SHAVED FENNEL AND ORANGE SALAD

Last week, I posted a healthy, low fat, low calorie, high fiber dish for a Reader Request . Sounds boring, I know. But it was really yummy. As a matter of fact, later that same week, I made eight individual packets of the Tilapia With Vegetables in Olive Oil and Tarragon Sauce. I put one large or two small fillets in the packet with the veggies and seasonings and I ate if for lunch every day! It was that good. I have three left, so I froze them for another time.

For this week, I have another reader request who asked for good ways to use Fennel. Fennel is as beautiful growing as it is delicious. It has a light anise flavor and gets very sweet when cooked, sort of like a Vidalia onion, except not oniony. The tops can be eaten too and make a beautiful garnish. I grew some last year and before I could pick it all, it went to seed. So I let the seeds mature on the plant and harvested them. I keep them in a little jar and use them in spice mixes that I make myself, and I've used them in soups and marinades too. They would be wonderful ground up a little and used in home made bread, rolls, scones or cookies. Hmm, that gives me some ideas!

As it happens I love fennel so I've used it a time or two. I have found that it's a vegetable that not a lot of people have tried. It's gaining in popularity and there are a multitude of ways to use it in hot or cold dishes. I'll post a few different ideas for using it but with the warmer weather coming, I'm going to feature a cold dish. Shaved Fennel and Orange Salad. I couldn't find the recipe I used to use. My recipe box is still in the attic - a place I do not venture. So I looked up several on the Internet. None of them appealed separately, so I used what I thought were the best of each of them. Here's is what I came up with. Although the salad itself is fairly unique because so many people don't know about fennel, it's not a unique recipe. There are dozens of fennel salad recipes. Try looking for some others on the Internet. Don't let the seemingly lengthy directions put you off. It's really easy to make. Cut up a few ingredients, mix a dressing, and you are done.

SHAVED FENNEL AND ORANGE SALAD

1 med. to large fennel bulb
3 small - medium navel oranges, or buy a jar of orange sections
1/4 c. dried cranberries
1/4 c. chopped pecans

For the dressing:
1/3 c. olive oil
1 med shallot or 1/2 of a small red onion, minced finely (or 1 t. dried onion flakes)
juice from one orange (plus extra)
1 T orange zest
1 small lemon, juiced (I didn't have fresh so I used store bought, but fresh would be best)
2 T. Dijon mustard
2 T. finely minced fennel top greens
1 t. salt
1 t. ground black pepper

For the oranges: if you are using fresh navel oranges, peel two of them with a knife and cut the sections from the pulp. This is called "supreming". Here is a link on how to do that. http://freshcatering.blogspot.com/2007/04/how-to-supreme-segment-orange.html

(You could also use a jar of orange sections that you can get at the grocery, but again, fresh would be best). Or, instead of cutting out the sections, slice off the peel with a knife so all the white is gone, and just slice them across the sections into 1/4 in slices. Put the orange pieces in a bowl. As they sit there, some juice will accumulate in the bottom of the bowl - pour this into a measuring cup to use for the dressing. Take the third orange and use a zester to get about a tablespoon of zest from it. Now cut it in half and just squeeze all the juice from it into the measuring cup for the dressing.

Chop off the long green stems of the fennel. If you have one, use a mandolin to shave the fennel bulb. If you don't have one, use a good sharp knife to cut it into the thinnest slices you can. Place the shaved fennel into a large bowl.

For the Dressing:
Dice the shallot (or red onion or a little dried onion flake if you don't have an onion) and add it to the measuring cup with the orange juice. Add all the other dressing ingredients and use a fork of a small whisk to mix vigorously until it thickens up. Taste it and re-season with salt or pepper if needed.

Pour the dressing over the fennel, oranges and dried cranberries. Mix well and let sit for about 10 minutes. Stir well. Serve with pecans sprinkled on top as a side dish, or as a lite lunch with some crusty bread and butter. This is a refreshing and unique salad you are sure to enjoy!

In the picture above I served it with Chive and Fontina Risotto Cakes. They were soooo good! Creamy and cheesy on the inside and crispy on the outside. They were wonderful with this Fennel Salad. I'd love to make these and have my girlfriends over for a lunch on the patio with a nice glass of chilly white wine - or two. Here is the link for that recipe from Ina Garten on the Food Network: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/chive-risotto-cakes-recipe/index.html

One of my favorite ways to use fennel in a warm dish is to slice the fennel and saute in some olive oil. Then I add just a little salt and pepper and use it as a topping on a grilled steak. Luscious!

