Back from vakay with a longggg to do list. What the heck! Let me get you this yummy salad how-to – still good for those end of summer picnics & BBQ’s. I’m making it tomorrow for the last “Jazz on the Lawn” concert.

I ate something like this in July when I was up at Three Rivers swooning over the hard won success of my dear friend Chris Lynch & her writing partner Meg Howrey. You see, they not only sold their international thriller City of Dark Magic to Penguin Publishing, but they also got the thumbs up for the sequel! Go Lynchie & Meg!!! Two smart broads!

We ate this at a dinner party up there. I couldn’t get enough of this. Neen and I had been wandering aimlessly around Sequoia National Park all day and arrived late & ravenous. How polite of us. With Nina’s help, I tried to replicate it when I got home and I’m please with the result! This salad is so satisfying, tasty & hearty. It’s REALLY easy to make. The most time-consuming part is boiling the grain which takes about 45 mins.

Here’s all you need:

Salad:
1 1/2 c uncooked wheat berries or barley (barley is cheaper & easier to find but I was out)
8 oz feta (depending how much you like)
1/3 c sliced sun-dried tomatoes
1/4 c sliced kalamata olives
parsley to taste
1 avocado

Dressing:
1/4 c olive oil
2-3 TBSP balsamic vinegar
salt
pepper
1/4 c fresh squeezed orange juice (about half an orange)

First, cook your grain according to package directions. You can do this a day ahead and chill in the fridge. Just be sure to drain thoroughly first.

Now drain & chill the barley. You don’t want it hot when you combine your ingredients.

NOTE: I didn’t really measure anything. I just added ingredients and tasted. That’s partly why this is such a simple salad – you can add more of things you like or have.

Combine ingredients in a large bowl.

Stir to combine and add dressing ingredients.

Here’s a rough approximation of the dressing amounts:

1/4 c olive oil
juice of half an orange
2-3 TBSP balsamic vinegar
salt & pepper to taste

Whisk together dressing ingredients. Drizzle about half that on salad & stir to coat thoroughly. Taste & adjust, adding more dressing if needed. I don’t like a puddle of dressing at the bottom of my salad so I start light & add more. The barley will absorb the dressing but I liked this as leftovers for up to 3 days.

Don’t let Maddie’s excitement fool you. She didn’t dig this.

Jazz on the Lawn
Rogelio Mitchell & Friends
Sunday, August 26
5-7PM
Bring a picnic/blanket and/or low chairs!

I really owe Trish a heee-uge thank you for this cocktail which she had in my hand about 10 minutes after entering her house in Denver. It was HOT that day (as it still is…) and she made this gingery bev in a large mug.

Try this drink. It’s simple, has only 3 ingredients and is such a treat!

You need:

1/2 oz lime juice
2 oz vodka
4 oz ginger beer
ice cubes

Ok. Including the ice, that’s 4 ingredients. Sue me!

Pour your lime juice into a glass.

Drop in a few ice cubes, add the vodka, then fill up the rest of your glass with ginger beer. Stir!

Highball glasses are recommended but of course we ain’t formal like that (read: we don’t have highball glasses). That’s why ours were strong.

Can you use ginger ale in place of the ginger beer?
Certainly! You can use your old dishwater if you want to.

I found ginger beer at Ralph’s in the “fancy soda” part of the soda aisle.

Yummmmmmm we sure did enjoy these!

That lime looks downright lonesome there.

London. 1994. I was sleeping on someone’s floor that summer. We decided to go see “Reservoir Dogs” at the cinema. (Yes, I called it “cinema” to get you in the frame of mind.) I ordered popcorn. Crammed a large fistful into my maw. What the WHAAAAT??? Sweet? It was sweet. AND savory. Mmmmmmm…like an adult’s Cracker Jack.

People were smoking cigarettes in there. The good old days!

Last week, a new friend was telling me how to make microwave popcorn in a brown paper bag. (Thanks, Kristy!) I remembered seeing something about it on Pinterest so I decided to give it a whirl.

Today I got a hankering for the sweet version so I looked up some recipes. Most of them called for what most Santa Monica moms consider the devil of all sugars: corn syrup (which makes a mean pecan pie) but I thought I could find something more “natural.” It came out real nice. REAL nice!

Btw: if you’re interested, here’s what’s in Pop Secret, Premium Popcorn:

That isn’t sooooooo bad. But check out this one!

[from

Some recipes advised STAPLING the bag. Listen, I used to bus tables at The Old Heidelberg in Naples, FL and will never forget the sparks that flew when I put a wicker bread basket with staples in the micro. Nor the ass-chewing I got from the cooks.

I folded my bag.

Unsure of how long to microwave it, I pushed the “POPCORN” button.

Then, b/c I missed the heavenly trill of the smoke detectors, I pushed it again.

Dad-blame it!!

So I tried it again. This time I just pushed the popcorn button once. When I heard the popping slow down, it happened to turn off. I suggest you stand right by your microwave and when the popping slows down, turn it off since all microwaves tend to have different POWER.

The second time it came out perfect! I added a little salt.

Now for the flavors.

1. SPICY. Add a tsp of spice rub to the kernel/oil/salt mixture. I used Tony Chachere’s spice rub.

Tasty!

2. HERB/PARMESAN. Add a few sprigs of fresh herbs to the kernel/oil/salt mixture. I used rosemary & thyme.

Make sure the herbs are coated in oil so they don’t burn. You can also mix them in the oil/kernel concoction for about 5 minutes prior to nuking so they can infuse the oil.

Sprinkle fresh parmesan on top of the popped corn. YUM!
(I forgot to take a picture of that.)

3. SWEET. This is my favorite. Add 1-2 tsp of maple syrup to the kernel/oil/salt mixture. You still need the salt!

Because of the sugar it seems to burn but it might be just caramelizing. Just pay extra attention to cooking time.

