Berlin's Whimsy

Herbed Marinade

 

 

It's barbecue season!

So far, the temps haven't climbed up into the realm of making me miserable and running for the A/C… Well, that’s if I had A/C! Anyhow, one of the perks of the warm season is making food outdoors that sizzles.

This marinade is my current favorite for flavoring up whatever we’re in the mood for. I’ve used it on chicken, shrimp, and beef. It’s a little akin to one of my favorite sauces, Argentine Chimichurri sauce.  

The marinade calls for a variety of herbs--- ones that I usually have growing each summer. It’s a great way to use them!

Herbed Marinade for Barbecue

For Marinade:

1 C. packed basil leaves

a few mint leaves

1/4 C. oregano

1 C. cilantro leaves

1 sweet onion

3 T. red wine vinegar

3 garlic cloves

1 T. chili powder

1 T. maple syrup or sweetener of your choice

zest of one lemon

2 T. olive oil

For Barbecue:  

1 lb peeled & deveined shrimp, 3 lbs. chicken thighs, salmon filets, steak, etc...

Method: Place all the marinate ingredients in a blender. Blend until smooth. Place whatever you are barbecuing in a bag and pour the marinade over it. Refrigerate for an hour. When ready to barbecue, heat up your grill over high heat. Brush the barbecue grate with a little oil. Place meat on the grate and immediately reduce heat. Baste while cooking. Cooking times will vary depending on what you are barbecuing.

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Grilled Romaine Addiction.

Grilled Romaine Addiction.

Once I find something I like, I revisit it often. Okay... yes, obsess over it might be a more accurate description. Take this Grilled Romaine Salad. I know, you foodies out there are rolling your eyes and calling me out-of-date. For you, the newness of grilled lettuce has lost its 'a-ha' edge. But for late comers like me, I'm still in the obsession phase.

I'm fairly certain I recall having a spectacular grilled romaine salad many years ago at one of the restaurants my chef brother worked. Why I didn't race right home and make my own that very minute, I'm not sure. Instead, I "rediscovered" it last weekend at a lakeside restaurant. I was amazed, AMAZED, at the intensity of flavor! Given that romaine tends to be my favorite of the lettuces (it must be that crispness) made it that much more spectacular. It's also easy, too. Another plus for dinner after work!

So, grilled romaine was on our home dinner menu a couple nights later. And it was just as good. In fact, even better because of the creamy italian dressing (I use my homemade garlicky mayo and mix in an italian seasoning blend). And then, grilled romaine was on the menu the next night. And the next.... In fact, I might or might not admit to eating a whole plate full for dinner another night. All to myself.

So, for those of you who have not experienced the yumminess of grilling yourself up some lettuce, run right out to your grill and try it! I like mine a little on the browned side (more flavor), but feel free to pull yours off the grill a little earlier if you don't like it as browned.

Grilled Romaine Salad

Ingredients:

3 heads of Romaine

A little olive oil

This Homemade Garlicky Mayo

1 T. Italian Seasoning mixture, mixed in

Method.

Heat your gas grill over medium. This is the time to use one of those grill grates. Preheat that, as well. Slice off the ends of the romaine very thinly so it doesn't not come apart. Slice it in half length-wise. Brush the cut side with a little olive oil. Place the romaine on the grill grate, cut side down. Allow it to brown on that side, checking regularly. You want some browning, but you also want it to remain crisp.

To serve, you can spread a little of the dressing on the plate and lay the romaine on top. For ease, I cut the romaine into chunks, but if you want more of a presentation, you can serve it whole.

Lay the romaine on the dressing or next to it. Additionally, you can sprinkle the romaine with parmesan shavings. Yum!

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Food for the Week Ahead.

Food for the Week Ahead.

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It’s been awhile here. So much has changed in my life. I work in a library. I work full-time. And I still make things. But I’m busy. Very, very busy.

My level of mid-week stress hinges upon my level of completed chores over the weekend. There are the usual chores, such as laundry, vacuuming, and such, but the chores that really affect my stress level are my kitchen chores.

