Grilled Salmon Salad with Sweet Citrus Vinaigrette

Back in grade school, I won the perfect attendance award not one but two grades in a row. As a child I was blessed with a strong immune system and really never, ever got sick....except for the one time I faked it to skip school. Luckily I've stayed pretty healthy into adulthood and have never gotten the flu despite being too much of a wuss to willingly subject myself to a flu shot.

This year, fueled by the flu media frenzy, I lined up with the masses and sat down for my first ever flu shot. Good news: it didn't hurt. Bad news: I'm sick now. boo.

I don't blame the shot - I know its a killed virus vaccine but I can't help but wonder at the bad coincidence. Ho Hum.

What does this have to do with a salad you might ask? Well, I admit not much though I did search for a recipe containing oranges to get my ever important Vitamin C dosage for the day. Wives tale or not I still overdose on Vitamin C when not feeling up to my grade school glory days of health.

Beyond the Vitamin C, this salad is heart friendly and chock full of other goodies: omega-3 fatty acids & Vitamin D from salmon, beta carotene & Vitamin A from spinach, and heart healthy olive oil. The flavors came together quite nicely and after a meal like this, I hope my immune system will get a kick in the right direction!

Grilled Salmon and Spinach Salad with Sweet Citrus Vinaigrette
Cooking Light

Sweet Citrus Vinaigrette:
1/4 cup fresh orange juice
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
1/2 teaspoon honey mustard
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1 garlic clove, minced

Salad:
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
4 (6-ounce) salmon fillets
2 teaspoons black pepper
Cooking spray
1 package fresh spinach
4 oranges, each peeled and cut into 6 slices

1. Preheat the grill to medium-high heat.

2. To prepare vinaigrette, combine first vinaigrette ingredients in a large bowl and stir well with a whisk.

3. Drizzle lemon juice over salmon fillets; sprinkle with black pepper. Place fillets, skin sides up, on a grill rack coated with cooking spray; grill 5 minutes on each side or until fish flakes easily when tested with a fork or until desired degree of doneness. Remove skin from fillets; discard.

4. Toss spinach with vinaigrette to taste. Add spinach and oranges and serve immediately.

Strawberry Spinach Salad with Feta and Caramelized Onions

As summer comes to a close, I find myself wondering "how'd it get so freakin' hot here?!" San Diego, land of mild climes has become a perpetual hot box. Needless to say I haven't embraced any reunions with the kitchen. I dared to turn on the oven a few days ago and we paid the price after two consecutively sticky days.



While I will always be someone who just loves steamin hot food, salads have never seemed more appetizing. This is one of my favorites with you guessed it, feta cheese! (sorry Brittwilk!) Toss a few summer ripe strawberries with chopped spinach, feta, grilled asparagus and caramelized onions and you have yourself a cool meal that won't leave you sweating! We tried this with a little bit of Annie's Natural Shiitake & Sesame Vinaigrette.

Hope you all have a great weekend and a happy Labor(less) day! I'll leave you with a recent picture of our big puppy, Sadie, taken on a hike this morning. She looks happy, huh? That's because we're in the shade! :)



Strawberry Salad
recipe by hubby

1 small red onion, sliced
1 bunch of asparagus, cut into bite sized pieces
1 bag of baby spinach, coarsely chopped
1 pint of strawberries, sliced
1 small package of reduced fat crumbled feta (about 3oz)

1. Coat large nonstick skillet with cooking spray over medium heat. Slowly saute red onion slices until caramelized, about 20 minutes. Add asparagus and saute lightly. Remove from heat and allow to cool.

2. In a large bowl, toss chopped spinach, feta cheese, and strawberries. Add cooled veggies and toss with your favorite dressing.

