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My mother makes a mean shrimp Louie. It’s simple, but delicious. She also uses crab instead of shrimp when she has it available. I’ve changed the recipe a bit to suit what I have on hand and my own taste.
- Salad Ingredients (measurements dependent upon how many people are served)
- Lettuce
- Tomatoes
- Avocado
- Hard-boiled eggs
- Red onion
- Shrimp, cooked and shelled
- Thousand Island Dressing Ingredients (makes about 2 cups)
- 1-1/2 cups Mayonnaise
- 1/3 cup Ketchup
- 1/4 cup Sweet pickle relish
- Splash of Worcestershire sauce
- 2 Tbsp. Lemon juice
Tear lettuce into bowls. Decoratively slice tomatoes, avocados, eggs, and a little bit of red onion onto lettuce in each bowl. Place shrimp on top.
The dressing ingredients are not exact. Here is what I do . . . Stir the mayonnaise so it’s smooth. Stir in enough ketchup to turn the mayo a pink color. Stir in sweet pickle relish, a fair amount. Stir in a splash of Worcestershire sauce and enough lemon juice to create a dressing-like consistency.
Serve the dressing on the side so each person can add an amount they like.
I really love asparagus. My favorite way to cook it, so far, is roasted in olive oil with sliced shallots. This salad is another favorite of mine. I’ve made it many times. I like to serve it with Eggplant Parmesan. It’s based upon a recipe I found at cookingclassy.com.
- Salad Ingredients (all measurements approximate — just eyeball things)
- 1/3 cup walnuts, roughly chopped
- 1 lb. fresh asparagus, trimmed and sliced into 1″ pieces
- 1/4 – 1/3 lb. grape tomatoes
- 1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese
- Dressing Ingredients (all measures approximate — again, just eyeball it)
- 1/8 cup olive oil
- 3 Tbsp. balsamic vinegar
- 1 tsp. Dijon mustard
- 1 tsp. honey
- Small clove garlic, minced
- Salt and pepper
Toast the walnuts. I spread mine out on a pie tin and place it in the oven at 375 degrees for about 10 minutes. Don’t forget about it! Shake it around every few minutes until the walnuts are brown and smell toasted. Set aside. Let cool.
Bring water to a boil in a large saucepan or skillet. Add the asparagus pieces and set the timer for 4 or 5 minutes. Remove from heat and strain the asparagus. Let the asparagus run under cold water while you’re filling a small bowl with ice. Set your strainer in the ice bowl and add water until the asparagus is covered. Let it cool down quickly. Strain again.
Mix all the dressing ingredients together and whisk or shake until it is all incorporated.
To an appropriate-sized serving dish, add the walnuts, asparagus, and sliced tomatoes. Stir in the dressing. Just prior to serving, sprinkle on the feta cheese crumbles. Serves 4.
It’s Cobb Salad y’all! I do love it. I make this with any variety of things. Pictured is a 32-cup Tupperware bowl, so you can mentally figure my quantities. Can you see what’s in the bowl?
Today I used one whole chicken breast, boned and skinless, sliced into thin strips. I marinated it for a short while in about 3 Tbsp. balsamic vinegar, 1 Tbsp. olive oil, 1 tsp. dried rosemary, and a pinch of red pepper flakes. I added salt and fresh-ground pepper as it was put into the saute pan. I stir-fried the chicken slices over very high heat in olive oil until it browned quite nicely. Then I let it cool down so as not to wilt the salad. I have also used lemon-pepper and another time I used a southwest seasoning and another time just salt and pepper to season the chicken. I do this differently every time I make it. Whatever you feel like doing at the time will be fine.
Also in this particular salad is a base of two small heads of torn romaine lettuce, a couple handfuls of baby spinach leaves, three hard-boiled eggs, five slices of crispy oven-fried thick bacon, sliced green onion, grated sharp cheddar cheese, pitted and sliced black Kalamata olives, three sliced mini sweet peppers, sliced grape tomatoes, sliced green onion, one and a half chopped avocado, and chopped cucumber. Just before I serving, I sprinkle on croutons. Where is the bleu cheese, you ask?
My dad gives me an entire round of Stilton every Christmas. I slice it into wedges, vacuum-seal the wedges, and freeze them for use throughout the year. I usually run out around early November. Bleu cheese dressing goes well on salads and sandwiches, so I make a lot of it. My Cobb Salad is always served with Bleu Cheese Dressing. Always.
- Bleu Cheese Dressing
- Mayonnaise
- Buttermilk
- Garlic powder
- Worcestershire sauce
- Bleu cheese, crumbled
Stir the mayonnaise to get out any lumps, thin it to a dressing-like consistency with buttermilk. Stir in a dash of garlic powder and a splash of Worcestershire sauce. Stir in crumbled bleu cheese. Let it sit awhile, if you can wait.
This is a recipe that I make often. It’s not fussy and is low-carb. My house smells great while it is simmering all afternoon. It is gluten-free. It is based upon the recipe found at foodnetwork.com. On the day I took these photos, I served the Chile Verde with Spicy Sweet Potatoes and Corn Pudding.
- Ingredients
- 1-1/2 pounds tomatillos
- Vegetable oil
- 4 pounds pork roast (butt or shoulder is best, but I used a lean loin), trimmed of fat and cut into 2″ pieces
- Kosher salt
- Pepper
- 3 onions, chopped
- 2 green bell peppers, seeded and chopped into 1″ pieces
- 2 Anaheim or poblano chiles, seeded and chopped into 1″ pieces
- 2-3 jalapeno peppers, chopped
- 3 garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped
- 1 Tbsp. dried oregano
- 2 tsp. ground cumin
- 1-1/2 tsp. ground coriander
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 bunch cilantro, chopped
- 4 cups chicken stock
In prepping the tomatillos, this is what I do, but I’m sure there is a better, more flavorful way. I’m just going for the easy way. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Prepare a baking sheet by covering with foil. I do not oil or grease the foil. Peel off and discard the tomatillo husks. Rinse the tomatillos. Slice in half and place each half, skin side up on the prepared baking sheet. Roast until brown spots appear on the skins. Remove from oven and let cool. Turn off your oven, you’re done with it. Once the tomatillos are cool, chop them. This is sort of messy. Set the tomatillos aside.
Heat a very large cooking pot. Swazz a bit of vegetable oil into the bottom. Liberally salt and pepper the pork pieces. In batches (mine was 3 batches), over high heat, brown the pork cubes and then set aside. Add more oil as necessary.
In the same pot, add the onions and bell peppers. Saute until the onions are translucent. Add the chiles and the jalapenos. Saute awhile longer. Add the garlic and saute a little longer. Stir in the prepared tomatillos, oregano, cumin, coriander, bay leaves, and cilantro. Add the pork back into the pot. Add enough chicken stock to cover the meat. Season with salt and pepper.
Bring to a boil and then reduce heat to simmer, uncovered, over low heat for 2-3 hours stirring occasionally until the meat is fork tender. Add chicken stock as needed. Adjust the seasoning with salt and pepper. Yields 6-8 servings.
Foods Passion 