SUNOMONO

When I was growing up, my mother used to thinly slice cucumbers and onions, mix them together with some apple cider vinegar and sugar, and serve them as a freshly pickled salad for dinner.  Of course, your Grandmother Munroe had never heard of "sunomono" but I did after marrying Dad.  I have a favorite cookbook that is no longer in print called Japanese Country Cookbook.  Years ago, Carol Gardner recommended it to me.  In it, I found a very basic and simple recipe for sunomono dressing with just three essential ingredients: 6 T vinegar, 2 T sugar, and 1 tsp. shoyu (soy sauce).

If you use rice vinegar, keep in mind that it is weaker than other vinegars and you may have to use more to get the proper acidity.  I usually use the apple cider vinegar that I love and grew up on. (The only thing I use white vinegar for is cleaning!)  Adjust the ingredients to meet your taste preferences (I usually add more sugar, about 3 T instead of 2T) and experiment with using it on other fresh veggies if you like.  At some point in time, Dad and I started adding toasted sesame seed to the mix and we like it that way, too.  We always used yellow onions but  the only onions we could get in India were red ones that are a bit sweeter and we developed a taste for them.  Experiment and come up with something you like.  It seems better when it sits for a few hours or overnight.

Peel the cucumbers?  We did!  If you buy an English cucumber, you don't have to worry about the seeds and may not bother with the peeling either.  Make it your own and enjoy!

Southwest Rice and Bean Salad

Not the catchiest name, but it's descriptive. :) I've been looking for more cold recipes for the hot, hot summer and this one's a nice one.

1 cup short/medium grain rice (uncooked)
1 1/2 cups cooked pinto beans or one 15-oz can, drained and rinsed
3 1/2 Tbs lime juice, divided
1 medium bell pepper (red or yellow for sweetness), diced
1 cup cherry or grape tomatoes, halved
3 cloves garlic
2 1/2 Tbs olive oil
3/4 cup coarsely chopped cilantro
1/4 cup chunky salsa, whichever you like

1. Cook the rice.
2. While the rice is cooking, toss the pinto beans, bell pepper, and tomatoes in a big bowl with about half the lime juice.
3. In a small bowl, press the garlic and whisk together with the oil and the rest of the lime juice, season with salt and pepper if you want, then pour it on your beans 'n' veggies.
4. Add a bunch of cilantro. Stir everything.
5. When the rice is done, rinse it with cold water to cool it off, shake out all the water you can, and add it to everything else. Add the salsa, stir and serve.

It makes a decent amount of food--enough for two adults and three kids to have plenty. They also say you can fill it out with some corn, avocados, and/or pumpkin seeds to make it a heftier meal. I think pumpkins seeds, especially, would be a great addition. We'll have to work on that.

Of course, the spice factor depends on what kind of salsa you're into. It's not really spicy besides that. We used a medium fire-roasted salsa and liked it, and most of us put a little extra on top after serving.

Thai Lettuce Cups

This is one of our favorites and I don't think I've ever posted it. It's a two-parter but neither part is very hard at all.

Cucumber Relish:
1 cucumber, diced small (about 1 1/2 cups)
1/4 cup roasted peanuts, finely chopped but really I don't usually chop them
3 Tbs rice vinegar

Mix all three in a smallish bowl and put it in the fridge to chill while you make the filling


Lettuce Cups:
One head of boston or butter lettuce--just separate and wash the leaves. You probably didn't need instructions for that.


Filling:
1 Tbs olive oil
1/2 cup onion, finely chopped
1 cup frozen corn
12 ounces soy crumbles or your favorite ground meat
1/2 tsp Thai red chili paste (I use Thai kitchen, it's pretty common)

1. Heat oil in large non-stick skillet on medium-high. Add onion and cook 5 minutes or so until it browns. If you're doing meat, throw that in there and brown it at the same time. Or . . .
2. Add crumbles and corn and cook until nice and hot. Several minutes if they're frozen, 1 or 2 minutes if they're thawed.
3. Add chili paste and cook 3 minutes or so. The chili paste likes to clump up so make sure to stir it well. Season with salt and pepper, add the green onions, and remove from heat.

To serve, put generous spoonfuls of filling and relish on a lettuce leaf, fold it like a soft taco and eat. Or just tear up your lettuce and make some sort of Thai taco salad. ;)

By the way, I made our blog pages search-able so hopefully our personal 'search blog' gadget will start to work better.

