Quick Cucumber, Tomato, Onion, and Radish Salad

Quick Cucumber, Tomato, Onion, and Radish Salad

It’s that time of year! No, not all the fresh summer produce salad recipes, but my quickie recipes for when we are headed to the coast again to go fishing and/or crabbing. Once again, we’ll be on another extended weekend trip so am posting this one early instead of Saturday.

We didn’t catch any halibut last trip, it was super-windy with 6-to-8-foot horrible wind waves and our bait wouldn’t stay on the bottom with all the rocking and rolling. Then I got seasick as hell, WAHHH! Hubby will attempt again this weekend, while I’ll stay behind and fish the calm river for salmon.

I was wanting to make a Panzanella salad out of what produce I had on hand, but last minute hubby couldn’t help with the prep of this and ran out of time to make the bread cubes since I didn’t have any stale bread on hand. So this is what I came up with. Lively, fresh, and delicious!

The cucumber came from a friend’s garden, the tomatoes from our own, and the radishes from the farmer’s market. The rest came from the store (organic as possible).

And this would also make a great side dish for a Labor Day BBQ or picnic! This no-mayo recipe makes it a snap to store and serve.

Quick Cucumber, Tomato, Onion, and Radish Salad

1 English cucumber, sliced and quartered (about 2 cups, can be more or less)
1 cup fresh diced tomatoes
1/2 cup diced sweet onion
1/2 cup diced radishes
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
2 teaspoons fresh-squeezed lemon juice
1 teaspoon rice vinegar, or plain white
1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley
Salt and ground black pepper, to taste

Prep all the ingredients, toss in a bowl and stir to combine. Refrigerate one hour or more. Serve with a slotted spoon. See? Quick and easy. Yumm!

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Sage-Infused Sirloin Tips and Mushrooms with Cacio e Pepe

Sage-Infused Sirloin Tips and Mushrooms with Cacio e Pepe

I follow some fantastic food blogs, and many of their recipes are the inspiration for our meals. The past couple of days yielded a bonanza for me for a meal that had everything I already had in the pantry, garden, or freezer. The hubby thought it was quite good!

Huge thanks to Linda at Fabulous Fare Sisters and to Mimi at Chef Mimi Blog for providing the motivation to make this super-tasty meal. Go check out their blogs when you have a chance!

On to the preparation!

Sage-Infused Sirloin Tips and Mushrooms
Inspired by Linda at Fabulous Fare Sisters

Garden Sage Plant

8 ounces sirloin tips
2 tablespoons fresh chopped sage
2 tablespoons fresh chopped green onions (green part only) or chives
2 garlic cloves, minced
4 ounces sliced mushrooms
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, divided
Fresh ground pepper and salt or Mrs. Dash, to taste

Finely Chopped Sage and Green Onion

Place the chopped sage, green onion or chives and garlic in a shallow dish. Add 3 tablespoons of the olive oil, pepper and salt or Mrs. Dash, and whisk to combine.

Add the sirloin tips, mix well, then marinate at room temperature for a half hour.

Sirloin Tips in Herby Maridade

Meanwhile, add another tablespoon of olive oil to a cast iron skillet over medium-high heat. Add the mushrooms and cook until liquid has released and mushrooms have browned. Remove from skillet and set aside and turn off heat.

Cooking the Mushrooms

Next, prepare the Cacio e Pepe (recipe below).

When pasta is cooked, reheat the same cast iron skillet on high. Drizzle a little olive oil into the hot skillet. Add the sirloin tips and sage mixture and sauté 3 to 5 minutes until cooked to your liking.

Steak Tips in Sage Sauce

Add the mushrooms and stir until heated through. Remove from heat and serve immediately with the Cacio e Pepe.

Cacio e Pepe
Inspired by Chef Mimi Blog

2 ounces Pecorino Romano cheese, finely grated
4 ounces dried spaghetti noodles
1 teaspoon ground black pepper, plus more for serving

Finely Grated Pecorino Romano Cheese

Place a large pot full of salted water on the stove over high heat and cook spaghetti according to package directions.

