When it is hot and humid and sticky outside -- what more than one neighbor here in North Carolina has referred to as "Hell's Front Porch" -- the last thing we want to eat is something hot and heavy.  Instead, we opt quite often for a very big salad.  It's quick, it's delicious, and it's satisfying.

The Big Summer Salad has its origins in summer visits to see my mom when she was living in Denver.  She'd pick me up at the airport and we would head straight to the Cherry Creek Grill to split a Macho Salad and a dessert.  That salad showed me that a glorious dinner salad has protein and fun textures (crunchy nuts) and something creamy plus lots of vibrant colors.  And a surprise.  A good salad can become great with an element of surprise.  In the case of the Macho Salad, the surprise was chopped dates.  And I don't mean the sugar-coated, pre-packaged dates.  I mean the real fruit from a palm tree somewhere in the California desert.  

I've played with the formula to create my own salad, what I call The Big Summer Salad.  And I am presenting a recipe for it here.  But this is more than a recipe.  This is an invitation for you to play with your food and come up with your own version of The Big Summer Salad.  What flavors speak to you?  What textures make eating fun and pleasurable for you?  What colors do you want on the plate so it's a joy to the eye?

We always eat The Big Summer Salad with a vinaigrette made of 1/3 cup good quality aged balsamic vinegar and 3/4 cup good quality extra virgin olive oil mixed in this cruet.  We keep the flavor of the dressing simple so the salad ingredients can shine.   This salad is a good repository for leftover chicken or even leftover grilled shrimp.  If you've got a random carrot rolling around in the vegetable drawer, then grate it and toss it in.  If you love cheese, well so does this salad.  I tend to skip it, but my husband loves topping his with goat cheese.  Again, this salad is really flexible.  Consider all amounts listed in the recipe below as suggestions.

The Big Summer Salad
Serves 4 and can easily be doubled to feed more

8 ounces spring mix
2 cups of cooked chicken, shredded or protein of your choice
1 pint of ripe cherry tomatoes, either halved or quartered
1 cup or so of thinly sliced cucumber
1 cup of diced celery
2/3 cup fresh dates (I like Medjool), pitted and chopped
1 large or 2 small avocados, peeled, pitted, and thinly sliced

Optional add-ons:

• Cheese, either grated, crumbled, or sliced with a vegetable peeler
• Nuts (I like toasted sliced or slivered almonds)
• Chopped cooked bacon
• Whatever sounds, looks, and tastes good to you.  It's your salad!

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For each salad, place a huge handful of spring mix on a dinner plate.  Next, sprinkle the chicken over followed by the tomatoes, cucumber, and dates.  At this point, add any of the optional items.  Very last, top with the avocado slices.  Drizzle the dressing over the salad.  Hot tip: use a steak knife and fork to cut up the salad, and enjoy!

​Note: this post contains affiliate links.

When the weather turns warm, my food desires change.  Instead of heavy stews, I crave lighter dishes, like this shrimp pasta.  It's a mainstay in our house from spring through fall, and sometimes in winter because we often have the ingredients on hand.  It's a fairly simple dish full of fresh flavor from sweet shrimp to a hit of lemon with parsley for color and a vegetal note.  If you love garlic, you can put in a lot.  And if you find garlic can be overpowering, then just put in a little.  It's up to you.  Make this dish your own.  Use a good olive oil as it's the base of your sauce, along with some reserved pasta water.  If your olive oil is rancid or has some off-flavors, your sauce may not taste very good.    Regarding the shrimp, you can absolutely buy pre-cooked shrimp.  If you buy raw shrimp, choose a cooking method you find easy and season the shrimp only with salt and pepper.  Our preferred cooking method is grilled.  If we are using frozen shrimp and the weather is not good for grilling, we'll boil the shrimp in 4 cups of water and save the water to make soup or risotto later.   As someone living with celiac disease, I am super picky about my gluten free pasta.  Currently, Jovial is my favorite brand.  My husband even prefers it over wheat pasta because the flavor is so good.  

