Today is my mother’s birthday.
My mother loves lilacs. At my childhood home in England there was a huge white lilac tree in the front garden that put forth so many plumes I often wondered how the slender branches held them all up. The air around that tree was thick with a heavy floral aroma as thousands of tiny white flowers released their glorious perfume into the breeze. A couple of years ago I planted a lilac tree in my yard. I couldn’t wait to see her bloom. I’ve waited very patiently, and this year she rewarded me with a mass of fragrant, white-tinged purpleness.
Meet Lilac. She smells divine. I lie under her in the warm sunshine and breathe in her beauty. When it’s time for a break I take a blanket and spread it on the grass right by her, and the “kids” and I sit, soaking up the sun, heady from the delicious scent that wafts around us. Just like my mother, she’s really something is Lilac.
While I am at it, meet Nelly. My father, Fred, had a Nelly. She fascinated me, growing tenaciously up one post of the pergola like she did, and then popping out more huge, beautiful flowers than should be legal for one vine. When I was planting my yard, Nelly was the first plant I looked for. I simply had to have a Nelly of my own.
Nelly is a bit wild. She reaches into every nook and cranny she can find, wrapping her svelte tendrils tightly around anything that stands close enough, and sliding rapidly across the ground when you’re not looking. And when she blooms, she really blooms. Exotic flowers as big as saucers – long, fleshy, pink and white petals with a crown of delicate purple stamens unfurling in the center. She’s always cheerful, is Nelly; and she blooms all summer long. I love her.
 
Spring has most definitely arrived in the Pacific Northwest and we’re hurtling towards summer at quite a clip. Things are bursting out all over in my yard, and the distant hum of lawn-mowers can be heard all weekend long. Yesterday I picked mint leaves and used them to infuse summer into some tender chicken cutlets. Yesterday’s dinner involved a whole lot of fresh herbs. And this morning I realized that I had forgotten how much I love fresh chives in my scrambled eggs. When I was a nipper, back in England, one of my jobs in the spring and summer was collecting chives from the garden whenever it was a scrambled-eggs-for-breakfast day. I loved snipping off the bright green stalks, and I loved the gentle flavor they added to my plate. The memory makes me want to grow chives. I want to step out of my kitchen and snip those bright green stalks off again, 2 minutes before I need them.
To go alongside those Chicken Cutlets with Herb Butter (recipe coming soon!), I decided on a tomato recipe that involved a serious amount of chives. If you ever want flavor enough to knock your socks off in one forkful - this will do it. Ridiculously sweet, this side will make you wonder how a fruit so small can deliver that big of a punch. The aroma made Farmer Becky and The Big Guy go crazy while they patiently waited for dinner to be served.
None of us were expecting the explosion of intense, sweet, aromatic flavor that walloped our taste buds. The Big Guy said, “Absolutely delicious!”, so many times I lost count. We almost cleaned the dish bare between us. I have just one spoonful stashed in the ‘fridge to go with my lunch today. Yum.
Easy to prepare and quick to cook, this dish makes a stunning side out of the humble tomato. And, oh! how I love those fresh chives. If this is SANE* eating, I am so there.
Roasted Grape Tomatoes with Chives (adapted from Martha Stewart Living)
- 1½ pounds of grape tomatoes, sliced in half lengthwise
- 2 teaspoons coconut oil
- ½ teaspoon dried rosemary
- Coarse ground pepper and salt
- ¼ cup fresh chives, snipped
Preheat over to 450 degrees F.
Put the coconut oil on a rimmed baking sheet and place in oven just long enough to melt the oil.
Toss the halved tomatoes and rosemary into the oil and spread into one layer on the baking sheet.
Season with salt and pepper.
Roast in the oven until the tomatoes just start to collapse, about 10 minutes.
Toss with fresh chives into a serving dish.
Serves 4. (Or 2 if you can’t bear to share.)