It looks burnt but it’s not!

Macro feature really can’t make my fingers/nails look dirty enough!

Finally, the one con to making popcorn this way: there tend to be a lot more unpopped kernels than you’d get in the pre-made microwave popcorn bag. I’ve yet to find a solution to this problem but am interested in hearing if anyone out there has?

What are your criteria for an easy dinner?

Mine:
1. As few ingredients as possible

2. good for adults too

3. requires no specialty store

My friend, Olivia, put me onto this! Why didn’t I think of it??

All you need:

3-4 TBSP miso paste
roasted seaweed, cut or torn
16oz firm tofu, pressed & cut into small cubes
8 oz soba noodles
OPTIONAL:
green onions, sliced
shiitake mushrooms
baby spinach
crushed red pepper

Knowing how those soba noodles like to be babied, I looked at a few recipes to check on the order of things. Those of you who have cooked soba noodles know they have to characteristics that make them distinct from, like, spaghetti.

1. They expand QUITE a lot during cooking.

and

2. After cooking, they need to rinsed with cold water to avoid unsightly CLUMPING.

My advice: follow the package directions to a T. (Tee or T? I dunno!)

Here’s what I did after reading several recipes:

1. Press tofu. Also: I think FIRM tofu would be best for soup. I had extra firm so I used that.

2. Start your water for the soba. Use a medium or large saucepan since the soba will expand. Follow package instructions. I know I already suggested this. I can’t stress it enough because of my own failure to follow package instructions.

3. While that’s boiling, cut the seaweed into strips of whatever size you’d like! I used kitchen scissors.

I cut some of the strips into thirds afterwards. By the way, what’s Monkey Binky doing on the floor?

4. Drain your noodles, rinse & set aside. Do NOT skip the rinsing or you’ll have a giant clump o noodle.

5. Set 4 c of water to boil. This will be for your broth. In a small bowl, whisk together 3 or 4 TBSP miso paste with some of the hot broth water. Then add that mixture to your broth water & stir to combine. This supposedly helps avoid clumping but you can try skipping this step & just add the miso paste directly to the boiling water if you’re feeling adventurous (i.e. short on time.)

Add the seaweed & tofu to the broth and let it sit for a few minutes.

Ready to serve!

Drop some noodles in your bowl:

Ladle some broth over the noodles.

YUM!

DISCLOSURE: My broth isn’t as purdy as it could be because I was trying to save on dishes/energy use. I decided to reserve 4 cups of the noodle water to use for the broth. (Instead of tossing perfectly good hot water & starting over again.) The results tasted excellent but looked sort of murky.

Next time I’ll add shitake mushrooms & green onions.

Btw: both kids showed their usual level of disinterest in it the first night but I now realize they are not big dinner eaters. They eat most of their food during the daytime. The next day they  scarfed down 2 bowls each! Which tells you the leftovers are great too…

Adapted from recipes from: Olivia Kelly & Heidi Swanson

Do you ever eat these?

(Photo taken from the Larabar website!)

We used to take them when we went hiking, skiing or kayaking. Those were the days! I always preferred these to Power Bars (old school), Tiger’s Milk & even Cliff Bars thinking they were less processed/chemically.

Also, I wanted something portable for the kids & me that wasn’t loaded with extra sugar. I can’t believe how easy they are to make. These are great little energy bars – and a healthy power snack to keep in your purse.

I think they also help keep you regular. If you know what I mean.

You should be able to get everything at your regular grocery. Nothing fills me with dread more than the thought of a trip to Whole Foods. I actually like the store but it’s not near my house, it’s pricey & it’s just a li’l too much sometimes. Holy cow I was amazed to find everything I needed at Ralph’s & Trader Joe’s!

Here’s what you’ll need:

INGREDIENTS:
1 c dried blueberries
2 c cashews
1 c dates, pitted (Medjool work best)
1/2 a vanilla bean
zest of one lemon

1. Toss blueberries in your food processor. I know, I know, in the past I’ve bragged about using my blender for everything. And I did this time too. But if you are lucky enough to have a food processor – use it.

Dump blueberries into a large bowl.

2. Now process your cashews. They should be in a fine dust. Not like mine. Here’s where things went wrong. (I chopped the dates first but they made the stickiest, crazy mess so I decided next time I’ll do the cashews first.) Anyway, by the time I got to the cashews my blender had had it. It smelled like smoke and then the two black rotors with black rubber teeth, that need to stay clenched together, melted down, spewing black rubber, followed by a VERY BAD SOUND and a less bad but still bad SMELL. After that, the blender ceased to function.

Is this where bragging gets you?

Anyway, that explains the whole cashews in my bars. Yours won’t have those. But if they do, big deal?

Before the blowout.

Add the chopped cashews to your bowl.

3. Now chop the dates. This’ll be an ooey gooey sticky mess. Like someone stepped on a giant raisin. Except in your blender. Only you’ll be using your food processor for this.

I did the blueberries & dates first!

Add ‘em to the bowl.

4. Finally, add the lemon zest & scrape out the innards of a half of a vanilla bean. That’s that really dark stuff on top.

5. This ain’t pretty but knead it by hand. You’ll want to combine it as thoroughly as you can unless you don’t mind biting into a pure clump of lemon zest.

Could my hand BE any less photogenic? Oh wait, that’s what it actually looks like in person.

6. Spread the mixture into the bottom of an 8×8 (or something close) baking dish. Refrigerate for about 30 minutes before cutting.

Bea loves ‘em!

Maddie feels differently about them.

What’s Maddie doing back there? Who didn’t fold the laundry?

These will keep well in the refrigerator for 1-2 weeks according to internet lore…

Source: Use Real Butter