Chopped Veggie Picnic Salad

A bounty of veggies!

I was inspired to make this salad by my father, a man who believes in eating not only in a heathy manner, but in a way that reflects his environmental concerns. To that end he eats small portions, mostly vegetables, and he eschews beef and gluttony. My dad is a vigorous man and will undoubtedly outlive me, due in no small part to his dietary habits. Now I can’t really embrace that particular lifestyle; I’d say my job doesn’t permit me to eat healthfully, but that’s mostly a cop-out. I just like food of all kinds and I like to eat. I’m OMNIVOROUS, after all, and I probably wouldn’t be cooking for a living if I didn’t like to eat just about everything!

My father is partial to chopped salads and a few months ago during his last visit he made an especially tasty salad of all kinds of things including cauliflower and tofu and cabbage and carrots and tomatoes and about thirty other veggies. This recipe is a bit like that — it’s complicated but easy to make, it’s got all kinds of things going on but works in a balanced way, it’s refreshing but filling, and it’s very open to interpretation. Don’t like cabbage? Substitute with fennel. Don’t like bell peppers? Throw in a summer squash. Don’t like carrots? Throw in fresh corn. Don’t like zucchini…you get the picture. Be creative, use what you have in the fridge, use as many vegetables as you can get your hands on.

Anyway, if you make this recipe don’t feel you have to stick to these quantities. Use what you’ve got and don’t be a stickler. Just keep the general idea of the salad and dress it accordingly. I made the salad vegan, but if you want to use regular mayonnaise in the dressing, have at it!

By the way, it’s called a Picnic Salad because you can dress it in advance and serve it casually. Dress the salad early and then stir in the nuts and corn chips right before serving. One note: the salt in the dressing might pull some moisture out of the veggies and it may be a trifle wet after sitting for a couple of hours; just drain off a little of the excess liquid if you notice that occurring.

You will need:

• 1 1/2 cups vegenaise or regular mayo
• 1/2 cup white wine vinegar
• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 2 tablespoons dijon mustard
• 2 tablespoons toasted white sesame seeds
• 2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 2 teaspoons honey
• 1 teaspoon cracked black pepper
• 1 teaspoon minced fresh basil
• 3 cups chopped purple cauliflower
• 3 cups chopped raw white mushrooms
• 2 cups coarsely chopped watercress
• 2 cups coarsely chopped iceberg lettuce
• 1 1/2 cups of chopped pressed (and/or smoked) tofu
• 1 1/2 cups coarsely shredded carrots
• 1 cup chopped purple cabbage
• 1/2 cup chopped cilantro
• 1 zucchini, chopped
• 1 hothouse cucumber, peeled, seeded, and chopped
• 3 scallions, chopped
• 1 bell pepper, stemmed, seeded, and chopped
• 1 celery stalk, chopped
• 1 cup crushed cashews
• 1 cup crushed blue corn tortilla chips

Now do this:

Whisk together vegenaise, vinegar, olive oil, mustard, sesame seeds, salt, honey, pepper, and basil. Refrigerate until your salad is assembled.

Toss to combine all of the remaining ingredients above except the nuts and corn chips. Toss with the dressing until nicely coated. Allow the salad to sit, refrigerated, for at least an hour. Drain off any extra liquid and toss in the cashews and blue corn chip. Serve and eat!

Ad-hoc Asian Salad

Today’s salad is a simple (yet miraculous) combination of leftover cold ramen noodles (the fresh kind, not the fry-dried variety), cold grilled skirt steak cut into thin strips, napa cabbage, iceberg lettuce, radishes, cucumbers, carrots, watercress, scallions, crispy garlic, crispy wontons, and a simple sesame-miso dressing (canola oil, shiro miso paste, sesame oil, rice vinegar, Chinese mustard, salt and pepper). It was yummy!

Chef Baby Chow

Chef babies eat very well! For an early lunch Vivian had a lovely soup I knocked together from a variety of tasty leftovers.