Cornmeal Crusted Mango Salmon

After a combined 18 hours of travel, we've managed to sit in 6 planes, bum around the airport for 8 hours, sit in 1 "Chili's Too" and have miraculously returned from West Palm Beach in one piece. I must say that I did pass out last night at 8pm, and didn't wake up this morning until well after my alarm went off, but it was definitely worth it. A best friend of mine just got married at an absolutely fabulous place, The Sundy House. If you're looking to get married in Florida, this is the place! We were surrounded by palm trees, cute fish ponds and a very romantic, tropical setting.

Unlike many wedding receptions, the food was absolutely wonderful. I chose the light Florida grouper entree which was served with.....coconut sweet mashed potatoes! I must try to make this soon.

Though I live in sunny San Diego, Florida just seems more tropical to me. Perhaps it's the balmy temperatures or the ritzy beachside mansions. Or all the Floridians who look a little like this...


In any case, all this tropicalness reminded me of a mango salmon dish I made awhile back. It's a perfect summery dish that can be served in the doldrums of winter to remind you of sunshine and vacation.
Check out Meeta's Monthly Mingle - Caribbean Cooking - for more tropical delights!

Cornmeal Crusted Mango Salmon
courtesy of Sunny Anderson

1 cup mango nectar
1 large mango, diced
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup cornmeal
2 teaspoons sugar
1 teaspoon salt
4 (6-ounce) center-cut salmon fillets with skin
Freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon butter

1. In a small saucepan over high heat, bring mango nectar and mango to a boil. As mango begins to break down, press down on it with a fork or potato masher, to mash it. Continue cooking until mango cooks down to form a chunky puree, about 15 minutes. Remove half to serve as a sauce. Set the other half aside for dredging.

2. On a large plate, mix together flour, cornmeal, sugar and salt.

3. Preheat a large skillet. Season salmon with salt and freshly ground black pepper (and a touch of cayenne if you're feeling crazy). Brush glaze over top of salmon, then dredge in cornmeal mixture. I covered the sides of the salmon with the cornmeal mix. Add oil and butter to skillet. Over high heat, sear salmon cornmeal mixture face down until golden, about 6 to 8 minutes for medium rare, flipping halfway through to crisp skin. If you cover all sides with the breading, lightly sear each side until the coating is crisp.

4. Drizzle mango sauce on salmon and serve immediately.

Baked Costa Rican Style Tilapia with Tropical Pineapple Rice

What to do now?

After a greuling year of campaigns, political controversy and economic despair our country is left with hope and the promise of a new day. We've lived and breathed this monumental, historic race and now new & old political junkies everywhere are left with a politics hangover. For months, I have replaced my usual web browsing with an ardent obsession with political blogs.

Where I once read perezhilton.com with my morning cup of coffee, I found myself typing poltico.com into my browser first thing each morning. I sat glued to CNN, waiting and watching to see what would happen next. The long, hard fight is not over for President-Elect Barack Obama but now that the election is over, what do I do?

Cook and bake! Now that I can pull myself away from CNN, I'll be spending more time in the kitchen. For those still glued to see what unfolds next for our new President, here's a quick and easy meal to throw together. Keep me up to date. I need a break. Here's some photos pre-oven:

I first saw this recipe for Baked Costa Rican Style Tilapia with Pineapple Black Bean Rice on Simply Delicioso, Ingrid Hoffman's cooking show. It was the first episode of hers that I'd ever seen, but I instantly knew I needed to make this tropical fish. As the name spells out, tilapia is baked with a delightfully sweet and spicy rice accented by pineapples, salsa and black beans. Pop it all in the oven and you're left with a sophisticated, yet delicious and healthy meal.

I loved the rice so much that I'd definitely consider making rice this way again to serve with other meals though next time, I'd drain some of the excess liquid from the rice, pineapple and salsa mixture before baking. If you decide to cook this, I'd make sure to chop up the pineapple very finely and use a tasty salsa with a lot of spice! I was lucky to have a jar of homemade salsa on hand thanks to a lovely gift so the salsa added a lot of good flavor.

