Don’t you just love those days when you’re trying to get all of the little this-and-thats out of your refrigerator and into a meal before it all goes south? Really, you hate that, you say? While I’ll admit that it can be annoying trying to be creative all of the time, most often I welcome the challenge to make a meal out of seemingly unrelated leftovers.

This week, I had some crab meat left over from making Brian Boitano’s crab and avocado crostini this weekend (in a nutshell, disappointing even after I doctored the heck out of it …. I wanted more flavor) and some broccoli florets that needed to be cooked up, pronto. I thought about a pasta, but I have actually never made crab cakes before and I just felt like trying. I didn’t have to share my foibles with you if I bombed, right?

Good news — I didn’t bomb, and there was only one call to my dad for advice on how moist they should be. He told me that the less a crab cake stays together, the higher quality it is. Strange advice, but I interpreted that to mean not too much breading and enough moistness so it’s not dry. The advice I did ignore was to add mayonnaise and that no matter what I did it would taste like shit because I used hoisin sauce and gave it an Asian flair. The dadster, he’s fond of traditional crab cakes. And yes, he really did use the word “shit.”

Everyone who actually tasted them loved them, so Steve Degon’s not always right.

Hoisin Crab Cakes

Ingredients:

• 8 ounces crab meat
• 2 tablespoons finely chopped shallot
• 1/4 cup finely chopped red bell pepper
• 1 tablespoon hoisin sauce
• 1 tablespoon tamari or soy sauce
• 1/4 cup bread crumbs + more to coat
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 egg, beaten

Gently mix all ingredients together thoroughly. Unlike with meatloaf, it’s not unpleasant using your hands for this. Form into 4 crab cakes and refrigerate for a short time until they firm up slightly. Saute over medium heat, about 3-4 minutes on each side or until they are browned and firm.

Variation: coat the crab cakes in breadcrumbs before refrigerating. I did half and half, because my dad said it wasn’t necessary but I couldn’t help thinking it would be crunchy goodness. The verdict? We liked the breading on the outside and that’s how we’d make them all the next time.

I served these with some stir-fried veggies: broccoli, red pepper, onion and a can of baby corn that the five-year-old convinced me to buy this week at the super market. Sometimes, he just knows….

After browning the vegetables, I deglazed the wok with white wine (maybe a 1/2 cup or so) and added hoisin sauce and tamari, one turn of the pan each, to the mix. After heating through, they made the perfect accompaniment to the crab cakes, and I got to use up my leftover broccoli.

The moral of the story is to listen to your dad’s advice … and your gut instinct. The combination of the two will make the perfect dish for your tastes.

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If you enjoy finding new recipes, trying them, and tweaking them, you’ve got something in common with today’s Guest Clacker, Kelly Estes. She loves the aromas and unbeatable taste of homemade food, (as does her family). A former newspaper journalist, she’s now a freelancer who writes about food and politics, although not together! (Twitter: kellyestes)

Making tasty leftovers is one of my regular challenges. With a 3-year-old boy who frowns on anything remotely spicy, and a 7-year-old girl who has an adult’s palate, except when it comes to beans, the chef part of my job is always interesting.

Last week, after sauteing four pork rib chops for dinner, I had two left over for another meal. The next day, around 5:00 pm, I realized creative cooking was called for to avoid having tough, leftover pork chops. I quickly decided on a pork chili. Setting my pot on low heat, I diced about ¼ of a large onion and half a green bell pepper, and threw the diced vegetables in after pouring in about 1 tablespoon of EVOO. Looking in my pantry, I took out a 10 oz. can of mild Rotel and a 15.5 oz. can of black beans. After the onion and bell peppers had sauteed for about 10 minutes, I poured in the Rotel and rinsed black beans. Since the mixture looked a little thick, I also added about ¼ cup of water.

A perusal of my spice cabinet turned up one problem: I had run out of regular chile powder. I did have chipotle chili powder, which I had bought before I realized how spicy it was, and how much my son disliked it (way too spicy for him). Another check in my refrigerator uncovered leftover chicken from a roasted chicken, enough for my two children to eat. Whew! That meant that even if the pork chili was a little spicy, I still had (non-spicy) chicken for my kids to eat.

I added 1/8 teaspoon of the chipotle chili powder (my major error), ¼ tsp. of cinnamon, 1/8 tsp. of allspice, and 3/4 tsp. of cumin. I then let the chili simmer on low while I chopped up the two leftover pork chops into bite-size pieces. Once the chili had simmered about 10 minutes, I threw in the chopped pork and stirred the mixture together. I set the timer for 10 minutes, and took out the leftover rice, putting it in a bowl with a lid, along with a little water. It would take about 2 ½ minutes to microwave the rice, so I just needed to remember to do that at the last minute. While waiting for the chili to come together, I put the roasted chicken on a platter with a little water at the bottom of the platter. I’ve found the water helps the meat not get tough when it is microwaved. I chopped up a zucchini and microwaved it.

Bzzzzz. As the timer buzzed, I hurried over to taste the concoction. Whew! The spiciness rocked my taste buds. It was waaaay too spicy. Trying not to panic, I looked around for something to cool the chili down a little. Spying a 15.25 oz. can of creamed corn, I opened it and threw that in the pot, and let it simmer for about 5 more minutes.

Another taste test of the chili, and I declared it spicy and good. The creamed corn blunted the overwhelming heat from the chipotle chili powder in the pork chili. What a relief, considering that my husband and I had nothing else to eat if the chili was not edible.

I served the chili in a bowl, with white rice on the bottom, and a dollop of fat-free sour cream to my husband and myself. My kids enjoyed leftover roast chicken with rice and zucchini. I silently declared dinner another success.

