Blueberry Crunch and Green Salad with Avocado and Cumin

So, let's talk a little more about this blueberry crunch. Last time I made it it turned out a bit too sweet, so I omitted all the white sugar, save a sprinkling, swapped in chopped pecans for cornflakes (because that makes it SO much more gourmet, plus I hate crushed cornflakes, makes me think of breakfast cereal), and piled it differently. For some reason, whenever I make a fruit crunch or crips (Apple, cranberry, blueberry, whatever) and I pile the "crunch/crisp" part on top, it becomes this immutable mass of flourly, sweet, dough-like crunch, which despite these adjectives is really unappealing, especially as a side dish when people want higher health-quality.

Enough talking. Here is how I made it. This was good.

Blueberry Crunch

3 cups frozen blueberries (I buy them at Shoprite or Fairway with an OU on the package. Ask your Rabbi if this is necessary.)

Sprinkling of sugar

2 tsp lemon juice

1 cup flour

1/2 cup brown sugar, packed

5 tbs margarine

1/4-1/3 cup chopped pecans (or to taste)

Toss 3/4 of the blueberries into an 8x8 pan or a pie-sized pan. Sprinkle the lemon juice and sugar over. No need to toss. In a separate bowl, place the flour, brown sugar and pecans, and cut in the margarine until mixture is crumbly. Spoon over the blueberries. Then place the reserved blueberries and spoon that over the topping. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes to an hour.

This is delicious! SO much fruitier with some reserved blueberries on top. Works as a side dish or a filling summer dessert.

And now...it's our never fail, ultimate compliment-gatherer, perfect meal starter and accompaniment...

Green Salad with Avocado and Cumin

• 1 head romaine lettuce (not used to checking lettuce? Read my run-through here.)
• 1 tomato
• 1 cucumber
• 1 bell pepper
• 1 avocado
• olive oil, lemon juice, salt, pepper, garlic powder and cumin
• deli meat and chinese noodles, optional (but highly recommended! I usually add deli to make it nice enough for a first course if I'm sick of gefilte fish.)

I am not going to give exact measurements for the dressing, because that is largely the point. This green salad demands love and attention, and it will repay you the extra minutes spent tasting, seasoning, tasting and seasoning again. After making it 3-4 times you will be able to eyeball a dressing and be impressed with your eyeball-dressing prowess.

Shred the lettuce and chop the remaining vegetables into a large salad bowl. Toss on deli meat (pastrami and turkey both work well, less is more) and chinese noodles if using. Pour on 2-3 tablespoons olive oil (eyeball it, eyeball it) and toss till everything glistens. Pour on 2-3 tsp lemon juice, sprinkle salt, pepper, cumin and garlic powder all over, and toss again. Taste, add more cumin, toss, taste and correct amounts of lemon juice, salt and pepper. If salad looks too dry and pained, add more olive oil.

Serve and be impressed at how quickly this disappears.

This week's winners

We have some duck sauce chicken (just dump sweet and sour duck sauce liberally over chicken, bake at 375 degrees until crisp and browned, from Quick and Kosher), my old standby mushroom and onion quiche, which you can find here on the site, a new winner - green beans with sauteed tomatoes from Kosher Palate, quinoa (yep, just as people predicted, you get healthier when you have kids), our best-ever, tops everything, gets rave reviews every time - green salad with avocado and cumin, baked gefilte fish (just started making this), homemade parve peanut butter and chocolate chip ice cream (makes me nervous with the raw eggs, but it sure is good!), and parve blueberry crunch which I made with a little less sugar than the original recipe so it would work as a side.

Recipes to come Motzei Shabbos! Oh, it's good to be back.

Mandarin Orange - Almond - Lettuce Salad

Easy and delicious. Make the dressing before Shabbos so you can measure out each ingredient and don't have to worry about getting the right measurements on Shabbos. The original recipe calls for pulverizing an onion with the dressing, but I'd rather not pull out my food processor just to make a salad dressing! So I just cut a chunk of onion and left it to marinate and flavor the salad dressing overnight. I also opened the can of mandarin oranges before Shabbos, drained it, and stored it with the salad dressing. Not only did this marinate the orange segments, enhancing the flavor, it staved off any problems that come with opening cans on Shabbos.

Here's the recipe:

Dressing
1 chunk or slice of onion
1/4 c. sugar
1 tsp. ground mustard
1/3 c. vinegar
1/2 tsp. salt
3/4 c. oil
dash pepper
dash garlic

Mix in air-tight container and shake until smooth and fully mixed. If making for Shabbos, open the can of mandarin oranges and store with the dressing.

Salad
1 head of Romaine lettuce or Iceberg lettuce (I prefer Iceberg) washed, dried and checked
1 can mandarin oranges
1 cup candied or toasted almonds (I used toasted - you can buy pre-toasted ones at Trader Joes, or you can candy your own using the recipe in this previous post. Making them was slightly disastrous, however, so I do not plan on attempting it again soon.)

To assemble salad, mix lettuce with almonds and oranges, and toss with dressing to taste. Try with half of the dressing, taste, and see if it needs more. Nothing is worse than a too-heavily dressed salad, but you want to make sure you have enough flavor.

Checking lettuce (doo dah, doo dah)

Checking lettuce has definitely become the curse (or blessing) of my life. I dread it, yet I enjoy it while I'm doing it, and I feel so rewarded and proud immediately after.

