Caesar Salad

 This recipe holds a very special place in my heart. I grew up eating this. It is in my veins. My best friends from childhood remember this salad. They also remember me literally drinking the dressing - seriously, I was obsessed with it.
The best part was that my dad taught me how to make it and he would always let me stand next to him and watch until I knew how to make it on my own. And he always let me mix the salad with the dressing with my hands and I would lick off all the dressing. Gross, right? But such a pleasant memory of childhood.
The story of our caesar salad dressing doesn't start there though. Supposedly my Mom and Dad went to a restaurant that made this caesar salad table side. They loved it so much that they went back every week and intently watched the chef make it until they had all the ingredients and steps memorized. Then they made it at home and the rest is history!
My dad still makes this today (especially when we have Meatballs!) But I am now the maker of it on my moms side and I happily make it for my sisters. Though I don't drink the dressing now, I still really enjoy this salad and Dennis and I make it at least once a month if not more.
You'll have to bear with me because there are no "exact" measurements. There never have been, probably because of the way my parents learned how to make it themselves. It comes out different every single time you make it and there's something a bit special about that. The only rule of making the dressing is to add a bit of everything at a time. This is where I first learned that you can always add more but you can never take away. (Seriously, I can still remember my dad telling me that.) So, without further delay, here it is:

Ingredients:
- 1-2 Garlic cloves depending on their size (If you're not a fan of raw garlic, cut the clove in half and rub around the bowl. discard garlic.)
- Anchovy paste **
- 1 egg *
- EVOO
- Lemon Juice (I never use real lemon in this because bottled works just as well and always has the same flavor where as lemons don't always taste the same!)
- White Wine Vinegar
- Worcestershire sauce
- Parmesan cheese
- Croutons
- Romaine Lettuce

* My dad always put the egg in a bit of warm water and even sometimes microwaves it for a few seconds to kill any bad bacteria. I have never done this and I've never been sick. 
** Anchovy paste can be found with the tuna. You've had anchovies before if you've ever eaten caesar salad. It's that saltiness you taste and it taste nothing like fish. I hate fishy taste and never had a problem with anchovies in my salad dressing. 

Mix the minced garlic with the anchovy paste (about 1tsp)

Whisk in the egg

Add EVOO, about 3 circles of the bowl. My dad always says "this is the base of the dressing"
Whisk together until smooth.

- Next you add a couple splashes of worcestershire sauce, about 2 squeeze of lemon juice bottle, 2 glugs of the white wine vinegar and whisk. TASTE. I tend to make mine more vinegary than my dad does but that's the way Den and I like it.

Next add parmesan cheese and whisk together.

It should be about this thick. TASTE. Add what you think might be missing.  I almost always have to add something else in. Usually a bit of vinegar and lemon. 

I always add the croutons to the bottom of the bowl and then throw the lettuce on top so the croutons soak up as much dressing as they can ;) Mix the salad right before serving, otherwise it'll get limp. 

Best salad ever!

Pinterest Finds

I have tried a few pinterest-found recipes lately that have phenomenal and wanted to share them with you! First off, you should know that Den and I are trying to eat healthier (always) and so I needed to shake up my recipe rotation. We're going to try to eat fish once a week and cut down on potatoes and rice. So here is a fish recipe AND a quinoa recipe! Enjoy!

We'll start with my all time favorite first. I already shared this with everyone I could think of because seriously, it's that good!  Ginger & Cilantro Tilapia is so flavorful, super duper easy to make and pretty dang healthy too. I apologize for not having more pictures, I was in such a rush to get this in my mouth that all my pictures were quite blurry.
I served it over brown rice (which I usually say - ick - to!) but I used the leftover juices in the pan over top and it was so delicious! On the side is some soy-garlic Kale. I just heated up some oil, added a smushed garlic clove and took it out when it had given off some flavor. Added in the trimmed, chopped kale, poured a bit of lemon, soy, and a splash of sesame seed oil and covered to let cook. Once it was cooked down it was ready and oh-so-delicious!
I don't have a picture of it, but LB did really enjoy the fish which is great!

Look how flaky that fish is!? And that flavorful broth was perfect over brown rice!

Next up is Quinoa Pizza Bites which were amazing! I really, really liked them and kept going back to munch on more. Den liked them but also said they tasted a bit like "cornbread pizza." He took the leftovers to work so he must've liked them enough.

