Squash Ribbons with Lemon Zest

I'd had no intention of posting about our side dish from last night (as is evidenced by the totally blurry photo), until I realized how pretty it was going to be. The fact that the squash was so tasty made it a definite make-again. The squash is quick sauteed so that it retains it's shape and a slight crunch. Very fresh tasting with the addition of lemon zest, and a perfect complement to baked salmon and sweet potato.
The recipe comes from a quick internet search and is from Gourmet magazine. I didn't bother writing down the recipe, just committed what I needed to memory. So, if you want a "measurements" kind of recipe Google "zucchini ribbons". :-)
Save the insides of the squash for another meal. I've just sliced them and sauteed them up in olive oil with garlic salt and pepper, then added canellini beans, chevre and basil for a quick salad topper. Or you could use the recipe for Smothered Yellow Squash from Gourmet. A summer favorite around our house, that I typically make subbing chicken broth for the water.

Squash Ribbons with Lemon Zest:
(made 2 large servings, but might serve 3-4)

2 zucchini
2 large yellow summer squash
1 large clove garlic, whole but smashed
1-2 Tbs olive oil
salt & pepper
zest of one lemon
Parmesan (finely grated)
garnish: Italian parsley

Using a vegetable peeler, peel the squash down until just before you see the seeds. You won't use the seeds.
Heat olive oil and garlic clove over medium-high heat until clove becomes golden (~2 min once the oil is hot), then discard garlic clove.
Add squash ribbons to pan and toss to coat in garlic infused oil. Add salt and pepper and cook until crisp tender. Maybe 2-3 minutes?
When done, add lemon zest and a light shower of Parm. Adjust seasonings if necessary.
Garnish with parsley if desired.
If serving with fish, juice a bit of the lemon you zested over the salmon.

Indian Spiced Cauliflower

I made this as a side for our Curried Green Pea Soup last night. Perfect partner to the soup.
I found the recipe on yet another blog...one I've gleaned cauli recipes from before, since she seems to be as big a fan as I am. I've made this several times as she posted it, but this round just didn't have the time to roast it in the oven when I realized that's where it needed to go. It's supposed to be tossed in the olive oil and spice mixture and roasted at 450 for 30 minutes. By all means you can do that, or just....

Indian Spiced Cauliflower:
(adapted from Seasonal Ontario Food)

1/2 tsp whole black peppercorns
1/2 tsp whole coriander
1/2 tsp whole cumin seeds
1/2 tsp sea salt (I used chunky grey salt crystals)
~1/2 head cauliflower; ~4 cups, cut into smallish florettes, or slices (1/2" thick if roasting)
~1/2 Tbs olive oil
~1/2 Tbs butter

Steam cauliflower until it's just barely tender, then set aside.
Add whole spices and salt to a spice grinder (I have a dedicated cheap coffee grinder for this) and whiz til ground, but still a little chunky.
Melt butter with olive oil in a non-stick skillet over medium-high heat.
When pan is hot, add cauliflower, then sprinkle it with all of your spice mix.
Toss til cauliflower is coated in spice and then saute until it turns a nice golden brown in places on all sides, and the cauli is tender.

I personally liked this method better than roasting. The cauliflower was more uniformly cooked through without any burned, or undercooked bits.

French Onion Salisbury Steak

There is a wee steak under all those onions in the above picture...really.

Finally got around to making this and we just happen to have the perfect night for it. Getting down to freezing and this will be perfect comfort food to go with our recorded episode of Battlestar Galactica! ;-) I was going to serve the Salisbury steaks with a spinach salad, but happened upon a huge, ever so reasonably priced package of monster asparageese at Costco today. Steamed 'em then drizzled with a mustard vinaigrette.

