I know, it’s wayyyyyyyyyyyyy too early in the year to start making potato salad. Hold on a minute? Says WHO? I felt like making this salad in March and so I did.

Lord knows, G will gag and possibly need to be hospitalized if he so much as smells mayonnaise. Also, although I love almost ANY kind of potato salad, I wanted to try a brighter, lighter version. This one is AMAZING and can be eaten room temp, warm or cold.

This salad has NO mayo.

All you need is:

and these:
Please excuse that basket of junk in the back.

Here’s a gratuitous shot of the parsley from my garden:

INGREDIENTS:
8 oz green beans, trimmed & cut into 1-1/2″ pieces
3 lbs small red-skinned potatoes, unpeeled, halved (if yours are medium-sized, then quarter them)
2 TBSP dry vermouth
2 TBSP white wine vinegar
1 large shallot, chopped
1 TBSP coarse-grained Dijon mustard
2/3 c olive oil
2 TBSP chopped fresh parsley

1. Boil beans in large pot of salted water until crisp/tender, about 4 minutes.

Drain. Transfer to a bowl of ice water. Drain. Pat dry with a towel. (Or let drip dry, like I did!)

2. Cook potatoes in a large pot of boiling salted water until just tender, about 12 minutes. Drain. Transfer to large bowl (I put them back in the pot to save dishes!) Sprinkle vermouth over hot potatoes. **NOTE: I had medium sized potatoes so I ended up cutting them into quarters. I think I overcooked them a tad but they were still excellent.**

Toss gently and let stand for 5 minutes.

3. In a small bowl, whisk together vinegar, shallot, and mustard. Gradually whisk in oil.

Uh, YUM!

4. Pour over potatoes and toss gently to coat.
Obviously, pre “tossing to coat.”

Cool completely. Mix in green beans and parsley. Season with salt & pepper to taste.

I love this salad!! It’s a little more “refined” maybe? Fresher & definitely lighter than the mayo based potato salad we all know and still love. (Except for those of us who gag and throw themselves on the floor at the sight or even thought of mayo ((Christina Lynch & George, you know I’m talking to you…))) Wow, those parenthesis are blinding me!

Source: Epicurious.com

Normally, February is the darkest, most dread-filled, dreadful, month of the year for me. It comes after the holiday re-coup month (January) and it can feel like there’s nothing to look forward to. What am I rambling about? I’ve always despised holidays. And I absolutely HATE seeing all the Halloween merchandise at Ralph’s starting in August (that we all know was lovingly made in China and is heading straight for our landfills). But I digress, anyway, despite Bah Humbugging from October through January, I still got the post holiday blues every year. Things were different this year. January & February flew by this year. No dark depression. No sense of isolation, due to conversing mainly with very small people who sometimes remind me of a lunatic and a drunk. (No offense any lunatics or drunks reading this.) In fact, this year, we attended an impressive number of aptly named Happy Hours.

Cheers, Nana!

Besides the Happy Hours, what was the difference this year? This year G’s parents stayed on after Christmas in a cozy little apartment just off of Main Street. We were able to zip back and forth between our place and theirs and did, often. Maddie had a few sleepovers there, she had Fridays alone with Nana & Papa (which meant I had Fridays alone with mySELF!!) and we attended every Happy Hour we could find! Our favorite “kid friendly” ones were at M Street Kitchen and The Victorian. G and I got a few mountain bike rides in and even got away for one night while Jack & Patsy babysat. Amazing!

Basking in the sun outside Anthropologie. Nice!

Having family nearby for two solid months was so special in so many ways. Not only did we get a bit of time away from the kids, but the girls got special time WITH their grandparents. They got to hear “Yes” instead of “No.” and “NO. Wait, what did you ask me? Oh, NO.” And we also got to spend time with G’s parents. His sister and her new husband, Chris came out in January for a few days adding even more reason to be merry.

Sadly, February has finally come to an end despite Leap Year’s helping hand and G’s parents have returned to their home. There was a sense of emptiness coming home from LAX after we dropped them off. Still, the bad month has passed, holding the February dreads at bay for another year.

After Jack & Patsy left, I thought I ought to have a healthy goal for this month. Something to keep me occupied. Since I knew it wouldn’t involve exercise, I decided to do a salad a day for the month of March (and hopefully share the noteworthy ones on the blog.) One of my favorite Christmas gifts from my in-laws was “Plenty” by Yotam Ottolenghi.

The gorgeous pictures and mouthwatering recipes are truly enrapturing until it comes down to trying to actually gather some of the rather exotic ingredients. Fortunately one of the simplest recipes is for “Lettuce Salad.”

You all, I know I tend to describe my recipes as “yummy” and “tasty.” But all those yummy & tasty recipes make me sick now that I’ve tasted this salad. I am NOT kidding (except about the recipes making me sick)! This salad is unlike any salad I’ve had!!

I LOVE THIS SALAD.