Three Bean Salad

Three Bean Salad

When Glynne was born, Dad was serving with the US Army in Germany and I lived with my parents while he was there.  One of the families at church, the Fishers, sometimes invited him to dinner.  This is one of the dishes he ate in their home and Sister Fisher gave Dad the recipe to send to me.  It has been a family favorite ever since.  Bean salads continue to be popular to this day and many variations can be found on the Internet but this is the one that has become part of our family food history.  It became one of Grandma Munroe's (my mother) favorites, too.

1   16-oz. can French cut green beans
1   16-oz. can chick peas (same as garbanzo beans)
1   15-oz. can kidney beans (dark or light - whatever you prefer)
 ½  cup chopped onion

 ½  cup chopped green pepper

Dressing:    ½ cup vegetable oil

                    ½ cup apple cider vinegar

                    ¾ cup sugar  (use less if you want to)

                    1  teaspoon salt

                    ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper

                   

 Drain the liquid from the beans before using.  I rinse the kidney beans so the dressing won't become cloudy.  Gently mix the beans together.  Mix the dressing and pour over the bean mixture, stirring gently.  I chill this salad for, at least, an hour to let the flavors mix.

*  Wax beans can be substituted for the chick peas if you prefer.  Sometimes, I add them to make a four bean salad.  This salad is wonderful the second day and we sometimes add another can of beans just to enjoy the flavor of the dressing a little longer.

 

Creamy Coleslaw

Creamy Coleslaw

This is a Better Homes and Gardens recipe from a book called Good Food on a Budget that was published in 1971, and it was my standard go-to recipe for coleslaw as you kids were growing up.  I wrote in my cookbook that it was "a family favorite."  Glynne said that he was looking for a good coleslaw recipe so I'm hoping this will be one that he remembers.

3 cups shredded cabbage

*** This recipe doesn't call for carrots but I know that I put them in.  I probably put 1/3 to 2/3 as much shredded carrot as shredded cabbage.  You will have to adjust the ingredient amounts to suite your taste, using a bit more dressing if needed.

1/3 cup finely chopped onion

1/2 cup salad dressing (I always used Miracle Whip) or mayonnaise

1 tablespoon sugar

1 tablespoon vinegar (I always use Apple Cider Vinegar)

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon celery seed (It really makes a difference)

1 small green pepper, cut in rings (optional) (I never used this garnish but you might want to)

Combine cabbage and onion.  Blend salad dressing, sugar, vinegar, and celery seed.  Pour over vegetables and toss.  Top with green pepper.  Makes 6 servings.   

Thanksgiving yummies!

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Dad Walley asked for my cranberry salad recipe, so I figured I'd give it and Crislyn's Banana Bread recipe. :) (The pumpkin bread came from the recipe book I cited in the response to Glynne's inquiry into bread machines, and the pie from the Libby pumpkin filling can, with spices altered to make me happy.)

Grandma Watts' Cranberry Salad


1/2 C Walnuts
2 C Cranberries (whole berry)
1 large orange, thinly sliced, thin skinned (I used most of 1 can of Mandarin oranges, drained)
1 apple, unpealed  (I used 2 Pink Lady apples- Pink Lady for sweetness, 2 for their size)
1C celery, diced  (I loathe celery & used well rinsed water chestnuts, slightly < 1C)
1/2 C sugar
3 oz lemon jello
3/4 C boiling water


Chop cranberries, orange, and apple in a food processor  
(cran become mush so quickly, I only did 1/2 of them)
Add celery, nuts, and sugar to mixture
Let set
Disolve jell-o into water
Add to fruit mixture
Pour into 9" square cake pan  (oops, I didn't read this part and did in a 9"x13", still tasty)
---------------------------------------------------------
Note: I love, love, love banana bread and have tried lots of recipes. I love this one so much I told my Grandma Watts I think it's the best. This may have been unwise, but it is the truth! I've made this with real butter and with margarine. It is yummy either way. I also use excessive vanilla in anything requiring it, but that's just me. This recipe can be halved into two bread pans to make two small loaves, or you can make one full sized bread loaf with it. The photo shows it as a small loaf.

Crislyn’sBanana Nut Bread

2 cupsFlour

2 Eggs

1 1/2 cupsSugar

1 teaspoonBaking Soda

1 1/2teaspoon Baking Powder

1 heapingteaspoon Cinnamon

1 teaspoonSalt

3/4 cupSoftened Butter

2/3 cupMilk

3 to 4large, very ripe Bananas

1 teaspoonVanilla

1/2 cupWalnuts

directions

1. Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt,and cinnamon in a separate bowl.

