cooling salad with vegetables/tofu/rice

i went to a county fair on saturday! it was exactly what i expected and hoped for from a county fair - lots of adorable animals, fried foods, demonstrations of old-timey things, and various random 4-H projects like this:

the terrifying fellow above with his horrifying onion legs/pincers was part of a "best-dressed vegetables" competition, which sounds fake but is apparently a real thing. what's odd is that this hideous frankenstein's monster of pre-compost is not wearing any clothes. i assume that is why his creator only got a participation ribbon. next time follow the rules, poindexter!

on the opposite end of the cuteness spectrum is this darling. i immediately named her elmira velvet and she made it pretty clear that she wanted to come home with me. sadly, cooler heads prevailed and we left cowless.

(don't you just love her eyes?! and her softy soft coat? and her cunning little drool trails?!)

sadly what we did leave with were sunburns and mild heatstroke. well, i am not sure about the heatstroke. it wasn't that hot, but i was really out of it and tired when we got home. but i don't do outside things much, so perhaps i was just being a delicate flower.

regardless, the only thing that sounded good after the heat and dust and onion rings was this nice cold salad loaded with raw vegetables and herbs and tofu and slicked with a simple piquant dressing. it was heaven.

don't you feel 100 degrees cooler just looking at those vegetables? you can use whatever you have around - i used a red bell pepper, mint, half-ish of a jalapeño, jarred hearts of palm, some lemon balm that i fortuitously found growing in our backyard, a cucumber, some scallions, and some sugar snap peas (i also later put in some frozen peas and they thawed in the salad). i think blanched broccoli, tomatoes, little green beans, some basil and/or cilantro, etc, would all be good as well.

just slice the vegetables however you like - i made the scallions, hearts of palm, and jalapeño into kind of coin shapes (i took the seeds and most of the ribs out of the jalapeño and cut it in very thin rounds), the bell pepper into thick matchsticks, the herbs into julienne, and the peas i cut in half.

you could do the cucumber in rounds as well, but sometimes people get heartburn from the seeds, apparently, so i like to cut them in half and use a spoon to scoop the seeds out. you can then eat them, if you are not heartburn-prone, or you could use them to flavor ice water, etc - let them soak in it for awhile and then strain them out again. delicious! refreshing! or you can throw them away, i suppose.

then just slice the two halves into crescents.

it is probably not a bad idea to mix the dressing up in a big bowl and then dump the vegetables in. for a very large salad, i used like 1/4 - 1/3 cup rice vinegar, the juice of a whole lime, a tablespoon or so of demerara sugar (obvs you could use whatever kind), perhaps a tablespoon or so of soy sauce, and some sesame oil. basically it's a good idea to start slow and just add and mix until it tastes delicious. you want to be careful of the soy sauce, because it can be sort of overpowering. you could also just use some salt instead, if you don't want it soy-y. i mixed all of these up and then added the cut up vegetables.

then i added some leftover cooked white rice. i think it was about a cup and a half or two cups. but again, this was a monster salad. as you can see in the pictures, this is mainly a vegetable and tofu salad with rice in it, rather than a rice salad with other stuff in it. hopefully that makes sense. although clearly you can put a larger proportion of rice in. i am not going to come to your house and yell at you or anything.

i cut the tofu into ~ 1 inch cubes and let it sit in a strainer for a little while to get some of the moisture out. it was still pretty wet and pretty bland, however. i happen to like it that way, so i left it, but you could also put some paper towels around it and stack some plates or something on it to get it a little drier. you could also mix up the dressing and let the tofu sit in it for a little bit so it absorbs some. or you could use baked tofu. or like rotisserie chicken or something. basically the point is to avoid having to turn on the stove for any part of this.

this is very refreshing and is perfect for a simple lunch or dinner when it's too hot to think about stoves. it's got a good amount of protein, so it's filling. the crispness of the vegetables and the sourness of the lime and the herbiness of the herbs all go together well. it's also nice if you have some toasted salted nuts for on top - we used cashews, but peanuts would also be good. you want to put them on each serving individually, though, so they don't get soft.