Leftover pho broth, steamed broken jasmine rice, Savoy cabbage, gailan (Chinese broccoli), baby arugula, cilantro, scallions, and Japanese flowering fern. She loved it!

For dessert the Viv had fresh strawberries and some very sweet red grapes.

Grilled Portobello Mushroom Sandwich (Vegan Styleee)

Yummy vegan sando!

I made another vegan sandwich at work today. This time I started by marinating a big portobello mushroom in olive oil, white wine, garlic, herbs (dill, chives, tarragon), and a bit of worcestershire sauce. I grilled it, sliced it, and layered it on toasted Ezekial bread with yellow mustard, chipotle-flavored Vegenaise, baby spinach, sliced tomato, sliced red onion, and a slice of “cheddar” veggie cheese.

I’ve got to say, it was pretty tasty although I’m not a vegan. I just had a small bite; I loved everything but the soy cheese. Honestly fake cheese gives me the shivers. I made it for my vegan coworker Ian and he deemed it “a damn good sandwich”.

 

The Classic Wedge

While lacking in any actual nutrients, a good wedge salad can be utterly delicious!

It seems amazing that I haven’t posted anything in six weeks! Up until this point I’ve been very attentive about giving my OMNIVOROUS public new posts to chew on, but to say I’ve been busy is an understatement of the first order. Not only do I have my job (the one that provides me with, ya know, money) but I have my son and my little baby girl (currently seven months old) occupying a tremendous amount of my time. Also, I have my dear wife Regina, who I neglect at my peril. She’s got a black belt, after all!

So the blog has been back-burnered for a spell, but I’m back. I really hope to get a few new posts up this week. They might be kinda shy in the content department, but I’ve got to reestablish a groove and even if it’s just a pic of a pretty rockin’ salad, I’ve gotta get started somewhere.

To whit: this mediocre picture of an extra-delicious Classic Wedge Salad, or as Bennet referred to it — a Wedgie Salad, which sounds, shall we say, less than appealing.

I made this crisp and refreshing salad a couple of weeks ago with a slice of crunchy, mild iceberg. When I prepare iceberg lettuce for wedges I trim out the core from a whole head and then I hold the lettuce globe upside-down under the faucet. I turn on the tap to a gentle stream and fill the hole in the lettuce with running cold water (filtered water is better if you’re dubious about your tap water). I’ll place the iceberg upside down like that in a bowl and let the water refresh the lettuce for about 15 minutes. I then invert the head and drain out the water over a colander. I like to place the the lettuce (in the colander) in the fridge until super-cold. When I’m ready to make the salad I cut the head into nice wedges.

This time I garnished the salad with boiled eggs, decent hothouse tomato slices, some old-school California-grown canned black olives, some hearts of palm, Pederson applewood-smoked bacon, and chives. The dressing is my homemade Easy Blue Cheesy dressing.

Of course you can make it however, but I also recommend as toppings sliced radishes, cornichons, pickled red onions, gribenes (crispy chicken cracklings), Persian cucumbers, blanched green beans, fried olives, crumbled egg, chickpeas, red bell pepper confetti, and crispy fried basil. Other great dressing choices are homemade buttermilk ranch, 1,000 Island, homemade catalina, green goddess, or a good balsamic.

You can eat this salad whenever you want, I’m not going to stop you. However, I think it’s perfect as a precursor to a steak dinner or a lobster boil. Something classically American.

 

The recipe for my Easy Blue Cheesy dressing can be found in this post:

http://spencerhgray.wordpress.com/2012/09/23/todays-salad-greens-blues/

The omnivore has returned!

Baby Heirloom Tomato Salad with Bocconcini & Avocado

Very pretty and pretty damn tasty salad.

Over the weekend I picked up this assortment of stunning baby heirloom tomatoes. It was a gorgeous mixture of little reds and greens and yellows and oranges — all pretty and all delicious. I whipped up a salad of these tomatoes, which I halved and tossed with bocconcini (little balls of fresh mozzarella), shaved celery, red onion, and avocado. The dressing was a combination of white wine vinegar, dijon mustard, honey, fresh garlic, extra virgin olive oil, sea salt, and cracked pepper. For a little herbal kick I added some minced chives, parsley, cilantro, and fresh mint.

