what do soup, black pumps, and men have in common?

Cold Ginger Carrot and Coconut Soup

I love soup!  (And no, that's not the answer to the question.) I like hearty chilis in the winter and light gazpacho in the summer.  I like creamy butternut squash soup, white bean and kale soup, lentil stew, tuscan vegetable soup, you name it, I'll eat it.  Well, I should take that back.  Soup can be a very quotidian thing, but sometimes it's delicious, and this is when it's at its best.  I feel the same way about soups as I do about a pair of black pumps, or even a man.  They're everywhere, and they run the gamut from cheap and tasteless to fancy-schmanzy, too fussy, and too much work (to make, walk in, or date).  Great soup recipes, like men and shoes, take a while to find and a lot of dabbling, but they're out there!  And once you find one you like, why waste time on the other ones you aren't wild about?  Some call it "pickiness"; I prefer "selectivity".  And I'm not sorry about it one bit.

Pureed soup is something that is ridiculously easy to make, but can also be ridiculously unpleasant if you don't do it right.  Kind of like a pair of hooker heels or the complete idiot you went out with once.  I've tried pureed soups with all different kinds of flavors and vegetable combinations, but nothing is like this one.  It's silky and smooth, with just the right amount of kick from the curry, flavor from the ginger, creaminess from the coconut milk, and sweetness from the carrots.  It is supposed to be a cold soup, like a summer gazpacho, but can also be served hot (I ate it both ways).  The final result is a relatively painless recipe yielding immense happiness - everything you should get out of a relationship (with soup, shoes, or men).      

Cold Ginger Carrot and Coconut Soup, adapted from Gourmet 

3/4 cup finely chopped scallion (about 1 bunch)

1 small onion, chopped (about 2/3 cup)

1 tablespoon peeled, finely grated fresh ginger

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 tablespoon curry powder

1 1/2 pounds baby carrots (about 4 cups)

2 1/2 cups low-salt vegetable broth

1 cup canned lowfat coconut milk

1 tablespoon fresh lime juice

1.  In a large heavy saucepan cook chopped scallion, onion, and ginger in butter with curry powder and salt and pepper to taste over medium-low heat, until softened.  Add carrots and vegetable broth and simmer covered, 20 minutes, or until carrots are very soft.

2.  When carrots are soft, cut heat.  Using an immersion blender, purée mixture in batches, adding coconut milk little by little until very smooth.  Stir in 1 tablespoon lime juice and chill soup at least 6 hour or overnight.

3.  Thin soup with ice water, as needed, and season with additional lime juice and salt and pepper.

just beet it

lentil salad with beets, green beans, and goat cheese

 
To me, beets are the perfect example of two things - a) don't knock it till ya try it (twice), and b) there are some things that absolutely cannot, and should not, ever be eaten out of a can.

There are a lot of people out there who can't fathom the idea of beets.  And I get it; I honestly do.  I used to be right there with y'all.  I didn't eat beets until about a year ago.  In fact, the only time I ever even saw beets prior to that was at my grandparents' house. Every few Sundays, we'd get in the car and drive a half hour to their house, and Dad and/or Uncle Jim would take my grandfather to the Methodist church.  While the men were at church, my mom and grandmother would cook the sides for lunch later that day, while Bollie, Jamie, and I would "play" the piano (I had no formal training, but I thought that four years of violin gave me a solid foundation) or run around in the back yard.  My grandparents had a sprawling lawn with tons of tall pine trees, and Paw-Paw would give us a dollar for every trash bag of pine cones we collected.  When I look back at this, I realize how much of a steal he was getting, and all I can do is laugh...he really was so cheap.