*A term used in Jonathan Bailor’s book, The Smarter Science of Slim.
It’s finally Friday. I am not sure why I said finally, as though it has been more than 7 days since the last one, or that time has dragged. This week has flown by. One minute it was Monday morning and I was off racing around the office like a mad woman, and the next it was Thursday morning and the car was off to the shop for a service. I am happy to report that I did not need a second mortgage to pay the bill for the service, because after 150,000 miles still nothing needed fixin’. Yay! I am still reeling from giving up the $5500 that I traded in for a new transmission last summer. Oh and the shiny new brakes. Driving around the Rocky Mountain National Park was a bit more of an adventure than I had bargained for after my brakes decided that they also needed a vacation. The upside is that I can now drive downhill without even thinking about touching my foot to that left-hand pedal. I learnt that trick really quickly one sunny afternoon when I realized that the burning smell was not coming from a forest fire.
I should mention that when I say Friday, what I really mean is MY Friday, which looks a lot like many people’s Thursday – those who work a regular work week anyway. Whatever that is. My week looks a little different. I do one thing Monday – Thursday and another thing Friday – Sunday. My Friday – Sunday looks like a long weekend, because it’s jam-packed with fun stuff – eating, shooting things, eating some more, going on adventures, cooking, writing on here…did I mention eating? Monday – Thursday I am rather more serious and responsible. I wear appropriate clothing, lipstick and do complicated stuff to my hair, which sometimes even involves hairspray. I drive across town at some ungodly hour on those mornings, and eat a lot of spinach. A *lot* of spinach. I start early and stay late. And then eat more spinach. Popeye was onto something, you know. Spinach really does make you big and strong. Well, healthy and skinny, but you get my drift.
So it’s my Friday. And even though it’s already late and I really should be heading off to the Land Of Nod, I’m already excited for My Week, Pt.II. Mini-Me and The Hubs will be over tomorrow for the next riveting installment of The Friday Night Dinner. I keep the menu secret from them until they’re seated at my kitchen table, but if you promise not to tell them, I’ll give you a clue. It’s chicken.
Right now, though, I want to talk about shrimp. I am trying desperately hard to catch up on myself so that I can get into a simple routine of cook, shoot, eat, blog. All within a day. Who knows if I’ll ever get there, but that’s the grand plan, and right now I am behind. So let’s talk about shrimp.
You may have read about my FAVORITE. SALAD. EVER. If not, I hope you’ll consider it. It’s a very delicious salad. When I was telling you about the last time I made it, I mentioned that I also made Lemon Buttered Shrimp. This recipe took about 5 seconds to dream up, 5 minutes to do and 3 minutes 25 seconds to devour. I ate a whole pound in one sitting. The next day I did it again, without the dreaming up part, because by then it was already dreamed up and just had to be done and devoured. I’ve lost track of how many times I’ve made it since. When shrimps go on sale any more, I know what I’m having. Shrimp – it’s what for dinner.
Here’s what it looks like when I am eating alone:
Here’s what it looks like when I am eating with friends:
Clearly, eating with friends is good for one’s health.
I was never much of a shrimp eater until I came to the US. Of course, living in Seattle there’s an abundance of them. In England, at least when I was growing up, they were a bit of a delicacy. I’m not sure what the shrimp situation is over there now – maybe one of my mates from the other side will chime in and give us an update.
When I make this dish I use the baby pre-cooked shrimp. The ones called “96 – 120 count”, or something like that. For four reasons.
- You get more shrimp!
- You pay less per pound!
- You only have to heat them through and they’re done!
- You get more sauce since the surface area of the shrimp is bigger!
However, if you like to spend more money, or just want fewer-but-bigger shrimp, you may use whatever darn size you choose. I personally think that the baby shrimp just look prettier. I refuse to get on the train of thought that says, “Bigger is better!”, because as we all know deep down, size {often} doesn’t matter. Especially in some things. Give me substance over size any day.