This is quite possibly the last week I can get great local tomatoes and I’ve been making the most of it, eating them every day. If you can still find some decent tomatoes in your area, I suggest you do the same. Right now.

 

 

Grilled Salmon Chop

Yummy salmon!!

I made this delightful grilled salmon “chop” a couple of days ago. It was really very simple.

First I took a salmon steak (you know, the U-shaped cut with a bone down the center that’s essentially a cross-section of the fish) and with a very sharp chef knife cut that right down the middle, severing it into two “chops”. I seasoned the salmon with Konriko Greek Seasoning and a bunch of cracked peppercorn and then I rubbed it with a generous amount of olive oil.

It was a cool evening so I used a stove-top grill-pan for my grilling. I pre-heated the oven to 350°F and heated the grill-pan over high until it was smoking-hot. I placed the salmon down in the pan and grilled the first side for about five minutes (or until nicely charred) and then flipped it. I grilled the other side for about three minutes and then popped the whole pan into the oven for six minutes.

I removed the pan from the oven and allowed it to sit on the stove-top for a few more minutes, just to cool down a tiny bit.

I served the fish with a scoop of steamed Japanese rice and a veggie saute of fresh corn, petite peas, and diced zucchini. Instead of a lemon wedge I added a slice of ripe tangerine.

It was a perfect dinner! The salmon was lush, buttery, custardy, and oh-so tasty. The skin was crisp and chewy and unctuous. The fish was rich and delish. You could almost feel the Omega-6 fatty acids coursing through your veins. So good!

 

Very Veggie Portobello Sando

A perfect sandwich for meatless Mondays.

A lovely vegetarian sandwich is today’s offering. I grilled a big portobello mushroom (having drizzled it with extra virgin olive oil and seasoned it with salt and pepper and a little onion powder) and layered it with romaine lettuce, baby arugula, avocado, and a slice of killer beefsteak tomato. For bread I used a couple of slices of organic 7-grain with flax seeds from Rudi’s bakery, which I toasted on the grill until warm and just slightly charred. I schmeared the bread with Vegenaise on one slice and some good dijon mustard on the other. It was a lovely creation.

And it was the perfect thing for Meatless Mondays. I’m omnivorous, as the blog title tells you, and I love meat, but a little respite from the carnivorous life is always welcome for your health, for your mind, and perhaps your soul.

 

Pineapple Carpaccio with Homemade Coconut Sorbet

So yummy, so fresh.

Those of you lucky enough to have eaten at Red Ginger Pan-Asian Kitchen, my long-defunct restaurant in Half Moon Bay, will recognize this dessert as one of my signature sweet offerings. It was a fan favorite, healthy and refreshing. And very easy to put together.

To make this dish I shave slightly under-ripe pineapple on a Japanese Benriner mandolin about an eighth-of-an-inch thick. I lay the slices of pineapple on a plate and top with minced crystallized ginger, some crushed (salted) macadamia nuts, and a scoop of homemade coconut sorbet. I drizzle a little honey over the whole thing and then usually add a little fresh hand-torn mint leaf (although I seem to have forgotten it this time around).

The coconut sorbet is easy. I take two cans of organic coconut milk and add one cup of sugar. I heat it over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the sugar dissolves. I stir in a tablespoon of Malibu rum and chill the mixture for about two hours. I freeze it in an ice cream maker until airy and creamy. It’s stupid-easy.

Anyway, this dessert is a keeper, a crowd-pleaser, and with a little planning (and some special but inexpensive equipment) a cinch to make. And, as an added bonus, it’s totally vegan!

Try it some time!

Today’s Salad

A simple vegan salad.

Today’s salad is a simple combination of blanched and cooled asparagus, green beans, cucumber, fresh zucchini, red bell pepper, grated carrots, celery, shaved red onions, a little bit of chives, and fresh cilantro. The dressing is a basic cider vinaigrette.

It’s all vegan and it’s all good.