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I missed PUBLISH OR PERISH, but Cathy has been good about harassing me, and Sarah (virtuous as ever) actually posted on time.  However, instead of cooking anything on Monday I undertook another task. A task so herculean that it precluded eating anything. I cleaned out the fridge. It had been a year and things had started creeping into the crevices. Once I'd finished tossing out the rotting produce, assessed the condiments and bleached everything I got inspired to make meals out of what remained in my shiny new fridge. I picked through a bag of spinach and sorted out the leaves that had gotten slimy and gross smelling. Half went in a bowl, and the rest went in a green bag with some paper towel to keep it fresh. I always have a love/hate relationship with salad recipes; I'm interested in new, tasy combinations, but ultimately if you overplan a salad you'll end up with too many spare ingredients. I like the basic combination of: (1) a type of green, (2) a cheese, (3) crispy things and (4) sweet, fruity things. Classic topping for this is a truly good balsamic vinegar and olive oil, plus a dash of salt and pepper. Tune in later for more Kitchen Sink recipes...

The best recipes are often the ones for which you don't have quantities or instruction. The secrets are passed friend-to-friend during group dinner preparation, along with gossip, secrets and of course a requisite bottle of wine. My darling Catherine brought this simple but delicious recipe into my life. She would make it in our dorm and we'd watch her Family Guy dvds for hours on end. It seemed only fitting that I attempt to figure out quantities for the ingredients as the first post in our PUBLISH OR PERISH blog challenge. Challenge? Is that the right thing to call it? Basically we are in charge of pushing the other to publish at least one piece per week, specifically on Mondays.

 

I am calling this a draft recipe. It's not 100% Cathy style yet, and the green onion is something she added recently that i think I could live without. Or maybe I'm just looking for any good reason to make it again soon.

 

Ingredients

1 (~8oz) package pre-cooked chicken (or if you're feeling motivated, about 0.5 lbs cooked chicken)

1/3 cup red onion

1/3 cup walnuts

medium-large clump of grapes (25-30)

1/2 stem of green onion

1 T mayo

2 t spicy/dijon mustard

fresh cracked black pepper

box of Triscuits

 

Instructions

Oh, did I mention why this recipe is great? All you need is a bowl and a food processor. Process each item seperately, putting it into a medium mixing bowl once it's been minced. Go a little more gentle on the grapes, but don't be worried when it kind of turns into a squishy juicy slush. Mix all your ingredients (minus Triscuits) and taste. Like it? Great. Not so much? Well then, adjust to taste. It's a draft recipe! If you can stand it, let it all sit for 30 minutes -- it will be much better once the flavors meld. Served on triscuits it's a meal for two or an appetizer for as many people with whom you're willing to share.

 

Variations

• Squish a slice of ripe avacado on your cracker before topping with a dollop of salad
• Apples and/or craisins can be subbed or added to the grapes for the fruity taste. If you include apples, you're probably better off dicing by hand.

PUBLISH OR PERISH BLOGROLL: Sarah at Chef In The Sticks and the eponymous CiaoCatherine

Tonight wasn't really supposed to be a celebration of Leo's birthday, but homemade dinner, an Epsom salt bath, a massage and sex sure sounds like one hell of a date. For a lady. Or for Leo.

He spent the day helping his friend Julie get this week's produce ready. She just started up SunCoast Organics, an organic veggie delivery club for the greater Sarasota area. I'm out of their delivery range, but I get a similar service from Lancaster's Hydro Farm. Their focus is not on organic, but on local, though they persist in including apples, which I appreciate as a food but despair as not being local enough (some items being "USA-sourced" rather than "reasonable driving distance"). Long story short, he brought half of his weekly order up to my house and Tuesday is delivery day for me and thus dinner was born. It took less than 30 minutes and yet I felt really positive about incorporating so many veggies.

Too simple for recipes, but the ingredients were:
Pasta: Whole wheat rotini with mix of alfredo and mushroom marinara with steamed zucchini and squash.
Salad: Romaine lettuce, cucumber, cherry tomatoes, Easter radishes, apple, green onions and vinaigrette. Everything but the (organic) radishes came from our baskets!