This was the first meal that I cooked for Mini-Me and The Hubs. I am not sure what they were expecting. Just because I like to eat good food, doesn’t necessarily mean that I am any good at cooking it. I know plenty of people who *love* food, but can’t boil an egg without burning it. While pastry is my forte, if I put my mind to it I can cook up a decent plate of nosh. At least, I haven’t killed anyone yet, and I don’t recall a time when anyone left the table hungry, or furtively looking for the trash can.
Mini-Me exclaimed on the first bite, “OHHH, I love the shrimp! I could eat an ENTIRE pan of this shrimp. It is so flavorful. And creamy.”
This dish tastes so rich, it’s almost impossible to believe that it is staggeringly healthy. It also takes 5 minutes to cook. Go on. Whip a bag of shrimp out the freezer for dinner tonight. Lemon Buttered Shrimp, Pineapple Pine Nut Salad & some steamed asparagus. So SANE* I can barely stand it.
Lemon Buttered Shrimp
- 2 tablespoons garbanzo bean flour (cornstarch if you are not avoiding starches / grains)
- ½ cup coconut milk (cow’s milk if you are not avoiding dairy – for a seriously creamy, decadent option, use heavy cream.)
- 1 oz butter
- 2 lbs pre-cooked baby shrimp
- Coarse ground lemon pepper
- Juice and zest of 1 lemon
In a small bowl, whisk the garbanzo bean flour** and coconut milk*** into a slurry.
Melt the butter in a skillet, over medium heat.
Add the shrimp and warm through.
Add lemon pepper to taste, and the lemon juice and zest.
As soon as the shrimp are warm and have released all their juices, about 4 minutes, stir the flour / milk slurry into the shrimp.
Stir continuously until mixture has thickened and cook for 1 minute.
Sprinkle with lemon zest and lemon pepper to garnish.
Serves 4.
Great with Pineapple Pine Nut Salad and steamed asparagus.
*A term used in Jonathan Bailor’s book, The Smarter Science of Slim.
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There’s this salad. I made it up a long time ago. It’s been an important part of my life for so long now that I don’t recall whether I first made it this side of the pond or the other, but I know I’ve made it at least a hundred times. And I know that I enjoyed it as much the 100th time as I did the 1st. I can’t imagine life without this salad. If I had to chose one salad as a favorite, this would - for sure – be it.
I made this salad countless times when I lived in Spokane, where it’s hotter than Hades all summer long, and a cool, crisp, fresh salad can revive you like nothing else. I made it for countless friends when they came over for dinner. Everyone swooned.
It was my Canadian friend Kevin’s favorite salad too. I remember us eating it in Canmore one Christmas, after a day shooting in the snow, and moose-spotting. 6 moose! I mean, SIX MOOSE!!!! Do you know how intoxicatingly exciting that was for an English girl who’d only seen moose in pictures before?? Worth celebrating with a splendid salad right there. We ate this salad in the shadow of The Three Sisters.
I remember us eating it in Seattle several times. We ate it after a long day painting the walls of the Beach House baby blue and mint green. OK yes, you’re right. Kevin painted and I supplied refreshments every hour. We ate it after a crazy-long day-trip around the Olympic Peninsula; because who knew that the Olympic Peninsula was quite that enormous? We ate it on a picnic half-way up the side of Mount Rainier. That was a spectacular day – blue, blue sky dotted with fluffy white clouds floating aimlessly past the magnificent dome of Washington’s largest volcano.
We ate it with salmon. We ate it with chicken. We ate it with gusto. And a smile on our faces. We always had seconds. There was never any left.
Yes, I’ve eaten a lot of this salad in my time. We’ve been through a lot together.
So when my own personal Geek Squad turned up in late March to set up Command Central in my living room for The Big Move from one domain to another, I knew I had to make my favorite salad to keep everyone fueled up and on track. I am pretty sure that it jumped straight to the top of the Geek Squad’s favorite salads list, too.
