When He Fends for Himself - Breakfast for Dinner Two Ways

Welcome to another telling of the husband fending for himself. A couple of weeks ago I came home knowing I was on my own for dinner. I knew there was some left over steak and asparagus in the fridge from the night before. All I had to do was heat it up and eat it. It would be a very good dinner and I would be very satisfied, but there wouldn't have been much to write about.

So as I was opening the fridge and reaching for the steak, I saw something orange out of the corner of my eye. I thought for a second it could be cantaloupe, but I didn't think we had any. Instead, it was something more exciting, more delicious, and more noteworthy. It was lox, and there was enough for one more serving.

I immediately called the wife and made sure she didn't have plans for the fish. It was mid-week and I knew it wouldn't keep until the weekend for our Saturday morning breakfast. Also, I knew I could save the steak and asparagus for the next day's lunch. So I made an executive decision and decided to make my dinner around the night's secret ingredient: smoked salmon.
I took a sesame bagel out of the the freezer, thawed in the microwave for 10 seconds, and then threw it in the oven at 350 degrees for 10 minutes. Once the bagel was warm and crisp, I took it out of the oven and applied the cream cheese as soon as possible so that it could melt a little.
Then I put on the lox to complete dish.

It being dinner time, however, I knew a simple bagel with lox would not satisfy me. So, to stay with the breakfast for dinner theme, I filled a bowl with Barbara's shredded spoonfuls cereal, put in a splash of milk, and had breakfast two ways!

It turned into a great meal that I was very proud of. For me, lox is always a treat, but to have it mid-week, completely out of the blue, was something special. It would have made it more special if the wife was around too, but that wasn't the case. Instead, I made due with what I had to work with and produced a satisfying dinner!

A Trio of Mediterranean Inspired Dips

We were invited over to someone's house and asked to bring an appetizer along. Our host told us that the menu included shrimp and swordfish kabobs, couscous, and salad with feta. I wanted to make something to go along with the Mediterranean/Greek theme, so I looked online at the menus of my favorite Greek restaurants. A lot of the appetizers needed to be served right from the oven or seemed to heavy. Keeping in mind that our dinner hosts don't eat garlic, onions, or spicy foods - I decided to do a search of my cookbook collection and find something I could customize. After searching for a little while, I decided to whip a few dips to eat with pita chips.

These were quick and easy to pull together - perfect to make ahead and keep in the fridge until party time. Here's the line up:

Dip #1 - Roasted Red Pepper and Walnut Dip
Dip #2 - Olive Tapenade with Sundried Tomatoes
Dip #3 - Low-fat Tzatziki (cucumber/yogurt dip)

All the dips can be served with pita chips, veggies, toasted baguettes, or crackers.

*Recipe note - I omitted garlic from all of the recipes.

Dip #1 - Red Pepper and Walnut Dip (adapted from Cooking Light)

3/4 cup walnuts, toasted (I forgot to toast them and it was still good)
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup plain low-fat yogurt
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoons ground red pepper
1 12-ounce bottle of roasted red peppers, drained (I used a 7 oz. jar)

Place all ingredients into the food processor and pulse until smooth
Put into serving bowl, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until ready to serve


Dip #2 - Olive Tapenade with Sundried Tomatoes

This is a great idea when you have a lot of assorted leftovers in the fridge. It can be customized depending on your taste. Here's my version:

About 1 cup of assorted pitted olives (I got a few scoops from the olive/antipasto bar at the grocery store)
2 sundried tomatoes (from a jar of sundried tomatoes packed in oil)
Few sprigs of fresh parsley
Zest from half a lemon

Same instructions as dip #1:
Place all ingredients into the food processor and pulse until smooth
Put into serving bowl, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until ready to serve


Dip #3 - Low-fat Tzatziki (cucumber/yogurt dip) (adapted from Cooking Light)

1 32-ounce carton plain low-fat yogurt
1.5 cups shredded English cucumber (about 3/4 of a large cucumber)
3/4 teaspoon salt - divided into 1/2 teaspoon and 1/4 teaspoon
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

This recipe has two steps. To prepare the yogurt, you need 12+ hours. The rest of the recipe takes about 20 minutes the next day (or later)

Place a colander into a large bowl
Line the colander with cheesecloth if you have it. I used basket coffee filters to lining the interior of the colander
Spoon the yogurt onto the filters
Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 12+ hours
After 12 hours, remove from the fridge and spoon the yogurt into a bowl and discard the excess liquid
Cover and refrigerate while you prepare the other ingredients

Shred the cucumber using a grater or mandoline with grater blade
Place it into a colander and sprinkle with 1/2 teaspoon of salt
Toss well to combine and let it sit for about 15-20 minutes
After 15 minutes, pour the cucumber onto a large paper towel
Squeeze until almost all water is gone (you may need to transfer to a dry paper towel a few times and repeat)

Combine the yogurt, cucumber, 1/4 teaspoon of salt, chopped parsley, lemon juice and pepper in a serving bowl and mix well
Drizzle the olive on top just before serving

I'll post pictures from the party when we return!

Backyard BBQ Part 3 - Two Tasty Salads

Sometimes potato salad and coleslaw seem a little boring. To make our backyard BBQ a little more unique (and healthy), I substituted two tasty salads on the side. Both these salads are vegetarian and have vinaigrette dressing - so no need to worry about leaving them out for a few hours (no meat or mayo).

The first is a version of the sun dried tomato couscous salad that I've posted previously. You'll notice that this time I left out the salami to give the non-meat eaters another option. Other substitutions included basil (not parsley), baby arugula, and chopped kalamata olives.

I found the recipe for the second salad in a Cook's Country magazine at the book store. This magazine is published by the same people from America's Test Kitchen, so you know the recipe has to be good! This recipe for Tangy Apple-Cabbage Slaw sounded so light and different that I went home to find it online. I had to register for a free trial of the website to get it, but it was well worth it! Here it is:

Tangy Apple Cabbage Slaw
1 medium head green cabbage, cored and chopped into thin strips
2 teaspoons salt
3 granny smith apples (they called for 2), cored and cut into thin matchsticks (don't peel the apples)
2 scallions, thinly sliced
6 tablespoons vegetable oil
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
1/2 cup sugar
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes (I just used one shake from the jar)

Start this first step about an hour before you want to make the salad:
Toss the chopped cabbage and salt in a colander set over a bowl. I put a plate on top to weight it down
Let it stand for about an hour, until wilted
Rinse the cabbage well under cold water
Drain, dry with paper towels, and transfer it to a large bowl

About 15 minutes before the cabbage ready to be drained, start to prepare the rest of the salad
Put the oil, vinegar, sugar, mustard and pepper flakes into a saucepan over medium heat
Bring to a boil, stir well, remove from the heat and set aside

Core and cut apples into thin 1/4 inch matchsticks
Slice the scallions

After the cabbage is rinsed and put in a large bowl, add the apples and scallions and toss to combine
Pour the dressing over the cabbage mixture and toss to coat
Cover with plastic wrap and put in the fridge for at least an hour before serving (you can refrigerate it up to 1 day)