When it comes to salad dressing, I’m not a big fan of most of the bottled ones you can buy at the grocery store.  Too much junk in them that we don’t need.  And besides, when you can whip up a delicious one with common ingredients found in your pantry, who needs them?  Case in point: the dressing on this Ugly Ducking Salad.  But first, the back story.

There is a new show on the Food Network called Aarti Party.  The host was the winner of The Next Food Network Star, winning her very own show (natch).  Although she battled her confidence a bit midway through the competition, she was a front-runner from the get-go.  She is poised, warm, accessible, likable and easily brings something new to the Food Network family, a show on American dishes with an Indian twist.  Since I love Indian food (and don’t get it nearly enough), I was glad to see her win, and was especially looking forward to trying her recipes.

When I got home from the gym tonight, the kids were already in bed, having happily eaten their dinner hours ago, and it was late.  I debated about skipping dinner, but I’m trying to heed the advice of my old trainer (love him!) that it’s better to eat late than to eat nothing at all.  Since time was ticking away, I wanted to keep it simple and healthy, and salad is a perfect fit.

A few (mostly) common ingredients and you have this amazingly good salad dressing.  I do realize that pistachios might not be a ready-to-grab pantry ingredient, and that’s usually the case in my kitchen too, but I happened to have some on hand, and they’re worth keeping in your kitchen just so you can whip up this dressing.  As an aside, pecans or walnuts would work equally well.  The dressing is tangy, a little creamy and packed with full-on flavor.  The only detail is, I’ve got to say, that the dressing doesn’t necessarily *look* especially appetizing because of the blenderized pistachio nuts in it, but I can definitely overlook it in terms of getting to the taste.  I swear I did everything but lick the plate.  And I just might have done that too.

The salad is so named because of the “ugliness” of the celery root.  Saving a trip to the store, I did skip that part of it.  Since the salad would end up being my whole meal, I also added in some pieces of grilled chicken, to get an added boost of protein with every bite.  It would also be great with grilled shrimp.  Dig in, folks, bottled salad dressing has nothing on this one!

Project 365
September 1, 2010, Photo #156

Madeline has this semi-new obsession with money, specifically “dollars.”  She has been caught fishing around in my wallet more than once, absconding with fistfuls of money and hiding them in her little purse.  When I’m paying for something, she puts her little hand out, and asks for money.  I usually give her a quarter and she puts her hand right out again.  “More, please.”  I sometimes attempt to distract please her with play money, but the girl is smarter than smart and totally knows the difference.  That’s my kid! Continue reading this entry…

1 Comment

Summer just isn’t the same without a few rounds of Panzanella, an Italian bread salad, hitting our dinner table.  It is one of my favorite go-to recipes during the hot summer months, and it’s such a perfect way celebrate the flavors we enjoy most this time of year … big juicy red tomatoes, crisp cucumbers, fresh basil.  It does everything but scream summer.

The Panzanella version that I usually go for is this Tyler Florence one from his Eat This Book cookbook, and it was especially perfect for tonight’s Summerfest 2010 round-up since this week’s magical ingredient is the pepper.  Roasted red peppers are a unique (and delicious) addition to this salad, and it seems only fitting that we include this dish in our last full week of summer vacation.  You know, for those of us that actually are on summer vacation (yes, I’m talking to you, Nick!).

For more pepper inspiration, do check in on what my fellow Summerfesters are serving up. And oh, in the meantime, good news! Because of the popularity of the Summerfest weekly round-up, there will be a Fall version getting underway on September 22nd (full details here).

Alison at Food2: Making Hot Pepper-Infused Vodka

Michelle at Cooking Channel: A Peck of Perfect Pepper Recipes

Nicole at Pinch My Salt: Pickled Serrano Peppers

Kirsten at the FN Dish: Chiles Rellenos and More Stuffed Peppers

Liz at Healthy Eats: 10 Ways To Eat Sweet Peppers

Margaret at A Way to Garden: Oven-roasted peppers, and freezing how-to

Caroline at The Wright Recipes: Homemade Harissa & Sweet and Spicy Peperonata

The Gilded Fork: Dossier and recipes on peppers spicy and sweet

Paige at The Sister Project: Grilled Tomatillo Salsa with Jalapenos

Caron at San Diego Foodstuff: Consuelo’s Hot Chile Sauce and Hatch Chiles

Alana at Eating from the Ground Up: Homemade hot sauce, and why gloves are a good idea

Food Network, UK: It’s Chili Weather

Continue reading this entry…

12 Comments

With the exception of the two Rainbow Cakes to celebrate the ending and beginning of the school year this summer, I haven’t baked since early June.  Crazy, right?  Especially with those eight bags of sugar in the kitchen, you’d think I’d be all over it.  Last week, though, I broke the spell for a bit to make a new recipe, Better than Crack Brownies.

Starting with a base of a brownie mix, these are perfect for chocolate and peanut butter lovers.  It’s like chocolate and peanut butter overload.  And then some.  The kids had a few, my parents when they came over for dinner, and I gave the rest away.