French Onion Salisbury Steak:
(Cuisine at Home magazine)

steak:
1 1/4 lb ground chuck (I used 96% lean...probably too lean for this dish)
1/4 cup minced fresh parsley
2 Tbs. minced green onions
1 tsp. kosher salt
1/2 tsp fresh ground black pepper
2 Tbs all-purpose flour (I used brown rice flour and ended up having to add some cornstarch to thicken the sauce more.)

sauce:
1 Tbs. olive oil
2 cups sliced onion
1 tsp. sugar (agave nectar)
1 Tbs. minced garlic
1 Tbs. tomato paste
2 cups beef stock (Kitchen Basics)
1/4 cup dry red wine
3/4 tsp. kosher salt
1/2 tsp. dried thyme leaves
optional: splash of balsamic vinegar and Worcestershire sauce

Combine chuck, 1/4 cup parsley, green onion, salt and pepper.
Divide evenly into 4 portions and shape each into 3/4-1 inch thick oval patties.
Place 2 Tbs flour into a shallow dish; dredge each patty in flour. Reserve 1 tsp flour.
Heat oil in a saute pan over med-high heat. Add patties and saute 3 min. on each side, or until browned. Remove from pan.
Add onion and sugar (agave nectar) to pan; saute 5 min.
Stir in garlic and tomato paste; saute 1 min. or until paste begins to brown.
Sprinkle mixture with reserved flour, cook 1 minute.
Stir in broth and wine, then add salt and thyme.
Return meat to pan; bring sauce to a boil.
Reduce heat to med-low, cover and simmer 10 minutes.
After tasting the sauce, I added a splash of balsamic vinegar to add a little more depth. And a wee splash of Worcestershire sauce too...just the very tail end of the bottle.

Serve over mashed potatoes or some other goodness that'll soak up the sauce.

Orange-Glazed Salmon

I wasn't entirely sold that I'd like this recipe, never having been a fan of marmalade (sorry Paddington). But, it just looked too pretty in the magazine photo not to make it. To be sure, the marmalade was a little bitter, but that's just the way it is right? That said, I'm totally going to make it again. Specially seeing as we've now got a jar of marmalade to use up, and it sure as heck isn't going on my toast! The Monster is a hard sell on making salmon any way other than baked with salt and pepper and he DID like this if that means anything to you.

I'll type this up as the recipe was written, but I broiled the salmon instead of sauteing it. House is a lot less stinky the next day! :-) Plus you don't need as much oil. When the salmon is finished broiling add it to the skillet that you've heated your marmalade and lime juice in. We just had 12 oz total of salmon for the two of us, so I halved the spice mix, but I made the full amount of sauce. Served over brown rice cooked in veggie broth with green beans, twas very nice.

Orange-Glazed Salmon:
(Cuisine at Home magazine)

3 Tbs Cajun Spice (I used a salt-free blackening spice. I lightly oiled, then salted the fillets before putting it on.)
1 tsp. brown sugar
1/4 tsp kosher salt
4 boneless, skinless salmon fillets (6oz. each)
2 Tbs. vegetable oil
1/4 cup Seville orange marmalade (I didn't buy it because the first ingredient was high-fructose corn syrup...no. Used Bonne Maman brand marmalade and just doubled the lime juice called for)
1 Tbs. lime juice (used 2)

Combine Cajun spice, sugar and salt in a small bowl. Rub over all surfaces of fillets. Saute fillets in oil in a large nonstick skillet over med-high heat for 3-4 min.
Turn and saute and additional 2-3 minutes.

Blend marmalade and lime; swirl in pan until melted (I also added a pat of butter to the sauce since my pan didn't have any oil in it from sauteing the fish). Carefully turn fish to glaze on all sides. The salmon is done when it begins to flake when tested with a fork.
Serve with lime wedges.

Curried Chickpea Salad

Back in October of last year, Fat Free Vegan Kitchen blogged about two chickpea salad recipes she developed and I made the first Creamy Chickpea Salad right away. That one first because she said it was her favorite. It was great...I made it twice in one week. :-) Now I'm finally getting around to trying out her second recipe from that October post.