It's also delicious added to rice. Just slice a whole bulb like you would an onion and saute in olive oil until soft with a little bit of salt and pepper. Then add it to a pot of almost finished rice and let it cook with the rice until the rice is done. Serve it as a side with any meat or fish, or dice up your meat or fish and add it to the rice as a one dish meal.

It can be sliced like an onion from top to bottom, brushed with live oil and grilled as a side for chicken, beef or pork or fish.

Here is a link to a recipe for a wonderfully lite fennel soup: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Fennel-Soup/Detail.aspx

Here is another fennel and orange salad that has arugula and a honey-lemon dressing.
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Arugula-Fennel-and-Orange-Salad-2/Detail.aspx

Here's one for Fennel and Fig Scones! I will want to try these!!!
http://inpraiseofleftovers.com/2010/01/31/fig-and-fennel-scones/

CHINESE TAKEOUT INTO MEXICAN RICE SALAD?

When I got home one day last week, my husband said we could do whatever I wanted to for dinner. So I said, " you pick for a change." So he said he would take me to the little Country Deli down the street. It's a little place I just discovered a few days ago after being here for nearly 5 years. Don't know how I missed it. A little tiny place that makes decent food. I don't know how this photo was taken, it's kind of weird - very wide angle lens I guess. I got it off the internet. It's tucked behind this gas station at the corner of Main and Old Ocean City Road. Don't blink if you are driving by, you won't see it. But, if we want to get something quick, we don't have to go all the way to Salisbury. Burgers, Philly cheese steaks, pizza, wings and all kinds of sandwiches and subs. And REAL milkshakes that are as chocolaty and creamy as can be. And call your order in ahead of time - it was really crowded with takeout customers the first time we stopped. We won't eat there often, but it'll be handy when we're in a hurry. I didn't feel like eating burgers or Philly cheese steaks or pizza shop pizza or wings. These are not on my menu 99% of the time - too "unhealthy".

So I said "Nah, I'll make something." It occurred to me that on the way home I thought of something I would like to make, so I decided to do that. I often spend time thinking about what I'll make for dinner on the way home. Especially if the talk show I'm listening to is a little off the wall that day. Uggh. I love talk radio, but when a host has on a very interesting guest and all this guy does is talk the whole time while his interesting guest listens to HIM on the other end of the phone. What a jerk he can be sometimes. Anyway. I digress - that is an entirely different subject. But it gave me time that evening to think about what I have at home and what I can do with it.

I remembered I had some rice leftover from Chinese takeout a couple of nights ago. We almost never eat the rice that comes with the meal, but I never throw it out either. I use it for rice pudding, or another home made stir fry, or even for soup. Tonight I wanted to make a cold rice salad. I love rice salad. I had some fresh veggies in the refrigerator so I started gathering everything I had that I thought would be good in it.

COLD RICE SALAD WITH CUMIN LIME DRESSING

1 container of cooked rice - probably about 2 cups
1 med zucchini, large dice (cucumber would be great too)
1 or 2 roma tomatoes, large dice
4 - 6 large crimini mushrooms, large dice(regular white button are fine too)
1 cup of frozen corn
2 - 3 T finely chopped cilantro
10 shrimp (optional) raw or already cooked. Freshly cooked would be the tastiest.
1 avocado, cut into cubes or slices (optional)
Dice red onion (optional) I didn't use any tonight, but it would be good in here
Cumin Dressing (recipes follows)

Cumin Dressing
1 T. Lime juice
2 T. canola or other light oil (I used sunflower oil)
1/2 t cumin
1 t salt
1/2 chili powder
1 T mayonnaise
1 T. apple cider vinegar
1 T dried onion flakes
1 large clove of garlic very finely mined or run through a garlic press

Chop all the veggies into cubes about the size of a small grape. Then just put all the salad ingredients except the shrimp in a bowl and stir well. You will top the salad with the shrimp.

Now place all the salad dressing ingredients in a small bowl and whisk vigorously until creamy. The mayonnaise isn't there so much for flavor as it is to emulsify your salad dressing. Otherwise the oil and lemon juice and vinegar would separate. The dressing is creamy now and coats everything very nicely. Pour the dressing over everything and mix well.