I love the crunch of the crisp Romaine and green peppers, the cooling slices of English cucumber, the sweet, juicy pineapple; the pine nuts adding their distinctive flavor and creamy texture to the bright and lively greenery. Those pine nuts can be spendy little suckers. Luckily you don’t need a huge amount to lift this salad from ordinary to extraordinary.
For the Geek Squad, I offered it up alongside Lemon Buttered Shrimp and a large helping of lightly steamed asparagus. Everyone swooned. I’ve been known to down a pound of those Lemon Buttered Shrimp unaided. They’re *even* better with the salad.
You can top this with your favorite dressing, or no dressing at all. Most often I dress this salad with Brianna’s Poppy-seed Dressing. I highly recommend you try them together. It’s a match made in heaven, frankly.
Recipe type: Salad
Author: Carrie Brown
Serves: 4
- Large Romaine lettuce, sliced crosswise at 1/4″ intervals
- Half a large English cucumber, sliced crosswise at 1/4″ intervals and then quartered
- 1 large green pepper, sliced into 1/4″ pieces
- 20 oz can of unsweetened pineapple chunks, drained
- 1/2 cup of pine nuts, lightly toasted
- 1 tsp dill, chopped
- Place the sliced lettuce in a large serving bowl.
- Add the cucumber, green pepper and pineapple chunks.
- Toss the salad well.
- Just before serving, mix in the pine nuts.
- Sprinkle the dill over the top to garnish.
2.2.6
Serves 4 as a side salad to a main dish.
Serves 2 as a main dish salad with a lean protein such as grilled salmon.
On Saturday I got on a ferry and rode to Kingston. It was one of those days where if you live in Seattle you were in absolutely no doubt as to why you do. It totally made up for the whole month of March, when we Seattle dwellers began to wonder if we would ever feel the sun on our faces again. I would imagine the vitamin D content of Seattleites across the Puget Sound shot up dramatically. I heard rumors that some locals even donned bikinis. Like they were in Ha’waii. Or Mexico. It was a remarkable day.
There was quite a wait for the ferry, but the pending ride across the calm waters, the sunshine, and the company of one of my favorite people meant I didn’t really care. Once we docked in Kingston we had a significant drive to Cape Flattery. I didn’t care about that either since the majority of it was on Highway 112, which, if you’ve never driven on it, should be on your bucket list. Do it in a sports car and drive fast – it’ll rock your world. It rocked our world driving in a 4-Runner and taking it easy.
It was around 5:30 pm when we rolled into the tiny parking lot at the head of the Cape trail. The sign said it was ½ mile to the water. I swear they were lying; or at least exaggerating. It was at least a mile, if not more. Going down was easy, but when we came across a random bench in the middle of the lush greenery & tall trees, I suspected it was an indication that things were about to get {way} steeper. I was sure it was a sign of things to come. Turns out that bench was in exactly the right spot for the hike back up, when we did the climb 4 hours later. Whoever decided to put it where it is must have been out of breath by that point, too.
I wish you’d been there out on Cape Flattery. It was incredibly beautiful. Cool, fresh and tranquil under the canopy of trees and ferns and hanging mosses, the roar of the ocean below.
We had 3 hours to scout around before sunset. Bala went and found all the most precarious spots overhanging the cove beneath us, where the sheer drop of moss-covered rock face ended up in a mass of swirling, gushing, frothy ocean. It was rather like witnessing a gigantic blender at work – the currents under the waves sucking the salty water into a powerful vortex, before spewing it up on an adjacent ledge of rock. I could have just sat there and gazed out into the blue, blue distance. Except I was worried about losing Bala over the edge, never to be seen again. Not only that, but I wanted to watch a master at work. I want to shoot like Bala when I grow up.