We had this for dinner in lieu of a decidedly non-veg dinner I'd planned of Salisbury steak with mashers. Making up for our gluttony at Aster's Ethiopian restaurant the night before. Man, that's some seriously good finger food! And I asked them what they make their injera from...only teff, buckwheat flour and yeast! No wheat flour/gluten thank you very much. I've bemoaned the fact that some Ethiopian places I've eaten at use wheat in their injera and it just ain't right. Specially when you're trying to take your gluten-intolerant friend out for a nice dinner! :-)

Ok, that was quite the deviation from the topic at hand.
Obviously, use whatever good quality mayo you like if you're not a vegan.
We just happened to have some vegan canola mayo. If you're looking to cut calories in the mayo dept, don't buy that regular mayo "lite" crap...it's got tons of other stuff you wouldn't want in your bod. Spectrum Light Canola Mayo is a great alternative. 35 cals per Tbs. compared to 90-100 cals per Tbs. in regular mayo.

Curried Chickpea Salad:
(Adapted from FatFreeVegan Kitchen)

1/2 medium onion, minced
1/2 bell pepper, minced
1/2 hot chile pepper, seeded and minced (optional, but I used a serrano seeds and all)
1 teaspoon good mild curry powder
1/4 teaspoon cumin
1 1/2 cups cooked chickpeas (I used one whole can)
1/4 cup okara or silken tofu, mashed well (I used lite silken firm tofu and used more than 1/4 cup)
1 tablespoon lemon juice (used more)
1 tablespoon Nayonaise or other vegan mayo (I used 2 Tbs.)
1 teaspoon salt (or to taste)
generous grating black pepper
to the original recipe I added ~2 Tbs diced celery, a handful of golden raisins; minced, a squirt of agave nectar, and topped each serving with roasted cashews.

Add a small amount of olive oil to a small saucepan and sauté onion over medium-high heat until it softens, about 2-3 minutes. Add bell pepper and hot pepper, if using, and cook another minute. Add curry powder and cumin and cook for 30 seconds. Remove from heat.

Mash chickpeas with the tofu in a medium-sized bowl. Add the onion mixture and all remaining ingredients. Stir well and check for seasoning. If necessary add a little more curry powder, salt, or lemon juice. Refrigerate until chilled.

Roasted Acorn Squash with Chile-Lime Vinaigrette and Chicken with Lime Sauce

In an effort to prevent any sudden outbreak of scurvy, we dosed ourselves heavily with lime juice last night. The acorn squash recipe was gleaned from a blog I read called traveler's lunchbox. Who in turn found it in Gourmet Magazine. Tasty way to prepare acorn squash and I don't know if we were supposed to, but we ate the skins right along with the squash (so make sure you wash them well). I halved the recipe, using only one squash, but made up almost the full amount of the vinaigrette (with less oil)...using the remainder on our salad.

The chicken is just sauteed up then finished with an easy pan sauce. A Cooking Light recipe that calls for using chicken breasts that have been pounded to 1/4" thickness, I used chicken tenders to cut that step out. I usually serve the chicken with cumin roasted potatoes and it's a great combo. Guess I'd better post about those sometime! I just looked at the comments on the chicken recipe at Cooking Light's site and found that people that weren't as into acidic sauces had a problem with the sauce, but others looooved it. So, judge for yourself. Me and tart are good friends...

Roasted Acorn Squash with Chile-Lime Vinaigrette:
(found on travelerslunchbox's blog...Source: adapted from Gourmet, October 2006)

2 large (1 1/2-1 3/4-lb/650-800g) acorn squash
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons (90ml) olive oil (probably used less)
1 garlic clove, peeled and minced
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice, or to taste
1 tablespoon honey
1-2 teaspoons finely chopped fresh hot red chile, including seeds (I used a serrano pepper)
small handful chopped fresh cilantro

Preheat the oven to 400F/200C. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Halve each squash lengthwise, then cut off and discard stem ends. Scrape out the seeds and cut the squash lengthwise into 3/4-inch-wide wedges. Toss the squash with black pepper, 3/4 teaspoon salt, and 2 tablespoons (30ml) oil in a bowl, then arrange, cut sides down, on the baking sheets. Roast the squash, switching the position of pans halfway through roasting, until squash is tender and undersides of wedges are golden brown, 30-40 minutes.

