Cooking in Pajamas

I made this for lunch for Joey after he finished the Warrior Dash, a mud-crawling, fire-leaping, extreme 5k run from hell. "Warriors" conquer extreme obstacles, push their limits and celebrate with music, beer and Warrior helmets.  Sadly, Joey could not enjoy a celebratory beer, so I thought a hearty, manly salad would have to do.

This is a fantastic use for leftover steak.  Let's face it, does anyone really enjoy leftover steak the day?  Whenever we have leftover steak, it ends up wrapped in foil, sitting in the refrigerator for several day, before someone finds it and ends up cutting it up for the dogs.  This salad is the perfect way to get another meal out of leftovers.

Steak Salad with Arugula and Blue Cheese

(adapted from Smitten Kitchen)

I made this for lunch for Joey after he finished the Warrior Dash, a mud-crawling, fire-leaping, extreme 5k run from hell. "Warriors" conquer extreme obstacles, push their limits and celebrate with music, beer and Warrior helmets.  Sadly, Joey could not enjoy a celebratory beer, so I thought a hearty, manly salad would have to do.

This is a fantastic use for leftover steak.  Let's face it, does anyone really enjoy leftover steak the day?  Whenever we have leftover steak, it ends up wrapped in foil, sitting in the refrigerator for several day, before someone finds it and ends up cutting it up for the dogs.  This salad is the perfect way to get another meal out of leftovers.

Steak Salad with Arugula and Blue Cheese

(adapted from Smitten Kitchen)

This is a perfect Saturday afternoon lunch. Plus, with tomatoes coming in season now, you will have plenty of access to delicious heirloom tomatoes.  I usually pick up a couple of heirloom tomatoes at the farmer's market because the tomatoes we are growing in our backyard are not ready yet.  I also find nice heirloom tomatoes at Whole Foods.  This is an example of an ingredient that you should spend the extra money on.  The best grocery store tomato doesn't come close in flavor or texture to an heirloom one.

The pesto recipe makes more than you will need.  You can freeze it in small batches, using an old ice cube tray, or it will keep in the refrigerator in an air tight container for 3-4 days.  If you refrigerate it, there are a million ways to use it.  A few of my favorites include adding it pasta, using it as a sandwich spread, mix it into brown rice, drizzle over a salad or use it as the base for a pizza.

Caprese Salad with Fried Mozzarella

No matter what diet you follow (gluten-free, vegetarian, Weight Watchers, Atkins...), a salad is always on the menu.  Unfortunately, as we all know, salads are not always the healthiest option.  When you load them up with high calorie toppings and creamy salad dressing, the calorie count goes through the roof.

To me, the dressing is what makes the salad. It provides a big punch of flavor and makes a vegetable salad heartier and more filling.

My first experience with homemade salad dressing was as a freshman at Emory. I was on the "meal plan" so I ate most of my meals in the campus cafeteria, which happened to have a diverse and colorful salad bar. The only problem was with the dressing options. We were offered Ranch, French, Italian, oil&vinegar, Parmesan Ranch (so yummy) , fat free Italian,  fat free Ranch.....the usual options in the late eighties.  If you have ever tasted a cafeteria bucket of fat free dressing, you know it is like eating melted rubber. The other dressings were delicious, but a few ladels scooped onto my salad could easily add 300-400 calories of pure fat to an otherwise healthy meal. My roommate mixed up her own low calorie dressing from ingredients right in the cafeteria. She mixed together vinegar, spicy mustard and one packet of Equal in a little cup, stir, and pour it over her salad.  I was immediatley hooked and to this day, I still use that dressing. It is bursting with flavor.

Here are a few healthy salad dressing ideas that are low in fat, but high in flavor.

1 - Use equal parts of low fat mayonnaise and nonfat Greek yogurt. This works great on pasta salads, potato salads and sandwiches. Add herbs and spices to customized it to your taste. Two examples:

-lime juice and cumin

-curry powder

2 -  Add 2 cloves garlic, salt, pepper, red wine vinegar, fresh mint to strained Greek yogurt.

