Spinach, Basil, and Strawberry Salad

The local farmers' market started up last month and I have been getting a fair amount of my food there. Here is a salad that I tried the other day, using only locally-grown produce. In general I am not a big fan of the localvore movement. Back in the days that people had no choice but to buy food that was grown within a day's travel of where they lived people used to die of deficiency diseases. Today, thanks in part to long-distance transport, deficiency diseases are something that most of use never even think about, let alone have to worry about. But I digress. Here is the salad.

• Rinse and dry about 2 pounds of spinach. Tear into large bite-size pieces.
• Add a handful lemon basil leaves and a few purple basil leaves.
• Toss the leaves with about 1/3 cup vinaigrette.
• Mix in 1/3 cup fresh strawberry, cut in pieces.

Yummy Yummy Sandwich

I found an idea for a sandwich in a promotional calendar from my local grocery store. I eat a lot of sandwiches since they are about the only thing that I know how to make to put in my lunch bag for work, so I tend to get bored with my menu. When I saw this idea I decided to try it out. The first thing that I did was bake a loaf of bread. It was generic white bread except that I used half white flour and half semolina flour to insert a bit of variety into my life. Once the bread was made I made the sandwich by adding these ingredients onto a slice of the bread.

• guacamole, spread reasonably generously
• a couple of slices of smoked turkey
• a layer of spinach leaves
• a slice of havarti cheese
• a sprinkling of fresh chopped dill weed, not too much
• sliced cucumbers

That's it. I have been eating this for lunch all week, but now the turkey has run out so I need to think of something else for tomorrow's lunch.

Stir-Fried Tofu and Veggies

I was thinking about tofu the other day. Generally I do not like tofu very much. It feels slick when I eat it, and it has no taste. There is not much to like about tofu. To make matters worse there is a small sub-population of vegetarians who have a rather holier-than-thou attitude towards tofu. If I never see or eat it again I doubt that I will miss it.

That said, the other day I was thinking about tofu and what can be done with it, and I realized that there is one tofu meal that I quite enjoy. Here is the recipe. Adjust the quantities to suit the number of people whom you want to feed.

Heat some oil in a wok. Add several drops of sesame oil. Cut some extra-firm tofu into dice-sized cubes and stir-fry it in the oil. Add red pepper flakes. When the tofu starts to turn golden brown add some chopped kale and cook until it is nicely wilted. In a separate pan stir-fry your favourite stir-fry vegetables. I suggest carrots, onions, and broccoli. When both pans are cooked mix the two together and enjoy. Serve with soy sauce and a nice red wine (or even sake if you have any).

Fennel and Sausage Pasta

Last night I decided to try something new for dinner. So, I looked through my recipes for something that I have never made before, or more accurately, something that I could not remember ever making before, and settled on this. It was not that hard to make, and it goes well with a robust red wine.

• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1/2 lb sweet Italian sausage
• 1 med bulb fennel
• 1 med onion
• 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
• 1/2 lb ziti (or penne, or any other bite-sized pasta)
• 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese

1. Boil several cups of salted water.
2. Heat the olive oil in a large frying pan. Crumble the sausage meat into the pan and brown it.
3. Chop the fennel bulb into matchstick sized bits. Do not make the bits too large. Save the fronds and cut them into inch-long sprigs. Chop the onion into small pieces.
4. When the sausage meat is brown add the red pepper and onions and cook until they are translucent. Add the fennel and cook until it goes a bit soft.
5. Add 1 1/2 cups of the boiling salted water to the mixture and simmer for 10 minutes.
6. While the mixture is simmering cook the pasta until it is not quite al dente.
7. Add the pasta and fennel fronds to the sausage mixture and cook for a few minutes. Add a bit of the pasta water if the mixture starts to dry out.
8. When the pasta is al dente remove from the heat and add the cheese. Serve immediately.

This is a fairly hearty dish and should be eaten with a salad of some kind. It worked out fairly well for me, but the fennel was a bit undercooked. I probably should have cut it into smaller pieces. Also, it needed a bit of black pepper added while I was eating it. Joan said that it also needed a bit of salt, but I was happy without that.