Simple (summer?) Salad in the Sink

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With excessive loss and suffering here in rural Oregon and across the globe, writing about gardening and cooking seems irrelevant. Maybe irreverent. I try not to feel guilty about having had (not dead yet!) a lucky slide through the decades. Images of hungry children begging in foreign lands, and desperate humans even in small towns such as ours, holding "Stranded, Will work for food" signs haunt me. Measuring good and guilt is tricky. 

But. When images of our pandemic garden flood my heart, I'm lifted. PK and I spend countless industrious hours out there, everything from harvesting tomatoes and peppers to picking cabbage worms off fall and winter crops, or deadheading flowers. The garden is ongoing work, which some may believe is unnecessary toil. Just shop the local farmers' markets, they say. Yes. Support those markets. But, if you have a bit of Earth to cultivate, consider the gladness of gardening. And the joy of sharing the bounty.

A homemade view filled with birds, bees, butterflies, and cheerful crowds of sunflowers. Salad in the sink coming right up!

Salad in the sink for two right here. If you want to skip all the BS, scroll down to the recipe. Which you won't be able to print. But it is so simple and savory you can remember, right?

Sounds appetizing, eh? Salad in the sink? 

It is actually a terrific way to use late-season zucchini and tomatoes and more. In truth, it is a salad served, ideally, from a colander in a sink, which may not be suitable for a fancy dinner party, but is useful for shoveling heaps of zukes and tomatoes from the seasonal avalanche onto salad plates.

During COVID at home with PK, it's a flavorful, fun, and easy-to-put-together first or only course. The man is flexible. He also does the dishes. And other useful things. 

Assemble this concoction in a colander (a rectangular one is ideal) and serve from it too. I suppose if dinner guests (what are those?!) are coming, you could move it to a pretty bowl at the last minute. 

The thing is, the zucchini spirals go into the colander first and are then generously salted before other stuff is added. Like proper dedicated athletes, the coils need to sweat for at least 20 minutes. Serving straight out of the colander saves the salad from being watery, plus it is a classy serving touch, don't you think? 

Clean the sink first. 

Even though summer officially gave way to fall on Sept. 21, our garden didn't get the news.  The prolific plot continues to produce excessive zucchinis, beauteous tomatoes, and tender green beans, which are just coming on. Bring em!

The basil is confused about when to stop and hasn't. The Walla Walla onion in this simple salad was harvested in June and has been cool in the garage frig during the blistering summer along with its bloated brothers and sisters, some of which are 10 inches diameter. They had a diet of rich compost and now contribute sweet crunchiness to the salad in the sink.

In addition to a zucchini 9-10 inches long, all you need are a few dead-ripe tomatoes, a generous handful of green beans, sweet onion, basil, salt, and Parmesan or fresh mozzarella cheese.

In recent years, I've gone big on spiralizing zucchini. Quick, easy, and delish. If you can imagine zucchini being delish. Maybe that's overstated. Palatable? Anyway, salting zuke "noodles" improve the bland vegetable's taste and texture and create a medium for savory sauces.

With ends trimmed, this zuke is about 9 inches long. The Paderno World Cuisine spiralizer can handle about 10 inches. It also has blades to shred and slice other veggies or cheeses. Many competing brands exist, of course. This simple tool may set you back about $25.

Spiralizing a zuke is quick and easy once you get the hang of it. You need a hard surface for the suction cups that keep the device in place.

For the salad in the sink, snip the noodles, so you don't have to pretend you're making pasta.  (Subbing zuke noodles for pasta recipes requires only a couple of snips.) For either use, salting produces the best results. How much? I don't measure, but I shake, shake, shake with gusto three or four times, then mix and let rest for at least 20 minutes, carefully stirring a few times. Despite using what seems like excessive salt, I've never had to rinse the noodles. They keep for days refrigerated, and I add them to other salads, soups, or stirfries.