3 -  To make low fat Ranch, combine 1 1/3 c. lowfat buttermilk, 2/3 c. low-fat mayonnaise (I like Hellmann's) and 2/3 c. low fat sour cream. Season with 1 tsp. garlic powder, 1 tsp. onion powder, 2 tsp. fresh chopped chives, 2 tsp. fresh chopped dill, 2 tsp.fresh chopped parsley, 1 tsp coarse salt, 1/2 tsp. freshly cracked pepper.

4 - Use your favorite salsa on top of your salad.

5 - Even though this may not be low fat, it is still a wonderful and healthy option....drizzle a fruity olive oil (try Costco's or Trader Joe's) and an aged balsamic vinegar (you can get some great ones for $10 a bottle and will last forever) over your salad. Season with coarse salt.

6 - Pureed silken tofu is a great base for a dressing. Low in fat, high in protein. Put the drained silken tofu in a blender, add your seasonings and blend for 30 seconds. Try seasoning with fresh cilantro and garlic.

It is very helpful to keep some key ingredients on hand at all times. You can get creative and whip up your own salad dressing masterpiece in 2 minutes.  In the beginning, you may mess up a batch or two, but no worries. Keep on practicing.

Ingredients Suggestions for low-fat salad dressing:

non-fat Greek yogurt and low fat sour cream

flavored vinegars

infused olive oils (try lemon, garlic or herb)

lemons, oranges, limes (for the zest and the juice)

mustards

onion powder, garlic powder, cumin, wasabi powder, mustard powder

hot sauce

fresh garlic

soy sauce

optional: sweetener like Stevia, Splenda or honey

Method:  I use a recycled cleaned out glass jar to mix and store the dressing. A bowl and a whisk work well too.

Tip: Use your homemade dressing on a salad from your favorite salad bar.

REMINDER: Check out my new website: CookingInPajamas.com I hope to have the blog contents on the website soon.

This is my version of a classic blue cheese wedge salad.  I adore a cool and crispy iceberg wedge salad, but I am way too lazy to eat it.  I do not like having to use a steak knife with my salad course.  Instead, I serve my version with shredded lettuce on a platter.

My second change is to use Shropshire Blue Cheese, instead of a classic Maytag or Roquefort.  Shropshire Blue is a blue cheese made in the UK.  It is made with pasteurized cows milk and has a pretty orange color with a vivid blue veining.  I find it to be very mild and incredibly creamy.  Some people liken it to a Stilton.  I am able to find Shropshire in my local grocery cheese case.

Shropshire Blue Cheese “Wedge” Salad

½ c. light sour cream

¼ c. light mayonnaise

2 T. low fat buttermilk

2 T. red wine vinegar

pinch raw sugar

kosher salt and fresh ground pepper, to taste

¾ c. Shropshire blue cheese (option: Roquefort Blue)

1 head iceberg lettuce

2 heirloom tomatoes, diced

¼ c. small red onion, diced

4 slices bacon, cooked crispy and crumbled

To make dressing:  In a large bowl, whisk together sour cream, mayonnaise and buttermilk.  Add the vinegar, sugar, salt and pepper.  Whisk until well combined.  Add the blue cheese to the bowl, reserving some for garnishing the salad, and fold in using a rubber spatula.  The dressing should be refrigerated for at least one hour, and up to 2 days.

To assemble the salad:  Remove any wilted leaves from the head of lettuce.  Remove the core and shred the lettuce into a serving bowl.  Drizzle with the blue cheese dressing.  Scatter the tomato, onion, bacon and reserved blue cheese over the top.

REMINDER:

There is still time to sign up for our September cooking class!

"Sexy Steak Dinner for Two" - Thursday, September 22 at 6:30pm  $50 per person
Perfect romantic meal for a night IN!
Acai Berry Mojitos
Mini Beef Wellingtons
Creamy Spinach
Loaded Stuffed Potatoes
Nutella Mousse with Cherry Whip

Bring a friend and you each get $10 off.