2. Mash bananas in a separate bowl.

3. Place butter in a bowl and stir to soften.

4. Add well mixed dry ingredients, mashed bananas, and milkto the butter.

5. Mix everything until dry ingredients are moist (shouldtake a little over 3 minutes).

6. Add eggs, vanilla, and nuts and mix for approximately 3more minutes.

7. Put in prepared pan (butter the pan thoroughly).

8. Bake at 350 degrees for 35-45 minutes (or until insertedtoothpick comes back clean).

Carrot & Pineapple Jell-O Salad

MOM'SCARROT & PINEAPPLE JELL-O SALAD

NOTE: I learned to make this Jell-0 salad from your grandmother Munroe (mymother).  Jell-0 salads were very popular when I was growing up andthis was the one she always made for Thanksgiving.   I made the changeto cranberry when Jell-0 began producing a cranberry flavor. When itbecame unavailable, I simply started using cranberry juice in placeof the cold water called for in making Jell-0.

1   large (6-oz.) or 2 small (3-oz.) boxes of orange Jell-O

1   cup shredded carrots(approximate measure)

1   cup crushed pineapple,drained (more if you like)

1   cups cranberry juice (use in place of cold water in mixing the Jell-O)

1   tablespoon applecider vinegar

1   teaspoon salt

Dissolve Jell-O in 1 ¾cups boiling water. Add the cranberry juice, vinegar, and salt. Stir in the carrots and pineapple. Chill until set.

NOTE:At other times of the year, I make this salad using cold waterinstead of cranberry juice. Another variation would be to combineorange and lemon Jell-O. Sometimes, I use pineapple chunks ortidbits, drained. I used the juice as part of the cold water to beadded.  Being diabetic, Dad and I now substitute sugar free Jell-O and use "Diet Ocean Spray Cranberry Juice."

Salmon & Texas Caviar

First of all, the salmon was my addition. I bought some and thought it would go well with this recipe, so I did so! The 'caviar' is supposed to be served with tortilla chips, salsa style.
I made two versions of the caviar- a Cherilyn safe version, and a Dena version. The Cherilyn version is as the recipe came, except I substituted powered garlic due to her allergy. My version had the addition of an habanero pepper and I used roasted minced garlic.

Salmon:
I use my Asian stir fry oil for fish, as I have learned the sesame/peanut/olive oil blend does better at the hotter temps used in pan frying or grilling than olive oil does. I've actually been told not to try to use EEOO for frying, as it breaks down too easily.

Thus my salmon fillet was pan friend with my stir fry oil and grated lemon peel, thyme, and a bit of rosemary. Once one side was browned, I flipped it and browned the other side. This allowed me to easily peal the skin off and serve it in a more diner friendly manner.

I flaked the salmon and served it alongside the caviar and chips.

Texas Caviar (according to the back of the Market Pantry bag of black eyed peas)

1/2lb black eyed peas, soaked, rinsed and drained
1/2 C Italian salad dressing (I used Fat Free Zesty Italian)
2 Tomatoes, diced
1/2 C bell pepper, diced (I used an orange one, great color)
1/2 C diced onion (I used white to try to minimize it for Cherilyn)
2-3 jalapeños, minced
2 cloves garlic, minced
salt to taste
tortilla chips

Combine all ingredients except tortilla chips, refrigerate until chilled. Serve with tortilla chips.

Note to reduce negative side effects of bean consumption:
1) Do the full 6-8 hour soak and change the water mid-soak, rinsing the beans when you swap the water.
2) Add a small amount of vinegar tot he soak water.
3) Rinse the beans thoroughly after the final soak.
It may not prevent the problem all together, but it should prevent the malodorous aspect of it!

General Food Updates

Hello, all and welcome, Dena! I have been cooking quite a bit recently but I don't really feel ready to be putting any new recipes on here. My cooking has been more oriented in a skill-building direction, following existing recipes written by professionals. The big news is I have started teaching myself how to bake bread! I got a fantastic book simply entitled "Bread." It is actually a DK guide. Thus far my experiences with this book have been excellent! The recipes are so detailed and thorough that it's basically impossible to mess them up so long as you are literate and at least passably good at following directions :)

Beyond the bread-making front, it is Gazpacho season!!! I love Gazpacho season. It is one of my favorite times of year. This year my garden is pretty much an epic failure. The fates are conspiring against me and I have had basically zero luck getting anything to grow and stay growing. So I have been leaning heavily on my local farmers’ market for my produce. Fortunately, they have phenomenal stuff!

