Tuna Fish Salad

This spring I was reminded of a funny fact about Michael that I had forgotten:  that although he dislikes most all seafood, he likes tuna fish salad sandwiches.  So I thought it was worth a try to figure out how to make them.  Personally, I've never preferred tuna fish salad, but I thought that if I could doctor it up with enough other flavors and textures, then maybe I would like it, too.  After some experimenting, I've come up with a recipe that not only Michael and I enjoy, but Sabrina as well.  Besides the flavor, another thing that I've come to appreciate about tuna fish salad sandwiches is how easy they are to make.  Especially on these 90-degree days, it's so nice to have something to make for dinner that doesn't require turning on the oven, stove, or anything else that might make the house even hotter than it already is.  Just mix, chill, and serve.

Tuna Fish Salad
makes enough for several sandwiches

Ingredients:

• 1/3 cup + 1 Tbsp. Hellmann's Real mayonnaise
• 1/2 tsp. lemon juice
• 1/4 tsp. black pepper
• 1/8 tsp. onion powder
• 1/8 tsp. garlic powder
• 1 5-oz. can of tuna in olive oil.  (The ingredients should include just tuna, olive oil, and salt.)  Avoid the tuna in water or vegetable oil because they almost always contain corn products. 
• 1/4 to 1/2 cup finely chopped yellow onion (1 small onion)
• 1/2 cup finely chopped celery (about 2 medium stalks)
• 1/4 cup finely chopped dill pickle
• 2 Tbsp. finely chopped fresh parsley (optional)

Instructions:

In a medium bowl stir together the mayonnaise, lemon juice, pepper, onion powder, and garlic powder.  Over the sink, squeeze the tuna in the can to drain most of the olive oil.  Then transfer the tuna to the bowl. Finely chop the onion, celery, pickle, and parsley, and add to the bowl.  Stir well to combine.  For best taste, chill in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes.  Or if you're running late making dinner like I am sometimes, serve immediately.

Honey Mustard Sauce

I have always liked mustard, and I especially love honey mustard sauce. Sabrina takes after me and usually asks for mustard. Michael, on the other hand, is more of a ketchup person. And Naomi, who at least in this case is more European in her preferences, loves mayonnaise. Yup, she likes to put mayonnaise on her hot dog, hamburger, and French fries. She reminds me of my time in Germany, where I first encountered people dipping their French fries into mayonnaise.  But I am just thrilled that I have discovered the recipe for honey mustard sauce, so now I don't have to think wistfully back to the stops that we would make at fast-food restaurants while on family road trips, when I would get the chicken nuggets and packets of honey mustard sauce.  The great thing about having a recipe is that now I can make my own anytime I want. 

Honey Mustard Sauce

Serve 2-4 people (depending on how much sauce you like)

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup Hellmann's Real mayonnaise
• 1 Tbsp. honey
• 2 tsp. yellow mustard
• 1 tsp. lemon juice

Instructions:

Whisk the ingredients together until thoroughly blended.  Serve immediately or store in the refrigerator. 

Hasselback Potatoes

Have you heard of Hasselback potatoes?  I hadn't before I came across a recipe on the internet.  I'm always looking for new ways to cook potatoes, so I was intrigued.  The special feature of Hasselback potatoes is that you cut thin slits into the potato width-wise, being careful not to cut entirely through the potato so that the thin pieces stay attached to one another.  During baking, the thin potato pieces fan out and you end up with a fancy baked potato that looks like you spent a lot more time on it than you really did.  Even better than the looks is the taste, which I think is a big improvement over a regular baked potato.  The skin turns out nice and crispy, and the thin pieces of potato are perfectly bite-size.

As you can see from the picture, I like to pour honey mustard sauce over mine.  (I'll post the recipe for that next.)  To make the potatoes even tastier, you can put small pieces of bacon or Cheddar cheese in the slits.  Writing about Hasselback potatoes makes me want to bake some again, but not until the current heat wave passes and it's cool enough for me to want to turn on my oven.  If you have central air conditioning, you can make some immediately or anytime you want.
    
