Creamy Mashed Potato Salad with Eggs and Fennel

I like to stretch my boundaries a wee bit.  Alright, alright, a lot, okay I admit it.  I like to stretch them like a yoga posture.  Flexibility and strength... oh, and I made this awesome creamy mashed potato salad too.  I like to make sure I have a lot of time with friends, especially during the warm summer months.  My friend and I organized a weekly dinner/ BBQ at Maxwelton beach, which got me thinking about BBQ food.  I mean that traditional fat inducing American fare, not my usual thing.  I know, I usually don't post too much Americana, but like I said that's where the stretching, flexibility comes in.  What's wrong with a wee bit of comfort food, I mean really??

So here it is, partly courtesy of the great blog, The Pioneer Woman Cooks, is a lovely Creamy Mashed Potato Salad.  I changed the recipe to fit with the ingredients that I have available at my house.  Instead of pickles/and or dill I used fresh fennel and thyme.  I added garlic powder, an extra egg and less mayo than the recipe calls for.  Plus I used Vegenaise instead of regular mayonnaise.  Don't get me wrong, I have no problem with good 'ol mayo, but I really like the Vegenaise

The Mostly Homemade Pizza

Although I love baking I really have not experimented too much with it.  When I say baking I mean working with flour.  In the past I have been more interested in fresh foods.  For several years I avoided wheat due to a sensitivity I had to it.  The habit of avoiding it has stayed with me, at least to some degree, and helps me branch out.  I consider using grains that some people wouldn't.  I also practiced a raw diet for a year.  I'll have to blog about that sometime.  There is a story there.  I am more interested in enjoying food nowadays so I don't put any specific restrictions on what I cook.

I imagine you are wondering when the homemade pizza comes into the story.  The mostly homemade pizza.  Being the wheat-challenged person that I am, when I saw that Trader Joes sells already made pizza dough, I grabbed up a bag of pesto pizza dough and plain pizza dough (Marina's choice).  I even managed to wait until the dough was about to expire before getting up my pizza-making nerve.

Using the bounty

Chickens = eggs
eggs + corn tortillas + cheese + spinach = easy dinner

Salad Season

It's the best time of the year to make a salad!  Optimally you will grow your own lettuce or you will stop by the farmer's market or your local farm stand.  Lettuce is so much more delicate and tasty when it is local and in-season.  Pictured above is another salad idea: tuna, almonds, and avocado on romaine lettuce, tossed with a Vinaigrette.   I used canned tuna and to keep it from tasting dry I mixed it with a little vegetable based mayonniase, the brand is Vegenaise. 

One for adults, one for kids

Above, one of my favorite "easy" lunch or dinner ideas: BBQ chicken, chopped almonds, tomato, and avocado on Romaine tossed with balsamic vinegar and olive oil.  I always make my own fresh salad dressing.  It is so much better that way.

Balsamic Olive Oil Dressing
Mix equal parts balsamic vinegar and olive oil (don't skimp on purchasing a good quality olive oil)
salt and pepper to taste
Combine ingredients thoroughly!
You can change out the balsamic vinegar in this recipe for seasoned rice vinegar.  Both are great and add a unique flavor to your salad.

A meal for the kiddos (above): On occasion I have a late lunch and then I am not hungry for dinner.  On one of these occasions, I made a specifically "kid" meal.  I have a feeling that my idea of a kid's meal may differ from most people's.  For Marina, 5, and Stella, 2 1/2, I baked small corn burritos with refried beans and topped them with fresh tomatoes.  A small side salad of romaine lettuce tossed with olive oil and rice vinegar.  And lastly, I boiled some polenta grits, served them on the side with salt, drizzled with olive oil.  Believe it or not, the girls ate the whole plate of food....maybe it was the vibrant colors......or?

Barbequed Lime and Lamb Sandwich

Here on Whidbey Island there is this great little grocery store called The Star Store in downtown Langley.  It is packed full of food, with lots of natural and organic options.  It is a short walk or drive from my house so I end up shopping there a lot.  I made this lamb sandwich with ground lamb patties I got from the Star Store.  You could make it with any ground lamb.  We BBQ'd the lamb along with beef patties because the girls aren't too fond of ground lamb.  Add fresh tomatoes, avocado, lettuce tossed with olive oil and squeezed lime, all on sprouted bread and you have a healthy and filling sandwich for lunch or dinner.