I missed PUBLISH OR PERISH, but Cathy has been good about harassing me, and Sarah (virtuous as ever) actually posted on time.  However, instead of cooking anything on Monday I undertook another task. A task so herculean that it precluded eating anything. I cleaned out the fridge. It had been a year and things had started creeping into the crevices. Once I'd finished tossing out the rotting produce, assessed the condiments and bleached everything I got inspired to make meals out of what remained in my shiny new fridge. I picked through a bag of spinach and sorted out the leaves that had gotten slimy and gross smelling. Half went in a bowl, and the rest went in a green bag with some paper towel to keep it fresh. I always have a love/hate relationship with salad recipes; I'm interested in new, tasy combinations, but ultimately if you overplan a salad you'll end up with too many spare ingredients. I like the basic combination of: (1) a type of green, (2) a cheese, (3) crispy things and (4) sweet, fruity things. Classic topping for this is a truly good balsamic vinegar and olive oil, plus a dash of salt and pepper. Tune in later for more Kitchen Sink recipes...

The best recipes are often the ones for which you don't have quantities or instruction. The secrets are passed friend-to-friend during group dinner preparation, along with gossip, secrets and of course a requisite bottle of wine. My darling Catherine brought this simple but delicious recipe into my life. She would make it in our dorm and we'd watch her Family Guy dvds for hours on end. It seemed only fitting that I attempt to figure out quantities for the ingredients as the first post in our PUBLISH OR PERISH blog challenge. Challenge? Is that the right thing to call it? Basically we are in charge of pushing the other to publish at least one piece per week, specifically on Mondays.

 

I am calling this a draft recipe. It's not 100% Cathy style yet, and the green onion is something she added recently that i think I could live without. Or maybe I'm just looking for any good reason to make it again soon.

 

Ingredients

1 (~8oz) package pre-cooked chicken (or if you're feeling motivated, about 0.5 lbs cooked chicken)

1/3 cup red onion

1/3 cup walnuts

medium-large clump of grapes (25-30)

1/2 stem of green onion

1 T mayo

2 t spicy/dijon mustard

fresh cracked black pepper

box of Triscuits

 

Instructions

Oh, did I mention why this recipe is great? All you need is a bowl and a food processor. Process each item seperately, putting it into a medium mixing bowl once it's been minced. Go a little more gentle on the grapes, but don't be worried when it kind of turns into a squishy juicy slush. Mix all your ingredients (minus Triscuits) and taste. Like it? Great. Not so much? Well then, adjust to taste. It's a draft recipe! If you can stand it, let it all sit for 30 minutes -- it will be much better once the flavors meld. Served on triscuits it's a meal for two or an appetizer for as many people with whom you're willing to share.

 

Variations

• Squish a slice of ripe avacado on your cracker before topping with a dollop of salad
• Apples and/or craisins can be subbed or added to the grapes for the fruity taste. If you include apples, you're probably better off dicing by hand.

PUBLISH OR PERISH BLOGROLL: Sarah at Chef In The Sticks and the eponymous CiaoCatherine

Tonight wasn't really supposed to be a celebration of Leo's birthday, but homemade dinner, an Epsom salt bath, a massage and sex sure sounds like one hell of a date. For a lady. Or for Leo.

He spent the day helping his friend Julie get this week's produce ready. She just started up SunCoast Organics, an organic veggie delivery club for the greater Sarasota area. I'm out of their delivery range, but I get a similar service from Lancaster's Hydro Farm. Their focus is not on organic, but on local, though they persist in including apples, which I appreciate as a food but despair as not being local enough (some items being "USA-sourced" rather than "reasonable driving distance"). Long story short, he brought half of his weekly order up to my house and Tuesday is delivery day for me and thus dinner was born. It took less than 30 minutes and yet I felt really positive about incorporating so many veggies.

Too simple for recipes, but the ingredients were:
Pasta: Whole wheat rotini with mix of alfredo and mushroom marinara with steamed zucchini and squash.
Salad: Romaine lettuce, cucumber, cherry tomatoes, Easter radishes, apple, green onions and vinaigrette. Everything but the (organic) radishes came from our baskets!