This is my version of a classic blue cheese wedge salad.  I adore a cool and crispy iceberg wedge salad, but I am way too lazy to eat it.  I do not like having to use a steak knife with my salad course.  Instead, I serve my version with shredded lettuce on a platter.

My second change is to use Shropshire Blue Cheese, instead of a classic Maytag or Roquefort.  Shropshire Blue is a blue cheese made in the UK.  It is made with pasteurized cows milk and has a pretty orange color with a vivid blue veining.  I find it to be very mild and incredibly creamy.  Some people liken it to a Stilton.  I am able to find Shropshire in my local grocery cheese case.

Shropshire Blue Cheese “Wedge” Salad

½ c. light sour cream

¼ c. light mayonnaise

2 T. low fat buttermilk

2 T. red wine vinegar

pinch raw sugar

kosher salt and fresh ground pepper, to taste

¾ c. Shropshire blue cheese (option: Roquefort Blue)

1 head iceberg lettuce

2 heirloom tomatoes, diced

¼ c. small red onion, diced

4 slices bacon, cooked crispy and crumbled

To make dressing:  In a large bowl, whisk together sour cream, mayonnaise and buttermilk.  Add the vinegar, sugar, salt and pepper.  Whisk until well combined.  Add the blue cheese to the bowl, reserving some for garnishing the salad, and fold in using a rubber spatula.  The dressing should be refrigerated for at least one hour, and up to 2 days.

To assemble the salad:  Remove any wilted leaves from the head of lettuce.  Remove the core and shred the lettuce into a serving bowl.  Drizzle with the blue cheese dressing.  Scatter the tomato, onion, bacon and reserved blue cheese over the top.

REMINDER:

There is still time to sign up for our September cooking class!

"Sexy Steak Dinner for Two" - Thursday, September 22 at 6:30pm  $50 per person
Perfect romantic meal for a night IN!
Acai Berry Mojitos
Mini Beef Wellingtons
Creamy Spinach
Loaded Stuffed Potatoes
Nutella Mousse with Cherry Whip

Bring a friend and you each get $10 off.

Here is a hearty, almost no-cook, dinner salad from Sara Moulton.  Sara Moulton is a chef, cookbook author and host of several cooking shows.  No one knows how to create, test and teach a recipe better than Sara.  When I make a recipe of Sara's, I know, with 100% certainty, than it will come out exactly as it should.

Every component of this salad can be prepared in advance.  The salad is best served room temperature, so I made the dressing and prepped the veggies in the morning.  An hour or so before dinner, I threw the meat on my indoor grill pan. Once the meat was done, I placed it on a plate, covered it with foil, and allowed it to rest until we were ready to eat.

It was yummy.  The seasoned rice, the crunchy vegetables and the spicy wasabi dressing all work perfectly together.  It would be a great dish to bring to a picnic or BBQ as well.

Rice, Radish and Snap Pea Salad with Seared Beef

recipe courtesy of Sara Moulton

SERVES 4

For the Salad and Beef:

1 cup raw brown rice or white rice or 3 cups cooked rice

Sesame Dressing (recipe follows)

1 to 1 1/2 pound pounds top loin or sirloin steak, cut 1 1/2 inches thick

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

1/4 pound sugar snap peas (unshelled) or 1 cup thawed frozen peas

4 large radishes

4 medium scallions

1/2 cup sour cream

1 1/2 to 2 teaspoon prepared wasabi

1 teaspoon soy sauce (low sodium, if you prefer)

For the Sesame Dressing:

1/4 cup unseasoned rice vinegar

1 teaspoon sugar

3 tablespoons vegetable oil

2 tablespoons soy sauce (low sodium, if you prefer)

1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Stir in the rice; reduce the heat to medium and cook, uncovered, for about 45 minutes for brown rice or 17 minutes for white, or until tender. Meanwhile, prepare the Sesame Dressing. When the rice is tender, drain it, rinse it in cold water, thoroughly drain it again, and toss it with the Sesame Dressing in a medium bowl.