​Lemony Shrimp Pasta with White Beans
Serves 4

6 ounces regular or gluten free pasta 
1 tablespoon salt
1 pound large shrimp, shelled, deveined, and cooked 
3-4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
3-6 cloves of garlic, minced
1/4 - 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 15-ounce can cannellini or Great Northern white beans, drained and rinsed
Zest of one lemon
Juice of 1 1/2 lemons
1/3 cup fresh parsley, chopped fine
Extra virgin olive oil
Sea salt and freshly cracked black pepper to taste
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1. If you haven't cooked the shrimp, do that first.  
2. Fill a 4-quart or larger pot 3/4 full of water and stir in the tablespoon salt.  Set over high heat, covered, and bring to a boil.
3. While the water is heating, cut your cooked shrimp into bite-size pieces and set aside.
4. In a shallow 10-inch or larger skillet add the olive oil, garlic, and red pepper flakes.  Then turn on the heat to low to let the flavors meld and to ensure you won't burn the garlic.  
5. Once the water is boiling, add the pasta and cook for 30 seconds less than the package calls for.  This helps ensure you will have al dente pasta.
6. Add the shrimp and beans to the garlic mixture and continue cooking over low heat.  Add a pinch of salt and a couple of grinds of black pepper.  Stir to combine.  We don't actually want to cook the shrimp any further.  We do want to warm the shrimp and beans.
7. While the pasta is cooking, have nearby a ladle and a heatproof 2-cup liquid measure cup.  Ninety seconds before the pasta is finished cooking, reserve at least one cup of the pasta water.  It is starchy from the pasta and is the base of your sauce.  
8. When the timer goes off, taste one piece of pasta.  You want it to be chewy, not crunchy, and just shy of al dente.  Why? Because the pasta gets cooked a little bit more.  Drain the pasta.  In the pot you cooked the pasta, add some olive oil and swirl it to coat the bottom of the pot.  Add the pasta back to the pot and set over low heat.
9. Add the shrimp-bean mixture to the pot, a couple of tablespoons of pasta water, the lemon juice, the lemon zest, and the parsley.  Stir to combine.  Keep stirring gently until the sauce thickens a bit.  It's magical how pasta water transforms from watery to a sauce that nicely coats each piece of pasta.  This part may take a minute or two so be patient.  And you may need a little more pasta water if the sauce becomes too thick.  Only add one tablespoon of pasta water between stirring sessions to avoid a watery mess.  
10. Serve warm in shallow bowls.  Feel free to pass around some grated pecorino on the side if you'd like.  

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When I hear various objections to eating healthy or changing eating habits, one of the complaints I hear most often is that healthy food does not taste good.  Let's go ahead and eliminate that idea because frankly it's just not true.  I used to teach a cooking class called Get Saucy! which showed people that combining just a few ingredients could really boost the flavor of your meal.  Sauces are probably what your dinner is missing.  I'm not talking about fancy French sauces that require special tools or fancy techniques.  I am talking about ingredients you can find in your grocery store or that you may already have in your pantry.  And the method for making the sauce could not be simpler.  Maybe it involves a little chopping or perhaps heating on the stove, but that's it.   And when food tastes good you're more likely to eat it.

In the past, I have featured on this blog such flavorful and easy-to-make sauces as Romesco, a surprising combination of roasted red peppers and almonds that is a real crowd favorite around here.  Today I bring you another sauce which is just a handful of ingredients, thrown together and simmered on the stove.  It's not taxing to prepare it, and yet it is so flavorful.  It boosts everything from grilled chicken to roasted cauliflower.  But I'm clearly having a hard time telling you about it.  Why?  Well, it contains anchovies.  And anchovies for a lot of people are a hard sell, but in a sauce they add an addictive salty and umami element that makes you want to lick the plate!  Well, it makes me want to lick the plate.  Also, anchovies are low in mercury and a good source of omega-3 fatty acids and B vitamins.  They can be high in sodium so a little will go a long way.  

The sauce I share today is just a lot of darn good olive oil, some minced garlic, capers, and anchovies.  That's it.  I'm pretty sure the hardest part of this recipe is actually opening the can of anchovies (why?  why does it have to be so hard and dangerous?).  I hope you'll make it and give it a try, especially if you have cooking fatigue, as many of us do from sheltering in place.  One note, all measurements of ingredients, except the olive oil, are suggested.  You are free to put in more or less garlic.  My husband loves capers so I put in an obscene amount of those.  If anchovies are not your thing, or you are just unsure about them, start with one.   This sauce is super easy and super forgiving.  Also, the recipe can easily be cut in half or doubled.

