Appetizers Recipes

Summer Came and Went Plus a Bok Choy Salad with Soy Ginger Dressing

September 13, 2015 by Renee

Just like that, summer is over.

I can’t believe that the last time I was here was right after I returned from France. I still want to tell you all about the wonderful gardens and Chateau du Rivau in Chinon, but that will have to be another time. I have a bit of catching up to do!

May turned into June and July and then August in a frenzy of activity. While I would like to say that I, myself, was the cause of all the busyness, really, it was the kids that kept me on the go this summer.

We began the first of what is now dubbed, “The College Sweatshirt Tour”. We amassed quite a collection of collegiate logo wear, not to mention several hundred miles in the car each weekend! I am proud that the girls are both spending their summers at various colleges taking classes and getting a sense of college life and what will be necessary for their applications and their aspirations. We are already planning the classes for next year.

During one of our (three) trips to Boston, we stayed in Providence one night and visited with one of my very best friends and dined at a fabulous restaurant, Bacaro. Hungry after the long drive, we ordered nearly the entire menu- platters of tapas, grilled pizzas, entrees, and desserts. Each dish was extremely flavorful and beautifully presented. It was nonstop eating until we just couldn’t anymore. Then, moaning from fullness, we walked back to her house in an attempt to digest before we collapsed for the night. Lunch the next day was a feast of leftovers from all the doggie bags we ended up bringing back. We will definitely return there again- but maybe not order so much food next time!

In Boston, we were able to do a little sightseeing (The Boston Science Museum was terrific!) and ended up dining at Summer Shack on three occasions. When traveling with kids, sometimes you find a place that everyone likes so you stick with it. Honestly, it was mostly me that wanted to go back. I absolutely loved their grilled fish with sweet potato and grilled corn hash. It was sweet, spicy and had little bits of crispy bacon- so good, I wanted more!

We also tried Griddler’s Burgers and Dogs for some better than fast food hotdogs (fun spot for the kids) and Hannah introduced us to Insomnia Cookies that was a daily ritual during her BU stay.

We also met up with Jackie Gordon of The Diva That Ate NY who was visiting with Lisa Goldfinger of the beautiful blog, Panning The Globe. Lisa opened her home to us one evening and she and Jackie prepared platters of glorious food. I’ve followed Lisa’s blog for quite some time so it was truly wonderful to meet her in person. If you have not seen it, please do go visit.

For my birthday, which I don’t really celebrate, after a breakfast crepe cake we ventured to Jackson Heights, Queens where I ate arepas, momos and more. We made an afternoon mini food crawl, but we are clearly amateurs since we only went to three places before everyone was full. I also finally got a chance to visit Despaña in Soho where we had tapas of patatas bravas, tortillas, and cervezas.

Labor Day weekend we went to a blow out barbecue hosted by my dear friend Lora of Diary of a Mad Haus Frau. There was much eating and deliciousness there, not to mention the awesome company. Jackie (Gordon) and Lora cooked up so many terrific dishes and Paul (Jackie’s partner) ran a liquid nitrogen ice cream bar and manned the grill. Ben also had a great time with Vicki Winters and her husband Daniel flying his drone. Fun!

In addition to my chocolate ganache tart, I brought one of my favorite salads to make, Bok Choy Salad with Soy Ginger Dressing. I’ve had this recipe for many years. Mine is a hand written and photocopied version that was given to me. I honestly have no idea who actually invented it, but a search of the internet it seems like it is a quite popular recipe in its many incarnations. So to whomever can claim this as their own, my many thanks. It’s a crowd pleaser. I hope you enjoy it as much as we do!

Bok Choy Salad with Soy Ginger Dressing

Prep time

10 mins

Total time

10 mins

Author: Renee

Serves: 8-10

Ingredients

For the Salad:
3 heads of bok choy, chopped with some of the white stems
2 bunches scallions, chopped with some of the green stems
1 cup sunflower seeds
1 cup sliced almonds
2 packages Ramen noodles, broken up and you can save or discard the flavoring packet
For the Dressing:
½ cup of sugar
½ cup Evoo
⅓ cup white vinegar
2 tsp soy sauce
¼-1/2 tsp grated fresh ginger

Method

In a large bowl add the chopped bok choy, scallions, sunflower seeds, and almonds. Sprinkle the broken Ramen noodles over the top and give the salad a quick toss.
Mix the ingredients for the dressing in a jar with a tight fitting lid. Shake to combine.
Just before serving, dress the salad with as much dressing as you would like for your taste. Save the remaining dressing in the refrigerator for up to one week.

