Lisa is the author of the award-winning memoir, A Double Life: Discovering Motherhood, which was an National Book Critics Circle Top-10 Independent Press Pick for 2011. With Caroline, she's the co-founder of Learning to Eat and co-editor of The Cassoulet Saved our Marriage: True Tales of Food, Family, and How We Learn to Eat. She holds an MA in creative writing, a PhD in English and has taught literature and creative writing widely, most recently in the MFA Program at the University of San Francisco.
The salad on a stick was such a hit with everyone, and so easy and portable, I’ve been brainstorming variations. And what better place to test the concept and recipes than a Memorial Day get together with Caroline and her family, and our friend Nicki Richesin & her family. Nicki has just edited the terrific anthology Crush: 26 Real Life Tales of First Love, which you should put on the top of your summer reading list.
I made bite size versions of the salad-on-a-stick with toothpicks instead of skewers, and it turned out to be perfect party food. They were a big hit with the grown-ups, and some of the kids. But the kids were mostly busy with the zip line, which Tony re-created for the afternoon and kept all of them busy for, oh, 4 hours. So can you blame them for not eating very much while there were things to build and fly and crash?
We set the platters out on the deck for snackingwhile building, but we adults ate most of them. For two of the choices, I put a small slice of bread on the bottom to soak up the dipping sauce. It worked beautifully.
The choices:
Roasted Pepper + Manchego + Brown bread
Cherry tomato + basil leaf + mini-baguette slice, with olive oil + balsamic vinegar for dipping
I tried this recipe because in the middle of cooking a run-of-the-mill dinner for my kids last week, I got a text from a friend with a cooking question. I responded & asked what she was cooking. She told me she was trying to cook like Giada. I responded I wanted to look like Giada. That is not going to happen.
But the chicken did happen, in both our homes, and with good results. These are basically a version of chicken “nuggets” rolled in mixture of polenta and rosemary and sprinkled with lemon rosemary salt. They’re nicely crispy, great at room temperature, and appealing to kids without being too familiar. It’s a fast, good weeknight chicken recipe. Next time, I might experiment with baking these, since frying can be messy & I hate the clean up.
The kids liked it, the book club liked it, and we even liked it leftover as a little side dish of protein for a composed salad (with Boston lettuce, cilantro, cucumber with olive oil and white balsamic)
It was a busy week and I forgot to take a picture, but you can trust me that it’s an appealing looking dish. For the visual, today, in honor of Giada, here’s the closest thing I have a to a glamour shot, taken by the amazing Lisa Johnson, Rock Photographer, in case, you know, one of those glossy magazines comes calling.
But seriously folks, try the chicken. And be sure to make extra salt: it’s great on salads. Or popcorn.
Crispy Chicken with Rosemary-Lemon Salt
Vegetable oil for frying
Salt
1 (6-inch) sprig fresh rosemary
1/4 cup kosher salt
Zest of 1/2 large lemon
Chicken
1 pound chicken tenders, cut into 2-inch pieces
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 1/2 tablespoons chopped fresh rosemary leaves
Zest of 1/2 large lemon
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup fine cornmeal or instant polenta
For the salt: Heat 1/4-inch of oil in a large, high-sided skillet over medium-high heat (the oil is hot enough when a pinch of cornmeal sizzles when added to the pan). Add the rosemary sprig and fry for 30 seconds until crisp. Using tongs, remove the rosemary sprig and drain on paper towels. Remove the leaves and finely chop to yield 1 tablespoon. Place the rosemary, salt and lemon zest in a small bowl. Mix with a fork until combined. Set aside.
For the chicken: In a medium bowl, mix together the chicken, garlic, chopped rosemary, lemon zest, salt and pepper. Add the cornmeal and toss until the chicken is coated. Add 1/2 of the chicken to the same skillet used to cook the rosemary and fry for 2 to 3 minutes each side until golden and crispy. Drain on paper towels. Repeat with the remaining chicken. Sprinkle with the rosemary-lemon salt and serve.
I came across this recipe in Food and Wine this month, and since we eat a lot of eggs over here, and green beans are generally a hit, I thought what could be bad? It’s basically a tumbled togther mix of eggs, green beans, and herbs. Then I realized the very premise of the dish–all the foods touching each other could pose a problem. Finn tends not to like things mixed together. At least on the first appearance. But taken alone, the ingredients were a no brainer, and the dish had the added benefit of keeping at room temperature, and I figured I could make a version with the eggs separate for the kids, before mixing the ingredients together for us to eat later, which is exactly what I did. In the end, Ella requested an omelet, so I agreed to that variation too.
