Healthy Bites: Turkey on Whole Grain with Cranberry Walnut Salad

Turkey on Whole Grain with Cranberry Walnut Salad and Mustard Vinaigrette

Recently, an old colleague of mine sent me a note and mentioned how he loved the graphics and layout of my blog, but said he won't try any recipes because he "choses life." Which was his way of saying that he eats tree bark, sticks and unseasoned meat, instead of food that can be enjoyed. Not all my recipes are a death wish, but I admit that many contain a fair amount of weight watchers points and wouldn't be good to eat every day for every meal. That said, I don't eat like that all of the time. The production that goes into the recipe infographics I present here is pretty intense and takes time to complete, so when I do a recipe in that style I usually go for it with no constraints.

This got me thinking. Why not try and publish more of what I eat in a simpler format.

This is what I made for lunch today. A turkey on whole grain toasted bread with honey mustard and a salad with walnut and cranberry dressed with a mustard vinaigrette. Healthy and tasty and not as bad for you as Breakfast Meatlovers Pizza.

I don't know if this will become a regular thing here. But I'm going to attempt to make more posts like this, blog-worthy bites that are healthier and lighter, but presented in a simpler format, which basically means just a photo and a few words.

Eat well, cook often ...

THE RECIPE

Cranberry Walnut Salad with Mustard Vinaigrette

Serves 1, 15 minutes
1/4 lb Turkey, sliced
2 slices Whole grain bread
2 C lettuce (some for sandwich garnish)
1/4 C Walnuts
1/4 C Dried cranberries
1/4 C Extra virgin olive oil
2 Tbs White vinegar
1 Tbs Honey mustard + a little for sandwich

Sandwich
Toast bread, spread a little mustard over both pieces. On one slice layer with sliced turkey, garnish with lettuce, add top piece.

Salad and vinaigrette
Toss together lettuce, walnut and cranberries. In a container mix together olive oil, vinegar and honey mustard. Shake until emulsified. Drizzle over salad. (makes enough dressing for 2 or 3 salads of similar size.

Creamy Ranch Cucumber Salad

Printable version

The cucumber originated in India and was domesticated by the 7th century B.C., it spread from there to China and the Ancient Mediterranean regions, According to Oxford Companion to American Food and Drink. The Romans ate cucumber and spread it throughout the empire reaching as far north as what is now modern day Britain. It made its way to the new world in 1494 when the Spanish brought it to Haiti. It quickly spread to Florida and North America through Native American tribes.

There are many varieties of cucumbers but most fall in one of two groups: pickling or slicing. In the U.S., California and the Southeast lead in growing slicing cucumbers while Michigan and North Carolina grow the most pickling variety.

For this recipe, I use fresh slicing cucumbers in a creamy salad. It gets a flavor boost from ranch seasoning and strained bread and butter pickle brine, favorites of mine that I always have in the pantry. This flavorful salad is perfect for picnics and a great way to use up any extra cucumbers picked fresh from the garden.

BEHIND THIS BITE

Creamy Ranch Cucumber Salad

This salad was the tastiest cucumber dish I have eaten in a long time. I shared it with my Mom and Dad and both were really impressed. Once again, a packet of ranch seasoning swoops in and takes a recipe to the ultra tasty level. This is one of a number of offerings I have created this summer that feature the seasoning and all are some of the best recipes I have made this year. I think it is time to make my own version.

Later today I will take leftovers of this recipe and use it on a spicy chicken tostada! I think it has the potential to be a great sauce as well, but I’ll start by using this along with some spicy chicken, jack cheese, lettuce and tomato on top of a crunchy tortilla.

Enough said.

Gotta get to work!

Eat well, cook often ...

THE RECIPE

Creamy Ranch Cucumber Salad

Serves 4 to 6; 10 minutes
5 Cucumbers, peeled, seeded and diced
1/4 C Red onion, diced
1 pkg Ranch seasoning
1/2 C Sour cream
1/2 C Mayonnaise
1/4 C Pickle brine, strained from jar of bread and butter pickles

Mix together
In a large bowl, mix together cucumber, onion, ranch seasoning, sour cream, mayo and pickle juice until thoroughly combined, then serve.

