Vinaigrette for Green Salad - Ina Garten

My love for Ina Garten is probably known amongst my faithful readers, but if you're new to this blog, let me be blunt: If I had to choose between being Tina Fey or Ina Garten when I grew up ... I might have to be Ina. A) The woman is gorgeous and is not afraid to eat; B) She worked for the White House before she hung it up to own a speciality food store ... in the Hamptons and C) ... she's pretty damn universally adored. Oh ... and she's a good cook. Ina represents the more gourmet and expensive version of what Shelley Bakes aspires to be ... my motto is simple recipes for lazy people. Ina believes in puff pastry - she also preaches that you get what you buy (i.e. - spend a couple extra bucks for really good olive oil - you'll taste the difference). Although I probably won't attempt some of her recipes because they include ingredients that I cannot pronounce, the majority of her recipes are wonderful and basic.


This recipe was featured in a recent Ina episode called "Turning Up the Volume." The gist of the recipe was that she was leaving Jeffrey (her adorable husband) for the evening and that she was "turning up the volume" on some of his favorite foods. The recipe featured Lobster Pot Pie (which I soooooooo want to try some weekend when Ryan's gone); Vinaigrette for Green Salad and Super Chocolate Gelato (which I refuse to try because I'd eat all of it).

For Valentine's Day, Ryan and I ordered in pizza from Valentino's, drank some wine and I attempted the vinaigrette for a quick salad.

1 tsp. Dijon mustard
1 tsp. minced fresh garlic (I used a clove)
3 T champagne vinegar
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup good olive oil
Salad greens or mesclun mix for 6 to 8 people

Directions
In a small bowl, whisk together the mustard, garlic, vinegar, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. While whisking, slowly add the olive oil until the vinaigrette is emulsified.

Place the salad greens in a medium bowl and add enough dressing to moisten. Sprinkle with a little extra salt and pepper, if desired, and serve immediately.

When Ina made this in her episode, she made the vinaigrette at the bottom of her salad bowl and simply placed the greens on top until Jeffrey was ready to toss the salad. Just a note - use enough salad greens - I used some leftover romaine we had in the fridge and some baby spinach - if I would have been smart, I would have used the entire bag. There was a ton of dressing on the lettuce and it was a bit more dressed than I prefer.

I really liked this dressing. It tasted very fresh and I really love garlic, so it was right up my alley. Ryan was very brave at eating a bowl of this salad, he's a Caesar salad man so this was something of a stretch.

Check it out ...

My sister site - the original blog that I started - published its 600th post the other day and in celebration, I'm giving away a book. Check here for details.

The balsamic bandit

Too weird ...

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29393090/?GT1=43001

Black Bean Hummus

Have I ever mentioned that I have a vague addiction to chickpeas? I can eat them straight out of the can (my preferred method after they're rinsed a bit), I can eat them lightly cooked and I can eat them in hummus (oddly, one of my least favorite ways to eat it because I suck at making hummus). My love for chickpeas/garbanzo beans knows no bounds.

I have a similar love for black beans, so when I stumbled across this recipe on AllRecipes.com, I had to make it. And of course, I didn't have some of the main ingredients, so I improvised.

Black Bean Hummus

1 14 oz. can black beans, rinsed & drained
1 14 oz. can garbanzo beans (chickpeas), rinsed & drained
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice (uh ... yeah ... I had to use one of those squeezy things of LIME juice that expired in 2007. Still good)
2 tablespoons plain nonfat yogurt (hrm ... didn't have that either, so I took a couple tablespoons of the cream on top of my large curd cottage cheese. Done and done.)
2 clove garlic, roughly chopped
1 1/2 teaspoons curry powder **(I omitted.)
salt and pepper to taste

I threw all of these things in my handy dandy food processor and pulsed it until it looked like an icky paste of goodness.

This is what I've been eating my hummus with ... bastardized quesadillas on corn tortillas with a hint of cheese (I'm on a diet ... which DOESN'T have to be boring!); my new favorite Kashi TLC 7-grain crackers and sliced cucumbers.

Butter Almond Cake

Ryan and I had dinner plans with some friends of ours recently and I decided to bring dessert to the party. Problem was - a) I didn't have a lot of time and b) these are people I like to impress so I want it to be spectacular. Which lead to problem c) I couldn't find anything I really wanted to make.