When the pasta is done to your liking, reserve 2 cups of the pasta water in a bowl. Drain the pasta and return the pasta to the pot. Immediately add about a half cup of pasta water to the pot, stirring gently.

Add a teaspoon of coarsely ground pepper and the grated cheese, along with more pasta water as needed, (I kept having to add about a 1/4 cup at a time throughout and did end up with some clumpy cheese at the bottom, but that’s OK).

Pasta, Cheese, and Pepper

Stir vigorously through out this process until cheese is melted and pasta is creamy. Keep warm until steak tips are done, and add a little more pasta water to loosen up just before serving. Serve with additional ground pepper, if desired (recommended!)

Sage-Infused Sirloin Tips and Mushrooms with Cacio e Pepe

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Fried Artichokes and Shrimp Pasta

Fried Artichokes and Shrimp Pasta

What can I say? This dish is simply AH-MAZING! I am a huge fan of artichokes, but fried? And also jumbo shrimp? Shut the door and lock me in! When I saw this recipe over at Meals with Mel (please stop on by her site to check it out. Hi Melody!!) I knew I just had to make it and went on a mission to do just that. My only regret is adding only two cans of artichokes, as I do believe I ate at least one can of said artichokes before they even met the shrimp and pasta.

While not something I’d indulge in often while watching the waistline, this is definitely a meal I will make again. My husband loved it too and wow Mel, thanks for the introduction to a plate of heaven!

Fried Artichokes and Shrimp Pasta
Adapted from same recipe at Meals with Mel

2 14-ounce cans artichoke hearts, quartered
1 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 handful thyme sprigs
1 clove garlic, peeled and smashed
1/2 pound jumbo shrimp (16/20 count)
1 tablespoon butter
1/2 large shallot, diced small (about 1/3 cup)
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped and divided
2 teaspoons fresh spicy oregano, minced
1/8 cup capers plus 2 teaspoons of the brine
1 large lemon, halved
1/2 cup dry white wine
4 to 6 ounces dried Linguine
salt and ground black pepper, to taste
Pecorino Romano, grated, for serving

Drain the artichoke hearts until they are almost completely dry. I squished them down in the colander with paper towels then let them set for about a half hour, blotting with more paper towels periodically.

Artichokes and Thyme Ready to Fry

Arrange the artichoke hearts in a single layer in the bottom of a cast iron skillet or other heavy skillet. Pour just enough olive oil over the artichokes to cover them. I used a cup.

Toss in the smashed clove of garlic and thyme sprigs. Turn the heat on to medium-high and allow the artichoke hearts to fry for about 30 minutes.

Artichokes Halfway Through Frying

After about 10 minutes gently move the artichokes around to make sure they don’t stick to the bottom. After about 20 minutes carefully turn the artichoke hearts over to ensure even browning. After 30 minutes they should be golden brown, but don’t let them burn.

Remove the artichokes from the skillet and transfer to a paper towel-line plate. Lightly salt the hot fried artichoke hearts. Set aside and try not to eat them all. Trust me.

Fried Artichokes ~ Maybe I should have moved them further away from my work space

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and cook to your preference according to package directions. Remove a cup or two of the cooking water and reserve, then drain the pasta

In another large skillet add about 2 tablespoons of the artichoke “frying” oil and a tablespoon of butter. Add the shallot and cook over medium heat until tender, about four minutes. Add in the garlic, red pepper flakes, oregano, capers and brine, half the chopped parsley, and the juice and zest of half the lemon. Season with a little salt and lots of ground black pepper, to taste. Cook for two minutes until fragrant, then add the white wine and reduce by half.

Cooking the Jumbo Shrimp

Add the shrimp and cook just until the shrimp turn pink, just a couple minutes per side. Add the cooked pasta to the skillet with the shrimp and fried artichokes and toss to combine. Loosen the pasta with the reserved cooking water.

Fried Artichokes and Shrimp Pasta

Pour the skillet contents into large serving bowl and toss with the remaining parsley, the other lemon half squeezed, and a little fresh grated Pecorino Romano or other high-quality hard cheese. This is dinner-guest worthy! Enjoy!

P.S. I have been super busy the past few days getting our house and patio ready for a 4th of July party. I hope you all have a safe, memorable and enjoyable holiday weekend!

