Yeah, yeah, yeah...the posts here lately have gone a little "lite." I guess that's what happens when one is distracted by giddiness. (Even when the object thereof keeps asking, "Did you blog today? Why not? I like to read your blog! Go blog!") But en route to recovering my gravitas, here are a couple of really easy salad recipes perfect for days like today, when the mercury is in the 90's, you can almost grab a handful of humid air, and you're looking for food you can just pull out of the refrigerator.
Lemon Slaw
an 8-oz. bag of coleslaw mix
1/4 cup buttermilk
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1 TBS minced chives
a few pinches of a favorite herb (try thyme, lemon thyme or dill) if you wish
1 tsp or so lemon zest
1 TBS or so lemon juice
sugar or sugar substitute to taste
salt to taste
some generous grinds of pepper
Place coleslaw in a large bowl. Mix remaining ingredients in a smaller bowl; taste and adjust seasonings to your liking. Pour over slaw mix and toss. Refrigerate.
Easy Spaghetti Salad
half a pound of raw spaghetti (I like whole wheat), cooked
1/4 cup Catalina dressing
1/4 cup "zesty" Italian dressing
1/2 cucumber, diced
1 medium tomato, diced
if you wish, some diced bell pepper or strips of jarred roasted peppers -- the kind canned with garlic
McCormick's Salad Supreme seasoning to taste, or celery seed
some generous grinds of pepper
Mix everything together and refrigerate. This tastes better the next day.
9 comments:
Ahhh - so many times you provide food for the soul - now food for the tummy! I needed that slaw recipe to use up the buttermilk we have.
hey, did I miss something??? The recipes sound yummy, but I want to hear more about the object of your giddiness!
Well...out of respect for our joint and individual privacy, all I can say is that my social life has taken an unexpected upturn.;-) (And in the process my dog's life has as well, thanks to his two new big blonde retriever gal pals and a large, grumpy cat who, inexplicably, seems to have adopted him as a "brother-man." LOL)
Thanks for the recipes LC. Living by myself its always nice to find easy recipes especially for these hot days. I wish my social life would take an upturn. Congrats and have a great day!
Sounds like a very happy and content household, filled with good food, good friends, and love.
Blessings to you!
Your recipes sound great. Looking forward to trying at least one of them.
I find that even when I make cole slaw,like your Spaghetti Salad, it tastes better the next day, after everything has had a chance to soak in. Sometimes we need that time as well in our lives. See what you sparked!!!!!!!
Thanks for sharing.
Whether you're indulging in cole slaw, spaghetti salad or the object of your affections--ENJOY!!
Blessings!
Glad to hear you're having a good summer :)y
Verdugo: Two households -- but the "kids" hang out together when we do, and stay together when we go on day trips. And the rest is true.;-) (We have fun playing Dueling Chefs on weekends.)
For any foodies reading this...as St. I points out, the slaw is better the next day -- in my case, the lemon flavor really intensifies. I was trying to replicate the flavor of coleslaw I ate in a white-tablecloth restaurant awhile back as accompaniment to broiled salmon, and this comes awfully close...better, in fact. I riffed off a recipe on the Epicurious website...the original called for Savoy cabbage, which would be a nice alternative also.
Today I had the remainder with a fried chicken breast. Now, my people are not a fried-chicken people -- I hardly ever had it as a kid -- so I kind of riffed on this as well. I mixed flour with some of my herbs on hand -- thyme, rosemary, marjoram, savory, sage -- a dash or two of nutmeg, some ground pepper and salt -- shook the chicken breast in that, then dipped it in my leftover buttermilk, then shook it again in the flour, then fried it in a modest amount of canola oil. I've always thought that Southern-style chicken required massive quantities of fat, but this chicken came out perfect with very little oil. Anyway, paired with the slaw, it was terrific. And Traverse City cherries for dessert.
My next culinary endeavor: My mom's hot German potato salad, using fingerling potatoes, and a side dish of pickled beets, both veggies from the farmers' market. Kind of an ethnic pride thing. Reminds me of this time of year during my childhood, when it was haying season and my mom was in the kitchen constantly cooking up these substantial meals for Dad and the haying crew...and later for me when I became the haying crew.;-) Picnic hams, pork steak, baked chicken, burgers, pork roast, chuck roast cooked with onion soup in foil, fried fish...always with sides like hot potato salad.
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