and the boyfriend ordered...salad?

MANLY salad, I might add!


Ken was having major regrets after eating a Carl's Jr. hamburger yesterday and when he arrived for dinner at my house the request was, "something healthy...maybe a salad?"   And because when it comes to food my man gets what he wants!  So we had salad.  ...A nice butch steak salad. 

Black and Bleu Salad

1 bag of ready greens 

1 lb of any type of steak you like (NY, t-bone, flank, whatever)

1 carrot, peeled into strips with a veggie peeler (my personal favorite way to prepare carrots for a salad)

2-3 button mushrooms, sliced

2 slices of red onion

1 avocado, pitted, peeled and sliced

1 big hunk of bleu cheese *

salt

pepper

Canola oil

Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees.  Salt and pepper the steak on both sides very liberally (I prefer a SUPER peppery steak.)  Heat a cast iron skillet (or any oven proof skillet) until the pan smokes.  Add a bit of canola oil to the pan.  Place the steak in the pan and sear on one side for 3-4 minutes.  Flip the steak, let it sear for 2 minutes, then transfer the pan to the oven for 10-15 minutes (depending on your preferred doneness.)  When you remove the steak from the oven, let it rest on a cutting board for 5 minutes before you slice into it.

Arrange all your salad veggies in a bowl.  Top with steak, a good dose of bleu cheese and this super simple, use-it-for-everything salad dressing:

Salad Dressing

2-3 T. balsamic vinegar  (or sherry vinegar, or apple cider vinegar)

1 teaspoon dijon mustard

3-4 T. good olive oil

salt 

pepper

Create a nest for your salad dressing bowl -- twist a dish towel (like you are going to whip someone with a wet towel in the locker room) and form a circle with it on your countertop.  Place your salad dressing bowl in the middle of the circle, this way when you poor the oil and whisk the dressing at the same time you bowl won't wobble all over the place.  Combine vinegar, dijon mustard, salt and pepper in a bowl.  Pour a steady stream of olive oil while you whisk it all together.  Add more salt or pepper to taste.  

Top your salad with your homemade dressing and enjoy!

* If you don't like bleu you can use feta...but then it would be "Black and Feta Salad" and that's not nearly as catchy.

Get your greens...and your beans!

First of many food posts (prepare yourselves...)

Quite possibly the longest week ever. On top of it being a very slow production week at work, I ended up catching a cold from riding the BART to the city last weekend and took a sick day in the middle of the week. Spent it re-watching favorite j-dramas and drinking a copious amounts of miso soup (best recovery food!) Ended out the week with a headache...ugh.

Nothing helps me unwind better than cooking, and since the weather is looking like rain, soup was on the menu again. This is quite simply the easiest and heartiest soup on my go-to list.

Greens & Beans Soup

1 package hot (or sweet) italian turkey sausage

1 bunch of kale, washed, de-stemmed and chopped into bite-size pieces

1 can of cannellini beans, rinsed (white kidney beans, or something similar)

6 cups of low sodium chicken or veggie stock (homemade is preferable...but canned is easier)

1 yellow onion, chopped

2 cloves of garlic, minced

1 teaspoon hot chili flakes

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon black pepper

olive oil

Brown the sausages whole in a soup pot with a little olive oil (I love my le creuset stock pot more than life itself and highly recommend investing in one, or many.) Set the sausages aside on a plate lined with paper towels when they are done. Add a little more olive oil to the pot if you need to and saute the onions and garlic with the hot pepper flakes, salt and black pepper. Just before the onions get translucent add the stock and heat through. Slice the sausage into little rounds. Add the sausage, kale and beans to the stock; stir and cover. When the kale is wilted and cooked (about 3-5 minutes) it's done.

This soup freezes incredibly well. I usually freeze about two portions of this in glass jars for "oh crap, I forgot to make my lunch!" moments in the morning before work. ...which happens to me a lot.

the beginning is the end is the beginning...

There is a beginning to everything, I suppose...

Here goes nothing!