K, maybe I lied a little because I am going to include a recipe for “zucchini carpaccio.” The name is a little over the top but you can blame Tyler Florence for that because I sharked the idea from him.

Zucchini Carpaccio:

2 small zucchini

2 tbs. extra virgin olive oil

Juice of ½ a lemon (recipe works without this too but this adds a pleasant freshness and makes it more salad-y)

Freshly cracked pepper/ lemon pepper

Salt

2 tbs julienned basil and/or julienned mint

Parmesan to taste ( I would recommend using the real stuff for this just because it’s pretty major in the recipe. Shaved will give you the best texture compliment too)

Very thinly slice the zucchini into rounds using either a very sharp knife and a steady hand or a mandolin. Dress with the oil, lemon, salt, and pepper. Shave your parmesan over the zucchini using your mandolin, sharpy-sharp knife, or the shaving side of a box grater. Add your julienned herbs (a combo of mint and basil is actually really nice on this). Mix gently and eat J

*I have been making this the night before for my lunch and it refrigerates well. The zucchini stayed firm and everything was delicious.

Coke roast pork

This is a recipe from Dad, but I'm posting it on his behalf because we haven't gotten him converted to the whole blog thing. We're working on it.

Coke Roast Pork
Ingredients:
pork roast - shoulder, or any cheap cut is fine, because the coke tenderizes it
onions and carrots to taste
1 pkg dry onion soup
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1/2 bag frozen peas
1 can coke (regular or diet)

Note: we used about a 5 pound roast, to feed 6, and there was a lot left over. Because you're cooking it in a wet medium, it doesn't shrink.

1. Slice the veggies and place in the bottom of the slow cooker.

2. Sear pork on all sides in a hot pan on the stovetop. This seals in some of the juices and flavor. Place it in the cooker.

3. Pour onion soup mix on top, spoon mushroom soup on top, pour coke over all.

4. Cook on high until done - 4-6 hours. Timing and temp can be adjusted - we often put it in before church on high, then turn it down to low when we get home.

5. Can add fresh rosemary sprigs when you turn the temp down, or add mushrooms. I use the rosemary as sprigs so it can be removed prior to eating. Fresh rosemary from your Arizona backyard is preferable!

6. When pork is done, remove to a pan. Add frozen peas (as many as you want) to the now voluminous liquid in the pot.

7. Dissolve about a half cup of corn starch in some cold water, then stir into the liquid. Turn the slow cooker to low. The corn starch thickens the liquid into a nice gravy - can add more corn starch to taste. Cook until peas are warm.

8. Ladle out veggies, separating them from the gravy.

Garlic could be part of this dish as well.

Q: Where did you get this recipe?

A: From a Coke cookbook. There is one! We have one! This is nice because the coke tenderizes the pork so nicely. The coke taste completely disappears. And this is all the liquid you need.

Bonus:
Served this with Mary Ann's Cole Slaw:
1 slaw mix kit
1/2 cup or so craisin (cranberry raisins)
sliced toasted almonds
1/2 cup mayo (or Miracle Whip) if needed

Mix. Chill. Eat.

Aioli Potato Salad

I haven't forgotten about the blog, but none of the recipes or foods we've tried lately have really been worth posting about. But since picnic weather is fast approaching (though you'd never know it from Utah's weather lately) I thought I'd post one of my favorite summer recipes. It's a very zippy potato salad and really easy to make. The recipe makes enough to bring to a potluck, so if you're just making it for home use you'd want to cut it in half.

9 red-skinned potatoes (medium to large), cut into cubes of your favorite size
1 cup chopped green onions
1 1/2 cups mayonnaise or Miracle Whip
2 Tbs lemon juice
1 1/2 Tbs mashed garlic
2 tsp salt
1 tsp fresh black pepper

1. Place potatoes in a large pot and cover with cold water. Bring to a boil and cook until tender, about 20 minutes. Drain, pour into a large bowl, and toss with the green onions.
2. Mix everything else in a separate bowl and then toss with warm potatoes.
3. Cover and chill overnight.

The original recipe says to boil the potatoes and then cut them, but I've had an easier time cutting them first. Starting them out in cold water helps them stay firm. You can use white potatoes or Yukon Golds, but not russets.

