Do you like eating raw vegetables that’s not lettuce or tomatoes?  Just the thought of it used to send shivers up my spine.

But then, I was put to shame by my pseudo-grandkids a few years ago.  Their mom likes serving crudites with dips on occasion and it would’ve been embarrassing if I didn’t at least take a bite or two, while the kids chomped away unperturbed.  This went on, occasion after occasion, until I finally started enjoying raw crudites.

Then last Christmas, I have to admit, I actually prepared a tray for Stepson and his friend.  Yes, that was me who prepared and served it!

This entry is not about crudites though. It’s about another way to get  anyone like me to eat raw vegetables.

I came across this dish at the deli section of our nearby King Soopers when Spouse and I were working late.  We stopped to pick up a ready dinner on our way home from the office.  This particular salad looked very appetizing, so I bought a pint of it to go with the ubiquitous roast chicken every grocery deli carries. It’s a mix of raw broccoli, black grapes and nuts in a Waldorf dressing and is really very good.

I even made it for an office picnic and everyone loved it.  One guy on the Atkin’s Diet at that time even went for seconds. I don’t have a real recipe for this, you just have to go with your own taste.

First, wash and  prep your veggies, about 3 cups of broccoli in bite-size pieces, about a cup and a half of black grapes and 2 celery stalks chopped.  Then mix about 1/2 c. mayonnaise, a tablespoon or two of lemon juice, calamansi is even better,  and a tablespoon of honey in a bowl.  Mix until smooth.

Add the vegetables and a quarter to half a cup of slivered almonds.  Chill in the refriegrator at least 30 minutes and serve with roast chicken, fried chicken or by itself.

If you’re a carnivore like I’ve always been, you’ll understand why I say, a salad for lunch is like undeserved punishment.  It’s only after I got married a few years ago, that I started thinking of a more balanced diet and included salads in my regular fare.  But this particular one is so substantial and good, even I crave it once in a while.  It’s called Salad Nicoise.

This is a classic from the Nice region in France.The basic ingredients for a classic Nicoise will include anchovies, black olives, tuna, hard-boiled eggs and tomatoes.  Everything else, so I’ve been told, is incidental or the ccook’s own choice.

You can use a bottled dressing but making your own from scratch will really only take a few minutes.  It’s nothing at all like commercial preparations.

In the early days of my attempts at homemade dressings, I would put everything in a bottle, close the lid tight and shake it all up till it came together.  I always worried about the dressing separating on me, mainly because it had – more times than I care to remember, actually.

Eventually, I realized if I make the dressing just before I serve, it won’t have time to separate – so there went all my fears….

This recipe is from Nora Daza’s “A Culinary Life” written with Michaela Fenix.  It’s the best recipe for Nicoise I’ve tried.

Salad Nicoise:

3 pcs. boiled red potatoes, diced

100 gms. green beans, boiled and cut in 1/2 slices

2-4 pcs. red firm Roma tomatoes, cut into quarter of eighthslettuce (iceberg, romaine, boston, red leaf)  torn in bite-sized pieces

1 c. tuna fish chunks in oil, drained

1 hard cooked egg, sliced

6 anchovy fillets

8-10 pieces black olives

Prepare a plate with all the vegetables.  Leave some of the tomatoes for garnish.  Arrange chunk of tuna in the center of the plate.

French Dressing:

2 tbsp. Dijon mustard

1 tbsp. red wine vinegar

3-4 tbsps. olive oil

salt and pepper to taste.

Put mustard, salt, pepper and vinegar in a small bowl.  Add oil slowly while mixing constantly.  Correct seasoning and chill before serving. Or put everything in a bottle and shake vigorously.

My very first job was for a five-star restaurant group with its head office located in Bistro Burgos in Makati. 

Bistro Burgos was the first bistro in the Philippines by the way.  Everyday, the restaurant manager, Mang Johnny, would supervise the making of the day’s Caesar Salad Dressing just before the restaurant opened for lunch.  It was either the Maitre’d or the Captain Waiter who would have the honor of whipping up this very popular dressing.

I loved watching these guys mashing the anchovy and garlic in the big, wooden bowl on a stand.   I loved watching the dressing come together as the oil was slowly drizzled in.  Since my boss was out of the country for the few months I worked for him, I had time to spend in the restaurant listening to Mang Johnny with his many stories of those days when he was a restaurant manager, captain waiter and maitre’d at the finest establishments in Manila.  The man must’ve been in his late 70′s when I first met him, so he had a lot of stories to tell.  Ohhh, yes….interesting stories of politicians, and entertainers, international personalities, wives, mistresses and egos – big and small.

