I don't have to Cook it for it to be Good

I love good food, I love to cook, but on many weekdays I am too tired to cook what I'd really like and almost resent having to cook at all.
I ran across an ad for a local company that delivers "gourmet, chef-prepared meals" and thought I'd give it a try. My previous options had been takeout and the meals had names like "Cha-Cha Chimichanga" and "London Broil is Falling Down." I think NOT.
Spice of Life PC (http://www.spiceoflifepc.com/) has three different menu plans that can be augmented with kid meals and Specials.
I decided we'd try the 3 meal sample for couples at $80.I ordered the Grecian style roasted chicken with steamed broccoli and sauteed vegetables, rosemary grilled lamb chops with grilled artichoke hearts, roasted pearl onions and new potatoes and London broil with creamy horseradish sauce, gorgonzola-stuffed tomatoes and grilled asparagus. Sound good, yes? It actually WAS.

This is my plate of London Broil augmented with leftover steak and grilled peppers and onions.

Grecian style Roasted Chicken, augmented with a slice of baguette with EVOO.

The food is plentiful and very good. I have an educated palate and am particular as can be about food. If I eat it, it will add calories to my body so they'd better be high quality calories.
These were high quality calories. I wish I'd taken pictures of the lamb chops- they were a perfect pinky-red and seasoned so well that all I had to add was a little sea salt.
The plates are Franciscan Apple pattern so they are a little distracting in the photos from the food.
I wanted to have good food and a break from making it myself. I was ready to make some concessions to get it, hence having a chicken meal when I am the only person who can make chicken the way I like it. I was ready to settle for "nice" food, not my really GOOD food.
I didn't have to settle. The food was all seasoned properly, cooked just right and the portions were gracious. The chef offers South Beach and Heart Healthy meals and a choice between gourmet and traditional family meals.
The time having meals delivered gave me back was enough to catch up on laundry, work on a grant, and handle all of my household-running business without being totally exhausted and resentful at the end of the day.

And that's an odd feeling. As a Southern woman, I feel like it is just an extension of my job to come home and put in another several hours of work. My job is hard; I manage people, do research and write, negotiate with other people and am mentally and physically depleted at the end of the day. But I still think it is incumbent upon me to go to the store to pick up what I don't have and transform everything into a nice, homecooked meal. Oh, and clean the kitchen, the litterboxes, feed all cats and varmints, pick up the house and try to do a load of laundry. My husband is supposed to sit in the recliner.
And I am a Ms., a NOW girl, an ERA supporter- but these customs are deeply ingrained and even though my husband doesn't expect this martyrdom, I do.
I am set free from some of my self-imposed slavery with meals I am not ashamed to serve. Thank you, Chef Jack. I think this is the beginning of a beautiful relationship.









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Fish!

Did you know that wild-caught sockeye salmon tastes vastly different from farmed salmon? It does - and enough different to change me from a salmon-hater (except for lox and salmon croquettes) to a salmon lover.

There is a uniqueness of taste to wild salmon that I look forward to experimenting with, but for my first preparation I used a Publix recipe as a jump-off point.

Coriander Salmon with Easy Dill Sauce; Cucumber Heart Salad

1 1/4 pounds sockeye salmon, skinned and cut into serving-sized pieces
sea salt, coriander, fresh pepper, EV olive oil

Light Sour cream, fresh dill


Salad

Two cucumbers, peeled, seeded, and chopped
one can artichoke hearts, chopped
One lemon, juiced and zested
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
3/4 cup diced red onion
5-6 oz bag roquette (arugula)

Whisk lemon zest and juice with oil, sea salt to taste and a little crushed garlic if you like. Toss the salad ingredients with the dressing - remember to use good olive oil for salads. DaVinci is among the best tasting grocery store oils you can get.

Mix 3/4 cup sour cream and 4 tbl of chopped dill, set aside (squeeze whatever is left of your lemon into the mix even if that amounts to an eighth of a teaspoon; it does add piquancy).

While the salad is setting up and melding flavors, rinse and pat dry the salmon. Season with about two teaspoons of coriander per side and a pinch of sea salt, fresh ground pepper. Press the seasoning into the fish, heat oil on medium high heat until water sizzles in pan. Add fish and cook about 4 1/2 minutes per side. The fish will look opaque and feel firm when done. Take up to plate, add sour cream mixture to pan and whisk for about 30 seconds to warm.

Add salad to plates, overlap with Salmon and drizzle fish with dill sauce.

One another note, my youngest kittens are black twins who have wide blue eyes and look like tiny bears. They have wrapped my husband around their miniature claws:)

Grown-Up Birthday Party Food

We just had my darling husband's birthday party Saturday night and, true to form, he insisted that people only come equipped with hunger and thirst.

He is known for his baby-back ribs and top shelf bar, I am known for...being his adoring wife:)
Among other things...

I wanted to make sure that this year there were side dishes for people like me who only want a little meat. However, I wanted to make side dishes that weren't boring or crappy but that would hold up through hours of grazing.

I did it - three salads from scratch that held up and got eaten up. I made sliced red potato salad, Oriental Cole Slaw and my newest creation, Florida Girl's Italian shrimp salad. I'll start last first:

Florida Girl
8-10 ounce salad shrimp, thawed (this is one of the few things that tiny cocktail shrimp is good for)
3 lemons, juiced and zested
1/4 cup of extra virgin olive oil
sea salt and fresh ground pepper to taste
2 large cucumbers, seeded and cut into 1/2 inch chunks - seeding them is important!
2 cans quartered artichoke hearts, drained
2 cans salad sliced hearts of palm, drained
1 can Cannellini beans, rinsed and drained
3 tbsp Italian Herbs*

You can make this part* easy or hard. I go easy and buy the tube of Italian herbs in olive oil at Publix. Otherwise, chop a handful of flat-leaf parsley, a bunch of basil and bash up a couple of garlic cloves.
Make sure all water is drained off of everything before the next step.

Whisk herbs with olive oil, lemon zest and lemon juice and salt and pepper. Dump everything else into a bowl; I chop the artichoke hearts up a little to make it more fork friendly. Pour dressing over the salad and stir gently to coat. You may need a little more oil or lemon juice, just taste to see.
Let this sit refrigerated at least two hours, bring to room temp before serving.

So that's salad one. I don't make anything I won't eat and I loved this. My guests seemed happy too since they ate it all up:)