This weekend Brian came home with a gigantic bag of Meyer lemons from his parent’s tree. Before he took them to a buddy at work who makes homemade Limoncello, I snagged a few for myself and decided to infuse some olive oil with the lemon rind.
Making your own flavor-infused olive oils is simple – so easy that I think I’m probably the last one to the party. The whole process takes about 5 minutes, and the final product has tons of uses. Use it in salad dressings or over the top of your favorite pasta dish. Last night I used it to brush chicken breasts before throwing them on the grill, and the oil added subtle, tasty flavor.
You could add chiles, peppercorns, garlic, or herbs to the oil too. Get creative! This would make a thoughtful homemade hostess gift as well.
Lemon-Infused Olive Oil
Serves: Makes 1 cup of flavored oil
Ingredients:
- 1 cup of your favorite olive oil – I used an inexpensive bottle from Trader Joe’s
- 1-2 tablespoons of Meyer lemon zest (about 2 medium lemons)
Directions:
Using a microplane or the finest grate of a box grater, zest two lemons being careful to only grate off the yellow part of the zest – the white pith is really bitter. Toss the zest and oil in a mason jar, shake and let it sit for 24-48 hours. Using a fine mesh sieve, strain out the bits of zest and you’ll be left with delicious lemony oil. Enjoy!
- Hill
Categories: Ingredients
Tagged: easy, fresh, lemon, no cook, olive oil, summer
February 22, 2010 · 1 Comment
Cowboy Ciao’s Stetson Salad
I first visited Cowboy Ciao in Scottsdale, Arizona a few years ago with a group of girlfriends. We started our meal with the Stetson Chopped Salad and loved it so much that we tracked down the recipe when we got home. Last week, my Mom and I had dinner again at Cowboy Ciao and were thrilled to see that the salad was still on their menu. It was just as good as I had remembered, and tasted very similar to the replica we’ve been making at home for the past few years. ENJOY!
Serves: 6
Meaty Monitor: Meaty enough to be your main.
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Categories: Dressings · Main dish salads · Restuarant salad reviews
Tagged: basil, dip, low-cal, low-fat
Okay, confession: I am not a Big Mac (or red meat) person at all so the “better than” part might be a bit of a stretch, but this salad has everything fabulous that you’ll find in a burger that you won’t see on your you-know-what the next day. In fact, if you are a Weight Watcher, this is a low point (approx 4 points with a low-cal dressing), go-to hearty recipe that you’ll love. The best part about this salad: the Gardenburger adds a fabulous nutty flavor without the added fat and calories that come with real nuts, and some fantastic crunch (be sure to griddle the heck out of that patty). It is one of my all time favorites, especially when I’m dieting.
Gardenburger Salad
Serves: 1
Meaty Monitor: Perfect for lunch.
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Categories: Main dish salads · Uncategorized
Tagged: feta, Gardenburger, goat cheese, low-cal, lunch, quick and easy, tomato, vegetarian
After a gluttonous weekend of rich dinners (Whole Hog at Oliveto just about blew my mind) and SuperBowl snacks, I was craving a big healthy salad for dinner last night. I love love love blue cheese dressing, and hate hate hate low-fat blue cheese dressing out of the bottle. It always has a slimy texture and is just kind of gross.
So…I did some Googling, made a quick trip to the store, and got out my blender. After a few tweaks, the result was low-fat blue cheese dressing that was damn delish (if I do say so myself). I served it over a big entree-sized salad of greens, vegis and grilled chicken. Yum. This would make a great low-fat dip too — wish I would have thought of that before SuperBowl Sunday!
Low-Fat Blue Cheese Dressing
Serves: This recipe makes 2+ cups of dressing.
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Categories: Dressings
Tagged: blue cheese, dressing, low-fat, no cook, quick and easy
February 4, 2010 · 1 Comment
Like many people who care about what they put in their mouth, I often struggle to find a balance between the warm and fuzzies of eating sustainably, and the need for convenience. I’m not alone. Even Oprah dedicated a whole hour to the subject last week. Factor in the creeping budgetary concerns over how much I sometimes spend on groceries (Whole Paycheck! Diablo Foods!) and the equation gets even more complicated. So, I’ve decided to test out two food services this week that I’m calling “Convenient Sustainability.”
First, next Thursday I will receive my first fruit & vegi delivery from Farm Fresh to You. That’s right, the lazy man’s farmer’s market. New salad fixins to try out, plus the ability to Google exotic looking fruits and vegis in the privacy of my own kitchen. And I get to sleep in on Saturday. I have high hopes!
Second – and not to get all Kate Gosselin on you – we bought a 10 lb. share of an organic CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) hog, courtesy of Live Culture Co’s Groundhog Day Event. That’s a lot of pork, but its conveniently packed for freezing. I pick up our shares of bacon, pork chops and sausage this Saturday in Oakland. Stay tuned for some bacon-laced salad recipes!
Coincidentally on Saturday night, we’re going to Oliveto’s Whole Hog Dinner in Oakland with the friends who turned us onto the pork shares. Its gonna be a piggy weekend.
I’ll report back on both services, and would love to hear from you all about other convenient ways to shop sustainably.
- Hill
Categories: Ingredients
Tagged: bacon, convenient, easy, farmer's market, fresh, summer, sustainable, winter
