Packing for a picnic — Quinoa & Veggie Salad

Perfect for a picnic:  jars of Quinoa & Veggie Salad, Muffuletta Sandwich, Tomato Pesto Hummus with pita chips, fresh fruit and Spice Island Ginger Cookies.  Here's the recipe for the salad:

Quinoa & Veggie Salad
2 to 3 cups of veggies (I used sugar snap peas cut in half, thinly sliced radishes, halved little yellow tomatoes, jarred red peppers cut in pieces, a couple of mini cucumbers sliced thin, chopped parsley)
1 cup cooked quinoa (I used red quinoa)
1 batch (more or less) Dijon Vinaigrette

1. Add veggies of your choice to a bowl.
   
2. Add cooked quinoa.
3. Drizzle salad with Dijon Vinaigrette and toss.
   
4. For picnic fare, divide salad among small Mason jars. Refrigerate until ready to use.
   

Recipe without photos . . .
Quinoa & Veggie Salad
2 to 3 cups of veggies (I used sugar snap peas cut in half, thinly sliced radishes, halved little yellow tomatoes, jarred red peppers cut in pieces, a couple of mini cucumbers sliced thin, chopped parsley)
1 cup cooked quinoa (I used red quinoa)
1 batch (more or less) Dijon Vinaigrette

1. Add veggies of your choice to a bowl.
2. Add cooked quinoa.
3. Drizzle salad with Dijon Vinaigrette and toss.
4. For picnic fare, divide salad among small Mason jars. Refrigerate until ready to use.

Super Simple Spring Salad

Here's a super simple Spring salad -- cool & refreshing!

Super Simple Spring Salad

Amounts can be adjusted as needed.

About 1 cup grape or cherry tomatoes, preferably a mix of red & yellow -- cut in half

About 1/2 cup sugar snap peas -- stems & strings removed & cut in half or thirds depending on size

2 to 3 spring (green) onions -- sliced, use both white & green

Kosher salt & black pepper to taste

A splash of rice wine vinegar (it's slightly sweet taste imparts a great flavor in this salad)

Extra virgin olive oil -- enough to drizzle over the top

Mix all ingredients and toss.

Bone Up on Your Veggies

     Play With Your Food was just one of our presentations for outdoor cooking demos at St. John's Jubilee (St. John, Ks.). In keeping with their theme, Celebrate Life, we prepared healthy (and quick) dishes, and had some fun with local children who had a chance to bone up on their veggies. Barry and I cut and peeled; the kids assembled using a diagram (I found posted on Facebook + received via email as well) as a guide.  

     

     Note: I provided exacting details based on the original diagram (directly below) but the kids changed it a bit, and of course it can be adapted to use the veggies that are on hand.

     Dillons of St. John donated all of the food for our demos, and they had also played around with their own version of the skeleton using a cucumber slice for the head (instead of a bowl of dip) and pepper pieces for eyes.

Bone Up on Your Veggies

INGREDIENTS:

Dip:

Ranch Dressing

Vegetables:

2 Black Olive slices

1 leaf of Curly Lettuce

2 ribs of Celery – cut into 4 pieces (2 for arms, 2 for legs)
2 Sugar Snap Peas (for leg bones or just use 2 sections of celery to create the second leg bone)

6 Baby Carrots (4 for lower arms, 2 for lower legs)

1 Red Pepper, remove top and seeds, cut across the top creating 7 rounds & then cut 6 of the rounds in half for the ribs; cut remaining part of remaining section into 2 smaller 

pieces for part of lower leg bone)

1 small Cucumber, cut into about 9 slices that will be overlapped for spine

3 to 4 Button Mushrooms, thinly sliced for hip bones

4 small Cauliflower Florets (2 for hands, 2 for knees)

2 Grape Tomatoes for feet

2 small Broccoli Florets for toes

    

DIRECTIONS:

1.  Dip — Pour Ranch dressing in a round bowl; add 2 black olives (sliced or leave whole) arranged as eyes on dip + add a leaf or 2 of lettuce for the hair.

