Easy & Delicious Farmer's Market Salad

Last Friday I stopped by the Whittier Farmer's Market and was reacquainted with one of my favorite salads. When I worked for Taguchi Farms back in the '80s, one of the vendors at the market would make this salad and have a bowl of toothpicks next to it to make it available for tasting. The ingredients are simple--pick several summer veggies--and the preparation is easy--chop into bite-sized pieces and dress with lemon/lime juice and sea salt.

This salad is perfect for the hot, hot, HOT weather we've been having here in Southern California--I've been keeping a big bowl of salad in the refrigerator, so it's nice and cold.

Some of my family members like it with a little shoyu on-the-side, or with some chopped jalapeños sprinkled on top. It's also good with a drizzle of olive oil.

Ingredients:

2 large tomatoes

1 red pepper (I ended up not using the green pepper)

1 small yellow pepper

1 small red onion

6 cucumbers

8 curly peppers (they're mild)

1 bunch cilantro leaves

juice of 1/2 lemon and/or 1 lime

sea salt & pepper to taste

The key to making this salad good is to use vegetable you like. I really like cucumbers, so I use a lot of them. Homegrown tomatoes or ones from a farmer's market will make the salad better since those tomatoes will have a lot of flavor. I like the curly peppers because they're mild and everyone in my family can eat them, I'll serve jalapeños on the side. Red onion gives the salad a little bite of spiciness. The lemon and/or lime juice with a little sea salt keeps the salad light, tasting fresh and mellows out the red onion a bit.

Chop all vegetables into bite-sized pieces.

I used 3 different kinds of cucumbers because I saw them at the market--Persian, pickling and Japanese--they all looked so good.

Put all the chopped vegetables in a large bowl, add juice of 1/2 lemon and/or 1 lime, salt and pepper to taste and toss gently. I take the leaves off the cilantro--chopping them is a lot faster, but I don't think the stems look as nice as the leaves. Is that a little OCD? 

Chill thoroughly and serve.

Itadakimasu!

***

Remember Isamu? You first met him in the Gail's Stew post.

He's keeping cool in this heat.

 A few months ago he had a birthday! He's growing so fast!

 Isamu LOVES trucks and LARGE vehicles.

The whole family gathered not too long ago for his baptism.

Proud parents, Eugene and Maria.

Isamu loves Obaachan. Absolutely LOVES her! Obaachan is Isamu's best friend. She teaches him a lot of Japanese words--his parents call it "Bachanese". He says "Yanna." "Yanna go see Mommy." He talks a lot, but can also be quiet. Early on he learned "Dude" and "Sweet" from his cousins Tyler and Colin (who are in their twenties). Isamu is learning Spanish, too. He loves trucks, Duplos and playing with water. He's smart and has a good sense of humor--he likes to be funny and make us laugh. Sometimes he calls his dad "Eugene," but mostly he calls him "Poppy." He can do impressions of Obaachan, Eugene and Rufina, his babysitter. Isamu loves guacamole--and eats it like a main dish. I love to hear him shout, "Guacamole!" when he comes over. 

Isamu brings a lot of joy to our family.

***

Ingredients:

2 large tomatoes

1 red pepper (I ended up not using the green pepper)

1 small yellow pepper

1 small red onion

6 cucumbers

8 curly peppers (they're mild)

1 bunch cilantro leaves

juice of 1/2 lemon and/or 1 lime

sea salt & pepper to taste

optional: drizzle of olive oil

chopped jalapeños

Chop all vegetables into bite-sized pieces. 

Put all the chopped vegetables in a large bowl, add juice of 1/2 lemon and/or 1 lime, salt and pepper to taste and toss gently.

Chill thoroughly before serving.

Tim's Chile Relleno

Today we have a Guest Blogger!

My cousin Tim is showing us how to make Chile Relleno!

You might remember Tim from my post about all the fun I had with my cousins, spending time with them during family dinners and running around at Bachan's house.

This is Tim and his wife Teri.

Teri is my childhood friend--I was simply thrilled when they got together!

Here's Tim and Teri's son Bradford and daughter Caitlyn.

That's Teri on the right looking like she could be one of the kids.

Tim's a great cook, I'm sure he does a lot of cooking at his house!

When Tim was writing up his post, he said he followed my format and included a little bit about family at the end.

So you, dear readers, are in for a treat!


