Tex-Mex Something-Or-Other

The original name of this recipe is Tex-Mex Tabbouleh, but can you have a tabbouleh if you do not use bulgur?  As with all dishes I seem to make, I start with good intentions - but when you're surrounded by idiots in the grocery store and you find yourself in the parking lot having a "doh!" moment because you forgot to pick up the bulgur, but you're not enough of a martyr to go back to said store to be surrounded by idiots, you make do with what you have.  And you make a tabbouleh that's quinoa based, as opposed to the traditional bulgur method.

I found this recipe on the Weight Watchers site.  I wanted to make this because I wanted a healthy salad that incorporates lots of veggies, but doesn't make me feel like I'm eating a ton of lettuce.  (Lettuce and I have a complicated relationship ...)  I also dig a traditional tabbouleh salad (a Middle Eastern influence of cucumber, tomato, lemon juice and mint), so I was intrigued by the idea of a Tex-Mex take on one of my favorites.  Even if I think that cilantro tastes like soap.

Yeah - I'm good for breakfast.

Tex-Mex Tabbouleh
adapted (barely) from WeightWatchers.com

1 c. uncooked quinoa, cooked 
1 cup(s) tomato(es), diced  (eyeball it ... use as many or as few tomatoes as you wish)
1/2 of a medium cucumber, diced  (note - for future attempts at this recipe, I would peel the cuke)    1/3 cup(s) cilantro, leaves, fresh, chopped  
3 Tbsp scallion(s), sliced  
1/2 of a fresh lime, juiced 
2 tsp olive oil, extra-virgin  
salt and pepper, to tasted 
1/2 tsp ground cumin  (again, add according to taste - I used a generous amount of Penzey's Adobo Seasoning)
1 avocado, Haas, diced   

Cook the quinoa according to the directions above (follow the link).  Fluff quinoa with a fork and let cool to room temperature or until just slightly warm.  Meanwhile, in a large serving bowl, combine tomatoes, cucumber, cilantro, scallion, lime juice, oil, salt and cumin.  Add cooled bulgur to bowl; toss to combine. Gently fold in avocado and let stand 10 minutes for flavors to blend.  Serve, or cover and refrigerate up to 6 hours. Let stand at room temperature about 10 minutes before serving. Yields about 2/3 cup per serving.

A moment of introspection ...

I'm not going to say that it was the hardest case I ever covered, I can go years - apparently - without thinking of this particular case that I covered at the tail end of summer 2001 and into fall 2002.  But today, as news of Casey Anthony's acquittal flashes across my computer screen - I think about a 13-month-old boy who drowned in a bathtub after his father left him there.  The dad was surfing porn and downloading music off the Internet, not knowing that his actions would have tragic consequences.

Looking at the two cases is like comparing apples and oranges.  Both are hideous crimes against children, but for the 13-month boy in my case - there was no elaborate cover up.  The efforts of my town's EMTs and police officers tried to unsuccessfully revive the boy.  The father was later convicted and although I don't remember all of the details of his sentence, one of the conditions was to write a letter to his son every year on the anniversary of his death for five years.  That would have ended in 2007 or 2008.

Out of curiosity, I Google'd the name of this former defendant that I had known.  He's still out there (he was only in his early 20s when his son's death had occurred) and the picture on his Facebook are of his two current children.  I cannot say that they are cute - this is going to sound really bitchy, but the girl looks kind of goofy and the baby needs to grow into its face in that way that new babies do.  But I hope that this fellow is now a good father.  I need to believe that people learn ...

Is Casey Anthony guilty?  It has always appeared so to me, but I haven't hung onto her case with the breathless anticipation that 25% of America did.  I am now waiting for the announcement of a tell-all book that will net Casey Anthony a few million dollars and the made-for-TV movie that will star some C-list actress as the party-mom-turned-model-defendant.  (With that long ponytail, I've been finding myself thinking more and more of the Mormon hairstyles on "Big Love."  Seriously, that goes through my head.)

My cynicism when it comes to people like Casey Anthony ... it truly knows no bounds.  I won't even write the snarky thought that went through my head when I saw that my former defendant had sprung two more children from his loins.  (OK - yeah, I will ... I was thankful to see that they looked alive.)