I apologize for not having a "print" function, although a person could copy, paste, and print. I am an occasional blogger these days and got away from frequent recipe posting several years ago. Not that I had a print function even then. 

RECIPE - Simple Summer Salad in the Sink

Ingredients for two - easy to ramp up for more mouths

• one firm medium/large (9-10 inches) zucchini, spiralized
• a big handful of fresh green beans, lightly steamed 
• a cup or so of sliced sweet, crunchy onions like Walla Walla
• two or three firm garden tomatoes, such as Romas, Tasteilees, or whatever you have
• chunks or slices of fresh mozzarella or shredded Parmesan cheese, to taste
• salt for sweating operation
• fresh ground pepper to taste
• torn or whole fresh basil to taste
• salad dressing of choice 
• a sprinkling of roasted salted pumpkins seeds for topping once the salad is plated

Directions

Spiralize the zucchini and dump into the colander in your sparkling clean, appetizing sink. Use scissors to snip noodles, so you're not dealing with spaghetti -lengths. Sprinkle the zucchini with salt, mix and let sweat for at least 20 minutes. Stir a time or two. Lots of water will be released. Taste before mixing with other stuff to make sure it's not too salty. If it is, rinse quickly with cold water. (I've never had to rinse.)

Cut the green beans into halves or thirds, then steam or boil until tender/crisp. Rinse with cold water and set aside. Cut the tomatoes into wedges, slice the onion, add fresh mozzarella chunks or slices, then gently mix all together. Top with fresh basil leaves, whole or torn. 

After scooping the salad onto plates or bowls, apply your favorite salad dressing. I prefer my homemade sesame dressing, but if we've run out, I sub in vinaigrette or Annie's organic Fig Balsamic. We usually dress our individual salads. Sprinkle with shredded Parmesan, if using, and top with roasted pumpkin seeds, salted or not. 

This is as fancy as it gets during COVID isolation. The sink salad this particular night was followed by deluxe grilled salmon filets and mustard roasted potatoes with a good Malbec. Thanks, Grace!

A modest representation of the 2020 tomato and pepper harvests.

One of many basil harvests. Much pesto is in the freezer for 2020-2021. 

Zukes and green beans. Both prolific.
 My teeth are getting green. 

Interested in other salad and/or veggie recipes? I searched this blog for "salad dressing," and almost every salad recipe I've ever posted came up in this one link. 

Most of the recipes include my go-to homemade sesame dressing, AKA Laurie's Glory Sesame Dressing. 

Check em out!

Earlier 2020 gardening post

Living with Pandemic Better With Gardening 

Thanks for visiting. Good to be back!

Salmon of Grace and Ginger

My favorite salmon recipe! I've been trying for decades to find or create one this good. Credit goes to Grace McGran.

                         If you just want the recipe, scroll a bit. I'm not going to BS for too long.

But keep reading if you're curious about how I finally found THE best salmon recipe that will be my go-to choice for entertaining as well as dinner for two and relieving my angst about what to do with boxes of fish, mostly salmon, from PK's Alaskan fishing trips.

It's all about Grace. She lives in Canada. One reason I like (ha ha) Facebook is that it was the conduit for reuniting us a few years back. We had a 90-minute phone conversation last week. She and I met on the Oregon coast in the 1970s at roughly the same time that I met PK. It was a time of great change and upheaval. In our own ways, both Grace and I made choices during the few months we were neighbors that have reverberated through the decades. Think about it young people, when you reach a crossroads, what you do matters forever. 

Grace (she was then called Diane) and I made an instant connection back in the day. She lived next door. She was a gardener, a pie maker, and a cook. Oh, and she sang just like Joni Mitchell. No kidding. She was also a beauty, inside and out. 

I remember her making us a stir fry Asian dinner, during which I learned basic tricks such as; don't saute the veggies all at the same time. Duh. But I didn't know. 

