Smashed Cucumber Salad

Smashed Cucumber Salad is a Chinese side dish, and I’ve adapted that dish into a recipe I can make any old day. The salad base is still just cucumber (a GREAT way to mix it up when you’re in a salad rut). But the dressing is the star: the perfect balance of salt, acid, and sweet. Rice vinegar, soy sauce, and honey come together and it just works. I haven’t yet watched Salt Fat Acid Heat (or read it), but that doesn’t mean I can’t appreciate a dish that balances all of it’s flavors well. What do you think — should I jump in and watch the show?

Smashed Cucumber Salad

Published April 2, 2019 by Caitlin Sherwood

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Serves: 6   |    Active Time: 50 minutes

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Ingredients:

2-3 english cucumbers 

Sprinkle of salt

3 tablespoons avocado oil or other neutral oil

1 clove garlic, minced

1/2 teaspoon red chili flakes 

1 teaspoon honey (or white sugar)

3 tablespoon rice vinegar

1 teaspoon ginger juice or minced ginger

1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil

1 tablespoon soy sauce 

Garnish: 1 tablespoon minced cilantro, 2-3 small sprigs of mint (optional), lime wedges (optional)

Directions:

1. Slice ends off of cucumber, and slice in half the long direction. Lay halved cucumbers seed-side down on a cutting board. Roll a rolling pin over cucumbers, smashing them just until the start to crack. Chop into bite-sized pieces.
2. Place cucumber in a bowl and generously sprinkle with salt. Set aside.
3. Place avocado oil, garlic and chili flakes in a small sauté pan and warm over medium heat until garlic begins to sizzle. Stir occasionally, and allow garlic to turn golden. Remove from heat.
4. In a jar, combine honey, rice vinegar, ginger juice, sesame oil, soy sauce, and the chili-garlic oil. Stir (or close jar and shake) to combine.
5. Toss cucumber in dressing. Top with minced cilantro, and optionally garnish with mint and lime wedges. Serve.

Pineapple Chipotle Chicken Fajita Bowls

Do you ever take a spring break, even though it’s not really built in to work-life? This last weekend we went climbing in New Mexico. I’ve been looking forward to the trip for weeks. Time in the desert is just the right kind of unplugging: no screens, no desk chairs. Just dust, dirt and the moon.

Last month, I started a Best Self Journal. Have you heard of it? It was recommended to me by co-workers as a journal that gets you into a journalling habit and also tracks you towards goals. The journal is a 13-week track, and one of my goals was to send three V6s outside. This trip was one of our first climbing trips this season, so was also a time for me to really dig my heels and focus. In the end, I did one V6 and even one V7 — exceeding my own expectations for the weekend! Maybe I needed a more aggressive goal since there are still 10 weeks left in my journal. Mostly, I think I just needed to believe I could do it.

This is where my mind has been: journalling, planning, climbing. Admittedly I’ve put less energy to cooking as of late, but that’s how life goes, ebbing and flowing. Between everything else going on, this chicken was a standout meal. The combination of pineapple and chipotle is sweet and spicy and grilling season is just starting to call (well-grilled chicken is SO juicy and satisfying).

Pineapple Chipotle Chicken Fajita Bowls

Published March 26, 2019 by Caitlin Sherwood

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Serves: 6   |    Active Time: 50 minutes

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Ingredients:

For marinade:

4 tablespoons adobo sauce from a from a can of chipotles in adobo 

2 tablespoons maple

4 garlic cloves, minced

1 teaspoon chili powder

1 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons olive oil

1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

1teaspoon dried oregano 

2 tablespoons lime juice 

To serve: 

1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts 

2 bell peppers, cut into strips 

3-4 slices of fresh pineapple

1 cup black beans (cooked)

1 cup corn (cooked)

1-2 cups rice (cooked)

Garnish: cilantro, sliced avocado, sliced jalapeño

Directions:

1. Marinate chicken: combine all ingredients for marinade in an air-tight container large enough to fit the chicken. Place chicken in marinade and turn to coat. Then, close container and marinate in refrigerator for 4-12 hours.
2. When ready to cook: light a grill with a medium-high flame, and allow grill to heat to 450-500°F. Place chicken on grill and cook, with grill lid closed, for 5 minutes without moving. Then, using tongs and/or a metal spatula, flip chicken. Brush chicken with remaining marinade. Cook on second side for 5 more minutes, or until chicken is cooked through and reaches an internal temperature of 165°F. Move chicken to a clean plate, and set aside.
3. Place pineapple and bell peppers on grill, turning after 3-4 minutes. Cook for 3-4 more minutes, and then remove from heat. Turn off grill.
4. In serving bowls, divide rice, corn, and beans. Add bell peppers and pineapple. Slice chicken and divide among bowls.
5. Garnish with cilantro, avocado, and sliced jalapeño to taste.

Roasted Eggplant with Charmoula Sauce

Last week, I told you all that I bought The Food of Morocco, and have been on a Moroccan food kick. The kick continues today… with this Roasted Eggplant with Charmoula Sauce. This blog post is really about the sauce, which you could use over fish, grilled meat, or roasted veggies (and don’t stop there). Or, eggplant.

It struck me, while I was adding all of the ingredients for this Charmoula to the blender, that it’s just like so many other herb-based sauces found around the world. It combines oil with an acid (lemon juice), garlic, salt, and pepper, and heaps of herbs. The process reminded me of making a South American Chimichurri, or the garlicky dipping oil used in Ecuador, or even pesto.

It is not so much their similarity that surprises me, but the idea that diverse people, strung out across the world, all arrived at a similar solution to saucing food. I’m not a historian, though a quick look at the Wiki history of Chimichurri sauce suggests it was brought over by Spanish immigrants. Were all of these sauces another way of making the flavors immigrants were familiar with in a new environment, with new ingredients? Perhaps. (I, by the way, adored this essay on how immigrants assimilate through food).

Roasted Eggplant with Charmoula Sauce

Published March 12, 2019 by Caitlin Sherwood

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Serves: 4   |    Active Time: 45 minutes

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Ingredients:

For the charmoula:

2 teaspoons ground cumin

3 cloves garlic

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1/2 teaspoon salt

Juice from 1 lemon

1/4 teaspoon ground paprika

Dash cayenne

1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

1/3 cup packed cilantro leaves

1/3 cup packed parsley leaves

For the eggplant:

2 eggplants

1/2-1 teaspoon salt

1/3 cup olive oil

For serving: 1/4 cup tahini

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 450°F.
2. Slice stem from eggplant and then cut into 1/2-inch thick rounds. Spread out on a baking sheet (or two) in a single layer. Sprinkle with salt, and allow eggplant to sit for 5-10 minutes. The salt with help reduce bitterness.
3. Brush eggplant with olive oil. Flip eggplant and brush the second side. Place in oven and bake 30-35 minutes, until eggplant is soft all the way through, and is golden/brown on the edges.
4. While eggplant cooks, combine all ingredients for charmoula in a food processor or blender, and pulse until a sauce forms. I like my sauce to still have some texture to it, so I stop before everything is puréed, but this is just my preference.
5. Serve: place roasted eggplant on a plate, and drizzle with several spoonfuls of charmoula and several spoonfuls of tahini. Eat warm.
6. Note: you will likely have leftover charmoula, which can be used as a sauce for fish, or grilled meats and vegetables.