Fried Artichokes and Shrimp Pasta

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Chimichurri Sauce on Ribeye Steak ~ or Whatever!

Chimichurri Sauce with Grilled Ribeye

Soooo, my daughter has absconded with my prized Canon Rebel that I use for my foodie blog, as she’s flown off to Texas to record her adventures in Austin, Wimberley, and San Antonio for a week. I don’t know why I let her take it. So that left me without recording anything I made this week, but luckily had a few downloaded pics of some homemade Chimichurri sauce I made last weekend for some grilled Ribeyes. Unfortunately I only took pics of the final product and not the “making” of it. I’m sure you’ll live. 🙂

This is a very versatile, slightly spicy sauce that can be used as a topping on any grilled (or otherwise) protein, like steak, chicken, or fish. It can also be used as an overnight marinade, which I also used it for later in the week for a tough cut of meat. It’s a winning combination of flavors. This will keep two to three weeks in the fridge if you keep adding a little oil to keep it covered. When you want to use it for a recipe, just take it out of the fridge at least an hour beforehand to let the oil warm  and loosen up and then give it a good shake or stir. This is also best made at least a day or two ahead to let the flavors meld.

I used some cilantro from my garden along with the parsley but if you are in the “cilantro-hating” camp you can also sub some spicy arugula or other green. It’s all good! I also used my spicy oregano plant (as opposed to just regular oregano) to give it an added kick.

Chimichurri Sauce with Spicy Oregano Plant

And a huge shout-out to The FrugalHausfrau again for inspiring me to adapt her recipe! Click on her link to see the original.

Here is what I did:

Chimichurri Sauce

1 cup fresh parsley
1/4 cup fresh cilantro (sub arugala, more parsley or other green if you don’t like it)
1/2 cup onion, chopped rough
2 garlic cloves
About 2 teaspoons fresh oregano leaves
LOTS of ground black pepper, at least 1/2 teaspoon or more
1/2 teaspoon crushed red chile flakes
Sea or kosher salt, to taste
1/2 cup red wine vinegar (or white wine vinegar with a splash of red wine, or all white)
1/2 to 3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil, or until sauce is covered

Combine all ingredients in a food processor or blender until finely minced, scraping down the sides as needed. Taste for additional seasonings, and add as needed.

Allow to stand for 30 minutes, then add more oil after rest time if it’s not covered with at least 1/4 inch of oil.

Chimichurri Sauce

Cover and chill (I put mine in a Bell canning jar) for at least 3 hours or overnight. Overnight is better. Bring to room temperature at least an hour before serving. Serve over grilled steak, chicken, or fish, or use it as a marinade. Enjoy!

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Smashed Roasted Little Potatoes

Smashed Roasted Little Potatoes

This is not so much a recipe as a “method” that I picked up off of Pinterest, which has been making the rounds again for these yummy ‘taters. I made these for Christmas dinner, but did the prep the day before so all I had to do was brush with oil and season them before popping into the oven while our prime rib roast “rested.” I also made creamed spinach for dinner (recipe to come later) and that turned out pretty darned yummy too!

The potatoes I used were from The Little Potato Company, and I’ve fallen in love with their small potato varieties! No I am not endorsed by them in any way, it’s just that their potatoes are so delicious! The variety I used this time was called the Terrific Trio. If you are a follower of my blog you may recall the Baby Boomer variety I used in my Roasted Pattypan Squash and Potatoes recipe.

Uncooked Little Potatoes ~ Just look at these beauties!

Now I made 1.5 pounds of these little suckers for the three of us, and there was a meager half-serving left! I’m thinking that attests to how good my family enjoyed these potatoes, and I hope you do too!

Smashed Roasted Little Potatoes

1.5 pounds of little potatoes, any variety
Infused olive oil, for brushing (I used Mediterranean Garlic)
Seasonings and black pepper, to taste (I used a wee bit of salt and Mrs. Dash with the pepper)

Boil the potatoes covered with one inch of water until just tender (don’t overcook). This took about 15 minutes after the water came to a boil. Drain.

