Quinoa Salad With Home Made Cilantro Dressing

Happy Monday one and all.  Hope your weekend was spectacular.  Ours was super busy with fall ball games and keeping grandsons overnight so our daughter and son in love could celebrate their anniversary with a stay at the Opryland Hotel.  With two little guys aged 3 and 18 months, they deserved a little respite and Grandma and Pawpaw were more than happy to help out.

Out other daughter and her family are in the throws of fall ball (no pun intended).  Practices, school, games, jobs - you know how busy life can be.  To show a little mercy, I invited them for dinner last night because Holly spends most of her Sunday on writing assignments to meet deadlines for her editors.  It helps if she doesn't have to worry about feeding her three boys and husband after a day of brain drain.

There is always that dilemma of what to fix that the boys will eat.  The 10 year old is super finicky, the 6 year old is not quite so finicky and the 3 year old is a roll of the dice.  Our son in love has celiac so there is that whole gluten issue to deal with.  Meals can present a challenge.  Last night I fixed enchilada casserole which is made with corn tortillas and contains no gluten.  I made the red sauce with corn starch instead of flour.  For sides, we grilled corn on the cob and I made this beautiful quinoa salad.

Do you know about quinoa (keen-wa) or have you tried it?  It is delicious and gluten free.  My research tells me it is not a true grain in the sense of wheat or oats, but has been cultivated in the Andes mountains for over 3,000 years.  Quinoa is full of protein and calcium, anti oxidants, and is easy to digest.  It is great for vegan diets.  The boys love it and will actually eat it.  It has a lovely mild, nutty flavor and can be served plain or added to other dishes.  There are many ways to "jazz" up quinoa.  The United Nations General Assembly has declared 2013 the year of Quinoa because they believe it could go a long way in eradicating food insecurity worldwide due to its nutritional value.

I had found a recipe for a southwest quinoa salad on Pinterest and it looked good.  It was made with quinoa, black beans, corn, and diced tomatoes.  We were having corn on the cob so I didn't want to use corn in the salad.  For this salad I used, black beans, tomatoes, avocado, green onions, red bell pepper, black olives, and a really tasty cilantro lime salad dressing.  Oh, and I threw in some crumbled bacon that I had left from BLT sandwiches.  Yum.  Crunchy vegetables work well with the soft, mild quinoa.

To make the salad, here is what you need:

Quinoa prepared according to package directions.

(You use 1 cup dry quinoa to 2 cups liquid.  I made 2 cups and that's a lot of quinoa.  If you are feeding 2-4 people, use 1 cup quinoa although I am loving the left over salad.)

1 medium red bell pepper diced
3 green onions, whites and greens cut on a diagonal
2 medium tomatoes, seeded and diced
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 avocado, diced
sliced black olives, optional  (add as many as you like)
5 slices cooked crisp bacon, crumbled (optional)

Cook the quinoa according to package directions and let cool.  Put the cooled quinoa in a serving bowl and cover with the ingredients you choose to use.  The possibilities are endless really.  I like leaving all the "yummies" on the top so that when you serve the salad, they don't all fall to the bottom.  You can mix it up if you so desire.

Cilantro Lime Salad Dressing

I didn't measure what I threw in the blender, but this is pretty close.

about 1/2 cup plain fat free greek yogurt
2-3 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons honey
juice of one lime or lemon
1/2 to 3/4 of a bunch of cilantro
small pinch of salt

Place ingredients in a blender and whir until blended and cilantro is all chopped.  This dressing is fantastic on any salad.

Serve dressing on the side.  You may like to eat the salad without the dressing like Dan does, but the bright, flavorful dressing adds a nice zip to the salad in my opinion.  If you don't like cilantro, use basil or avocado in it's place.

I had a nice big helping of this salad this evening and it is deeeeeeeeelicious.  Think of all the possibilities for things to add to quinoa to make a healthy salad or it could be eaten as an entree.  It would be especially good for a meatless meal (minus the bacon).

If you haven't tried quinoa, this salad a good way to introduce it into your diet, or you could serve it plain as a side dish in the place of rice or potatoes.  We will definitely be eating it more often since it has been called a super food.  We are always looking for things that taste good and are good for you.  Give it a try.  I think you will like it.

