Snap Pea Sheep

The salad dressing makes this salad sing!
About 1/2 cup of orange juice mixed with 1/2 cup organic Greek (plain) yogurt, two generous tablespoons of honey and 3 tbsp Meyer lemon vinegar the only seasoning is a dash of salt.

The salad is made with romaine, radicchio, fennel, red onion, cara cara oranges, cucumbers, walnuts, feta cheese and castleveltrano olives.

My grandson visited today. He’s never had fennel and he’s never had a salad with oranges.

It’s a sneaky way to get fruit into the diet.

Have you ever heard of lapsang tea?
It smells like a campfire and tastes Smokey with no particular flavor.

I make ice cubes for my old fashioned. There’s a restaurant in Proser (the Silos) that has a drink called the Smoking Gun. Basically an old fashioned infused with smoke. My new favorite.

Anyway, I was making my potato leek soup today and decided to throw a teabag into the soup. (Of course I fished it out). Frankly it didn’t do much for the soup. Didn’t hurt it either.

It’s a knock off of Olive Garden’s zuppa Toscano with no sausage. I thought Lapsang and fennel seeds would compensate for the sausage.

The soup was still delicious but I won’t waste my Lapsang on it again.

Kale is my base for this salad. I added red onion, green olives, blueberries, apple, feta cheese and toasted almonds.

The dressing was Meyer lemon vinegar, orange juice, maple syrup (the real stuff), Dijon mustard, salt and Italian seasoning.

We went to a restaurant called Didi’s Downtown in Frisco. Their soup of the day was tomato orzo. It had little chunks of carrots and I suspected celery.

It was a delicious soup. Savory, maybe a little beefy. It was slightly thick like a tomato soup normally is. The soup broth tasted more like pot roast gravy than tomato but there was tomato in it.

So I tried to replicate it at home.
I made mine with beef broth and the tomato sauce that my Jovial whole tomatoes was in.

The vegetables were carrots, onions, celery, a mini bell pepper and of course the tomatoes.

It was seasoned with paprika, celery seed, a touch of chili powder, savory,
garlic, whole black peppercorns and salt.

Wasn’t even close!

Generally I can taste something and tell what’s in it. Usually it’s right on unless they’ve added MSG or other flavor enhancers. I don’t use those and nothing can replicate them.

I will just have to settle for my version. It’s pretty darn good as it is.

Chile rellenos tonight are poblano peppers stuffed with pinto beans, onion and cheddar cheese.

I made a sauce with hatch chiles, tomato paste, cumin, onion, lime juice and sour cream. I poured that over the peppers.

Trader Joe’s has organic corn dippers that I crushed and spread over the peppers.

They were baked at 400•F for 20 minutes covered then 10 minutes uncovered.

I topped it with a little grated cheddar that melted from residual heat.

Harry prepared the vegetables that were all tossed in olive oil, salt and pepper except for the potatoes which had lime juice, cumin and chili powder added.

The vegetables baked in the oven for 20 minutes, turned and put back in another 20.

Didn’t miss the meat at all.

Which is the best picture for this salad?

The base is field greens and romaine.
I quick pickled the red onion and radish in Meyer lemon vinegar with some added dill.

I blanched thinly sliced sugar snap peas and asparagus then gave them an ice bath before adding them.

Cucumbers, avocado, Kalamata olives, walnuts, blueberries, and feta topped the greens.

I added orange juice, garlic and herb de province to the pickling liquid and used it as a salad dressing. Thin. But I try to limit my olive oil intake.

My herb de province has fennel seeds in it. The dressing ended up with more fennel seed than usual. It made an interesting bite.

Broccoli cheese soup today! Made with 1 part half and half to 3 parts vegetable broth. I used peeled broccoli stems and 4 Yukon potatoes for the soup base. Threw in a handful of spinach for vitamins and color.

It was seasoned with garlic, thyme, nutmeg, lemon herb seasoning, salt and pepper plus a little truffle oil.

Once the soup was cooked and blended, I added some cheddar cheese and blended that well. Then I pulsed in blanched broccoli florets.

The soup was topped with cheddar, broccoli and crispy fried onions.

Harry is on his second bowl.

Dinner tonight was mind blowing!

Mediterranean style sable fish. Sable fish is a buttery fish like salmon but flaky like cod. I surrounded the fish with Kalamata and castleveltrano olives, red pepper, artichokes, red onion and garlic cloves. I topped the fish with butter, oregano, salt, pepper and lemon juice and baked it uncovered for 20 minutes on 400•F.

Harry made the carrots and potatoes. They were tossed in a vegetable broth, seasoned with oregano, Aleppo pepper, garlic, salt and pepper with a little olive oil then baked at 400•F for 20 minutes then the potatoes were turned and cooked another 20. The carrots were moved to a saucepan with the rest of the broth mix.

I have to say, Harry did an amazing job! The potatoes and carrots were cooked to perfection.

The asparagus were added to the oven 10 minutes before everything was done. I added olive oil, thyme, salt and pepper. I set two lemon halves and some slivered almonds on top.

I made a topping of chopped preserved lemon tossed with oregano, herb de province, garlic and red onion. This relish went well with literally everything.

The last dish was simply ricotta with a drizzle of olive oil, salt and pepper. I would have used burrata but didn’t have any. I baked it for 10 minutes as well.

It was an excellent meal that took less time to prep than to cook.

My husband can eat Mexican food every single day and not get tired of it.

I’ve prepared various styles of Mexican and Latin food because I get tired of Tex Mex.

Authentic Mexican is very difficult to find in Texas.

I had some beautiful poblanos I needed to use and a rotisserie chicken.

This is rotisserie chicken heated with my poblano crema and served with squash and seared mushrooms.

Harry bought guacamole and pico de gallo to go with it after discovering our avocados had ripened and rotted overnight.

The sauce was made with most of a roasted poblano. I kept some chunks to add to the dish. I used two tomatillos, about a cup of vidalia onion, 2 tablespoons of lime juice, 6 sprigs of cilantro, 2 teaspoons of cumin and salt, all blended with 1 cup of cacique Mexican crema.

Once I covered the chicken, I added shredded Oaxaca cheese.

This was delicious. Mexican enough for him and less Mexican enough for me.

Something I always grab at Trader Joe’s are the leeks and fresh peas.

Today I used them in a soup. I added 4 small Yukons to give the soup some texture, plus some celery for the aromatics.

I used 3 parts broth to 1 part half and half so it would be really creamy.

I used hickory salt because I don’t like ham hocks or bacon in my pea soup. Some peas were cooked separately so I could add them to the creamy soup.

White pepper, nutmeg, thyme, and truffle oil were the only seasonings.

The soup was topped off with a drizzle of cream and some French onions.