Church was at 11am, but if it lasted more than an hour, Paw-Paw would walk out.  I wish I were kidding. He once told the minister that the church didn't pay overtime, a story fondly retold during his eulogy.  Just after noon, the men would come through the back door with Hardees boxes of fried chicken and buttermilk biscuits.  And we'd feast.  Heaping platters of succotash, green beans, and sauteed spinach, all things my Dad loves, littered the table.  We'd help ourselves to chicken, biscuits, and the sides, passing the plates around for seconds and thirds until we were fully sated.  At the end of the meal, there was no chicken, no biscuits, no succotash, no green beans, and no spinach.  But there generally was a little plate of canned beets left over.  Slimy, icky canned beets, (too) perfectly trimmed (manufactured?) into circular disks.  The plate looked as if one or two beets had been picked off, but they mostly looked lonely sitting there, like the last kid picked in PE class awkwardly looking down at his Chucks until the last team captain called his name.  It was a shame, really.  The little congealed beets got no love.  My grandfather made me try one once; I think I took one bite and didn't eat a beet again until last summer, a good fifteen years later. 

I ended up with a bunch of dirty purple beets before my cousin/aunt/relative Angelita was going out of town.  (I don't know what it is with people always dumping their unused produce on me, but I'm not complaining!)  I searched for the perfect beet recipe for a few days - I was determined to find the proper vehicle to reintroduce the villain into my diet.  Every recipe said that roasting the beets was the failsafe way to bring out the flavor, preserve the texture (no slime!) and make them look pretty, too.  So I gave it a shot.  And I forgot to set the timer, and they cooked an extra twenty minutes longer than they should have.  Despite this slip-up, the final result was a caramelized, candy-like bulb, sweet and savory all at once.

So then I bought beets for the first time.  And then bought them again.  I tried boiling them once, but they're just not the same as when they're roasted.  Roasted beets are a versatile addition to several dishes.  I like them in salads with goat cheese, avocado, and citrus, or simply tossed in a bit of balsamic vinegar, salt, and pepper.  I recently put some roasted beets into a warm salad with lentils and green beans and topped with creamy goat cheese (when the opportunity presents itself, I top everything with goat cheese).  It does take a while, but it's not a lot of hands-on time.  It's also great kitchen practice, as it utilizes a few different cooking methods. 

The pink tinge of the beets actually makes the lentils kinda pretty, which, as we have discussed before, is hard to do.  It's like putting lipstick on a pig.  A tasty pig.  If the pig were a vegetarian.

Alright, so maybe that metaphor doesn't hold.  But just give beets a chance.  Please and thanks.

Warm Lentil Salad with Roasted Beets and Green Beans
Serves 3

1/2 pound uncooked brown lentils (or 1 heaping cup)
6 baby carrots or 1 regular carrot
2 sticks of celery
1/2 medium yellow onion
1 bay leaf
4 sprigs thyme
3 cups vegetable stock
3 beets
1/2 pound green beans
3 ounces goat cheese, crumbled (omit if you want a vegan version)
salt and pepper
balsamic vinegar or maple dijon viniagrette (recipe found here)

1.  Preheat oven to 425.  Rinse and scrub the beets with a brush, if you have one, and chop off greens about 1/2 inch from the top of the beet bulb.  Do not remove the root of the beet.  Wrap each beet in tin foil and place in a roasting dish.  Let roast in the oven for about an hour, or until the beets can easily be pierced with a fork. 
2.  While the beets are roasting, heat olive oil and garlic in a pan and saute chopped onion, garlic, and carrot on medium-low heat, about five minutes (this is called mirepoix, and is the base for much of French cooking).  Add lentils, herbs, and vegetable stock.  Bring to a boil and cover.  Reduce heat and let simmer 20 minutes, or until lentils are soft.  The dried lentils should make about 3 cups of cooked beans.  Drain.
3.  Remove ends of green beans.  Place green beans in steamer dish in one inch of water.  Cover and let steam five minutes. 
4. When beets are ready, remove from oven and let cool 10 minutes.  Remove the foil from the beets and peel skin.  The skin should easily peel off, no knife is required.  You may want to wear gloves if you don't want pink fingers.  Be warned that the beet juice can stain, so if you get some on the counter or clothes, wash immediately.
5. Chop beets and green beans, and toss with lentils.  Top with salt and pepper and coat with balsamic vinegar or maple dijon viniagrette.  Top with goat cheese and serve.

back-to-work monday

Happy Monday!  How was everyone's weekend?  I, for one, am grateful that I am employed and at work today after the threat of a government shutdown.  Don't get me wrong, it would be nice to have a few days off, but I gotta make them dollar dollar bills.  But it's a moot point now, and we're good for the next six months, I guess.  I'm sure next year they'll go through the same thing.

