Hi, it's me. I have two salads for you. You need to try them.

I stink at this blogging stuff. I just don't have enough to say that is worth putting out there. I knit, I cook, I go to work. Repeat. The thing is this... I keep having a dialog with myself.

Janis: You really need to do a blog post

Self: Why? It really doesn't matter.

Janis: Yeah, but it is good to follow through with the blog you started a million years ago.

Self: Really? No one reads it.

Janis: Can you just work with me here?

Self: Ok, for instance... look at the stupid title of this post.

Janis: What about it?

Self: You didn't even say what kind of salads. How can anyone know if they are interested or not if you don't say up front what the recipe is.

Janis: You mean I make them read this shit to find out what the recipe is and that isn't very "honest".

Self: Yeah, kinda like that.

Janis: Shut up.



This salad was so so so good. It really made me want to stick my face in the bowl. Dr. Food made the "I will eat this but I don't like it" face. What does he know. He is from Texas. Vegetables are optional to Texans. Being a California gal, I could eat these salads with no meat and have no problem with that. To me the meat is optional. We compromise. We only have a goat, pig, and lamb in our freezer. Not much left of any of it.



See? Meat. I made lamburgers. I even made the pita bread for them to go into.



Dr. Food liked these. I didn't. HEY! We are kinda like Jack Spratt... Oh, wait. No we aren't.



Beets! A rice salad with beets. Thing is that it is brown rice. The recipe said that it was a pretty color when done. I disagree.



I thought it was ugly but tasted really good. Dr. Food made THAT face again. Tell tell sign was that it was almost all left on his plate that he pushed away and said "Thanks for dinner, that was good." Liar. You hated it.

Don't let that sway you. If you are not a Texan and you love vegetables, or if you are a Texan that does like vegetables. Give these recipes a try. This Californian loved them both.

Fava Bean & Corn Salad with Fresh Mint
Adapted from Williams-Sonoma Eat Well, by Charity Ferreira (Oxmoor House, 2008).


Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
2 cups fresh or frozen corn kernels (I used fresh corn)
1 1/2 cups shelled fresh fava beans (about 1 1/2 lb.)
2 Tbs. extra-virgin olive oil
1 1/2 Tbs. cider vinegar
8 radishes, trimmed and thinly sliced
2 Tbs. coarsely chopped fresh mint leaves



Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the corn and cook for 1 minute. Remove with a strainer and set aside.

Add the fava beans to the pot and cook until just tender, 3 to 5 minutes. Drain and rinse under cold running water. Slip the fava beans from their skins.

In a bowl, whisk together the olive oil and vinegar. Stir in the corn, fava beans, radishes, mint, 1/2 tsp salt and a few grindings of pepper. Serve immediately, or cover and refrigerate for up to 4 hours. Serves 4.


Beet and Brown Rice Salad with Goat Cheese
Whole Living

1 cup brown basmati, or other brown rice
1 bay leaf
Coarse salt
1/4 cup pine nuts
2 teaspoons olive oil
2 small onions, finely chopped
1 tablespoon minced garlic
4 medium red beets (about 1 pound), without greens, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch cubes
Freshly ground pepper
2 teaspoons freshly grated lemon zest
1/4 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley, plus more for garnish
2 ounces (about 3/4 cup) soft goat cheese, crumbled


Bring 1 1/2 cups water to a boil in a small saucepan. Stir in rice, bay leaf, and 1/2 teaspoon salt; cover. Reduce heat to low; simmer 30 minutes. Remove from heat; let stand, covered.

Meanwhile, toast pine nuts in oil in a 10-inch skillet over medium heat. Cook, stirring, until nuts are just browned, about 5 minutes. Transfer nuts with a slotted spoon to a small bowl.

Reduce heat to medium-low; add onions and garlic to skillet. Cook, stirring occasionally, until onions are translucent, about 8 minutes. Add beets and 1 teaspoon salt; season with pepper. Cover; cook, stirring occasionally, until beets are tender, about 25 minutes (if beets stick to skillet, add up to 1/4 cup water).

Remove bay leaf from rice. Stir rice, half of pine nuts, the lemon zest, and parsley into beet mixture. Transfer to a platter. Top with remaining pine nuts and the goat cheese. Garnish with parsley. Serve warm or at room temperature.

California, Smoked Chicken, and a Blue Fish Rillette

Dr. Food and I went to California for my birthday! It was awesome getting to see Annie, Tim and my Parker. We had plans and there was no stopping us.... well, or so I thought.



It started off on Friday by us heading over to Shoreline to visit Tim and for Dr. Food to hangout and see Lady Antebellum. No, I DID not marry him for his taste in music. We ate dinner there and people watched. Then Annie, Parker and I went home. Dr. Food stayed and Tim worked.



Next day was the A's game in a Suite. It was really amazing. Here are the three amigos enjoying the popcorn and the game.



God, I love this kid.



I can not tell you how much food we had in this suite. It really was amazing (ok, I know I said that already).



Mr. Parker was chowing down.

And there folks was the end. I woke up the next morning with the worse sore throat and earache I have ever had. I was down for the count. This meant that I dragged everyone down with me.



Parker watched Nemo with me though.

Next day Dr Food was down. He was barfing. What? TMI? Sorry. All plans were scratched. My birthday dinner was chinese food and a cake. Tim and Annie saved the day and made me smile.

Thank you Annie, Tim and Parker for making a bad situation still fun. I love you.



So, on the way home landing with and ear infection is fun. Nevermind I had taken a Xanax because I am a badass on the ground but a big ole baby on a plane. It hurt. But we got home and the weather was amazing. Um, that is a picture of my neighbors yard because I was standing on my back porch. Pretty huh?



Someone was happy to see us. So, I had no voice and felt like crap. We hung out at home this weekend and Dr. Food smoked some chicken thighs.



I have a dilemma here. You see, the recipe for the chicken is in a cookbook and online. It is by some BBQ dude. Problem is that BBQ dude doesn't give the recipe for the rub or sauce in the cookbook or online. He tells you that you have to buy the recipe separate from the book. WHAT? Never heard of such nonsense.



So, I snooped around and on some really weird forum I found a recipe for the BBQ rub and sauce. It was hidden in a discussion about a foot fetish. I am not kidding. So, I will take a picture of the thread. That means I am sharing a picture. Is it the real rub and sauce recipe? I don't know but it doesn't matter because it WAS that good.



I can't imagine a cookbook where many recipes call for something that you have to pay for the recipe for that component. Tacky.

Hmmmm. Then again I don't understand alot of stuff.



While he was at it Dr. Food smoked some Blue Fish that had been marinaded and dried.



This morning I made it into Smoked Blue Fish Rillette.



The recipe called for Scotch and for the life of me I can't remember why I put this "Good Scotch" in another bottle and labeled it "Good Scotch".



While I am sharing, did I ever show you the Moonshine that I carried back from Texas about 15 years ago? Yup, I still have it. It has mellowed with age. I got it from "friends".

Ok, carry on....