Anyway, I thought I didn’t have the wrists to make a success of this dressing.  All I did for years was shake dressing ingredients in a bottle and never attempted a Caesar’s salad dressing.

I tried it the other day though and the results surprised me.  It was delicious and better than any bottled dressing I’ve ever bought, gourmet or not.  I’ll never be intimidated by any salad dressing after I’ve made a success of my first Caesar’s salad dressing.

Try it one time, and don’t feel intimidated.  Just prepare all ingredients beforehand and have it ready before you start whipping.

Caesar’s Salad:

Croutons: 

6 slices Italian or French bread, cut into 1/2 in. bite-sized cubes

1/4 c. extra virgin olive oil

Preheat oven to 325F.  Put the bread in a bowl and drizzle with olive oil.  Flip the bowl several times to evenly coat the bread with the oil.  Lay on a cookie sheet in one layer.

Bake, stirring occasionally until the bread is roasted brown about 20 minutes.  Set aside.

Salad:

1 large egg

1 or 2 large garlic cloves, very finely minced

4 anchovy fillets, drained

1 or 2 tbsps. lemon juice

1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

salt and freshly ground pepper

1/2 c. freshly grated Parmesan Cheese

1/3 c. extra virgin olive oil

1 head romaine lettuce (about 1 1/4 lbs.), washed, dried and torn into bite-sized pieces

Place the egg in a saucepan and cover with cold water and add a dash of salt.  Bring the water to a boil over medium heat.  Cook for 1 1/2 minutes.  Drain and cool under running water.  Peel.

NOTE:  In the old days, before salmonela poisoning became so common, a raw egg yolk was used for this dressing.

In a large bowl, combine the garlic and anchovies.  Mash them together into a paste with a wooden spoon.  With a wire whisk, beat in the egg, lemon juice, Worcestershire sauce and salt and pepper to taste.  Gradually beat in the olive oil.  Add cheese and mix.  Taste for seasoning.

Toss the lettuce with the dressing.  Sprinkle with croutons.  Toss again and taste for seasoning. 

If you’ll notice the photo, my Caesar’s Salad had diced chicken too.  I wanted to make it a complete meal with more protein, and not just from the egg and anchovy.  My chicken came from a box that Spouse introduced me to.  It’s Banquet’s Crispy Skinless Frozen Chicken.  It’s not the healthiest of foods,  but it’s convenient to have around.  I bake it on a rack so most of the fats drain and I always serve it with coleslaw or vegetables and a baked potato.

Bouchon

Can you tell the weather is getting better here?  It shows in my cooking and in this blog….finally moving away from the heavy stews and soups.

This is another recipe from The Sopranos Family Cookbook.  It was simple and easy to make. I love that it’s also light and healthy.  Served with a crusty roll, or a French baguette and you’ve got a complete meal.

You might also want to try the tuna mix as a topping for bruschetta in case you have leftovers.  It’s good, believe me.  I didn’t have enough leftovers but I’m sure the tuna will also make a great Grilled Tuna and Cheese Sandwich.

Ingredients:

1 can Tuna chunks in oil, undrained

2 medium tomatoes, seeded and diced

4 red onion slices, quartered

2 hard-boiled eggs, quartered

2 tbsps. lemon juice

pinch of oregano

salt and pepper to taste

8 oz. boiled green beans, cut in bite-size pieces

twist of lemon

Procedure:

Break down the tuna in a salad bowl.  Mix with the next six ingredients.  (I actually set aside the eggs for dressing up the dish.)  Arrange beans on a plate and top with the tuna/tomato mix.  Decorate with a twist of lemon. Serve warm.

Anthony Bourdain’s Les Halles Cookbook: Strategies, Recipes, and Techniques of Classic Bistro Cooking

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Here’s an interesting way of serving a Filipino favorite, salted red eggs or itlog na maalat.  Youngest Sister prepared it for lunch one time and it was so amazingly fresh tasting and different that I just had to make it for lunch today. The colors in the photo didn’t come out right for some reason but believe me, it made a very appetizing dish in looks and smell.
Salted duck egg (itlog na maalat) is very common in the Philippines.  Some people will go through great lengths to get the best.  The best is said to have just the right amount of saltiness and will ooze with the yolk’s fat when you break it.  The eggs are set in a very salty brine and left covered in earthen jars for a period of say a week or two.  The longer you let it sit, the saltier it gets. The eggs are then boiled and painted a magenta red before distribution.