*ingredients*

this is for a really large salad, so you can use less if you don't want to be eating it forever. it would also be a good potluck thing - it feeds a crowd and is both vegan and gluten-free, although check on the soy sauce - sometimes it can have gluten. the salad keeps well for a few days, although it was best soon after it was made.

1 bell pepper (preferably not green, because they are gross)

1 cucumber

1/2 jalapeño

1 bunch scallions

2+ big handfuls fresh herbs

2 cups sugar snap peas

1 cup frozen petite peas

3 or 4 hearts of palm

1 package extra-firm tofu

1 1/2 - 2 cups cooked rice

1 lime (or more, to taste)

1/4 - 1/3 cup rice vinegar

1 tablespoon sugar

soy sauce, to taste

sesame oil, to taste

berry exciting

a little over a month ago, our backyard blackberry bushes were covered with delicate pinky white flowers. they were very pretty, but you couldn't really eat them. well, i suppose you could, but i doubt they'd taste like much.

then these little guys did their important work and lo and behold, we have blackberries:

i just found them today! i haven't even made anything with them yet, because they are incredibly good just eaten on their own.

i have time, though - many more blackberries are coming. they seem to be trying to make things easier for me by not all ripening at once.

i don't have a clue how many berries there are out there - thousands upon thousands, for sure. the bushes cover our back fence and then some and are making inroads along the side fence as well. one vine was tap-tap-tapping on the window earlier, wanting me to let it in. i declined. those things are pointy.

after we harvest the berries, i will have to cut the vines back, lest we wake up and find ourselves locked away like sleeping beauty in a forest of briars and brambles. if i cut them now, though, how we will enjoy all of the cobblers, pies, crumbles, crisps, buckles, slumps, jams, etc., that i have planned for these darlings? now to convince someone with a ladder to come and help harvest them...

no one minds being paid in berries, right?

so yeah, no recipe today, but here are some links to other people who have made good use of blackberries:

martha stewart

simply recipes

orangette

smitten kitchen

homesick texan

pickled okra pimento cheese

do you know about pimento cheese? it's popular throughout the southern states and is perhaps making inroads across the mason-dixon line. in texas you can get it in big tubs at any grocery store. people usually eat it on white bread in sandwich form, though sometimes it's used as a dip for vegetables or crackers.

the thing about tub cheese is that it is tub cheese. thus, it is not all that good. i mean, it's good in the sense that anything composed of cheese and mayonnaise is going to be kind of good, but it isn't really good. also, pimento cheese is ridiculously easy to make and if you make it yourself you can avoid the preservatives and weird gums that fill many commercially-prepared versions.

seriously, have you ever looked at those? i just looked up the ingredients in one brand and it had guar, xanthan, and locust bean gums, along with preservatives and artificial coloring. i am not overly concerned about that kind of stuff (i eat gummy bears, after all), but it's just never going to taste as good as homemade.

the bare bones pimento cheese recipe consists of grated sharp cheddar, chopped pimentos, and mayonnaise. however, homemade is even better when you give pickled okra a leading role. when one is discussing pickled okra, talk o' texas is really the way to go. i don't know how widely distributed it is, but i bought mine here in oregon, so it's around. and you can order it online. as the website claims, it is crisp, delicious, and crisp. on a side note, my friend once dated the scion of the talk o' texas empire and i was excited about the prospect of increased pickled okra access, but alas, it was not to be. i still have to buy it like any old sucker.

anyway, other people's dating histories aside, okra is a nice addition to pimento cheese. in fact, i have been using it instead of the pimentos, because the day has yet to come when i go into the store and think of buying a whole thing of pimentos. pimentos just never seem to enter my consciousness while i am grocery shopping (and yet there's always pickled okra in the fridge). but i got a mad craving for pimento cheese the other day and found that pickled okra is a more than acceptable substitute.