You’ve heard me say it before … I don’t have a huge sweet tooth.  Little things here and there tempt me, but more often than not, I’ll reach for something salty if given the choice between the two.  And now that I’ve been doing this Clean Eating for some time now?  The temptation is there even less.  One little piece and I’m done.  It honestly just doesn’t have the same effect or satisfaction that it once did.  Funny how you can do a complete mind switch, isn’t it?

Project 365
August 30, 2010, Photo #155

Sometimes it’s all about presentation, in terms of making something old new again. This morning I had an egg-white omelet for breakfast.  Once the omelet was done, I rolled it up, jelly-roll style and sliced it for a slightly different presentation.  Delish. Continue reading this entry…

6 Comments

A little switch up from the usual Weekend Photos in Review to celebrate Rainbow Cake goodness!

How is it possible that we are already celebrating with our Back-to-School Rainbow Cake Party?  It seems like just yesterday we were kicking off the summer with our End-of-School party!  But it wasn’t.  Reality sets in.  It’s back to the books.  But not without a little multi-colored madness to set us off on the right path first.

This time, I decided to do something a little different.  When the invitations went out a few weeks ago, I asked guests to bring a pair of brand new kids’ pajamas, so we could pack up a box and ship them off to the Pajama Program.  It’s a New York-based program that we support regularly, and I thought it would be a nice tie-in for our little party.  “Danger season” is coming up, and with the temperatures starting to drop, warm toasty pajamas are needed now more than ever.

As the kids came over, we put all the pajamas in a box and I passed out coloring pages for them all to work on.  As an aside, this web site is a great spot to find coloring pages — the wonderfully detailed pictures take up the whole page and they print without advertising and extra junk on it.  I thought including coloring pages in the pajama box as a little something extra for the kids on the receiving end would be a nice small gesture.

The menu tonight was simple.  Fresh fruit.  Vegetable chips and dip.  Honest Kids juice (love them!) and, of course, Rainbow Cake.  This go ’round, I did the traditional six layer cake and then I also did a 9×13 cake pan as well.  Although I loved the cupcakes I made back in June, I didn’t love the time they took.  Too fiddly.  This longer sized dish worked out beautifully.  I just put one layer of batter on top of the other and baked it.  It looks a little more tie-dyed than rainbow-like, but that’s ok.

Continue reading this entry…

8 Comments

The first time I went to Bear Mountain, it actually wasn’t where I was planning to go.  This was years and years ago.  My mom and I were heading off on a road trip, and forty-five minutes into our trip, we somehow ended up lost.  In Bear Mountain.  After going there this past weekend, I can’t imagine how it even happened.  But I *do* remember it took us the better part of an hour to find our way back out.  Ahh, good times.

Unfortunately, my streak continued.  Clearly I have issues with Bear Mountain.  And getting lost.  Although, I swear to you, I rarely get lost.  Losing things is a completely separate topic as, I’m sad to say, friends and family can report.  Anyway.  Sarah and I planned a Bear Mountain meet-up with the kids ages ago.  As the day got closer and closer, our details became more and more concrete.  A picnic.  A menu.  She brings this.  I bring that.  We spend the day in the sun, letting the kids run around and get all their crazies out, without spending much scratch.

So the morning was a little crazy.  We finally arrive at Bear Mountain and I blithely follow the signs.  Up.  Up.  Up.  Up some more.  The kids fast asleep in the car.  I gasped at every turn.  For two reasons.  One.  The view is absolutely, positively stunning.  Breathtaking.  Like if you happen to live within a reasonable driving distance, you should go.  Picnic.  Hike.  Invent a reason and just go.  And be sure to drive to the top of the mountain to get the full effect.  And then there is the second reason.  Wow, is it ever scary driving near the edge of a cliff.  On a narrow road.  With nary a guard rail in sight.  I got out a few times and took pictures and the last time, Nick woke up.  “Oh my gosh, this is so scary.”  Kid, you ain’t kidding.  I tend to be a little paranoid about a few things, and I have since added accidentally driving over a cliff to the list.  I mean, you *did* hear what happened to Heidi Montag’s famed plastic surgeon, right?  Of course, he was texting while driving, but still.

So we’re at the top of the mountain, and there are only a handful of cars.  No carousel.  No zoo.  No big lake.  No picnic area to speak of.  And definitely no Sarah.  I don’t get it.  All I did was follow the signs for Bear Mountain.  I asked a nearby couple, who very thoughtfully shared their map, what I did wrong and they pointed down below.  That’s where you need to be, they said.  Oh.

At this point, Sarah is texting me, telling me she’s in the ‘hood.  And parked.  By the carousel.  Clearly, she has done this before.  Fine then.  So back in the car, and now we go down.  Down.  Down the mountain.  (As a side note, if you go for just the zoo or the carousel or what have you, do make the same mistake I did and first go to the top of the mountain.  If for nothing else, the view.  Please).

Continue reading this entry…

5 Comments