t o m a t o e s & t e q u i l a

Last weekend in Colorado we had the most gorgeous weather. It was about 80 degrees (which here feels really hot due to what I call the "laser-beam" sun) all weekend. We gardened, grilled and ate dinner al fresco for the first time all year. I was one happy camper.

In the summer spirit, I made Asian marinated grilled chicken and this fresh, crisp sugar snap pea salad on the side. This salad is ridiculously easy to make, fast, nutritious and delicious. It was the perfect summer salad to enjoy before the snow came back - ick. (My sister-in-law calls the spring weather in Colorado bi-polar and that is a very good word for it.)

I omitted the mushrooms since I am not a huge fan of mushrooms. You could easily add other veggies or skip some of those listed in the recipe.

SUGAR SNAP PEA SALAD WITH SWEET GINGER-SOY DRESSING RECIPE
(Cooking Light)

Dressing:
2 tsp. dark sesame oil
1 tbl. minced peeled fresh ginger
1 tbl. minced fresh garlic
1/4 tsp. crushed red pepper
1 tbl. oyster sauce
1 tbl. low-sodium soy sauce
1 tbl. sugar
1/8 tsp. salt


Salad:
1 lb. sugar snap peas, trimmed
1/2 c. julienne-cut carrot
1/2 c. drained, canned sliced water chestnuts
1/2 c. sliced mushrooms
1/2 c. julienne-cut red bell pepper
2 tsp. sesame seeds, toasted

To prepare dressing, heat oil in a small saucepan over medium heat. Add ginger; sauté 2 minutes. Add garlic and crushed red pepper; cook 1 minute. Stir in oyster sauce, soy sauce, sugar, and salt; bring to a simmer. Remove from heat; cool.

To prepare salad, cook peas in boiling water 30 seconds. Drain and rinse with cold water. Combine peas and remaining ingredients except sesame seeds. Drizzle dressing over salad; toss well. Sprinkle with sesame seeds.

Do you ever spend an exorbitantly large amount of time reading nutrition labels? Wonder what Xantham Gum or Acesulfame potassium are? And doesn't it seem particularly upsetting to read these alien sounding words on the nutrition label of your bread? I mean, bread, the staff of life enriched with....Potassium bisulfite....yeah......that sounds yummy.

I am by no means perfect about eating healthy, vitamin rich, organic food. I have been known to eat an In n' Out french fry or two in my day. But there is just something that I find so unsettling about something as simple as bread having things in it that I cannot pronounce. Bread is simple and perfect the way it is - it should not be corrupted.

So after spending far too long in the bread aisle at the grocery store reading labels, I decided it was high time I made my own bread. And as I have stated previously, I am not a huge fan of the rise, knead, punch tactics often used. Luckily, I found a lovely recipe from "Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day," that follows my Easiest French Bread recipe almost exactly, with some modifications for the shift from white to whole wheat flour. This recipe is just as easy as the French Bread one and the result is lovely, nutty, warm homemade sandwich bread that I know exactly what went into it.

This recipe is for 2 loaves, though it is easily doubled, tripled, whatever you need. The dough can be kept up to 14 days in a lightly sealed container (plastic wrap), so, just like my French Bread recipe, you can pull chunks off as necessary for always fresh bread. This same recipe could be used to make whole wheat baguette.

HOMEMADE WHEAT SANDWICH BREAD RECIPE
(adapted from Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day)

5 1/2 c. whole wheat flour
2 c. all purpose flour
1 1/2 tbl. yeast
1 tbl. salt
1/4 c. vital wheat gluten (found at Whole Foods, used to add more gluten back into the bread which is lost because of using whole wheat flour, which has less gluten then white flour)
4 c. lukewarm water

Combine all the dry ingredients in a large bowl, stir with a whisk.

Dump water all at once into dry ingredients. Mix until just combined with your hands or spatula.

Cover with a kitchen towel and allow to rise 2 hours, until doubled in size.

From here, either refrigerate for up to 14 days covered with plastic wrap or prepare a loaf pan with cooking spray. Dust the counter with flour. Place about 1lb (or 1/2 of the recipe above) on the flour and turn to coat. Place the dough into the loaf pan. Allow the loaf to rest for 60 minutes (1 hour 45 minutes if using refrigerated dough) in the loaf pan.

Pre-heat the oven to 450F degrees. Just before baking, brush the top with water and use a serrated bread knife to score the bread with diagonal lines. When the oven has come up to heat, place 1c. water in a pan and put in the oven. Then put the bread in the oven on the other rack. Bake for 40 - 45 minutes (I only did 30 minutes and found that left me with very moist bread). The top should be brown and firm.

Remove from oven and remove from loaf pan. Allow to cool completely on a rack. If the bread does not pop out of the pan easily, let it rest for about 10 minutes so it has time to pull away from the pan.

There cannot be enough said about quiche. It's great cold or warm, for breakfast, lunch or dinner. It's elegant and casual at the same time. It can be modified to individual portions for appetizers.

This particular quiche embraces all the fresh lovely onions of spring. The onions are sauteed for a while so their flavor mellows out and becomes sweet.

I altered this recipe a bit by using non-fat half and half and low fat cheese - so really, it's not too bad for you. No really, I swear..about 300 calories per serving.

THREE ONION QUICHE
(adapted from Sunset Magazine)

1 sheet refrigerated pie dough for 9 inch pie pan
1 tbl. butter
3 medium leeks, white and light green parts chopped thinly
2 bunches of green onions, chopped into large pieces
1/2 red onion, diced
1 c. half and half (I used fat-free)
1 tbl. flour
1 tsp. salt, divided
3 large eggs
2 c. sharp, white cheddar cheese (I used low fat, pre-shredded)

Preheat oven to 425°. Unroll pie dough into a 9-in. pie pan. Crimp edge. Line dough with parchment paper, fill with pie weights or dried beans, and bake until light golden, about 15 minutes. Remove paper and weights.

Melt butter in a large frying pan over medium heat. Add leeks, green and red onions, and 1/2 tsp. salt. Sauté until very tender but not browned, about 20 minutes.

Whisk half-and-half gradually into flour in a medium bowl until smooth. Whisk in remaining 1/2 tsp. salt and eggs until blended. Stir in cheese and three-quarters of onion mixture and pour into pie shell. Sprinkle remaining onions over quiche.

Bake until a knife inserted in center comes out clean, 20 to 30 minutes; cover edges with foil if they begin to darken. Let sit 10 minutes, then cut into wedges.