We had fishermen friends and what seemed like an endless supply of salmon. I watched her tuck salmon parts into holes where she planted corn seeds. She made things grow and rejoiced in the results. I am trying to remember that we ever had a salmon meal together. Salmon excess was just so common in those days. I was fresh from North Dakota. I fed a lot of cooked salmon to our dog.

During our chat last week, however,  I asked for her favorite salmon recipe. 

She said something dismissive like, "Oh, it's just so simple. I don't have anything special." But then she provided general directions. Like me, she often wings it when cooking, using what's on hand and making recipe changes at her whim. Only a few things were mentioned as ideal for success: a cast-iron pan, fresh diced ginger, lemon juice or some other acidic ingredient, sesame oil, and maple syrup. Got it. Did it. (twice, to make sure.)

Salmon of Grace and Ginger, recipe

Perfect for two. 

INGREDIENTS

• skin-on salmon fillet, about a pound
• knob of fresh ginger, minced (I tried grating it but it was too fine)
• salt and pepper 
• avocado oil, or other high-heat oil, enough to coat the pan
• butter to taste, optional
• sesame salad dressing,  1/3 cup to 1/2 cup (recipe follows)
• scant maple syrup (optional)

DIRECTIONS

Use a cast iron pan or another heavy-duty pan. Mince a thumb or two of ginger. (I grated it my first try, and that didn't work as well as mincing.) Apply salt and pepper and chopped ginger to the skinless side of a skin-on salmon filet, about one pound. I understand from Grace, that this recipe can be baked after the initial skinless-side-down frying operation. 

NOTE: If you double or triple the recipe and do not own a huge cast-iron pan, you'll need to pre heat the oven to 375, fry your salmon in two or three batches, and bake in a preheated oven for 10-12 minutes following the frying step, checking halfway for doneness.

Heat the pan to medium-high and add avocado or other oil. When oil is sizzling, carefully place the fillet skinless side in the hot oil and fry for about four minutes. Use a wide spatula to turn the fillet to the skin side down. Cover and cook for about five minutes. Check for doneness after four minutes. Add butter to the top, if desired, and poke holes for butter to soak into the fish. Remove the fillet to a plate at the point of the desired doneness. I like it moist in the thickest area, barely done.  

To the pan, add the salad dressing and reduce for a few minutes. It doesn't take much time with salad dressing, which is more than half oil. 

You may adapt the dressing and/or use purchased Asian types. But you may want to try the recipe provided because it is delicious! I should call it Laurie's Glory Sesame Dressing as it was provided by that longtime friend about 20 years ago and is my favorite dressing and marinade, and now, salmon glaze.  See bottom of the post, following photos.

I've fried the skinless side of the fillet, turned it over and cooked it skin side down,  and fork-tested for doneness. In the meantime, I've applied a little butter to the top, as everything is better with butter. Correct?

I used this gourmet salt in place of regular salt the
second time I made this recipe. It cost a lot of $$ and
I couldn't tell the difference. Either way, tastes great.

The peeled ginger was how much I used to cover a
one-pound salmon fillet.

After salt, pepper, and ginger are applied, it's OK to let it sit for 10 minutes.

Avocado oil is a healthy oil which withstands high-heat frying. 

Start by frying, for a few minutes,  the skinless gingered, salted and peppered side
 at medium high heat in a cast-iron pan. Take care not to burn the ginger.

Flip it over (carefully) to fry the skin-side down. Cover and cook 4-5 minutes.
Test for doneness after 4 minutes or less. 

Pour about 1/3 to 1/2 cup of salad dressing into the hot pan and reduce for a few minutes, stirring to capture the browned bits at the bottom.  Then pour the reduction onto the cooked salmon and serve ASAP.  Heavenly!

