Four Salad Lunch 4種類サラダランチ

I made 4 different salads (not all on the same day) and had the 4 salads for lunch with a cold asparagus soup. We also had a small piece of “Not no-knead bread made with dried fruit”. We feel good about the fact that all salads, soup and bread were home-made. In the center of the four salads, I served snap peas which were blanched and then soaked in Japanese salt broth.

The picture below shows Israeli couscous with artichoke hearts and garbanzo beans with a nice lemony and dill dressing.

The pic below shows a celery, mushroom, and navy bean salad with feta cheese. The mushrooms make the salad. They gave an almost meaty texture and flavor.

The next is a curry flavored sous vide chicken salad. Since we had a nice ripe Champagne mango, I added small cubes of mango which went very well with this salad.

I made this udon noodle salad since I had left-over cooked udon noodles.  The dressing is sesame-flavored. I do make several versions of the sesame dressing (for example, using Japanese “nerigoma” ねりごま sesame paste or peanut butter) but this time I used Tahini with dry roasted white sesame seeds which I ground in a Japanese “suribachi” すり鉢 mortar. Other seasonings included soy sauce, sugar, and rice vinegar.

This was a surprisingly filling lunch. Beans, udon noodles, and couscous all contribute to this and, at the same time, we enjoyed so many different flavors and textures. We just have to make sure we finish all these salads before they go bad.

Israeli (Pearl) Couscous Salad イスラエルクスクスサラダ

The other day, we were taking inventory of our pantry and found boxes of couscous (classic and Israeli or pearled) as well as tabouleh all of which were way pass their BUB (best-used-by) date. We sniffed and did not detect any rancid oil odor so we cooked the classic couscous and the tabouleh. But once they were cooked, it was clear that in these cases the BUB date had some meaning—they tasted terrible. So we discarded those boxes and bought new ones. We decided to go ahead and try cooking the Israeli couscous* and it turned out to be OK. So we decided to use it to make a salad. We looked up recipes on the web and essentailly combined two recipes omitting some of the ingredients called for in the recipe while adding others not mentioned.

*Digression alert: While we were looking up recipes, we found that Israeli or pearl couscous was invented by an Israeli company as a substitute for rice in 1959 since there was a rice shortage at that time.In any case, the end result was a quite nice filling salad. The vinaigrette had a nice lemony flavor with dill which made this salad very refreshing.

Ingredietns:

For Couscous
1 1/2 cup (250gram or 8oz) Israel couscous
1 garlic clove, minced (I used three)
1/2 small onion, finely mince (I used one small onion)
2 tbs olive oil
1 1/2 chicken broth (I used our ususal low sodium Swanson)
1 cup water (we did not add the water. The couscous was fully cooked and the liquid was completely absorbed but although it was not scorched, the couscous stuck to the bottom of the pan. So next time we will try it with the additional water.)

For the salad
5 Campari tomatoes, skinned and cut into quarters
2 tbs dill, finely chopped
6 marinated artichoke hearts, cut into half length wise
1 can (15.5 oz) garbanzo beans, drained and skin removed (optional, but my wife insist on removing the skin)

Other items could be olives, cucumber and other greens.

For dressing
Zest and juice from one lemon
1 tsp dijon mustard
1 tsp honey
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions: {For couscous)
Add the oil in a pan, sauté the onion and garlic for 3-4 minutes, add the couscous and sauté another minute
Add the chicken broth and simmer for 10 minutes
Fluff it up with a fork and let it cool to the room temperature

Mix all the ingredients and the dressing.

Although we forgot to add one cup of water, the couscous was nicely cooked without. The lemony dressing really worked.

Celery Salad with Mushrooms, White Beans and Feta きのこ、白インゲン豆、フェタチーズ入りセロリサラダ

We keep celery on hand most of the time. I use it as a part of mirepoix for soup, stew etc. I also use it for salad. Our favorite is thinly sliced celery dressed in powdered kelp and salt called “Konbu-cha” 昆布茶. My wife told me that she came across 5 different celery recipes recently in the Washington Post. We decide to try this celery with mushrooms, white beans and feta. Not intentional but I made some modifications due to available ingredients as well as time constraints. We had this for lunch.

We added a half open-face pumpernickel sandwich using leftover slices of Weber grill roasted pork. I added omelet from an egg I had left over from another dish. This made a really good lunch.

Ingredients:
4-5 stalks of celery, strings removed and cut thinly on bias
1 (15.5 oz) can of white (navy) beans, drained and rinsed (the original recipe calls for 1 cup or 8oz but we used the whole can)
Mushrooms (I used fresh shiitake and oyster mushrooms, the original calls for 12 oz cremini mushrooms), the shiitake (this was quite thick and meaty), cut into quarters, the oyster mushrooms torn into bite sized pieces.
Feta cheese crumbled and to taste

Dressing:
2tbs minced shallot (one small)
2 tablespoons rice vinegar (or winevinegar)
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1⁄2 teaspoon salt
3⁄4 teaspoon sugar
1⁄4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Directions:
Marinate the celery and the beans in the dressing for 30 minutes (Picture below)

Sauté the mushrooms in a small amount of olive oil in a frying pan seasoned with salt and pepper until cooked with brown spots about 4-5 minutes (using medium high flame so that no moisture comes out and the mushrooms nicely brown instead of steam). (The original recipe calls for roasting them in the oven at 375 for 40 minutes but browning in the pan goes a lot faster).

