May Cooking Adventures

Our theme:  Spring Salads and Vinaigrettes
Here are a few photos.  Check back for more soon!

It really felt like spring, so we started with some refreshing and cold cucumber water.

Julienne your vegetables and toss with a vinaigrette.

Sliced Radish Salad with a creamy Yogurt Dressing.

Croutons made with fresh goat cheese.

A Great presentation!

New Cooks in the Kitchen

Welcome to my kitchen!

 Recently I was invited to a home to cook with two young women who are relatively new to cooking.  This is one of my favorite groups to work with—young women who are starting families and want to learn how to feed them good, healthy meals.  This group has generally not been formally taught anything about cooking and may only know how to make “pre-packaged” meals:  tacos, macaroni and cheese, and Hamburger Helper for example, which are full of less than desirable ingredients

Sisters-in-law Ready to Cook for the Clan!

We talked over her goals:  she wanted to add to her basic repertoire of meals while making food that her husband and daughter would enjoy.  We came up with three different meals that would limit the number of ingredients to keep costs reasonable.  I assured her that each one would taste different from the next. 

I think chicken is so versatile that everyone should know how to make that into several different meals.  In this case, we started with boneless, skinless chicken breasts.  These don’t have a lot of flavor unless they are marinated, brined, stuffed or served with a pan sauce.  

 

Meal Number One:  Sauteed Chicken Breasts with a pan sauce, green salad and a whole grain pilaf. 

Sauteed Chicken Breasts. 

Meal Number two:  Stuffed Chicken Breasts, fresh vegetable and a whole grain side dish

Dishing up Stuffed Chicken Breasts.

We also experimented with some homemade vinaigrettes that can be used on green leafy salads, or with whole grain salads.  We used two different methods to make these, and put them on the same basic leafy greens and vegetables to discover how different flavors can be created without a lot of ingredients.   

Three different vinaigrettes used on three different salads.

We also cooked up extra chicken breasts for “leftovers Judy Style”.  This is my way to have something prepped for another meal so you cut down on your work load.  You will save on both washing up and cooking time. 

Two Formerly Hungry Men having enjoyed our Menu!  The food was consumed before we had a chance to take any photos!

Molly with the girls.

 

The “leftovers” can now be turned into a Main Course Salad:  slice up the chicken, add to salad greens, chop some celery, scallions and cherry tomatoes, grate some cheese, and make your vinaigrette.  Or make this leftover chicken into tacos; chop the chicken, shred lettuce, grate cheese, put it on a tortilla with salsa or guacamole, and eat!  Another option is to turn the chicken into a salad spread for sandwiches.  I can create so many possibilities from just having a little extra cooked chicken breast for another meal.

A final seal of Approval.

This was such a fun event for me--helping Andrea and Anna make a couple of delicious meals for their hungry group!

Finding a Home for Healthy Eating

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Recently I cooked for a group of realtors.  I wanted to show them what Now You’re Cooking! is all about, and I thought this would be a unique service that they could tell their clients about.  Who wouldn’t love a fun cooking session in their new home with Chef Judy?

Serving up lunch!

Anyone that I have worked with will know that I want to people to understand that delicious food can also be healthy food.  I am in love with whole grains and want to show others ways to make these into great tasting, and beautiful dishes that will be the stars on your table. 

Colorful fruits and vegetables with crunchy, nutty whole grains.

--> I put together a three grain combination of barley, wheat berries and wild rice because I love the contrast of textures, color and taste.  I wanted to keep this simple so I added some craisins, scallions, nuts, dried apricots, and roasted red pepper.  Just enough color to make this appealing to the eye and palate.  I made an Asian inspired Vinaigrette—using flavors of freshly grated ginger, sesame oil, orange juice, and good soy sauce—and tossed it all together.  


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To round out the plate, I wanted to show how easy it is to add a simple appetizer so I made a version of a caprese salad.  I used the small fresh mozzarella balls and cherry tomatoes.  Instead of using fresh basil leaves, I marinated the mozzarella in a good pesto, and then strung this together on a wooden skewer.   Isn’t this another beautiful presentation on a platter?

Arranging this on a platter is stunning too.

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Of course everyone loves a little dessert, and my take on that was to make a panna cotta, and top it with fresh strawberries, and a blackberry sauce.  Very simple but a nice taste of sweetness with a little serving of fresh fruit added.  No one feels cheated, and every item had its own delicious flavors to satisfy the senses.

The happy realtor!

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I would love to hear from you on how I can help you with your cooking challenges. 

Cooking Club

The April Cooking Club Theme was cooking and working with whole grains.  Many people are interested in changing to consuming more whole grains, but just aren’t sure how to go about it, and are unsure if they will like it.  The whole grains that most of us are familiar with are popcorn, sweet corn, rice, and oatmeal.  Nothing too scary there, right? 

Our group tackled some of the lesser known whole grains and preparations of them. 

Wild Rice, Barley and Wheat Berries.

The goal of the cooking club is to learn something, cook together and relax over the delicious meal we prepare together.  The focus is on Fun!  Most everyone who enjoys cooking misses out on making this into a social and educational venture, and that is exactly why cooking clubs are formed. 

Taste is Everything!

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What flavor combinations do you enjoy?  Do you notice that you order the same basic things over and over in restaurants?  Or do you like to mix it up all the time?  These behaviors are clues to the way that you want to cook also. 

--> I notice when I talk with people that they will have all sorts of preferences when they talk about what they want to eat, but then don’t know what they should make for dinner.  I might hear someone tell me about a particular meal they recently enjoyed at a restaurant, and it might be a very basic meal: roasted chicken, a cheeseburger, a meat loaf sandwich, a grilled or broiled piece of fish, etc.  Other times someone will tell me about a delicious spatch-cocked chicken from a particular restaurant, or a fabulous pasta made with fresh vegetables and a simple sauce.  These are things anyone can make from scratch with some simple instruction, and it will be healthier and tastier when you make it at home.  You can also make it to your own taste.  

Butternut Squash, Onions and Apples.  From this.....

To this!  Butternut Squash Soup.

A No-Recipe Salad: Part Two, or The Salad That Will Change Your Life!

If you read my last blog, and your life didn't change, read on.  This blog is intended to show you how versatile and liberating this no-recipe thing can be, and how easily you can create delicious whole grain salads that suit your taste buds.

Cook up some whole grains like this:

My favorite whole grain combination: wild rice, wheat berries, barley

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Divide this into equal portions in 4 separate bowls.  Each of these we will make into a different flavor, so although the background (whole grains) doesn't change, you will not feel that you are eating the same thing. To each bowl of whole grains, you can add an incredible variety of ingredients. 

My Most Requested Salad Recipe: also a Clean the Fridge Salad!

My Famous Salad without a Recipe!

One of the most wonderful things about this salad is that it uses up little bits of whatever you have on hand, thus you can clean your fridge with this one, and it won't taste even one little bit like leftovers!

Secondly, there isn't an official recipe so you can do this without a shopping list, and without a run to a grocery or specialty store. I make this salad at least once a week, although it is never the same twice, and it is something all members of this household love to find in the fridge whenever the hungries strike.  I have learned to make enough to last a few days for my household, but you will have to play around with this for your particulars.  It makes a great lunch to take to work also.

Some of the great tasting vegetables you can put into this salad.