Cooking
Day one of our (pre) Cinco de Mayo dinners...we have Chicken and Avocado Soup, garnished with Fried Tortillas, and Tomato, Avocado and Roasted Corn Salad.
(all recipes are from the Food & Wine web site; you have to be a subscriber to read them. so, if you're interested in any of the dishes over the next few days, just drop me a line, and I'll send you the recipe!)
First, the soup.
(The recipe calls for chicken broth; we used vegetable bouillon.)
Onions sauteed in oil, in a pot. Add broth and water, simmer. To this add very thinly sliced chicken breast (or Veat!), cook two to three minutes.
To this you add a puree of avocados, lime juice, hot sauce, jalapeno pepper, and a few other ingredients. Allow soup to come to temperature. Serve, with some strips of corn tortilla, fried in oil.
My take on the soup: It was nice. I won't speak for Matt, but I personally thought it was too...mellow. I expected a bit more of a kick, or perhaps a stronger flavor, in general. This could be due to the fact that Veat doesn't really have much of a 'taste' of it's own. Like tofu, it tends to take on the flavors it's cooked with.
Still, the avocado puree was good.
If we make it again, I'll make sure to chop the onion a bit finer. I'm sipping this nice avocado-blended soup, and I get a chunk of onion...not what I want. I love the flavor of onion, but not it's texture. Again, that's just me, though.
Not a whole lot of work to make..and basically, good for you. I'd definitely say it's worth another try, with a little extra kick, next time.
And gorgeous color, eh?
Then, the salad.
I really like this salad!
Start by roasting shucked cobs of corn, drizzled with olive oil and seasoned with salt and pepper, till the kernels are browned. Cool completely, and cut the kernels from the cobs.
Toast pumpkin seeds till browned, and allow to cool.
This salad is kind of neat...the dressing is made by pureeing half the corn kernels with sherry vinegar, sugar, lime juice, and cinnamon! Toss the remaining corn with diced cucumber, red and yellow tomatoes, avocado and arugula. Then add vinaigrette, and toss. Top with crumbled queso fresco and toasted pumpkin seeds.
Pretty simple, huh?
The recipe served 12, so we cut it in half. Even then, it made a lot. But, the pureed corn 'dressing' was nice...although in the future, should I make it again, I'd add a bit more cinnamon.
The pepperiness of the arugula was set off nicely by the rest of the vegetables...and I think roasted corn is going to become a favorite of mine. Wow...that stuff has some flavor!
And again, not too difficult to prepare (unless you're also trying to manage a toddler), and fairly healthy.
Day one? B+
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Cooking
Let the celebration begin!
Day one of our (pre) Cinco de Mayo dinners...we have Chicken and Avocado Soup, garnished with Fried Tortillas, and Tomato, Avocado and Roasted Corn Salad.
(all recipes are from the Food & Wine web site; you have to be a subscriber to read them. so, if you're interested in any of the dishes over the next few days, just drop me a line, and I'll send you the recipe!)
First, the soup.
(The recipe calls for chicken broth; we used vegetable bouillon.)
Onions sauteed in oil, in a pot. Add broth and water, simmer. To this add very thinly sliced chicken breast (or Veat!), cook two to three minutes.
To this you add a puree of avocados, lime juice, hot sauce, jalapeno pepper, and a few other ingredients. Allow soup to come to temperature. Serve, with some strips of corn tortilla, fried in oil.
My take on the soup: It was nice. I won't speak for Matt, but I personally thought it was too...mellow. I expected a bit more of a kick, or perhaps a stronger flavor, in general. This could be due to the fact that Veat doesn't really have much of a 'taste' of it's own. Like tofu, it tends to take on the flavors it's cooked with.
Still, the avocado puree was good.
If we make it again, I'll make sure to chop the onion a bit finer. I'm sipping this nice avocado-blended soup, and I get a chunk of onion...not what I want. I love the flavor of onion, but not it's texture. Again, that's just me, though.
Not a whole lot of work to make..and basically, good for you. I'd definitely say it's worth another try, with a little extra kick, next time.
And gorgeous color, eh?
Then, the salad.
I really like this salad!
Start by roasting shucked cobs of corn, drizzled with olive oil and seasoned with salt and pepper, till the kernels are browned. Cool completely, and cut the kernels from the cobs.
Toast pumpkin seeds till browned, and allow to cool.
This salad is kind of neat...the dressing is made by pureeing half the corn kernels with sherry vinegar, sugar, lime juice, and cinnamon! Toss the remaining corn with diced cucumber, red and yellow tomatoes, avocado and arugula. Then add vinaigrette, and toss. Top with crumbled queso fresco and toasted pumpkin seeds.
Pretty simple, huh?
The recipe served 12, so we cut it in half. Even then, it made a lot. But, the pureed corn 'dressing' was nice...although in the future, should I make it again, I'd add a bit more cinnamon.
The pepperiness of the arugula was set off nicely by the rest of the vegetables...and I think roasted corn is going to become a favorite of mine. Wow...that stuff has some flavor!
And again, not too difficult to prepare (unless you're also trying to manage a toddler), and fairly healthy.
Day one? B+
- Cheddary Corn Chowder:recipe
Oh how I look forward to Wednesdays! It's not just the middle-of-the-week mark, it's also the day that most major newspapers publish their food sections, and the day my organic produce box is delivered. So why do most newspapers publish a sports...
- A Bowlful Of Summer
As of yesterday, I still had two ears of corn in the refrigerator from last Sunday’s farmers market. I know, I know... corn should be cooked immediately, lest the sugar start turning to starch. Seems that corn is so sweet these...
- Light And Easy
A quick, healthy and very tasty dinner. Southwestern Chopped Salad, a repeat from Vegetarian Times; grape tomatoes, avocado, hard-boiled egg, red bell and jalapeno peppers, pinto beans, corn, and lime tortilla chips tossed with a little bit of olive...
- Lost In Translation?
"Por celebrar la fiesta del Cinco de Mayo, me gusta presentarles a Ustedes una semana de platos mejicanos." Not here! For my non-Spanish speaking readers (myself included...thanks to my FIL for the translation!), that's "In celebration of Cinco de...
- Chicken Soup
I gotta tell you that I just love chicken. So let's continue with poultry. Let's find out how a good chicken soup is made. Chicken soup is a favorite around the world and has been so for centuries. There are probably as many recipes out there...