i've made this a couple of times in the last fortnight or so, and each time it was a little different. so don't take this as a hard and fast rule-based recipe, but more like a template for whatever you have around. here are the things i used last time i made it:

in clockwise order, from the top left, we have mayonnaise, jarred roasted peppers, greek yogurt, pickled okra, scallions, and sharp cheddar. the greek yogurt is total heresy, but people do sometimes put sour cream in their pimento cheese, and i think it tastes similar and i can't bear to use only mayonnaise. but feel free to do the sour cream or all-mayo thing if you like. i used about 1/2 a cup of mayonnaise and 1/3 of a cup of yogurt for this batch, i think. but i never measure it - just use a large spoon to glop it in there, stir, taste, and adjust as needed. it's supposed to be pretty creamy, but you want to be able to really taste the cheese as well, obviously. lots of freshly ground black pepper is also a good idea, but i felt like it didn't need any extra salt.

i only had a couple of the roasted peppers - i think using twice the amount seen in the picture above would be even better. i also ended up adding another 2 or 3 okra pods after i mixed the cheese up and tasted it. see? it's kind of a guessing game. the scallions were delicious sliced into it, but you could also use shallots or a little sweet onion. or you could leave those out. i used about 6 ounces of grated sharp cheddar, but the other time i made this i used part sharp cheddar and part pepper jack, so that's pretty flexible as well. sometimes i grate it on the fine setting, sometimes on the larger holes. i think i prefer the larger, because the texture is a little more pleasing and you taste the cheese more. it's up to you, though.

as with so many things, this benefits from some time in the refrigerator before you eat it - try to give it at least an hour or so. it will last several days and maybe more. we always eat it before getting to test that, however. it's good on all kinds of bread (the top picture is with whole wheat bread and, incidentally, another sandwich featuring some truly amazing smoked salmon from the farmers market. the picture below this is with some cardamom toasts from ikea.), crackers, etc. you can also dip celery sticks in it and pretend it is super healthy.

or, as always, you can eat it straight from the bowl.

*ingredients*

6 ounces cheese, grated (either sharp cheddar or a mix)

1/2 cup mayonnaise

1/3 cup greek yogurt or sour cream (or more mayonnaise to taste)

6+ chopped pickled okra pods

4+ sliced scallions (or substitute shallots, sweet onion, etc)

1/4 cup + jarred (or homemade!) roasted red/yellow bell peppers

black pepper

just mix it together!

also, sorry for the rather poor quality of these pictures - my camera doesn't like to photograph pimento cheese, apparently.

mike's famous pecan/chocolate/bourbon pie

this pie recipe is courtesy of michael schaub - bon vivant, book critic extraordinaire, and the primary eater of my cooking (also household bug eliminator and pug entertainer). sometimes he turns the tables on me, though, and makes things like migas and pie. and it is awesome.

sadly, he was working when this pie needed to be made, so i took it upon myself to make it to his specifications. naturally, i couldn't leave well enough alone and added a couple of things. he didn't mind, though. he's pretty easygoing.

first, the crust. you can definitely use a storebought crust and often that's what happens (the ones from trader joe's are pretty good). i had time to make one, though, and decided to just go for it. i used a recipe from serious eats's food lab column, which is always great (particularly if you are the nerdy type who wants to know the science of things). i made it just like the recipe says, so i don't feel like i really need to go into it here. i did have to use a stand mixer instead of the food processor, though. i think the food processor would be better, if you have one. it's faster and better able to smash things together.

i was a little nervous, because as the picture above this one indicates, the dough seemed really dry and crumbly when i first mixed it up. after a couple of hours in the fridge, though, it ended up being pretty easy to roll out. it still seemed drier than i had imagined it would be, but maybe that was due to my flour? i don't know - i did weigh everything, so it wasn't that. but it rolled out just fine. i rolled it on some plastic wrap, so that i could use less flour and still get it into the pan - i just tipped it carefully over the pan and slowly pulled the plastic wrap off the dough. pretty easy. then you just pat the dough gently to fit the contours of the pan and use a sharp knife to cut off any extra.

mmmm, this is the main point of the pie - the filling. basically you use the recipe from the back of the karo syrup, with a few modifications. pecan pie is awesome in general because you don't have to use any fancy mixing things or whatnot - just dump everything in a bowl, stir it up, and splosh it into the pan. first you want to preheat the oven to 350. ugh, i know. the last thing you want to think about is the oven. but imagine how happy you'll be tomorrow morning when you are eating boozy chocolate-y pecan-y pie for breakfast! it will all seem worth it!