Though the chili was still quite spicy, I found it to be very addictive, and ate the entire bowlful in front of me. The spicy pork chili certainly cleared out my sinuses and left my mouth tingling a bit. One thing is for sure: I need to purchase regular chili powder for my pantry!

I know that I am not the only one with a leftover story to tell. What is yours?

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We had a really fun harvest this week, ranging from lots of leeks to two giant heads of radicchio and a pint of Brussels sprouts. Inspiration struck and I devised a pasta dish that would use all of those, plus some leftover fresh oregano and herbed feta I had in the fridge.

Using the weekly harvest from our CSA farm in creative ways is really at the heart of my Fresh Foodie-ness, so I really got a kick out of creating this dish. I’m not sure what I’ll do in a couple of weeks when our CSA farm closes up shop for the season. Supermarket veggies just don’t have the same appeal, although I’m certainly glad we have a lot available to us.

Leeky, Greek-y Pasta with Figs and Raddichio
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Ingredients:

• 8 ounces pasta (I used rotini), cooked to package directions
• 1 pint Brussels sprouts, halved
• 3 leeks, sliced
• 3-4 cups chopped radicchio
• 2 tablespoons fresh oregano
• 1/4 cup Kalamata olives, halved
• 1/2 cup dried figs, halved
• 1/4 cup white wine (or fig juice from reconstituting the dried figs)
• 1/3 cup balsamic vinegar
• 1/2 cup olive oil, whisked together with the vinegar
• herbed feta cheese, crumbled

In a saute pan, cook leeks and Brussels sprouts in a bit of olive oil until slightly browned. Then, add the radicchio and oregano and cook until everything is tender, brown and wilted. Season to taste with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Next, deglaze the pan with the wine or fig juice, toss in the figs and let cook for a few minutes then remove from the heat. Add the cooked pasta right to the pan and pour the balsamic / olive oil mixture over everything. Toss to coat and serve with the crumbled feta and olives (or you can just toss the olives in if you don’t have an olive-phobic husband).

We served this with some Greek blackened chicken, cooked on the grill. We simply crusted it with garlic and onion powder, dried oregano and basil and plenty of freshly ground black pepper and a titch of sea salt. Leave this out if you’re looking for a vegetarian dish.

It turned out hearty, yummy and very unique and I’ll definitely make it again. Maybe I’ll serve it with some spinach and feta chicken sausages next time….

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The last clambake that my family went to, a few years back, our then almost two-year-old ate the lion’s share of my lobster. I’m a loving, giving, generous mom, so I only resented him a little bit for it, and I was secretly tickled that my crazy kid adored the bizarre shellfish.

Fast forward three years: I ordered a whole lobster for the kid, because I simply didn’t want to share. Well, Owen simply didn’t want to eat more than five or six bites of his lobster (the slip and slide is way more fun), so we ended up with almost a whole lobster left over. Next year, it’s hot dogs for the kid, but my more immediate problem was not solved quite as easily.

I wanted to be more creative than just throwing the lobster over a salad, and I sure as hell wasn’t going to mix it with mayonnaise and stick it on a roll. The fleeting thought of making my own raviolis thankfully passed (although I’m really doing it someday), but I couldn’t get the idea of lobster with pasta out of my head. And so my dish was born….

Pasta with Lobster, Butter Beans and Chives
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Ingredients:

• 8 ounces pasta, cooked according to directions (I used brown rice rotini)
• 4 leeks, sliced
• 1 red bell pepper, chopped
• 1/2 teaspoon whole cumin seeds
• 1 cup lobster (or whatever you’ve got left over)
• 15-ounce can butter beans
• 3/4 cup chopped chives
• 3/4 cup chopped basil
• 2 tablespoons capers, drained
• lots of freshly ground black pepper
• baby spinach

For the dressing:

• 3 tablespoons orange muscat champagne vinegar (Trader Joe’s, baby)
• 1/4 cup grapefruit juice
• 1/3 cup olive oil

In a large skillet, cook the leeks, red pepper, and cumin seed over medium high heat until fragrant and tender, about 10 minutes. Add the lobster and beans to the pan and heat through. Remove from heat, add the chives, basil and capers, and season generously with freshly ground black pepper. Add the cooked pasta.

Whisk dressing ingredients together and toss all ingredients in the sauce. Serve on a bed of baby spinach.

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Now, if this recipe doesn’t qualify as a “clean out the refrigerator meal,” I don’t know what does. Sometimes getting home late to a relatively empty fridge has its advantages.

I knew I wanted to use up some leftover diced tomatoes, and I also had some broccoli. We got a bit of chard from our CSA farm and I always have onions laying around. Mix all that with some pantry staples and dinner was served!

Whole cumin seeds are so, so special and this dish turned out so flavorful and satisfying.

Quinoa with chick peas, chard and currants

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Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup dried quinoa, cooked according to directions
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 onion, chopped
• 3 cups broccoli florets
• 1 bunch chard, chopped
• 1 can chick peas, rinsed and drained
• 1.5 teaspoons dried oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon whole cumin seeds, given a turn or two with a mortar and pestle to release the scent
• 1.5 cups diced tomatoes
• 1/4 cup currants
• 12-16 ounces of sausages, grilled and sliced (I used spinach fontina chicken sausage)
• feta for sprinkling
• olive oil
• balsamic vinegar

In a large skillet, cook onions, garlic, and broccoli over medium high heat until fragrant and tender, about 5-7 minutes. Stir in the next 6 ingredients and heat through. Remove from heat, toss in sausages, and drizzle with olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Sprinkle with feta cheese before serving.

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Our CSA Farm has, quite frankly, been pathetic this year. Finally, we got something beside lettuce and scallions this week: lots and lots of the most delicious yellow beans I think I have ever tasted, and more chives than you could ever imagine using, no matter how many scrambled eggs and baked potatoes you can make. So I tossed ‘em into my concoction of a potato salad.