Hasselback Potatoes

Ingredients:

• 1 medium (about 8 oz.) Russet potato per person (plus 1 extra just in case one of the potatoes doesn't turn out).  The potatoes need to be Russet; I've tried Yukon Gold and white potatoes, and they don't turn out as well.
• 1 tsp. of olive oil per potato
• sea salt and pepper
• 1 to 1 1/2 slices of bacon per potato.  A few brands of bacon that do not contain corn products are Applegate Naturals Sunday Bacon, Classic Sliced Dry Rubbed All Natural Uncured Bacon, and Hormel Natural Choice 100% Natural Original Uncured Bacon.
• OR slices of sharp Cheddar cheese 

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Add enough water to a large pot so that the potatoes will be fully immersed when they cook in it.  Place the pot over high heat to bring the water to a boil.  (Do not salt the water.  I discovered that if you do, your potato skins will not turn out crispy.) While the water is heating, rinse the potatoes and make slits in them width-wise that are about 1/8-inch apart but not all the way through the potato.  If you aren't great at precision cutting, you can do what I do, which is to place the handle of a wooden spoon on either side of the potato, so that the handles stop you from cutting all the way through the potato.  (See this site for a picture and further instructions.)

Once you have make slits in the potatoes and the water has come to a boil, place the potatoes in the water and boil them for 5 minutes. (Some recipes don't include this step, but I've found that the potatoes take less time in the oven and the potato skin turns out better if you parboil the potatoes first.) Remove the potatoes from the pot to a plate to drain the water a bit. Then place the potatoes, cut side up, in a Pyrex pan.

If desired, cut small pieces of bacon or Cheddar cheese to place in the slits.  The potatoes taste great without the bacon or cheese, but if you happen to have bacon or cheese on hand, I highly recommend adding them.  Since the girls and I have to avoid dairy products, I either make the potatoes plain or with bacon.  If using bacon, cut the pieces of bacon in half length-wise first; then cut the bacon into pieces width-wise to fit the width of the potato.

Once you've placed the bacon or cheese pieces in the potato slits, drizzle each potato with about 1 tsp. Of olive oil. Sprinkle them with salt and pepper. Bake for 1 hour or until the potato flesh is tender.  (They might need about 5 more minutes.)  Serve with ketchup, honey mustard sauce, sour cream, or whatever sauce your heart desires.    

Cucumber Salad

This spring I discovered that Naomi loves cucumbers, particularly if I toss them in a little vinegar.  I probably should have guessed sooner, given that she would eat pickles with every meal if I let her.  In any case, this spring we've been making up for lost time and eating lots of cucumber salad.  Now if only our cucumber plant would start growing some cucumbers, and Naomi could eat the ones she's picked with her very own hands, then she would be completely happy. 

Cucumber Salad
serves 2 adults or 1 adult and 2 small children

Ingredients:

• 1 medium cucumber (about 8 to 10 oz.)
• 1/8 tsp. sea salt
• 1/8 tsp. black pepper
• 1/8 tsp. white sugar
• 2 tsp. apple cider vinegar OR rice vinegar

Instructions:

Peel the cucumber.  Cut it in half length-wise; then cut each half into thin slices.  Place the cucumber slices in a small bowl.  Sprinkle salt, pepper, sugar, and vinegar over the slices.  Toss to combine.  Serve immediately. 

Creamy Green Beans

This is another recipe that I've been playing with since the winter, when the craving for something creamy came upon me.  Creamy foods are somehow inherently warm and comforting when it's below freezing outside.  But how can food be made creamy when you can't use cream, sour cream, or cream cheese?  Well, in the case of green beans, I discovered that you can make a creamy dressing by using mayonnaise.  I came up with two different flavors that I use depending on the rest of the food I'm cooking for dinner.  And even though I first thought of the recipe in the winter, it's great year-round when that craving for something creamy hits.  The dressing also tastes great with steamed asparagus.  I use 1 lb. of asparagus, which ends up being about 3/4 lb. once you snap off the ends.

Creamy Green Beans
serves 3 adults or 2 adults and 2 young children

Ingredients for Curried Creamy Green Beans:

• 3/4 lb. green beans (When green beans aren't in season, I like to buy Trader Joe's frozen French green beans.)
• 2 Tbsp. Hellmann's Real mayonnaise (not low-fat)
• 1/2 Tbsp. freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 1/2 tsp. curry powder
• 1/8 tsp. sea salt
• 1/8 tsp. black pepper 

Ingredients for French Creamy Green Beans:

• 3/4 lb. green beans (When green beans aren't in season, I like to buy Trader Joe's frozen French green beans.)
• 2 Tbsp. Hellmann's Real mayonnaise (not low-fat)
• 1/2 Tbsp. red wine vinegar
• 1/2 tsp. Dijon mustard
• 1/8 tsp. sea salt
• 1/8 tsp. black pepper

