Poco-Cocoa

A few days ago I was watching Giada on the Food Network and saw her make a delicious-looking halibut salad. I thought, I can do halibut. I’ll just buy one little fillet from Whole Foods and cook it in a skillet and toss it with my scrumptious salad. Easy, right?

So the day came when I was going to make the salad…and I chickened out with the halibut! What’s up with that? I can eat meats in restaurants, I can do ham sandwiches, but cooking meat in my house…ew. I just remembered the last time I cooked a salmon fillet…one little salmon fillet…and I swear I could smell fish in the house for days. So, I adapted.

And the salad was delicious! I only changed a few things, so I think I can safely say that the original halibut salad would be wonderful as well. The dressing was so yummy, sweet and surprising with a cumin flavor. Note to self: make this dressing for everyday salads!

Fennel and Chickpea Salad

• 1 bag pre-rinsed spring mix salad greens
• 10 cherry tomatoes, halved
• 1 (15-ounce) can chickpeas
• 1 small fennel bulb, stalk removed, halved, and thinly sliced
• 6 eggs, boiled, peeled, and quartered
• 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• Juice of 1 lemon
• 2 teaspoons honey
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

On each of four plates, layer the salad greens, tomatoes, chickpeas, fennel, and eggs. In a small bowl whisk together the olive oil, lemon juice, honey, cumin, salt and pepper. Drizzle the olive oil mixture over the salad.

Makes 4 servings.

Adapted from Giada.

I realized recently that most of the frozen desserts I make are for Justin. Ice cream isn’t my favorite thing in the world, and if it’s not dark chocolate, I tend to just ignore it. I’ll usually taste a little (for recipe-testing purposes), then package it up and put it in the freezer for Justin to gobble up. Perhaps next week I’ll try to make a flavor that appeals to me more.

Justin LOVES Key lime pie, so I just had to make this sorbet for him. It was pretty easy (aren’t all ice creams?) once I got all those teeny tiny key limes juiced.

(Though I have to say that my Mexican lemon/lime juicer makes the job pretty easy. If you don’t have one, you should get one!)

The end result was pretty tart, but it still had a creamy, sweet flavor from the sweetened condensed milk…just like a frozen version of the pie (minus the crust, though I suppose you could crumble some graham crackers on top). And it’s so pretty!

I just checked out a few ice cream books from the library, so stay tuned for another frozen concoction soon…I’m considering making these gorgeous popsicles from Nosheteria, but I’ll have to go buy new popsicle molds since our last set was thrown out in our last “purge the kitchen” attempt. Oops.

Key Lime Pie Sorbet

• 3/4 cup water
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 (14-ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
• 1 cup fresh or bottled Key lime juice

Bring water and sugar to boil in a medium saucepan, stirring until sugar dissolves. Mix in sweetened condensed milk, then lime juice. Transfer mixture to a medium bowl; chill for 2 hours or until completely cold.

Process lime mixture in an ice cream maker according to manufacturer’s instructions. Transfer sorbet to a medium container, cover, and freeze until firm, at least 4 hours and up to 2 days.

Makes about 3 cups.

Source: epicurious.com.

And coconut milk. It adds such a subtle sweetness to dishes, and of course that creamy coconut flavor. I used to make this dish often, but, of course, I forgot about it. Last night I decided it was time to bring it back.

Unfortunately, I had written the recipe down incorrectly, and neglected to note how much vegetable broth to add. Last night I dumped in a whole can…which was too much. I’m going to take a guess that it needs maybe 1/2 cup of broth, and you can always add more afterward if needed.

In other news, I just got the summer issue of Marie Claire Idees, and it’s full of fun ideas (never mind that I can’t read a word of it. That’s not true, I know that ete is summer.) It’s been out in France forever, but it just came out in Austin…I check every week or so at our bookstore. I should really just subscribe to the magazine through Amazon…maybe then it will come earlier in the season.

Tonight we’re off to Whole Foods to have dessert with Chad and Lindsay, and then I will plant myself in front of the television for Project Runway. On to the food!

Linguine with Tofu and Coconut-Lime Sauce

• 8 ounces linguine (or 1 package refrigerated fresh linguine, which is what I use)
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 package extra-firm tofu, patted dry and cut into 1/2-inch squares
• 1 tablespoon dark sesame oil
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 tablespoon peeled minced fresh ginger
• 2 cups snow peas or sugar snap peas, trimmed
• 1 red bell pepper, sliced into 2-inch strips
• 1/2 cup vegetable broth
• 1 cup light coconut milk, well-stirred
• 1/4 cup low-sodium soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon grated lime rind
• 1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
• 1/2 cup sliced green onions (optional)

Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain well.

Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Saute the tofu until golden on all sides, 8 to 10 minutes. Remove tofu from pan. Add sesame oil to pan; saute garlic and ginger 1 minute. Add peas and bell pepper; saute 4 to 5 minutes until softened. Add broth to pan, scraping pan to loosen browned bits. Add coconut milk, soy sauce, rind, and juice; bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer 5 minutes or until slightly thick. Add pasta and tofu; toss to coat. Top each serving with green onions, if desired.

Makes 4 servings.

Source: I dunno.