I’m almost sure that I would eat just about anything if feta cheese were sprinkled on it, so I tossed some of that in there too, along with fresh basil and baby spinach, and ended up with a really flavorful potato salad exploding with fresh, fresh, fresh!

Potato Salad with Chives and Feta

Ingredients:

• 2.5 pounds red potatoes, cut into 1-2 inch cubes and boiled until tender
• 1/2 cup or more chopped chives
• 1 small red onion, chopped and microwaved for 2 minutes to take the edge off
• 2 cups yellow beans, halved and lightly steamed
• 1/2 cup packed fresh basil, chopped
• 2 cups baby spinach
• 1/2 cup feta cheese crumbles

For the dressing:

• 3 tablespoons lemon juice
• 2-3 tablespoons cider vinegar
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• lots of freshly ground black pepper
• 1/3-1/2 cup olive oil

Whisk together dressing ingredients and toss with all other ingredients. If you like a more tart dressing, use the larger amount of cider vinegar and less olive oil.

If I had cherry tomatoes, I definitely would have halved them and included them in the recipe, but I didn’t miss them. I was also on the fence about adding Kalamata olives. On the one hand, the flavors would have really complemented each other, but I really wanted this one to be about the chives. I’m afraid the olives would have been the star of the dish and I wasn’t looking for that. Oh, one word about the onion: THEY will become the star of the dish if you don’t cook them to release the sweetness so they don’t compete with the chives.

I served this with organic beef hot dogs, mostly because I was too lazy to defrost anything really yummy. Plus, Keith wasn’t home and I am afraid of the grill, so a piece of fish or meat was out of the question. True story.

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Arriving home from vacation just in time to cook dinner … not a perfect scenario by any means, but somehow I welcomed getting back into the routine. You know the one: scouring the fridge, freezer and pantry for anything that might remotely taste good together. Oh, don’t forget, these are where some of the best meals come from!

This one was no exception. Maybe it was because our week away was pasta-free and we could have simply dumped a can of tomato sauce on the brown rice rotini and been just as satisfied, but I don’t think so. There’s something about the flavors bursting from fresh herbs that make any dish special, and since the herbs are the one things growing well in our garden, herbs we had.

Pasta with Fresh Herbs, Chick Peas and Sausage

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Ingredients:

• 8 oz. pasta, cooked (we used brown rice rotini)
• 15-ounce can of chick peas, rinsed and drained
• 1 red pepper, grilled and chopped
• 1 onion, grilled and chopped
• 2 cups baby spinach
• 12-ounces to 1-pound sausage, grilled (we used Trader Joe’s Spinach, Fontina and Roasted Garlic Chicken Sausage)
• 4 cloves garlic, minced and cooked in about 2 tablespoons of olive oil
• 1/3 cup pine nuts, toasted
• 3.8-ounce can black olives (Kalamatas would have been better)
• feta cheese crumbles to taste

The herbs and spices:

• 4-6 large sage leaves, chopped
• 2 large sprigs of parsley, chopped
• 1-2 large sprigs of basil, chopped
• 1 large sprig of rosemary, chopped
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• lots of freshly ground black pepper, I mean lots
• sea salt to taste
• crushed red pepper flakes to taste

For the sauce / dressing:

• 3 tablespoons lemon juice
• 3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
• 2 tablespoons tahini
• 1/3 cup olive oil

Whisk together dressing ingredients and toss everything together. Serve at room temperature. A few notes:

• Make sure you add the oil from the cooked garlic to the recipe as well… mmmmm… garlic.
• Sun-dried tomatoes would have gone into this dish if we had them, and I was thinking about them through the entire meal. Add them.
• This works great as a pasta salad the next day, but you may want to add a little more olive oil if that’s how you are planning on serving it.
• Play with this recipe: if  didn’t include your favorite herb, try it. If you want to grill up that last zucchini and toss it in, then do. Post your changes in the comments so we can all enjoy them.

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Ever since springtime arrived, I haven’t been able to get enough of salads. I could literally eat them at every meal and not get sick of them. This works out rather well, as they calorically balance out the excessive amounts of chocolate I consume daily.

I forgot to buy hearts of palm today for my favorite gourmet mesclun salad that is really my go-to side salad, so I whipped up a little something using the same maple mustard balsamic vinaigrette that I use.

It couldn’t have worked out better, since I had some prosciutto that was about to expire, and my freakish pantry is always stocked with dried mission figs and raw pine nuts. Someday I will write a post about how you could live out of my house for months, quite possibly years, before ever running out of the food in the pantry and freezers. But right now, I’ll just give you my very easy recipe:

Mesclun Greens with Figs, Pine Nuts, Prosciutto and Feta

Note: There is a print link embedded within this post, please visit this post to print it.

Ingredients:

• mixed mesclun greens, enough to feed your crew
• pine nuts, toasted
• dried figs, halved
• prosciutto, ripped into bite-sized pieces
• crumbled feta cheese
• maple mustard balsamic vinaigrette

Toss all ingredients, in the ratio of your liking, together and serve. Tonight we had this salad with some chicken wings with rhubarb chipotle sauce. The salad was gone before I could even think about taking a picture of it!

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Shepherd’s Pie is an English meat pie made with ground beef and mashed potatoes.  My boyfriend and I lazed about on July 4th, enjoying a respite from the hustle and bustle of the week, instead of joining the hoards of people heading out for picnics and fireworks over the weekend.  The day was spent reading, napping and listening to music.

As dinner time approached,  I realized that we didn’t have much of a plan or much in the fridge for that matter.  It was likely the grocery stores were going to be barren, having been subject to the barbecuing masses.  My boyfriend was kind enough to suggest ordering Chinese, but I declined and instead welcomed the challenge of making a delicious dinner for us with whatever I could find in the fridge and pantry.