Assembly:
Chopped fresh herbs (mint, dill and parsley) (we did not have any of fresh herbs so did not use it) mixed into the marinading celery and beans.
Top the salad with the mushrooms and crumbled feta.

We would not ever have thought of this combination of the ingredients for a salad. For the dressing, the taste profile is very similar to the house dressing I make with Dijon mustard, honey, rice vinegar and olive oil. In future we may used my house dressing instead; the mustard makes the dressing emulsify beside adding flavors and honey is better than sugar to add sweetness. We think cooking the  mushrooms in a frying pan is better than roasting them. Roasting takes much longer and often produces charred bits which we do not like but sautéing in a frying pan produces better browned and crispy mushrooms. Although we did not have fresh herbs, this was a good salad. The mushrooms gave a meaty flavor and texture and this is good dish for our vegetarian friends.

Black bean pumpkin gyoza 黒豆かぼちゃ餃子

My wife wanted a seasonal quesadilla which is composed of pumpkin puree, black beans, cheese, and roasted pork. After enjoying the quesadilla as a lunch, a good amount of the filling remained.  My wife suggested we use it to make gyoza. It sounded a bit like an odd combination for gyoza but I have seen a recipe for gyoza stuffed with potato salad so I complied. I added more finely chopped BBQed pork . Since we ended up with quite a good number of gyoza, we realized we couldn’t possibly eat them all before they went bad so we decided to freeze some. Then the next question was how? In the past I made up some gyoza and without any additional preparation froze them. The shells became brittle and shattered apart. So we decided some degree of preparation was required to keep that from happening again. So I boiled them first and froze a number of them that way. Then we realized that we would have to fry them before serving. So we got the (brilliant) idea that if we boiled, fried and then froze them, all we would have to do is toaster-oven them (the verb form of noun toaster oven) without thawing and then serve. In any case, the pre-boiled gyoza were fried in a small amount of peanut and sesame oil to produce nice brown crispy shells, frozen than toasted in the toaster-oven as shown below. (Easy-peasy). 

You can see, on the cut surface, small cubes of pork, black beans and pumpkin puree. It is not typical gyoza flavors but it worked. 

We have two frozen batches; one boiled but not fried and the other boiled and fried. Any bets on which batch gets eaten first?

Chilean Sea bass チリアン・シーバス

 We eat lots of fish. When we lived in California many years ago, we really liked  “Chilean sea bass” which is buttery moist yet flakey and very difficult to overcook and make dry. Then we learned the real name of this fish is ‘Patagonian toothfish” and, at that time, that the fish was frequently illegally poached. So we stopped buying it and forgot about it for a long time. Then, my wife found Chilean sea bass available at Vital Choice which came from MSC (Marine Stewardship Council) -certified sustainable fishery. We remembered how wonderful it was and ordered it, although  it was a bit on the expensive side.

Digression alert: “Chilean sea bass” is said to be the most popular in US, and EU as well as in Japan. (Although when I was in Japan I did not know about this fish.) In Japan, this imported fish is reportedly called “mero” メロ or “ginmutsu” ギンムツ.

The fish was as wonderful as we remembered. Actually the first time I cooked this fish, I did not take a picture. So, I made the same dish a second time in an identical fashion. This was simply sautéed in butter with a caper lemon butter sauce. The sides were  cauliflower purée and haricot vert (pre-blanched) and Campari tomato (skinned) sautéed in butter. Everything went well together but the combination of cauliflower puree and Chilean sea bass was sublime.

Ingredients (2 servings):
2 4oz frozen Chilean sea bass, thawed, seasoned with salt and pepper

For Caper lemon butter sauce
2 tsp pickled capers (from a jar)
1 tbs unsalted butter
1 tsp lemon juice (half lemon)

Directions:
Cook the filets in melted butter on medium flame, turn once after 5 minutes and cook another 5 minutes (I put on the lid since one of the filets was rather thick)
Once cooked, set aside on a plate
In the same pan add the butter. capers and lemon juice and quickly warm them up then pour over the filets

We also served small slices of mini-baguette I baked to soak up the sauce. The fish is buttery, flakey but moist. Somehow it went so well with the cauliflower puree. The green beans can be “a hit” (nicely crunchy after few minutes of steaming) or “a miss” (fibrous skin no matter how you cook) but this one was definitely “a hit”.