Avocado-blueberry-grapefruit salad

We had some people over tonight, and I wanted something to serve with the taco soup, so I kind of made up this recipe based on what I felt like eating. I surfed some recipe sites for ideas, and that's where I got the grapefruit, but the rest was me. I'm kind of proud of it: people had seconds and thirds.

Ingredients:
2 pink grapefruit
2 large avocados
1/2 large red onion, or 1 small red onion
4 red radishes
1 cup or so fresh blueberries
vinaigrette dressing

1. Chop the onion fairly fine.

2. Slice the radishes paper-thin with a mandolin.

3. Cut open the grapefruit and cut out the insides. Dice.

4. Cut open the avocados, scoop out the insides. Dice.

5. Mix onion, radish, grapefruit, avocado, and blueberries in a bowl.

6. Drizzle vinaigrette over, mix.

7. Chill for an hour or so.

The vinaigrette I used was Brianna's Champagne Caper Vinaigrette, which is kind of creamy with a hint of grapey sweetness and a touch of salty-sour caper. It was perfect, but I'd be curious to know if a regular vinaigrette would work too.

This made enough for five adults, with some left over for tomorrow. Obviously, you could halve this recipe for a smaller group.

Waldorf salad variations?

We had some apples that were getting old, and some silverberries that we'd gotten at the farmer's market that we wanted to use, so I decided to try a Waldorf salad - sort of a commonplace, but I don't think I've ever made it before. Unfortunately we didn't have all the right ingredients, so I ended up making something that didn't much resemble a real Waldorf salad, but ended up working out pretty well anyway.

Ingredients:
3 apples (I don't remember what kind they were - red, sweet, and very ripe)
1 cup or so silverberries
a couple handfuls of raisins
mayonnaise
lime juice
1/3 cup or so of creamy/crumbly chevre (we had some fig-walnut chevre that was hitting its expiration date, so I threw it in)

1. Peel, core, and cut up the apples into bite-size chunks.

2. Mix them with the berries and raisins.

3. Mix together 6 tablespoons of mayo and 2 tablespoons of lime juice. In a real Waldorf salad this is supposed to be lemon juice, but we were out, and lime juice worked well.

4. Mix the dressing and the fruit.

5. Add the crumbled chevre, mix. (A real Waldorf salad is evidently supposed to have walnuts, and we didn't have any, but that's what gave me the idea to use the cheese.)

6. Chill for a couple of hours. We had some of this right after making it, and it wasn't as good as it was when it had chilled for a while. Warm, the mayo tasted like mayo. Chilled and given time for the flavors to mingle, the mayo taste receded and we had a nice mingling of fruit flavors.

Note: have you ever had/seen/heard of silverberries? I hadn't until we got them at the market, but they're pretty good. They evidently come from this tree, and I can't seem to find much about them on the web, which makes me wonder if they go by another name; anyway, I'd never heard of them. They're quite small, not much bigger than pomegranate seeds, and bright red with kind of a silver spot on them. They have seeds, but the ones we got were edible with the seeds - once in a while you get a berry where the seed's a little chewy, but it's still edible. The berries have a nice tartness, not as strong as huckleberries, and a nice sweet aftertaste.

Anyway: this salad was kind of an accident, but it turned out well. Does anybody else have any recommendable variations on the Waldorf-type fruit salad?

Pearl couscous fruit salad

I got this recipe from a colleague of Akiko's. I've only made it once, but I think it's a winner.

Ingredients:
pearl couscous (a.k.a. Israeli couscous)
1 pomegranate
1 can mandarin orange slices
dried currants
vegetable oil

1. Split open the pomegranate and remove the seeds. I found cool directions for this on-line. As you're separating the seeds from the fibers inside the pomegranate shell, drop the seeds into a bowl of water. The fibers will float, while the seeds will sink. Then you can skim the fibers off and drain the water and you'll have mostly fiber-free seeds.

2. Make 1 cup of pearl couscous as per the directions. The stuff I had said: bring 1 and 1/4 cup water to a boil, add 1 cup couscous, simmer 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Optionally, add a little butter when you add the couscous. I didn't add butter, but maybe I should have.

3. When the couscous is done, transfer it to a bowl and stir it until it cools off. The idea here is to keep it from glopping up. The recipe says that when it starts to cool off add a little veggie oil; this is where I think cooking it with butter or oil might have helped, because no matter what I did it still ended up kind of sticky. The good news is, it was still good.