What I found was the following: Note: There is a print link embedded within this post, please visit this post to print it.

• Ground beef
• Onions
• Garlic
• Frozen corn
• Frozen peas
• A russet potato

The onions, garlic and frozen veggies are usually a staple in my kitchen, but it was quite lucky that the beef and potato were shacking up there as well.  Let me also say that I have never made Shepherd’s Pie before. But, it seemed like a fairly simple concept.  So, this is what I did:

I preheated my oven to 400 degrees.  Then I began sauteing 1/2 a small chopped onion and 2 cloves of garlic in some olive oil over medium heat for about ten minutes until soft.  Then I added about 1/4 cup each of the corn and peas, turning the heat up and adding some salt, pepper, and dash of cayenne.  Once the veggies had defrosted, I added a teaspoon of chopped fresh rosemary and the ground beef.  I’d say I had about 3/4 of a pound or so.  I let the meat brown and combine with the other ingredients for about 1o minutes.  At the end, I added 2 or 3 tablespoons of beef broth (just some bouillon I had in the pantry) combined with 1 tablespoon of cornstarch to create a lovely gravy.  Once the sauce thickened, I turned off the heat and set it aside.

Meanwhile, I had peeled a potato, cut it into cubes and boiled in salted water until tender.  I made a  quick potato mash with milk and butter.  The ground beef mixture went into a casserole dish, then I topped it with the mashed potatoes, making sure to cover all the meat.  Then I used a fork to create grooves and texture in the potatoes.  I dotted the top with a few pats of butter and popped into the hot oven to bake for about 30-35 minutes.  The result was a mouthwatering meal that involved very little cleanup, and a renewed faith in the creativity that blossoms as a result of  laziness.  I mean necessity.

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Did you ever create a recipe so good that you were surprised it was actually your brainchild? I do it often, actually. I can never quite believe that tossing together the ingredients in my fridge can yield such amazing dishes. This is not to toot my own horn; If I can do it, anyone can do it. All you need to know is what tastes you like together.

I tend to blend traditional flavors together and then add a unique twist. This time, I made a pretty standard Asian cole slaw, paying attention to the textures — crunchy almonds, creamy almond butter dressing — and the flavors — fresh cilantro and ginger, scallions, red pepper flakes. Delicious, but I couldn’t resist adding the mango for a contrasting sweet flavor and that fun surprise.

Mango Cole Slaw
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Ingredients:

• about 6 cups shredded cabbage and carrot
• 1 cup mango, diced
• 2 scallions, sliced
• 3 tablespoons sliced almonds
• 3 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
• crushed red pepper flakes to taste (I used 14 shakes, probably about a half teaspoon)

For the dressing:

• 3 tablespoons rice vinegar
• 1 tablespoon almond butter
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 teaspoon fresh ginger, minced

Whisk together dressing ingredients and toss all other ingredients together with the dressing. This dish went well with pork tenderloin last night.

The fun part about it is, depending on what you’ve got in your fridge (or have the forethought to buy), you can come up with endless variations. This would be great with sprouts added, or some julienned jicama. How about some sugar snap peas or snow peas? What would you add?

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What are you waiting for? You’ve got to stock your pantry, fridge and freezer with crazy things like frozen mango, fresh herbs, lemon juice and sugar snap peas. Keep up! I know we seem to have weird things in our kitchen, but if you keep versatile foods like these on hand, you can whip up easy, healthy foods at a moment’s notice.

Like crunchy mango salsa, for instance. Keith was highly disturbed one evening when I was going to serve him orange roughy — gasp! — broiled with a bit of seasoning. Even the best of us are uninspired some nights (read: try cooking a gourmet meal with a four-year-old breathing down your neck).

Being the devoted wife, I set out to whip up something to make the fish palatable to my hard-working husband. A fruit salsa came to mind, and since I always have frozen mango in my freezer (thanks to Trader Joe’s and my penchant for mango cherry smoothies) this was an easy fix. I’ve since made this salsa many times, a little bit different each time. I’ll include my variations:

Crunchy Mango Salsa

Ingredients:

• 1/3 cup fresh snap peas, chopped
• 1/2 red pepper, chopped (or a mix of red, green, yellow or orange, but red looks the prettiest)
• 1/4 cup red onion, chopped (or sliced scallions, chives or shallots)
• 1 cup frozen mango, chopped
• 2 tablespoons fresh cilantro, chopped (or basil, or parsley)
• freshly ground pepper to taste
• 1-2 tablespoons lemon juice
• a splash of cider vinegar (optional)
• a pinch of sea salt (optional)

You may want to cook the onions for 30 seconds or so in a bit of oil in the microwave to take the edge off. You are going to be very tempted to try lime juice, but don’t do it — it doesn’t bring out the other flavors like the lemon juice does and your salsa will end up bland.

Now mix all ingredients together and serve over fish, chicken, with corn chips, rice crackers or a spoon!

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In case I haven’t made it abundantly clear, I’m not super-comfortable in the kitchen. In fact, one of the reasons I started writing for CliqueClack Food is because I had a baby and wanted to become more comfortable so I could feed my family well. So it should come to no surprise that I don’t really have a ton of my own recipes. In fact, when I decided to write this post so Cate would  have something to do with her potatoes, it was the first time I ever actually wrote out a recipe.

All of that is a very long-winded way of saying that the recipe I’m about to publish is really just a guide. Play around with the amounts to suit your taste. For instance, I don’t completely loathe mayonnaise like Debbie does, but I’m not a huge fan of it, so I put in as little as possible. You may want more. You would be wrong, but hey. To each their own. If you’re brave (and awesome) enough, you could even up the mustard quotient– which is something I would actually recommend.

This potato salad is super-simple, and can generally be made with things hanging out in your refrigerator.

