Tomato Salad

There’s a Whole Foods a few blocks from my apartment. I don’t do my main shopping there, but when I’m downtown I like to stop in and browse the aisles. I always leave with something wonderful. The produce department is the first thing I see when I walk through the door, and they always get me there. On Tuesday night they had some gorgeous mini tomatoes positioned strategically next to mounds of basil that were clustered around a sign that said “just picked.” Just picked basil? Tiny cute tomatoes? Well, I’m only human, after all. I got some.

The container I picked up was actually a gourmet tomato medley, and I know that because the package said so. According to the package, these gorgeous green-striped ones are exotic tomatoes, the orange and yellow ones are cocktail and cherry tomatoes, respectively, and the red ones are of two varieties: grape and mini plum.

I knew right away what I wanted to do with these. I’d make a simple tomato and basil salad for myself for lunch the next day, simply dressed with nothing but a bit of extra virgin olive oil, a squeeze of fresh lemon, and some salt and pepper. Nothing else. I didn’t want any extraneous ingredients to interfere with the natural beauty of these little guys. And they were so sweet, so delectably juicy, that really nothing else was needed.

Okay, I’m lying. Could you tell? Not about there being nothing more needed to enhance the flavor of the tomatoes—that part was true. But, even so, I couldn’t stop myself from adding a little something extra. After I took the pictures, I added a dollop of mayo to the tomatoes and stirred it in. I couldn’t help myself! And it was so good. The natural juice from the tomatoes thinned out the mayo and the two, together, formed a delicious dressing that was simultaneously fresh and creamy and, oh, so good. But if that’s not what floats your boat, I still recommend picking up some of these tomatoes if you see them, because there are tons of ways to use them. A nice panzanella comes to mind, or some tomato-topped bruschetta. And, really, they’re just so colorful and pretty—what more reason do you need?

Pecan-Crusted Chicken Salad

As the weather gets warmer, I try to have salads for dinner at least once per week. It just seems appropriate—warmer weather means eating less and “cooking” less. The problem is, though, that I’m not really a salad person (I’ll take the fat with a side of cholesterol, please), so to get myself to eat salads more I need to find ones that have something special to offer, such as a special ingredient or a phenomenal dressing. I usually like creamy dressings (I have a great mayo-based one—stay tuned for that), but vinaigrettes can be great, too.

In fact, a vinaigrette is what initially caught my attention about this pecan-crusted chicken salad. This salad is dressed with—are you ready?—caramel-citrus vinaigrette. As in, there’s actual caramel sauce right in the dressing. I used Smucker's Caramel Topping, which I think is meant for ice cream, and it was awesome! Not only is the dressing delicious on its own, but it’s a perfect accompaniment to the chicken, which is coated with a cinnamon-and-sugar pecan mixture. This is my kind of salad.

I changed the recipe just a bit. For the actual salad part I used romaine, cucumber, tomatoes, and scallions, but the original calls for mixed greens, tomato, and carrot, and that would be good, too. I made the dressing taste even more caramelly by using half as much olive oil as called for, and it was deliciously sweet, but not too much so. At least not for me.

Pecan-Crusted Chicken Salad
adapted from Pecan Crusted Chicken over Field Greens
Serves 4

For the chicken:

4 chicken breast halves, pounded to an even 1/2-inch thickness
1 1/2 cups buttermilk
1 1/2 cups crushed pecan pieces
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 teaspoon oil

For the greens:

2 hearts of romaine, chopped
4 Roma tomatoes, sliced
2 small cucumbers, seeded and sliced
2 scallions, thinly sliced

For the vinaigrette:

1/3 cup caramel sauce
2 teaspoons water
1/4 cup lime juice
3 tablespoons lemon juice
1/4 cup olive oil
1 lime, zested, optional
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

For the chicken:

Place chicken and buttermilk in a plastic bag and allow to sit for 15 minutes up to overnight.

While chicken is marinating, combine pecans with spices and mix well. Place mixture into a shallow dish. Remove chicken and allow excess buttermilk to drain. Coat both sides of the chicken pieces with the pecan/spice mixture. Lightly press in to chicken.

Place a nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Heat oil and, working in two batches, sauté chicken for about 4-5 minutes per side, making sure pecan coating has set before flipping. When chicken is done and has slightly cooled, slice and arrange over salad bed.

For the vinaigrette:

Combine the caramel sauce with water and citrus juices and whisk. While whisking, drizzle in olive oil, lime zest, if using, and season with salt and pepper, to taste.

Date-and-Walnut Quick Bread

Date-and-walnut has always been one of my favorite combinations. My absolute favorite use of these two goodies is date-and-walnut pinwheel cookies. My grandmom makes these every Christmas and was kind enough to pass the recipe on to me. The recipe requires the making and rolling out of dough though, so I very rarely make them, even though they’re delicious. I have a recipe for date-and-walnut snack bars that starts with boxed vanilla cake mix, and I cling to that as a surrogate.

As I’ve said before, I’m not much of a baker. I also like raisin, date, and walnut instant oatmeal—all that requires is boiling water.