so. you need 1 cup of karo syrup. mike uses the dark syrup, rather than the light. i think it has a more caramel-y flavor or something. or maybe it is because it is the one with the recipe on the back. other things you need include 1 cup of sugar, 3 eggs, 2 tablespoons of melted butter, a teaspoon of vanilla, a teaspoon of salt, a couple of teaspoons - 1 tablespoon molasses, 1/4 cup of bourbon, 1/4 - 1/3 cup chocolate chips, and 1 1/4 - 1 1/2 cups pecans. you can use either chopped pecans or pecan halves, says mike, but i think halves look prettier. the salt, molasses, bourbon, and chocolate are where Mike's Famous differs from your garden variety pecan pie. actually, the molasses was my addition. it is a family effort.

just mix these lovelies together. you should probably not succumb to the natural temptation to add more chocolate chips (i know! chocolate!) because they might overwhelm the delicious rest of the filling. they should be an accent, not the whole point. save that for a chocolate pie.

pour it all into your pan. i kept the crust in the freezer while i was mixing up the filling ingredients, so that the butter wouldn't get warmed up. i think this was a good idea. do it. also make those little pie edges by pressing gently around the rim with a fork. pie edges are cute and traditional.

also you should probably put your pie pan on a larger pan (like a cookie sheet/jelly roll pan) that has sides. the recipe is for a deep dish pie pan, and i didn't have that, so i was worried that the filling would overflow. i think i would be worried that the filling would overflow even if i had a deep dish pan, though, and hell if i am going to spend all afternoon cleaning burnt sugar stuff out of my oven. you are welcome to not use a pan underneath if cleaning burnt sugar stuff is your jam, however.

bake it for a solid hour or so (but start checking it after 50 minutes-ish - i used a metal pan and glass pans are different from metal with regard to cooking times, so you may have to adjust). sometimes i find other things to bake at 350 because you might as well get double the return for having the oven on. that's your business though. if the crust starts browning too much before the pie is done, you can tear some strips of aluminum foil to put over it. mine seemed fine without foil.

it is done when you kind of tap the middle and it is a little giving and movable still, but not jiggly. it will set up more once it cools, but you don't want to take it out too early. i think you will be able to tell once you're in the moment.

you should eat this pie with ice cream. vanilla is traditional, but coconut is quite good as well. and a little piece of breakfast pie never hurt anyone.

*ingredients*

1 pie crust, either homemade or purchased

1 cup karo syrup

1 cup sugar

3 eggs

2 tablespoons of melted butter

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons - 1 tablespoon molasses

1/4 cup of bourbon

1/4 - 1/3 cup chocolate chips

1 1/4 - 1 1/2 cups pecans

twitterific

are you on twitter? yeah, me too. i am going to try to remember to add links to new posts on there and also links to other food- and drink-related things i read. i do read a lot about food and drink these days.

so you can follow me at https://twitter.com/#!/tweetawesomely, if you like. i know, it's kind of lame. but it's also kind of not. i wanted to make my thing livingawesomely, obviously, but some guy is already doing that. so don't follow him. or do. just be aware that he is not me. nor am i him.

i actually originally got on twitter like 3 years ago but soon stopped messing with it because it was not, as i had hoped, a listing of things friends are eating. maybe it is now? or could be? either way, here we are in the 21st century. if you have a twitter thing i will follow you, too! we will be twitter-buddies! so fun!

(the picture is of my darling dog darwin, who is inarguably the cutest dog ever. aside from our other two dogs, that is. they are also quite cute)

mango salad/salsa/relish

i was thinking of having all of my posts this week be oriented around a baking theme, since i actually have been baking a lot and it seems like the whole country is kind of baking in this horrible heat wave (over 100 degrees all across the east coast? those are texas-style temperatures!).

but then i came to my senses and decided that that would be kind of mean. not everyone can live in portland, plus i am sure our time will come for unbearable heat. why not make a simple, sweet, spicy mango salad instead?