That is, food prep.

It’s not fun coming home at 6 PM on a Wednesday evening with nothing for dinner. Not to mention weekday mornings without lunchbox ingredients. I’m not one to run to the fast-food joint, but I am one to stop by the store and pick up dinner supplies in desperation. And that’s never a good idea for one’s food budget--- heck, for as much as I’ve spent on one of those desperate forays, we could have went out to a fine meal!

So instead, I draw upon my experience working in food establishments and play prep cook.

When I first started this weekly routine, I wrote down a list of items to make for the week ahead. Now, it’s mostly habit and because of that, I’m pretty efficient. I do switch it up a bit with the seasons, but I always have certain items on hand for the week ahead: homemade mayo, boiled eggs, some sort of protein (often, it’s this slow-cooker shredded chicken), fresh veggies washed and prepped, and some par cooked veggies.

I don’t sit down and write up menus for the week. That doesn’t work for us. On any given evening, we might not feel like making the planned dinner. Instead, I have ingredients ready for finishing off, depending on our mood.

A caveat: I enjoy cooking and tooling around the kitchen. While items cook, I browse the internet or work on a sewing project. I have friends that don’t like cooking. At all. The idea of spending a few hours on their weekend cooking for the week ahead fills them with dread, but it also means relying upon packaged and/or fast food during the week. It’s a choice. I prefer to eat healthy and reduce my anxiety, and I’ll gladly invest my time on the weekend for eating better during the week. But again, that’s my prerogative.

So, this week’s prep included:

• Garlic Mayo (made with light olive oil)
• Hard boiled eggs
• Shredded Chicken
• Citrus Pork Carnitas
• 5 lemons, juiced to have fresh lemon juice on hand
• Cumin rubbed Sweet Potato Fries
• Braised Cabbage
• Baked Potatoes
• Lightly braised Green Beans to finish off later
• Shredded Brussels Sprouts
• Cauliflower prepped for making Creamy Smashed Cauliflower
• Lettuce prepped for weekday lunches
• Carrot sticks
• making Tahini (for making hummus later in the week)

I'll write up a list of what’s ready in the refrigerator for my kids--- it also prompts my bad memory, too!  

Later this week, I’ll post some of the ways I used these items!

Tomatillo-Tomato Salsa perfected.

Ah, fall... I've been waiting for you all summer long. With your warm-hued sunsets and crisp time-to-wake-up mornings. I feel I can relax again after an extremely busy and tiring summer.

I'd like to say that I've been away from this space perfecting salsa recipes, but unfortunately, it hasn't been all fun and cooking. School and life were quite hectic and busy this summer. That said, I have spent quite a bit of time making this salsa. Repeatedly.

My garden's tomatillo harvest is robust once again this year and they're finding their way into many of our meals. I've also grown fond of pealing them straight from the garden and eating them right then and there---- they're that good this year. So much better than the store-bought ones.

This has become my favorite salsa this summer. It's like my previous favorite salsa, only better.

It's sweet (from the tomatillos), salty, tangy, and it can be hot if you want to add hot chili peppers. As always, onions aren't welcome in these parts (sigh), so I make up for it with garlic. Go ahead and add onions if that's your pleasure.

 
The ingredients are typical, but do read through the method! I blend up a portion of the salsa to add a sweet-tart background to the chunks and to blend up the garlic so as to avoid any big chunks of raw garlic.

As with many salsas, I don't so much follow a recipe per se, but taste as I go. I encourage you to do the same. Frankly, this salsa is so yummy, I could blend the whole thing and drink it like a smoothie!

 
Tomatillo-Tomato Salsa

10 Tomatillos, husked, washed, and diced small

10 Roma Tomatoes, diced small (or whatever fresh tomatoes you have on hand!)

Handful fresh cilantro, chopped

Juice of 2 limes

2-3 cloves fresh garlic, minced

1 T. sea salt, or to taste

Optional add-ins: hot chili peppers, diced very small or white onions, diced and rinsed under cold water before adding.