Meanwhile, season the steak on all sides with salt and pepper. Heat the vegetable oil in a large skillet (preferably cast iron) over medium heat until very hot. Cook the steak, turning once, for about 3 to 5 minutes per side for medium-rare. Remove the steak to a plate and set it aside for 5 minutes; cover and chill it for at least 20 minutes, or until the rice has cooked.

While the steak is chilling, bring a large saucepan of salted water to a boil over high heat; prepare a medium bowl of ice and water. Add the whole pea pods to the boiling water; return the water to a boil, remove and drain the peas, and plunge them into the ice and water. When the peas have cooled, drain them thoroughly and pat them dry. Cut them crosswise into 1/2-inch thick slices (about 1 cup). Halve the radishes through the root, lay them flat, and thinly slice them (about 1 cup). Trim and thinly slice the scallions (about 1/2 cup). Add the cut pea pods (or thawed peas, if using), radishes, and scallions to the rice and toss to combine.

Make the wasabi dressing. Whisk together the sour cream, steak juices form the steak plate, wasabi, and soy sauce in a small bowl.

To serve, mound some of the rice salad mixture in the center of each of 4 plates. Thinly slice the meat and arrange some slices on top of each portion of rice salad. Drizzle with the wasabi dressing.

For the Sesame Dressing (makes 1/2 cup): Whisk together 1/4 cup unseasoned rice vinegar and 1 teaspoon sugar until the sugar has dissolved. Whisk in 3 tablespoons vegetable oil, 2 tablespoons soy sauce (low sodium, if you prefer), and 1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil.

Place this recipe in your file under "Quick, Weeknight Suppers".  The prep to get this dinner to the table is twenty minutes (not including cooking time), but it looks like it took much longer.  It also tastes good enough to make for your in-laws or for company.  This is a great way to use up bread that is getting stale.  The drier the bread is, the more of the liquid in the salad it will soak up, and the tastier it will be.

It is a simple, rustic, one plate meal.  A beautiful presentation is to place the roasted chicken on a bed of panzanella.  Really, nothing else is needed is make this meal complete.

Roast Chicken Thighs with Panzanella

adapted from Everyday with Rachel Ray

INGREDIENTS:

8 - 10 chicken chicken thighs (bone-in, skin-on)

extra-virgin olive oil

Salt and pepper

1/2 whole wheat country loaf, cut into 1/2-inch cubes (about 5 cups), or any bread lying around the house

1 pint grape tomatoes, halved

1/2 red onion, chopped

1/2 English cucumber, seeds removed and sliced

1/4 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley

1 clove garlic, finely chopped

3 tablespoons red wine vinegar

Optional: Add olives and cubes of mozzarella cheese to the panzanella and serve as a light lunch or  smear a paste of garlic and herbs under the chicken skin before roasting.  I would also love this with crumbles of feta cheese in the panzanella!

Note:  Pat the chicken dry before roasting to give it crispier skin.

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat the oven to 400°.  Spread the bread cubes on a baking sheet; toast until lightly golden, 10 to 12 minutes. Set aside.

Rub the chicken all over with a drizzle of olive oil; season well with salt and pepper. Place the chicken skin side up on a baking sheet; place in the oven and roast until the skin is crisp and golden and an instant-read thermometer registers 165° when inserted into the thigh, 55 - 60 minutes. Let rest for 5 minutes before serving.

Meanwhile,

In a large bowl, combine the tomatoes, onion, cucumber, parsley, garlic, 3 T. of  olive oil and the vinegar; season with salt and pepper. Add the bread cubes and toss. Serve the chicken on top of the bread salad.

This is a really, really good salad!  I am currently on an Asian cooking spree.  Asian cooking is so flavorful, and almost always healthy (unless you fry it).  Since nothing in this salad is fried, it is good for you.  It is loaded with colorful vegetables, a healthy fat and a lean protein.  You can whip it up in no time.  Even the vegetable prep work is minimal, I think it took me 10 minutes.

Enjoy this salad for lunch or dinner.  I am sure it will be a big hit.