It’s easy to make, (especially when you fudge some of the ingredients – dear Yotam, with all due respect, I was in the Ralph’s on Lincoln in Venice this AM. It’s not the nicest Ralph’s and they did not carry sun dried tomatoes, never mind sun KISSED. So I had to use the sun dried ones I had from Trader Joe’s. I know you, dear Yotam, do not like the “harsh flavor & texture” of sun dried tomatoes but I LOVED them in this salad! My palate is obviously not refined enough to know the difference. And that’s why I shopped at Ralph’s on Lincoln. Also, because I happened to be at the hardware store across the street beforehand.

Ralph’s on Lincoln: the proletariat market!!!

Anyway, of course this salad would be best with veg from the Farmer’s Market but since I was unable to get myself there this week, I had to make do. I’m happy to report, the results were amazing.

Use this recipe when you have guests over and are serving something rich. The beauty, brightness and complex flavors are sure to impress…

Here’s what you’ll need:

INGREDIENTS:
(all lettuces need to be rinsed & dried – dried being very important so the dressing can cling)
1 head of butter lettuce, leaves separated
1 head of radicchio, leaves separated & torn
1/2 head of curly lettuce (I used green lettuce), leaves separated
3 green onions, sliced thinly on a sharp angle
20 radishes, trimmed and thinly sliced
2 c sun dried tomatoes (or slow-roasted if you can find/make them)
2 TBSP capers, whole if small or very roughly chopped

Toss all that into a large salad or mixing bowl. Now make the dressing.

DRESSING INGREDIENTS
1 garlic clove, crushed
1-1/2 TBSP lemon juice
1-1/2 TBSP olive oil
1 TBSP grape seed oil (I didn’t have any so used more olive oil)
salt & black pepper

Whisk those ingredients together & add salt & pepper to taste. Pour salad dressing over the salad and toss gently. Transfter to a large mixing bowl and sprinkle capers over the top. AMAZING!!!!

After pronouncing it “DELICIOUS!” and eating 3 bites, she left it unattended. Three year olds!

Stay tuned for the salad-a-day challenge in March…

Don’t be put off by the Vegan aspect – this cake is delicious! It’s also totally safe to lick the batter since there are no raw eggs in it. (Not that I worry too much about that…)

If that STILL doesn’t grab you – think of this as the: “I haven’t been to the store in a while but I still want cake!” cake.

Besides love, all you need is:

INGREDIENTS:
2-1/4 c all purpose flour
1/2 c cocoa powder (I used Hershey’s but original author recommends Dutch processed)
1-1/2 c granulated sugar
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 c warm coffee
1/2 c plus 1 TBSP vegetable oil
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
small handful of chocolate chips/chunks

Let’s get started! I promise you will like this. Mine came out almost like a brownie.

1. Preheat oven to 350. Grease a 9 in bundt pan (I don’t have one so I used a loaf pan. I’ll include cooking times for both bundt pans and loaf pans.) and dust with cocoa powder.

2. Whisk dry ingredients (flour, cocoa powder, sugar, baking soda, baking powder & salt) together in a large bowl.

3. In a medium bowl, whisk together coffee, oil and vanilla.

I didn’t take a picture of this so let your imagination run wild! Oooooo yeahhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!

4. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and stir until just combined. Fold in chocolate chips.

5. Pour batter into the prepared pan. Pay attention to these baking times!

9″ BUNDT PAN: 30-35 mins
LOAF PAN: 35-40 mins
(or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean)

Dust with powdered sugar! I didn’t because one of my kids got the child proof lock off two of my kitchen drawers containing lots and lots of small tupperware dishes and lids as well as assortments of sippy cups and their various attachments. Well, anyway, I was distracted by my own yelling.

Serve with chocolate syrup, a glass of rice milk, or my favorite: a glass of cabernet.

From Joy the Baker.

If you’ve never made bread before, this is the recipe for you! Get on over to the baked goods aisle of your neighborhood Ralph’s, Safeway, Publix, Stop & Shop, Grand Union, Path Mart, oh or Wegmans (how could I forget Wegmans?) and get you these ingredients in your re-usable hemp bag:

1. Bread flour (OR all purpose flour)

2. Fleishmann’s Active Dry Yeast (you can buy in little packets if you don’t want to commit to bread-making yet)

3. Salt (surely you already have salt???)

4. Parchment paper (this will be near the wax paper but is NOT the same as wax paper)

BIG TIP: Make the dough the night BEFORE you plan on eating the bread! You’ll see why…

(I have whole wheat flour in the ingredients pic too but you don’t need it! I’ll tell you the whole wheat option at the end of the post if you’re interested & have it.)

INGREDIENTS:
3 c bread flour (or all-purpose flour)
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp instant yeast
1.5 c lukewarm water

This is SO easy you won’t believe it. Get out a large mixing bowl and a wooden spoon. Also, fill a measuring cup with 1.5 cups lukewarm water.

Here we go:

1. Mix flour, yeast & salt together.

Add water & mix the whole dang thing with a wooden spoon

until it starts to “come together.”

