three salads and a soup

It's hot. What does one crave in steamy weather? Well this one craves salad. In its many forms.  

Pasta salad // crostini

The trick with pasta salads is that you have to let them marinate - the longer the better. Topping al dente pasta salad with crunchy and rich crostini makes a carby but delicious meal.

Ingredients
1/2 lb penne and 1/b rotini

1/2 onion, chopped

2 garlic cloves 

1/2 cup chopped zuchinni

1/2 cup yellow bell pepper

2/3 pint of cherry tomatoes

1 small bunch of asparagus

Dressing

1/3 cup balsamic vinegar

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

3 cloves crushed garlic
dried oregano, basil
1 and 1/2 tbsp dijon mustard

Crostini
a good hard bread (like ciabatta) slice cut into half-inch slices
extra virgin olive oil drizzled over bread
toppings (fresh mozarella and basil, tomatoes, smoked salmon and dill)

toast bread in a preheated 350-degree oven for 3 minutes on both sides. 

Chicken salad
I just made this salad for the second time. Like the pasta salad, this simple chicken salad is even better on days two and three. Try on some of that ciabatta or straight up.

Ingredients
1 lb poached chicken breast*
1 pint halved grapes
juice of half a lemon
1/2 cup chopped almonds
2 heaping tbsp mayonnaise
1 tsp Dijon mustard
cumin, salt and paper to taste
1 tsp paprika 


*I used dried basil, oregano, parsley, bay, garlic powder and thyme. I also used 2 and 1/2 cups of water. 

Mixed greens and strawberries // vegetable soup
When I found this recipe for a mixed green and strawberries, I knew I had to try it. Balsamic is perhaps a surprising coupling for a berry, but they compliment each other quite nicely indeed.  Homemade pepper-bacon bits sprinkled over the top added the perfect smokiness to the balance the tangy vinegar.

The soup I made was based with the broth leftover from the poached chicken from above. Waste not, want not, right?

Ingredients
3 cups of homemade chicken broth
1/2 shallot
3 cloves of garlic
1/2 onion
dried oregano, basil, thyme, salt, pepper
1 and 1/2 cups of farfalline pasta
assorted frozen veggies: peas, green beans, corn

Up next: potato salad, and more with greens, nuts and fruits. I'm thinking something with peaches, pecans and kale. mmm.
It's a gonna be a good summer. 

salmon + asparagus + potato

We haven't cooked in a while. Like a real meal. You know, one of those that you take time to do, take time to eat and enjoy.

Following this baked potato recipe gave us an hour. So tonight, we made pistachio and sesame cracker encrusted salmon, seasoned with dill, basil, salt, pepper and a little bit of extra virgin. The vegetable? Some beautifully unadulterated and vibrant organic asparagus.

Of course, some Highland Pale Ale was a lovely sidekick. 

SO GOOD.

spicy ramen stir fry

Spice caps: there are two ways to open them. 1) flip the top and proceed with a conservative shake-it-out method, OR 2) go for daring with the unscrew-and-eyeball-it method. Well, I inadvertently hopped on a crazy train last night and shook about 1/2 cup of red pepper flakes into our tofu and veggie stir fry. See the all those fiery flakes?

The solution: 

Ramen. 

Even with a pack of these fast-cooking noodles, the broccoli, carrot, corn and green bean stir fry was still coated with the little red pepper.

This picture doesn't look spicy, but whoa-nelly, was it hot. 

Recipe: 

sesame oil, 1 tablespoon

canola oil, 1/2 tablespoon

soy sauce, 1/2 tablespoon or to taste

basil, 1/2 teaspoon

garlic, 6 cloves

red pepper flakes, to taste

firm tofu, 1 pack

whichever vegetables (carrots, broccoli, corn, greenbeans, sprouts, watercress, bok choy...)

Procedure:

Add to a cool pan the first 4 items. Raise temperature to about medium low heat, stirring garlic in the oils to infuse. Add tofu and raise temperature to medium high heat, making sure to saute and coat the tofu in the oils. Start to boil water for ramen. Add vegetables (I would suggest longest cooking ones first) and cook for an additional 5-7 minutes. Sprinkle basil and red pepper flakes, and stir for another 3 or so minutes. Add ramen to boiling water, and when finished, introduce noodles to pan and mix to coat. 

Our happened-upon ramen was not for the faint of heart or delicate of stomachs. It was so tasty but so spicy; my lips were burning the rest of the night. I want to try this again while being more aware of the dual-functions of the spice cap! It's a great fast meal if you're under a time crunch and want something nutritious. Substitute the ramen for brown rice, or go with just the veggies. Mmmm!

awol science: jalapeno chip taste test

Ever had an amazing chip experience? Like one that you would want to share with the world, shouting from the rooftops your love for thinly sliced potatoes? If not, this post  -- assuming that your taste buds waver on the side of adventurous --may take you there.

One lovely day, my comrades at the library's special collections and I used our lunch time to ascertain which of four common chip brands had the best jalapeno chip. 

The contenders & their sponsors: 

This is Jessica. To the party, she brought some Lay's Kettle Cooked Jalapeno chips. Jessica confesses that she has a love for spicy food, but had never before tried these Lay's. She likes ambient music, computer games, and is a super fast typist. 

Meet Erica (of streetmanner). It was a conversation with Erica that this whole idea of a chip taste test was conceived. She brought Cape Cod Sweet and Spicy Jalapeno chips. As one could gather from her blog, she loves fashion, plants and tea.

Hi, Lu! Another spicy food enthusiast, Lou brought these Ms. Vickie's variety of jalapeno chips. Besides being a music major and working in the archives, he dapples in creating gluten-free wonders, such as some delicious unleavened Norwegian bread.

And this is me with a bag of my beloved Zapp's, which in my opinion, is best enjoyed with a ham and cheese sandwich with some dijonnaisse. 

The criteria: 

We judged each of the chip brands on their spiciness, flavor, texture, smell and what Erica called, "after-effects." As seen here, we each rated the flavors on a scale from one-to-ten.

The different brands all had something going for them. So instead of awarding an overall "best" to one, we indicated what each type had.

Honorable Mention and Best Fake Flavor

Miss Vickie's had a slight cheesiness to them that set it apart from the rest. As such, and not exactly tasting of the pepper, we decided it had the best artificial flavor.

Most Authentic Jalapeno Flavor

Ever bitten into a jalapeno? Well, you wouldn't have to with a handful of these babies. YUM. My favorite.

Spiciest

Now, I thought the Zapp's were spicier, but the Cape Cods had a sort of tricky spiciness: as the sweetness of cheap lured you into a safe spot, its hot counterpart kicked in gave your tastebuds a jolt. Eat one after the other, and that sneaky, compounding sort of spiciness was a building fire in our mouths.

Best Texture

One word: CRUNCH.

One thing I would recommend when trying four different types of spicy chips (spicy anything, for that matter) is that you would have something to quench the thirst that ensues. Phew.

biscoff ice cream + espresso

One of the perks of working at a local ice cream shop is creating treats. 

espresso

+

biscoff ice cream

=

deeee.lish.us.

Biscoff ice cream is a Hop Ice Cream creation <3