But inspiration comes from the strangest places. I was catching up on one of my favorite frugal/finance blogs - Get Rich Slowly - and this recipe was in JD's post on how to have a frugal Valentine's Day. And after sampling this rich delicacy, I think this is going to become a go-to cake - because I always have the main ingredients in my pantry. And it literally takes 5 minutes to assemble.

Butter Almond Cake

1-1/2 cups granulated sugar
3/4 cup real butter, melted (if you use margarine, this will taste like ass - just take my word for it.)
2 eggs
1-1/2 teaspoons almond extract
1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon salt
1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3 Tablespoons sliced almonds (optional)**
1 Tablespoon granulated sugar (for garnish)**

**I omitted both. Because I felt like it.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray a round cake pan with nonstick cooking spray and hell - line it with parchment paper because I had one hell of a time getting this cake out of the pan. With a mixer, blend together the sugar and melted butter. Add eggs, one at a time, and beat in. Stir in extracts. Add salt and flour and mix until everything is incorporated. Spread batter in the pan . Bake 30-35 minutes, or until golden brown (it took me about 45 minutes ...). Cool completely on a wire rack before removing from pan. I ended up topping this with some raspberry preserves ... fruit is very, very good with this dish. Unless you eat it out of the pan. Like Ryan and I might have done.

"Lighter" Chicken and Wild Rice Soup

Chicken and Wild Rice soup is something of a tradition in the Kubitz/Mahannah household. The Luther cafeteria always had it for Sunday brunch and after a hearty night of drinking, this was some sort of comfort food for my dear Ryan. I didn't try chicken and wild rice soup until much later in life and have found that it's damn tasty stuff.

I found this recipe on Recipezaar and the person who posted this adapted it from Cooking Light magazine. I added a twist of my own and could think of a couple other ways to tweak this recipe for the better.

Chicken and Wild Rice Soup Recipe

1 hour 15 min prep
SERVES 8
1 cup uncooked quick-cooking wild rice (** I had some leftover cooked wild and brown rice in my fridge, so I just dumped it in - it was about 2 1/2 cups worth)
1 T. olive oil
1 cup chopped onion
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 grated carrots
3 cups reduced-sodium fat-free chicken broth
1 1/2 cups cubed peeled baking potatoes (that's about 2 large potatoes)
3 cups 2% low-fat milk
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
10 oz. sharp cheddar cheese
2 cups chopped roasted cooked boneless skinless chicken breasts (about 2 breasts)
1/2 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon salt

Cook rice according to package directions, omitting salt and fat.

Heat a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Saute onion and garlic in oil - saute for about three minutes. Grate carrots into the mixture. Add broth and potato; bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 5 minutes or until potato is tender.

Combine milk and flour, stirring well with a whisk. Add the milk mixture to potato mixture; cook 5 minutes or until slightly thick, stirring constantly. Remove from heat; add cheese, stirring until cheese melts. Stir in rice, chicken, pepper, and salt. Garnish with parsley, if desired.

A couple of notes ... the original recipe called for 10 oz. of light processed cheese (think Velveeta Light), but I didn't have any on hand so I used sharp cheddar. Which since I'm trying to avoid processed food, I thought this was a good call. Also - I think that you could use 1% milk and get similar results and further reduce your fat content. One more thing - I think that you could put chopped celery in the soup as well for additional veg.

Fear Conquered! Champagne Vinegar

Don't get me wrong - vinegar is a good friend of mine. From eating cucumbers soaked in white vinegar and sprinkled with sugar to a childhood trick of rinsing my freshly washed hair with vinegar, I try to have a bottle hanging around my kitchen (mostly for cleaning out the coffee pot). I actually have a couple bottles - some plain white vinegar and a bottle of balsamic vinegar. Well yesterday, I added another one to my pantry ... champagne vinegar.

According to the Cook's Thesaurus: "This light and mild vinegar is a good choice if you're want to dress delicately flavored salads or vegetables. Mix it with nut or truffle oil to make a sublime vinaigrette."

I bought champagne vinegar for a vinaigrette recipe that I saw on the Barefoot Contessa. Prior to watching that episode, I was kind of afraid of trying to make my own dressing. More about my dressing later, but for now champagne vinegar is a fear conquered.