Laurie's Glory Sesame Dressing, recipe

INGREDIENTS

• 6-8 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 1/3 cup sesame oil
• 1/3 cup good quality soy sauce
• 1/3 cup Worcestershire sauce
• 1/3 cup rice vinegar (or balsamic), or fresh lemon juice
• 1 T Dijon mustard
• 2 T maple syrup, honey or balsamic glaze (my fave)

Use a food processor.

Process the garlic until finely minced. Add the other ingredients and whirr until emulsified. The mustard helps with emulsifying, I'm told. This dressing keeps in the refrigerator for up to a month.

Garden Greens and Ham and Cheese. Jeez! Low carb, too.

HEAL!!! And it will, after a month of neglect as we traveled. And, of course, it was winter. All things considered, the garden is doing fine after our absence. Yes indeed. Feed us, please. The is the first winter/spring  in a long time that we haven't relied on a cold frame. Cold frames bring on the greens earlier and in greater amounts. We knew we'd be gone during prime harvest, so didn't bother to put the heavy frame in place. Maybe next year.

Sweet little harvest of lettuce, winter spinach, garlic chives, kale flowers, kale, asparagus etc. Make you hungry for a dinner salad? Me too.

This is how our main garden looked today.

This is how it looks in mid-season,  mid-July. But even the tiny piece of productive land currently producing supplies us with greens several  times a week. Most years we use a cold frame, which allows way greater production than open-air planting. The message: no matter where you live, with protection and sun exposure, you can grow spinach, lettuce, kale, etc. etc. during late winter and spring. In most climates. Those same crops do not do well in summer, as heat makes them bolt and get bitter and ask, Why don't you  just grow tomatoes?

The message: no matter where you live, with frost protection and southern sun exposure, you can grow spinach, lettuce, kale, etc. etc. during winter and spring. In most climates. 

To make a dinner salad, chop kale, cabbage, chives, broccoli, etc. That cabbage? Gotta confess. Green Giant. They have apparently dropped "jolly" from the name, leaving that to Santa.

Grate Swiss cheese and cut up ham. The ham has a story.

The ham was not procured from the grocery store, but resulted from a barter between our doctor friend and a patient. He often barters services for meat and such. The doctor and his wife couldn't see consuming an entire hog, however, and offered to sell us half. We accepted. The hog was butchered and smoked locally. We baked the ham when my sister and her husband visited a few days ago. As a result, we sent them along with ham sandwiches, enjoyed together a delicious ham and scalloped potato dinner, ham and eggs for breakfast, a huge batch of ham and bean soup (several meals in the freezer) plus our dinner salad. And more.

Assemble veggies and top with ham and cheese and dressing of choice. I use our go-to dressings:

Laurie's sesame dressing and chipotle sauce, mixed.

Laurie's dressing is here.http://ordinarylife-mk.blogspot.com/search?q=laurie%27s+dressing So good!

Thanks for checking out this post. Other low-carb entries— every post I ever wrote about diet and food—is probably contained in the link below.

However! Google Blogger does not seem to care about preserving photos, which annoys me. I am going to see about migrating to another blog host, perhaps WordPress. In the meantime, if you feel like looking back on a low-carb life, photos or not.....here you go.

Killer Kale Salad with Sesame Dressing

Kale is the main ingredient but cabbage, carrots, avocado, roasted walnuts and (not yet added) Parmesan cheese lend flavor, texture, and nutrition. The dressing is key to this salad's deliciousness.

If you want the kale salad recipe and none of my yammering, scroll to the green headline. I'm annoyed, when searching out a recipe in the heat of getting dinner on the table, to have to slog through a bunch of ramblings to find it. If you're ready for rambling, read on.

I haven't been posting much about food lately (except the most recent post, which was about brownies made with black beans! You gotta try em.) I've been too obsessed with Africa, I guess. I'm not finished with reliving some of the best experiences of my life, by the way. Roads of Uganda. People of Uganda. South African wonders. Does the fun never end? But back to food.