But now, the highlight of your Monday....a quick recap of the weekend in food.  As I previously mentioned, Thursday night Brittany's Mom (Miss Cleo) and Aunt Elizabeth (Delta Burke) gave us a tarot card reading.  They were in town visiting from Atlanta and they love their Tarot cards!  As I said before, I was a complete skeptic, but I went in with an open mind and actually ended up getting too into it by the end.  Take it with a grain of salt, or take it as Gospel, but either way you look at it, it's all in good fun. 

We had plenty of wine to ease any nerves, and noshed on hummus, cheese, fruits, crackers, and cured meats (well, everyone else did).  There was a great brie, mozzarella, and a sharp white cheddar.  Those were paired with flatbread, crackers, and a whole wheat baguette.  We also had some delicious hummus and a fruit plate.  I will admit that the plate of proscuitto and sopressata literally made my mouth water - it was actually the first plate of meat I've seen that I really, really wanted (which is weird, because I wouldn't count those meats as my favorites!)  It was actually pretty funny to hear everyone's readings - my friends and I are all at such pivotal points in our lives, albeit all for different reasons, and it was interesting to see how the cards' meanings changed in different "positions" and applied to everyone's scenarios. 

This was my Tarot card reading.  Of the ten cards, six are cards of the "major arcana."  There are only 22 major arcana cards in the whole deck (of 78).  Miss Cleo thought it was tres interesante to see so many major arcana appear in my reading - apparently these cards are very strong, and with deep meanings.  Strong cards for a strong personality, she said.  Needless to say, everyone thought this was quite appropriate.  The reading itself didn't tell me really anything I didn't already know about myself or this hilarious sequence of events that comprises my life, but it was funny to see that a lot of my past and present was reflected in the meaning of the various cards.  Don't count me in as a believer just yet, but I'm interested to see if any of the future predictions will hold.  It was a lot of fun to see what the Tarot thinks the future has in store.

Friday night we had Happy Hour to mourn a possible furlough, celebrate the end of March Madness, and toast to a coworker getting into a neat graduate program.  I got hungry so I grabbed a crepe from Crepes on the Walk - oozing with swiss cheese, spinach, tomatoes, and avocado.  Saturday I made banana pancakes (but I cheated - I used a buttermilk premix!)  I also went to Cactus Cantina for Lindsey's birthday and had the best vegetable fajitas ever!  The platter included not only the traditional peppers and onions, but also mushrooms, zucchini, green onions, corn, potatoes, and even ginger and bean sprouts (not exactly Mexican, but whatever).  Obviously the platter was served with pico de gallo, guacamole, rice, and black beans (a nice alternative to refried beans, which are generally not vegetarian).


After dinner, I met up with Laura and Mauri, two friends who were visiting from NYC.  We sang karaoke, Laura's favorite pastime, at Cafe Japone.  Sunday was spent writing, grocery shopping, cooking, doing laundry, catching up on emails and trip planning....all the things I normally try to do on Sunday to make me feel like a productive human.

My most loyal commenter finally makes it on the blog (!!)

Quick PSA:  There are only two more weeks for the 40-day Vegetarian!  I've gotten so many great suggestions for blogs, magazines, and websites to gather inspiration, and I really appreciate all of the support and ideas!  I've sometimes had trouble getting the ingredients, though.... zucchini and eggplant are expensive and flavorless this time of year.  I'm keeping my eyes peeled!
This week on the blog, another yucky childhood vegetable gets a makeover, a boring fish filet gets dressed up, and Thursday's post is still TBD.  Enjoy your Monday!



friday breakfast: round 4

As I've spoken about before, I'm not much of a baker.  Mainly, I dislike baking because I am far too anal-retentive in most other areas of my life, and I don't need to add baking to that list.  If I absolutely must bake, I make Ghiardelli Triple Chocolate brownies (best boxed mix EVER!) or chocolate chip cookies.  Those are made-from-scratch, but hardly original - I use the recipe off the back of a bag of Nestle Tollhouse chocolate chips, and double up on the amount of chocolate.  Sophisticated, I know.  I really don't care for baking, but sometimes the easiest way to people's hearts is through a delicious baked good.

