Salad Nicoise

Without the little curlicue on the c. I don't remember what that was called. French class was a couple of decades ago.

I borrowed Bittman's book Food Matters from the library. And found a lot of good recipes. And spent a 3-day weekend writing them all down. Salad Nicoise was one of them.

I love salad. I don't know how I never made something like this. I have Spanish salad recipes, Greek Salad, Taco Salad, and "throw everything in the bowl" salad.

So this morning, as I was wondering what to make for dinner, I thought about that recipe. I dug it out and realized that I could make a reasonable facsimile of it with what I had in the pantry and fridge. So here goes. I made much less dressing than the original recipe and adjusted the ratios. The original recipe called for tomatoes and red onion, which I did not have. I roasted the potatoes instead of boiling.

Salad Nicoise:
Lettuce. Lots of lettuce. A big bowl full of washed and dried lettuce: $1.50
1 lb red potatoes: 1.20
2 Tbsp canola oil: 0.08
1/4 lb frozen green beans: 0.66
2 eggs, hardboiled: 0.25
8 kalamata olives, halved (any kind of olive will do): 0.39
3-4 radishes, sliced: 0.10
salt and pepper

dressing
1.5 Tbsp olive oil: 0.33
1 Tbsp red wine vinegar: 0.15
1 tsp dijon mustard: 0.15
handful of chopped parsley: free. This is from the plant I planted last year.
salt and pepper

Total: $3.31 for enough salad for three people. Though truthfully, we snacked on some chips and salsa too. But there were extra potatoes and green beans for tomorrow's lunch.

Dice the potatoes into 3/4 inch pieces. Toss with 2 Tbsp canola oil, salt and pepper. Bake at 400F until desired doneness, which for us was about 20 min.

Steam the green beans for 3.5 to 4 mins. Drain, run under cold water to cool, dice if not already diced.

Peel and slice the eggs.

Mix the dressing ingredients in the bottom of the salad bowl.

Add radishes, olives, green beans. Put lettuce on top.

When ready to eat, toss the salad. Top with potatoes and egg slices. Add freshly ground black pepper.

Bok choy

I love bok choy. Last night's dinner was very simple brown rice, bok choy, and scrambled egg. Which still generated an amazing number of dishes, considering.

I used the recipe here, but just had baby bok choy cut in half.

Collard Green Coleslaw

Another gem that originated in Vegetarian times, and you can find it here.

This week, I was cleaning out my magazines. When you have a really small house with no garage or attic, you have to be ruthless. Generally, when I get a magazine, I fold down the recipes that I want to keep. Then a few months later, I review the magazine, tear out the ones that I am still interested in, and recycle the rest. I was pretty impressed that I cut this out this week from a January issue. Then I realized that it's from January 2009.

This was a keeper, due to it being a leafy green recipe, which we get a lot of in the spring. At least, I'm pretty sure I didn't fold down the corner for turnip green ragout.

This recipe has a LOT of sugar. And I added all of it. Just guessing that it might need it. Next time around, I will decrease it a bit, maybe to 3 Tbsp. It wasn't cloyingly sweet, but unnecessary. Also, all the excess liquid from adding hot dressing to the slaw made it somewhat wet.

Still, it tasted very good for a raw collard green recipe. First time I've eaten collards raw. My 4 year old ate it up nicely.

Collard Green Slaw.
1/2 lb (10-12 leaves) of collards: 1.50
3 carrots, shredded: 0.50
3/4 to 1 cup grated onion: 0.20
1/2 large red bell pepper, diced: 0.60

dressing:
1/2 cup rice vinegar: 0.50
1/3 cup sugar: 0.10
1/4 cup canola oil: 0.16
1 tsp powdered mustard: 0.10
1/2 tsp salt: 0.01
1/4 tsp fresh ground black pepper: 0.02

Total: $1.89 for about 4-5 cups. $0.47 per serving.

Mix veggies in a bowl. Heat dressing ingredients to boil to dissolve sugar. Pour warm dressing over greens. Refrigerate 4 hours before serving.

Minestrone

This recipe originated in Vegetarian Times, and I tweaked it a bit. Because it's a sickness. I almost never follow a recipe the first time.

This was *very* delicious. You know how soups need to sit for a day to really develop flavor?? Not this one. Wow.

