Corn Dressing

It's been raining for a good 3 days straight. Cloudy and dark clouds are constantly blowing across the sky, threatening to burst open at any moment. The poochie does not like this weather. It means no long walks, no laying on the grass, and no yummy smells coming from the grill.

Like I've said before, during the summer if we're not grilling it's because it's raining. So instead I've been doing a lot of salads. The lettuce out there is amazing right now. So many great varieties and veggies to throw in. Back in January I posted about some easy homemade dressings, it's a great time to use up all that grilled corn that ends up as leftovers.

Our CSA share has the most amazing cheeses with it also. Experimenting with cheeses and nuts on salads is our new favorite cuisine thing to do. It's a great way to use up all those packages of frozen nuts which we all have at the bottom of the freezer door. That and roasting in butter and honey for a chewing snack, but that's for the dessert pictures I have to upload....

March Madness

No I'm not talking about all the basketball on television, although my bracket does rock.... I'm talking about all the corned beef leftovers that we have!

While a fresh roast is amazing, nothing quite beats a Ruben sandwich. The tangy thousand island dressing, the earthy rye bread, the sweet freshness of Swiss cheese. It makes you wish the grocery stores stocked corned beef all year round.

Rubin Sandwich
Rye Bread
Corned Beef, cooked and sliced
Sourkraut
Swiss cheese, sliced
Thousand Island Dressing
Butter

Stack beef, sourkraut, cheese, and dressing on bread. Butter outsides of the bread slices. Cook in a Panini maker or in a hot pan till toasted. Let sit till cheese has cooled slightly, slice and serve warm.

Thousand Island Dressing
3 small pickles
1 hard boiled egg
1 stalk celery
1 clove garlic
1 tbsp onion, grated
4 tbsp catsup
1 tbsp stone ground mustard
1/4 cup mayo
1/2 tsp hot sauce
1 tsp Worsteshire sauce
salt/pepper to taste

Chop pickles, egg, celery, and garlic fine. Add to the rest of the ingredients and mix well. Place in the refrigerator till cold.

Happy and Healthy

So onto the healthy food! Bring on the salads, bring on the diets, bring on the gym! Right? Well even though this post is about salads it can still be yummy. One of the best ways to be healthy is to know what you are eating. It’s not about being pretentious or a scratch cook, but understanding what you are putting into your body will help you make good choices when you do choose to eat things.

And what better place to start than salad dressings! There are many savory and delicious dressings that can be made from the ingredients right out of the refrigerator in any home. I prefer Olive Oil based dressings; you can bring out a ton of different flavors with substituting only a few variations. Generally I follow the 3-to-1 rule when adding olive oil-to-vinegar, but if that’s too strong or too weak then just adjust to taste!

Vinegars come in so many flavors now that you may not even need to add much more than a Basic Dressing calls for. It’s best to let the mixture sit for at least 5 minutes before adding to your greens, the flavors may change a bit, so adjust to taste. We eat a lot of dark greens that come in a Spring Mixture, featuring Endive and Radicchio. These more flavorful greens stand up well to the dressings and are excellent with some crumbled cheese or strong olives.

Happy Healthy 2009 Eating!

Basic Dressing
3 tbsp EVOO
1 tbsp vinegar (white wine or regular)
1 tbsp stone ground mustard
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper

Mix together well and serve with any salad greens. Add garlic, anchovies, and parmesan cheese to make into a Caesar Dressing.

Raspberry Honey Vinaigrette
2 tbsp Raspberry pie filling or freshly squashed
3 tbsp EVOO
1 tbsp vinegar (white wine or regular)
1 tbsp honey
1 tbsp stone ground mustard
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
3 tbsp water

Whisk all ingredients together till well blended. Adjust to taste.

Roasted Corn Vinaigrette
1 cup roasted corn kernels
3 tbsp EVOO
1 tbsp Apple Cider vinegar
1 tbsp Sherry
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper

Either grill a corn cob or roasting corn kernels in the oven till slightly caramelized. Mix with other ingredients in a food processor until blended. Let sit in refrigerator for at least 1 hr. Flavor will change with time, letting sit overnight yields best taste.