Simple Summer Dinner

So often I try to get creative with food and make something "really good." Maybe it's my history of growing up in a restaurant and eating out all the time. I was eating really good food all the time. We ate all kinds of ethnic food and delicious prepared meals. Nothing was plain or boring and I guess I wish I could still eat like this.

There are a few of problems with this. One is time. It takes a lot a time to create meals like this on a consistent basis. Not to mention needing a ton of special ingredients that you may never use again. The main problem is the kids. They often want to eat raw veggies when they won't eat them cooked and they usually like foods that are simple.

So what's a mom to do? Make it easy on herself that's what! For dinner I put a pork roast in the oven with some baked potatoes (I don't wrap them in foil or doing anything special to them). I walked away and in an hour I added some chopped up tomatoes I got from the farmers market and some pickled cucumbers from our garden. So easy!

The recipe for the cucumbers I got from the cookbook Desperation Entertaining. Of course I made some changes to it to make it a bit healthier.

Pickled Cucumbers

Serves 8

1/2 cup vinegar

1-2 tablespoons agave (depending on how sweet you want it)

1 tablespoon olive oil

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

2 medium cucumbers

Make the dresing. Thinly slice the cucumbers. Put the cucumbers in a shallow serving bowl and pour the dressing over the slices. Serve with a slotted spon to drain off the salad dresing.

Don't Like Broccoli? Try this!

I made this for dinner tonight and my husband, who literally gags on broccoli, ate it and said, "wow, that's not bad." I can't ask for anything more than that!

I got the recipe from Cat Cora's book Cooking from the Hip. I made the vegetarian version with the olive oil dressing option. I used agave instead of sugar. I was a little worried about the curry thinking it might be overwhelming but honestly it didn't even have a curry flavor so you might want to taste it and add a bit more if you like that sort of thing. Here is the recipe:

Curried Broccoli Salad

2 Tbl kosher salt (I used Celtic)

2 lbs broccoli florets (from about 3 bunches broccoli)

1 cup chopped, toasted pecans

1 cup raisins (you're supposed to use currants but I didn't have any)

1/2 cup hulled sunflower seeds

1 medium red onion, finely chopped

Fill a large pot of water and put it over high heat to boil. Fill a large bowl or your sink with ice and cold water.

When the water boils, add the salt and the broccoli. Cook for 1 to 2 minutes, or until the broccoli is bright green and still somewhat firm, barely tender enough to pierce with a knife. Use a long-handled strainer or tongs to transfer the broccoli to the ice-water bath. After 2 to 3 minutes, remove the broccoli from the ice water and place in a colander to drain. Line a bowl with paper towels, transfer the broccoli to the bowl, and set aside to drain.

Chop the broccoli coarsely. Place in a large serving bowl with the pecans, raisins, sunflower seeds, and red onion.

Dressing
1/4 cup plus 2 Tbl rice wine vinegar
1 1/2 Tbl sugar (I used 1 Tbl agave)
2 tsp Madras curry powder
1/4 tsp kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

In a large bowl, mix the vinegar and the agave together until the sugar is dissolved. Whisk in the curry powder, the salt, and pepper to taste. Continue whisking and very slowly drizzle the olive oil into the vinegar mixture until all the oil is incorporated. Taste and add more salt and pepper, if desired, ten set the dressing aside and prepare the broccoli.

Pour the dressing evenly over the salad, tossing lightly to mix thoroughly. Chill for 1 to 2 hours before serving.

5 Minute Lunch

I was looking for a fast and easy salad I could make for lunch and I came up with this recipe. It was really delicious and I enjoyed every mouthful!

Spinach Raspberry Salad
Spinach Leaves
Canned Wild Salmon
Pecans, Chopped
Red Onions, sliced
Feta Cheese Crumbles
Raspberries

Dressing- I combined a pomegranate vinegar with olive oil, salt, pepper and fresh minced garlic. You could use a raspberry vinegar too.