A PEACHY SALAD FOR A SUNNY DAY!

Posted in Poultry, Salads by sallybr

The end of August makes me apprehensive, because Summer is my favorite season. But in the Southwest the heat lingers on, so we remain in the mood for light, refreshing food. This salad is a great example, in that it contains only 3 ingredients: chicken breasts, peaches and cucumbers, plus a tasty mix of yogurt and spices that joins them together.

This recipe was in my “to make soon” folder for a year (shame on me!), since I first saw it in the popular food blog Just Bento.

CHICKEN AND YOGURT SALAD WITH CUCUMBERS AND PEACH
(adapted from this recipe; receita em portugues no final do texto)

9 oz. boneless, skinless chicken breast (2-3 halves, depending on size)
1/8 cup soy sauce
1 piece ginger (about 1 inch, peeled, slightly bruised to release flavor)
1/2 tsp salt
1 T fresh Italian parsley, minced
1/2 English seedless cucumber
1/4 tsp. ground cardamon
1/4 tsp. ground coriander
1 Tbs. finely chopped fresh mint
1/2 cup plain thick (Greek) yogurt
2 ripe peaches
salt and pepper to taste

Start by poaching the chicken. In a pan large enough to hold them in a single layer add enough water to barely cover the pieces, mix in the soy sauce, ginger, salt and parsley. Add the chicken breasts and bring the liquid to a boil. Once it boils, immediately cover the pan and remove it from the heat, leaving it undisturbed for 15 minutes. Remove the chicken breasts, discard the cooking liquid and allow the meat to completely cool. Cut them into chunks.

Using a mandoline, cut the cucumber into paper-thin slices.

Peel the peaches and also cut them into chunks, slightly smaller than the chicken pieces.

Combine the yogurt with the spices and mint. Put all the ingredients in a bowl and mix well. Taste and add a little salt if needed. Season with freshly ground black pepper.

Enjoy!

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19Aug2009

Greens + Grapefruit + Shrimp = Great Salad!

Posted in Salads, Seafood by sallybr

This recipe comes from one of my favorite cookbooks: Secrets of Success, by Michael Bauer, who is a restaurant critic for “The San Francisco Chronicle”. In this wonderful book, we encounter 300 recipes of “signature dishes” from San Francisco restaurants. More than providing the recipe, he shares little secrets used by the chefs: small details that often mean the difference between a good and a great meal.

At some point in my life (ca. 1989) I left my heart in the Bay Area, 😉 so buying this book and cooking from it was a nice way to fight my withdrawal symptoms.

This recipe comes from chef Fabrizio Laudati (owner of an Italian restaurant called Panta Rei). It was offered as an appetizer in his previous restaurant, Baraonda, that no longer exists. I find it perfect for a summer dinner: it’s light but substantial enough to fill you up, especially if you serve a good loaf of bread with it. In this case, the recipe will feed 2 or 3 happy people.

MIXED GREEN SALAD WITH GRAPEFRUIT AND WARM SHRIMP
(serves 6 as an appetizer course)

Para receita em portugues, veja o final desse texto, na proxima pagina

for the shrimp
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup grapefruit juice (freshly squeezed)
2 garlic cloves, minced
salt and pepper to taste
12 ounces uncooked medium shrimp, peeled and deveined
1 T butter

for the vinaigrette
1/4 cup olive oil
2 t balsamic vinegar
2 t grapefruit juice
1 garlic clove, minced (I omitted)
salt and ground white pepper

for the salad
3 ounces mixed baby greens of your choice
2 heads Belgian endive, separated into spears
2 pink grapefruit, peeled and cut into segments (see my comments)
1 t minced fresh Italian parsley

To prepare the shrimp, combine the oil, the grapefruit juice and the garlic in a bowl. Add the shrimp, season with salt and pepperand refrigerate everything for 6 to 24 hours.

To make the vinaigrette, combine all ingredients until blended.

Place the greens, endive and grapefruit segments in separate bowls, adding the vinaigrette to each bowl and tossing the ingredients. Make sure to save any grapefruit juice that runs out of the segments.

Heat a skillet that will hold all the shrimp over high heat. Add the shrimp and the marinade and stir them until the shrimp are cooked and the sauce slightly reduces, about 3 minutes. Add the butter and toss the shrimp until it melts, then remove it from the heat. Add the reserved juices from the grapefruit segments to the skillet and stir to blend.

For nice presentation, assemble the salad by placing the endive spears in a circle on individual plates. Add a grapefruit section on top of each spear,and pile a mound of greens in the center, topping the dish with two hot shrimp and another grapefruit piece. Drizzle with a little of the sauce; sprinkle with parsley.

Bon Appetit!

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13Aug2009

Beautiful Cabbage

Posted in Salads, Veggies by sallybr

Don’t tell me you are a cabbage-hater!

I would not hold it against you, because cabbage has a bad reputation: poor thing, it’s totally unjustified. A plump, red cabbage is a thing of beauty! I admit that members of the Cruciferae family tend to emit a nasty smell as they cook, but this recipe will not offend your senses. I’m talking about raw cabbage, in a sweet and sour concoction that will amaze your taste buds. I promise. Give this recipe a try, cabbage-hater, and don’t be ashamed of changing teams 😉

SWEET CABBAGE SLAW
(adapted from Bon Appetit, June 2008)

3 T sugar
3 T rice vinegar
1 small serrano pepper, thinly sliced
3 cups red cabbage, thinly sliced (see my comments)
2 cups Napa cabbage, thinly sliced
2 tsp fresh ginger, minced
1 T orange zest
chopped cilantro leaves, to taste
salt and pepper to taste
fresh lemon juice (optional)

Stir sugar and vinegar in a small saucepan over medium heat just until the sugar dissolves, no need to boil it. Remove it from the heat, add ginger and serrano pepper and mix.

Place both types of cabbage in a large bowl, add the orange zest and cilantro, mix to combine, add the reserved dressing and toss to coat the cabbage. Season to taste with salt and pepper. If it seems too sweet, add some fresh lemon juice.

Let it sit for about 30 minutes at room temperature, tossing it a few times to distribute the dressing. You can also put it in the fridge for several hours, but bring to room temperature before serving.

Enjoy!

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5Jul2009

Tomato Confit with Arugula and Zucchini

Posted in Salads, Veggies by sallybr

The recipe comes from “Simple to Spectacular”, a great cookbook by Vongerichten and Bittman. The book picks one basic ingredient and shows 3 or 4 recipes of increasing complexity. I was looking for a nice dinner salad and came across their “tomato confit” series.

The tomato confit is essentially a slow-roasted tomato, but if you say you made “tomato confit”, your friends will be a lot more impressed. 😉

The preparation of the confit might seem too long, because you need a couple of hours to make it. But it’s 120 minutes of just waiting for the oven to perform its magic…no work. Plus, it is a low oven (275F) that won’t overheat your kitchen. Trust me, the results are worth every minute of the time. If you are not yet convinced to try this recipe, then make sure to read my additional comments.

tomatobefore

Choose ripe (but not overly ripe) tomatoes, make a small cross-cut on their skin, drop in boiling water for 20 seconds, then shock them in cold water to peel them easily. In the oven, together with garlic, thyme, and olive oil, they will be transformed into delicious bits of sweet and juicy red jewels that will amaze your taste buds and shine in many different kinds of recipes. Yes, I am in love…

click here for the full recipe and additional comments