Version 1.0 & 1. 5
Version 2.0
In the end, both kids tasted Version 2.0 and agreed it was good, so the slow ramp up to the big dish was worth it. The consensus was that the original dish was excellent, if a bit too onion-y. You can see the original version here, but when I make it again I will modify it thusly:
1 pound green beans, cut into 2-inch pieces
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
5 large eggs, lightly beaten
Salt and freshly ground pepper
1 cup chopped cilantro, plus small sprigs for garnish (or try another leafy herb–like basil)
1 chopped green onion, green part included (optional)
1 garlic clove, minced
Cook green beans in boiling salted water until tender. About 6 minutes.
Melt butter in nonstick pan. Lightly scramble eggs. Season with salt and pepper.
Add the green beans, cilantro, green onion, and garlic.
Serve immediately or at room temperature, garnished with cilantro.
It’s a great summer dish–warm or at room temperature. An easy appetizer, or casual outdoor meal, or just when you need something quick and healthy and full of flavor.
With summer fair season coming up, and barbecues and neighborly dinners, I thought this would be a good time to share our latest favorite thing: salad on a stick. Another recipe straight out of last month’s Food and Wine, this one is endlessly adaptable, and it’s going to be a regular on our summer table. I served this first for dinner with the Pickled Shrimp, then brought another batch to book club. Both times it was a huge hit, probably because the only thing better than something on a stick is something on a stick with bacon. My kids would eat bacon everyday if they could.
The original recipe is a take on a classic wedge salad: iceberg, bacon, blue cheese. The technique is this: spear alternating bites of romaine lettuce and bacon onto a bamboo spear. Serve with homemade blue cheese dressing. These disappear fast–neither kids nor adult can’t resist. The only note of caution: don’t overcook the bacon. It needs to be slightly tender so it doesn’t crumble on the spear. I’ve learned to cook bacon in my oven: put cold bacon on a foil lined try into a cold oven. Turn to 350 degrees and bake for 12-17 minutes, until ends start to curl and bacon reaches desired cripsness.
Not surprsingly, blue cheese is not a big hit with the kids. So they used ranch dressing instead of blue cheese. But if you like blue cheese, try this recipe. It’s pretty great. Try it.
Also exciting: you can vary this recipe endlessly: use fresh Thousand Island dressing, cherry tomatoes, mini cucumber spears, green onions, mushrooms, peppers–anything you can put in a salad that you can spear is fair game for the skewer. Plus: these spears keep and travel beautifully, and there’s no need for forks.
Imagine the possibilities:
romaine,+ provolone + pepperoni + pepperoccini+ red pepper + red wine vinaigrette=classic Italian-American antipasto on a stick
Cherry tomatoes + mini-mozzerella balls + fresh basil leaves + balsamic vinagrette=Caprese on a stick
Celery + carrot + romaine or iceberg leaves + Thousand Island=crudite on a stick
Mozzarella +roasted red peppers + marinated artichokes
It’s no secret to readers here that I’ve been in a bit of a cooking slump. But as the weather changes, and my event schedule slows down a little, and the end of the school year approaching, things are getting a little jolt of renewed energy. I am still not over the loss of Gourmet, but I read the recent issue of Food and Wine with interest for the first time in months and months. And in it, I found this recipe for pickled shrimp, which called to me for some reason. I had a good bag of shrimp from Pietro, and all the ingredients, and took a deep breath, and made the new dish later that week.
However.
I forgot the part about it needing to chill for 8-10 hours, so I pulled together the Sundried Tomato Gnocchi, and we ate these shrimp the following night, as we watched Harry Potter, The Prisoner of Azkaban. So, while I had to make 2 things one night, I had nothing to do the following night, which was Friday, and who doesn’t want a no-cook dinner on Friday night? Also, once the shrimp are cleaned and peeled, this comes together in minutes. It’s really fast.
So, for lots of reasons, including how they taste, these are one of the best new things I’ve made in a long time. Ella liked them, Finn liked them less (a little too much heat) and they made the kitchen smell really delicious, tart and pickle-y. A lot like summer. I used a premade spinach dip, which sounds strange, but it cuts the heat, so I’d make sure to buy a good one or make the one in the recipe. If there are any leftover, I’m sure they’d be great on Day 2. Or for a picnic. Or an appetizer. However you use them, you won’t be sorry.
