Cucumber Mint Pomegranate Lime Yogurt Bowl

Oh, my. I haven't made any new posts to this blog in a whole decade. Wow. So much has happened, right? For me, food-wise, most significantly, I've been playing with eating a vegetarian and/or vegan diet as much as is practical for my life situation for a few years now, so that will influence my food and recipe choices here. No one would accuse me of being a purist, but I've gone from having meat 16 meals a week to about 5 (to compromise with my wife's preferences and needs in a two-person household, mostly, but also because old habits and cravings die hard, especially when I keep indulging them now and again). Anyway, now that we're caught up a little, on to today's food bits.

There's some backstory to this recipe, which you can feel free to skip. I've been making myself a particular mixture of yogurt, fruit, and seeds for breakfast once or twice a week since November 2022. Plain Greek yogurt, banana, blackberries or raspberries, maybe a mandarin orange or clementine or diced dried apricot, pomegranate seeds, pumpkin or sunflower seeds, topped with honey and/or petimezi. (Petimezi is a Greek form of grape molasses.) Why this particular mixture? Well, it tastes amazing, but really because I had been on a yoga retreat near Axos, Crete, and this is what was on the breakfast buffet every morning, during high pomegranate season. The retreat was a wonderful and sometimes profound experience, the setting was gorgeous, the connection to the surrounding nature and culture deep, the weather was incredible, the company warm, and the food absolutely out of this world. A peak life experience, a lit bit of which I could revisit (approximately) and literally take inside me through the sensual and nourishing medium of food, whenever I wanted to. Approximately, right? It's easy to get pomegranates all year round where I live, but it's not like I just pulled them off the tree outside my window. I have to order the petimezi online and it's not the same -- a little too thin. I can't yet find the sour cherry preserves they had in Crete in the US. I even went to a Greek grocery in Astoria, Queens, that took me an hour to get to by subway and found some actual Cretan honey. (OK, I was in the neighborhood for another reason and I got lucky, but I'm seriously thinking of going back. When I pulled the honey off the shelf out of like 10 choices, the grocer exclaimed, "Oh, that's the best honey!!") So this is a very contemplated recipe I have here, not at all improvisational.

This morning, though, I went to make a yogurt bowl for breakfast and re-discovered that I had procrastinated going food shopping and was out of the ingredients for my Cretan Yoga Retreat Yogurt Concoction. Hmm, what to do? Time to scour the fridge.

I had the yogurt, and plenty of pomegranate seeds. I was out of bananas, berries, and oranges. Hmmm. 

Let's start with the yogurt and pomegranate. Hey, there's some spearmint in the back there left over from our Kentucky Derby mint juleps, slowly wilting. No time like the present. I crushed a few leaves with my fingers and put them in the bowl. There were dried out blueberries and an apple available, but nah. Wait mint and . . . cucumber is thing? Yogurt and cucumber is huge thing, right? Cucumber is a . . . vegetable? But also mild and with a fruit-fleshy texture and even a little sweet. OK, great. Stripped and diced some cucumber and crushed it a bit with the bottom of a rounded bowl. In!! Some unsalted, roasted pumpkin seeds, and squeeze in some fresh lime juice (1/8 of a lime, but it could tolerate maybe a quarter) to tie it all together and brighten it up.

(I put in a couple diced dried apricots but I gotta say: to negligible effect. Might try it next time with 4 or 5 to see if that flavor mix is what I imagined.)

I gotta say -- it's absolutely delicious -- bright and sunny, sweet and tart, crunchy and creamy. This one's going into the rotation!

There's something to be said for revisiting the comforts and peaks of the past, but there's also a lot of wonderfulness in being creative in the present.

Serves: 1

Prep time: 10 minutes

Cook time: Nada

Weight Watchers Points (2024): 1

Ingredients and prep

• 6 oz Fage Total 0% Fat Plain Greek Yogurt (5% would be yummier, but I'm counting WW points closely at the moment)
• 1/3 cup cucumber, peeled, diced into 1/3 inch cubes, and partially crushed to release juices and soften
• 1 tbsp pepitas (shelled green pumpkin seeds), roasted, unsalted
• 4 tbsp pomegranate seeds
• 1 tbsp mint leaves, crushed gently (I used my fingers on a cutting board, but you might use a muddler or a spoon) 
• 1/2? tsp freshly squeezed lime juice (1/8 of a lime). Really to taste.