2.  Veggies — Wash and prepare veggies as specified above. Arrange veggies and bowl of dip as shown in picture.

Barry on stage at St. John's Jubilee.

Meta on stage at St. John's Jubilee.

St. John kids on stage helping with Play With Your Food demos.

Woks For Dinner? Chicken Stir-Fry

    We had a bin full of fresh veggies and we always keep chicken tenders on hand (in the freezer) so Stir-Fry Chicken seemed to be the perfect answer to “What’s for dinner tonight?”

    As I was contemplating stir-fry, I immediately thought of this recipe. Years ago Barry and I were on a social committee with Mel Shurson and his wife Dottie. The meeting was early evening (before dinner) and as we were leaving, Mel asked us to come over for an impromptu dinner. Of course we said “yes”. He opened a bottle of wine, distributed knives, pulled out a wok and we all chopped and cooked, creating an extremely tasty and memorable dish.

     I was so impressed with his skills and knowledge that I asked him to come and demonstrate for one of my high school foods classes! He did . . . and based on his verbal instructions, I recorded it all on paper. Of course, the students got involved with the chopping and stir-frying and it was a smashing success. Mel continued to make yearly, sometime bi-yearly, visits to my classes and the students continued to enjoy his presentation as they learned new skills.

    So, whenever I stir up this dish, I’m stirring up lots of memories, too!

A couple of notes before you start stir-frying:

·      A wok is not essential but a pan with sloping sides makes it easy to move around the veggies as they cook. However, make sure the cooking container is large to accommodate all the ingredients.

·      Advance preparation is essential! The actual cooking goes fast BUT the prep work takes awhile . . . and once the wok is hot, there’s no time to stop and chop. I prefer to chop or slice all the veggies and even the meat in advance. Also the thickening sauce needs to be made before you heat the wok for frying.

·      And, in the spirit of Mel – have fun, be creative and enjoy the end product!

o   Substitute other meats or leave them out.

o   Add any veggies of your choice.

Stir-Fry Chicken  Serves 2 to 3

2 tablespoons oil (peanut oil is ideal because it has a high smoking point; 

but olive or canola also work)

Ingredients assembled & prepped.

1 to 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into thin chunks, preferably on the diagonal; marinate in soy sauce if time allow (if partially frozen, chicken breasts are easier to slice on a diagonal)

2 small cloves of garlic, peeled & minced

Vegetables of your choice – see step 2 below; prep veggies in advance so they are ready to add to hot wok. (Mel always told my students to have veggies cut into similar sized shapes so they’d cook evenly.)

Ingredients for thickening sauce: 2 Tbsp. cornstarch ½ tsp. granulated sugar, 4 Tbsp. soy sauce, 1 tsp. chicken concentration or a bouillon cube (optional), 1 cup cold water – mix cornstarch with sugar and then add remaining ingredients and have ready for step 4.

1.     Heat 2 tablespoons oil in wok over medium high heat until hot (almost smoking). Add meat and garlic. Stir fry, stirring almost constantly, until meat loses its color (this takes only minutes; about 4). Remove from pan and set aside.

2.     Add vegetables (of your choice) in order of needed cooking time; cook and stir (almost constantly) until just tender-crisp.                                       

a.     Add 1^st : green or red peppers – cut into strips / carrots – cut into thin slices or julieened / onions – cut into thin slices / broccoli florets / cauliflower florets. Note – when cooked properly, peppers & onions will look “blistered”; other veggies will become bright in color.

b.     2^nd addition – add about halfway through cooking: celery – cut thin on a diagonial.

c.     Add tender veggies the end: zucchini – cut into thin slices, mushrooms – sliced; sugar snap peas, bean sprouts.

3.     Add chicken back to vegetables once they are tender-crisp

4.     Add the thickening sauce (see ingredient list above) to the chicken and veggies; let mixture boil and thicken, stirring and watching closely. Lid may be placed on wok to steam the food; watch carefully and don’t overcook. Add more water if sauce becomes too thick.

5.     Serve over hot rice or Chinese noodles.