Lay a clean kitchen towel down and one at a time remove a potato to the towel with tongs. Using a folded up washcloth, smash the potato down gently with the palm of your hand. Some will fall apart a bit but don’t worry about that.

Smashing the Cooked Potatoes

Once all the ‘taters are smashed, arrange them in one layer on a parchment-lined baking sheet using a spatula. At this point you can continue with the recipe or cover them with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight or until ready to cook.

Smashed Potatoes Ready to Cook

Once you are ready to cook them, preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Brush the potatoes on one side with an infused (or plain) good quality olive oil of choice, then sprinkle on the seasonings, to taste. Gently flip them to the other side and brush with more oil and add seasonings. Again, don’t worry if they fall apart a bit. The crispy bits are delightful!

Seasoned and Oiled Smashed Potatoes

Place in preheated oven for 30 minutes, flipping over gently at the halfway mark. Serve immediately. Where are the leftovers?

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Greek-Marinated Chicken and Veggie Kabobs

Greek-Marinated Chicken and Veggie Kabobs

Grilling season is my favorite time of the year! OK, maybe tied with soup season. But when it’s hot out, I love grilling every night. The kitchen doesn’t get hot, and it’s always easy clean up!

I marinated some chicken today in Greek seasonings, sliced up some veggies, skewered the heck out of them, then slapped them on the grill. A couple of turns later, well, it’s dinner time on the deck!

I wanted to serve this with rice, but hubby said he wanted potatoes. So I compromised and cooked pasta with herbs instead, HA! I hope you enjoy this simple summer dinner.

Greek-Marinated Chicken and Veggie Kabobs

3/4 pound boneless chicken (breasts or thighs)
Sliced or whole veggies of choice, in uniform size
1/2 large lemon, juiced (about 2 tablespoons)
1 teaspoon minced garlic
3 tablespoons plain Greek yogurt
3 tablespoons olive oil, divided
1 teaspoon fresh minced oregano
Ground black pepper, to taste

Prepping the Marinade and Chicken

Cut the chicken into uniform chunks, about a half-inch in width/height. Prep all your veggies and keep cool, if needed. In a small glass bowl, add the lemon juice, garlic, yogurt, 1 tablespoon of the olive oil, minced oregano, and ground black pepper. Whisk until smooth and completely blended. Pour 3/4 of the marinade over the chicken in a quart zip-top/lock baggie and add the chicken and squish around until covered. Refrigerate for at least one hour or up to three.

Chicken and Veggies Ready to Grill

Add 2 more tablespoons of olive oil to the remaining marinade and whisk until smooth again and refrigerate. This will be used for your veggies. After the chicken is done marinating (about 45 minutes before you want to eat), skewer the chicken and veggies, in any combination you want and place on a large baking tray. I used sliced squash, zucchini, red onion, and cherry and grape tomatoes, but really you can use any vegetables that you want. Brush the remaining marinade over the veggies on all sides.

Grilling the Kabobs

Place skewers on the grill, and cook for about 10 minutes on each side, flipping once halfway through the cooking time. Depending on the shape of your chicken, you might have to do quarter-turn flips. Remove from grill and place on tray and cover with foil for a few minutes. We served this with pasta, but you could also do rice or potatoes. Just time your cooking of that side accordingly with this, OR just eat lots of chicken and veggies! Enjoy!

p.s. (A huge Happy Father’s Day to all the dads out there! My husband will be watching the U.S. Open, I’ll make him my Huevos Motuleños for brunch, then we’ll head to a friend’s house for a barbecue later on this fine, sunny  day. I hope everyone else enjoys their day, no matter who you are!)

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Shaved Asparagus Salad with Feta and Peas

Shaved Asparagus Salad with Feta and Peas

This is a beautiful spring salad inspired by my wonderful foodie blogging friend Seana over at Cottage Grove House. She inspires me to make a lot of wonderful and healthy dishes. I didn’t have great hopes that my somewhat picky family would enjoy this, but I enjoyed the flavors of this immensely! “I like my asparagus steamed with butter,” said hubby. “It was OK, but there wasn’t much dressing on it,” said daughter. My daughter was at some event when I made this and wrapped a bowl and left it in the fridge for her for later. The lemon juice and oil was in a separate container next to it. She didn’t add any dressing to it! Ahhh, such is the life when introducing new foods and flavors. Nonetheless, I am sharing this recipe for you in hopes that others might see the bright flavors you could enjoy with such a salad.