Steps

1. Put ingredients in a bowl
2. Mix ingredients with a spoon
3. Eat

Prosciutto Hummos Red Pepper Bruschetta

These really hit the spot on this grey, frigid December day for lunch, along with some pea soup.

First the recipe, then the back story.

Serves: 1
Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 10 minutes (can be mostly coextensive with the prep time)
Weight Watchers Points Plus: 7 (estimated)

• 2 slices crusty sourdough bread (fairly small and airy, in this case)
• 2 tsp extra virgin olive oil
• 2 tbsp Abraham's Hummos, original flavor
• 1/4 cup fire-roasted red peppers, packed in water
• 1/2 oz prosciutto di parma

1. Pre-heat a grill pan for 5 minutes.
2. Using a brush, coat both sides of bread with olive oil.
3. Cut the red peppers into strips about 1/2" wide and 3" long
4. Grill the bread, so that the grill pan leaves grill lines. Flip when necessary.
5. When the bread is done, spread each piece with 2 tsp of hummos
6. Layer the red peppers over the hummos, covering the bread as much as possible.
7. Slice prosciutto in half lengthwise.
8. Layer prosciutto over peppers as artfully as you can.

While I ate these as essentially two halves of an open-faced sandwich, one might consider using smaller pieces of bread and having these as hors d'oeuvres.

Back story.

I was on my way out of a Weight Watchers meeting and walking home. I was reflecting on how I had been having trouble eating reasonable amounts of food in part because I was bored with what I have been eating and also had been generally anxious and using food as a diversion. I thought that coming up with new very tasty and healthy things to make would be both diverting in itself and satisfying. I stopped at a barber shop and there was like a 20-minute wait so I went through my email while waiting. I came upon an email from PureWow on No-Brainer good ideas that referred me to this Greatist article called Cooking for One: 29 Insanely Easy, Healthy Meals You Can Make in Minutes which in turn referred me to this recipe for Turkey Hummus Sandwiches with Black Pepper Honey and I thought that looked like a cool direction for a lunch. While also reflecting on how finding content on the web these days often involved multi-layers of navigation through many places, each monetizing your browsing with ads of various levels of annoyance and relevance but don't get me started.

So, when I got home I was looking around for something to make for lunch and used the recipe for inspiration given what was in the 'fridge. No turkey in the house, but the prosciutto seemed like a no-brainer substitute. Picking up on the Italian theme I just created, I: renamed it the sandwich a bruschetta because why not, added the red peppers, and briefly considered using white bean paste in place of the hummus, but the white bean paste looked deadly so out that went.

I have to say: these are really, really, really delicious. Really easy to make.

Some notes:

• Do not even think about skipping the bread-grilling step.
• When I make them again, white bean paste maybe but definitely will warm up the hummus to room temperature first as the 'fridge temp hummus was a little jarring.
• The bread was from Fairway, at the fresh bread counter, sliced by the attendant. I think they called it a Country Sourdough Loaf but this is not critical. It doesn't have to be sourdough, but it should be crusty, airy, and fresh tasting.

Milk & Mode: Breakfast Burritos

This clean out the fridge recipe is well within the spirit of Improv Cooking. Thank you, Carol Han (via Kyle Miller)!

Milk & Mode: Breakfast Burritos: My love for breakfast burritos knows no bounds. Literally. I will eat them for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and as the occasional midnight s...

Tuna Scallion Cilantro Yellow Pepper Salad

The Kid gave me a book about salads for my birthday, so I've been reading that and got inspired. The main thrust of the book is not to follow the recipes but instead to think fresh, think flavor and color balance, and go with what is available. It's a salad, not a thesis, and recipes are made to be varied.

Not really having anything specific around for the recipes in the book, I instead took the book's spirit, scoured the fridge and cabinets, and made myself a very yummy salad for lunch.

1 cup mixed baby greens
1 small can (2.7oz) white albacore tuna in water (I like Bumble Bee)
1/4 cup scallions
1/4 yellow bell pepper, diced
1 chopped Pepperoncini ($1.69 a jar at Fairway!)
1 tsp Earthbound Farm Organic Farm Chopped Fresh Cilantro Organic Herb Puree
1 tsp EVOO

(The cilantro puree was an experiment. Just looked cool in the store. The point comes from canola oil in the mix. It's tasty enough, and really handy -- squeeze and go -- but will probably go with fresh cilantro in the future just because I like more control over the oil/herb ratio. Plus it's pretty expensive.)