I am currently on a long-term software development project at work in which we are building, from scratch, a new computer program to replace a group of old ones.  My time is now budgeted fifty percent for economic analysis (my "real job"), and fifty percent for program development.  I am so grateful for this project - it is an interesting case, and a wonderful opportunity for me professionally.  I'm honing skills I would not otherwise be developing, and I'm working with some very intelligent people whom I would not otherwise get to interact with.  But, as with all long-term projects like this, there's a complicated web of politics and issues that underlie the direction of the project.  And true to the nature of teamwork, it is a constant challenge to accommodate the varying viewpoints, backgrounds, personalities, and leadership styles of the people working together to produce one final, well-rounded product.

Last week we got into it in one of our meetings.  One gentleman and I had a whole list of problems with a particular document we were reviewing, and we brought our issues up for discussion with the group.  He and I are particularly vested in this project, as we have been working on it since its kick-off six months ago.  It's also worth noting that he and I are very opinionated  active participants in group discussions.  To make a long story short, we had to give a run-down to the folks new to the project.  By the end of the meeting everyone was either confused, irritated, or just tired of hearing us speak.  I knew that in order to get back into the good graces of the group, I'd need to come to the next morning's three-hour workshop bearing gifts.

I believe that a little butter and sugar can make people go goo-goo, but my go-tos of brownies and cookies wouldn't be ideal for a 9am workshop.  So, I turned to smitten kitchen, in my opinion, today's preeminent food blogger and an especially knowledgeable source on all things baked.  I love Deb's outlook on cooking, her tounge-in-cheek writing style, and her passion for good food.  I often look to her blog for inspiration when I'm in a culinary rut, and plus, she just makes me giggle.

Armed with what Deb had dubbed "the best ever" banana bread and "perfect" blueberry muffins, I waltzed into Wednesday's workshop.  I smiled, laid the spoils out on the table, and watched as my teammates took a slice of bread and a muffin.  And came back for seconds.  And asked for people to pass them the leftovers.  Suddenly, everybody loved me again.  Funny the way those things turn out.....

Best-Ever Banana Bread, adapted from smitten kitchen
Makes one loaf

3 to 4 ripe bananas, smashed
1/3 cup melted salted butter
3/4 cup light brown sugar
1 egg, beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon baking soda
Pinch of salt
1 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 1/2 cup of flour


1.  Preheat the oven to 350°.
2.  With a wooden spoon, mix butter into the mashed bananas in a large mixing bowl. Mix in the sugar, egg, and vanilla.  Then, mix in the spices. 
3. Sprinkle the baking soda and salt over the mixture and mix in. Mix in the flour last.
4.  Pour mixture into a buttered 4×8 inch loaf pan. Bake for 45 minutes to one hour, or until a tester comes out clean.
5.  Cool on a rack. Remove from pan and slice to serve.

Note:  Deb spiked her loaf with bourbon, but considering I was taking this to work and I was trying to win people over and not possibly offend them, I omitted it.  I do love bourbon, though.


Perfect Blueberry Muffins, adapted from smitten kitchen
Makes twelve muffins

5 tablespoons unsalted butter , softened
1/2 cup sugar
1 large egg
3/4 cup plain yogurt or sour cream (I used Greek yogurt because I always have it in my fridge)
1/2 teaspoon grated orange zest
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup frozen blueberries

1.  Preheat oven to 375° and line a muffin tin with 12 paper liners.
2.  Beat butter and sugar with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add egg and beat well, then yogurt and zest.
3.  Mix in flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt just until the flour disappears. 
4.  Gently fold in your blueberries.
5.  Using a spoon or ice cream scoop, spoon your dough into your muffin cups.  The dough will be quite thick. You’re looking for them to be about 3/4 full, nothing more.
6.  Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until tops are golden and a tester inserted into the center of muffins comes out clean.