So that’s why I love this recipe for Date-and-Walnut Quick Bread. Quick breads are the best. This one is easy and delicious. The bread is moist and fragrant and makes a lovely breakfast with some hot tea. It really doesn’t need to be slathered with honey butter, but I did it anyway because I laugh in the face of heart disease.

I don’t have a modified recipe because I followed the original exactly, all except for a few gratings of nutmeg added to the batter. It’s a great recipe. The spread is just room temperature butter mixed with an equal part of honey, and the proportions are easily adjusted depending on how sweet you like it.

Garlic Oven Fries with Pesto Mayonnaise

I have a sincere and undying love of mayonnaise. I enjoy adding large quantities of it to many things. On nights when I don’t feel like cooking, Adam will bring Subway home, and I will sit on the couch with my sub, mayonnaise jar beside me, butter knife in hand.

I’m afraid to tell you any more than that. Let’s just say that there’s lots of mayonnaise involved.

We have burgers a couple times per month, and I must have mayonnaise on my burger. We usually have fries with our burgers, and I like to have mayonnaise with my fries, as well. On burger-and-fry night, I usually make garlic mayo, which is just mayonnaise mixed with a drizzle of olive oil, a squeeze of lemon, and a clove or two of grated garlic. Adam, who claims not to like mayonnaise, uses his fries to shovel the stuff in by the mouthful.

One of my favorite light meals is a tomato sandwich. Vine-ripened salted tomato slices, fresh basil leaves, and mayonnaise on white bread. That’s it. I love basil as well, and basil and mayo is so, so good. So when I saw Emeril’s recipe for Pesto Mayonnaise, I don’t have to tell you that I was all over it like mayo on my Subway sandwich. I made it tonight for burger-and-fry night, along with some oven-baked garlic fries.

Oven-baked fries can be a disappointment, because it’s hard to get them as nice and crispy as fried ones. But then I found another Emeril recipe, this one for oven-baked fries, that calls for coating the fries with a beaten egg white before baking them at a high temperature. The egg white forms a crackly coating on the outside of the fries and—voilà—crispy oven fries.

Just to really kick it up, I tossed the fries in some garlic butter when they were done in the oven. Then I served them with turkey burgers and, of course, the pesto mayo. I have some of the mayo left over, and I know what I’ll be having for lunch tomorrow: a tomato sandwich with pesto mayonnaise. Yum!

Garlic Oven Fries with Pesto Mayonnaise
Adapted from Emeril’s Oven Fries and Pesto Mayonnaise

Pesto mayonnaise, recipe follows
2 teaspoons vegetable oil
2 large baking potatoes, peeled, about 1 1/2 pounds
1 large egg white
Salt and pepper
1 tablespoon butter
4 garlic cloves, minced

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper, and grease the parchment with the vegetable oil.

Slice potatoes lengthwise into 1/2-inch-thick slices. Turn each slice flat and slice again lengthwise into even fries, 1/2-inch thick. In a medium mixing bowl, whisk the egg white until very light and foamy. Add the potatoes to the egg whites and toss to coat evenly.

Spread the coated potatoes on the prepared baking sheet, not touching, and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Bake for 30 minutes, or until golden brown and crispy, turning halfway through the cooking time with a spatula.

Melt butter in a small sauce pan over medium-low heat, and cook garlic in butter for 2 minutes, stirring so garlic doesn't burn. Pour garlic butter over fries, toss to coat, and serve immediately with pesto mayonnaise.

Pesto Mayonnaise

1 cup (packed) fresh basil leaves (about 2 ounces)
1/3 cup lightly toasted pine nuts
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan
1/4 cup mayonnaise

In the bowl of a food processor or blender, combine the basil, pine nuts, garlic, salt, and pepper and puree, scraping down the sides as needed. With the machine running, add the oil through the feed tube and process until the mixture is thick and smooth. Add the Parmesan and process for 15 seconds.

Transfer to a bowl and add the mayonnaise, stirring to blend well. Cover tightly and refrigerate until ready to serve.

Tagged!

The Six-Word-Memoir craze has come my way, and I’ve been tagged by Elle of one of my favorite blogs, Elle’s New England Kitchen. If you don’t know, being tagged for the Six-Word Memoir means that you need to describe yourself in six words. It’s fun for sure, but definitely harder than it sounds.

The trouble, for me, is that you can’t really give an entire picture of a person in six words, so it’s hard to pick which six words to use. But I know that if I think about it too much I’ll just never get it done, so here are my six words, for better or worse:

Picky
Demanding
Critical
Moody
Reclusive
Hungry

Not the prettiest picture, is it? Did you notice that one of those words is “critical”? Yeah, that's me.

The next task after writing your memoir is to tag a few other people to play along. Here’s a list of the blogs I’m tagging:

Closet Cooking
Canela & Comino
Nina’s Kitchen
Natural Cuisine
Family, Friends, and Food
The Chocolate Peanut Butter Gallery

These are all really great blogs, so definitely stop by and check them out if you haven’t already.

Have fun!