Baked Costa Rican Style Tilapia with Tropical Rice
Adapted from Ingrid Hoffman
1 cup short grain brown rice
2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
1/4 cup freshly squeezed orange juice (I used orange pineapple mango juice)
1 lime, juiced
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/4 cup finely chopped fresh cilantro, plus more for garnish
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon sugar
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
4 tilapia fillets, rinsed and patted dry
2 cups homemade salsa
1 (15-ounce) can black beans, drained and rinsed
2 cups diced fresh pineapple
2 limes, thinly sliced

Directions

Combine the rice, chicken broth and a dash of salt in a pot over medium heat and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low, cover, and simmer for about 50 minutes. Remove from heat and keep covered for 10 minutes. Fluff with a fork. If using white rice, follow package directions.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

In a mixing bowl, whisk together the orange juice, lime juice, oil, 2 tablespoons of cilantro, the garlic, and sugar; season with salt and pepper. Add the tilapia fillets to the marinade, turning to coat. Marinate in the refrigerator for 20 minutes, turning occasionally.

Stir together the cooked rice, salsa, beans, pineapple, and remaining 2 tablespoons of the cilantro in a 2 or 3-quart baking dish. If there is a lot of liquid, drain some since you'll be adding the marinade. Remove the tilapia from the marinade, reserve the marinade, and lay the fish fillets over the rice mixture, overlapping if necessary. Pour the reserved marinade over the fish. Shingle the lime slices over the fish. Bake until the fish flakes easily, is opaque, and cooked through, 25 to 30 minutes. Garnish with chopped cilantro before serving.

Autumn Apple Cake and Last Night's Dinner

It's Tuesday and I've remained grocery store visit free for the week. Seriously, I feel like I'm part of a grocery-store-a-holics anonymous program. My wallet feels fatter, our pantry less cluttered, and our nights free of the "what's for dinner?" debate that so many of you share.

{If only solving our economy's woes were as easy as meal planning.} *sigh*

Here's a recap of this week's meals:

• Sunday - Creamy Seafood Risotto see post below
  
• Monday - Asian Stir Fry (usually made on the go, sans recipes)

• Tuesday - Italian Goat Cheese Fritatta post to come
• Wednesday - leftovers may end up cooking. We eat too much & don't have leftovers
  
• Thursday - Jamie Oliver's le migliori polpette di tonno, the best tuna meatballs
• Friday - eat out downtown
  
• Saturday - I can't plan that far ahead

The stir fry came together very quickly and it's always one of my favorites to start off a week. Like I mentioned I don't really use a recipe so it comes out a little differently each time. I used shrimp, chicken, zucchini, broccoli, snow peas and cold Jasmine rice seasoned with soy sauce, oyster sauce and kecap manis. Throw it all together in a wok and taste as you go!

So as not to leaving you hanging sans recipe today, I also made an (unplanned) Autumn Apple Cake that required no additional trips to the store. Chock full of raisins (I added extra) and fall's favorite fruit, apples, this cake is tender, sweet and perfect for the fall.


Like Grace, I have a slight obsession with cinnamon and tripled the amount of called for in the original. Do it. Don't be afraid.

It's delicious! As usual, hubby and I scarfed this down way to fast. Good thing we're active people.

For those of you who mentioned you've been meal planning forever, kudos! I admire your organization and discipline.

For those of you who like to live by the seat of your pants, I'm enjoying my brief grocery store respite, but I'm sure I'll be with you in no time. I just feel so organized. That in itself will probably end this streak.

I suppose meal planning is as difficult as solving our economy woes.