Method: Dice the tomatillos and tomatoes. Stir them together in a big bowl.

 
Into a blender, add the garlic, lime juice, and about 1/4 of the tomato-tomatillo mixture. Blend until smooth. Add this mixture back to the chunky tomatoes and tomatillos and add the finely minced cilantro and salt to taste. Stir thoroughly.

 
Enjoy!

 

Beautiful Summer.

Though beautiful, my summer has been oh so busy and hectic. Hence this short post with all the essentials.

 
I made the Mariposa Dress from Handmade Beginnings last summer. It was too short and it hung in my closet for a year, waiting for a ruffle on the bottom to lengthen it. I learned that I must always lengthen my skirts and dresses. Always! I wore it out to a local brewery for a Friday night beer last weekend. What a fun summer evening that was!

 
And the next day, this fruit pizza went to a potluck. It's from the blog, Oh She Glows. Rather than spreading it with the Avocado Lime Whip, though, I used a Vanilla Nut Cream. I didn't want the avocado to turn brown while sitting on the potluck table. It was wonderfully good and beautiful like the summer. 

I am participating in Heather's 30-Day Vegan Workshop right now and loving it!

 
It's the perfect peaceful end to a hectic summer.

 

Summer Vegan links

This summer (as in summer's past), I'm eating more vegan meals. My pursuit of vegan inspiration has led me to some vegan recipes worth passing along...

 
This buckwheat porridge is amazingly good! Yeah, it looks a little like paste, but it does taste much better than it looks---- I promise! For the non-dairy milk, I used some hemp milk I made yesterday.

 
Do pop over to the blog Oh She Glows for beautiful photos and lots of other great recipes. In fact, her 15-minute Creamy Avocado Pasta is another discovery from her blog that I want to share. I was a little skeptical at first, but it is definitely worth trying. It's done in minutes, making it a great weeknight recipe. 

A few nights this week, we had grilled pizza for dinner. I made the regular fixings for the rest of the family and I made mine vegan. Here's how...

 
Vegan Cheese Sauce...

1 C. raw cashews, soaked

1 head of garlic

1 lemon, juiced

salt to taste

Method: Roast the garlic. Cut the top off and drizzle with olive oil (you might as well roast a few!). Roast in a 350-degree oven for about 30 minutes. I used my toaster oven to avoid heating up the kitchen! When they're roasted, pop the cloves out of the peels.

In a blender or food processor, blend the ingredients. Taste for seasoning--- it's a little sweet from the roasted garlic. This sauce can be used for not only pizza, but as a pasta sauce or a ravioli filling.

For the Pizza... I slathered the dough with the sauce and for an extra layer of flavor, I chopped up some kalamata olives, some fresh rosemary, and a handful of basil in the food processor and added a thin layer of that, too. It was so yummy, I didn't miss the cheese.

***If you're considering trying more vegan recipes this summer, you might be interested in the 30-Day Vegan Online Workshop at Beauty that Moves. She's offering a 2-for-1 special enrollment and I'd love to find another participant to share the enrollment fee! Let me know if you're interested...

 

 

Cucumber Agua Fresca

 
Oh, thank goodness we are not suffering from the heat wave that hovered around part of the country recently. (Knock on wood). I swear on scout's honor that I reveled in each and every day that we enjoyed lovely temperatures around 80-degrees. Perfect days. Beautiful evenings.

But yesterday, the temps climbed up into the 90s and it was time for some refreshment....

 
This drink is absolutely perfect for a hot summer day. It's a fairly common recipe, but this is the blend I like the best---- an excellent balance of sweet and savory. Be sure to include the salt in the recipe (unless you're concerned about sodium--- though, it's not much). I find that the salt really adds an extra flavor layer.

 
I've been blending it up and storing it in the refrigerator to drink throughout the day.

And of course, you could splash in some gin or vodka, if the occasion warrants. Either way, it's delicious.