Barbecued Lime and Lamb Sandwich  
makes one sandwich
2 slices of sprouted bread (I use Ezekial Sprouted Sesame bread)
wedge of lime
olive oil
1 lamb patty
1/2 avocado
2 slices of tomato
romaine lettuce, chopped
mayonnaise
provolone cheese

Barbecue the lamb patty and melt provolone cheese on it. Toast the sprouted bread and spread mayo on both slices of bread.  Use a fork to squish and spread avocado on one slice.  Add sliced tomatoes and BBQ lamb with melted cheese on avocado.  Mix a dash of olive oil with a squeezed lime slice.  Use a fork to mix it well.  Toss chopped Romaine lettuce with the lime-olive oil dressing.  Top the lamb with the Romaine and the other slice of bread.  Enjoy!

Barefoot at the Rhody Run 2010

Alright I admit it.  I raced a day after a nasty hangover and a night out.  Granted I had all of Saturday and Saturday night to recover.  It is like doing a race on Saturday then a race on Sunday.  Nonetheless, I am very happy I ran in the Rhody run.  It is really a fun race!  At 12K, or 7.5 miles, it is relatively short.  I figured that despite my late night fun in Seattle, it is surely short enough not to matter.  I was right.  

The course is on paved residential streets in Port Townsend.  Many families line the streets offering water, champagne, sprinklers, and other things.  Water sprinklers.  I had to dodge a few as it was a nice cool morning and I was wearing my barefooting shoes.  I don't like to get my barefooting shoes wet.  Although they dry fast, I can feel the moisture between my toes, yuck! 

My Vibam fivefinger shoes were a big hit on the run.  People just couldn't help but ask:

if I like them,
tell me that they like them,
that they are cool,
how often I have run in them?
how they feel?

At one point near the end of the race, I thought, AHHH, stop, I am trying to breathe, I can't answer your questions. 

Despite my breathing difficulty, I enjoyed telling people about the shoes.

Yes, I like them, in fact I love them.
Thanks.
Yes, they are cool, thanks.
I have run in them for about 2.5 months, from 1 hour runs to 3 hour runs.
They feel like you are a kid again.  They feel great!

The Rhody run course is fast despite several uphill sections.  The Rhody run hills really don't compare to trail running hills, so I refuse to complain.  The race starts and ends at Fort Worden State Park.  The scenery is lovely and the people are friendly.  Port Townsend brewery gave every willing runner a free beer post race.  How's that for recovery?

I found another runner with Vibram Fivefinger shoes. 

Above and below: the super fast winner of the Rhody run.  This man has an amazing stride.  Check it out!

My fast bro-in-law Ryan.  3rd place in his age division!

Passing some people at the finish

pictures courtesy Luc d'Aignault on his iphone.  (forgot my digital slr)

BBQ Season on Whidbey

The grass is green, the weather is warming, great time for outdoor BBQ and evening walks on Whidbey!

Marina walks her sister

Rhody Run XXXII 12K Map

This is a great local run in Port Townsend, WA.  The race starts at 11 AM so it is an easy race to travel to.  The 12 K distance is all on roads, mostly scenic with only one major hill.  Runners get one free beer post race.

Simple Red Wine Marinade for Chicken

I am all for quick and easy marinade for meat.  I often do not decide what I am cooking for dinner until a hour or more before I need to cook it. This is where the Simple Red Wine Marinade comes in.  With only two ingredients plus the chicken, so actually three ingredients you will feel like you have slow cooked the chicken for hours.  Optimally you will marinate the chicken for about 1 hour.  You can do more or less.  You can just put the chicken in the marinade and cook it with out even letting it sit. 


Simple Red Wine Marinade for Chicken

1 package of chicken thighs about 4-6, skinless
1-2 cups of red wine, enough that all the thighs are at least half way immersed in the wine.  You can also use white wine for this recipe.
1/4 cup cow butter, or an equivalent

To marinate the chicken place it in a bowl, preferably the same one you will bake it in, and pour in enough red wine that the down side of the chicken thighs are in the wine.  You will add the butter when you are ready to cook the chicken.  Marinate for up to an hour.  Add butter to chicken marinade and cover with a lid.  Place in 350 Bake oven and bake until it is cooked to your liking.  It will likely take 30 to 45 minutes.

Great served on rice, with polenta triangles, and with a fresh springtime green salad.