the easy gourmet

My mother always tells me never to say I'm easy.  But sometimes I can't help it.  I like things to be easy.  Don't get me wrong--I love a challenge.  But, there's something to be said for having a favorite sweater you can always throw on and feel comfortable and attractive in.  That's easy.  I also find I take the "easy" route when making dinner lately.  Pretty much ever since Ella became independently mobile.  If it's not easy, we'll wind up ordering pizza or eating way too much ice cream.  (Sometimes that happens anyway.)  Easy doesn't have to be boring, though.  Here are a few of my favorite sweaters I like to throw on in the kitchen, so to speak.  

Fresh greens with homemade salad dressing.  When I lived in Switzerland, my grandfather's cousin taught me how to make her signature vinaigrette.  I find it hard to match the ingredients exactly in the U.S., but with some tweaking, I've come up with an easy and delicious facsimile.  I whisk it into a bowl, pour any extra into a jar for later, then toss the greens in--voila!  Mache is my favorite green of late, or anything else fresh from the garden.  The key is in the vinegar. Trust me.  This salad works as a side dish, a topping or a main.  You can add anything you want to the salad and make it an entire meal too.  Go for some roasted chicken, mango, avocado and cashews.  So delicious.

Swiss dressing

kosher salt and fresh ground pepper, to taste

a few dashes of Maggi

1/2 t. dijon mustard

2 T. raw, unfiltered cider vinegar (such as Bragg's)

whisk first four ingredients together until frothy

3 T. olive oil

2-3 T. canola oil

slowly whisk oil into vinegar mixture until emulsified

Stir fry.  I know, it sounds lame, but when I discovered the fresh stir fry noodles in the produce section at Lunds, I was hooked.  I used to be a rice girl...not anymore.  I can't get enough of these.  They're cheap, and easy!!  What a combo.  I never use the seasoning packet, but with fresh garlic and ginger, you can make a killer sauce in a no time flat.  I love to add edamame and shitakes.  It's all about the right fresh ingredients adding real flavor.  Never buy baby carrots in a bag.  They're tough and slimy.  In fact, they're often just large carrots that have been lathed down to a tough core.  Organic carrots with green tops are cheaper and taste roughly a thousand times better.  I'm not making this up people.  You won't be sorry.  Oh, and pepper.  Use lots of pepper.

I would write more now, but I just realized dinner is ready.  Chris got off early tonight and ismaking it.  That's the best, and easiest meal there is!  Tell me what you like, and I'll find some good recipes that fit.  What's in your garden?  Do you have anything in your kitchen you don't know how to use?  Just ask...I do love that kind of challenge!!!

go buffs!

Remember when I mentioned our million or so tomato seedlings? Well this weekend we dug into the garden and got them going. Ella helped a lot by riding in the wheelbarrow and digging in the dirt.

We sowed 30 plants ourselves, gave 20 to my parents, gave 40 or 50 to my friend Cassandra and still have gazillions left, roughly. I am so excited about them I can't wait. I think our next door neighbors can wait though, since they like yards to contain only beautiful things, and we like our yard to contain mostly edible things. It doesn't help that the only strong sun we get is in the front, so that's where the tomato plants found a home. But get this, we planted five different heirloom varieties. The Carbon tomato, and purply-red variety; Dad's Sunset, a bright orange one; the Great White, which supposedly has a tropical, guava-like flavor; the good old Red Grape; and the one I'm most excited about--the Beauty King, a large striped type. Oh yum. I can practically taste the caprese salads right now. I can just see the sandwiches, the salads, the salsas, the snacks and more. And those are just the tomatoes. We also planted orange bell peppers, chocolate bell peppers (they sounded way too interesting to pass up), zucchini, lady finger carrots, st. valery carrots, fennel, fava beans, soy beans, mache, mesclun salad greens, beets, silverbeet, and peas. Later this summer we'll plant sugar-snap peas and brussels sprouts too. And Cassandra's mom graciously agreed to donate her canning supplies to Cassandra, which I know we'll also benefit from!!! Oh heaven. I know veggies don't get everyone excited, but I can't help it. Living through our frigid winters when no fresh produce at the grocery store is actually very fresh, and certainly not local, I just can't wait to stop using Centrum to get my phytonutrients.

yikes

I am so woefully behind on my blog that it's getting to the point when I ponder "fold laundry and drink a gin and tonic, or blog?" The sad thing is, I'd usually rather fold laundry! Work has hit high gear lately; it always does at this time of the year. Concert season, recruiting season, spring-itis season. I would apologize for not writing more often, but at this point, I don't think anyone regularly follows my blog, so I guess it is just an exercise to keep me writing. I even have to prompt my husband to visit the blog. Oh dear. Can I use the word woeful more than once in the same blog? Speaking of which, do you ever find that certain people have certain words? I love that my Fargoian friend, Cassandra, uses the expression "hosed-up" for anything that's gone awry. It does bug me a bit that she pronounces harass like "hair-iss," and bison like "bizon." I guess it helps though that she says them that way with such conviction. And it doesn't hurt that she drives me to work a lot and often buys me brownies. Oh yeah, did I mention that I love Cassandra?

When he first moved to America, Chris used the word "pedantic" all the time. I mean, he couldn't go six hours without using it. I can't even think of an example of how he used it. He just did--all the time. It was funny to me, since I had probably never spoken the word before meeting him. I would chuckle every time he said it, and now I miss the fact that he's given up one of his favorite words. Maybe he stopped using it because the kids he taught didn't understand it--yeah, let's go with that theory.

Now I'm trying to think what my word is. I once wrote an essay on the fact that I lack obsessions and felt bad about it. I am deeply enthusiastic about many things, but I don't obsess. I don't realize I love goat cheese and then decide to buy a different kind every time I go to the grocery store. I don't wash my sheets every Friday night. I don't even have to sleep on the same side of the bed, though I do prefer whichever side is closest to the bathroom. I don't work out very often, or very hard. I don't care about cars. Man, I'm starting sound boring! I bet I have favorite words or expressions though. So, if anyone who knows me is reading this--what are they? I'd love to know! Thanks.