Cut each shrimp into 3 pieces if they are large, leave them whole if they are small. If you are using raw, saute in a little tiny bit of oil until they are done. No seasoning necessary since the dressing is quite tasty.

Spoon some of the salad on a plate and top each serving with some of the cooked shrimp.

Ten shrimp is enough for 2 servings, but the whole recipe of rice salad is enough for 4 -6 servings.

I wasn't really sure how this salad would taste, but I knew I liked all the ingredients. It turned out better than I thought it would! It's good without the shrimp, (I had the leftovers without shrimp for lunch the next day) but the shrimp made it all the more delicious! I wanted to put avocado in it too, but when I cut open the avocado I had on the counter, it was too old to use (arggghh!!!!!) So I had to add it to the compost pile. If you like avocados, I know it would have been wonderful sliced on top of this salad. You could even add a can of rinsed black beans to the mix.

I think I will make this one for the family reunion picnic this year (minus the shrimp because it will be too hot outside to keep a salad sitting around with shrimp in it).

I guess I always knew this little tidbit, but I relearned it several years ago while reading my A-Z Cooking from the California Culinary Academy cookbook.
You may already know , but did you know that:
1 T. minced cilantro means mince the cilantro first, then measure it.
1 T. cilantro, finely minced, means first measure 1 T. of cilantro leaves, and then chop it.

The second way of measuring would yield much less cilantro, so when you are measuring things, be sure to notice how they are worded in a recipe. But of course, you can always alter quantities of ingredients to your taste no matter what a recipe says. I happen to love cilantro so I use a little more than is called for. Same with garlic. I tend to use a little more than is called for.



Did you know that crimini mushrooms are simply baby Portabellos? As they grow larger the top spreads out to be quite large. I've seen them up to 8 inches across. They have a much more earthy/meaty flavor than regular white mushrooms and are somewhat more firm. I have taken to using them almost exclusively. Portabellos are a great steak substitute for vegetarian recipes. Simply use the big portabellos in place of the steak -- top with blue cheese, splash A-1, grill and slice into a "steak" salad, even put them into a "beef" vegetable soup. Just use seasonings that would add to the flavor like McCormick's steak seasoning, A-1 sauce, or Worcestershire sauce. Maybe I'll experiment with a pot of that soup and post it in a future blog. They are also great stuffed with anything you like! A sausage or vegetable stuffing, your favorite crouton bread stuffing, crab stuffing, cornbread stuffing. They would make a great light meal or appetizer. As I write here, it occurs to me that I should do a whole blog on portabellos. If you are a mushroom lover, they are enormously versatile and delicious. These two photos are not mine, but how beautiful and tasty do these dishes look! The salad is from a site called www.pomwonderful.com. POM being pomegranates. Lots of great recipes. The panini is from the the McCormick site.

Here's a shopping tip for mushrooms. If you shop at a store where you can buy your mushrooms loose, in bulk, that is to say you can take two in a bag or you can take 20, they are MUCH cheaper. A 12 oz. container of prepackaged mushrooms is nearly $.90 more than the same weight of loose ones. And when you buy as many mushrooms as I do, that adds up.

I'll have to go shopping for some portabellos to try some dishes to share with you. Sam's Club has a pack of 4 really large ones for a very good price. Next time I'm there, I'll get some.

THE WELL STOCKED PANTRY/CUPBOARD

February 28, 2010

In today's environment when everyone seems to have to pinch pennies, it makes sense to try and use up whatever is in the house instead of going out to buy something that's convenient like pizza or Chinese take out. Most people who love to cook, also love to shop for food. So when the pennies are so tight, I tend to buy things that will keep in the pantry or cupboard for a long time. We could probably live out of the pantry/freezers for a few months if we had to.

For example, today I cleaned out my spice cupboard. Everything was mixed up and turned the wrong way. (I'm a little bit of a neat freak, but not freakishly so). When everything is in order, it's much easier to find what you want when you go to cook something. Anyway, while I was making room for some things that should have been in there, I noticed there were also a lot of things in the cupboard above that I'd had in there for a while. I found three cans of smoked salmon. I bought them at Sam's a while back because the price was so good and I thought I'd just figure out what to make with it some time or another. Well today is that day. You would think I found a bag of money! I knew what I would make with it, and it appealed to my taste buds immediately.

