working lunch

Working lunch- BAD!

Siggi's Skyr- GOOD!

I have been a busy, busy girl, but not too chaotic to discover my new snack (and sometimes lunch). The Orange and Ginger has brought me on board as a certified skyr lover!

At $2.69 for a teensy 6 ounces, it MAY lighten up your wallet a bit, but for only 120 calories and 10 grams of sugar, your tastebuds and pants will thank you for it!

apple radish slaw

To say I love this slaw is a disservice to the universe.  It's so delicious and perfect that I want to eat it every day (and I have been).  It's smart in that it's portable, gets better with age and is comprised of a whopping 5 ingredients–something I can stay on board with.

Ya'll might be tired of hearing about radishes, but this is my life!  Yes, radishes.  (At least until they disappear from the markets.)  At Georgetown's last weekend, I was meandering through the aisles doing my Expedia-esque price comparisons, when I stumbled upon the jackpot: tri-colored bunches of radishes that required practically two hands to hold as the radishes were erring on the size of small apples.  For a dollar.  Each. (I'm talkin' $1 per bunch, not radish.)  Naturally, I bought as many that would fit in my envirosax (three) and smugly smiled all the way back to Queen Anne.

Matchstick'd along with my long-time love, Pink Lady apples, green onion, a squeeze of an oversized lemon and a generous dousing of French oak barrel-aged apple cider vinegar, it's one of the best simple salads I've ever eaten.

It hardly requires a recipe, but for ballparking:
2 Pink Lady apples (You might prefer to peel the apple first, but I like the color so I leave it.)
3-4 XL radishes
3-4 green onions
1/2 large lemon
2-3 T barrel-aged apple cider vinegar

Using a mandoline, cut the apples and radishes into matchsticks. Squeeze the lemon half over to discourage browning. Add chopped green onion and vinegar. Stir to combine and chill before serving. Even better the next day.

alice's spinach and strawberry salad

source

I haven't had the luxury of making this salad at home yet, but considering it hasn't left my mind since having a taster at Alice Currah's (of Savory Sweet Life) demo last Thursday at the Queen Anne Farmers Market, it's a recipe that's beyond worthy of being shared here.

I know the pairing of strawberries and spinach is hardly new, but this dressing.  I die.  Eyeing the pool of leftover dressing at the bottom of the serving cup, I mentally gave thanks to the sample makers for choosing it over a plate before knocking it back and licking my lips clean. 

This would be such a great salad to take to a party.  Do people still have those?  (It's been a while.)

Alice's Spinach and Strawberry Salad
sourced directly from the QAFM blog

Spinach and Strawberry Salad
1/2 cup distilled white vinegar
2/3 cup olive oil
1/2 cup sugar
2 tablespoons poppy seeds
1/2 teaspoon paprika
2 tablespoons minced onion
2 tablespoons toasted sesame seeds
2 bunches of spinach, washed, dried, and torn in pieces
2 to 3 cups of strawberries, stemmed and sliced
OPTIONAL: 1/2 cup slivered almonds, crunchy chow mein noodles, or minced bacon pieces

Whisk together vinegar, oil, sugar, poppy seeds, paprika, and onion until sugar is dissolved. Place dressing in the refrigerator. To toast sesame seeds, place the seeds in a dry skillet on medium heat. Stir every 30 seconds until seeds start browning and popping. Remove from heat and set aside.
In a large bowl, toss spinach, strawberries, sesame seeds, and dressing. Serve immediately. Enjoy!

Alice says: “Make sure you prepare the poppy seed dressing before starting to give it time to settle and come together. And for parents out there whose kids hate salad, this may be the salad that wins them over. Enjoy!”

whole roasted tokyo turnips

Sorry radishes, but the greens on these tokyo turnips were good enough to eat!

whole roasted tokyo turnips @ the kitchn

Note: This made an extremely filling dinner.  Delicious but not conducive to leftovers, a couple of these were casualities of a single girl and diner's kitchen.

yesterday's junk salad

I am becoming borderline obsessed with cleaning out my fridge and composing my lunch for the day. I have quite an assortment of ingredients to choose from as of late after a visit to 99 Ranch Market. Pretty sure my life has changed for the better after FINALLY making the trip to this uber-hip Asian market. My favorite find? Pea Shoots....I will be doing some more experimenting with these!

So Friday's junk salad? Spinach, Petite Artisan Lettuce (seriously am in love with this veggie), roasted green beans (leftovers, of course), jicima (from Katy's farmers market), some onion basil goat cheese (Central Market find), sliced English cucumber, my favorite pea shoots (yum) and some shredded chicken.

I recently bought a slow cooker and have made multiple batches of chicken cooked with a small jar of peperoncini peppers. I recently decided to add a little juice from a jar of pickled garlic (mine is a different, ummmm, brand but you get the idea) that has been hanging out in my fridge since my Thai cooking classes. It was freaking fantastic!!! Couldn't get any easier than throwing frozen chicken breasts in a crock-pot with some peppers! So much flavor and such a breeze to make. Perfect protein to have on hand for salads, quesadillas, nachos, etc.

The ONLY thing that could have made this salad any better would have been some company. I was lucky enough to make two salads on Thursday. One for me and one for my dad....THAT was the perfect lunch!

side dish or dinner? braised radishes

I've never really thought much about radishes, but since I've owned a mandoline this last year, I've enjoyed paper-thin slices as a portable work snack. Almost as good as a peppery Kettle chip. I've always wanted to get trendy and eat radish slices with a good-quality butter finished with a sprinkling of fancy salt, but I typically don't believe in wasting fat on vegetables. I'll take pizza if I'm going to splurge, thanks.

And yes, it's June, but the weather remains depressingly rainy and chilly in Seattle.  While it seems like the rest of the country's feasting on fruit and cool, crunchy salads, I'm craving something hearty and warm.  I'm finally a little bored of the plain chicken I've been eating for what feels like forever (hence lack of content to post), so I stopped by the Queen Anne Farmers Market yesterday for some inspiration.

The pictured French breakfast radishes made it home with me.  A quick online search led me to this recipe for braised radishes at the Kitchn.  A lone shallot was the only other produce I had on hand, thus dinner was born.

I skipped the butter and salt pork in lieu of a scant teaspoon of olive oil, and I subbed my favorite low-sodium chicken broth from Trader Joe's for the water. No doubt the fats would make this a richer dish, but the substitutions fared well because I ate the whole thing for dinner tonight and may or may not have licked the bowl clean.

Must. Have. More. If you see a crazy lady snatching up all the radishes that can be bought at tomorrow's Georgetown Market, please say hi.