Autumn Apple Cake
adapted from Cooking Light

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
3/4 cup granulated sugar (use baker's sugar if you have it on hand)
5 tablespoons butter, softened
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 large egg
1/2 cup milk
1 1/4 cup finely chopped and peeled sweet apple (about 1 large Gala or Pink Lady)
3/4 cup raisins
1 teaspoon powdered sugar

1. Preheat oven to 350
2. Coat a 9 inch round cake pan with cooking spray. Dust with flour and shake to coat evenly.
3. Spoon and level flour into measuring cups. In a small bowl, combine flour, baking powder, salt and cinnamon with a whisk.
4. Place softened butter and granulated sugar in a mixing bowl and beat until well blended. Beat in vanilla and egg.
5. Beat in flour mixture alternately with milk, beginning and ending with flour.
6. Fold in apple and raisins
7. Pour batter into pan and bake at 350 for 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
8. Cool 10 min on a wire rack. Carefully remove from pan and sprinkle with powdered sugar once cool.

A Lemony Blueberry Vegan Treat

When hubby and I embarked on our vegetarian experiment a few months ago, I was absolutely amazed by the number of quality vegetarian and vegan blogs, recipes, and guides available on the web. Oh, about 15 years ago I'll go out on a limb and say that at least 20% of the population thought Vegans were part of a freaky New Age religion led by PeeWee Herman.

These days, fabulous blogs like the Veggiegirl and Susan's Fatfree Vegan Kitchen have been convincing carnivores like hubby and omnivores like me :) that there is life beyond meat. During our veggie days, I found a lot of inspiration from both those blogs, amazed at the delicious creations I thought vegans only pined for.

Though that part of our lives is over, I've had Susan's Blueberry Oat Bar recipe bookmarked, just waiting for the appearance of juicy and plump blueberries to show up in the markets. Mostly, I have been eager to answer life's most important question: can baked goods truly be delicious without eggs, butter, white sugar...or even flour for that matter? Though I attempt to curb my consumption of the aforementioned ingredients, to me they're the heart and soul of baked goods. Take them away and what are you left with?


Blueberry goodness, I guess. For starters, this recipe uses Agave Nectar Syrup, an all-natural sweetner. No high fructose corn syrup or refined sugars here! Rolled oats are blended into a fine powder and moistened with unsweetened apple sauce along with some other goodies. Fresh blueberries cook in an agave sweetened syrup that makes the house smell absurdly good.

I tried to stay as true as possible to Susan's recipe, lest I make anything un-vegan. I added extra cinnamon, lemon zest, a bit more agave nectar, and a sprinkling of brown sugar over the topping. Well, I managed to do all this and then bastardized half of the bars by throwing a few (non-vegan) white chocolate chips I found in the pantry. Oops. It was only half. Forgive me.


These bars were exceptionally good. I will admit that they do lack the crumbly, rich goodness of a butter based crumb. However, if you eat these without expectation of what the bars should taste like, they are marvelously delicious on their own. I've been eating them cold out of the refrigerator, and cannot believe how many I've already gone through. Yum! Thanks for the great & healthy recipe, Susan!

Original recipe here from Fat Free Vegan Kitchen.

Lemony Blueberry Oat Bars
Adapted from Fat Free Vegan Kitchen
1 pint fresh blueberries (I ended up adding about 1/4 cup more)
zest from one lemon
1/3 cup agave nectar
1/4 cup apple juice
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
2 tablespoons cornstarch mixed with enough water or juice to form a smooth paste

3 cups rolled oats
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup (6 ounces) unsweetened applesauce
6 tablespoons (3/8 cup) agave nectar
6 tablespoons (3/8 cup) water
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup white chocolate chips (optional)

Preheat oven to 375F. Grease an 8x8-inch baking dish.

1. In a small saucepan, combine the lemon zest, blueberries, agave nectar, and apple juice. Bring mixture to a boil over medium-high heat. Once boiling, add vanilla and cornstarch mixture, stirring until mixture returns to a boil and thickens. Remove from heat and set aside.

2. Put 1 1/2 cups of the oats into a blender or food processor and grind to a medium fine powder (I kept mine with a little texture). Pour into a medium-sized mixing bowl and add the remaining oats, cinnamon, baking powder, and salt. Mix well. Stir in the apple sauce, agave nectar, water, and vanilla, and mix well.