Garden Fresh Tomato Salad

Printable version

It’s tomato time!

Fresh tomatoes from the garden are completely superior in flavor to what we buy at the super market most of the year. Commercially produced tomatoes are picked as far as two weeks ahead of being ripe, when the product is green in color and hard and firm in texture. This helps to prevent bruising and damage during the shipping process. Once the tomatoes get near their destination they are left on shelves in cold storage for as long as a month. Before hitting the super market they are put in a gas chamber and exposed to ethylene which artificially creates the red color and induces ripeness. The bottom line is that most store-bought tomatoes are picked to soon which is why they are loaded with moisture and watered down in flavor.

For this recipe, I use delicious vine ripe tomatoes that are grown where they are eaten. The tomato stars in a salad of garden fresh vegetables drizzled with a homemade dressing that includes brine from fresh sweet pickles I made last week.

BEHIND THIS BITE
Back in February I entered a chili cook off sponsored by the American Legion Riders. Instead of using the flavorless tomatoes on the shelf at Kroger, I bought heirloom tomatoes and the taste difference was unbelievable. It really is a shame how most store-bought tomatoes lack taste. I wish that I lived somewhere that they could be grown year round because I use tomatoes a lot, and I’m not always willing to fork out the $2 extra per pound for the heirloom variety.

I don’t have to worry about that right now because it’s tomato time in the midwest, and it will be for the next month or so. The only thing I have to worry about with tomatoes this time of year is the crop that goes to waste and lays in the garden rotting away. Chances are good that if that rotten tomato is found by a teenage boy he will probably fling it at a passing car or take it with him to pelt some younger kid in the neighborhood. Beware of flying rotten tomatoes.

Eat well, cook often ...

Shrimp, Crab or Tuna Salad

Printable version

These salads are relatively inexpensive because the meat is processed. The flavor and freshness would multiply by a thousands if you purchased and cooked all of this meat yourself, but it would cost a ton of money and time, and if I had fresh tuna or crab – there is no way it’s going into a salad!

These are affordable options for a practical lunch or an afternoon picnic in the park. They come together quick and can be transported easily and assembled at the location.

BEHIND THIS BITE
On the Food Network, or television cooking in general, they almost never use a processed item like canned tuna. They would grill a tuna steak then cut it up and put it in the salad. Not a single person I know would do that for a tuna salad sandwich. Canned tuna is cheap and it tastes good enough for a delightful lunch.

Would I serve canned tuna at a wedding? Hell no.

This is realistic everyday cooking and a true 30 minute meal. I love food television, it has inspired and taught me countless things I am grateful for. (Jacques Pepin is on the tube right now in my office as I write this) But, it is geared to people with money and time to burn. It would be awesome to see Bobby Flay turn something like a Tyson breaded chicken breast into a quick and easy dinner with his gourmet touch, or watch Rachel Ray make a 30-minute meal that can actually be made in thirty minutes outside of a scripted television taping.

Do I want them to do this with every recipe? No.

But it would be nice to see them get creative with more processed or freezer isle items because that is how the majority of us cook when we need to get food in our bellies. As creative as they are in the kitchen it would be cool to see what they did with items like that. I would love to buy all fresh food and organic meat but my money goes much further when I mix it up.

If I had an unlimited budget this post would be a lobster roll – Made from live lobster that I caught in the ocean, boiled up on the beach and ate until my stomach hurt. I would make the lobster salad the next day with the leftovers. Maybe one day. For now I’m just gonna keep cooking and eating.

Eat well, cook often ...

Bacon Ranch Pasta Salad

Printable version

Steve and Gayle Henson opened the Hidden Valley Guest Ranch near Santa Barbara California in the 1950s. Visitors enjoyed hiking tours, horseback riding, fishing and home-cooked meals. Activities brought guest to the ranch but there was a growing demand for a buttermilk, herb and spice dressing invented by the owners and served on their salads. Guest requested jars to take home and soon a mail-order business began.