Shaved Asparagus Salad with Feta and Peas
Adapted from Cottage Grove House recipe

1 bunch asparagus, washed and well-dried (tough ends removed)
1/4 cup green peas, fresh or frozen and thawed
1/8 cup (2 tablespoons) pine nuts
2 ounces feta, crumbled
1 big handful Spring Mix lettuce
Juice from half a lemon
Extra virgin olive oil
Ground black pepper
Sea salt

Shave the asparagus into ribbons using a vegetable peeler by holding the base of the stalk with one hand and running the peeler down to the tip. Leave the tips whole to add to the salad. Rotate the asparagus 90 degrees each time you shave, until each stalk is shaved through. (Hint: buy the thicker asparagus, it’s much easier to shave.)

Bowl of Shaved Asparagus

Toss the asparagus ribbons with the peas, pine nuts, feta, and Spring Mix lettuce.

Asparagus Salad Ready for Spring Mix and Dressing

Drizzle the lemon juice and olive oil over all, and season with fresh ground pepper and salt, to taste. Serve immediately.

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Roasted Summer Vegetable Tian

Roasted Summer Vegetable Tian Assembled

Wow! This was so darned good that I plan on putting this in my rotation as much as possible. I have to thank my foodie blog friend Richard over at REMCooks for this idea. He got it from another friend and mixed it up a bit by adding some of his homemade hot sauce. I decided to leave that out but threw on some fresh chopped herbs from my herb garden instead. One of my local stores just started selling organic produce and I made a special trip just to buy the fresh, organic veggies for this. If you cruise on over to Richard’s blog he has a great history of Tian in his post, so I won’t bother repeating that here. But wowee! This was soooo delicious! It’s a light, fresh, mouthful of summer in every bite.

Roasted Summer Vegetable Tian

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 1/2 cups sweet onion, diced small
2 teaspoons minced garlic
Butter to grease the casserole dish
1 medium yellow squash
1 medium zucchini
2 medium red potatoes
2 medium tomatoes
Ground black pepper, to taste
1 tablespoon fresh chopped basil
1 tablespoon fresh chopped tarragon
Olive oil to drizzle
1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
1/2 cup shredded Monterrey Jack cheese

Roasted Summer Vegetable Tian

First chop and slice up all those veggies. I don’t have any fancy slicing apparatus so this took me about 15 minutes. Maybe I’m just slow. I tried to get nice even slices but even then that wasn’t very successful, but close enough! Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Add the oil to a skillet heated to medium and saute the onions and garlic until softened, about five minutes.  Grease a two-quart casserole dish (any shape) with butter. I used my Tarragon Chive Lemon Butter compound for that task, but just regular ole’ butter will do. Once the onions and garlic are soft, spread them in the bottom of the casserole dish.

Now layer the slices on edge, alternating the vegetables around the contour of the dish, then fill up the middle after that. I ended up with different amounts of slices so my alternating became messy at the end. Then I began running out of room and began stuffing the rest of everything in there willy nilly. If you are a perfectionist you may just want to compost the rest or save it for another dish. I still think it came out purdy, what do you think? Grind a bunch of black pepper over it, sprinkle the chopped basil and tarragon over it, then drizzle some olive oil over the rows.

Now pop that purdy thang in the oven, covered, for about 30 to 40 minutes. Because of high altitude I did the 40 minutes. Remove from oven, uncover, and spread the two cheeses over top. Return to oven, uncovered for 15 minutes. In the last few minutes I bumped the oven to broil to crispy up some of the cheese. Remove from oven, and let sit a few minutes before serving. This makes enough for four to six servings. We ate this with some leftover rotisserie chicken. What a truly delightful, summer-tasting dinner!

