Salad Dressings

Never buy salad dressing again. Seriously. Most of the nutrients in vegetables are lipid-soluble; you will absorb more nutrients if eaten with butter or oil. Most store bought salad dressings have a lot of unnecessary sugar and preservatives. If you make it, you can control the amount of sweetness and freshness of ingredients.

I'll break it down with ratios and what your dressing should have.

Oil to Acid, 3:1. This is just an estimate. Use your taste buds to determine what tastes right.

Oil: Your choice but I prefer to always go olive oil or sesame. Stepping away from vinagrettes: your base can be largely miso paste or avocado for a creamier dressing. Mayo is the base for ranch dressings.

Acids: Vinegar (apple cider, red wine, white wine, sherry, balsamic, rice), lemon juice, lime juice.

Additions: seasoning with herbs/spices (aromatics), mustard (try whole-grain, dijon, spicy brown), honey, Siracha, whatever suits your fancy.

Favorite Combos:

Whisk together ingredients and taste often. If you don't like your final product, don't put it on your salad. Sounds silly but seriously, keep tinkering until it's perfect.

• Olive oil, lemon juice, Siracha, salt, pepper

• Olive oil, lemon juice, apple cider vinegar, whole-grain mustard, salt, pepper

• Spicy brown mustard or whole-grain, honey (this is one you reallllly have to taste along the way so it doesn't become too sweet, can add oil to thin if it's not runny enough but I've never had a problem). Also makes for excellent dipping sauce for chicken.

• Olive oil, lemon juice, dijon mustard, sherry, salt, pepper, cayenne pepper

• Avocado (smashed), lime juice, salt, pepper, cayenne pepper

• Sesame oil, miso paste, honey, grated ginger, minced garlic, pepper

The possibilities are endless. I try to make my salad and dressing a little different every time.

Salad dressings travel really easily in a plastic bag placed on top of a salad for a quick lunch.

Antipasto Spread

Just a casual gathering with friends. I believe we did Italian food with spaghetti, meatballs and veggies. No pictures of them, sorry. This was July 13, 2013- known only because I took a picture of wine bottle with an anniversary card.

My beautiful friend, Lauren, brought over the ingredients for an antipasto platter spread. Per usual, she went crazy in the store and created a gem. I later re-created this with my family but didn't win over as many people due to the spiciness of some items. Spice level is tolerance-bound and I've got a pretty high tolerance these days.

Antipasto Spread

Pictured above: sliced bread with dipping sauces on two plates (olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt, pepper, thyme, oregano) and (olive oil, salt, pepper, oregano, parmesan), bread sticks, artichoke (read method preparation here).

Pictured above: a form of nut I honestly can't identify, sliced melon, Wickles Pickles (can purchase here, they're spicy sweet pickles- I'm usually a Kosher Dill gal through and through but I'm a Wickles convert), cheese crumbles (feta, pre-seasoned), roasted red peppers, mozzarella pearls, grape tomatoes, spicy pickled green beans, kalamata olives and eggplant appetizer (pictured in the tall brown bowl, can be purchased here). In the back, my friend placed asparagus standing up in a glass for an interesting presentation. She blanched the asparagus to maintain a good crisp. The jar next to the asparagus is filled with duck mayonnaise she made at home (instructions here but with substituted duck egg).

Just some ideas for an opening course of Italian food. Just general guidelines, customize it with your favorite items. To find what's available in your store, seek out the aisle with olives or pickles and locate the specialty items next to them. Tiny meatballs or sliced, cured meats would make a good addition. Meatballs are one of my husband's favorite items to make- I'll post about them later. 

Skewers and veggies, oh my!

I had the idea for this blog at an inopportune time in my life. Since the inaugural post, I've moved from Texas to California with very little certainty in job/housing. It's been an adventure for both my husband and I with our faithful dog in tow.

This will be dedicated to a look back on an oldie but a goodie: a relaxed day hanging out with friends using a grill. We're not vegetarians but I have a special place in my heart for veggies. I. love. them. My love of cooking took off when I discovered how to cook and eat well-seasoned vegetables.

My friends and I get together to cook together. The event is the cooking and bonding of friends. Probably some Sunday day drinking occurred. Maybe mimosas, probably delicious beer. I recognize this is not the most thorough picture taking but I'll do my best to describe what we did. Remember: no strict recipes, just rough guidelines. Make it your own. Experiment. Always try to improve each time you make something and customize it to your palate.

Fruit Platter

Simple enough. A fruit platter to snack on as we make the rest of the food. Pick out any fruit you like, slice and serve.

Caprese Salad with Avocado

This is a favorite of mine. I could eat it all day, every day. I like to make it on a big platter everyone shares for simplicity. I prefer larger slices but it works diced as well. Slice tomatoes and avocados. We used pearl mozzarella but I honestly prefer sliced. Ribbon basil (take a handful of leaves, roll and slice on the diagonal). Drizzle with olive oil. Squirt with fresh lemon juice. Season with fresh, coarse ground pepper and sea salt.

Chicken and Veggie Skewers

Marinate meat and veggies in the seasoning of your choice. We used a mixture of: powdered mustard, paprika, cayenne, salt, pepper and olive oil. May or may not have used curry powder. Make the mixture and taste. I cannot emphasize this enough. If you like the taste of the marinade you will love the skewers. Adjust the taste as needed. This is how you develop your palate. Too much mustard? Dilute with olive oil and other spices. You'd rather have too much marinade then the right amount you don't love.

 Stacked to perfection pre-grilling. I think we had a delay with the grill heating up fast enough. Plan ahead.

Mushroom are a requirement with my friends. Mushroom haters are left behind. I'm looking at you, dear husband.

Grill 'em up. This is the only shot of the corn we made. Our corn prep: open up corn husks and remove corn silk. Rub with olive oil or butter. Season with salt/pepper/cayenne pepper. Put the corn husks back up so the corn doesn't burn on the grill.

Artichoke

A picture of the artichoke after cooking (obviously upside down). The stalk of the artichoke needs to be sliced off to sit evenly in the pot for steaming. It's easiest to use a serrated knife and put your back into it. I've learned I love the taste of the stalk and I throw in the extra into the water to boil.

This is a relatively new love of mine. I've always been a fan of artichoke hearts and discovered how easy it is to make a whole steamed artichoke. My favorite method: Put a pot on the stove on medium heat with about 3-4 inches of water depending on the size of your artichoke. Cut off the stalk as described above. Use a serrated knife to cut off a little bit on the top. This makes it easier to spread and allows for easier seasoning. Place the artichoke in the water and season with salt, pepper, cayenne pepper, thyme, drizzle of olive oil and squeeze of lemon. I put the rest of the lemon and 1 bay leaf into the water. Cook for 30-50 mins, it's done when tender and leaves pull easily. We melted butter and a squeeze of lemon on the side to dip. I prefer to dip in a little bit of salt. Taste the artichoke first but I usually add more salt/pepper before serving.

Basic Salad

We must have been super salad crazy that day. Or just over bought on the lettuce. Weird because we more typically make veggie salads with little to no lettuce. Looks like we ribboned lettuce (usually butter lettuce, never use iceberg- little to no nutrition), sliced grape tomatoes and feta. I haven't bought salad dressing in years. I prefer to make my own (usually a group effort with what's on hand). This one was probably lemon juice, olive oil, salt, pepper and siracha whisked together. Ratio of acid to oil is 1:3. I will do a whole post on my favorite variations of salad dressing.