Italian Salad

When I think of Italian Salad, I think of lettuce - usually iceberg - with some tomatoes, red onion, maybe olives, a dusting of powdered parmesan and dried herbs. And Italian dressing. Always that bottled, yellowish, generic Italian dressing.

It's not something I get excited about.

Here? Ohhh, no. An Italian salad is a revelation. Something delicious, multidimensional, and worthy of a meal time salad. Fruity, juicy, salty, meaty, tangy. This is wonderful, super easy, and a great meal for hot summer days when melons and tomatoes are at their peak and the stove is the last place you want to be.

No cook.
No quantities.
Put things on a plate and eat them.

It's my kind of cooking.  Splurge on good, fresh produce for this one.

The following recipe quantities are really truly suggestions. If you, like me, don't like canteloupe, try it anyway! The salt from the prosciutto and the sweet acidic tang from the balsamic help mellow that musky quality.

Italian Salad (Serves 2-3 as a meal with crusty bread)
Lettuce greens - 1 head.  Try leaf lettuce, romaine, or rocket/arugula.
Tomatoes - 3 medium
Small canteloupe - 1
Fresh Basil - a few leaves per person
Mozzarella - 2 balls
Parmesan - a smattering of petals peeled off a wedge
Prosciutto - 8-12 very thin slices
Olives - a few

Balsamic Vinegar
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Salt - something with some texture if you can. We had fine sel de Guérande.

1. Wash/Chop up the salad greens and divvy them our onto plates.
2. Wash and cut the tomatoes into wedges. Portion onto plates.
3. Split the melon. Scoop out the slimy, seedy innards. Cut into wedges. Carefully trim off rind. Portion melon wedges onto places.
4. Cut mozzarella however your heart desires. Slices, wedges, cookie-cutter shapes, whatever! Divvy out.
5. Loosely roll up slices of prosciutto and portion out onto plates.
6. Take the wedge of parmesan and a vegetable peeler and make some petals or "copeaux" - which literally means "shavings" but sounds so much classier - then scatter on each plate. Maybe 5-8 petals per plate?
7. Wash and roll up basil leaves. Chop into chiffonade strips.
8. Top with a token olive, or more if you really like olives. We used black garlicky ones.
9. Sprinkle balsamic vinegar over the salads.
10; Drizzle EVOO over salads.
11. Sprinkle a little bit of nice salt over all.

Serve with crusty bread and a nice rosé or white.

Eating with Hyperemesis - Mashed Potatoes, Peas, and Steamed Egg Custard

Today's Lunch

Instant mashed potatoes with peas and cheese

Cucumber slices

Plain, Korean-style egg custard

This lunch produced a light, low fat, yet generously portioned meal.  The cheese added a comfort element to the potatoes in the absence of butter.  The egg custard was light, soft, silky, and a bit salty, sitting somewhat less heavily in the stomach than a hard boiled egg would.  

You'll notice I use salt rather generously.  It is one seasoning I've found that doesn't make me ill, and last I checked, my blood pressure was 90/60.  I kind of need a bit of salt right now.  Adjust your seasonings according to your own health, of course.

What you'll need (serves 1)

• 1 part plain, instant potato flakes - 1/4 c to 1/3 c
• 2 parts water/skim milk, totalling - 1/2 c to 2/3 c
• Frozen peas (~ 1/2 c)
• Kraft Cheese slice (a half to a whole slice)
• 1 large egg
• Water 1/4 c (approximately equal volume to the egg)
• Cucumber slices
• Salt
• Celery salt (optional)
• Extra hot water (tap hot is fine)
• A small pot with lid
• A single serving size pyrex or ceramic ramekin (something that won't shatter in the simmering water)
• A bowl, a cup, a plate, a spoon, a fork or chopsticks

