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!

Mexican Fiesta Tempeh Salad w/Queso Blanco

I tend to cook with music in the background or I'm jamming away with a headset.  My kitchen is lively and energetic.  In fact, every meal has its own soundtrack.  I become one with the music and the energy feeds my creative process.  Cooking is definitely not a chore for me, and I try to make it as fun as possible.

Here lately, I've become a total NPR junkie and I'd be lying if I said I was listening to anything else on the day I created this salad.   However, I must say that this salad has the spirit and soul of Ozomatli--the crafty Latin band that blends funk, salsa, hip hop, cumbia, merengue, and the soul of L.A.

Mexican Fiesta Tempeh Salad w/Queso Blanco

Ingredients:

• 2 cups cooked black beans
• 2 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 2 teaspoons chili powder
• 1/2-3/4 teaspoon salt
• fresh ground black pepper, to taste
• 1 package of tempeh
• garlic powder
• cumin
• onion powder
• 1 block queso blanco
• 1 teaspoon olive oil
• 1 bag romaine lettuce
• 2 tablespoons pico de gallo
• 2 tablespoons cilantro, minced
• 1 bottle Southwest Chipotle Dressing*
• 1 bag Sante Fe Style tortilla strips
• 1 avocado

* I used this salad dressing as a base and enhanced the flavor by blending it with tamarind paste, olive oil, cilantro, pico de gallo, vinegar, and lime juice in the blender.

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400ºF.  In a large frying pan, heat 1 tbsp olive oil over medium low heat.  Add the garlic and chili powder.  Saute, stirring occasionally, until the garlic just begins to turn golden.  Add the black beans and stir to coat with the garlic and curry powder.  Add the salt and pepper.  Stir to combine and turn out the black beans into a large, shallow baking pan.  Bake 15-20 minutes, or until crunchy.  Set aside and allow to cool.

Then, cut the tempeh into thin strips or cubes.  Season to taste with garlic powder, cumin, and onion powder, about 2 to 3 shakes per seasoning.  Heat 1 tbsp olive in the frying pan used for the beans.  Cook the the tempeh over medium heat until golden brown.  Set aside.  

Cut a strip of 1" thick queso blanco from the cheese block.  Cut into half.  In a frying pan, heat 1 tsp olive oil over medium low heat.  Cook queso blanco on both sides until brown and crust forms.  Cut into smaller pieces and set aside.

In a large bowl, combine 2 handfuls of romaine lettuce (or enough for one salad), pico de gallo, cilantro, 3 to 4 pieces of tempeh, 1/4 cup black beans, and salad dressing (about 2 tablespoons).  Mix well.  Transfer to a serving plate.  Top with tortilla strips, fried queso blanco pieces, and avocado slices.  Enjoy!

Hominy and Corn Chowder with Mexican Pesto

Have you ever had food so good that you hide it to keep ravenous scavengers others in your household from devouring it?  You nibble at it like a Lilliputian to savor the eating experience.  You curse the person who dares to ask for your last bite of food.  If so, you will understand exactly how I feel about this chowder.

This hominy and corn chowder has an incredible depth of flavor that's perfect for jumpstarting comfort food season.  The soyrizo (soy chorizo) lends a nice spiciness.  The chipotle peppers in adobo sauce gives it a pleasant smokiness.  The hominy and corn provide that luscious, sweet corn goodness and they are also a nice contrast in texture.  The cream gives it the rich taste associated with chowders.  Finally, the queso fresco, scallions, jalapeno peppers, and Mexican pesto that rounds out the chowder prove that garnishes can provide a big bang in the flavor department.  Buen Provecho!

This recipe served as a guide for this dish: http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Double-Corn-Chowder-with-Chipotle-and-Bacon-239697

Hominy and Corn Chowder with Mexican Pesto

Ingredients:

• 1/2 pound maiz trillado (dried cracked yellow hominy corn; 1 1/3 cups), picked over and rinsed
• 11 cups of vegetable stock made with 3 Rapunzel Vegan Vegetable Bouillon with Sea Salt & Herbs
• 1-12 oz pack Soyrizo
• 1 large yellow onion, diced
• 1/2 cup red bell pepper, diced
• 1 Tbsp. jalapeno chile, minced
• 2 Tbsp. garlic, minced
• 3/4 teaspoon ground cumin
• 3 cups fresh or frozen corn
• 1 can chipotle chile in adobo sauce
• 1 cup light cream
• 2 cups packed fresh cilantro leaves
• 2 cloves fresh garlic
• 1/4 cup toasted pepita seeds
• 1/2 Tsp jalapeno chile, minced
• 2/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• 1-12 oz block queso fresco (1/2 cup freshly grated queso for pesto.  Remaining cheese can be used as a garnish for the soup)
• 1 bunch scallions, finely chopped

Directions:

Soaking dried cracked yellow hominy corn: 

Cover maiz trillado with 4 cups of water and let stand overnight.  Drain and rinse, discarding water.  

Make chowder:

Add soaked corn to pot with 8 cups of vegetable stock and 1/2 teaspoon salt.  Simmer, partially covered, until tender, about 1 hour. (Do not drain.)

While corn is cooking, brown soyrizo and onion in a large skillet on low heat, stirring occasionally, until onion is softened, about 10 minutes.  Add bell pepper, jalapeno, garlic, and cumin and continue to cook, stirring occasionally, until pepper is softened, about 8 minutes.  

Transfer the soyrizo mixture to pot with corn and its reserved cooking liquid.  Add 3 remaining cups of vegetable stock and simmer for about 15 minutes.  Stir in fresh (or frozen) corn and simmer for another 6 minutes.

Transfer 2 cups of chowder to blender along with 5 - 6 small chipotle peppers and puree.  (Use caution and hold blender top with a clean dish towel to avoid being splashed with the hot liquid).  Stir the pure into chowder along with cream and bring just to a simmer (do not let boil).  Serve with garnish of chopped scallions, minced, fresh jalapeno peppers, queso fresco, and Mexican pesto.  

Make Mexican Pesto:

Combine the cilantro, garlic, pepitas, and jalapeno chile in a food processor and pulse until coarsely chopped.  Add olive oil and process until fully incorporated and smooth.  Season with salt and pepper.  Transfer the pesto to a large serving bowl and mix in the cheese.