Chicken, navy and green bean curry 白インゲン豆、サヤインゲン入りのチキンカレー

This is my wife’s curry project. This chicken curry is based on the recipe in Madhur Jaffrey’s “Quick and Easy Indian Cooking”. The original recipe is called “Chicken, Red lentils and Green beans in one pot” (or “ek handi ka murgh aur masoor”). Of course due to the ingredients we did not have, this recipe was modified to “Chicken, navy beans and green beans”. We thought this was a quite good curry. We served it over rice with the side of cold cucumber buttermilk soup whch went extremely well.

I added blanched green beans (haricot verts) just before serving (so that they would not become “grey” beans instead of green beans). The navy beans mostly melted into the sauce and made it nicely smooth and thick.

As usual, I will ask my wife to continue. I have to say the numbers of different spices and herbs are quite impressive.

Ingredients:
6 tbs vegetable oil
3 bay leaves
5 whole cloves
1 tsp ground cardamon
2 inch stick of cinnamon
3 onions, roughly chopped
2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
1/2 tsp ground turmeric
2 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp garam masala
1 1/2 tbs lemon juice
generous pinch of asafetida
1 1/2 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
14 oz can of navy beans
24 oz can of whole plum tomato, stem end removed and crushed
6 chicken thighs (we put them in a pan whole without skinning or deboning. After they are cooked and cooled down we removed the bones)
(Juice from the plum tomatoes reserved to provide added liquid later as the dish cooks)

The picture below shows the line-up of spices and herbs; from left to right are whole cloves, bay leaves, ground cardamon, sticks of cinnamon, turmeric, salt, gram masala, asafetida, cumin seeds, ground cumin, ground coriander, and cayenne pepper.

Among the spices, was garam masala (we use an authentic Indian brand). The asafetida is a little unusual (at least for us). It comes from the rhizome of the ferula plant (or giant fennel plant). It is used in Indian cooking as a flavor enhancer. It is supposed to add a smooth flavor reminiscent of leeks and onions (although we are not sure we could identify what it added to the dish.)

Directions:
Put the oil in a pan and when it is shimmering add the bay leaves through cinnamon and bloom them until the bay leaves turn slightly brown and the smell becomes fragrant. Remove the cloves (so no one eats them by accident.) (The bay leaves and cinnamon stick are large enough it is not likely someone would eat them if left in the sauce). Add the onions and fry until translucent and slightly browned. Add the garlic and cook until it becomes fragrant (but not burnt). Add the spices ground turmeric through cayenne pepper. Bloom the spices until fragrant. Add the beans and tomatoes and stir until blended. Add the chicken, skin side down and cover with the sauce. Cook on low simmer for 1/2 hour. Turn the chicken over and cook for another 1/2 hour. Add the reserved tomato juice as needed to keep the sauce from scorching.

This is another really good curry. All the spices blend and meld together making for a complex dimension of flavor. It is not hot but the cayenne pepper gives it a pleasant slight “buzz”. The beans basically melted into the sauce making it very rich and creamy. The spices infused the chicken meat which was very tender and basically fell off the bone. 

Chicken curry with navy beans ネイビー豆入りチキンカレー

This is another one of my wife’s curry projects. This is a chicken curry based on a recipe in Madhur Jaffrey’s “Quick and Easy Indian Cooking.” The original recipe calls for lentils but we did not have any. So my wife used canned navy beans. The addition of navy beans really worked adding a creamy texture to the sauce. My wife put just enough “heat” in addition to all the other spices. One of the best curries she made.

Ingredients: (shown below with little easter bunny to commemorate the season)
6 tbs. Oil
3 bay leaves
5 whole cloves
6 cardamon pods
1 cinnamon stick about 2 inches long

2 or 3 onions diced
2 cloves garlic finely chopped

1/2 tsp. Turmeric
2 tsp. Salt
1 1/2 tsp garam masala
1 1/2 tsp. Lemon juice

1 1/2 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
12 cherry tomatoes
1 can of white navy beans
6 oz. Green beans cut into 1 inch lengths
4 chicken thighs

Directions:

Put the ingredients from the oil to the cinnamon stick in a frying pan and heat until the bay leaves turn dark and the other spices bloom and become fragrant. Remove all the whole spices except for the bay leaves and cinnamon stick. (These can stay because they are easy to spot and there’s no chance someone might eat them by accident.) Add the onions to the spiced oil and cook until they start to brown slightly. Add the garlic and cook (careful not to burn). Next add the turmeric through lemon juice and cook until they bloom and become fragrant. Then  add and bloom the next spices—cumin seeds though cayenne pepper. Add the green beans, navy beans and tomatoes. Stir them into the sauce. Add the chicken and turn it over until coated in the sauce. Nestle into the sauce leaving it skin side down. Cover and cook gently on simmer for about 30 minutes. Then turn the chicken over and coat with the sauce. Continue cooking until the chicken is done about another 30 minutes for a total of 1 hour cooking. 

This was truly one of the best curries my wife has made. The beans absorbed the spice flavor and partially dissolved into the creamy sauce with some left whole to add a texture element. The spices provided layers and depth of flavor. The cayenne added just the right amount of zing to provide an interest that slowly built on the tongue. The chicken was flavorful and tender. This will become a regular in our repertoire.