I only made a few changes to this one. I added broccoli and mushrooms. I used turkey pepperoni. And I also made them in a big [regular] muffin pan since we were enjoying them for dinner. It made 12 big "bites" I think it was a bit harder to get the bigger muffins out even though I cooked them for 30 minutes but I really doubt you'd had a problem with the mini ones not staying together. And honestly, who cares!? They were awesome! Even LB loved it.

I served these with homemade caesar salad (Recipe to follow in the next post! eek!) and the combination of those two made the dish even better! I really think it taste just like pizza without filling you up too much or making you feel guilty. I can't wait to make them again. I think these would be a fun party appetizer as well :)

LB digging right in :) 

Springtime Lemon Spaghetti

It may not be officially spring yet but it sure feels and looks like it around here! The temperatures are actually creeping into the mid-80's already. We've contemplated turning the A/C on but this is really the only time to cut back on our electric bill so we've sucked it up. The windows are open and the ceiling fans are on high. It feels so beautiful around here and there's something about this time of year that makes me want to eat healthier and greener.

This dish embodies so many things that I love: Vegetables, Lemon, Pasta! I mean, you can't go wrong. Like most of my recipes you can add almost anything to this dish. I usually add mushrooms but didn't have any on hand. I also usually do garlic but I was rushing to get this on the table and totally forgot to add it this time. Nevertheless it was a wonderfully flavorful dish and the first of many this summer!
Also, as you might have figured out by now, I am not the best at measuring things, especially my own recipes, so bear with me when I say "about" this much. I just use my judgement and always taste throughout making a meal!

Ingredients:
- Any amount/kind of vegetable you want. You can use fresh, frozen, both, etc. I used frozen peas, asparagus and fresh broccoli this time.
- One lemon
- Parsley (optional, totally not needed! I just had some on hand)
- Wheat Spaghetti
- 1/2c-1c Milk (this really depends on how much sauce you are making! Sometimes I make waaaaay too much and end up freezing half the sauce for later!)
- 2T butter
- 2T all purpose flour

Directions:
- Start boiling the water for the pasta, cut up your vegetables to desired size.

- Melt the butter over medium heat. Add the flour. (You are going to make a roux, by the way!) Whisk together. Season with S&P.

It should look like wet sand. Slowly pour in milk and whisk, whisk, whisk!  Add lemon zest and lemon juice and keep whisking.

It should start coming together after the milk heats up. (You can shorten the time it takes by heating the milk up beforehand but I always forget to do that!) Turn the heat down to low and simmer while you finish the dish.
Now is a GREAT time to TASTE! Add more lemon or seasoning now. Remember, you want it a bit more lemony because when you add the other ingredients you will lose a bit of lemon flavor.

This is about how thick your sauce should be. But you can always let it simmer and it should get thicker. Add water/lemon if you need to thin it out.

Boil the spaghetti according to package. Add vegetables and cook together -easy peasy!

Drain. I add the frozen peas now and let them defrost at the last minute.

Mix all together. Add parsley if you have it. 

Delicious! I like to serve mine with a slice of lemon because Dennis doesn't like his as lemony as I like mine ;) Parmesan cheese is almost a must with this dish. It just adds that extra layer of flavor. I tried adding it to the whole dish before serving but the cheese melts and gets stuck on the tongs that I use to toss the pasta. Not pretty. So now I add it after serving the dish up! 

LB's plate :) 

She's a fan! Though the spaghetti was a bit harder for her to get in her mouth. I would use different noodles for the kiddos!

Potato-Corn Cakes

This recipe is brought to you by Idaho Spuds potato flakes. Yup. Don't you wrinkle your nose up! These may not make the best mashed potatoes but they do make an awesome binder for all kinds of cakes. And boy, do we love our cakes: Rice cakes, Tuna cakes, Potato cakes, Chocolate cakes...wait...wrong kind of cake there, but loved all the same.

Anyway, yesterday we got home from a long day out and the whole drive home I kept thinking of what I could make for dinner, mentally running through the pantry, fridge and freezer. By the time we got home I was exhausted and still had no clue what to make. I have no idea why I reached for the box of potato flakes but I did and happened to find a recipe on the back for potato corn cakes. It seemed like the perfect, easy dinner for the night. A mix between periogies, cakes, potato and corn. Did I mention that growing up we always mixed our corn and mashed potatoes together? Delicious. This just screamed, "make me!" So I did.