Minestrone:
1 T. olive oil (use the oil from sun-dried tomatoes if you've got it): 0.11
3/4 tsp. dried oregano: 0.05
3/4 tsp. dried basil: 0.05
1 stem fresh thyme, leaves pulled from stem: 0.05
1 bay leaf: 0.02
1 medium onion, diced (1.5 cups): 0.49
2 carrots, sliced thinly (1 cup): 0.50
4 leaves collard greens, sliced into thin strips and chopped: 0.25
6 cloves garlic, pressed: 0.30
1/3 cup sliced sun-dried tomatoes in oil: 0.67
1 15-oz can white beans, rinsed and drained: 0.89
6 cups water
1 cube vegetable bouillon: 0.38
3 oz alphabet pasta: 0.17
1 cup frozen peas: 0.60
1 cup frozen green beans: 0.60
2 T white wine vinegar: 0.12
salt and pepper to taste

Total: $5.25 for about 12 cups (it's a thick soup) or about $0.44 per cup

Heat oil in large pot. Heat oregano and basil for about 1 min. Add onions, carrots, collard greens, and garlic. Cover and cook 7 min, or until onion is soft.

Add sun-dried tomatoes and cook 5 min. Add white beans, 6 cups water, bouillon cube, salt and pepper. Bring soup to a boil. Add pasta. Reduce heat and simmer for 10 min. Add frozen peas and green beans and cook 5-10 more minutes. Add more salt and pepper if needed. Stir in vinegar and serve.

We had this with bread.

Random Recent Food Photos

Lasagna:


Kale Chips before:

Kale Chips after:


Fava bean wraps:

Homemade bread (for the carbo loading):

Race Day!

Today is the Chardonnay 10-miler. My friend Monica and I are racing together (and by "together", I mean - we're driving to and from the race together, where she will run the 10 miles in something under 90 minutes and I will do my best to beat 100 minutes).

We're hoping to meet Kalli and her friend Krystle, who are coming up for the 5k.

This is my "warm-up" for the Wine Country Half in 3 weeks. Woo!

UPDATE:

Did get to meet Kalli and Krystle (you can see pics if you follow the link above to Kalli's blog). It was really fun to talk to them, but they were off like a shot at the beginning.

I had a GREAT race. Finished in 1:36:09 per the Garmin (probably a bit longer on the clock, 2-3 secs), for a pace of around 9:34 or 9:37/mile. Much faster than I was hoping for. I actually teared up when I saw the clock at the end.

We'll see what I can do in the half marathon in 3 weeks. Here's my stats from the Garmin. I think I should be offended at their very own definitions of "fast jog" and "slow run" (you try being female, almost 40, short, and stocky and tell me that I'm "jogging"). I can also see how my pace lines up with the hills...particularly that last killer one.

Fava bean sandwiches with yogurt sauce

Fava beans are one of those veggies from the CSA that are a challenge. I've made some decent recipes on here before (just search for "fava"). They are a challenge because we often get 1.5 lbs of fava beans.

But then you shell them.
And blanch them.
And peel them.
And saute or otherwise cook them.
And you end up with about a cup.

So this recipe, which came in our CSA newsletter, looked exciting. They were supposed to be pita wraps, but I didn't have pita. The recipe is such that they are a main ingredient, but you don't need that many per sandwich. There won't be any leftovers for sure.

I made them last Saturday, and we got more this week, so we're having them tomorrow too.

Fava Bean Sandwiches and Yogurt Sauce
2 Tbsp olive oil: 0.22
1.5 lbs fava beans, in pods: 3.00 (just guessing)
3 cloves garlic: 0.15
juice and zest of 1/2 lemon: free (that boss)
4 tortillas (use as wrap): 0.48
lettuce: 0.25
carrots, shredded: 0.30

Sauce
1 cup plain yogurt: 0.70
1 tsp cumin: 0.10
1/4 c. chopped cilantro: 0.15
1 clove pressed garlic: 0.05
juice and zest of 1/2 lemon
salt and pepper

Total: beans and fixings: $4.40 for four, $1.10 each
1/2 batch sauce (makes WAY extra...use the rest for salad dressing): 0.50, $0.13 each.

$1.23 per serving. Very delicious. You could make it vegan by using soy yogurt for the sauce or making a tahini-based dressing instead.

Shell the fava beans. Blanche for 1 min in boiling water. Cool, and remove tough skins.

Heat oil in skillet. Add fava beans and cook 3 min. Add garlic, lemon juice and zest, salt and pepper. Cook another two minutes.

Meanwhile, mix together sauce ingredients.

Make yourself a delicious wrap with beans, lettuce, carrots, and sauce in a tortilla (or pita).