Sunday, August 23, 2009

summer bean salad

Summer Green Bean Salad

I call for all green beans here, but if memory serves me correctly the Contigo version had a wonderful mix of Romano, haricot vert, and standard green beans. I think you'd want to cook each type of bean separately to make sure the thinner ones don't over cook. I'd also encourage you to dress the salad a bit more heavily than what you see in the photo - I always worry about over-dressing things before taking a photo, and now that I'm looking at the shot, the beans up there are looking a tab bit naked.

3/4 pound green beans, stems pinched off

1 teaspoon finely chopped chives
1/4 teaspoon finely chopped fresh thyme
1 tablespoon minced shallots
2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 tablespoons heavy cream
scant 1/4 teaspoon salt
tiny pinch of freshly ground pepper
1/3 cup olive oil
1 teaspoon honey (optional)

a handful of frisee or little gem hearts

a handful of small cherry tomatoes, each cut in half
1/2 cup hazelnuts, smashed and toasted

Summer Green Bean Salad


  Start by making the dressing. Whisk together the chives, thyme, shallots, lemon juice, heavy cream, salt and pepper. Whisk in the olive oil with a fork, stirring until everything comes together. Taste and adjust for seasoning. Sometimes my lemon dressings have a puckery edge to them, and when that happens I just whisk in just a touch of honey to counterbalance the sour. Set aside.

In the meantime, bring two quarts of water to a boil. Salt generously and stir in the green beans. Cook for about 1 1/2 minutes. Just until the beans brighten up and soften a touch, I go a bit beyond "al dente" here for this salad. Quickly drain them and run under cold water to stop the cooking.

In a large bowl toss the green beans with the frisee, about 1/2 of the hazelnuts, with a big splash of the dressing. Toss well. Taste, and add more dressing, salt or pepper at this point. Toss again if needed. Add the tomatoes and toss very gently.

You can turn this out onto a platter or plate individually topped with the remaining hazelnuts.

Serves about 4.

Saturday, August 08, 2009

pesto seafood salad

1) cook trader joe's shrimp/scallops/calamari blend in garlic, olive oil, and pesto

2) put on top of greek salad of lettuce, tomatoes, feta cheese, and cucumbers


Thursday, August 06, 2009

Shrimp, Pineapple and Avocado Cocktail (Cocktail de Camarones con PiƱa y Aguacate)

Ingredients

(Serves 4)

24 medium shrimp, peeled and deveined
Juice of 3 limes, divided
½ tablespoon ground cumin
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 small ripe avocados, peeled and cut into ½ inch cubes
Salt and Pepper
¼ cup sliced red onion
¼ cup chopped fresh cilantro
1 cup fresh pineapple, cut into ½ inch cubes
Cocktail 027
Directions

1. To prepare the shrimp, Place the juice of 2 limes, salt, pepper and cumin powder in a zip lock bag, add the shrimp and marinade in the refrigerator for 15 minutes.

2. In a large skillet heat the oil over medium-high heat. Add the shrimp and cook until the shrimp are pink and cooked through, about 2 minutes each side.

3. Remove from the heat and let them cool. Reserve 8 shrimp for garnish and cut the rest into pieces at 3 pieces per shrimp.

4. In a large bowl mix the pineapple chunks, red onion, cilantro, shrimp, juice of 1 lime, salt and pepper. Mix all the ingredients well, add the avocado and fold into the mixture.

5. Serve in martini glasses and top with 2 whole shrimp each glass.

VEGETABLE SOUP (SOPA DE VERDURAS)


vegetable-soup



INGREDIENTS
(4 SERVINGS)

1 cup onion, finely chopped
2 tablespoons olive oil
10 cups vegetable broth or chicken broth
1 bay leaf
3 ½ cups frozen mixed vegetables (corn, green beans, peas, carrots and lima beans)
2 cups peeled and diced potatoes
¼ cup chopped cilantro leaves
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
¼ teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon sazon Goya with azafran (for Color)

DIRECTIONS

1. Heat the olive oil in a large heavy pot over medium heat; add the onions and cook until they begin to soften, about 5 minutes.

2. Add the stock, bay leaf, mixed vegetables, potatoes, cumin, sazon Goya, salt and pepper.

3. Cook about 25 to 30 minutes into the vegetables are tender. Remove from heat, discard bay leaf, season to taste and add chopped cilantro.

Sancocho (Pork Stew)

Ingredients:
3 medium yams or sweet potatoes peeled, cut into 2" pieces
1 large green bell pepper, cut into strips
1 cup frozen whole kernel corn
1 medium onion, sliced, separated into rings
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 1/2 pound boneless pork shoulder, cut 3/4" cubes
1 teaspoon chili powder
3/4 teaspoon ground coriander
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups water
1 can (10 oz. size) chopped tomatoes with green chiles
1 package (9 oz. size) frozen cut green beans

Directions:

In a crockpot, place yams, bell pepper, corn, onion and garlic. Add pork, chili powder, coriander and salt. Pour water and undrained tomatoes over all.

Cover; cook on LOW-heat setting 7 to 8 hours or HIGH-heat setting 3 1/2 to 4 hours, adding frozen green beans last 15 minutes of cooking time.

This recipe from CDKitchen for Sancocho (Pork Stew) serves/makes 8