3. Spread half of the batter into the prepared pan, smoothing well to cover the bottom of the pan. Spoon the blueberry filling over the batter, and spoon the remaining batter over the blueberries. Sprinkle with brown sugar and chocolate chips.

4. Bake for 30 minutes, or until the top is lightly browned. Allow to cool before cutting into bars.

Blueberry Dishwasher Muffins

Don't Blink....


Yes, you really are seeing blueberry muffins in a dishwasher. See, I mentioned in my last post that I've been spending time in DC. I suppose what I didn't explain is that I'm visiting DC while hubby is working here for the summer and subletting a studio apartment from a college student...

Now, think back on your college days. I don't know about you, but my most sophisticated kitchen tool in college was probably the hand held mixer my mom told me I'd absolutely need one day. She received the mixer as a gift when she got married. Not to date my lovely mom, but that was a long time ago. That thing was ancient.

Now, just imagine the tools I'm dealing with in this college kitchen. Living here has been quite the adventure. There are no mixing bowls, 1-2 pots, no baking dishes (except for a crusty muffin pan), and not even an ancient hand held mixer in sight. I've become creative as of late, using a huge stock pot to mix the dry ingredients and Tupperware to mix the wet ingredients for these muffins.

Of course, when it came time to cooling the muffins, I improvised and used the dishwasher racks. Don't worry, they were clean.
In any case, I made two batches of muffins: one using sour cream, the other using a mixture of sour cream and blueberry yogurt and a spritz of lemon zest. I also experimented with adding a brown sugar cinnamon streusel to the tops of some. The verdict in this 2-people-living-in-a stuido-with-no-kitchen-tools household? The blueberry yogurt & sour cream muffins with streusel topping were the best. They also came out a bit darker than the ones pictured above.

Oh, and if you were wondering. I caved. It may be too hot to cook, but its never too hot for blueberry muffins. Living in a studio will remind you to use the oven sparingly, though.

For those of you slumming it like me, this recipe requires no ancient hand mixer. Lucky you!

Best Blueberry Yogurt Muffins

2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon table salt
1 large egg
1 cup granulated sugar (7 ounces)
4 tablespoons unsalted butter , melted and cooled
3/4 cup sour cream
6 oz container of blueberry yogurt
1 1/4 cups blueberries
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon lemon zest

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Spray muffin tin with nonstick cooking spray.

2. Whisk flour, baking powder, and salt in medium bowl (or huge stock pot if you have to!) until combined. Whisk egg in second medium bowl (aka Tupperware) until well-combined and light-colored, about 20 seconds. Add sugar and whisk vigorously until thick; add melted butter in batches, whisking to combine after each addition. Add sour cream and yogurt in batches, whisking just until combined. Stir in lemon zest.

3. Add blueberries to dry ingredients and gently toss to combine. Add sour cream mixture and fold with rubber spatula until batter comes together and berries are evenly distributed, 25 to 30 seconds (small spots of flour may remain and batter will be thick). Do not overmix.

4. Use ice cream scoop or large spoon to drop batter into greased muffin tin. Bake until light golden brown and toothpick or skewer inserted into center of muffin comes out clean, 25 to 30 minutes, rotating pan from front to back halfway through baking time. Invert muffins onto wire rack, stand muffins upright, and cool 5 minutes.

Runner up Blueberry Muffins
source: He who must not be named.

If you are curious, read a little more here.

Check out the Weekend Breakfast Blogging Roundup at Monsoon Spice featuring summer fruits & veggies!

Too Hot to Cook?

It's officially blazing...Summertime is in full effect! I've been spending some quality time in our nation's capital and the humidity here is slowly killing me. The cool summer breezes of San Diego feel like a distant, fond memory and I'm beginning to have dreams that I'm trapped in a sauna. Have you ever seen the movie A Time To Kill where Ashley Judd spends a considerable amount of the movie sweating? Well, that's me but I don't quite pull off the sexy sweaty look as well as Ashley.


