Chicken Gyro Salad

Chicken Gyro Salad, originally uploaded by michele wynne.

I suppose (were I such a person) I could have just as much of a reason as anyone to hate Gwyneth Paltrow, but I don't and any of you who read this blog knows I am not amongst those in the anti-GP camp. I am, however, the Anti-GP. I am GP's polar opposite- 10 years older, 20 pounds over-weight, solitary in a studio apartment,  broke, in a broke-down kitchen with zero counter space and perpetually overwhelmed by a sink full of dishes. I buy supermarket sale tuna, honey from The Dollar Store and t-shirts from Goodwill. There is not one element of her life and lifestyle that I can relate to or say I've ever had in common with her. Except food, and my growing desire to cook healthier food. I love her cookbooks. I subscribe to goop and enjoy reading it. Mostly. I really could care less about the clothing and merchandising. I do feel envious of the travel though. I used to travel all the time. Now? not at all.

Yet, when I think how close I was to deleting the recent goop newletter from my overflowing inbox the other day...well, I feel almost guilty and ashamed after having been so pro-Gwyneth in my admiration of her latest cookbook (which I currently have my mitts on thanks to my local library).  I wasn't going to open it. It was one of those days when I just wasn't up to it. I did it anyway and as luck would have it, it turned out to be the smartest and most remarkable thing I did that day. I unearthed  a wonderful new keeper recipe and that is to be celebrated.

In her post about street food, scrolling down a bit I found this  Chicken Gyro Salad  and I couldn't wait to make it. I immediately pulled 3 chicken breasts I had in the freezer to defrost and did a little grocery shopping at work that evening buying just enough for my solitary salad:

 

1 little gem (the perfect lettuce heads for single serving salads)

1 large heirloom tomato

1 mediteranean cucumber

1 red onion

1 lemon

1 8oz. container of greek yogurt

 

I prepared the chicken and marinade just before I went to bed and cooked it on a grill pan for lunch the next day.

I thought it only fitting to use the left-over chicken in her Brown Rice and Kale  bowl (from My Father's Daughter) when trying to find a quickie dinner later that night. I topped it with the leftover tzatziki dressing. If I'd thought to buy pita bread, I would have made gyros with the leftovers. Next time. There will be many next times. I already have another batch of chicken marinating in the fridge right this very minute.

Thanks GP!

Refried Beans

Refried Beans, originally uploaded by michele wynne.
Refried beans are a little kitchen staple that I make all the time...or used to...until my recent job change. Lunch burritos and/or breakfast burritos were a weekly kitchen occurrence when I had to plan packing office lunches and quickie breakfast bites, thus purchasing several bags of beans a month I usually  from my neighborhood Latino produce market.

Months ago I pedaled across town to Costco for something I don't even remember. Whatever it was, was forgotten when I came across ginormous bag of pinto beans. A few mental mathematical calisthenics later I weighed the practicality of carrying around this burden of a bag and bought them anyway... and here they've sat, in a giant restaurant sized olive jar for these many months.

So months after committing my day to beans I finally cooked up a few.

The slow-cooker has become my go-to method for cooking all beans. I don't soak the beans first but I do pick them over for stones and funky looking bits before rinsing. I usually start them just before bedtime and cook them on low all night. You can also start them in the morning. The great thing about slow cooking beans that ultimately end up pureed or mashed is that the recipe doesn't seem to suffer much if you sleep in or hit happy hour after work and over cook the beans. Place 2 cups of the dried beans in the slow cooker with 6 cups of water. You can flavor the water with chicken seasoning and a few sprigs fresh thyme if you want, but I add so much flavoring after the beans are cooked that this is probably not necessary.

At any point during the bean cooking process, heat a skillet with 1 tablespoon of olive oil. If you don't have caramelized onions in the fridge already, thinly slice an onion,

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 yellow onion thinly sliced
salt
2 cloves of garlic, minced

2 teaspoons ground cumin

1 teaspoon ground coriander
1/2  teaspoon red pepper flakes
cooked beans
1 cup of chicken bouillon

sriracha to taste

salt

Heat the oil in a skillet on a medium high heat and add the sliced onions, cook until the onions are translucent, about 5 minutes. Lower the heat to medium, add a dash of salt and cook until the onions are browned and caramelized

what to do with 'em:

 

Nachos:

Cut about 6 corn tortillas into wedges, toss in a bowl with a splash of olive oil, a little salt and a dash of cumin, then bake at 375 degrees for 6-8 minutes until crispy, remove from the oven and let cool a little and reduce the oven temp to 350 degrees.