 
Cucumber Agua Fresca

~1 large cucumber, peeled

~juice of 2 limes

~3 C. cold water

~1/8 tsp. sea salt

~2 T. agave nectar (or other type of sweetener)

~8 ice cubes

Blend it all up until very smooth. Serve in a chilled glass and enjoy the summer!

 

 

Canteloupe Creamsicle Smoothie

 
Another yummy smoothie we're enjoying this summer: Canteloupe Creamsicle Smoothie. It's so simple, it doesn't need a recipe. But here it is, nonetheless.

Canteloupe Creamsicle Smoothie

1/2- 3/4 whole Canteloupe, seeded & cubed (the riper the better! I used a Tuscan canteloupe)

1 C. plain yogurt

1 scoop vanilla protein powder

2 tsp. pure vanilla extract

Sweetener to taste: I used Agave.

Method: Blend. Pour into a pretty glass.

 
Top with an umbrella. Admire the creamsicle hue and drink it up. That's it. Happy summer!

 

Out in the Garden...

 
My favorite aspect of summer is my garden. I start each morning out there, with a cup of coffee, the slanted morning sun, the promise of a new day, and the joy of discovering new growth and sometimes surprises. It was only a few weeks ago that I wondered if I'd ever get around to starting my garden. Our spring weather was not conducive to growing much of anything and the snow and grey clouds kept me inside. But then, the sun finally broke free and inspired me to start my garden. It's in full force now. In fact, these photos are from awhile back.

 
My garden isn't large by any means, but for what it lacks in size, it makes up for in producing the kinds of things we enjoy eating. I'm speaking of tomatoes. I have eleven plants that I'm encouraging along daily. Alongside my tomatoes, I'm growing tomatillos, cabbage, zucchinis and pattypan squash, greens of all sorts, a couple pepper plants, peas, basil, onions, and herbs. I'm pretty pleased with my garden this year. We also constructed a bean pole teepee with visions of spicy pickled green beans in our future.

 
My garden has already offered up a few of its gifts for a recent family barbecue. I used a recipe from one of my new favorite cookbooks, Heidi Swanson's, Supernatural Cooking Everyday. I made the 'Yellow Split Peas & Greens,' with inspiration from Knittingiris' improvisions here. It was oh so good!

 

Chocolate Cookies from my Mom.

 
 
My Mom has knack for throwing a bunch of ingredients together and making something perfect. As I'm a meticulous baker at heart (weighing ingredients out--- leery of diverging from the original recipe), her success with this technique surprises me. And inspires me, for sometimes I gather inspiration from my Mom's wing-it approach.

I tried some of these cookies at her house awhile back, and I had to ask her for the recipe. I wasn't surprised when she casually listed the ingredients off the top of her head.

 
These cookies are both hearty and perfectly chocolately, with the addition of both melted chocolate, chocolate chips, and flaxmeal! Even better, they're quick and simple to make. The butter is melted with the chocolate----no need for dirtying the electric mixer, which is another of my Mom's characteristic traits: she seldom uses electric kitchen appliances. 

So, whip some up and see what you think!

My Mom's Hearty Chocolate Cookies

Print Recipe

8 T. butter (1 stick)

2 squares of unsweetened chocolate (I use Baker's) 

1 C. brown sugar

1 tsp. vanilla

1 egg

1 1/2 C. whole wheat pastry flour

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. baking soda

2 T. flaxmeal

1/2 C. chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350-degrees. Melt the butter with the chocolate either gently (being careful not to burn the chocolate) in the microwave, or over low heat on the stove. When melted, stir in the sugar and allow to cool a bit. Whisk in the egg and vanilla. In another bowl, stir together the dry ingredients. Stir the wet & dry ingredients together just until combined and add the chocolate chips.

Drop by the 1 1/2 T. full (I use a #30 disher) and bake for approximately 15-minutes; until crisp around the edges but still soft in the middle. Makes approximately 16 cookies.