1. Crack the egg into a bowl and whisk it up with fork or chopsticks.  Add in the 1/4 cup water and a dash of salt (approx. 1/8 tsp.) Whisk to smooth and slightly foamy.  You can use soy or fish sauce in place of salt if you can manage it.
2. Pour egg mixture into ramekin. No need to grease the ramekin. (Yay! No extra fat to cause heartburn!)
3. Place ramekin into small, empty pot.  Carefully fill the pot half way up around the ramekin with tap-hot water. 
4. Cover the pot and turn up heat to medium-low.  Once simmering, drop heat to low, maintaining a low simmer for 7 to 12 minutes.  (This was my first time and just for myself so I poked it with a spoon now and then until it seemed fully set.  I'll provide a couple links at the end where they teach this technique much more elegantly.)
5. Meanwhile, while egg is steaming, place frozen peas in a small cup and cover with hot water. Stir. Leave to thaw.  If water gets cool, strain off (I used my hand as the sieve) and top up with fresh, hot water. 
6. Measure out your potato flakes and water/milk.  Have them ready.
7. Once custard is fully set, remove pan from heat. Carefully remove ramekin and empty out the pot.  Place ramekin on lunch plate.
8. Pour milk/water mix into the now empty pot.  Strain off the (now mostly thawed) peas and add to the pot as well.
9. Return pot to burner.  Bring just barely to a boil.
10. Turn off burner. Remove pot from heat. Add Kraft slice (or cheese of choice) and potato flakes. Stir until potatoes are reconstituted.  Season with salt and celery salt to taste.  Dish up potato/pea mix to plate.
11. Slice some cucumber slices. Place on plate.
12. Done!  Eat as much as you can.  Season with extra salt as needed.

Links

The Kitchn - Korean Style Steamed Eggs

The Food Canon - Smooth, Silky, and Creamy Steamed Egg

Simple Meals

With Easter around the corner, this also means that Good Friday is rapidly approaching.  If you don't know what Good Friday is, generally it's supposed to be treated as a day of fasting, mourning, and a general bummer.  Personally, this reminds me of a lean time in my life when nearly every day was a fast day. (20$/month for food and medicine doesn't go far when you don't know how to cook!)  I'd like to talk about a few ideas that I wish I'd known then, to help get you through a lean day - voluntary or not.


Grain Porridge
Who says the only "hot cereal" is oatmeal?  Besides cream of wheat, you can make hot cereal with any grain you want, really.  Take grain, add enough water. Bring to a boil, and cook down until done.  Make it as thick or as runny as you like.  Try it with barley, millet, or quinoa.  Make it with rice and you have congee.

If you associate porridges with sweets like evaporated milk, maple syrup, brown sugar, or jam, challenge your perceptions and make a savory porridge.
Start with a sauteed onion, then toss in your grains and swish them around the pot or pan to toast them a bit.   Then add in your liquid and cook as above.  Water always works, or you can try using stock if you have some, to up the flavour.
A common addition when making rice porridge is egg.  Right when your congee is ready to come off the heat, crack in a raw egg and stir it around until it cooks.  It completely changes the mouthfeel of the porridge and makes it much richer.  Theoretically, you could try this with other grains, but I haven't, yet.


That all being said, oatmeal is still pretty amazing because it cooks up so quickly (5-10 minutes as opposed to some other grains that can take close to an hour - if not longer!)

Oatmeal

This is a classic, but I like to make it ever so slightly differently than it says on the bag. 

Here's how:

In a pot, add 1 part oats and 2 parts water.  One serving is usually between 1/4 c. and 1/3 c.  Feel free to add a pinch of salt.  If you'd like it runnier, add more liquid.  Pop it onto medium to medium/high heat and stir constantly (the stirring will make it creamier, I promise.)  I just stay there, stirring fairly often until it boils and thickens a bit, then drop the heat and stir a bit more often until it reaches the final thickness you like.  Pour in a bowl and eat.

When I make this any other time, I usually do equal parts oats, water, and milk.  The milk rounds out the flavour just a touch more.  To make it heartier and up the fat and protein content, try stirring in a spoonful of nut or seed butter. If you have some dried fruits available, add them at the start with the liquid - they'll plump up as you cook.

Sure, these aren't the most balanced meals in the world, but they're non-perishables and in a pinch they'll fill you up, warm you on a cool day, and get you by for a while - just don't be afraid to try combinations beyond oats, cream, and brown sugar!