We grow kale every year, and I am addicted. Ok. Not like to nicotine, heroin, or red wine. But as veggies go, kale has a lot going for it AND one can develop a taste. It isn't enough that kale gets great press for its superfood qualities, but some wary types consume it as though it was medicine, a curly castor oil to be swallowed with nose held. I have a friend like that, a burly meat-and-potatoes guy who usually passes on green food. He and others joined us around the dinner table recently, and he complimented me on the kale salad! I about fell off my chair, but I managed to hold my tongue and my place at the table. And I also enjoyed a self-congratulatory slug of cabernet sauvignon. Hic.

I contributed this salad at a recent potluck, too, where it garnered raves and recipe requests. So here it is, in all its simple, delicious, colorful glory. In addition to tasting great, it's good for up to three days refrigerated and dressed. And, oh yeah, it's good for you, too! (Vitamin and mineral rich, low carb, gluten-free, and Paleo friendly, if you care.)

Killer Kale Salad 

I'm starting with the dressing because it is critical. If you go to the trouble to chop up all these veggies, you want to dress it to the nines, and not with a store-bought concoction. What you want is this toasted sesame sweet/sour dressing. I call it Laurie's dressing after the person who first wowed me with it.

Laurie's Sesame Dressing and Marinade

I've made variations of this for at least two decades. It is definitely my salad dressing of choice and it is always on hand. I make it in a food processor, which helps to keep the oil and vinegar blended. This is a doubled recipe, as I don't see the point of making a dressing that keeps well and tastes great for just one dish. Add a little at a time to the kale salad until it is coated with dressing but is not soupy. 

Ingredients

6-8 cloves fresh garlic
1/2 cup olive oil
1/3 cup toasted sesame oil
1/3 cup soy sauce
1/3 cup worcestershire sauce
1/3 cup balsamic vinegar, rice vinegar, lemon juice, or other acidic liquid
1-2 Tbsp. Dijon or other mustard (a sweet/hot variety is good)
sweetener to taste— I use a dash of Stevia, Splenda or honey
a dash of white pepper for a little kick

Directions

Use a food processor. Peel the garlic and process til finely minced. Add all other ingredients, then process until the oils are emulsified. The oil will separate after the dressing sits for awhile, but it is easily mixed with a twirl of the spoon. Works great for dressing a salad or marinating veggies for the grill or even steak or chicken.

The Kale Salad

1 bunch of kale, whatever you can get fresh, chopped
1/4 head of a small to medium red cabbage, chopped
1/8 head of small green cabbage, chopped
1 large carrot, grated
1 large avocado, cut into cubes and drizzled with fresh lemon juice
1/2 cup of lightly toasted walnut halves (or coarsely chopped)
1/3 cup dried cranberries

Directions

Chop the kale and red and green cabbages into small pieces. Grate the carrot. Slice, peel and dice the avocado and squeeze a bit of lemon over it to keep from looking yucky. Set aside. Toast the walnuts in a small skillet over medium heat until they are barely browned. Careful.They burn quickly. Remove walnuts from heat and from the pan. I usually chop the walnuts into coarse pieces, but they look saucy atop the salad as whole and handsome halves.

Mix together the greens, carrot, and cranberries. A half hour before serving, dress with Laurie's Dressing. Immediately before serving mix in the avocado and top with the walnuts and grated cheese.

Small chop.

About ready to eat? Add avocado.

Top with cheese and stand back. 

Salad for dinner- again!

With smoky tri tip, grilled asparagus, caramelized onions, fresh cilantro, cheese and loads of crisp greens,
salad for dinner is all you'll need. The pinkish dabs are chipotle sauce. Recipes below.

At least once or twice a week, sometimes more often, we have salad for dinner, especially in the spring/early summer when greens are plentiful, tender and sweet. Salad as dinner sounds virtuous, but it isn't. Our salads are decadent, filling, nutritious, and delish!  I could barely finish the one pictured. I think it was all the grilled/caramelized onions that did it. As a carb watcher, I realize that onions are fairly carbaceous (new word?), but onions at the tail end of their storage life beg to be eaten. Ever heard an onion beg? It's pitiful. Bread can whine and be ignored, but not homegrown onions about to sprout and melt down.