This past weekend, a quick jog through the park turned into a sweaty, cardio attack on my body. I say 'attack' as the combination of steep hills, blazing sunshine and opressive humidity made my body think that I was launching an assault on myself. Though I consider myself to be in fairly good shape, I suppose I'm not in DC shape. Though I used to easily run 5-6 miles a day, somehow I can barely eek out about 4 these days.

Alright, enough crying & complaining for now. For those of you who are equally trapped in miserable heat, here's a quick & refreshing side dish that I've begun to enjoy for lunch. It's quite a nutritional powerhouse and I am happy to report that you won't break into a sweat while making this Mango & Black Bean Salad. This also pairs well with fish and shrimp dishes if you're brave enough to turn on your stove or oven!

Because this is a healthy little treat, I'm submitting this to Cate's ARF/5-A-Day roundup at her lovely site, Sweetnicks. Check out her roundup every Tuesday for some healthy inspiration.

Beat the Heat Mango & Black Bean Salad
Adapted from Cooking Light
1 1/2 cups chopped, ripe mango
1/2 cup cooked wild rice
3 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
2 tablespoons fresh salsa (I used peach mango salsa)
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
3/4 teaspoon Kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/8 teaspoon red pepper flakes (use more if you like heat)
1 15 oz. can black beans, drained & rinsed

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl. Toss gently to mix.

Print the recipe here:

Mango Crab Salad Wonton Cups (baked & healthy!)

Wife's day off!

I was treated to an absolutely wonderful lunch, courtesy of hubby. It's not often that he gets down and dirty in the kitchen, but when he does, I'm not disappointed. These delightful & crunchy cups pack a flavorful punch: wonton skins are baked in mini muffin tins and filled with a delicious salad of crab, mango, celery, wonton and scallions.

Though the original recipe calls for jumbo lump crabmeat, we did a few quick calculations at the grocery. Splurge on yummy looking crab OR fill our empty gas tank with oh, about 3.5 gallons of gas? Next time, we'll make sure not to drive on empty and go with the lump crab meat as we imagine they'd make this already yummy recipe that much better.

The baked Mango Crab Salad Wontons are courtesy of an Ellie Krieger recipe from her new book, The Food You Crave: Luscious Recipes for a Healthy Life. While I'd sometimes like to give Ellie a swift slap to wake her out of her monotone voice coma, I really do enjoy her recipes. We've had great success with all the ones we have tried so far, and I hope to post more soon. In the meantime, enjoy & have a wonderful weekend. Thanks, hubby for a delicious lunch

Oh, I suppose I should provide an update as well. Our little vegetarian experiment is over. It all ended with a tofu curry dish that may have sent hubby over the edge (a little tofu overload). It was fun while it lasted! :)

Because this dish relies on mango for a sweet contrast to the crab salad, I'm entering it into Meeta's Monthly Mingle which is Mango Mania this month. Visit What's For Lunch, Honey? for more details.

Mango Crab Salad Wonton Cups
Courtesy of Ellie Krieger

For the Wonton Cups:
Cooking spray
18 wonton wrappers, thawed if frozen (we used potsticker wrappers)
2 teaspoons canola oil
1/4 teaspoon salt
For the dressing:
1 teaspoon lime zest
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
1/4 teaspoons salt
1/8 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon dried hot red pepper flakes
2 tablespoons olive oil
For the salad:
1/2 pound lump crabmeat, picked over (we used flaked crab but I suggest trying with lump)
1 stalk celery, finely diced (we omitted the celery)
1/2 cup finely diced mango
1/4 cup thinly sliced scallions
2 tablespoons coarsely chopped fresh cilantro leaves
Sweet Chili Sauce (optional)

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Spray 2 mini-muffin tins with cooking spray.
Brush the wonton wrappers with oil, and place each wrapper into a section of a mini-muffin tin. Gently press each wrapper into the tin and arrange so that it forms a cup shape. The wrapper will overlap itself and stick up out of the cup. Sprinkle with salt and bake for 8 to 10 minutes, until browned and crisp. Remove from the tin and allow wrappers to cool.