Today, that original Hidden Valley Ranch dressing is sold throughout the United States and in more than 30 countries world-wide.

I use Ranch dressing on everything – burgers, fries, vegetables and wouldn’t think of eating a salad without it. The dressing is great to include in recipes along side or replacing sour cream or mayonnaise, which is what I do for this recipe. The ranch dressing provides a binder and extra seasoning in this pasta salad. I use it lightly here, but the salad could be made much more creamy by adding more dressing if desired.

BEHIND THIS BITE
This is the first side dish I have made for my column in a long time. I thought it was a good time to start rolling out some of the warm weather dishes I have planned for this summer.

This dish was inspired by a pasta salad my cousin had purchased at Meijer, which was good but I thought there was way to much ranch. This was hard for me to believe. It was the first time in my life that I actually thought there was to much ranch because I can almost drink the stuff from the bottle.

Notice I said “almost" drink it?

That was the problem with the Meijer pasta salad, there was so much ranch it was like drinking it from the bottle. Together bacon and ranch is pretty much a slam dunk in what ever dish it is put in, so I went with it – and went easy on the dressing. This dish could very easily be a potato salad by replacing the pasta with cooked spuds and would be just as tasty next to that big steak at your next backyard barbecue.

Eat well, cook often ...

Crispy Chicken Tenders

Printable version

When I started to cook gourmet recipes and entertaining people, I found that kids were not as receptive to the food as the adults. The kids where hesitant to eat a new concoction and preferred simple flavors that they were familiar with.

I learned this through cooking – most people learn it through parenting. I believe it takes being out on your own and cooking for yourself to truly appreciate fine cooking. Most kids just want to fill-up and go.

For this recipe, I keep things simple and make one of my all-time favorites – the very kid-friendly chicken tenders. I bread the tenders with panko bread crumbs which hail from Japan. They are small, crystal-like shards of bread that have tiny points that stick out in all directions. They provide an extra crunchy texture that is surprisingly lite. Most major grocery chains stock panko crumbs in the specialty food isle and I highly recommend them. They turn this child-friendly bite into a scrumptious feast for kids and adults alike.

BEHIND THIS BITE
I made these chicken tenders for a snack while I watched the Sunday slate of NFL games, I documented them, but I hadn't intended on using this recipe for the print version of my column. I soon changed my mind because I thought it would be a nice recipe for people running out of ideas to feed the kids while they were home on Holiday break. I decided to go with it. After I made the tenders originally, I stored the leftovers so that I could make a couple more recipes using the crispy chicken.

I made both the wrap and salad on the same afternoon. As usual, I took them to Mom and Dad for a taste test. They were going to go out to eat later, so I expected them to take a nibble just to try it. What I didn't expect was for Dad to eat the entire wrap and dinner salad before they went out to eat! I'm glad he enjoyed it but I was surprised that he devoured the entire spread! He's a big eater. I never thought of the crispy chicken wrap AND salad as an appetizer. They are, for most people, a sufficient Lunch or dinner - Separately.

BBQ Crispy Chicken Wrap

Printable version

What I love about this wrap is the barbecue sauce paired with the crispy chicken. Most of the time when I eat chicken and barbecue sauce combined, the chicken is grilled. The texture of the crunchy chicken is a nice change from the norm. The size and shape of the chicken tenders also made it natural to put these in a wrap rather than a sandwich.

I love the concept of the wrap.

It's like the American version of a burrito. I consider it a culinary present – you have to tear it open to find out what's inside. This can be equally fun and scary at the same time - especial when it is something your about to consume.

Crispy Chicken Salad

Printable version

My former girlfriend, Nicole, who I have mentioned here on my blog many times, thought it would be a good challenge for me to create a salad for one of my columns. I thought it would be a good challenge also, I just didn't have the right stuff to work with - Until now!

