I have been cooking, just not recently. Tonight, I actually got to make some dinner with the produce of a shopping trip to Roslindale Square. (Or “Rozzie,” for those in the know.”) Dinner was just a caprese salad, a simply pan-roasted pork chop, and broccoli sauteed on high heat with onions, red pepper flakes, and fresh oregano.
A riff on a Food and Wine recipe from years ago. Low(ish) carb, and gluten free (check the sausages and soy sauce to make sure they’re GF). I don’t use asian pears, just regular pears or granny smith apples. I’ve also stopped soaking the sausage in the dressing before hand– I think the flavors are better balanced just to drizzle the dressing over the top.
Sunday night’s supper: pork chops marinated in salt, cumin, smoked paprika, and oloroso sherry for a night, served with Boston Organics spinach, wilted with four cloves chopped garlic and cherry tomatoes in olive oil.
Last night’s supper, a spinach salad with warm bacon vinaigrette, heavy on the protein. I was feeling the need for minerals and fat– I suppose another sign I am feeling better, and that the horrible carb cravings of medication withdrawal are passing.
To make: I de-stemmed, tore, washed & dried some Boston Organics spinach, and topped it with chopped cherry tomatoes, hard boiled egg slices, and pieces of crisped bacon. I made little slices out of (one medium or) two small potatoes, and fried the slices until crisp in the bacon fat left in the pan. Set the potatoes to drain on the same paper bag where you’ve put your bacon. To the liquid bacon fat still in your frying pan (I actually added a little olive oil, as the potatoes had absorbed a lot), over medium heat, add almost an equal amount of red wine vinegar, a little salt and pepper, bring to a boil, reduce, and then pour over your salad, tossing to coat. The spinach will wilt a little in the hot dressing.
To make this lower carb, use zucchini matchsticks, or white turnip matchsticks, or sweet potato matchsticks, likewise fried until turning golden.
Janet at Fond of Snape asked me which bacon I use– when I can, I buy Niman Ranch uncured, hickory smoked at Trader Joe’s. When I can’t, I have Farmland brand bacon, uncured, applewood smoked, that you can buy at Stop & Shop or Roche Bros.
Trader Joe’s frozen wild coho salmon fillets (sorry, Helen!), thawed, marinated 1/2 hour in Soy Vay Veri Veri Teriyaki sauce, then seared with canola oil in a 9 inch nonstick saute pan for 2 minutes on the bottom, 3 on the top. The soy vey helps the fish caramelize really nicely.
Served with Boston Organics’s snow peas sauteed with white onion, then chopped scallion, grated garlic and ginger, salt & pepper tossed in the last two minutes, and dressed in the pan after taking off the heat with the juice of two limes and a lot of fresh chopped cilantro. Parsley works if you don’t like cilantro. (Inspired by a recipe by Mark Bittman in his NYT video and print column a few weeks back.)
Also on the side, Real Pickles’ Ginger Carrot slaw, (bought through Boston Organics) but you can make your own, shredding 2 carrots and one good-sized finger of peeled ginger, then dressing with salt, sugar, and 1/4 cup rice vinegar, tossing occasionally, and letting sit at least 2 hours before serving.
