Gym For The Jaw

Limp salad just doesn't do it for me. One of my pet peeves is salad that has clearly spent too much time getting to know its dressing. Limp and soggy, they hang from the fork and simply are not worth the calories to eat them. For example, wilted salads, even when they are made limp on purpose, always make me think, "Why?"

I like salads that are crisp and crunchy, a workout for the teeth and jaw muscles.

Last night, surveying the contents of the fridge and trying to come up with something a little different to round out our dinner, I decided to put together a simple, crunch-filled salad. I had some small, fresh carrots and a sparkling head of broccoli fresh from the farmer's market, half an onion and that jar of pickled cauliflower that my friend Carla gave me last week. They seemed like the makings for a fun dish, so I pulled them out. I peeled and sliced the carrots in thick diagonals. Beheaded the broccoli and cut it into small florets, peeling and cutting up the stem as well. Minced the onion since I can't eat much raw onion before revolution happens in my stomach but I love the flavor. Chopped a generous handful of fresh Italian parsley. Diced the pickled cauliflower and tossed all those ingredients together.

The dressing was a very strange combination, I'll admit it. I whisked together a quick balsamic vinaigrette, then gentled it with just a teaspoon of mayo. Tossed with the salad stuff, it was creamy without being heavy and tasty, tasty, tasty. We munched our way through all that health food, relishing the exercise and the tangy flavors.

Simple Green

While we were in Connecticut about a month ago, I had the most wonderful quiche of my life, a simple broccoli quiche with the tenderest, most flavorful custard ever. If you can call a quiche memorable, this one surely was.

I was determined to figure out how to make one as delicious at home. I consulted the Peanut Gallery as well as some websites but each had a different "take" on the ratio of eggs to milk or cream and both of those to the cheese. I finally did some rough calculations and decided to try my own ratio.

It worked like a champ.

The veggies were perfectly cooked, the custard was light and tender, the cheese was rich but not overwhelming. In short, I nailed it. Best of all, it was easy. I plan to repeat this quiche with all different kinds of veggies when we are having our meat-free meals.

Here's what I did:

Zoomie's Nailed Quiche

1-cup milk
1/2 cup half and half
1 cup shredded Old World Portuguese cheese (most recipes call for Swiss or Gruyère but this is what I had in the fridge and I'd actively look for this cheese again in future)
4 eggs
one purchased crust (made without trans fats)
1/2 cup broccoli florets, gently butter-steamed
1/4 chopped red onion, gently sautéed
1 big pinch Herbs de Provence
brief grinding of garlic salt
brief grinding of pepper

Thaw crust briefly, then prick all over and bake in a 375 degree oven for 10-15 minutes. Let cool. While the crust is cooling, chop the onion and cut the broccoli florets into bite-size pieces.

In a small skillet, melt butter and sauté the onion gently, just to soften. Add the broccoli and about a teaspoon of water, cover and let it steam for 2-3 minutes; when cut this small, the broccoli will cook very fast - don't over do it. It should still be bright green and just barely tender when it goes into the pie shell. Set aside to cool slightly.

While the veggies wait, whisk the cream, milk and eggs together until well combined. Add the herbs, salt and pepper and whisk again.

Sprinkle cheese into the crust, top with cooled veggies. Set crust on a rimmed baking sheet to catch drips. Pour custard mixture carefully over, leaving about 1/4" unfilled, as the eggs will puff and expand.

Bake in a 375 degree oven for about 30 minutes. It is done when the very center still jiggles slightly when the quiche is gently shaken. Remove and let stand for 20 minutes - it will continue to cook a little and will retain the tender custard. It is also 'way too hot to eat at this point and the custard needs to set, so let it rest.

Slice in wedges and serve. Serves 4-6 (4 for dinner, 6 for lunch).

Warhorse With A Braided Mane

Now, don't get me wrong - I love broccoli. I happily eat broccoli all year 'round. My mother never had to scold me to "Eat your broccoli!" I was dismayed when the first President Bush proclaimed publicly his distaste for this reliable old warhorse of a vegetable. You can depend on broccoli. It's always available, even when the evanescent asparagus or fresh English peas are missing, the good old broccoli is always there. Right?

Who was it who said "Absence makes the heart grow fonder?" Whoever it was, s/he hit the nail on the head.

As reliable and delicious as broccoli is, I was getting a tad tired of it and the vernal vegetables are still a month away, even here in California. So, how to present it positively, one. more. time?

I had taken a spin through now-wonderful Civic Center farmer's market on my way to and from work on Wednesday. On the way in, I bought bright, sweet tangerines to share with my colleagues and students. On the way home, I stopped for a small stash of lemon quark from Spring Hill Cheese company and a big stick of their butter. In my desperation to dress up the broccoli, I thought of the lemon quark, so dug it out and plopped a small spoonful on each of our servings of bright green. The lemon was a natural with the broccoli and so, oddly, was the almost-sweet cheese; really pretty good and certainly a change of pace. It got a little melty after the picture was taken, and ran into the crannies between florets. We love lemon quark on crackers and with fruit, but this was a new and interesting combination that we can recommend next time you are faced with Old Reliable again.

Zesty Bellybuttons

When Cookiecrumb slipped me a bag of navel oranges from her garden, she said, "Save the peels! The zest is the best part of these oranges."

She was correct, even though the fruit itself has been wonderfully sweet and juicy, too. We've been zesting everything in the past couple of weeks, adding a touch of orange to many different foods, enjoying all kinds of new ideas.

So far, the very best application I have found has been on broccoli. Not only does the bright orange zest enhance the color of the broccoli, the flavor of the zest, a little salt and a tiny dab of butter lifts a plain winter veg like broccoli into the heavenly category. Now that navels are in the stores in great profusion, don't forget to save the skins and add a little to your plain winter veggies.

The Last Bite

I have been in the habit, ever since I was a small child, of saving the best bite of dinner for last. I love ending a meal with the savoriest, tastiest bit on my plate, a sort of gustatorial "ta-da!" that rounds out the experience.

My problem last night was deciding which was the best bite of these two killer offerings, the lively lemon shrimp or the slightly spicy roasted broccoli from the recipe I found on The Wednesday Chef and loved.

Maybe this isn't a decision bearing the gravitas of finding peace in the Middle East or solving the worldwide financial crisis that is daily shrinking my retirement funds (that's what we have a fine, young President for), but in my little life, it was a biggie - and impossible to resolve. So, I cut both in half, loaded a bit of each onto my fork, and enjoyed two eye-rolling last bites. TA-DA!

A Simple OMG Will Do

Every now and then, the interweb brings an idea that spreads like wildfire. I'll get emails from friends with offers to make a poster of myself in the Obama style and several of my friends will have discovered and done it. Or I'll receive exhortations to view a hilarious YouTube video about a skateboarding bulldog and more than one of my pals will have alerted me to this bit of silly fun. Expressions like LOL fly around the world in a flash. And, best of all, sometimes a dynamite new recipe will appear on one of the blogs I follow, and it will be spread to everyone I know in less than the time it takes to tell it.

I predict the wildfire spread for this recipe. Click this link to The Wednesday Chef and read the drool-worthy words that Luisa has written about Melissa Clark's roasted shrimp and broccoli, then Try This Recipe!

It is simplicity itself, using only a very few ingredients and coming together lightning fast, but it is the best thing we have tasted in months. My Beloved and I literally gobbled our dinners, only raising our heads at the end to look at each other in awestruck amazement. A simple OMG will do.