• 5 lb. bag of red potatoes
• 6 hard-boiled eggs
• 3 celery stalks
• 1/2 cup of mayonnaise (I like the Kraft olive oil mayo)
• 1/3 cup yellow mustard
• 1/3 cup pickle juice
• 6 pickle spears (Claussen Kosher Dill spears)
• 1 tsp. white pepper
• 1 tsp. paprika
• salt and pepper to taste

Cut the potatoes in half, keep the skins on and boil them up. In a separate pan, boil your eggs. While your potatoes and eggs are boiling, slice your celery and chop up the pickle spears. Drain the potatoes and cut them into bite-sized pieces and put them in a large bowl.Chop up five of the eggs, leaving one aside.

While they’re still hot, add your celery and pickles. Add the mayo, stir everything up, add the mustard and stir it again. Put in your 5 chopped eggs, then add the pickle juice and stir it up a third time. Add the salt, black pepper and white pepper, and stir it all up a final time. take the 6th egg, slice it and place on top of the potato salad. Sprinkle the paprika over the entire dish.

The key to the whole dish is the pickles, which is why I use Claussen. They’re just the best-thhands down. I HATE potato salad that tastes sweet, hence the focus on the pickles and mustard. The pickles also take the place of the onions that most people seem fond of putting in potato salads.

Some folks are also kind of confused by the fact that I put eggs in my potato salad. I honestly started doing that because my mom puts them in hers, and I just got used to it. It’s definitely still potato salad, and not egg salad, but the eggs are nice because they add a different texture, not to mention some protein. Overall, the recipe is a little weird, very simple, and people seem to dig it.

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What’s a gal to do when the beans she was planning on using for the salad nicoise were slimy and slightly fuzzy? Don’t judge me; from my lackadaisical refrigerator-cleaning skills came a dinner of brilliance, I tell ya.

Improvisational cooking often brings about the best meals in our house. Isn’t that a lovely term for the “oh crap, I don’t have the main ingredient for my recipe so I’ll have to reinvent the wheel” meals?

I may not have had the beans, but I did have some broccoli, roasted peppers and sun dried tomatoes, so it didn’t take long before a funky new dinner salad was created.

Roasted Broccoli Salad

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Ingredients:

• 6 small potatoes
• 6-8 sun-dried tomatoes, sliced
• mixed greens (I used romaine and mesclun mix), enough for 4 servings
• broccoli florets, about 5 cups

For the dressing:

• 1/3 cup roasted peppers, pureed
• 2 tablespoons cider vinegar
• 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon dried basil

Begin by tossing the broccoli in olive oil, spreading on a baking sheet and roasting in a 400 degree convection roast or a 425 degree bake oven for about 20 minutes. If you don’t have convection roast, flip once.

Reconstitute sun-dried tomatoes in hot water. Slice just before serving.

Cook the potatoes in the microwave for five to ten minutes, or until just done. Don’t make mushy potatoes.

Whisk together the ingredients for the dressing, and toss everything together.

We served this salad with some grilled orange roughy, which loved the roasted peppers in the dressing — a lot! This was also just as good the next day for lunch. The mesclun greens were slightly wilted but it worked for some reason.

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I am bound and determined to stick to my low-carb diet, but I’m also highly motivated to enjoy every bite of food that enters my mouth. To tell you the truth, it hasn’t been that difficult. I can eat chocolate and drink wine, and as long as I stick to one or two grainy carbs a day (one if I can) then I don’t bloat, and I can pretend I’m the skinny bitch of my dreams.

I feel my best if I eat my carb in the morning, so I usually have half an Ezekiel English muffin and an egg and some fruit, a salad with some sort of protein for lunch and meat and veggies for dinner. And plenty of healthy snacks, I’m not fasting, for crying out loud. Yeah, I make exceptions, but our regular pasta dinners have become few and far between.

We miss them — just a little — so we did a little experiment tonight to see if we could re-create one of our favorite pasta dishes, sans pasta. It was so successful, I think it may have tasted even better than our pasta dish and … carb-less!

Pasta-less Pasta

Ingredients:

• 1 bag baby spinach
• 3 chicken breasts, seasoned, grilled and thinly sliced
• 1 red pepper, chopped
• 1 onion, chopped
• about 1-2 pounds broccoli, in bite-sized pieces
• about 1/2 pound of green beans
• 1 summer squash, chopped
• 1 cup grape tomatoes
• 3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
• 3-4 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 teaspoon dried basil
• 1 teaspoon dried rosemary
• 3/4 teaspoon garlic powder

Roast the red pepper through the summer squash at 400 degrees convection roast for 20 minutes or so (or 425 degrees, flipping halfway through). Meanwhile, whisk together last five ingredients.

Toss everything together and serve. Yum!

I know what you’re thinking: What’s with all the dried herbs, Deb? Don’t you know that fresh are superior? Well, I do, but here’s the thing. I didn’t have fresh herbs, so I went with what I had, and it tasted so good that I didn’t want to substitute the fresh herbs and have you miss out on the experience of what I ate.

Feel free to add  plenty of chopped fresh basil or parsley; I’m sure it could only enhance the recipe. And feel free to roast up some halved garlic cloves with the other veggies, too.

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One of my favorite things to do in this situation is take advantage of my leftovers. Since everyone usually wants something different to eat here, when I cook pasta or rice, I make at least double the amount that’s going to get eaten, and set aside some plain so it can be made into something else another day. In this case, we’re talking brown rice. All you need to make a satisfying lunch is some leftover rice, a couple of veggies that don’t need to be cooked, a protein, and a few seasonings and you’ve got yourself a meal.

