Sweet Sesame Seaweed Salad w/ Mandarin Oranges

For the past few days, I've been hosting a friend from Brown (my alma mater).  We spent our time together catching up on life, sharing meals, lounging around, and reminiscing about the good old college days.  Yeah, she was, by far, the most low maintenance guest ever!   She left on yesterday, with a newfound appreciation for Charm City I might add.  That means I'll have about two seconds to catch my breath before welcoming another friend--from Mississippi--to the city later tonight.

On days like this, when time is of the essence, I like to pull together a quick entree salad, instead of cooking, to save time and calories (budgeting for those cocktails, you know).  In this case, I used the ingredients I had on hand and built the salad around the sweet sesame seaweed that I bought at Trader Joe's over the weekend.  I added ingredients that I thought would complement the seaweed and provide a nice flavor contrast. The resulting salad was juicy, sweet, crunchy, and slightly pungent--a win all around for me.  This recipe is definitely a keeper!

Sweet Sesame Seaweed Salad w/ Mandarin Oranges

Ingredients:

• 1 serving of Escarole Lettuce Blend (escarole, endive & radicchio), roughly 2 cups
• 2 tbsp green onions
• 1 handful matchstick carrots
• 2 tbsp whole water chestnuts, thinly sliced with a mandoline
• 3 tbsp cilantro, roughly chopped
• 2 tbsp sliced almonds
• 1/4 cup julienned smoked sun-dried tomatoes
• 1/3 cup mandarin oranges
• 2 tbsp Blue Stilton Cheese, cut into small cubes
• 1 tbsp Seasoned Rice Vinegar, Balsamic Blend
• 2 tbsp Sweet Sesame Seaweed

Direction:

In a large bowl, combine first 10 ingredients and mix well.  Plate the salad on a large dinner plate and garnish with sweet sesame seasweed.  Enjoy!

Matzo Ball Soup

You play like you ain’t had no food in ‘bout four or five days.

Chuckle. 

Yep…  Gotta be hungry to play a Jew’s harp.  Gotta eat it up.

Have mercy.

Then, what happened?

No, he didn’t?

Yep.

He got a lot of gravy on them chitlins.

Like it greasy, Christian.  Give me some grease…

I can hear that. 

-Christian McBride feat. Gina Gershon, "Chitlins and Gifltefish," Conversations with Christian McBride, 2011.

It all started with a box of Whole Wheat Matzo Meal on clearance at my neighborhood grocery store.  That got me thinking.  I thought back to all the times I've been denied and excluded from the matzo ball soup experience.  I suddenly got this throbbing ache in my stomach.  I cried.  I was overwhelmed with emotion.  I could barely even stand up.  The mass discrimination against vegetarians and pescetarians was just too much to handle on that somber Saturday morning.  Lol.   I figured that $2.97 was a low risk investment for my own little foray into matzo ball soup.  

A couple months later, I came down with an awful cold and my mom was nowhere to be found.  Can you believe the nerve of her to think that Mississippi is too far away (from Baltimore) to come and tend to her youngest child during my feeble moments of sickness?  I pushed on.  I took lots of drugs to no avail, and finally decided that a warming, comforting broth would be the perfect antidote.  Aha!  The perfect opportunity for my random, obsessive experiment with matzo ball soup.  I did a little preliminary research and discovered numerous matzo ball soup aficionados who insisted on things like seltzer water in the matzo dough, schmaltz over oil,  floaters vs sinkers,  and a large singular matzo ball vs several small matzo balls.  The purists also agreed, no egg noodles.

I decided to do my own thing since I wasn't vying for a gold ribbon in authenticity.  I simply wanted a delicious, filling matzo ball soup that could cast away my cold virus.  To that end, I made a homemade broth using leftover vegetables and the leftover smoked turkey necks I had in the freezer from this recipe for Spicy Southern Collard Greens w/Aunt Fadrie's Chow Chow.  For the matzo balls, I simply used the recipe on the back of the matzo meal box.   Then, I decided to beef up the final product with carrots, celery, no yolk egg noodles, and fresh dill.

Final Verdict:  OMG, this soup is absolutely delicious.  Somehow, I ended up with both light and fluffy matzo balls and the heavier, more dense variety.  I much prefer the light and fluffy ones.

On another note, matzo ball soup just might be the most suitable substitute to satiate my never ending chicken and dumplings cravings.  My mom made the flat noodle type.  She would combine them with fresh pepper, seasonings, and the leftover bony chicken parts such as the back, neck, and wings in a medium saucepan.  There were no broth or vegetables.   The final result was an explosion of flavor that doesn't lend itself very well to vegetarian & pescetarian cooking. 

Vegetable Confetti Fried Rice

Frittatas are my tried-and-true answer to leftover vegetables, a quick and easy way to elevate simple ingredients.  It's a food that knows no bound and tastes just as good with potatoes and cheese as it does with bok choy and mushrooms.  While frittatas are a favorite of mine,  I was craving something entirely different this past Friday.  I needed something more celebratory that was appropriate for the occasion: 1.) Ending a long work week filled with teachings, trainings, and meetings, and  2.)  Commencing a Labor Day Staycation in Baltimore and the DMV - DC/Maryland/Virginia.

I happened to have beaucoup brown rice on hand and fried rice seemed like the perfect thing to make with cauliflower, red cabbage, carrots, yellow squash, and spinach.  No?  Why, of course.  This vibrant dish is relatively healthy, delicious, and filled with a variety of shredded vegetables that bears a resemblance to confetti.  More reason to celebrate!

Vegetable Confetti Fried Rice

Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons canola oil
• 1/4 cup cauliflower, broken into small pieces
• 1/4 cup shredded red cabbage
• 1/4 cup shredded carrots
• 1/4 cup shredded spinach
• 1/2 small yellow squash, chopped
• 2 large eggs
• 2 cups cooked brown rice
• 1 teaspoon oyster sauce (or fish sauce)
• 1 teaspoon sesame oil

Directions:

Prepare cook station with mise en place (i.e., put everything in place needed for cooking). In a wok or large skillet, heat the canola oil over medium heat.  Add the vegetables and cook for 2-3 minutes until slightly tender.  Add the eggs and scramble.  

Add the cooked brown rice to skillet and stir to combine well.  Drizzle with oyster sauce and stir to incorporate into the dish.  Cook for 2-3 minutes.  Drizzle with sesame oil and stir to incorporate into the dish.  Cook for 2-3 minutes.  Enjoy.

Cook's Note - Feel free to include any of the following ingredients: chopped onions, shrimp, chicken, or soy sauce to taste before eating