Spread the refried beans across the bottom of a shallow baking dish or pie plate, place the tortilla chips over the beans, dipping them into the beans so they are standing at an angle rather than laying flat on the surface of the beans. Sprinkle with shredded sharp cheddar cheese and bake until the cheese is melted, another 5 minutes or so.

Serve with sour cream and salsa on the side.

 

Dip:

stir in some of your favorite jarred salsa and grated cheese into the refried beans and heat in the microwave until the cheese is melted, stir to distribute the melted cheese and transfer into a serving dish. Top with a little more grated cheese and chopped cilantro and serve with tortilla chips.

 

Quick Quesadillas:

My favorite quick snack is to shred a little sharp cheddar cheese, heat up the refried beans in a microwave (I heat them in a bowl covered tightly with plastic wrap which I puncture with a fork) , then warm up 3-4 corn tortillas in a microwaveable steamer for 1 minute (this is to keep them soft and pliable for subsequent folding). Spread a thin layer of beans on the warm tortilla, you can also add a dollop of salsa if you like, and then finish with a sprinkle of shredded cheese. Spread the filling evenly over the surface of the tortilla, fold the tortilla in half, then in half again so you have filled triangles.

 

Of course, the beans are always a great addition to omelettes, burritos, enchiladas and tostada salads.

Breakfast Tacodillas

Breakfast Tacodillas, originally uploaded by michele wynne.

Breakfast is and always has been my favorite meal, long before it became a regular in my kitchen, it's always been my favorite meal for dining out.

This is a pretty typical breakfast when I can remember to do it and it's super simple. All you need are some corn tortillas, eggs, cheese and fresh herbs. I also include caramelized onions, roasted peppers and tomatoes when I have them on hand or some corn salsa.

The inspiration for my taco-quesadilla hybrid came about one morning whilst I was noodling around the blogosphere and other time-leeching internet diversions. That day, the hours I spent elsewhere, some how led me to these two recipes that changed the little kitchen for the greater good.  This is a mash-up from my two favorite foodie blogs. I've been making some version of this at least once a week since this taco recipe from Smitten Kitchen caught my eye...then something directed me to this quesadilla recipe from 101 Cookbooks.

 

Breakfast for one~3 tacodillas:

Assemble whatever assortment of ingredients you have on hand: 2 eggs, 3 corn tortillas, salsa, cheese, herbs etc. In a small bowl beat the eggs with some salt and pepper. Heat up a little oil in a small non-stick skillet. When the oil is hot, pour in about one third of the eggs, enough to spread to the size of your tortilla. Let the egg set for about 30 seconds and then lay the tortilla over the egg and let that set for another 30 seconds or so until the egg is fused to the tortilla. Carefully flip the whole thing over. Sprinkle some cheese on top of the egg and let it begin to melt. Add any other layers of ingredients. Slide the tortilla onto a plate, folding it in half as you lay it down. Repeat with the remaining tortillas.

Fish Tacos

Fish Tacos, originally uploaded by michele wynne.

I should call these Revelation Fish Tacos.
 

I can't begin to describe how freakin' delish and easy this was. I've never had any desire to eat, much less make, fish tacos. Actually, that's a big fat lie.  Several months ago, at a company Christmas party at Tacolicious, a platter of fish tacos passed before me. I tried one, just 'cuz it was there. Wow! Amazing! Who knew? No fish taco made it past me for the rest of the evening. I'm not a big fan of fish, yet, I remember thinking quite seriously: "I must figure out how to make these!" Then I forgot all about it. Until now.
 

While waiting for Gwyneth Paltrow's new cookbook to make it's way through the library wait-list to me, I got My Father's Daughter again. I am a big fan of this book. The photo of her fish tacos and fixin' spread was the first thing that caught my eye and attention this go-round with the book.

The fish (something white and flaky like cod or halibut is recommended-but if you're a big 'fraidy-cat like me, frozen tilapia works just fine) is cut into strips and batter fried in a 1-1 ratio of beer and flour with a little salt and pepper. Super simple.