Cape Flattery pokes out from under the edge of Washington’s rainforest and into the Pacific Ocean, taunting Canada with its status as the most north-westerly point in the lower 48 states. The only thing that would stop you just plunging right in and taking a quick swim across the Strait of Juan de Fuca to Vancouver Island is the boisterous, pounding waves crashing against the rocky shoreline.
It is a magical place. The green seemed greener and the air seemed fresher, out there on the very tip of America. I think I love the Olympic Peninsula more than any other place on earth.
After the last shot was taken and we’d hiked back up to the car, after stopping a while on the perfectly placed bench, we headed back to Kingston to catch the ferry home. No such luck. We missed the last ferry by, oh, about an hour and a half. I was glad that we chose to miss the ferry and not the chance to watch the sun set gently behind Tatoosh Island. Missing the last ferry earned us a run-in with a Port Angeles cop (Thank you for just calling me silly and not giving me a ticket!) and a {really} long drive back to the mainland, but rolling home at 3 am was a small price to pay for the wonders of the day.
On Sunday I got up at 10:04. I think that is that latest I’ve ever got up. In my life. I am not sure whether to be proud or disappointed. I also noticed that I am not as perky at 3 am as I used to be.
In my last recipe post I promised that the Bacon and Leek Bake would be up next, and that was totally my intention. How did I know that the whole world would go mad for squash? Specifically my Almond Parmesan Squash. So I blame the squash for the temporary diversion away from a hot, sizzling dish of Bacon and Leek glory. Mini-Me’s Hubs will tell you that this is his favorite SANE* dish so far. I think it had something to do with being allowed to cook in bacon fat that tipped the balance.
This is super easy to make and incorporates two of my best-loved foods – leeks and bacon. I think leeks are the finest vegetable on earth. I created this dish because I wanted to eat both of my favorite things at the same time, without it being just a pile of grilled bacon and a side of sautéed leeks, which is what I am often apt to do.
I dished this up with Mandarin Orange and Almond Salad and a simple balsamic dressing. Hearty, SANE* and uber-healthy, all at the same time. Plus, you get to eat bacon. Because bacon doesn’t make you fat.
My impromptu bacon and leek medley became an instant hit with the first bite. It is staggeringly bacon-y in flavor and the leeks cajole you into thinking you’re really eating pasta. Mini-Me and The Hubs can chime in, but I believe they have made this at least three times since I introduced it to them a couple weeks ago. The day after I made it for them I got an excited text from Mini-Me telling me that they were at the store buying leeks for the first time ever. So cute. Long live the humble leek!
Bacon and Leek Bake
- 1 tablespoon coconut oil**
- 2 lbs bacon, chopped roughly (highly recommend Trader Joe’s Bacon Ends & Pieces)
- 3 lbs trimmed leeks, thinly sliced crosswise
- salt and ground pepper
- 1/2 cup chicken stock
- 2 tablespoons garbanzo bean flour***
- 4 oz cheddar cheese, grated
Melt coconut oil in a large skillet on high heat.
Add chopped bacon until lightly browned, 3 minutes. Reduce heat to low.
Add sliced leeks on top of the bacon, season with salt and pepper, and sauté until leeks are tender, about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. If the leeks start to brown, the heat is too high. The leeks should simply “melt” into soft strips.
In a small dish, whisk the garbanzo bean flour and stock into a smooth mixture (slurry).
Stir the slurry into the sautéed bacon and leeks and continue stirring until the mixture thickens.
As soon as mixture thickens, remove from the heat and turn into a casserole or baking dish.
Sprinkle the grated cheese over the surface and broil (grill) until the top is bubbling and golden, 3 minutes.
Serves 4.
Great with: Mandarin Orange and Almond Salad
*A term used in Jonathan Bailor’s book, The Smarter Science of Slim.
** You cannot taste the coconut in the finished dish. Trust me on this one if you’ve never used coconut oil for cooking before.
*** You can use cornstarch if you are not avoiding starches / grains.
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by carrie
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