Roasted Summer Vegetable Tian

p.s. Once again we are headed to our RV property on the coastal river. We are going with my parents and will be meeting up with a childhood friend (and her three boys) that I’ve not seen in 25 years! I’m very excited for this trip, but once again, no weekend post. So I’ll see you next week!

New Potato Salad with Lemon, Dill, and Chives (No Mayo)

New Potato Salad with Lemon, Dill, and Chives

I finally get to show off my new Ninja food processor I got for Mother’s Day! For whatever reason, we hadn’t cooked anything that needed something chopped small until now. Well not exactly true. We made a chef’s salad the other day and I had fun chopping up the carrots and such for it, but it was not a blog-worthy meal. Just a typical throw-in-anything-you-have-in-your-fridge salad on a busy weeknight. However, the other night I set out to make a “lighter” version of potato salad that didn’t use mayonnaise. From all my research it appeared Greek yogurt was the best substitute, along with some oil and citrus and herbs.  This would make a great potluck salad since it doesn’t have mayo or eggs in it!

Ninja with Chopped Celery and Radishes

New Potato Salad with Lemon, Dill, and Chives

1 1/2 pounds small red new potatoes, quartered
1 celery stalk
2 radishes
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
3 tablespoons plain Greek yogurt
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon fresh minced chives
1 tablespoon fresh minced baby dill
Ground pepper, to taste

Boil quartered potatoes for about 10 minutes. Remove the potatoes from heat, drain, and rinse in cold water. Add to a bowl, cover, and refrigerate until ready to make the salad. Meanwhile, finely dice the celery and radishes. I really enjoyed using my the Ninja for the chopping. It only took about 4 pulses on the button to make me smile. It’s small and only handles two cups max of anything, but it does the job quickly and was a snap to clean up. I love it! (No I was not paid by Ninja for this endorsement.)

In a small bowl, whisk together the oil, yogurt, lemon juice, Dijon mustard, minced chives, minced dill, and ground black pepper, to taste. Take a taste to see if it needs more of any one flavor.  Stir into the bowl of potatoes, then cover and refrigerate to let flavors meld until ready to serve.

Potato Salad Ready to Mix

I thought this was a fabulous light side dish to go with the babyback ribs my husband cooked for dinner. The only complaint I had from the family was that I made my potato chunks too big. Some of the new potatoes were not exactly small, so use your judgment on what size to chop them. I have learned my family likes smaller. Oh, and the hubs inquired why it had no bacon, either. 🙂

P.S. I will not have a weekend post, as we are off to our river property for five days over the Memorial Day Weekend. God Bless all our troops and the family members who have lost their loved ones for our country.

Potato Salad and Ribs

Lemon, Tarragon, Chive, and Cilantro Grilled Chicken

Lemon, Tarragon, Chive, and Cilantro Grilled Chicken

The tarragon and chive plants that mysteriously revived themselves from winter are going gangbusters, so decided to come up with a marinade for some chicken I planned on grilling. This super-simple marinade imparted a wonderful, fresh taste to the chicken. I threw in a small handful of cilantro at the last minute, but you can certainly omit it if you want.

Lemon and Herbs for Marinade

Lemon, Tarragon, Chive, and Cilantro Grilled Chicken

Juice of 1 lemon
2 tablespoons fresh tarragon, minced
2 tablespoons fresh chives, minced
1 tablespoon fresh cilantro, minced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/8 cup white wine
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
Ground black pepper, to taste
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
2 pounds bone-in skin-on chicken

Whisk all the ingredients well in a small glass bowl. Add the chicken to a large Ziploc bag, then pour marinade over chicken and squish around to cover the chicken well. Marinade in the refrigerator for a few hours, up to overnight. One hour before grilling, take the chicken out of the fridge (keeping it in bag) and let rest on countertop for about an hour before grilling. Preheat grill with two outer burners on high and the two middle burners on low. Add the chicken to the top rack on the grill bone-side down, reserving marinade. Cook covered for 15 minutes, then flip chicken over and cook covered another 15 minutes. Turn chicken back over, baste with marinade, and cook five minutes more or until meat thermometer registers 165. Remove from grill and tent with foil for 10 minutes. We served this with rice cooked in chicken broth and fresh steamed broccoli. A perfect spring weekend meal!