What you then do with it is cut it in half and scoop out the insides and mix it with tomatoes to serve as a side dish with fried fish.  It does perk up any fried fish lunch especially if you eat doing away with your usual spoon, fork and knife.  Yes, eat with your bare hands!  It’s not eating like a savage at all.  Eating with your hands is actually a skill not many people can get or want to get.  Such a pity.

But truthfully, it’s not literally eating with your “hands” – it’s more eating with your well-scrubbed fingers.  And yes, Filipinos love to do this and yes, that’s exactly how I ate my lunch today.

Makes for very sensual eating as a matter of fact.  There’s something about feeling the temperature and different textures of your food just prior to popping it into your mouth.  Sensual is the only word I can think of to describe it.  Call it foreplay for eating.

So on to this recipe…why is it so different?  It’s different because it’s a nice cross between a salsa and  the more common salted eggs with tomatoes salad.  The addition of cilantro and finely-sliced onions kicks it up a notch and provides a fresh taste that is just perfect for the tropics.

It also doesn’t hurt when you eat it with your hands…

This is a salad my mom came up with way back when I was in my teens. It’s a very Filipino salad using the commonly used vegetables, bataw or hyacinth bean and sigadillas, also called winged bean in English. This is just another was you can use these readily available vegetables, aside from adding it to the usual sinigang or pinakbet.  So I hope you’ll give it a try.

My mother’s cleaning lady, who also does our cleaning and ironing, is a green thumb who plants every available space in her neighborhood with all kinds of vegetables. She peddles her greens and supplies a few stores around the area as well. But with 7 kids and an unemployed husband, she needs to makes extra money cleaning and doing odd jobs for her customers.  Life is hard for this woman but she just keeps trudging along and I really admire her for her fortitude.
That morning, she came by with large bunches of these two vegetables and was selling it for a song. I regretted not taking a photo, they were so freshly picked and would have made a good one. Anyway, this salad’s success is really dependent on the freshness of the vegetables. They are tender and crisp and sweetish at this point.

Soon as I saw them, I immediately thought of this salad and my mother gamely got started. This is served with a typical Filipino ensalada vinaigrette of vinegar, sugar, salt and black pepper.

In the past, my mother used to cut the vegetables diagonally in about half-inch strips and parboiled them before setting them on a plate. This time she just cut it in 1-inch pieces and parboiled. Top it with some thinly sliced onions, tomatoes and a sliced hard boiled egg and pour the vinaigrette over it. We skipped the egg this time for some reason…but it was just as good as I remember it.

Serve warm or chilled.

Every Filipino has probably disparaged our very unique Macaroni Salad, as I have.   It’s not the usual macaroni, mayo and dill pickle concoction you’ll find everywhere else in the world.  I guess you could call it a bit “confusilcated” as Spouse likes to say.  A little bit of this, a little of that…and so much more.  It’s a reflection of who we are, a melange of flavors and influences all in one bundle of confusion.  I have this theory it’s also a reflection of the Pinoy’s openness to new ideas, cultures and flavors. 

I really ought to stop intellectualizing  now since, one, I’m not good at it and second, it’s just a salad.   All I know is – it can be delicious if you’ll only give it a chance.

I haven’t cooked this for Spouse before, a bit afraid to jar his senses. He liked his bland (for this Filipino) Macaroni Salad with mayo and dill pickles which you’ll get in most diners and restaurants in the US.  You know what I’m talking about….the one that comes in a little plastic container with a roast beef sandwich or something.  What a  huge surprise that Spouse loved the Pinoy version.  He absolutely LOVED it. 

I wanted to make a very Pinoy version of a Mac Salad for this blog.  A lot of readers have been searching for it and ended up here….it’s only fair they finally find the recipe.  I went easy on the sweet pickles…Spouse and I both don’t like sweet pickles.  But I did put the obligatory pinch of something I’m not fond of.  If you were my mom, it would be a whole lot.  But I remember all too well what we kids called it when faced with a scoop of Mac Salad at buffet parties.  The raisins we called “bangaw” or large flies.  The pickle bits….well, we called them boogers.  

Never mind that, this is a good salad and is something you won’t find in many places.  I hope you’ll try it and like it!