Brown rice salad

Ingredients

• 1 – 1 1/2 cups cooked brown rice — or more, no one’s judging!
• 1 can water-packed tuna, drained
• 1 medium carrot, grated
• 1/2 cup frozen peas
• olive oil
• white wine or cider vinegar
• salt and pepper

If your rice is coming straight out of the fridge, stick it in the microwave for just 30 seconds to a minute to take the chill off. Put the frozen peas in a microwave safe dish, add water to cover, and microwave for 1-2 minutes to thaw them out, then drain or just use a slotted spoon to scoop them out.

In a bowl large enough to hold all your ingredients without making a huge mess (as I tend to do) toss together the rice, tuna, carrot and peas, breaking up the tuna a little.

In a smaller bowl whisk together  1/4 cup olive oil, salt and pepper to taste, and at least two tablespoons vinegar. Taste it, you might want to add more. I usually go for almost equal proportions of oil and vinegar, but that might be too tart for some. When your vinaigrette is to your liking, pour it over the salad and give it one last toss. How easy is that?

Obviously this wouldn’t be the world’s easiest if I held you to all those ingredients — that’s the best thing about it. Only the rice and the dressing are essential, and everything else is up to you. You could use hard boiled egg or drained and rinsed canned beans instead of the tuna to make it vegetarian.

Use peppers, corn, olives, chopped tomatoes, fresh herbs, or anything you have on hand instead of the carrots and peas. What, you made too much? Stick it back in the fridge, because all the flavors will meld together and it will only be more delicious the next time you eat it.

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It gets difficult trying to make something different for everyone, but last night I found a way to throw together a meal in almost no time that pleased pretty much everyone’s palates. I had a couple of baked chicken thighs left over from a couple of nights ago, along with a few different veggies waiting to get used up. Combine that with a package of cheese tortellini I had almost forgotten I even had, and my dinner dilemma was solved.

Tortellini with Chicken and Vegetables

Ingredients:

• 1/2 lb cheese-stuffed tortellini
• olive oil
• 2 cloves garlic, peeled and minced or put through a garlic press
• 1 small head of broccoli, cut into bite-sized pieces and rinsed
• 6 mushrooms, cleaned and sliced or quartered
• 1/2 young zucchini, quartered and thinly sliced
• 2 cooked chicken thighs, bones removed and in bite-sized pieces
• sea salt and black pepper, to taste
• 1/4 cup fresh chopped herbs, like parsley or basil (optional)
• freshly grated parmesan cheese, optional

Put a large pot of salted water on to boil for the pasta. While that’s heating, in a large saute pan over medium-low heat add enough olive oil to coat the bottom of the pot, and the garlic. Don’t let it burn!

Add the rest of the vegetables, some salt and pepper, and give it a good toss to coat everything. Cover and let it cook for at least 5-7 minutes, stirring occasionally. I like to let everything get a little browned and crispy, but if that’s not your style, lower the heat or add a few tablespoons of water to the pan, and check it often.

When the veggies are tender, add the chicken just to heat through, and the herbs if using.

When the pasta water is boiling, add the tortellini and cook until al dente, usually only a few minutes. Reserve 1/2 cup of the pasta water and drain the pasta.

Add the tortellini right into the saute pan with the chicken and vegetables along with half of the reserved pasta water. If it still seems dry, add a little more. That’s all there is to it! The parmesan cheese is really optional in this case because the dish already has so much flavor, but I almost always have some grated to pass around the table when I’m serving pasta. I also tend to sprinkle cayenne pepper on top of everything on my plate, but that’s a different story.

I eat almost everything with a green salad, lazy style, but if you’re feeling really lazy, this dish has enough veggies not to feel guilty about skipping it. And it was pretty darn good, if I do say so myself.

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I’m having another one of those weeks. You know, the ones where you don’t actually plan anything for dinner, but instead decide around 5:00 that you’ll whip up something amazing while your kid plays the Wubbzy game on PBS Kids‘ website.

Amazing quickly becomes palatable, and you thank your lucky stars that you had the forethought to buy fresh herbs earlier in the week because everything is better with fresh herbs. And since you just bought some chicken wings for your dog and they are the only thing defrosted, you might as well throw some on the grill with a little BBQ sauce for the people in your household.

To go with them, how about a black bean and corn salad? It’s easy, tasty and nutritious, and pretty filling so you don’t need to cook a gazillion side dishes.

Black Bean Corn Salad

Ingredients:

• 1 cup frozen corn kernels, defrosted
• 1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
• 1/3 cup chopped fresh cilantro
• 1 small onion, chopped, slightly cooked if you prefer
• 1 red pepper, chopped
• 2 tablespoons cider vinegar
• 1 tablespoon lime juice
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• baby spinach or your favorite greens

Toss together first five ingredients in a bowl. Whisk together the vinegar, lime juice and olive oil. Pour over ingredients in bowl. It will look like a lot of dressing, but you’ll want it for the next step. Serve over spinach or your choice of greens — see, now the extra dressing coats the greens and it’s big on the yum factor.

And if you’ve got some extra chicken wings laying around, serve ‘em up.

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I LOVE sardines!  In fact, I’m always trying to find new ways of eating and cooking with them.   I had a hankering for these small oily fish just the other day, but I also wanted something fresh and cool to balance it out.  So, I came up with a very satisfying Sardine Salad.

I’m often inspired to work within the limits of what I have in my fridge and pantry, and this dish was no different.  I use sardines that are skinless, boneless and packed in olive oil.  You can find them at Trader Joe’s for $1.99 per tin — a real bargain as far as I’m concerned.  I usually have them on hand so they can be added to pasta or eaten simply with lemon juice, salt, pepper and a delicious crusty bread.  But, I digress.  Let’s talk salad!

