small amount of roasted red pepper, also chopped.
add a few tablespoons greek dressing, oregano, garlic, salt (be careful with this, feta is salty) and pepper.
smush in an egg, and add enough bread crumbs to make it hold together (about 1/4th of a cup)
form into patties and either fry until golden brown on each side, or bake at 450 about 10 mins.

honey mustard chicken wings

4 parts mustard (i used plain old yellow, could use a grainy mustard for more spice)
1 part adobo (or a mixture of salt, garlic powder, pepper, and w/e herbs are in your cupboard)
2 part honey
1 part apple cider vinegar
1 part olive oil
2 parts burbon (i used soco, jack would work also, or white wine, sherry, or chicken stock if you don't have those)

toss wings into a pan, pour ingredients directly onto them, and mix. make sure they end up in a flat layer at the end and bake at 350 for 15-20 mins then turn up to 450 for about 10 to crisp them up. extend cooking time at 350 if using bigger pieces of chicken. (since asked,i just baked it straight away, but if i had been using chicken in larger chunks i probably would of marinated them in it awhile first. and, you want the chicken to be coated in the sauce but not drowning in it.)

death by cornbread

(background. my father came up with this on the last day of a camping trip, all he had left was leftover roast corn salad, a box of cornbread, and a pound of bacon.. and about 10 people to feed breakfast too. i have tweaked it a bit since)

2 boxes cornbread mix
whatever they say to add to them
1 lb bacon
3-4 ears corn
1 yellow onion
1 bell pepper
1/2-1 jalepeno, diced
some cheddar or montaray jack cheese
garlic, pepper, salt, cumin seeds if you like em, and some fresh herbs (if your grocery store sells ''poultry mix" of thyme/sage/rosemary together this is perfect. or use whatever you have on hand, or throw in a tiny bit of dried herbs (you want a mix, not just one strong flavor)

cook bacon, i like to do it in the oven so i don't have to poke at it and can work on other things at the same time. reserve the fat when it is done, and chop the bacon up.
roast the veggies in a big saute pan with some olive oil. you want them to have a lot of contact with the bottom of the pan so that they caramelize, if you don't have a big pan then do it in batches. add the herbs and spices towards the end. veggies are done when they are fully tender and have some nice browned bits on them. do not have your head directly over the pan if you are using the jalapeno, or you will be coughing.
mix up the cornbread according to the package directions, and preheat the oven (also according to its directions).
fold the corn salad and chopped bacon into the cornbread, along with a handful or 2 of cheese.
put a bit of the bacon fat into the bottom of the pan you will cook the cornbread in. sit it in the oven a few mins to preheat that as well, then pour in the cornbread. you should hear a sizzle when it pours in.
cook according to package directions, maybe a few mins longer.

unami wings

• throw uncooked wings into a big pan 
• coat liberally with equal parts balsamic vinegar and soy sauce (the good stuff, not the packets)
•  add about 1/3rd as much honey as you did either of the above 
• add some pepper, garlic powder, dried ginger, and a tiny bit of five spice 
• if you/your guests like spicy things, add some chili oil and/or red pepper flakes 
• cook at 400 until brown and delicious.
• serve with dipping sauce made out of 2 parts mayo and 1 part sirracha sauce for heat.

mild but not boring chicken wings

toss chicken wings into an oven safe pan, and preheat oven to 450
liberaly season chicken with salt, pepper, garlic powder, and herbs from provance mix (or poultry seasoning mix, or just some sage and rosemary, or w/e you have in the house)
add some olive oil to the pan
ditto abt 2-3 shots of whiskey
swish the chicken around so it is coated with everything and toss in the oven. wings will take abt 20 mins to cook.