The salad hit the spot -- awesome, tasty, fresh, filling.

Mad Men Era Bourbon Glazed Pan Steak

Tonight we were going to make a family favorite - veal parmigiana. But there in the fridge were a week-old set of Beef Eye Round Steaks from Fairway, whatever those were, a few days past the sell-by date but smelling fine. Use it or lose it time. Table the veal, it'll keep.

The steaks were small but looked like they might cook up tender enough to eat like steaks. But somehow, too small to broil. Just a hunch. I don't even know what that means. The word "saute" kept creeping into my brain.

Dusting off the dim recesses, I remembered reading a recipe for pan-fried/sauteed steak in Craig Claiborne's venerable, trusty New York Times Cookbook (Copyright 1961). Ooh, 1961 -- prime Mad Men territory. There the recipe was, on page 91 -- Steak Au Poivre. Lots of butter and Worcestershire. Perfect with a high ball, a baked potato, and some overcooked vegetables and deep leatherette banquettes!

OK, time for the Improv Treatment. #1) The kid hates black pepper, Au Poivre is not going to lead to maximizing happiness. #2) Craig wants us to have thought ahead and pummelled the pepper into the steak and let stand 30 minutes. Nope, too hungry for that. Out with the pepper. #3) "Blaze with cognac" -- yee ha! Sounds like fun. With a match. Awesome. But: I have no cognac on hand. But I do have an unopened bottle of Knob Creek Kentucky Bourbon ("The Knob!"). That will more than do. #4) Fresh parsley and chives sound great, ain't got 'em. Dried parsley and nothing will be fine. #5) Tobasco? Can't find the Tobasco. We have some Frank's Red Hot, stuff that the kid likes to put on his scrambled eggs a la Camp Caribou. That works. #6) Heavy skillet. Don't really have one. Have a nice light non-stick skillet. Okey dokey.

So, here goes, with many apologies to Mr. Claiborne.

• 3 Beef Eye Round Steaks, whatever those are
• Salt - kosher and table
• 6 teaspoons butter
• Worcestershire sauce to taste
• Lemon juice - a splash - go really easy
• 2 tablespoons Knob Creek Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey
• 1 tsp dried parsley

For the chef:

• 3 oz. Knob Creek Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey
• 1 8 oz. old-fashioned glass
• 1 ice cube

No explanation needed.

1. Cover bottom of skillet with a moderate layer of the salts. Turn the heat to high for about 10 minutes and wait for the salt to brown like Craig says. Salt never browns.
2. Sip The Knob and ponder probable impact of non-browned salts. Decide it will be negligible and besides, have no bright ideas about browning salt. Put the steaks in anyway on unbrowned salt.
3. Brown the steaks on one side. Maybe a minute. Sizzle!
   
4. While browning steaks, melt the butter in the microwave, 45 seconds on high. Then throw the parsley into butter and stir a little.
   
5. Turn steaks, lower heat. Cook for a couple minutes.
6. Add the butter, lemon juice, Worcestershire, Frank's Red Hot. Pour over steaks while cooking, let it all flow into a delicious sauce in the pan.
7. When the steaks are done to your satisfaction (we went for medium rare), turn the heat way down.
8. Blaze the Knob! Splash in, light with match, say a little prayer for the non-stick coating.
9. Swish the solution to put out the fire if you get nervous. I did. A little. Have sip of Knob to calm those nerves.
   
10. Plate the steaks.
11. Swirl the sauce in the pan over low heat for about 45 seconds.
12. Spoon a little over the steaks, that's what it's for. Don't forget to taste it, it's amazing.

Served with Vigo Yellow Rice from a package (why? we like it, that's why) and a Caesar-ish salad (a topic for another time).

And more Knob.

Chicken Avocado Chili Sauce Nachos

So, my son and I were on our own one night and looking for something tasty, and sort of fall-like and not too strenuous. Let's go down to The Firehouse and get burgers or nachos or something, I suggested. "Nah, too expensive, way too much food." OK, what do we have? Let's see, Mom left us some chicken breasts thawed. And some corn. OK, we'll have the corn on the cob, but what to do with the chicken? "Dad, you said you wanted nachos -- chicken nachos!" OK, kid, you are on. Here's what we found, after dispatching kid to the corner store for some chips.