Pros: Big mitzvah, providing healthy, kosher food to my family

Cons: Drippy, watery and time-consuming

Why don't I buy pre-checked lettuce, you ask? Well, at $3-$5 a bag, I don't find it a good investment. Plus, the bags go bad quickly, appear to be lower in nutritional value because of all the processing, are not conveneniently accessible (I do NOT live in Brooklyn or KGH or similarly Jewish neighborhoods) and I really like the look and feel of big Iceberg and Romaine lettuce leaves.

In case you're wondering, here's how I do it, with guidance from the OU bug-checking book:

Method 1
Carefully tear the lettuce into individual leaves and place in a big bowl to soak for 10-15 minutes. Agitate the water so dirt (and hopefully bugs) will get off of the leaves.

After sufficiently soaked, hold each leaf individually up to the light, scanning both sides while looking out for dark spots (potential bugs) and obvious bugs. When you find one (and it's not as uncommon as you may think), either tear off the affected area OR wash off the bug OR wipe if off with finger, being careful not to splatter bug juices. If you're in doubt about whether it's a bug or not, just give a little scratch to the lettuce leaf and see if it comes off. If if does, whether a bug or dirt piece, you're well rid of it.

Place on towel and pat dry.

Method 2
This way is either, and many people check lettuce this way, but it is not the method endorsed by the OU book, so not sure yet how I feel about it. Basically, follow procedure above but CHECK the lettuce before you soak it. This is extremely advantageous because you don't have water dripping down your sleeves as you put the lettuce leaf up to the light. Then soak the lettuce afterward primarily to wash it.

You can also use a lightbox instead of holding each leaf up to the light, but that didn't work for me. We did get a lightbox, but checking wet leaves didn't work as dust particles would get mixed up with the water from the leaf and skew my vision, plus the switch broke off after a few months. See if it works for you.

Creamy (and parve!) Scalloped Potatoes

Another great recipe from my sister-in-law!

Ingredients:
7 Idaho potatoes, peeled and sliced 1/4 inch thick
6 tbsp margarine or oil
2 large onions, chopped
1/2 c. flour
1/2 c. mayo
1/2 tsp. salt
28 oz. chicken stock (3 and a half cups water with about a tbsp of chicken consomme)
black pepper
paprika

Heat oil in a large pan and add onions - cook for three minutes until soft. Stirring constantly, add flour, mayo, salt and stock. Stir until smooth and cook until sauce thickens, stirring constantly.

With a ladle or large spoon, place a layer of sauce across the bottom of a 9x13 pan. Spread a layer of overlapping potatoes, top with sauce, and repeat. You should have 3 sauce layers and 2 potato layers.

Sprinkle with pepper and paprika. Bake uncovered for 1 and 1/2 hours at 350 degrees.

Yum! Really hits the spot on a winter's day.

Strawberry-Mango Salad

I know everyone has a recipe for this, but here is a simple and easy one from my sis-in-law:

Strawberry-Mango Salad

One head iceberg lettuce, washed and checked (or one bag pre-washed and checked lettuce)
One carton strawberries, washed and checked
One mango
Sugar-coated almonds (recipe below)

1/4 cup oil
1/4 cup sugar
1/8 cup vinegar
1 tsp salt

Chop the strawberries and mango into small pieces, and tear the lettuce into bite-sized pieces. Place together in a large bowl and sprinkle with the sugar-coated almonds to taste.

In a separate container, shake the dressing ingredients together until well-mixed. When ready to serve, pour over salad and toss to distribute dressing.

Sugar-coated Almonds

1/2 c. sugar
1 c. slivered or sliced almonds
Melt sugar on low heat until liquid. Add almonds and stir until coated. Pour on greased tin foil. Let cool and break into pieces.

Awesome easy yuntif

Well I lucked out this Simchas Torah, with three meals provided in the shul so I only had to make one, instead of four full-fledgers. It was a meat meal, since we were having some boys, but I did miss having dairy for the second night. Too heavy, you know? The meal was a winner, with great and easy meat, orzo, chicken, broccoli quiche (which was the only non-winner) and a good dessert. Recipes to follow!

Chicken and Yummy Orzo

Orzo (this dish is from a friend, who said it was inspired by Kosher by Design):
Craisins
Canned mushrooms
Chopped onion
Tri-colored orzo
Chicken consomme

Saute the mushrooms and onion until soft, then add the craisins and cook for another 10 minutes, till everything looks soft and juicy. Meanwhile, cook the orzo in water mixed with plenty of chicken soup mix or consomme, for great flavor. Experiment with ratios, but I like a lot of craisin/onion/mushroom to my orzo. Drain orzo when cooked, and mix with the veg. mixture. Freezes well.

Chicken:
4-6 chicken breasts
1/2 cup brown sugar (loosely packed)
1/4 cup dry mustard
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground pepper

Marinate the chicken with remaining ingredients in a bag for as long as possible, but at least two hours. Cook at 350 degrees for 45 minutes or until done.

To serve: place orzo on a pretty serving dish. Slice each chicken breast into 2-4 pieces and scatter across orzo. Pretty, nutritious, and yum. Enjoy!

Also try:

Teriyaki steak recipe from Quick and Kosher (recipes from the bride who knew nothing) which basically calls for sauteed onion and mushrooms (only cook til soft, not caramelized), place atop washed and patted dry minute steaks or shoulder steaks or whatever you got, and pour a cup of teriyaki sauce over. I think that's it, will need to look again for more details. Cook at 350 for about an hour.

And also try: chocolate chip cookie pie from my favorite baking blogger, bakerella! Here's the recipe, and enjoy the blog - she is awesome. http://www.bakerella.com/chocolate-chip-cookie-pie%E2%80%A6-oh-my/