The recipe was originally for "small appetizer cakes" but since this was dinner I made them adult sized + 1 baby one for LB. I also halved the recipe which is what I will give to you. It was perfect for 2 adults and one child. You can make the cakes as big or as little as you want.
There are some things I would change next time I make these, and make them again I will (was that yoda-ish?) The recipe called for 1/2T garlic salt. I stupidly added all of that even though my mind was screaming "too much!!!" I will probably omit that next time or just add 1/4tsp instead. I also did not have green onions, never do apparently, so I finely minced up about 1T yellow onion which was just fine in my opinion. I'd even add a bit more next time. So here is the improvised recipe:

Ingredients:
1 cup potato flakes
2T+2t cornmeal
1/4t garlic salt
1/8t cayenne pepper
1 cup milk
1 cup frozen corn, thawed (i used canned corn)
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1-2T finely minced onion OR 3 green onions, thinly sliced.


Directions:
- Mix the potato flakes, cornmeal, garlic salt and cayenne pepper together (I also added a bit of black pepper.)

- Stir in milk, corn, cheese and onions. Let sit for two minutes while your non-stick pan heats up.
- Spray non stick pan with no stick spray.
- Make patties - again, as big or as small as you want. I usually score the bowl into 4 equal parts and try to make 4 adult sized cakes plus one small one for LB.

Place cakes on pan heated about medium heat. Do not move! Let crisp up.Use more spray if needed. Flip and brown on the other side.

We served ours vegetarian style with homemade cole slaw (need the recipe?!) and black eyed peas. The sour cream on top of the corn cakes was delicious but they are just as fine plain.

LB's plate. She loved it but unfortunately it was a bit too salty for her (which is why I adjusted the garlic salt!) 

Dads Meatballs

This is how I get my cooking done! 

The day after a traditional Thanksgiving with my Mom we go to my Dads house and have spaghetti and meatballs. Dad says this was a tradition that started back around 2003 but we can't pin point exactly when we started it - just that we do it every year now and it's something we all look forward to.

I finally asked my dad for the recipe because I couldn't wait all year to eat these scrumptious, crunchy, cheesey garlicky meatballs. He sent it and I immediately emailed him back,

"I think you made a mistake dad. A whole jar of garlic!?"

"No mistake, Al, the whole jar. And not the small one, get the medium sized jar!" 

Whoa. It's true though. I tried it with fresh garlic because really, who uses jarred garlic anymore? But the flavor was just - meh - and actually too garlicky!? I know, crazy right? Anyway, here is the recipe.  I'm sure Dad won't mind if I share because really, these meatballs are so easy to make, with few ingredients, no extra big steps to do and they come out delicious - and perhaps a bit different every time, but that's the fun in it all. 

Ingredients (according to my dad):

- 1 lb lean ground meat

- 1 package mild ground sausage (sometimes I have a hard time finding ground sausage so I get it in the links and peel the casing off, mash it all up!)

- 1 medium jar minced garlic (I use the small one which is what is shown)

- 1 container of parmesan cheese - Dad uses the fancy cheese that you get in the deli. I'm poor so we just do about a cup - 1.5cup of regular parmesan cheese!

- 1 container italian style breadcrumbs 

Directions: (seriously, easiest meatballs EVER)

- Combine all of the above, mix well (can also be mixed in the food processor but the consistency isn't as "homey" feeling - it's more smooth but easier.) Roll into balls of any size you like.

Preheat oven to 325 and let cook low and slow for 45 minutes. Check to make sure the cheese doesn't brown too much and feel free to flip halfway through. I'm not sure if Dad does this step but I really like the crusty browned cheese on both sides so I actually let mine "burn" a  little bit on each side. 

Meatball perfection!

These can be made in advance and then heated up in the spaghetti sauce of your choosing when your guest/family/friends arrive. 

I make the whole batch and then freeze half. To thaw, treat like any ole regular frozen meatball and thaw in spaghetti sauce on the stove. Delicious dinner for nights where you don't feel like cooking! 

These also make a sensational meatball sub!