Thanks, Tim, for cooking up your fabulous Chile Rellenos for FOODjimoto!

***

 Chile Relleno

by Tim Hirahara

Many years ago, I volunteered at Children's Hospital of Los Angeles in the Rehabilitation Center. I was part of the patient activities program.

Once a week the patients and their families would prepare their own dinner. Once, one of the mothers, I cannot recall her name, made Chile Rellenos from scratch.

I loved chili rellenos and watched with much interest how she made it.

The following is how she did it.

Main Ingredients:

4-5 Pasilla chiles

4 eggs

4-5 oz. Monterey jack cheese

1 medium onion diced small

1 small 14 1/2 oz. can enchilada sauce

flour for coating chiles

1/2 inch deep vegetable or canola oil in pan heated to 350ºF.

Char the outside of the chiles thoroughly.

Once completely charred, wrap in a clean dish towel to steam off the skin.

You could also put them in a paper bag.

Dice one medium-sized onion for the sauce.

Saute the onion until it starts to get translucent.

Add the enchilada sauce and simmer to thicken.

Once the chiles have been steaming in the towel or in a paper bag, the charred skin can be peeled off easily.

Remove all of the charred skin.

You will be left with a whole chile without the skin.

Slice up your cheese into chunks to put inside the chiles.

*Relleno = filling or stuffed*

Separate the whites of the eggs and place in mixer bowl to be whipped.

Save the yolks, they will be used later.

Whip the egg whites until stiff but do not over mix.

Open up the chile by making a slit in the side from top to bottom.

Take out the seeds and membranes if you do not want too much heat.

Fill with the cheese.

Fold the egg yolks into the whipped egg whites to incorporate.

Roll the stuffed chile in all-purpose flour.

Place in egg mixture.

Thoroughly coat the chile.

Fry in pan in 1/2 inch of oil--or you can deep fry them if you have a deep fat fryer.

Cook until golden brown, this ensures the cheese inside has melted.

Drain on rack.

Itadakimasu!

***

I guess my appreciation for good food and making good food came from my father. When we went out to eat, we went dining--to Lawry's or Tam O'Shanter Inn. He continued the tradition with my children at the Dressing Room in Los Feliz.

I think my son Bradford has the same appreciation for food too.

Thanks to Grandpa.

That's Dad and me.

That's Dad and Bradford.

My dad passed away a year ago.

As Karolyn comments in her blogs, family, food and good memories go together.

This is a tribute to my dad for all the good food and all the good memories.

***

Ingredients:

4-5 Pasilla chiles

4 eggs

4-5 oz. Monterey jack cheese

1 medium onion, diced small

1 can-14 1/2 oz- enchilada sauuce

3/4 cup flour for coating chiles

1/2 inch deep vegetable or canola oil in pan heated to 350ºF

Wash, dry and char chiles completely on burner (BBQ grill or other grill).

Place charred chiles in a clean dish towel and roll up to cover. Some recipes say to put in a plastic or paper bag, both work. It is mainly to loosen the skin from the flesh of the chiles. Leave for at least 20 minutes.

Peel all of the skin off of the chiles but do not rinse them. That washes some of the flavor from charring off.

Cut a slit in the side of the chile so that you can cut out the seed pod and this is the opening you will put the cheese into. (If you like more spicy chiles, do not remove the pod.) Do not cut the stem off, aesthetic reason--for presentation--and so the cheese does not come out of the top while cooking.

Cut cheese into chunks to fit inside the cavity, do not overfill or you will have a little mess while cooking.

Separate the eggs and put the whites into a mixing bowl and whip to a stiff consistency. Make sure the bowl is very clean and cool (if there is any oil in the bowl, the whites will not fluff up as much).

Fold egg yolks into the whipped-up whites to incorporate.

Heat 1/2 inch of oil in a skillet to about 350ºF.

Lightly coat the chiles with flour.

Place them in the egg mixture to coat the chiles.

Gently place them in the oil and cook to golden brown.

Drain on rack or paper towels.

You can eat them plain as a side dish or put any of your favorite sauces or salsas on them.

Enjoy!

Vegetarian Chili

Yesterday was cold and rainy in Southern California.

A perfect day for Vegetarian Chili.

And some cornbread to go along with it.