• 1 lb boned chicken breasts, cut into strips, and the strips cut into thirds.
• Corn tortilla chips, about 10 per person
• 2 slices ripe avocado, cubed, more or less
• Shredded sharp Wisconsin cheddar cheese
• Secret ingredient: Mare-O-Lin's Garlic Blend Chili Sauce
• Cooking oil (PAM Organic Canola in this case)
• Garlic powder
• Salt
• Black pepper
• Red pepper flakes

When we were thinking through the salsa thing, the kid said, "Dad, we have that awesome salsa thing we got upstate." Not really salsa, but actually better for this dish. Tastes like you worked on it all day. And this stuff is awesome. Oh my goodness. What a find. Full credit to the kid. Track it down via http://www.mare-o-lins.com/

OK, enough editorializing, on with the cooking.

1. Spritz a skillet with the PAM. Don't be stingy.
2. Throw in the chicken.
3. Douse with garlic powder to taste.
4. Salt, black pepper, red pepper flakes.
5. Stir it all around. Mix it up nice. Saute until just about cooked through, 10 minutes or so.
   
6. Spoon chili sauce over chicken in skillet. 5 rounded teaspoons of chili sauce worked for us. Just enough to spread around the chicken and get it covered.
7. Simmer chicken covered for another 5-10 minutes. Don't dry it out.
8. Get a plate. Put 10 chips on the plate, spread evenly.
9. Cover the chips with pieces of chicken, maybe about 4 oz. per plate. You can spoon a little sauce on, too.
10. Put on 6-8 avocado cubes.
11. Top with shredded cheese.
12. 25 seconds on high in the microwave.
13. Repeat steps 8-12 for each plate!
    

That's it. Serve. This stuff is tasty.

Makes 4 servings. 30 minutes prep and cook time. About 7 to wolf it down.

You might want guacamole instead of the avocado, but I was feeling a little lazy. Black beans would also enhance. Cutting the corn off the cob and throwing it in might work, too, but it was just fresh enough corn that on the cob was the right call.

Inspirations:

• Chilaquiles, La Cocina (R.I.P.), 85th near Broadway
  
• Nachos Grande, The Firehouse, 85th and Columbus
• Mexican Chicken, Chicken, Williams-Sonoma Kitchen Library, Time-Life Books, 1993
  

Improv Cooking Principles

Sometimes, I like what I cook. I mean, really like it. Enough to write it down! Might as well share it.

I'm just a guy with some time in the kitchen every now and again. Food is good. Food is fun. There's lot of great stuff out there. Recipes are just guidelines, usually. Don't take them overly seriously.

The basic ideas of my kind of improvisational cooking are:

• Look around your kitchen -- what's there?
• But try to keep seasonal, fresh, and high quality staple ingredients lying around. I mean, really. You can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear. Luck = preparation plus opportunity.
• List the available ingredients in your mind. Free-associate. Quickly re-arrange, kind of like Scrabble. What would go well together? What are you in the mood for? What was that thing you had at that little place last week that was so good?
  
• Drawing a blank? Pick a cookbook off the shelf and flip through the sections relevant to your main ingredients. Don't sit down while you are doing this or dinner will never get finished. Those cookbooks are pretty darned interesting sometimes.
• If it's going to take more than 30-40 minutes to make on a week night, it's not going to happen. An hour and a half on the weekend is about right.
  
• Even if you do find something close and tasty sounding, you'll be missing some ingredients. Think about what the core of the dish is, and make sure you have those, more or less. Otherwise, move on, hombre. Make a note to stock up on the next food run (that's what the notepad on the refrigerator is for).
  
• Found something close enough? OK, start cooking. Don't think about it too much.
• Leave out the really hard parts. Is there a sauce that takes like 3 hours to make? Well, shoot, don't you have some tomato sauce and spices, or some pesto, or some chiles or some salsa? Close enough. Dump some in. Look around the spice closet. Try stuff, but think through the implications. How will that taste? What have you had that was like it? What are you missing? What would be a close substitute?
  
• For goodness sakes, don't measure all that carefully. This is cooking, not brain surgery.
• Make a bit of mess, it's part of the fun. But clean up as you go, you don't want to fritter away karma.

Here is the most important point of all: no fear. I mean, it's only dinner. If it's really terrible, there's a pizza joint around the corner and better luck next time. But if you want to make discoveries, you have to risk a little something each time.