But my cynicism stops when I think about the victims in these cases.  Caylee, a Florida toddler and Logan, a 13-month-old who came from a very tumultuous relationship ... you're in a better place.  The rest of us will remember you with love in our hearts.  And we will continue to shake our heads at the people who brought you here in the first place. 

East Berry Trifle

I'm all about impressing people with my culinary prowess.  I like to bake.  I like trying new recipes.  I can spend hours watching Food Network and obsessing, in detail, over the most minute detail regarding Guy Fieri's hair.  (Confession:  He used to annoy the hell out of me, but I'm kind of falling for his California-foodie/surfer dude schtick.  And his hair doesn't annoy me as much any more.)

But then there are times where it's about, oh, 100 degrees in the shade and I would cheerfully give up beer if it meant that I didn't have to turn on my oven.

And that's where something like this comes in ... it looks kind of elegant, tastes amazing, utilizes convenience ingredients and allows me to keep my beer and a comfortable temperature in my home.  (And if you're looking for something patriotic on the Fourth ... well, strawberries, blueberries AND Cool Whip?  Oh yeah ... symbolic home run all in one.)

 
All ingredients/quantities are approximate.

1 Sara Lee Pound cake, cut into cubes
1 lb. strawberries, sliced
2 c. blueberries
2 T. instant vanilla pudding
1 16 oz container Cool Whip
zest of one lime (this part is totally optional - I was just getting in touch with my inner Giada and wanted to zest something.)

In a large bowl, mix together the Cool Whip, instant pudding and lime zest.  Take a clear glass bowl if you have one, because this is all about showing off the layers ... Put a layer of the cubed pound cake, a layer of berries and a layer of the Cool Whip mixture.  Repeat.  You can garnish this dish with berries, but I'm lazy when it comes to garnish.  Store in fridge until it's time to serve.

And speaking of Cool Whip ...

Just random thoughts ...

I've been reading a lot lately.  A lot ... and it is good:

Reading "The Mists of Avalon" by Marion Zimmer Bradley.  Some magazine columnist had talked about how this book had transformed her life ... kind of like the first time that I discovered the Harry Potter books.  I'm not feeling "transformed" yet, but I've been having this weird sense of deja vu.  And that's when I remembered that one of the cable networks (TNT, I believe?) had adapted this book into a mini-series that I've watched.  And enjoyed.  So ... that works.

I've been OBSESSED with the books of JT Ellison lately ... she writes the Taylor Jackson series of murder mysteries and I've actually exchanged a few tweets with Ms. Ellison.  She's a solid writer.

"True Blood" is back and I just finished the latest book in the Sookie Stackhouse series by Charlaine Harris - "Dead Reckoning."  Although I love the TV series (ahem, Alexander Skarsgard), I'm kind of an ornery purist when it comes to the books and I wish that Alan Ball was a little more faithful to the books.  Then again, he gave me Alex Skarsgard.  I guess I can't be too ungrateful.

I have Steig Larsson's book "Girl With the Dragon Tattoo" and I want to see if I'll get sucked into that like everyone else in America.  I also have Stephen King's latest story anthology to start reading ...  thank God for the public library. 

So now you know what I've been doing instead of cooking lately. :)

Italian Cream Cake ... and an awesome dad

In the minutes before my husband and I were married, my dad and I were hanging out in the basement of our home church - a vintage, little "white church in the valley" sort of place that had been the sight of his own wedding some three-plus decades before.

"I brought this with me," he said, reaching into his pocket and hauling out a white handkerchief. Since I was worried about tripping over my own feet and thankful that I was fitting into my wedding dress, I spared him the withering glance that I had reserved for my family members who were on the verge of tears.  But then he flipped it around and showed me the initial that was embroidered onto the fabric - a large "E" that stood for my late grandpa's last name. 

"Oh dad," I said.  "That is so sweet."  And it was ... this wasn't even his father's handkerchief he was holding, it was my grandpa Stan's - my father's father-in-law.  A huge absence in the group of loved ones that were gathered up above, waiting for the bridesmaids to hustle down the aisle and the appearance of my father and I at the back of the church.

All of the sudden it hit me - although I didn't plan on tearing up, I should likely be prepared in the event that common sense left me and I found myself weeping like a little kid.  I gave dad a panicked look and he sprung into action - bringing me back a paper towel.  I had to grin - we didn't truck with no Kleenex in my family - paper towels, toilet paper and real handkerchiefs were the snot rags of choice.