Everyday Donna

Things to Remember:

Quinoa is great for lazy day cooking because it's packed with complete proteins, but it cooks in only 20 minutes. And, you can flavor it any way you wish! I make mine with onions, lots of ground ginger, turmeric and coriander, and then whatever dried fruit and nuts I have around.

Aarti Sequeira, Food Network

The Tale of The Phantom Turkey

 Hello to you one and all.  How was your weekend?  Hopefully, it was all you wanted and more.  We got a jump on Thanksgiving with my mom, sister, and nephew visiting for the weekend.  Since we would not be getting to celebrate Thanksgiving Day together, I decided we would celebrate on Saturday while they were here.

I spent the day cooking and talking, talking and cooking.  It was a pleasant way to spend the day, enjoying each other's company while doing one of my most favorite things - cooking for those I love.  Of course, the first thing that had to be done was to get the turkey in the oven.  Our oldest daughter worked at a cafe in New York City when she lived there and they baked a turkey every day for sandwiches and dinners.  It was, perhaps, the best turkey I had ever eaten and that is the way I prepare turkeys now.

Mr. Turkey was an 18 pounder and had been thawing in the refrigerator for several days.  He had to be brined on Friday for cooking on Saturday.  Have you ever brined a turkey?  If not, this holiday is the perfect time to start!  It makes the most delicious, flavorful, succulent turkey you have ever eaten and it is really quite simple to do.  I used our Coleman cooler for the brining process, or you can get a new 5 gallon bucket at a home improvement store (like Home Depot) to use.

Make sure you remove all the extras from the turkey that are hiding inside and trim any extra skin and fat from the neck cavity.  Now, make your brine by adding 1.5 cups of coarse salt to a pan containing a quart of water.  Cook and stir until the salt has dissolved.  Remove from the heat and let cool before pouring over the turkey.

When the brining water has cooled, put the turkey in the cooler, or bucket, and pour the cooled brining water over the turkey.  Keep adding water (NOT hot), until the turkey is covered.  You will need at least 7 quarts of water and maybe more.  Add a bag of crushed ice to the water and close the lid of the cooler.  Turkey can be brined up to 24 hours before baking.  If you are using a bucket for the turkey, cover the turkey with water and set the bucket in a cooler and place ice around the bucket.

When you are ready to bake the turkey, remove it from the brining water and wash it thoroughly to remove any remaining salt residue.  Place the turkey in the roasting pan.  Now for the fun part.  This is how I bake the most delicious turkey ever.  In the cavity of the turkey, place one apple that you have cut in half, one large onion that you have cut in half, a quartered lemon, 3-4 garlic cloves, and a handful of fresh thyme sprigs.   You may have to push and shove to get it all arranged, but it is SO worth the effort.  Now, put your hands under the skin on the breast and gently pull the skin loose by moving your hands up and around as far as you can go.  Place fresh thyme sprigs under the skin, as much as you can get under there.  Now, wasn't that fun?

Next, turn the wing tips so they will lay under the body of the turkey so they don't burn during roasting.  This is a really awesome trick I picked up from Alton Brown on the Food Network.  It takes a little twisting and turning to make it happen, but again, it is SO worth the effort.

Now, make a tent of aluminum foil over the turkey, leaving the ends open.  It took two pieces of foil to cover this big boy.  Now, you are ready to begin the roasting process.  Place the turkey in your 350 degree preheated oven.  Recommended cooking time is 15 minutes per pound for a turkey that is not filled with stuffing.  So, if you have a 20 pound turkey you are looking at 20x15, or 300 minutes or 5 hours.  Figure roasting time by multiplying the weight of your turkey times 15 divided by 60.  BE SURE AND ALLOW ENOUGH TIME FOR ROASTING THOROUGHLY!  When a meat thermometer is inserted into the thickest part of the thigh, the temperature should be 180 degrees.  Now, you can remove the turkey from the oven and let it rest at least 20 minutes before carving.