Ingredients for Sriracha Creamy Green Beans:

• 3/4 lb. green beans (When green beans aren't in season, I like to buy Trader Joe's frozen French green beans.)
• 2 Tbsp. Hellmann's Real mayonnaise (not low-fat)
• 1/2 Tbsp. white wine vinegar
• 1/2 tsp. Sriracha hot chili sauce
• 1/8 tsp. sea salt
• 1/8 tsp. black pepper

Instructions:

Cook the green beans until tender-crisp.  While the green beans are cooking, whisk together the rest of the ingredients.  When the green beans are done, drain them thoroughly.  (If they are too wet, it dilutes the dressing and the dressing doesn't adhere to the beans as well.)  Return the green beans to the pot they were cooked in or a warmed serving bowl.  Pour the dressing over them and toss so that all of the beans are coated with the dressing.  Serve immediately.  

Vanilla Frosting

I'm back!  I finished my second semester of graduate school and have now recovered and caught up on sleep.  Over the past few months I didn't take a break from cooking or trying out new recipes, but I just didn't have the time or energy to post the recipes here.  But now I'm back to blogging and I'll try to make up for my semester-long absence by sharing some of the recipes that I've been working on over the past few months. 

One recipe that I've been tweaking since the winter is corn-free and dairy-free vanilla frosting.  The two basic ingredients in vanilla frosting are powdered sugar (which usually contains cornstarch) and butter (which obviously contains dairy).  Fortunately, the Trader Joe's near us started carrying powdered sugar that contains tapioca starch instead of cornstarch.  From there I experimented with the rest of the ingredients until I came up with a frosting that the girls think tastes great.  The thing I like about this frosting is that it is so quick and easy to make.  So when I need to take one of the girls to a friend's birthday party, I just pull a chocolate cupcake out of the freezer to defrost (since I bake a batch once in a while and freeze the extras), and then make a little frosting to cover it.  Add some sprinkles and we're ready to go.

Vanilla Frosting
makes frosting to cover 3 to 4 cupcakes

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup corn-free powdered sugar.  I use Trader Joe's, but Whole Foods also sells some.
• 2 Tbsp. Spectrum organic palm shortening
• 1/8 tsp. vanilla extract.  Use Trader Joe's alcohol-free vanilla extract or another vanilla extract that does not have corn syrup and is preferably alcohol-free, since the alcohol could be derived from corn. Recently I have been using Rodelle Vanilla Flavor alcohol free all natural extract, which I found at Stop and Shop.
• 1/8 tsp. sea salt
• 1 to 1 1/2 tsp. rice milk

Instructions:

Add the powdered sugar, shortening, vanilla, sea salt, and 1 tsp. rice milk to a standing mixer bowl with the whisk attachment in place.  Whisk on medium to medium-fast speed.  If the frosting is too thick and not spreadable enough, add 1/4 to 1/2 tsp. more rice milk until the frosting reaches the right consistency.  Scrape the bowl at least once and whisk thoroughly so that the salt and vanilla are mixed throughout the frosting.  Spread on top of cupcakes immediately. 

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins

I started making these muffins back in the fall, when Trader Joe's started carrying their pumpkin puree and when I found this recipe.  I tweaked the recipe to meet our needs and preferences, and now we have a pumpkin chocolate chip muffin that we like to eat not just in the fall, but year-round, as long as I stock up on enough pumpkin puree while it's available in stores. 

Sometime last year I started the tradition of making muffins for breakfast every Sunday.  I freeze the leftover ones and bring them out to feed myself and the girls for breakfast during the school week, when I don't want to get up early enough to make fresh ones.  In addition to tasting great right out of the oven, these muffins taste just as good when defrosted in the fridge overnight and then microwaved until warm.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins
makes 12 muffins

Ingredients:

• 1 15-ounce can of pumpkin puree.  (Get one that does not contain any added ingredients.  I use Trader Joe's brand, which is seasonal.)
• 1/2 cup maple syrup
• 1/4 cup flax seed meal
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 cup canola oil
• 1 Tbsp. unsweetened applesauce
• 1 tsp. apple cider vinegar
• 2 cups Bob's Red Mill gluten-free flour
• 1 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 1 tsp. cream of tartar
• 1 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp. sea salt
• 1/2 cup dairy-free semi-sweet chocolate chips.  I recommend Ghirardelli, Trader Joe's, or Enjoy Life brand.