Notes

Optional. Add more or less nuts, noodles and seeds as you would like. The addition of pumpkin seeds and/or craisins also makes a nice variation.

Now that I am back home each weekend, I will be in the kitchen a lot more and writing again. I already have a few posts in draft that will be coming, so stay tuned!

Crab-Avocado “Ravioli” – French Fridays with Dorie

June 16, 2014 by Renee

I’ve been following along with French Fridays with Dorie for the past month, but even with ingredients purchased and several of the recipes made, I have just not had the time to post them!

I’ve been spending most of my entire weekends in the garden, first digging up everything and then replanting and this week, the dreaded task of weeding. I think by Fall I should have the garden and lawn looking just right- just in time for the snow to reappear! So as I am short on indoor time, I am glad this week’s recipe for French Fridays with Dorie was a very simple crab salad with avocado.

I have a confession- I used imitation crab. I know, the horror! Well, it actually does have some crab in it, so I guess it’s not totally fake. I bought a large bag and made “crab” cakes with it as well.

This recipe came at the perfect time. Last weekend, I was away at Eat, Write, Retreat – a blog conference- in Philadelphia (another post about that soon). One of the sponsors was California Avocado and I came home with a bag of one of my favorite “fruits”. After an avocado inspired menu at the Philly restaurant, Supper, I’ve been enjoying avocado toast and guacamole all week long here at home. So with one of the last three I have, I made this so called “ravioli” which is really more like a sandwich as there is no pasta involved.

I just happened to also bring home an OXO Good Grips Hand-Held Mandoline Slicer. I’ve been wanting an OXO Mandoline for ages. I have the big metal Bron version, but it is a pain to clean and it simply terrifies me as we don’t have a guard for it. As soon as it’s on the counter, my reflex is to pull my fingers into a tight fist. With the OXO slicer, there is a guard and I can tell you it’s so simple to use (I’ve used it every day this week!). I think it’s life changing, really! It also did the trick with this dish. The avocado sliced very thin and was the perfect vehicle for the crab salad.

Made with shallots, fresh lime, cilantro and fleur de sel and pepper, this light crab salad was very refreshing and would be a perfect small appetizer or passed hors d’oeuvres. I suppose if you wanted more crab salad, you could also serve a larger portion with slices of avocado on the side.

One ingredient that I swapped out was the walnut oil the recipe called for. I just used EVOO and don’t think I missed any nutty complex that the walnut oil would have given.

Overall, this recipe was a success but unless I am having guests, I don’t think it will make it into the repertoire of dishes I make frequently.

For details on creating these recipes, check out the FFWD site and see others who are also cooking the book-

You can also buy the book here:

Helene’s All White Salad – French Fridays with Dorie

February 14, 2014 by Renee

This week’s French Fridays with Dorie recipe, Helene’s All White Salad, seemed quite apropos for the whiteout we’ve been having here in the Northeast. With several feet of white snow falling, it’s quite a winter wonderland. It blends perfectly with background. Which is to say, it’s also a little on the bland side. I love salad. In many incarnations. But there was not much flavor to this salad. It’s just celery and Napa cabbage with accents of mushrooms and Granny Smith apples topped with a light Greek yogurt vinaigrette. It’s light and fresh. And it’s very “vanilla”.

Being more of a chocolate girl myself, I think the best part of this salad were the semi-tart bites of apple. After the first plate was eaten, it was determined that the dressing also needed a lot more “jazzing” up. Three cloves of crushed garlic added just the zing it needed. Now, it was much better! Plus garlic still falls into the “white” category, so I don’t think I cheated too much.

This salad might get another chance over the summer. But I really don’t want to see too much more “white” this winter. Unless it’s a mound of mashed potatoes- with gravy.

While I cannot share the actual recipe, you can (and should!) buy the book and cook along with us. It’s great fun! Every Friday we make a new recipe. Looking forward to next weeks! For details and to see how others are recreating the dishes from this awesome book, check out the FFWD site.

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