I was so busy getting all the side dishes ready, and the grandsons were starving and begging to eat, so I got in a "get er done" mode.  My daughter asked what she could do to help and I said you can carve the turkey.  I finally had everything ready to go and a loud cheer went up (no, not really), but the mothers started preparing their son's plates when it hit me.  NOOOOOOOOOOOO.  I did not take a picture of my beautiful turkey.  Probably the most perfect turkey I had ever roasted.  It was beautifully golden, not one burned place anywhere.  How could this be?  It was like the moment in A Christmas Story when the Bumpusses' dogs had eaten the Christmas turkey.  I was devastated.  I had worked all day to make this beautiful bird and there was nothing but the carcass.  NO. PICTURE. TAKEN.  WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA.  So, I did the next best thing and took a picture of the carcass just to prove there was a turkey.  A real turkey that I had cooked.  It isn't a phantom.  It was a beautiful, delicious turkey.  It was all I could do.  You can see the beautiful golden skin and the ruins.  I know, it's not the same, but it's what I got.  That's what happens when you take pictures of the food you are getting ready to eat.  This is not a photo op, this is not food that is prepared just for pictures, this is hard core dinner food.  No food stylists here, just Grandma trying to get the food on the table.

I did get a picture of some of the awesomely delicious white meat left on the platter.  This turkey was so good that I wish you could taste it.  Brining is the way to go my friends and adding an apple to the cavity helps the turkey retain moisture.  The onions, garlic, lemon and thyme add more flavor than you can ever imagine.  Yes, this is the way to roast a turkey and it got rave reviews from everyone in attendance.  Even our oldest grandson who may be the world's pickiest eater loved it!  Grandson #2 kept asking for more turkey again and again.  There wasn't much left of this big boy, just enough to make a turkey pot pie and a couple of sandwiches.  I guess that's a worthy testimonial eh?

If you are planning to roast a turkey and don't know how you are going to do it, give this method a try. You will be glad you did.  You will have only a carcass to prove you actually roasted that bird.  And a smile on everyone's face.   And that is the tale of the phantom turkey.   Happy Thanksgiving everyone.

Everyday Donna

Things to Remember:

Be thankful every day, not just on Thanksgiving.  Live with an attitude of gratitude.

Green Pea And Chickpea Salad With Mint

On Monday, we talked about being tired of eating the same old salads over and over.  Recently we ate at a local restaurant that uses local produce as much as possible.  I had catfish and for my side I chose a cold dish that was made from sweet green peas, chickpeas (garbanzo beans) and mint.  It was delicious - cold and crunchy.  Mm Mm Mm.  I do love green peas!

You know me, I decided I would try to replicate this dish and I must say, I think I hit it right on the nose so to speak.  It's super easy and involves NO cooking at all which is great for hot summer days.  I threw in some grape tomatoes because I happened to have some, but the original dish did not have tomatoes.

Here is all you need to make this dish.

1 16 ounce bag frozen green peas (or fresh peas if you have them, 16 oz. would be 2 cups)
1 can chick peas (garbanzo beans) drained and rinsed
a handfull of fresh mint leaves
1 lemon
some good extra virgin olive oil

First, let the frozen peas thaw.  I just let them sit on the counter until they were no longer frozen.   Place the green peas in a bowl along with 1 can of drained and rinsed garbanzo beans (chickpeas).  With the extra virgin olive oil, make about 2 rounds over the bowl of peas.  I would guesstimate that at 1 tablespoon or so.  Squeeze the juice of 1 lemon and pour it over the peas.  Roll the mint leaves all together and chiffonade them by starting at one end and making very thin slices of the mint with a sharp knife.  Sprinkle the mint over the peas.  Mix all the ingredients together and you are done.  Easy right?  If you want to add salt, add it very sparingly.  Personally, I don't think salt is needed.  The sweet green peas and the crunchy chickpeas are so good with just a subtle hint of mint and the tang of the lemon juice.  (I am not a fan of eating a big mint leaf, it's just not my thing, but I do love the subtle flavor of this dish).  If you want to add some grape tomatoes, just slice them in half and throw them in.  Mix with the rest of the ingredients.

This is a quick and easy salad that will work for all the hot summer days to come.  I served it with a beautiful pork butt that I cooked low and slow.  I will share that recipe with you soon.  It makes fabulous pulled pork!

Give this easy recipe a try and I hope you will enjoy it.  It's a different salad you can serve and ever so tasty.  Mm Mm Mm.

Everyday Donna

Things to Remember:

Peas are a good low calorie source of protein. A 100-calorie serving of peas (about ¾ cup) contains more protein than a whole egg or a tablespoon of peanut butter and has less than one gram of fat and no cholesterol.  FoodReference.com