 

The fixin's include:

• shredded cabbage with lime juice and salt
• crema: sour cream with lime juice and salt
• pico de gallo: red onion, halved cherry tomatoes, cilantro, lime & salt ~ chopped jalepenos optional
• sliced avocado sprinkled with lime and salt
• corn tortillas heated on the stove burner

 

Done & De-lish.

Spring Vegetable Pot Stickers

Spring Vegetable Pot Stickers, originally uploaded by riptideredsf.

Pot Stickers Round Two:
I spent the morning attempting to embrace the journey rather than speed to the destination. This can be difficult for me at times but now,  100 potstickers later it's still a time sucking endeavor but, I think I got this. This video helped...so at least my tucking and pleating has made some strides.

This recipe for Spring Vegetable Potstickers comes from Smitten Kitchen (big surprise there)...another timely post celebrating fresh Spring vegetables when I'm oh so obessessed with them now, both in the little kitchen and in my new job. We got fiddlehead ferns and chiogga beets in yesterday-stay tuned.

Anyhoo, smitten put this recipe on my radar just as I was uptomyelbows in my first attempt at the potsticka. Her recipe intrigued and challenged me on a couple of levels. Her ingredients include fava beans and tofu in addition to my beloved asparagus. I was soooo jazzed up to make these that I pedaled over to Bi-Rite on my day off to purchase my employee discounted bountiful basket of asparagus, fava beans and TOFU! Two firsts for the little kitchen: tofu and fava beans.
I adore hate adore fava beans! As you peel away the layers from the large bumpy shell revealing a cushiony pod interior that looks like cotton batting, to the wiggly yellow umbilical cord that caps the leathery sac that covers the buttery soft bean...you almost expect something alien to emerge. Gorgeous, but seriously- a pain in the ass to shell. On the other hand, it's a given that the pot sticker process is gonna be a long one so what's it gonna hurt to add another 20 minutes to the process when , who am I kidding, I've got nothing better to do on a day off.

On to tofu...if anyone can get me to embrace tofu, it's gonna be smitten kitchen. In this recipe it's sort of disguised to look like crumbled cheese, now if I could only get it to soak up some flavor. That was my only teeensy problem with this recipe. I loved the look and texture of the finished dumpling but I wasn't getting any definitive flavor from it. I realized that I was way too hesitant with the scallions and chives.
I broke my number one rule:        first time recipe-follow exactly.
I didn't have quite enough scallions and I thought 1/2 cup of chives seemed excessive. I should have known better. Trust in the smitten-she's never let me down yet.

Ramp Pizza

Ramp Pizza, originally uploaded by riptideredsf.

Just a few short weeks ago, I'd never heard of ramps. Many changes have occured since then and this recipe for Ramp Pizza, appearing from Smitten Kitchen last week was nothing short of freaky.

The big news is: I got a new job. I ventured out of my comfort zone, leaving a job I was content with but ultimately unchallenged or inspired by. After a few fits and starts, I have landed here. A gourmet market so special and inspiring, I'm practically chomping at the bit to re-vamp the little kitchen and my life. The company mission statement? Building community through food.

Though my new career so perfectly gels with the original intention of my little blog: embracing the veg, it will open up a whole new world of food for me. 

I'm currently obsessed with the produce...mostly attempting to memorize an overwhelming number of numbers that identify each type of fruit and vegetable. I knew that would be a challenge, but what surprises and intrigues me are the odd creatures I've never seen before.

 

As I'm OCD'ing  Googling my way through Ramp 101:

a wild leek, sort of a cross between a scallion and green garlic... pungent and onion-y. They're not cultivated, grown in gardens or on farms. They are foraged from forests, found mainly in the east from the Carolinas to Canada. Their season only lasts the first few weeks of Spring...

...up pops the recipe from Smitten Kitchen, just as I'm pondering what one does with a ramp. Pizza! Brilliant...a little piece of my comfort zone.
 

 

sneaky little cupcake creatures

Custom cupcakes, originally uploaded by riptideredsf.

My day job.
These were not created in my little kitchen, but they were so freakin' cute I had to share. These were created by our fabulous baker Alex at Kara's Cupcakes. They were a special order I took for a gaming company.