I love croutons on salad, the crispy chicken gives a similar crunch here and allows me a chance to use fried tortilla strips as well. I have always thought that tortilla strips and croutons together is almost a conflict of interest on a salad.

I'm glad I finally got to include an actual salad on this blog, it would have been nice to share with Nicole, but we have mutually (and peacefully) parted ways and live in different cities now. I do have to give her credit for the inspiration to this dish, one of the many things that she inspired in me. I dedicate this one to her!

Eat well, cook often ...

One of the Best Pork Chops You'll Ever Eat

My first experience using a brine resulted in the most delicious turkey I have ever eaten. My second experience was a culinary disaster.

I was at the family campground for a summer vacation from New York when I challenged my uncle to a pork loin throw down.

My uncle makes money on the side cooking pork for large parties with a giant cooker that he could tow to the Grand Canyon if he had to. He is a pork cooking samurai. I was not fazed by this. After all, I was the young blood in the family who was showing a lot of promise in the kitchen with the grilled pizzas and fresh herbs that my elders had been noticing.

My aunt had a whole loin thawing. I said let's brine it! She said no. My uncle would be cooking it in the roaster. This was where I got ahead of myself. I was still a couple of bits of knowledge away from really understanding how to experiment with food. But as any young and ambitious man would do, I decided to challenge a tribal elder. "Let's cut it in half. You take a piece and I'll take a piece. We'll serve it side by side tomorrow night at diner!" My uncle agreed.

The challenge was on.

My aunt gave me half and kept the other for my uncle. I proceeded to get a box of kosher salt and dump about 4 or 5 cups into a gallon of boiling water with some dried herbs. I let it cool completely, then submerged the pork for an all-night bath. I had visions of my family biting into succulent pieces of pork loin so tender and juicy that they thought they were biting into a rib eye at a high-end steakhouse.

The next morning, I removed the pork from the brine. I could tell right away there was something horrifically wrong. The salt hadn't created a surface barrier to lock juices in, it had cured the pork. It turned the entire chunk of meat into a salt-riddled mess. I had used about 10 times the amount of salt I needed for a brine. As I learned the hard way, the most important aspect of brining is the ratio of salt and/or sugar to water.

But I was determined. The show would go on!

Near dinner time, I took the pork from the fridge and sliced it into chops. I grilled them and served it along side my uncle's typical award-winning loin. The salt did me in. The final cooked product, which was grilled, was so salty that it was virtually inedible. I hadn't just served a lesser product in the competition.

I served a nightmare on a plate.

My relatives were polite and said things like. "It's different. I'm not sure if the brine really worked."

Hell no it didn't work! Two bites and you'd be dehydrated from the amount of salt in your body! I took my lumps. It was not my day for this round of culinary combat.

I would like to have a rematch sometime. My skills have matured and now I can actually serve up a mean pork loin, but for now my uncle still has the title.

THE COLUMN

In the paper these ran as two separate columns, both of which I was very proud of. The chops ran first and the next week were followed by the pasta salad. Space in print is limited and the meal had to be divided into two columns.

But the web presents a forum where space is unlimited!

For this post, I have created a visual recipe with no space limitations. It is a "poster" of the meal I intended to create. Instead of publishing my blog as individual blog post I redesigned and combined two columns as a "summer barbecue web exclusive." It just another adventure in the renegade world of being a visual food writer.

FINAL THOUGHTS

This piece has roughly 500 words and 19 photographs. I have been very pleased over the last year at how my style of visualizing a single recipe has evolved. Honestly, I'm stunned with how this turned out.The combination of two recipes that appear on a single plate takes the presentation to a new level. It's visualizing a meal – not just one tasty bite. I am going to start to model my column after this. I will keep featuring single recipes, I'm just going to do them in series like this that sometimes feature meals or spreads for a party. It seems to be the next logical step. ALONG with getting a book of my first 50 columns published, of course.

Eat well, cook often ...