Garlic Caper Anchovy Sauce
Makes approximately 2/3 cup or less

1/2 cup really good quality extra virgin olive oil
2 to 4 garlic cloves, peeled and minced
1 to 2 tablespoons capers, drained and patted dry
1 to 5 oil-packed anchovy filets

Combine all ingredients in the smallest sauce pan you have.  Place the pan over the smallest burner on your stove and turn the heat to low.  You want to simmer the sauce, and keeping the heat on low ensures you will not burn the garlic if you walk away or accidentally check email for 30 minutes.  Over low heat, it's really hard to screw up this sauce.  Stir it every once in a while because you want the anchovies to mostly, if not completely, dissolve in the sauce.  

How to serve: In a bowl passed at the table so people can choose their own amounts.  We like it drizzled over roast fish, grilled chicken, roasted cauliflower, or baked fingerling potatoes.   Enjoy!

You may remember that some months ago I got on a kick of throwing a bunch of ingredients in a pan and calling the recipe a mishmash.  There was Spring Vegetable Mishmash and also Salmon Mishmash.  The last of the summer tomatoes brought on the End of Summer Chicken Mishmash.

Actually, no, that's not what brought about this particular mishmash recipe.  What happened was that Brian and I were house hunting across the country and staying in a rental apartment with a kitchen.  The kitchen had the basic necessities of a skillet, a knife, a cutting board, and spatula.  So resourcefulness kicked in as I thought about what we could make easily that would be deeply satisfying and also meet our nutritional needs.  The nearly last of summer cherry tomatoes plus my love of spinach and garlic plus some nice chicken breasts became a hearty dinner one night. 

And boy did we need something nourishing and hearty.  Brian got on the plane with a cold and two days later I had the cold, a doozy that knocked us out.    We still went house hunting and made an offer on a house while hopped up on cold medicine.  Please note, I do not recommend extremely large purchases while under the influence of Nyquil.

End of Summer Chicken Mishmash
(or Rental Apartment Chicken Mishmash)
Serves 4

1 to 1.25 pounds of chicken breast or chicken cutlets cut into 1-inch cubes
2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 large yellow onion, diced
pinch of red pepper flakes
4-6 cloves of garlic, peeled and minced
2-4 cups of raw spinach, roughly chopped
1 to 1.5 cups of cherry tomatoes, halved (or if very large then quartered)
Sea Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Cooked brown or white rice to accompany.

Heat the olive oil over medium heat in a 12-inch skillet until it shimmers.  Add the chicken and cook until light brown on one side, about three to four minutes.  Season with salt and pepper.  Turn the chicken cubes over and cook two to three minutes longer.  Remove the chicken from the pan.  If it looks like the pan is dry, swirl in some more olive oil.  Add the onion and cook over medium heat until it starts to turn light brown, stirring often to avoid burning.  This step can take up to 10 minutes.  Stir in the garlic and cook for one minute.  Add the tomatoes, season with a pinch or two of salt and pepper, and cook until they are starting to break down, about five minutes.  Add the spinach and cook until it starts to wilt.  Add the chicken to reheat it.

To serve, spoon rice into four bowls and then divide the chicken mishmash between the four bowls.  Serve warm.

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When I first had to give up gluten in order to save my health, I thought I would have stay away from Asian food forever.  Why?  Because I told myself a story that all Asian food, regardless of country of origin had soy sauce in it, and soy sauce has wheat in it.  In fact, there are a lot of Asian sauces that have wheat in them.  The upside is that I discovered gluten free tamari which is wheat-free soy sauce.  Also, I've learned to read food product labels really carefully.   Still, though, I never go out for Asian food for fear of being cross-contaminated, and we very rarely make it at home.  This past spring, though, I ate at a Vietnamese restaurant on a visit to see my mother in Arizona and was reminded how much I miss the flavors of various Asian cuisines.  