Meanwhile whisk together the zest, lime juice, salt, pepper, and pepper flakes. Add the oil and whisk until well combined.

In a medium bowl, toss together the crabmeat, celery, mango, scallion and cilantro. Add dressing and toss to combine. Fill each cup with the crab salad. Top with a dollop of sweet chili sauce if you like!

Strawberry Lemon German Pancake

One of my favorite childhood memories is the day my Father tried to make breakfast for the family. We had a very traditional household; Mom ruled the kitchen and Dad usually only entered to help clean dishes. I'm not even sure if he could tell you the difference between a spatula and a whisk. If you can only imagine, the outcome was a disaster. One pancake batch was burnt, the other underdone. My brother and I had many a laugh watching our Dad bumble around and delivering the flattest, ugliest pancakes you've ever seen to the breakfast table.

Though I'd consider myself fairly skilled in the kitchen, I've never been able to master fluffy perfectly uniform pancakes like these beauties from Recipe Girl. The talent has somehow eluded me, though perhaps it could be genetic? I've been tempted on more than one occasion and infomercial to buy the Perfect Pancake Maker, though my kitchen really can't handle one more kitchen gadget .

This morning, I had an "a-ha" moment and decided to make a German Pancake, a one "pot" wonder, that's sometimes also referred to as a Dutch Baby Pancake. No guesswork or constant pancake flipping needed here! The texture is a little different than a 'normal' pancake, as the German guy is a little more part crepe, part pancake. Having had these decadent babies in pancake houses, I was surprised at the ingredient list and the simplicity of the recipe. I found some tips on the Seattle News Food & Wine website and from there combined several recipes to create this delicious breakfast.

After the batter is combined in a blender, its placed in a hot cast iron skillet coated with melted butter.

The pancake is immediately placed back into the oven and allowed to baked until golden and puffs up quite beautifully:

After its pulled out of the oven, the pancake deflates a little and is ready for the topping of your choice. Since strawberries are in season here, I sprinkled ours with strawberries and some extra blackberries we had in the house. Feel free to substitute sauteed cinnamon apples, chocolate chips or raspberries. The pancake is slightly sweet and spiced with cinnamon and cardamom. Depending on how sweet you like yours, warm maple syrup drizzled atop the slices is absolutely divine.

Strawberry Lemon German Pancake
Adapted from King Arthur Flour recipes
2 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon cardamom
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
1/2 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon lemon zest (optional)
2 large eggs
juice of half a lemon
2 tablespoons (1/2 ounce) confectioners’ sugar
maple syrup, optional

Quart of strawberries
1 teaspoon of sugar
spritz of lemon juice
Makes 4 servings for 4 normal people or 2 servings for ravenous couples (us)

Preheat the oven to 425°F.
Melt the butter in an 11-12" cast iron skillet. If you don't have a cast iron skillet, substitute an oven proof skillet. Place a pat of butter onto the skillet and place into the preheated oven.
In a blender, quickly combine the eggs until golden and frothy. Remove the blender cap and stream in milk, followed by the flour, salt, cinnamon, cardamom, sugar, milk, vanilla, and lemon zest until mixture is smooth.
Once butter is sizzling,remove from oven and with a potholder, swirl the butter around the pan to make sure its coated. Pour the batter into the pan and return to oven immediately. Bake the pancake for 18 to 20 minutes, or until it’s very puffy and golden.

While the pancake is baking, hull and slice strawberries into a bowl. Sprinkle strawberries with lemon juice and a teaspoon of sugar. Toss to combine.