4. Stir in the pomegranate seeds.

5. Open the can of mandarin orange slices, drain, and stir in the slices. (Of course you could use fresh tangerine slices, too, if they're in season.)

6. Stir in a handful of dried currants. (Raisins are a good substitute if you can't find dried currants, but if you can, I think the currants match the pomegranate and mandarin orange a little better.)

7. Voila. You're done.

Question re white bean salad with pita crisps

I have a question regarding this recipe that Lorien posted a while back. We've made this twice now, and it's come out awesome both times, but I noticed that the list of ingredients calls for olive oil, while the directions don't explain how to use it. Is this for brushing on the pita before toasting them, or is it supposed to be mixed in with the salad? We've been making the salad without olive oil, and it's delicious, but I wonder if we've been making it right...

Cabbage salad with sesame dressing

We've got a pretty good Asian market near us, so there's not much in the way of Japanese foodstuffs that I really miss, but shredded cabbage is one. You can get shredded cabbage here for cole slaw, but that tends to be fairly short pieces. In Japan, it's common to slice cabbage in long, thread-thin ribbons for a garnish on various meat dishes, or just for use as a salad. I'm working my way up to being able to slice it that thin, but it isn't easy. Akiko says it's the kind of job apprentice chefs in Japan are given when they're new on the job.

Still, I can just about get it, so I can make my favorite variation on the basic green salad. To wit:

1. Shred your cabbage. About a third of a small cabbage will make enough for two medium-sized bowls of salad.

2. Peel a section of daikon and cut off enough to make a cube of about an inch on the long sides and half an inch or so on the short sides. Run this through a mandoline so you have a bunch of thin sheets of daikon.

3. Take about a half cup of frozen corn and thaw it in the microwave.

4. Chop a handful of peanuts in the food processor.

5. Toss the cabbage, corn, and daikon together and put in bowls.

6. Top with sesame dressing (there's a brand called Masa's sesame miso dressing that's widely available in this country).

7. Garnish with the chopped peanuts.

If you can get the cabbage right you'll have all the crunchiness of raw cabbage but it'll be cut so thin that there won't be any bitterness. Very refreshing in the summer.

Kewpie Potato Salad

I learned how to make this salad in elementary school in Japan. It's my go-to dish for taking to potlucks and barbecues. We took it to one Friday night, and it was kind of a hit.

Ingredients:
4 big potatoes, peeled (white is good, but any kind is okay as long as they're big)
1-2 handfuls of baby carrots (depending on how much you like carrots)
1 cucumber, half-peeled (unpeeled is okay; "half-peeled" is peeling strips down the side so it looks like it's striped)
4 eggs
Kewpie Japanese mayonnaise (see illustration)
Fresh-ground pepper (to taste)
Salt

1. Boil the eggs.

2. Dice the potatoes into 1 inch cubes - not too small. Cut baby carrots into halves or thirds. Dump potatoes and carrots into large pot, fill with water, and bring to boil.

3. Boil potatoes and carrots until they're soft enough that you can easily pierce them with a knife, but not so soft that they crumble.

4. While you're waiting for the potatoes and carrots to boil, but the cucumber into thin slices. Sprinkle a little salt over the sliced cucumber. Then wrap the sliced, salted cucumber in a paper towel and squeeze. The idea is to get as much moisture out of the cucumber as you can, so that when you put them into the salad it doesn't get soggy.

5. Drain potatoes and carrots and return them to the pot you boiled them in. Keep the stove on high heat and hold the pot over the burner so it's not touching (if it's electric) or slightly high over the flame (if it's gas). Shake the pot so that the heat dries the potatoes and carrots completely, but don't let them burn. You'll know you're done when the sides and bottom of the pot turn whitish from potato starch, and when the corners of the potato cubes get rounded.

6. Dump potatoes and carrots into large mixing bowl. Squeeze some Kewpie over the top. You'll be using as much Kewpie as you feel you need - there's no set measurement to this. Add some, then mix, then add some more, mix some more, until you're satisfied. You may need to mash the potatoes and carrots a little while you mix, but don't mash them smooth. By squishing them a little, the taste of the potatoes and carrots mixes well with the Kewpie, but if you squish them too much the whole thing turns into a heavy paste. You want to keep it fluffy.