I was inspired to create something simple I could make at home as I am rediscovering how to take the dishes of various Asian countries, especially China and Vietnam, and make them gluten free and safe for me to eat.  With that, I present to you this very simple and delicious meal of grilled chicken with broccoli which you can easily make on a weeknight.  You'll need to do a little advance planning as the chicken needs to be marinated.  Also, if you are vegetarian or vegan, the broccoli is worth making because it's so easy and so flavorful that I eat straight out of the pan when I take it out of the oven.

Vietnamese Inspired Chicken with Broccoli
Serves 4

1.25 to 1.5 pounds of boneless, skinless chicken thighs
1/4 cup reduced sodium tamari (or soy sauce if you don't need to be gluten free)
2 teaspoons honey
1 tablespoon coconut oil, melted
1/2 teaspoon fish sauce, optional (I prefer Red Boat, which is gluten free)
pinch of red pepper flakes
3-4 cloves of garlic, peeled and minced
1/2 teaspoon five spice powder
Grapeseed oil for grilling chicken
~ 1 pound of broccoli, washed and cut into florets (I use the precut bagged broccoli from Trader Joe's)
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon sea salt
A couple of grinds of fresh black pepper

First, marinate the chicken, which can be done in as little as one hour before grilling to as long as overnight.  Place the chicken thighs in a pie plate or square glass baking dish.  In a bowl, whisk together the tamari, honey, coconut oil, fish sauce, red pepper flakes, garlic, and five spice powder.  Pour the marinade over the chicken, cover, and refrigerate.  If you are marinating the chicken longer than an hour, be sure to turn the chicken over halfway through the marinating time.

Second, get ready to cook the broccoli and the chicken.  For the broccoli, preheat the oven to 400.  In a bowl, toss the broccoli with the olive oil, salt and pepper.  Spread the broccoli on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or lightly oiled.  Bake for 25-30 minutes.

While the broccoli is baking, you have two choices for cooking the chicken: grilling or roasting.  To roast, place the chicken on a baking sheet, either lined with parchment paper or lightly oiled, and place it in the oven with the broccoli, 15 minutes before the broccoli is finished baking.  This way, the chicken and the broccoli will finish cooking at the same time.

To grill the chicken, light your gas grill on high and then turn it down to low or medium-low.  Take the chicken out of the marinade and brush it with grapeseed oil.  Grill the chicken for five and a half minutes on each side.  Serve with the broccoli.   
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"What do you do to keep the riced cauliflower from tasting like a slightly solid form of boiled water?"  This is a message from my friend Marci after she read my recipe for Spring Vegetable Mishmash.  I've been swapping out cauliflower rice for regular rice recently as I have evidence that consuming rice too often has led to some recent autoimmune flare-ups.  Cauliflower rice is also popular with people who follow a Whole30 or a Paleo diet or an autoimmune protocol.   I definitely feel better after eating cauliflower rice versus eating traditional rice.  

However, Marci's question brought up a good point and that is cauliflower rice can sometimes taste like just a bunch of wet styrofoam pebbles.  Frankly, food should taste good, especially healthy food.  Through trial and error, I have found that roasting cauliflower rice produces the most flavor.  It's an easy cooking method and takes as much or less time to make as traditional rice.  

Here are the ingredients for it, if you are not starting with a whole head of cauliflower, plus what it looks like spread in the pan:

My current favorite snack is just two ingredients: dates and cashew butter.  That's it.  I discovered it in January when I chose to temporarily eliminate some foods from my diet so that my body could feel better.  Sure I enjoyed the sugar-laden desserts of the holidays and too much wine.  But between the overindulgence of the holidays and recovering from my second miscarriage, which happened in November, by January my body was asking, no it was begging for a break. 

I don't diet.  I don't cleanse or detox.  I do try to eat in a way that helps me thrive while living with an autoimmune disease.  I was diagnosed with Grave's Disease in February 1998.  For twenty years I have managed to live with one disease without developing another.  Research has shown that once you develop one autoimmune disease, you are much more likely to develop another.  One doctor told me I was 600 times more likely than someone who does not have autoimmunity.  

So in January, I eliminated some inflammatory foods, giving my body a chance to heal.  Out went dairy and alcohol and soy and legumes and sugar.   I am a snacker by nature and snacks were a real challenge until I happened upon this flavorful and nutritious combination of dates smeared with cashew butter.  The sweetness of the dates plus the creaminess of the cashew butter is incredibly delicious and incredibly satisfying.