Remove it from the oven, and sprinkle with the lemon juice, then the powdered sugar. Cut in squares, and serve immediately, garnished with the strawberries, or the topping of your choice. Drizzle with maple syrup.

Check out Nutriferia for a Berrylicious roundup.

Mango and Black Bean Salad with Sesame Shrimp...and some Kitchen Mistakes

Many great things in life have been created by mistake or unintentionally. Take the potato chip, for example. Legend has it that potato chip inventor, George Crum, was a chef at the Moon Lake Lodge in Saratoga Springs, New York. One diner complained that Crum's French fries were too thick for his liking and sent the fries back. Out of spite, Crum decided to irritate the guest by producing fries too thin and crisp to skewer with a fork. The plan backfired as the guest loved them and other diners began requesting Crum's potato chips.

Other unintentional creations? Ice cream cones, chocolate chip cookies, gooey butter cake, and yes, even America's favorite: Viagra.

Where am I going with this? Well, if you can only imagine, I recently botched a recipe as a result of a 'cut and paste error.' You see, I usually bring my laptop into the kitchen with me, but after one too many spills, errant crumbs, and sticky fingers, I've decided to start jotting recipes down or printing them out, lest I lose my laptop to grease splatter. After realizing that I used the salad dressing ingredients for the shrimp marinade, I figured it was too late and continued on anyway. Like many great inventors, I found my creation to be a delight anyway. BTW, this is tongue and cheek- I obviously don't consider myself to be the great George Crum's protege :)

The following recipe for Mango Black Bean Salad with Sesame Shrimp is a perfect dish for the summertime. It's light and refreshing, with a sweet and spicy zing added by lime, sugar and red pepper flakes. I added a little corn for extra color, and extra cilantro because I love it so much. Hubby suggested trying the dish with avocados next time, so if you have some on hand, give it a whirl.

Oh, and if you make this dish, you'll of course notice the ingredients for the shrimp marinade are the same as the dressing ingredients...therein lies my mistake :) Though the end result was tasty shrimp, it may be just as easy to simply season and marinade the shrimp with some olive oil, garlic & salt and pepper.

Mango Black Bean Salad with Sesame Shrimp
4 servings

Shrimp Marinade

1 pound large shrimp, peeled and deveined (I used less, but only because I ran out!)
1/2 teaspoon fish sauce
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon fresh ginger, minced
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes (adjust according to desired heat level)
1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
1 teaspoon sesame seeds
2 teaspoons olive oil for

Salad
1 can (15 oz) black beans, rinsed and drained
1/2 large cucumber peeled, seeded and cut into chunks
1 small-medium mango peeled, and cut into chunks
1/2 cup corn (fresh or frozen - thawed)
1-2 green onion stalks, thinly sliced
2 tablespoons sesame seed, for garnish

Dressing
juice from one lime
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons (or 6 tablespoons) rice vinegar
1/2 teaspoon sesame oil
1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil
1/2 teaspoon fish sauce
1 1/2 teaspoons sugar
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes (adjust according to desired heat level...remember, you can always add more later!)
1/4 cup cilantro, chopped
1 teaspoon fresh ginger, minced

1. In a medium bowl, combine shrimp, fish sauce, sesame oil, sugar, ginger, red pepper flakes, garlic and sesame seeds. Cover and place shrimp in refrigerator until ready to cook, up to 2 hours.

2. In a small bowl, create the dressing by whisking together lime juice, rice wine vinegar, sesame oil, olive oil, fish sauce, sugar, red pepper flakes and ginger.

3. In a separate large bowl, combine black beans, cucumber, mango, corn, green onions and cilantro. Pour dressing over mixture, toss to coat well, and set aside.

4. In a nonstick skillet, heat 2 teaspoons olive oil over medium heat. Saute shrimp until cooked thoroughly, turning once, about 2-3 minutes. Top the salad with the sauteed shrimp, sprinkle with sesame seeds and enjoy.