Vinegar, Vinegar, Vinegar!

I am a huge fan of vinegars of all sorts. I have a decent collection of vinegars ranging from Barrel-Aged Balsamic, to Rice Wine Vinegar, to your plain old Apple Cider among others. Last night, I decided to make a balsamic marinated grilled pork chop with sauteed cole slaw. Both had…you guessed it, vinegar. This is a super easy dinner to make, just allow 30 minutes for the pork chops to marinate in the balsamic mixture.

For the pork chops, the marinade goes something (I never measure) like this:

In a plastic freezer bag, add your pork chops then add

1/2 cup of balsamic vinegar

3 tablespoons of olive oil

1 table spoon of seedy mustard

1 table spoon of pureed garlic

1 teaspoon salt

Let this sit for 30 minutes and make sure to flip it over 15 minutes in so that both sides get all the goodness.

The cole slaw was simple. Most supermarkets have ready bags of cole slaw handy. I bought a bag of chopped cabbage and a bag of broccoli slaw because they didn’t have the conventional cole slaw bags handy…and I love broccoli slaw.

I added the slaws in a pan and drizzled olive oil.

Let it cook down, until it is soft…about 3 minutes.

Then add about 3 tablespoons of Apple Cider Vinegar.

A dash of salt and pepper to taste.

For something extra, I baked some small tomatoes with olive oil and kosher salt at 350 degrees while the other things were cooking. This way we felt full from the meal without having to eat carbs.

The pork chops and the slaw took approximately 6 minutes (although I cooked my chops on my Foreman Grill, so cooking times may vary).

More salads, etc.

So since having my son in November, I’ve been trying  to exercise and lose the baby weight. There’s nothing  more horrific than stepping on a scale and seeing a  number you’ve never seen before. It makes me do  this==> D:

I’ve researched some options, and I’ve decided to go on a low calorie diet with small snacks during the day with exercise. It’s hard for me, because I’m not used to eating small snacks…I am strictly a 3 meal a day kinda person. I’ve decided to make a meal plan as well, with salads, fish, chicken and whole wheat options. I have to say, after eating hamburgers and ice cream for 9 months, it’s hard to get into a healthy state of mind, especially when you have a massive sweet tooth like me.

Anyways, here are a few salads I made today for lunch: one for me and the other for my husband (who wants to lose some weight as well). I promise to make something else other than salad! I have a few new recipes I’ll be trying out in the next week!

Nicoise Sunday Salad

Since the year started, we resolved to save money by staying in. The epiphany stunned me when I sat there and thought about how much money I was wasting on mediocre restaurant food. At work, I was spending $10-15 on lunch 5 days a week. On the weekends, we’d go out and spend another $25 on lunch both days. Don’t get me started on dinner. It all adds up, and in this current economic climate, every penny counts.

We started off the year making boring turkey sandwiches, which is so depressing that it makes you almost want to drop it and go to the nearest burger joint for a nice, hot, juicy burger. Yesterday, I decided to rummage around my fridge and see what I could muster up that would be more exciting than a piece of cold sliced turkey and a slice of havarti cheese.

Lo and behold, I made my version of a “whatever you have handy in the fridge” nicoise salad.

The only thing I didn’t have handy, were potatoes, but it’s all good…maybe next time. I added some micro greens atop a bed of romaine lettuce, shredded carrots, marinated beans, warm green beans and tuna (canned in olive oil) and some capers. To top it off, I drizzled some  Girard’s champagne dressing (60 cals).

The salad took a few minutes to make and it was so much better than a boring sandwich. Maybe eating in isn’t so bad after all…

Soup: Matzoh Ball

One of the best things I discovered living in NYC was Matzoh Ball Soup. My favorite Matzoh Ball soup was at this diner on the Upper West Side named “Big Nicks.” Just thinking about that place makes me want to shed a tear…it had a 24 page menu! Almost like a storyline straight out of a Seinfeld episode, I seriously considered moving to their delivery area (they were open 24 hours a day) just so I could order from them whenever I wanted.

Now that I’m on the West Coast, I haven’t found a place that rivals Big Nicks or that even serves Matzoh Ball soup. I’m sure there’s a restaurant out there, I just haven’t found it yet. (Restaurant suggestions are always appreciated!)

Since it’s been a bit cold out here, I decided that it was the right time to make a huge pot of Matzoh Ball soup.

Since it’s a workday, I cheated and bought pre-made matzoh balls (they come in a glass jar). If you have the time, make them fresh!

Prep:

1 qt. of chicken stock
2 cups of water
4 boneless chicken thighs
1/2 a white onion
2 stalks of celery
3 carrots
Dash of Garlic Powder

I boiled the chicken in the chicken stock for about 20 minutes. During that time, I added the onions and celery. I also added a dash of garlic powder, salt and ground pepper to taste. I added the carrots towards the end of the cooktime because I prefer my carrots cooked, but still a little crunchy. After adding the carrots, I also added the pre-made matzoh balls and let cook for another 10 minutes.

Garnish with chopped dill and serve!

Re-creating restaurant dishes

When I lived in Downtown LA, there was only one good side to that and it was the close proximity to Little Tokyo and all of it’s excellent sushi restaurants and Asian markets. Our favorite sushi restaurant in LA is and forever will be Komasa. Back when I lived in NYC it was most definitely Tomoe and when I’m back home in Miami? Eh….I haven’t really found one as good as in LA and NYC. If you’re a Miamian and know of a solid place, let me know!

One Sunday afternoon while lolly gagging about town, I decided to make my own Japanese feast inspired by Komasa. I am a huge fan of their miso soup and green salad. You might think to yourself at this point, “How hard is it to make a miso soup and green salad?” Well, it’s not…and I’ve never been one to make challenging dishes, but Komasa’s miso soup and green salad are special….wait….~*special*~

I also decided to sear some tuna, buy some spicy as hell wasabi peas to snack on and make some rice vinegar sushi rice in addition to the soup and salad.

The soup was easier than putting together a 10 piece puzzle while blitzed out of your mind. I basically bought miso soup packets from the Asian market and added scallions and “Buna Shimeji” mushrooms.

The salad was equally as easy. I added lettuce, broccoli (which wasn’t in the original Komasa salad), sprouts, Japanese pickled carrots and topped it off with tobiko (I love the stuff!). The dressing was not Ginger like most Japanese restaurants usually top off their salads with, but instead I used a Japanese dressing that looks like Ponzu. It contains: sesame seeds, soy sauce, vinegar, sake, lemon juice, yuzu (citrus), wine, konbu seasoning and spice.

The seared tuna was quickly cooked in a hot pan with a little bit of toasted sesame oil. I added some salt and pepper to taste. The tuna was topped with tobiko (again), toasted sesame seeds and scallions. There was some ponzu sauce on the side for dipping.

All in all, it was an extremely enjoyable meal with minimal effort involved in the preparation. We had some hot sake to accompany the meal which was the perfect thing for it. I would do this again, especially when I have some guests over. Maybe next time, though, I’ll actually roll some sushi…