Can I call this a recipe?  It feels more like a method so here is the method for this snack followed by the nutritional awesomeness it provides.

Dates with Cashew Butter
Serves 1

2 Medjool dates or 3 smaller dates such as Bahri or Deglet Noor
Cashew Butter

Remove the pit from the date and spread it flat.  Smear it with cashew butter.  Yum!

If you like dates, check out my recipe for date balls.  

Nutritional awesomeness:  Dates are loaded with anti-oxidants and other good for you vitamins and minerals, are considered low glycemic, and have a reputation for being the Viagra of Saudi Arabia (ahem and bada bing bada boom!).  If you want more information about the health benefits of dates, check out this article, and this one, and also this one.  The fat in cashew butter aids digestion.  You can read about the benefits of cashew butter here.  

​You can learn more about dates in this article.  

It's your turn!  What are some of your favorite two ingredient snacks?

Roasted Snow Peas.  Perhaps you are already roasting your snow peas, but we certainly were not.  Historically, when snow peas were on the menu, Brian would haul out his beloved wok and stir fry them which is a quick cooking method with a not so quick clean-up method. 

So the other night when both of us arrived home tired, one from sailing and the other from working, we wanted a quick dinner.  We had salmon fillets in the freezer and snow peas in the fridge so the menu was easy.  We would do the Maple Soy Salmon recipe from Julia Turshen's wonderfully useful cookbook Small Victories.  Brian would stir fry the snow peas.  Add our usual green salad and two glasses of wine and there's dinner.

Except I didn't want to stir fry the snow peas.  I just wanted to throw everything in the oven.  We always have leftover glaze from the Maple Soy Salmon recipe so I suggested that we toss the snow peas with the leftover glaze and roast them in the oven at the same time as the salmon.  One cooking method.  No standing over a hot stove.  Easy clean up of two sheet pans.  YES!

And it turns out that roasted snow peas are delicious!  And quick!  And easy! And nutritious!

Roasted Snow Peas with Maple Soy Glaze
Serves 4

1 lb. snow peas, cleaned with ends trimmed
1 Tablespoon low-sodium soy sauce or gluten free tamari
1 Tablespoon pure maple syrup (feel free to omit)
1 Tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1/2 to 1 teaspoon ground ginger, depending on your preference.
Salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 425 F.  

Toss all the ingredients together and spread evenly on a sheet pan (13 x 18 inches).  Roast for 12-14 minutes, rotating the pan 180 degrees halfway through cooking.  Serve hot or cold or room temperature as they are delicious at any temperature.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste.  Pairs especially well with roasted salmon. 

Nutritional awesomeness:  Snow peas have got a lot of goodness.  They are a good source of Vitamin A and Vitamin K.  As Vitamins A and K are fat soluble vitamins, the olive oil in the recipe helps your body absorb them.

Have you heard of pipian sauce?  It is one of the many sauces that Brian and I use to have a flavorful dinner without spending a lot of time and money in the process.  Traditionally, pipian sauce is made of tomatillos, onions, cilantro, sugar (ugh, why?), sesame or pumpkin seeds, and toasted bread.  You can find it in Mexico and Central American countries.  I do love a lot of flavor in my foods, and I do not love a lot of time spent for that flavor.   I imagine that done correctly, this sauce is a lot of work.  Luckily, I found a recipe for it in Rick Bayless' wonderful cookbook, Mexican Everyday, which was pretty straightforward.  Then, we did what we do often, we made it even easier and removed unnecessary ingredients, like sugar.  Rick Bayless recommends serving with with salmon and so do we.  It's great with grilled salmon.  The fat and the sweetness of the fish are cut with the spice and acidity of the sauce.  I also enjoy pipian sauce on eggs, grilled chicken, and I imagine it would be good with grilled pork.  Hey, vegetarian and vegan friends, it makes a nice dipping sauce for roasted cauliflower or green beans.  When thinking about pairing it, the sauce is spicy so it's ideal with something sweet.