Asian Steak Salad

Dressing/Marinade:

6 T. soy sauce

6 T. seasoned rice vinegar

4 T. plus 2 T.canola oil

3 T. peeled, minced fresh ginger

2 tsp. Asian chili-garlic sauce

3 tsp. dark Asian sesame oil

Salad:

one large handful cilantro, roughly chopped

yellow bell pepper, chopped

red bell pepper chopped

2 carrots, grated

4 radishes, sliced

1 cucumber, peeled, sliced

4 green onions, sliced thin

8 c. mixed greens

2 12oz. rib-eye steaks

8 oz. baby bella mushrooms, quartered

3 T. sesame seeds, toasted

DIRECTIONS

Whisk marinade/dressing ingredients in a small bowl. Set aside 2/3 of the mixture to use as the salad dressing. Place the remaining third in a gallon size ziploc bag. Add steaks to the marinade and let marinade at least 30 minutes, up to 8 hours.

Heat 1 T. canola oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium high heat. Add mushrooms and saute until browned. Season with salt and pepper. Transfer mushrooms to a plate.

Add 1 T. canola oil to skillet and heat over medium high. Add steaks and cook to desired doneness (3 -4 minutes per side for medium rare). Transfer steaks to cutting board. Let rest for 5 minutes before slicing.

Toss all salad ingredients, including dressing. Place steak strips over the top of the tossed salad.

I am addicted to this salad. It is so simple, but amazing!  We have all had some version of this salad at some point in our lives.  When I served it at a luncheon I hosted a few weeks ago, someone exclaimed, "Oh, a Dump Salad!  I would love the recipe!"

Dump Salad?!?!?  Never heard it called that before, but the next thing I knew I was making copies of the recipe for almost everyone at the lunch.  I think they were surprised to see how easy and simple the recipe is.  I began to get a few skeptical looks...people wondering if I was doing the cut-throat recipe copy. You know, where you compliment a chef on their dish and ask for the recipe.  The chef passes along the recipe to you, but your version never comes out quite right.  You don't realize this, but a crucial ingredient or preparation step has purposely been left out of your copy of the recipe. "No dear, I do not use brown sugar in the crumble on the coffee cake.  My secret is cinnamon...shhh...don't tell anyone." This way, your dish will never be as good as the original.  That leaves the (clearly insecure and slightly deranged) original chef feeling very superior that no one can replicate his or her "signature" dish.

This is not fiction.  I swear to you, this is true.  It happened to my friend Lisa*. Lisa wanted Aimee's* amazing Streudel recipe.  Aimee made excuses for years not to give anyone the recipe. When Lisa finally got Aimee to give her the recipe, she rushed home to make it.  Guess what?  It was awful.  Aimee swore the recipe was exactly the recipe as she made it. Lisa was suspicious, so she took the recipe to another friend, who happened to own a bakery.  The master baker figured out that Aimee left out the measurements of the baking dish needed for this recipe. The proper size and shape pan is crucial to the texture and final result of this recipe.

I think Aimee and Lisa are still friendly, but I doubt they have dinner parties together anymore, or even go out to dinner together anymore.

The moral of the story is that other than the formula for Coca-Cola and Kentucky Fried Chicken, there are no top secret recipes anymore.

* Names have been changed to protect the guilty.

Asian Slaw

Ingredients:

• 1 pkg. Ramen noodles

• 1 # chopped cabbage

• 1/2 red onion, sliced thinly

• 1/3 c. salted sunflower seeds

• 1/4 c. canola oil

• 2 T. rice wine vinegar

• 2 T. sugar

Directions:

1.    Preheat oven to 375. Crumble 1 pkg. noodles. Set aside seasoning packet.

2. Place noodles on a baking sheet and toast for 5 minutes. Set aside to cool.

3. In a lage bowl combine cabbage, onion, sunflower seeds and toasted ramen

noodles.

4. In a small bowl, combine canola oil, rice vinegar, sugar and seasoning packet.

Add to cabbage mixture and toss.

5. Let salad chill for one hour before serving.