And because it wouldn't be Friday without some Friday eye-candy, allow me to introduce you all to my new boyfriend. I met him the other day on a run up Massachusetts Avenue....yes, that is a towel, and only a towel, and with slits-up-to-there, around his waist.  (I very rarely run with my iPhone, but my iPod was dead, so I am really happy I had it with me.  Camera FTW!)

Have a wonderful weekend, friends.....hope you're lucky enough to snag a man as sexy as this one!

what to do when you're sick of cooking

Roasted Vegetables and Sauteed Spinach

One of the reasons I started this blog was that I wanted a public forum to share my kitchen adventures - chronicling all the new techniques, ingredients, and recipes that I tried as a part of my vegetarian lifestyle.  Through this blog, I am held accountable not only to myself, but also to my readership.  With my readers awaiting recipes and stories of success and failure, I avoid falling prey to lazy, unimaginative dinners of fried eggs, peanut butter sandwiches, or hummus.  And guess what?  So far, it has worked.  With only a little more than two weeks left on this little journey, I haven't had eggs for dinner once.  I've only made peanut butter and banana sandwiches when I'm on the go, like on the bus to New York, at last week's Wizards game, or during an afternoon of errand running.  And my Rockin' Moroccan white bean dip stuffed in a wrap with veggies is the closest I've gotten to a hummus-only meal.

I've published one post a day, Monday through Friday, for almost a month now.  And I hate to say it, but I've been cooking so much that I'm a little bit tired of it.  This speaks volumes.  I'm one of those weirdos that derives immense pleasure in the entire process of preparing a meal.  I love going to the grocery store or farmers' market and selecting the stars of a dish.  I enjoy selecting fresh herbs to accent and enhance the flavors of a dish.  I think sharpening my knives is fun, and take pride in the methodical way I dice vegetables into uniform pieces.  I love my handtools, like my immersion blender, vegetable peeler, and multipurpose hand grater, and the way they make it so easy to zest lemons and mince ginger.  Don't even get me started on sauteeing onions in olive oil, butter, and garlic, or removing the lid of a pot of soup and  inhaling the deep scent of herbs and vegetables simmering away. 

But as happy as those things make me, sometimes I come home and just want to microwave a packet of Tasty Bite madras lentils, poach an egg, or get takeout.  Not that there's anything wrong with doing those things, but y'all wouldn't read my blog if that's what I had for dinner every night (and likewise, I wouldn't be keeping an online journal).  So luckily, while I can get away with lazy days once in a while, I also have a convenient backup - roasted vegetables.

Now, I know I roast a lot of vegetables.  Roasted vegetable and quinoa stuffed eggplant.  Roasted vegetable salad.  Roasted brussels sprouts and quinoa.  But it's just so easy!  On the particular night that I roasted these beauties, I was tired and not particularly enthused about making dinner.  So I roasted some vegetables.  I turned the oven on 425, removed some peeled and diced butternut squash from the freezer (left over from this amaz butternut squash pasta recipe), diced a red pepper, and opened a six-ounce box of sliced baby bellas.  I tossed the vegetables in olive oil, sea salt, and pepper (but you could also choose to use fresh or dried herbs like basil and oregano).  I spread the vegetables on a roasting pan, hopped in the shower, and after 12 minutes, turned the vegetables.  I put them back in the oven, dried my hair, and another 12 minutes minutes later, they were finished.  I quickly sauteed some spinach in garlic and lemon juice, and then topped the bed of greens with the charred vegetables and sprinkled feta cheese on top (though you could easily make it vegan by removing the cheese).  I had a delicious meal in less than a half an hour, without even really doing any "cooking".  If you're hungry or in need of some protein, add some chickpeas.  Now how easy is that?

Of course, the other thing you can do when you're sick of cooking is go out to eat.  Last night I went to Cafe Ole, a hidden gem near Tenleytown.  Concentrating on Mediterranean-style small plates, and with a plethora of vegetarian options (helpfully denoted on the menu), this place was right up my alley!  Unfortunately, my pictures didn't turn out, but the food was delicious.  We ordered an all-vegetarian meal of the hummus platter, the olive orzo salad, the chickpea pizette, and the sangria....all were amazing!  The orzo salad (Toscana salata) was my favorite, an orzo lightly coated in roasted red pepper puree, tossed with kalamata olives, artichokes, and parmesan cheese, and topped with a thick lemon aioli.  My date didn't really care for it, which was fine....more for me!  I was also totally impressed by the black bean hummus (spiced with cumin and topped with cilantro) and the pizette (chickpea dough topped with wild mushroom ragout and cheesy parmesan arugula).  The only disappointment was that there was supposed to be baba ganoush on the hummus platter but it was replaced with a lackluster tabbouleh salad.  And the sangria (always, always red!) met my seal of approval, not an easy feat.  Check it out!