How did we make this recipe our own?  Rick calls for blending the primary ingredient, a tomatillo salsa, in a food processor.  We are not doing that.  Why?  Because I am the dishwasher and heck no I will not be washing any unnecessary dishes thank you kindly.  This is just to make the sauce smooth.  I'm fine with it chunky.  We eliminated the sugar because geez louise why do you need sugar in it?  You don't.  He adds ingredients one at a time to the saucepan, such as first reducing the salsa before adding the broth and tahini.  How much time do you have?  That's what I thought:  you don't have time to be adding ingredients one at a time.  Your time is valuable!  Thus, we just pour all three ingredients in the saucepan at once, and let it reduce, thereby freeing us up to make salads, roast veggies, and grill fish or chicken.  

Quick & Easy Green Pipian Sauce
Makes enough sauce for 4-6 meals

2 cups jarred tomatillo salsa (use your favorite since it's the dominant flavor of the sauce)
1 cup low sodium chicken or vegetable broth
3 tablespoons tahini that has been well stirred
​Swirl of olive oil

In a 2-quart saucepan over medium heat, lightly swirl olive oil around the pan one time.  Lift the pan and tilt it to ensure even distribution of the olive oil.  Add the salsa, broth, and tahini.  Whisk together.  It may look like the tahini has separated a bit.  This is normal and it will come together as it reduces.  Bring to a boil.  Reduce heat to medium low.  Stir or whisk occasionally to prevent the sauce from scorching on the bottom of the pan.  Cook the sauce until it has reduced by half to two-thirds, depending on your preferred thickness.  Serve warm with grilled or roasted chicken, fish, and/or vegetables.  

Nutritional awesomeness:  Tomatillo salsa is an excellent source of vitamin C.  Tahini contains iron and calcium.  

I recently taught one of my favorite cooking classes, Meal Planning for Health & Vitality.    I had a terrific group of students who asked lots of good questions.   Many of these students reminded me that sometimes the most challenging part of the meal is being creative with vegetables.   As my mother-in-law likes to say, "I'd be a vegetarian if preparing vegetables were not so much work."  

My goal is to change the misconception that creatively preparing vegetables has to be a lot of work to produce a lot of flavor.  I actively avoid recipes with too many ingredients or that require the use of every pan in the house plus some kitchen tools you don't have and didn't know exist.  I don't do precious when it comes to my food.   I do do good flavor with quick and easy preparations that can easily fit into our busy lifestyles.  

I'd like to introduce you to my new favorite side dish, or, some nights when I am teaching yoga and arrive home late, dinner.  It features zucchini, which I've been told grows profusely.  When we lived in New York's Hudson Valley, friends with gardens were always giving us zucchini so I can vouch for the truth of this.  It's easy to make, has great flavor, and can be eaten on its own or served as a side dish for everything from poached fish to grilled steak.  Yes, it's that versatile!  It's zucchini with white beans and onions.

Zucchini with White Beans and Onions
Serves 4-6

1 pound of zucchini, washed and ends trimmed.  You can also use a combination of zucchini and summer squash.
1 small to medium yellow onion, diced
1 clove of garlic, minced
1 15-ounce can of cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
salt 
fresh ground black pepper
Italian parsley, washed and chopped for garnish (optional)

Cut the zucchini in half, lengthwise.  Then cut each half in half again so the whole zucchini is cut into quarters lengthwise.  Line the fourths up together and make a large dice at 1/2-inch to 1-inch intervals.  

Heat a 12-inch saute pan over medium heat.  Add olive oil.  Swirl around the pan and add the onion and garlic.  Saute over medium heat, stirring often, until translucent.  Add the zucchini, and a couple of pinches of salt and pepper.   Cook the mixture over medium heat for 7-10 minutes, until the zucchini is starting to soften, but still firm to the bite.  If the onions start browning too much, turn the heat down to medium low.   Add the white beans, stir to incorporate.  Cook another 2-3 minutes to warm the beans.  Season to taste with salt and pepper.  If you like, garnish with chopped parsley.  Can be served warm or at room temperature.

Nutritional awesomeness:  Zucchini is low in carbohydrates and a good source of Vitamin C and Vitamin A.  Onions are a good source of Vitamin C, Folate, and Potassium.  Cannellini beans are a good source of protein and fiber, help regulate blood sugar levels, and are an excellent source of many vitamins and minerals.  
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