Sardine Salad

Ingredients:

• 1 tin of boneless, skinless sardines packed in olive oil
• 1 cup of hothouse cucumbers, seeded and diced
• 8-10 grape or cherry tomatoes, cut in half
• 1/4 cup of sweet peppers (red & yellow), diced
• 1/4 cup of carrot, diced
• 2 tablespoons of red onions, finely diced
• 1/4 cup of celery, diced
• 10-12 pitted Kalamata olives, quartered
• 3/4 cup of garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
• 1-2 tablespoons of lemon juice, to taste
• 2-3 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
• Salt & pepper to taste

This is so easy!  Combine all the chopped veggies (which should be cut to approximately the same size) with the beans and olives into a bowl.  Remove the sardines from the tin and reserve some of the oil.  Add them to the salad and break up the sardines into chunks as you go.  You don’t want them to come completely apart.  Then add your lemon juice, olive oil (including the oil from the sardine tin), salt and pepper to the mixture.  Another toss, another taste, and you’re done!

I find this salad extremely satisfying, and had it as my dinner one evening with some wonderful rustic bread. The vegetables add a wonderful crunch, while the olives provide a briny note.  The sardines are what add real depth and round out the entire dish.  Nothing is easier, earthier or more delicious than a simple salad enhanced by a robust sardine companion!

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Pork & Shrimp Fried Rice

I don’t know anyone who doesn’t LOVE fried rice — even fellow Clacker Jeff has shared his recipe for Grouse fried rice with us. My feeling is that rice is good any way you fix it. My best friend is Filipina, and when we lived together in college, she would make delicious fried rice for breakfast at least once a week. It may seem like an odd choice for breakfast, but it’s a great way to start the day. Think about it — you get eggs, meat, veggies and protein. It’s nutritious brain food, I say!

What I love about this particular dish is that you can improvise with whatever you have in the fridge and freezer. Fried rice is all about the leftovers. Trying to use up those veggies and chicken from last night’s dinner? Then, I offer you fried rice.

I’m a lover of pork, but for those who aren’t, this fried rice can be made sans piggy. Simply add to it whatever inspires you, for a tasty and satisfying meal any time. OK, it goes quickly, so pay attention:

Pork and Shrimp Fried Rice

Ingredients:

• 4 cups day old cooked rice (white or brown is fine)
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1/2 cup frozen peas
• 1/2 cup frozen corn or carrots
• 1/2 cup onions, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 4 oz Chinese barbequed pork, diced (you can find this at Trader Joe’s now)
• 6 oz. shrimp, peeled and deveined
• 2 tablespoons sesame or vegetable oil
• 3 tablespoons soy sauce, or to taste
• pepper to taste

Begin by cooking the pork in a tiny bit of oil in a wok or large skillet over medium high heat.  It should be cooked through in about 8 minutes or so depending how large the dice is.   Once it’s cooked, remove it from the pan and set it aside.

Leave the pork drippings in the pan and add more oil and the onions, letting them cook for about 3 minutes.  Add the garlic and cook for another minute, making sure not to burn it.  Add the frozen peas, corn and/or carrots and sautee another few minutes until they are thawed through.

At this point, you can add the shrimp.  They will cook very quickly — in about 3-4 minutes.  Add back the pork, the rice , the soy sauce and a dash of pepper. Mix it well.  Then let it sit in the pan for a few minutes while the rice absorbs the flavors and gets a little crunchy.

Now make a well in the middle of  the mixture with your spoon.  Add the beaten eggs to the well and scramble them directly into the pan.  Once they’ve cooked through, give the entire mixture another good toss, and taste it to see if you need additional soy sauce.  You’re done.  Now it’s time to eat!

I think you’ll become addicted to this simple dish.  I look forward to hearing what unique ingredients you decided to use in your fried rice.  Until then, I wish you FOODLOVE!

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It was crunch time… about 5:15 and I needed a side dish to serve with the grilled orange roughy Keith was so painstakingly cooking out on the deck. I like to think of myself as an organized, prepared person, but somehow the planning for tonight’s menu went south.

I had chick peas and several veggies. I wasn’t in the mood for my usual chick pea and carrot salad, with raisins and curry. After perusing the internet for a bit, I found several recipes that had a more Mediterranean flavor, so with that inspiration in mind, and Molly’s easy dressing philosophy, I set off for the kitchen, and this is what resulted:

Mediterranean Chick Pea Salad

Ingredients:

• 1 can chick peas, rinsed and drained
• 1/2 cup grape tomatoes
• 1/2 small onion, chopped
• feta cheese crumbles
• Kalamata olives (about 1/3 cup)
• red wine vinegar
• extra virgin olive oil
• assorted greens

Microwave the onion for 1 minute in olive oil (I probably used 2 tablespoons), and then toss that with the chick peas, tomatoes, and olives. Sprinkle with red wine vinegar to taste; I probably uses 2-3 tablespoons.

Once you’ve gotten the perfect balance of tang for your taste buds, toss in some feta and serve on a bed of greens.

Variations

If I had roasted peppers, they would have gone into the recipe, no doubt. And if I weren’t so determined to create a chick pea salad different from the carrot one, I would probably have added dried currants as well (to close to raisins for my taste that night, I guess).

This recipe was so easy and amazingly delicious. I was glad to have chosen the flavors I did — this chick pea salad hit the spot. One little tip — it was even tastier the next day as leftovers, because it got warmed with the fish. A little heat brought out the flavors and melded them to perfection.

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Jeff’s back Guest-clacking for us again, after sharing his Ultimate Burger recipe with us last week….

How many times have you gotten home after a long hard day of work, exhausted and to tired to cook? I have here some of my favorite and fast dinner recipes that are guaranteed to fill you up and stick to your ribs.
Manwich Spaghetti

Prep time: About 20 minutes
Servings: How many of you are there, and how hungry are you? This makes enough for me and Bo for dinner.

