fenchurch: (Alton Brown)
[personal profile] fenchurch
Everyone seems to be doing it, so I figured I'd join in with two easy summer recipes!

We made this first dish last week and loved it, although I think I might look at cutting it in half next time... it claims to serve six, but that's apparently two meals for six people. I do think it would also make a great dish to bring to a pot luck or a picnic. It's pretty much Tabouleh with a southwestern flair... and it has a lot of room for variations, although I mostly tried this one straight this time. Even better, it uses ingredients we pretty much always have on hand:

Black Beans and Couscous Santa Fe Style
from Desperation Dinners by Beverly Mills and Alicia Ross

10 oz (by weight) quick-cooking couscous
6 lettuce leaves
1 large fresh lime or lemon
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon red wine vinegar
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1 to 2 bunches scallions
1 medium red or green bell pepper
1/4 cup fresh cilantro or parsley, tightly packed
1 cup frozen corn kernels, preferably extra-sweet
2 cans (15 oz each) black beans
ice cubes
salt and black pepper to taste

1) Bring 2 1/4 cups unsalted water to a boil in a 2-qt or larger saucepan and stir in the couscous. Cover the pot and remove from the heat. Let stand for 5 minutes.

2) Cut the lime or lemon in half and squeeze the juice into a 3-qt or larger serving bowl. Add the oil, vinegar and cumin and whisk to blend well. Chop the scallions and add to the bowl with the dressing. Seed the bell pepper and chop it into bite size pieces, adding it to the bowl as you chop. Chop and add the cilantro.

3) Place the frozen corn in a colander and rinse under warm water to defrost. Shake vigorously to drain well and add to the bowl. Drain the black beans in the colander and rinse under cold running water. Shake to remove as much water as possible, then add the beans to the bowl. Stir to mix the vegetables and dressing.

4) Pour the couscous into the colander, throw in two handfuls of ice cubes and rinse under cold water, tossing with the ice cubes until the couscous reaches cool room temperature, about two minutes. Drain well, removing any unmelted ice cubes and fluffing the couscous thoroughly with a fork to break up any chunks. Then add the couscous to the bowl and stir well. Season with salt and black pepper. Serve on top of the lettuce.

Variations: We used mixed greens instead of lettuce leaves and ended up using Balsamic Vinegar instead of red wine vinegar (because we couldn't figure out where we'd stashed the latter), a different flavor, but still good. We also chopped the bell pepper into smaller than bite-sized pieces. Very yummy and very quick.

This one is an older favorite that we haven't had for awhile but is on the menu for dinner tonight:

One-Bowl Turkey Cobb Salad
from 365 Easy One-Dish Meals by Natalie Naughton

8oz plain yogurt
2 teaspoons honey
1 teaspoon finely grated onion
1/2 teaspoon dried dill weed
1/8 teaspoon dry mustard
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
6 cups chopped romaine
4 hard-boiled eggs, chopped
1 1/2 cups fresh mushrooms, sliced
1 1/2 cup chopped tomatoes
1 1/2 cups thin strips cooked turkey breast
1 cup crisp-cooked crumbled bacon
3/4 cup crumbled blue, Roquefort or gorgonzola cheese

1) In a large salad bowl, combine yogurt, honey, onion, dill weed, mustard, salt and pepper. Mix well.

2) Place chopped lettuce on top of dressing. Arrange separate pie-shaped sections of eggs, mushrooms, tomatoes, turkey, bacon and cheese on top of lettuce. Refrigerate, covered, 1 to 2 hours before serving.

3) Just before serving, toss salad, being sure to lift up and mix in dressing from bottom of bowl.

Once again, lots of room for variations... I tend to use less bacon, and I'll be using chicken breast instead of turkey tonight when I throw this together. I also love that the individual parts can be prepared ahead of time. I cooked up some bacon on my George Foreman Grill and boiled some eggs in my electric kettle this morning while I was making breakfast, so those are done. I'll grill up some chicken breast tenders while fixing lunch in just a bit, so that will be ready to go as well.

Date: 2007-06-25 08:36 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] econopodder.livejournal.com
Hey, I've never thought of making bacon in the Foreman. How long do you go for?

The black bean & couscous sounds great -- two of my favorite ingredients.

Date: 2007-06-25 09:02 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] fenchurche.livejournal.com
Oh man, that's the *only* way I'll cook bacon anymore. It whisks away most of the grease and it cooks fairly quickly, although it'll vary depending on the type of bacon you've got. I usually open the grill up and flip the bacon just after some of the fat has started to cook out. I've never timed it, but I can tell you that's the point where I usually start the toaster and start frying up an egg (over easy), and I can usually pull the bacon off right as the egg and toast are getting done.

Date: 2007-07-06 05:29 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] anirt.livejournal.com
Thank you for the recipe.

I cooked bacon in the Foreman and I too will never go back if I can avoid it!

Date: 2007-07-06 05:32 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] anirt.livejournal.com
Our Foreman G5 has a cookbook, which suggested about 8 minutes. We like ours done a bit more, so we went for 9 minutes, I think on medium.

It started this way. "We don't have any paper towels. How do I get the grease off the bacon?"

"Cook it on an incline?" Aha! The Foreman has a slope and a drip pan so we can just pour the grease into the glass jar to keep in the fridge.

We ended up still needing to borrow one paper towel to get the last bits of grease, but actually the key point was that the bacon cooked very evenly and did not burn at all.

I hope [livejournal.com profile] yav_14 isn't reading this! ;)

Date: 2007-06-25 09:42 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] gwyn-r.livejournal.com
Ooo, thank you for the recipe for the bean salad -- when the remodel is done and the kitchen will have space in which I can cook and chop and mix all at the same time, and store things like different kinds of vinegars, I am going to be a cooking fiend, and want to try as many things as I can. This sounds wonderful!

Date: 2007-06-25 10:06 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] http://users.livejournal.com/opalescence_/
Oh, those sound yummy! I'm saving to memories! Thank you!

Date: 2007-06-25 10:42 pm (UTC)
ext_2333: "That's right,  people, I am a constant surprise." (Default)
From: [identity profile] makd.livejournal.com
Both look terrific!! Thank you for sharing. (New recipes? always welcome.) :-)

Date: 2007-06-25 11:36 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] lage-nom-ai.livejournal.com
Hey, a recipe I can actually follow. Thanks! :D

Date: 2007-06-26 03:01 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] queenofattolia.livejournal.com
OMG, the Santa Fe Salad sounds almost exactly like one I make with hominy (and no bell peppers). And it also sounds delicious.

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