7. Using an egg slicer/dicer thingie, dice three of the boiled eggs and add to the mix.

8. Add cucumber and mix. Cucumbers should be added last, not long before eating, because they'll make the salad soggy. So, if you're making this in the morning to take to someone's barbecue in the evening, keep the cucumbers out and add them right before you leave in the evening.

9. Season to taste with pepper; mix.

10. Cut remaining boiled egg in half and remove the yolk. Crumble half the yolk (or all of it, depending on your preference) over the salad as a garnish. Voila!

This potato salad is better if it's not refrigerated, so if possible make it close enough to serving time that it's still a little bit warm.

white bean salad with feta-pita crisps

Hi All. Here's another WW recipe we eat all the time. It's vegetarian and perfect for summer.

ingredients:
1 (15.5 oz) can great northern beans
1 red pepper, chopped
1/2 small red onion
1/4 c. chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley (i always use dried....it's fine)
2 tsp olive oil
lemon juice to taste (i would estimate either 1/2 a lemon or maybe two long squirts from a lemon juice bottle)
black pepper
salt
4 (7") whole wheat pitas
1 c. crumbled feta (reduced fat if you care)

directions:
pre-heat the broiler
toss together beans, bell pepper, onion, parsley, lemon, pepper and salt
lay pitas on a baking sheet and sprinkle evenly with feta
broil 5 inches from the heat until the cheese is melted and pitas are crisp (i like it when they get a little burney- 3 to 5 minutes-ish)
cut pitas into wedges, serve with the bean salad on the side
we like to spoon the salad over each crisp and eat it that way. all together it's very very delicious.

Hopi Corn Salad

I got this recipe from an anthropology class I took as an undergrad. It was called "North American Indian" and was taught by this really awesome old anthropologist who did his field work in the American Southwest. He used to live on the mesa and researched traditional Native American farming techniques (how to grow corn, beans, and squash together). He created a collection of recipes from tribes over the years and this was one of them. I made it for a thanksgiving potluck that the class had instead of a lecture one day. I have subsequently made it for various things and it is my most requested dish at potlucks and barbecue-type functions (which is almost insulting considering how freaking simple it is!). It's really good, lasts for days, improves with age, and can be eaten as a dip or a salad. I would even recommend recycling it into some kind of soup when you're tired of eating it alone :) Maybe make an omelet?

Hopi Corn Salad

-1 bag frozen sweet corn kernels
-1/2 bag frozen lima beans
-1 jar pimentos
-1 small to medium red onion (how much do you like onion?) chopped
-1 green bell pepper (I think I added this part. Can't remember)
DRESSING:
-1 tablespoon red chili powder (the American kind that's practically heat-less)
-1/2 tablespoon salt
-1/2 cup vegetable oil
-1/2 cup white vinegar


Throw all the non-dressing stuff in a bowl (you don't even have to thaw anything. Isn't this crazy easy?). Stir it. Whisk together all the dressing ingredients and taste it to make sure it is yummy. Adjust your salt and chili to your liking (I am a fan of going heavy on the chili but moderate on the salt) and whisk again. Pour the dressing over your salad and stir until everything is well coated. Let it sit for at least a couple of hours (overnight if possible). Eat it. Enjoy it. Make it again :)

I often make it frozen the night before and pop it in the fridge for my function the following day. You can also make it frozen in the morning and let it sit on the counter until your afternoon cook out. Have fun and thank you, Dr. Fisher!

Vinaigrette Salsa Salad

I originally got this from Vegetarian Times, where it was called Picnic Caviar. We thought that was a dumb name, so we named it Vinaigrette Salsa Salad, which is still dumb but way more descriptive.
So here it is:

1/4 cup rice vinegar
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 Tbs sugar
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp dried basil
1 15-oz can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 15-oz can black-eyed peas or pinto beans, rinsed and drained
1 1/2 cup corn kernels
1 red bell pepper, finely chopped
1/2 small red onion, finely chopped (about 1/2 cup)
1 little can of diced jalapenos or green chilies with liquid
1/4 cup chopped cilantro

1. Whisk together vinegar, oil, sugar, garlic, oregano, and basil in large bowl.
2. Stir in everything else, and add salt and pepper to taste. Refrigerate one hour before serving.

This one is great for summer because hey! No cooking! We generally eat it with Mission tortilla strips because I like them--they're less salty than other brands I've had. While we have used pinto beans in this, I think the black-eyed peas are way better. And you don't technically have to rinse the beans, but if you don't they'll turn the vinaigrette gray.