I'd never used canned salmon like this before. I've used the kind that comes with the whole bone down the back and skin on to make salmon cakes. We love those. But this salmon comes packed just like a can of tuna. Clean. No bones, no skin, just nice hunks of moist smoked salmon.

I wanted to make salmon salad. You know, just like tuna salad. I got everything together and realized I didn't have enough mayonnaise! Well, I didn't want to run out to the store. I didn't even get dressed yet today. I'd seen mayonnaise made on television before and it just didn't look that hard. 10 minutes later, I am proud to say, I had two cups of pretty darn good mayonnaise! I used this recipe from RecipeZaar.
http://www.recipezaar.com/Homemade-Mayonnaise-71967

So now that I could make my salad, here's how I did it. This makes enough salad for 5 or 6 ample sandwiches.

SALMON SANDWICHES WITH EGG ON WHOLE GRAIN

3 7 oz cans of smoked salmon (no bones, no skin),drained of liquid
1/2 c cup mayonnaise
2 stalks of celery, diced very small
1 tsp dried onion flakes
salt/pepper to taste
4 slices whole grain bread of your choice
2 hard cooked eggs, sliced
lettuce

Put all ingredients in a bowl and mix gently until well blended. Try not to mush up the salmon too much. Re-season as necessary.

Toast the bread and top with about 1/2 c to 3/4 c salmon salad, depending on the size of the bread and how much salad you like on your sandwich.

Arrange the sliced egg on top of the salmon, and top with lettuce.


This is a really good sandwich and we both liked it better than tuna salad.

When I make tuna salad, I usually put some finely chopped fresh rosemary in, and even dice the eggs right into the salad. But I don't think that works for the salmon. The salmon would overwhelm the flavor of the eggs too much. And I really prefer the salmon without the herbs. (Although on second thought, I'll bet some dill might taste good in there). I'll try it one of the sandwiches.) I also don't think I would have liked fresh onion in here -- too strong.

So having extras in the pantry can mean that whenever you don't know what to make, and you don't want to spend more money or go out, just root around those cupboards and see what you have. Some other things I ALWAYS keep around:

Canned beans (several kinds; if it's on sale I buy a few for the pantry)
Canned olives
Various kinds of pasta (I buy what's on sale)
Canned tomatoes
Chicken Broth
Canned Mushroom and Chicken soup (low sodium/low fat)
Canned water chestnuts
Sauces - I'm a huge junkie when it comes to sauces in jars - my fridge is full of them and they keep a long time - peanut sauce, chili sauce, hoison, plum sauce, all kinds of grilling sauces, and bottled marinades, etc.

My freezer always has several kinds of frozen veggies, individually wrapped fish fillets, and citrus zest. I never use a lemon or a lime before I zest it to freeze the zest. I keep puff pastry in there, frozen pizza crust (raw) and I keep my sesame seeds in the freezer too.

QUICK CASSEROLE
With just the few ingredients I've listed, you could make a pasta and mushroom casserole. Cook up some pasta, throw in a can of mushroom soup, a little chicken broth, some herbs, a little garlic, and you could even throw in some of the chopped water chestnuts. If you've got some veggies in the fridge or freezer, throw those in too. If you have some mushrooms, slice those and add them to the mix. Toss in a handful of Parmesan cheese if you have it. Bake the whole thing for 20 – 25 minutes and you’ve got a yummy, comforting meal that even the kids will love!

If you have a can of beans and some garlic and olive oil, you can almost instantly make a really good BEAN DIP. Just blend a can of drained/rinsed canellini beans, a clove of garlic, salt and pepper in a food processor. Whiz it while you drizzle in some olive oil until it turns into a nice smooth consistency for dipping. That’s it! This also tastes great with some dried thyme or rosemary in it.

I think you get the point. It may sound like a lot to keep around, but If you love to cook, then you’ll find that keeping these things around is essential to creativity. Keep things in the house that last a long time with a mind that you can zip up something, anything, almost right away! And, it's always cheaper to make from scratch. That pasta casserole could feed 4, 5 or even 6 people for just a dollar or two per person. If you go out, you're going to spend at least $5 - $6 or more for each person to eat at a restaurant.

In another post, I'll share some more throw together meals that started out totally unplanned, made from a search of the pantry and the freezer. In the meantime, let me know if you try this salmon salad and how you liked it!