Vegetables and Fruit – Page 25 – My Life Runs on Food

Quick Chicken Dill Salad Served with Mustard Vinaigrette Green Beans

April 15, 2010January 3, 2022Sanura

Six months since starting this food blog, writing about food has become an unexpected newfound passion. The topics in my mind about food are as diverse as the spices on earth. Let’s talk from morning to night about ingredients, the environment, health, food, nutrition and recipes… on another day. This week there is little time for an all day conversation about these ravenous topics. As this post is being written, a silent prayer is being chanted: “Please, God, let this food post about the Chicken Dill Salad be short and savory. Taxes need to be filed, a design proposal, dinner for tonight that I have no idea…”

Viola, prayer granted! As this is a quickly written post, so is the recipe.

Frittata with Baby Spinach, Sweet Potatoes, Young Fontina Cheese, Red Onions and Fresh Rosemary

April 11, 2010January 3, 2022Sanura

Does this recipe look crazy or tastefully coordinated? It was a well thought out experiment, because green compliments orange. The difficult decision was determining which big cheese to add to the frittata. Ricotta was too salty for the dish. Comte would have competed with the other flavors. Fresh mozzarella is a mild cheese with an overvalue taste (For example, a macaroni and cheese recipe with more than four cheeses, including mozzarella, is showing off gooey numbers. The strategy is the masterful coordination of three to four chesses to create a creamy, sharp taste). A short trip to a store’s cheese department helped finalized the decision. The sales clerk offered a few suggestions of cheeses that would’ve naturally dominated the dish. Concerned about choosing too strong of a cheese, mozzarella was about to be the winning choice, again. That’s when it was suggested to try a young fontina cheese, instead. It’s another mild cheese, with a little more flavor. A winning cooking strategy demonstrating a brilliant coordination skill, young fontina paired well with the spinach and the sweet potatoes.

Serving Roasted Asparagus and Lemon Chicken Pasta at a Vegetarian Potluck

March 31, 2010January 3, 2022Sanura

Learned about a last minute invitation to a potluck on the same day as the event. Luckily, it was in the morning, but the week’s menu was already planned. Our dinner became a gift to the host. When we arrived, it was discovered it was a vegetarian affair. Needless to say, this dish had all the sinful pleasures: cream, chicken and cheese. The roasted asparagus and the fresh herbs were the only honest ingredients. It was also the first empty bowl amid the other righteous dishes.

Fennel, Granny Smith Apple and Sharp Cheddar Cheese. 20 minutes. Go!

March 30, 2010January 3, 2022Sanura

Apple Fennel Salad with Grilled Cheddar Cheese and Apple on Raisin Cinnamon Bread Sandwich

The chefs on the FoodNetwork’s show, Chopped, do wonders at the strange ingredients presented to them. One show used canned jackfruit. Another show had the chefs make an appetizer with live eel, peas and ugly peaches. On the show, they’re three rounds: an appetizer, a main course and the dessert. After each round, a judgment is made. The contestant’s dish that’s on the “chopping block” after the silver dome is lifted, is eliminated from the competition. The winner takes home a $10,000 prize. These chefs are brave to display their knowledge and skills in front of the camera. There are no factors that would give one chef a competitive edge. It’s creativity that wins the game. Read more →

Stir Fry Bok Choy, Shrimp and Peanuts over Coconut Rice

March 26, 2010January 3, 2022Sanura

Shrimp, Bok Choy and Peanuts over Coconut Rice

Morning Glory, also known as Water Spinach or Swamp Cabbage, is a beautiful green that also blooms bright flowers. Don’t become too excited and start picking leaves from vines, unless horticulture is a profession. Besides, the plant of familiarity that wraps around building and fences is of another family, and it’s poisonous to eat. The Morning Glory for this recipe is different, for it’s a semi-aquatic plant, in which it is also known as a leaf vegetable–such as kale, cabbage, and collards. It easily grows around waterways and in tropical regions, thus it’s known primarily as a Southeast Asian ingredient, especially in Thai dishes. Read more →