Filipino Macaroni Salad

2 c. uncooked elbow macaroni noodles

1 c.- 1.5 c. mayonnaise

1/2 c. diced ham (boiled chicken breasts and/or ham is also commonly used)

1 celery stalk, diced if you want crunch and minced if you don’t

2 tbsps. finely minced red onion

2 hard-boiled eggs, peeled and chopped

1 15 oz. can pineapple tidbits, drained

1/4 c. sweet pickle relish, drained

1/2-3/4 c.  diced cheddar cheese (Shredded is fine)

1 small carrot, peeled and cut into thin matchsticks ( you can blanch this if you don’t like the crunch.  I like the crunch and leave it raw)

a handful or two of raisins

salt and pepper to taste

Drain the pineapples and pickle relish overnight in the refrigerator.  If you’re out of time, squeeze out the juices instead.  My mom always strained it overnight in the refrigerator.  But when she was mixing everything up….she’d pour in a bit of pineapple or pickle relish juices if she felt it needed more sweetness.  Go figure.

Cook your macaroni according to package directions.  While that’s cooking, combine the rest of the ingredients in a large bowl, minus the mayo.  Add the macaorni when it’s done and cooled to room temperature.  Stir this in, still without the mayo so it’s easier to get everything mixed.  Season with the pepper but not the salt.

Then add the mayo and mix again.  Correct seasonings and chill at least an hour before serving.  The longer you let this salad sit, the more the noodles will absorb the mayo. You may have to add more mayo before serving so it isn’t too dry.

TIP:  Spouse taught me a great way to cook pasta.  Bring your water and a lot of salt to a boil then add the noodles.  Bring it back to a rapid boil then turn off the heat completely.  Cover and let it sit in the simmering water for the required timd. There will be enough residual heat on the stove, your pot and your water to cook the pasta.  It will be perfectly cooked and you only had the heat turned on for a fraction of the time.  Try it, it really works.

I don’t know why I never featured Coleslaw here before.  Its one of our staples.   This one in the photo was drier than my usual since it had about half the mayo I usually put.  I’ve consciously been lessening meal portions and trimming some fats from a lot of recipes in the hopes that it will make a difference in our girth….right…wishful thinking. 

I like coleslaw better this way – with less of the mayonnaise I mean.  The cabbage was extra-crisp this time too and yes, I do put pineapple in my coleslaw – like any good and upstanding Filipino.  I guess you could call this a very Filipino Coleslaw…

This coleslaw is usually paired with some oven-finished Banquet Crispy Skinless Frozen Chicken.  It’s not the healthiest of foods so I always skip potatoes and carbs.  This chicken is just so convenient and can be paired with so many different salads.  You can also cut up the breast pieces and make that into a sandwich or a tortilla wrap with lettuce, tomatoes and bottled Caesar dressing.

Here’s an approximate recipe ofnmy Coleslaw:

2 c. thinly-sliced cabbage

2 green onion stalks, sliced thin

1 medium carrot, peeled and shredded

1 small can crushed pineapple, squeezed of its juices

handful of raisins

1/4 c. mayonnaise

1 tbsp. sugar

2 tbsps. apple cider vinegar

1/4 tsp. celery seeds

salt and pepper to taste

Put first 3 ingredients in a large bowl.  Mix the rest of the ingredients in a smaller bowl with a wire whisk.  Adjust seasonings.  Transfer to the larger bowl and mix well.

Chill at least 30 minutes before serving.

I don’t think this quailifies as a salad although I put it in that category. It’s really just a mix of fruits I intended would be a salad with lemon juice and honey….when I started out anyway.  Once I tasted how naturally sweet the melons were, I thought it would be a sin to disguise that with anything else.

So here it is, an unadulterated mix of fruits: honeydew melon, cantaloupe, blackberries, cherries.

This Shrimp Salad definitely qualifies as an easy summer lunch.  It requires a minimum of cooking, plus, it’s very light and cooling on a hot summer day.  I love that it looks so appetizing too.

There have been heatwaves in both US coasts the last few weeks.  Thankfully, the summer has been pretty mild in Colorado this year. The fact is, I’ve never experienced a summer here that’s been so cool and wet before.  Hot or not, a cool salad like this is always an enjoyable lunch.

Shrimp Salad

1 c. shelled shrimps

1/2 c. celery, sliced thin on the diagonal

1/4 c. low-fat mayonnaise or salad dressing

1 tbsp. lemon juice

1/4 tsp. onion powder

salt and pepper to taste

romain letttuce or other greens

1 medium tomato, thinly sliced

Parboil shrimps in a small saucepan of salted boiling water. It will only take a minute or two for all the shrimp to turn pink. Strain shrimps and dunk in ice water to stop cooking.

In a small bowl, mix the shrimp, celery, mayo, lemon juice, onion powder, salt and pepper. Chill in the refrigerator at least 30 minutes.  Serve over lettuce leaves and top with tomato slices.