"I'm ready," I said.  The following is one of my favorite pictures from the day ... my friend Weaver snapped it as my dad and I were waiting to ascend the stairs.

How do you honor an awesome man?  You make him cake.  And not just the kind where you crack open a box of Duncan Hines and faux your way to a good looking cake (although I do have a yen for a good marble cake with the canned chocolate frosting.  It's childhood and comfort food wrapped into a single package.)  So I made the Pioneer Woman's Italian Cream Cake.  And no alterations were needed - I made the recipe as-is and uff da ... it was good.  For Father's Day I made a layer cake, so I could be cool and impressive, but I made this before for a group of co-workers and put it in a regular 9 x 13 cake pan.  I just adjusted the baking time to cook it longer.

This picture is straight off the camera and not really a great example of food photography.  Not that I care too much ... cake is made to be consumed!

I hope that all the fathers I know out there had a wonderful day.  And as for my dad?  There's no one like him in the universe and I'm very glad that he is my dad.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookie Pizza

I recently got the best email ever from the folks at Pillsbury.  The subject of said email:  "Peanut Butter, Beer & Bacon!"  If you ask me, that's like a trifecta of perfection.  And this sinful confection of chocolate, peanut butter and deliciousness was the prominent recipe in this particular email.

This pic is straight off the Blackberry.  This recipe was too good to stage for better pictures.

A couple notes about this recipe - A) it's infinitely easy.  It's all the good things that can happen when you utilize convenience ingredients and it's one of those recipes that will make people think that you're a rock star.  Or that you must love them very, very much.  (And since I made this for my Urban Family, yes - I love you.  And I love the fact that you eat my cooking so I do not have to truck leftovers home and succumb to temptation.)  B)  The recipe says that it makes 12 servings.  Um, yeah.  If you're looking to be in a carb coma, cut this dish into 12 pieces.  More likely, this can be cut into 24 wedges or stretch it even further by cutting it into squares.

Alterations I made:  The original dish called for using chocolate chip cookie dough. I substituted peanut butter cookie dough (I'm a freak for that). Also, I omitted the additonal fudge topping on the top of the dish (I subscribe to the belief that there is such thing as too much chocolate) and forewent putting peanuts on this dish and used chopped up Reese's Peanut Butter cups instead.  Because there may be such thing as too much chocolate, but there's no such thing as too much peanut butter combined with chocolate.

Tortellini Salad

I've waxed ecstatic about the culinary things that I left behind in Manitowoc, Wisconsin.  It still amazes me that after over five years of being gone from the Lakeshore (Manitowoc is located on the western shore of Lake Michigan), that I still dream in detail about things like Newey's Pad Thai, a sub from Fatzo's or the tortellini salad from Maretti's Deli.  Luckily for me, Maretti's is still in existence and they still serve what was my favorite payday lunch - a half sandwich (ham and provolone on crusty white bread with a thick smear of butter) and the tortellini salad.  Maretti's was only located a few blocks from the newsroom and typically on payday, someone would volunteer to drive over and pick up lunch.  Maretti's had other salads - the mozzarella salad is also pretty notable - but there was something about the tortellini ... maybe it was the amount of garlic that they used and subsequently kept my editors away from me.  This salad is magical.  And this is my bastardized attempt to try and capture a little bit of that nostalgia.

Tortellini Salad

2 packages of refrigerated tortellini (I use Trader Joe's Spinach and Cheese Tortellinis)
1 c. basil pesto (You can make your own or use prepared pesto)
1/4 c. pine nuts, toasted
1 can artichoke hearts, drained and quartered
1 c. cherry tomatoes, halved
1/2 c. Parmesan cheese, grated
Salt and pepper, to taste

Prepare the tortellini according to package directions.  Drain and rinse with cold water.  Add rest of ingredients and mix gently (don't want to damage the tortellini, y'all ...).  Chill before serving - four to six hours is ideal and will let the flavors meld even better, but overnight is optimal.

So does this taste like Maretti's salad?  It's not an exact replica ... to come close, I think that I would need to add more garlic, but this is a nice approximation and good to bring for potlucks.  And to ward away vampires.