While the squash roasts, mash the garlic finely with remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt in a mortar (or side of your knife on your cutting board). Transfer the paste to a small bowl and whisk in lime juice, honey, chile (to taste), cilantro, and remaining oil until combined. Taste for seasoning and add more salt or lime juice as needed. Transfer squash, browned sides up, to a platter and drizzle with vinaigrette.

Chicken with Lime Sauce:
(Cooking Light)

4 (6-ounce) skinless, boneless chicken breast halves (I can fit a whole package of tenders in one pan, but when I use pounded chicken breasts I have to cook only 2 at a time.)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 teaspoons olive oil
3/4 cup fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
1 tablespoon brown sugar, or sucanat
3 tablespoons lime juice, divided
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons water
1 teaspoon cornstarch (I usually use more, but forgot last night...a little thicker sauce is much nicer)
1 tablespoon butter

Place each chicken breast half between 2 sheets of heavy-duty plastic wrap (or ziplock bag); pound to 1/4-inch thickness using a meat mallet or small heavy skillet. Sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper.

Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet coated with cooking spray over medium-high heat. Add chicken; cook 4 minutes on each side or until browned. Remove from pan; keep warm.

Add chicken broth, sugar, 2 tablespoons juice, and mustard to pan; cook over medium heat, scraping pan to loosen browned bits.

Combine water and cornstarch in a small bowl. Add cornstarch mixture to pan; stir well with a whisk. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat; cook 1 minute or until sauce thickens slightly. Whisk in remaining 1 tablespoon lime juice and butter, stirring until butter melts. Return chicken to pan; simmer 2 minutes or until chicken is thoroughly heated.

Two-Corn Polenta with Tomatoes and Basil

I don't know how I ended up with so much corny stuff on the menu in the last couple days. Last night corn bread and tonight polenta with even more corn? I try to vary what goes in our tums over the course of a week, but guess there must have been some craving I wasn't wholly (brain is so dying...I had to look up how to spell wholly!) conscious of when menu planning this week. This wonderful recipe was adapted from Cooking Light, but I used Bob's Red Mill medium grind cornmeal in place of the instant polenta they use. Link to the original recipe if you want to use the instant, but I tend to like a less pablum-like polenta, hence the whole-corn medium grind cornmeal sub.

Served this topped with broiled tilapia (lightly rub with a touch of olive oil, then sprinkle both sides with Italian seasoning, garlic powder, kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper. Broil on high for 5 minutes the first side, and then 3-5 min. on the second side), and yet another arugula salad, because we're elitists.

Two-Corn Polenta with Tomatoes, Basil, and Cheese:

2 teaspoons olive oil
2 cups chopped onion (2 medium)
4 cups fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
2 ears of fresh corn, kernels cut off the cob
2 garlic cloves, chopped
1 cup medium grind whole-corn cornmeal
1/2 cup (~1.5 ounces) grated fresh Parmesan cheese
kosher salt if needed
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
chopped tomato
chopped fresh basil

Heat oven to 350.
In a 3 qt. oven proof saucepan, heat oil over medium heat and saute onion for 8 minutes or until tender, adding garlic for the last minute.
Add chicken broth and corn and bring to a boil.
Slowly add cornmeal, whisking all the while to prevent lumps.
Cover and put in the oven for 40 minutes total, whisking every 10 minutes to prevent lumps.
When your polenta is done in the oven, slowly incorporate the grated cheese.
Add salt (if needed) and pepper to taste.
Sprinkle each serving with tomatoes and basil.

I cooked the polenta uncovered on the stovetop after taking it out of the oven, but before adding the cheese. Just for the duration of the fish broiling, stirring frequently.