I'm kicking my weekend off tonight with a Tarot card reading courtesy of Brittany's mom and aunt.  Yes.  Not a joke.  I'm openly skeptical about those things, but it's all in good fun, and plus, there will be plenty of libations to smooth anxiety and lessen the damage from any not-so-stellar readings.  I'm actually really excited to see what the ladies think my future holds!  Then, I'm looking forward to a Mexican dinner for Lindsey's birthday and karaoke with some visiting friends from NYC.  Should be a whirlwind of a weekend!   

What does everybody have planned this weekend?

lean & green quinoa with maple dijon vinaigrette

Lean & Green Quinoa with Maple Dijon Vinaigrette

Last week, my sister Bollie left a comment on the blog asking me to do something with brussels sprouts.  This may not seem like a big deal, but I almost picked up the phone to make sure her Google account hadn't been hijacked.  You see, Bollie used to the pickiest eater on the face of the planet.  She was the kind of kid who ate waffles drowned in syrup as often as my mother would let her.  Her ideal dinner was three dinner rolls and half a stick of butter.  Okay, so maybe that is a slight exaggeration, but she really did make other “picky eaters” look like Anthony Bourdain.  Her diet included a steady rotation of peanut butter and cheetos sandwiches (yes, together), unseasoned chicken breast, Easy Mac, American cheese & butter sandwiches (not to be confused with "grilled cheese"), and very little else.  Luckily, she always had a clean bill of health, so we never worried too much about her.

Somewhere between 1994 and today, Bollie's tastebuds have matured.  She now eats "lots of vegetables", though she's "still not ready for tomatoes."  This in particular is amusing to me because Bollie is an aficionado on all things Italian and spent an entire summer studying, cooking, and eating in Rome.  I also don't understand how someone who eats eggplant and zucchini would find the little tomato offensive, but whatever.  So when she asked for something featuring brussels sprouts, the quintessential villain of the vegetable world, I was confused....but happy to oblige.

This dish is kinda an ode to my lil' sis - it includes green vegetables she likes (asparagus, green onions, and apparently, brussels sprouts) and is topped with a sweet maple and dijon dressing.  The maple pays homage to her favorite breakfast and the sharp zing of the vinegar and dijon combination reflects the one-two punch of her personality.     

The brussels in this recipe are roasted.  In my humble opinion, the only way to cook brussels is to pan-sear them or roast them.  Boiling or steaming them renders the poor brussels sprouts completely deserving of their reputation as a pile of sour mush.  However, the carmelization that results from roasting or sauteeing them gives the humble brussels an extreme makeover, elevating them from ugly duckling to belle of the ball.

Enjoy!

Lean & Green Quinoa with Maple Dijon Vinaigrette
Serves 2 as side dish, 1 as main

1/2 cup uncooked quinoa + 3/4 cup vegetable stock (yields about 1 1/3 cup cooked quinoa)
1/4 cup green onions, chopped (green and white parts)
1/4 pound skinny asparagus
handful spinach leaves, coarsely chopped
1/3 pound brussels sprouts, halved

for the Maple Dijon Vinaigrette

2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
1 1/2 tablespoons grainy dijon mustard
1 1/2 teaspoons maple syrup
salt and pepper to taste

1.  Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2.  Chop asparagus into bite-sized pieces.  Additionally, prepare brussels sprouts by removing outer leaves, if necessary, and cutting the sprouts in half (perpindicular to the base).  Toss sprouts in 1 - 1 1/2 tablespoons of the maple dijon vinaigrette.
3.  Roast the asparagus and brussels (cut side up) 20 minutes, or until golden.  If your asparagus are very skinny, they will roast in less time, and you may want to remove them halfway through.
4.  Meanwhile, prepare the quinoa according to package directions or read my method for preparing quinoa here.
 5.  Mix roasted brussels sprouts and asparagus with the quinoa.  Top with green onions and drizzle vinaigrette overtop the salad (you may have some left over).  Toss to combine.

salmon burgers with japanese coleslaw

Salmon burgers with Japanese coleslaw

I know what you're thinking.  Another Asian recipe?  I'm sorry, but I never get tired of Asian food.  When in doubt, wok it out.  (Rita, that was for you.)