Ingredients:

4 cups dry pinto beans

1 1/2 cup each chopped onion, celery & carrots

1 package mushrooms, sliced

1 28 oz. canned tomatoes

2 jalapeno peppers

1 beer

1 cup frozen or canned corn

3 Morningstar Farms Black Bean Burgers

1 tablespoon each: 

chili powder, paprika, pasilla chile powder, dried oregano and sweet basil

1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1 teaspoon cumin

4 tablespoons masa flour

2 teaspoons salt

2 teaspoons pepper

Start out with 4 cups dry pinto beans or whichever is your favorite.

Quickly sort through them and remove any rocks or damaged beans.

You can use canned beans, but I really like the bite that dried beans have, they're not mushy like the canned ones can be.

But you can't beat the canned ones when you don't have a lot of time!

Cover generously with water and put on the stove to boil.

After the beans boil, turn the heat off and cover for one hour.

Drain beans, cover with water and bring to boil.

Someone once told me that draining the water twice makes the beans less...gassy.

Cover them with water for the last time and when they come to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for about an hour until tender.

Chop the celery, carrots and onions.

I also added a whole head of garlic that I roasted in the oven a few days ago. It makes the garlic very mild and smooth.

In the meantime, skim the foam off the beans.

Seed and chop the jalapenos.

My dad says they come from Mexico this time of year and they're mild, but I took the seeds & veins out for my family members that don't like heat.

It's always a good idea to wear kitchen gloves when handling jalapenos. The juice from them can sting your skin if you're sensitive, don't touch your face, especially your eyes.

I like to chop them pretty small.

Slice the mushrooms too.

Saute the vegetables in a little bit of olive oil and add a little salt and pepper. Saute until the vegetables are just starting to gain some color, then add them to a large pot with the tomatoes.

My mom brought these over the other day. My dad grew them last summer. They're so sweet!

 My dad grew this corn, too.

My mom blanches it, cuts it off the cob, freezes it, and shares it.

Thanks, Mom!

Add enough water to cover.

, 

Adding a beer to the broth gives it a nice flavor.

So does adding a couple of bay leaves.

Gather your spices: 1 tablespoon chili powder, paprika, sweet basil and oregano, 1 teaspoon cumin and 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper.

Add the spices and let the flavors blend and meld together, simmering for about 15 minutes.

Then taste the mixture.

I like a full-bodied flavor for the broth, so I added 1 tablespoon pasilla chili powder and another beer.

It was a big pot.

If you don't want to mess with all the spices, I like this chili mix.

One thing that makes Carroll Shelby's Chili Kit so good is it contains masa flour.

I keep mine in a zip lock bag in the freezer.

Measure 4 tablespoons into a small bowl.

Add some water to make a slurry. When the mixture comes to a boil, slowly drizzle in the masa flour & water, stirring constantly. It's going to add flavor and thicken the chili.

I also added three Morningstar Farms Black Bean Burgers that I had in the freezer. Have you tried them? They're good.

I think they're a lot better in vegetarian chili than the soy fake meats.

Defrost them in the microwave and give them a rough chop.

I separated the chili into two portions.

One has the black bean burgers and the other has some chile verde I had in the freezer.

One to keep at home and one to give away.

My husband actually preferred the vegetarian one!

Here's a quick cornbread recipe that I've been making for years with occasional variations now and then.

2 cups Bisquick

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup cornmeal

2 eggs

1 cup milk

1/2 cup melted butter

Mix ingredients together well.

Sometimes I add a can of creamed corn or some grated cheese.

This time I didn't have any Bisquick and used a whole grain pancake mix I bought at Trader Joe's. My husband liked it better than the Bisquick one!

Spray a baking dish with non-stick spray, pour the batter into the pan. 

Bake at 350 degrees F for 35 to 40 minutes.

It's a little denser with whole grain mix rather than the Bisquick.

It was good!

It does have a whole stick of butter...

Serve chili garnished with a little sour cream or cheese.

Along with cornbread with a nice, green salad, it makes a warm, satisfying meal.

Bon appetit!

***

Last night we spent a fun evening with Rick's girlfriend, Jessica.

She stopped by after work with a nice card and gift for us for helping her move over the weekend, and stayed for our chili dinner.

Jessica is a lovely young woman and we are delighted to get to know her. She plays soccer, is a cyclist, a painter, loves English dramas, makes jewelry and photo books--she has endless talents.

Thanks, Jessica, for brightening our evening!

No printable recipe for this one yet.