Ingredients:

• 1 13.5 ounce can Hunt’s Manwich sauce
• 1 pound ground beef
• 1/2 medium size onion
• 1 pound spaghetti noodles
• Johnny’s seasoning salt
• garlic powder
• salt and pepper

Start a large pan of water boiling for the noodles.  Now, I was raised to add a little vegetable oil to the water to keep the noodles from sticking together during cooking, so I put just a splash of oil in the water and a dash of salt. I have seen some chefs say not to add oil because it prevents the noodles from absorbing the flavor of the sauce.  You decide which way is best for you.

In a medium frying pan, melt 2 tablespoons of butter or margarine, whichever you prefer, and dice up the onion. When the butter is melted, add the diced onion and saute the onion until it start to turn translucent. Add the ground beef to the onions, and season to taste with the Johnny’s seasoning salt.

When the water in the large pan for the noodles is at a good rolling boil, add in the noodles and let them boil for 10 minutes. Stir the noodles occasionally to prevent them from sticking to the pan. Depending on how firm you like your noodles cooked you may want to boil them for more or less time.

Stir the ground beef frequently while it is browning. Once the beef is completely browned add the can of Hunt’s Manwich sauce and 1/3 can of water to the pan. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer until the noodles are done.

When the noodles are done, drain them and return them to the pan. Add the sauce and mix. let the noodles and sauce simmer for a few minutes and it will be ready to eat. Serve with a sprinkling of your favorite grated cheese and some French or garlic bread and you have a good meal that is filling and tasty.

Chili rice

How many of you read Ms. Molly’s post about brown rice in the oven?  I did. It sounded good so on my last trip to the Walmart I picked up some brown rice and tried it. I never tried making brown rice on the stove so I don’t know if this is easier or not, but it worked pretty good and the rice was good too.  Now, with the leftover rice in the fridge what do you do with it?

Bo was in favor of just setting the pan on the floor where he could clean it up for me, but I don’t think that crazy dog needed that much brown rice.  I decided to add the rice to a can of chili. Later I will give you my chili recipe that will make your mouth water like a baby cutting teeth, but for now any can of store-bought chili you have will do. Heat up the chili, mix in the rice and simmer it until it is hot and you have dinner.  Add some seasoned fries, grated cheese, and it’s a gourmet meal.

Refrigerator Goulash

This is really one of my favorites.  Get out a large pan, throw in a can of baked beans, and whatever leftovers  are in the refrigerator. Slice up some hot dogs, or that can of Spam you have been saving for a special occasion, some onion, a few slices of sandwich cheese and you are set.  The leftover brown rice would be good for this one too.

All three of these are tasty and easy to make, and they do not take much longer than heating up a can of Spaghetti O’s, but they sure taste a lot better.

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I looked for a way to increase my fruit and dairy intake easily and was pointed by a few friends in the direction of smoothies.

Let’s continue our Rookie Cook lessons with 105 – Smoothies.

Lucky for me, smoothies are extremely easy to make. Actually, the longest and most complicated part of the recipe is the cleaning of my smoothie maker!

The first time I made smoothies, I tried to follow a recipe given to me by a friend. However, over the years, I’ve learned not to follow smoothie recipes at all. I use instinct and what’s available in the fridge/freezer. It actually helped me clean out the refrigerator a few times when all was left in there were things like milk, yogurt and frozen fruits.

One of my favorite smoothie is made of a cup of plain yogurt, a banana, about a cup of frozen raspberries, 2 tablespoons or so of peanut butter and a cup of orange juice. It tastes like peanut butter and jam toasts with bananas on top … yummy!

To make smoothies, I mostly use yogurt, milk, soy milk and/or juice mixed with frozen fruits. Personally, I stay away from anything tofu related as I don’t enjoy the taste — somehow I can still taste it even if I try to hide it as much as possible in the recipe.

Do you like to drink smoothies? What are your favorite ones? Is there a trick you know that would definitely hide the smell and taste of tofu in the smoothie? Share your recipes with us below.

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Yesterday was one of those days. OK, this week was one of those weeks: I didn’t make my usually weekly menu and plan for the dinners each night, so when I got to last night’s meal (late, after Owen’s karate class!), I was thinking of opening a can of soup and being done with it.

Inspiration struck, though, and I came up with one of my famous clean-out-the-refrigerator meals … you know, those meals that come out spectacular and unique because you didn’t plan them, you used no recipe and you used only the ingredients you had on the house.

Luckily, I had been to BJ’s last weekend and had a decent amount of veggies left over, and some ancient oranges that finally found a use.

Asian Chicken Salad

Marinade Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup rice vinegar
• 2 tablespoons tamari (or soy sauce, or the like)
• 1 tablespoon frozen orange juice concentrate
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, sliced into thin strips

Mix the first four ingredients, the add to chicken and marinate. Here’s another speedy trick: I received one of those speed marinators for Christmas, the kind that you suck all the air out of so it opens up the pores of the meat and lets it absorb the flavors quickly. Well, it works, and I only marinated my chicken strips for about ten minutes, while I was chopping veggies. Then I stir-fried the chicken over medium high heat until cooked through.

Salad Ingredients:

• baby Romaine lettuce mix
• chopped red pepper
• carrots, sliced on the diagonal
• small florets of broccoli
• sugar snap peas
• fresh chopped cilantro
• sesame seeds
• one orange, cut into small segments

You can use whatever salad fixin’s you’ve got handy, but I know I was wishing I had sprouts and radishes, too.

Dressing Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons rice vinegar
• 2 teaspoons tamari
• 1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
• 2 tablespoons olive oil

Toss salad ingredients with mixed dressing, top with cooked chicken, toss again and serve.

This was easy, fast and prepared with the crazy-good stuff I had sitting in my fridge. Not every clean-out-the-refrigerator meal is chock-full of fresh veggies, but in this case, it worked.

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