Chop Chop Salad in a Jar

Note: This is part of the Traveling Picnic episode were we featured three ethnic inspired lunches (French, Asian & Italian). I separated the recipes out individually to provide you with a better search option.

This is an Italian inspired lunch in the form of a salad - it's like an antipasto in a jar. Travels very well but because it has meat and cheese,  it should be kept in a cooler. For dessert, pick up some fresh fruit from a roadside stand, dip it in some cool and creamy mascarpone cheese and you have a fabulous roadside lunch. For a little extra zip, try drizzling the balsamic vinegar on the mascarpone before dipping fruit into it. Delizioso!

Serves 2       

Prep time: 20 minutes     

Cook time: zero

 Salad

1 romaine heart, washed, dried and chopped

½ pint cherry tomatoes, washed and halved

3 celery ribs, chopped

1 red bell pepper, chopped

10-20 pitted Kalamata olives, rough chopped

10 basil leaves, cut into thin ribbons or torn

1/3 lb. fresh mozzarella, cut into small dice

1/3 lb. salami, cut into small dice

Vinaigrette

2 tsp. Diamond Kosher salt

freshly ground pepper

1 clove garlic, smashed (optional)

1/3 cup Lucini Balsamic vinegar

¾ to 1 cup California Olive Ranch extra virgin olive oil

Layer the salad ingredients in a large Mason jar. In a small jar that has a lid, add the salt, garlic (if using) and vinegar. Close jar and shake to dissolve salt. Add ¾ cup of olive oil, close jar and shake well. Taste and adjust seasoning with salt and pepper. You may add additional oil and shake if you like your vinaigrette less piquant.

Pack the vinaigrette separately from the salad. Five to ten minutes before eating, dress the salad. You should start by using a third of the dressing and adding more to taste. You can dress the salad in the jar and give it a few good shakes, or toss the salad in a bowl to serve. Refrigerate and save any remaining dressing for your next salad.

Encores: Chop Chop salad is like an antipasto plate chopped up and made into a salad. It lends itself well to improvisation. If you have some leftover chicken, ham or steak, chop it up and add it to the salad in addition to or instead of the salami. You can experiment with the cheese as well. Substitute feta, chicken and rosemary in place of the fresh mozzarella, salami and basil and you will have a totally different and delicious salad. You may also add additional fresh or pickled vegetables that you have on hand.

Summer Solstice Salmon Breakfast

This weekend, the store where I work is having an incredible sale on wild Bristol Bay Sockeye salmon-$7.99 lb cut and wrapped! Incredible. Needless to say, I cleaned out my little freezer and bought one. I'm thinking I'll buy two more, maybe three. This Sockeye is soo delicious and fresh, you barely need to do any preparation.  I simply drizzled it with good olive oil, sprinkled with sea salt and pepper and baked it at 325' for about 15-20 minutes. When it is done to your liking (and I prefer mine a little more rare in the middle) squeeze some fresh lemon juice on top and boom! Done, divine and delicious.  I refrigerated what I didn't devour last night and made this beautiful breakfast to celebrate the Solstice. I prefer a savory breakfast and this was quick and easy and so satisfying. In five minutes I had breakfast: a bowl of baby arugula, half an avocado diced,  a hunk of salmon, two forkfuls of raw sauerkraut, half a lemon squeezed over the top, a drizzle of that good olive oil, sesame seeds and for the grand finale Jacobsen salt. To round it off, a lovely smattering of fresh picked raspberries from Sauvie Island from my friend Els. Try it, what a lovely way to begin your day with a healthy bowl of Superfoods!

Show Your TrailerChix Pride!

To buy this mug and see what we're up to, check out 

www.trailerchixproductions.com

Blue Cheese Stuffed Dates Wrapped in Bacon

Think you can't entertain in a tiny kitchen? 

Check out Chef Sam Reed from Portland's Hop & Vine as he shows me how he makes his addictive Bacon Wrapped Blue Cheese Stuffed Dates in his VERY tiny kitchen.

When in Portland Oregon be sure and stop in at  The Hop & Vine and say "hi" to Sam!

 Ingredients: 

12 Dates Pitted and Scored

1/2 Cup Rogue Oregon Blue Cheese

12 Slices Pepper Bacon

Method:

Instructions: Preheat oven to 375F, lay the bacon out on a rimmed baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes. While bacon is cooking fill each date with blue cheese, pinching edges closed to seal. Wrap each date individually with one slice bacon, securing with a toothpick or skewer. The dates can then be grilled, baked, or pan roasted till the bacon is hot and crispy and the cheese is melted. Serve with balsamic vinaigrette. (1 part vinegar, 3 parts oil, salt and pepper to taste)

 Pairing: Delicious with Cardamaro Amaro

Note:  These can be made ahead of time and reheated in the oven or on a grill.

Six Reason for Choosing Cast Iron Cookware

It would be unthinkable in our grandparents day to toss out a pot or a pan. For hundreds of years people have been cooking on cast iron and have been passing down these wonderfully seasoned pans for generations - I'm cooking on my grandmothers even today.

Six Reason for Choosing Cast Iron:

1. They can last several lifetimes.
2. Naturally non-stick, so no harmful chemicals
3. Almost constructable.
4. Easy to clean and care for
5. Add more flavors to your food
6. More economical 

How to season your cast iron:

No one pumps cast iron like a TrailerChix

 Fireside or in the galley, nothing beats a good set of cast iron

One of the most challenging rooms for me to downsize was my kitchen. I love cooking, canning, and baking. Nothing brings me more joy than feeding people. So when it came to packing my trailer, I had to make some tough decisions on which pots and pans would make the transition with me – so I decided to bring them ALL. You can’t be a tinker without pots and pans… right?

Like many families, the value of a good cast iron skillet and Dutch oven was passed down through generations. Some of my most treasured memories are of my grandmother’s sauerbraten and pichelsteiner cooking over a low heat for hours in her very well-seasoned, black cast iron pot she received as a wedding gift in the ‘20s.

Although with a little less oil then my grandmother, but with the same eye for quality, I found myself jumping into the Sonoma County dump at the age of 16 to rescue a perfectly good Dutch oven – the very one that I still use today.

I favor the standard black cast iron over some of the new more ‘classier’ versions. To me, they’re still the easiest to clean and the seasoning seems to be more to my taste. They’re also more versatile in that I can go from campfire to trailer cook top.

I’ve since whittled down my pan inventory to five that do more than I need. The big advantage of these pans is that I only need one lid for all of them – another space saver.

1) Flat iron – toast, eggs, tortillas, quesadillas, pancakes (I use this every day)

2) #10 deep dish – go-to for breakfast, roasted veggies, frittatas, fritters

3) #10 fryer – tarts, crisps, breads, pizza

4) Dutch oven – roasting, jambalaya, paella, stews

5) 12# crepe pan – the flat iron can cook crepes, but this is a beautiful pan

 If you think cast iron is only good for frying – guess again! I highly recommend the Cast iron Cookbook by Joanna Pruess. This is a fabulous full color cookbook that not only gives you a great history of cast iron cooking and how to take care of your iron, but also some very current recipes. You’ll find enough great ideas to take you from breakfast to dessert!

Trailer chicks will need to add a little cooking time when cooking with LPG or over a fire pit.

Let us know how you pump your iron!