This year's onion crop was planted from starts on April 23. On the right, sweet varieties that we'll begin thinning/eating soon. On the left, "keeper" onions. Down the middle, a shallow trench of compost. Onions like to eat.

We had softball-sized keeper onions left over from last season (!) until about a week ago when I had to toss the last one into the compost. It was literally weeping. Breaking down. Why couldn't you eat me? I had no answer. 

At the start of the grilling process. The asparagus is pulled first, then the peppers,
and when they're browned, the onions. Cool before using on salad.

A great way to use near-death onions is to slice them into thick rounds, marinate them, and grill til nearly caramelized. Also on the grill for this salad - fresh asparagus, also marinated, but removed from the heat while still tender/crisp, and store-bought sweet peppers.

General salad-for-dinner guidelines follow. The only thing to really embed into your brain is don't stress about how much fat is in the dressing, the avocados, the cheese, or the meat. Really. Just forget about the fat and enjoy how great it tastes. Skip the garlic bread, of course. You will be thinner in the morning.

Salad for dinner in a nutshell
You'll need greens, veggies, protein, and some kind of dressing.
Greens - fresh from the garden if possible. If not, there's a lot to be said for boxed or bagged ready- to-eat greens. Figure on two or three generous handfuls per person. Greens include all lettuces (except why bother with iceburg?), spinach, cilantro, mustard greens,  bok choy, etc.
Other veggies - I generally chop cabbage, kale, chard,  broccoli and/or cauliflower as about a quarter of the salad.  Avocados are used throughout the winter and early spring. Veggies change as the summer garden offers up tomatoes, cukes, zukes, beets, and so on. Any veggies on hard may be used: carrots, asparagus, celery, whatever. Greens and veggies are least 90-95 percent of what's on your plate. Oh, the joy of life without bread!
Protein 
Our second salad-for-dinner this week didn't involve the grill, but a Costco rotisserie chicken, fresh asparagus, and one small avocado for each salad. Other protein choices include smoked fish, tuna salad, any thinly sliced cooked/smoked meats or poultry (but not processed meats), hard-boiled eggs. Cheese is mostly a condiment. I like either feta or Parmesan. Vegetarians could use grilled or baked and seasoned tofu, more cheese, more eggs, or whatever protein they prefer.


Laurie's Sesame Dressing and Marinade
My friend Laurie served this to me at least 20 years ago, and I had to have the recipe.
I've made variations of this for at least two decades. It is definitely my salad dressing of choice and it is always on hand.
6-8 cloves fresh garlic
1/2 cup olive oil
1/3 cup toasted sesame oil
1/3 cup soy sauce
1/3 cup worcestershire sauce
1/3 cup balsamic vinegar, rice vinegar, lemon juice, or other acidic liquid
2 Tbsp. dijon or other mustard
sweetener to taste— I use a dash of Stevia
a dash of white pepper for a little kick

Directions:
Use a food processor. Peel the garlic and process til finely minced. Add all other ingredients, then process until the oils are emulsified. The oil will separate after the dressing sits for awhile, but it is easily  mixed with a twirl of the spoon. Works great for dressing a salad or marinating veggies for the grill or even steak or chicken.

Chipotle Sauce

2-3 cubes frozen chipotle cubes - or 2-3 canned chipotles in adobo sauce, minced
2/3 c mayo (more or less)
2/3 c sour cream (more or less)
2/3 c plain yogurt
2-4  tsp. lemon or lime juice.
2-3 tsp serrano sauce or garlic/chili sauce 
1-2 tsp. cumin Mix and serve over, or on the side, with grilled meats, fish, veggies, eggs, or atop soups or stews.