I like salmon, but I don't buy it very often because the good stuff is expensive and I'm just a lowly peon trying to get by in this overpriced city.  The last time I was in Norfolk, my mom's friend Kelly was raving about Costco's salmon burgers, and I knew I had to give them a try!   On my next trip to the mega-warehouse, I beelined to the frozen foods section (because really, who has time to waste at Costco?) and picked some up.  At $15.99 for a twelve-pack, I was pleasantly surprised at how affordable they were.  At last, high-brow cuisine comes to the hoi polloi, via the most popular American dish ever created - the burger!  These babies have no breadcrumbs or other filler in them - I hate it when crabcakes and salmon burgers are loaded down with flavor-killers!  The only ingredients in this burger were salmon, water, canola oil, egg, and spices.

Best of all, these salmon burgers are good for our planet and good for our bodies; they're made from wild-caught Alaskan salmon, not the flavorless, nutritionally inferior, farm-raised Atlantic stuff that's injected with pink food coloring. Some of you may be surprised to see that comment coming out of my mouth.  I am skeptical of the words "organic", "cage-free", "range-free", "grass-fed", blah blah blah, and I do not consider myself a staunch proponent of those products.  Sure, I often buy cage-free eggs or an organic something or other because it may taste better or the price differential may be worth it to me, but a conventionally-grown vegetable is not a dealbreaker in my book.  One area where I always strive to go "natural" is salmon.  Salmon is already expensive to begin with, farmed or wild, so it's worth it (to me) to spend a few extra bucks for bigger flavor and more nutrients.

I quickly pan-seared the burgers for 4-5 minutes per side in just a hint of oil.  Then I splashed some soy sauce on top and put it on a "bun" - i.e. a whole wheat deli flat.  I don't buy hamburger buns if I'm just cooking for one or two because I don't go through them quickly enough, and moreover, I just don't love the taste of them.  I slathered some Duke's mayonnaise on both sides of the bread - I love mayonnaise!  I understand there are a lot of mayo-haters out there, but mayonnaise is my favorite condiment and I will never give it up.  If you don't like mayo, just leave it off.  This burger would be delicious with wasabi mayonnaise, but alas I didn't happen to have any wasabi casually laying around in my refrigerator. 

Finally, I topped each patty with a generous serving of Japanese coleslaw.  This is not a creamy coleslaw, but rather a vinegary, crunchy cabbage salad.  Simply delicious!

Japanese Coleslaw
Serves 4-6

For the slaw:
1 head cabbage, cored and shredded
1/4 cup sliced almonds
6 carrots, peeled and coarsely shredded
4 green onions, chopped (both white and green parts)
1 packet ramen noodles, uncooked and crumbled into small pieces

For the dressing:
2 tablespoons sugar (Splenda works too)
1/4 cup of canola oil or other flavorless vegetable oil
4 tablespoons white wine vinegar
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 tablespoon low-sodium soy sauce
Spice packet from Ramen noodles (I used the "oriental" flavor)

1.  Mix together ingredients for the slaw
2.  Whisk together the ingredients for the dressing in a cup or small bowl.  Put in refrigerator to chill.
3.  When ready to serve, pour dressing over slaw and toss.

Oh, and before I leave, I'd like to wish a very  

Happy Birthday 

to my friend Lindsey!  

Linds, maybe 24 will be the year your head actually grows to a full-sized adult.  

Thank you for being such an amazing friend over the past 12+ years.

isn't her head so cute and tiny?

By this point, it's pretty apparent that Asian food is my Achilles heel.  What is your favorite cuisine?