this is the perfect beat-the-heat dish because it has 6 ingredients, takes 5 minutes to make and doesn't require you to even look at your stove. it has sort of southeast asian flavors, but uses ingredients that are very easy to find practically anywhere.

all you need is a mango, some mint, cilantro, 1/2 a lime, a couple of scallions, and 1/3 or so of a fresh jalapeño. i didn't even use any salt or pepper. cut up the mango like i showed you earlier, put it in a bowl. slice up the scallions and jalapeño. you can certainly use more of anything that you like - i wanted it to be spicy but not too spicy. i cut the jalapeño very thinly so that it wouldn't be too overwhelming in each bite.

chop the herbs - i like to pile the mint leaves on top of each other and then roll them into a kind of tube with the stem part in the middle and then slice it - this helps you have a nice ribbony shape and makes it easier to slice. the cilantro i just kind of ball up and cut. basil would also be good in here, cut the same way as the mint. but i don't have any basil. i also think a little fish sauce would not be out of place, if you have any. but again, i do not. i am so unprepared. how embarrassing.

then squeeze 1/2 a lime over the whole thing and stir. that's it! you should taste it now. you might want to add a little pinch of sugar. lime juice is sour, yo! don't overdo it though. this is supposed to be sweet and savory. this is best eaten right away, although it is still pretty tasty after an evening in the fridge.

i can imagine this being a good accompaniment to grilled fish or chicken or tofu. if you want to use it as a salsa, you should probably cut the mango into smaller bits. you could also add a little tofu or cooked rice to make it more substantial. or maybe have it with other asian-y salads, like a salad smorgasbord! or you could stand in front of the open fridge and scoop it out of the bowl with your fingers. i won't judge you. we all go a little crazy when it's hot out.

quick fruit galette

today was one of those summer days during which you try to slow every minute down and really appreciate it, because you know how perfect it is even as it's happening. i got to wake up later than usual, laze around reading and enjoying the wonder that is spotify, and eat some asian scrambled eggs with leftover rice.

i also was excited because i had Big Pie Plans and a southern potluck in my future. i made a pie crust with this recipe, and i will talk about it more later because we are about to have to leave for the aforementioned potluck. suffice it to say that it worked out really well and was super easy. that is my kind of pie crust, for sure.

above is my awesome haul from the produce market just down the street. the vast majority of their produce is local and it is a total steal. all of the stuff above (cherries, apricots, a mango, cucumbers, a plantain, grapefruit, cantaloupe, sweet potatoes, a yam, peppers both spicy and bell, garlic, dill, cilantro, shallots, and a bag of organic rye flour) was only $16! what?! and the flour was like $4 of that. they have a whole shelf of bob's red mill products and also have lots of homemade jams and preserves. it is pretty much my favorite.

also, i biked there. i am sooo portland.

anyway, so i was making this other pie for the potluck and had some dough left over. the apricots i'd just bought were still sitting on the counter, so i rolled the extra dough out, cut up an apricot, put it in the middle of the dough, and folded the extra dough up around the fruit so that the juices wouldn't leak out too much. this whole process seriously takes about 2 minutes, tops.

then i sprinkled it with sugar (this was demerara sugar, like sugar in the raw) and put a couple of little pats of butter on top of the fruit. if you are making this as its own thing (i.e., not just trying to use up extra dough), it would not be a bad idea to do a little egg wash over the crust. this isn't necessary, but it makes it brown more attractively. if you want to do that, just beat up an egg with a little water (maybe a teaspoon?) and brush the pastry with it. these can also be bigger - just make a larger circle of dough. i kind of like the idea of individual ones, however.

then just put it on a cookie sheet-type pan and pop it in an oven at 375 until the crust is browned-y and the fruit looks done. i think this took about half an hour or so for mine, but you want to keep an eye on it.

this could also be made with store-bought crust and would then be the easiest dessert you can think of. you could also make it with other kinds of fruit - apples, pears, berries, etc. the amount of sugar you use depends on how sweet your fruit is and how sweet you want it (obvs). i probably only used a teaspoon or so, but the apricot was super ripe and didn't need much help along its road toward immortality.

bonus: now i know the crust of the pie i am bringing to the potluck is not too bad and will not make me an embarrassment to my family.