Your dough will look sort of rough, or, rustic, if you will. If it looks that way, you are doing a kick ass job with this bread!

Now, dump it unceremoniously into a large mixing bowl, cover with saran wrap and place in a warm part of your kitchen if such an area exists. On top of the oven is usually warm b/c of the pilot light. **Update: I now leave it in the bowl I mixed it in to save on dishes!**

Leave it for 12-20 hours!

Check on it obsessively all the next day.

Or be normal and go to work or take care of your family while thinking about more important issues like social security, healthcare, the environment & Newt Gingrich. Ew, maybe not Newt as we are going to be eating soon…

Give yourself an hour to bake this if you need it with dinner. Here’s the last & STILL EASY part!

Find a good solid pot with lid that can withstand a 450 degree oven. Some of those Le Creuset pots etc. that I don’t own, by the way, might be good. I have my grandparents’ old pot which I use for everything. No plastic parts on it. Possibly loaded with lead & mercury but what, me worry?

Line the pot with parchment paper.

Throw away the mess you made cutting that out.

And put the scissors back. My new year’s resolution – to put things away this year. But only for ONE year.

Using just enough flour on your hands to GENTLY remove the dough from the bowl, carefully place the dough onto the parchment paper in your pot.

Put lid on pot

and place pot in COLD oven.

Turn oven on to 450 and set timer for 30 minutes.

After 30 minutes, take lid off and set timer for another 30 minutes.

Take pot out of oven, take bread out of pot & let it “rest” for 5 minutes before slicing.

Holy gluten, Batman!!! There is nothing like homemade bread!!

If you try it, I’d love to hear how it went in the comments section below…

Two weekends ago I made three things and had high hopes of posting all three recipes BUT was unable because of CARMAGEDDON!!!!!!! Well, actually, Beamageddon. Bea started crawling. I’m blaming her for problems with the recipes. And the pictures. Anyway, these were all good hot weather dishes.

Here’s one of our favorites given to me by Joy Armagost who is not only an excellent cook but also an outstanding FARMER. Earth, Wind & Fire Salad is a hearty, fresh & tasty salad. Every time I take it to a cookout or serve it at home I get a lot of compliments.

EARTH WIND & FIRE SALAD

You’ll need these ingredients for the salad. The only ones you might have trouble finding are the wheat berries. I get them at Whole Foods but they don’t have them at the Ralph’s near our house.

Salad ingredients:
1/2 c wheat berries
1 c wild rice
2 green onions (what we call scallions)
1, 2 or 3 peppers (I used 1 red, 1 yellow & 1 orange for looks!)
1 c edamame (Fresh is best but I had these frozen ones so I used ‘em – boiled in microwave with salt!)

The time-consuming part is making the rice & wheat berries. I simmer them according to package directions on the stove for 45-60 minutes – just keep checking them after 45 mins. I think Joy used a rice cooker which is probably a lot more efficient but I wanted to cook them both at the same time. Also, she is a lot more organized than I am. Btw: you can do this a day before and store in fridge b/c you’ll want them cold for the salad anyway.

Chop up those peppers.

What is that haunting specter? Oh, water on the lens.

There it is AGAIN!! I thought I got it.

Here is one way to cut peppers. I am only slightly embarrassed to admit I learned this from the BEST SOURCE OF EDUCATION IN THE WORLD! – TV. Yes, I saw it on Top Chef. Cut the top off first. It will look like this.
(Who left the flash on??)

After removing the stem I give the tops to Maddie who thinks they are edible flowers. I definitely don’t like to waste the tops no matter what the folks at Top Chef tell me.

Then scoop out the inside.
Dang that flash!

Now chop in relatively thin strips. I like to get rid of all the “white stuff.” And dice.
Check this out.
WITH FLASH:

WITHOUT FLASH:

Which looks better? You know the answer.

How pretty!

Chop scallions any old way!

Add peppers to a large bowl (preferably a salad bowl if you have one handy) and toss with the chilled rice & wheat berries. Keep green onions/scallions separate. They can get slimey! (Yes, I know, I combined them but don’t be like me!)

This is where my photography goes wayyyyyyy downhill. Things got hectic in the kitchen so it’s all downhill from here.

Dressing Ingredients

1 tbsp red chili paste (I believe you could substitute that red rooster sauce if you have it – “Sriracha”)
1 tbsp brown sugar
1/4 c sesame seed oil
2 tbsp sherry
1-2 tsp rice vinegar
1/3 c low salt soy sauce

Wisk these ingredients together & taste! Adjust anything you like (i.e. if you like it spicier add more chili paste!)

Omit the chili paste/rooster sauce if you don’t want it spicy.

At the last minute, combine everything! Mmmmmm this is so good!

Between missed photo ops & flash malfunctions, I hope what I DID post inspires you to try this salad! It gets easier & easier to make. Somehow, I neglected to take a pic of the final product.

I DID get this shot though:

If you try this please let us know about any improvements you made in the comment section below! (On blog, not on Facebook so Zuckerberg won’t own it!) Thank you & enjoy!