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Grease the cups of a muffin tin with canola oil.  In a medium bowl, mix together the pumpkin puree, maple syrup, flax seed meal, brown sugar, canola oil, and applesauce.  Heat in the microwave until warm, about 1 to 1 1/2 minutes.  Then set aside.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, cream of tartar, cinnamon, and sea salt.  Stir the apple cider vinegar into the pumpkin puree mixture.  Then pour the liquid mixture into the flour mixture and stir until no trace of flour remains.  Stir in the chocolate chips.  Pour 1/3 cup of batter into each of the muffin tin cups.  Bake the muffins for about 20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the middle of a muffin comes out clean.  
  

Recipes I Found

In this post I'm trying something a little different than usual -- I'm going to share some recipes I found on the internet this week for foods that my family can eat and that I think we would enjoy.  I haven't tried out these recipes to vouch for whether they will turn out well, but they look promising and I'd like to try them when I get a chance.  If you try one out, I'd love to hear whether you liked it or not.  After the link to the recipe I will mention any substitutions that need to be made in order for the dish to be safe for us to eat.

Main Dishes with Cauliflower:
Somehow I didn't realize that Michael liked cauliflower until last year.  It's amazing the new things that one learns about one's spouse even after eleven years of marriage.  Since that discovery, I've been looking for cauliflower recipes that I think we all would like.

• Sicilian Pasta with Cauliflower (Use rice pasta.)
• Baked Ziti or Penne Rigata with Cauliflower (Use rice pasta.)
• Tunisian Style Baked Cauliflower Frittata (I probably wouldn't serve this to Sabrina since she is sensitive to eggs, but the rest of us would like it.)

Salads:
Although I'm not as interested in salads in the winter, usually preferring something hot like roasted vegetables, I still do enjoy dark leafy salads like spinach and kale.

• Spinach and Turkey Salad (Substitute Hellman's Real mayonnaise for the yogurt and reduce the amount of lemon juice.) 
• Kale Salad with Dates, Parmesan, and Almonds
• Quinoa Kale Salad (We couldn't have the dressing because of the kefir, but I love the idea of mixing quinoa and kale together.)
• Kale, Cabbage, and Carrot Salad (If Sabrina were going to have this, I would use about 1/2 cup, or a little more, of Hellman's Real mayonnaise instead of the homemade mayonnaise in the recipe.)

Snacks:
If I'm feeling adventurous, I might try the following:

• Blueberry Chocolate Protein Smoothie (I would omit the protein powder since most contain whey or casein.)
• Mediterranean Lentil Puree (Omit the yogurt and follow the instructions for the vegan option.)
• Allergy-Free Toddler Muffins (Use 1 1/2 cups Bob's Red Mill gluten-free flour instead of the flours listed.  Omit the xanthan gum.)

Spinach Dip

For New Year's Eve this year I decided to make spinach dip.  This dip and I go way back.  I've liked spinach dip for as long as I can remember.  My favorite store-bought spinach dip was one my mom would buy when my parents lived in Oakton, VA.  The secret to that dip?  Water chestnuts.  Chopped up water chestnuts add the perfect bit of crunch to the dip.  After I moved to Vancouver, BC and my parents moved away from Oakton, VA, I needed to figure out how to replicate the fabulous Oakton spinach dip.  Using a Cook's Illustrated recipe, I started playing around with the ingredients until Michael and I decided that it was just right. 

This week, when I went to look up the recipe, I could hardly believe that I've been making this dip since 2002, close to the beginning of my cooking adventures.  This fall I developed a dairy-free version, since that is easier on our stomachs now.  However, I've also included the version more similar to the original for those who need to avoid tree nuts. 

Spinach Dip

Ingredients:

• 10-ounce package of frozen chopped spinach 
• 8-ounce can of chopped water chestnuts
• 3 or 4 green onions
• 1/2 Tbsp. dried parsley
• 1/2 tsp. sea salt
• 1/2 tsp. dried dill
• 1/2 tsp. minced garlic
• 1/4 tsp. ground black pepper
• 1/4 tsp. onion powder
• 1/4 tsp. dried basil
• 1/4 tsp. dried oregano
• 1/4 tsp. ground cayenne pepper (or, for less kick, use 1/8 tsp.)
• Dairy-free option:  1/2 cup + 2 Tbsp. Hellman's original mayonnaise, 1/4 cup plain almond milk, and 1/2 Tbsp. lemon juice
• Nut-free option:  1/2 cup Hellman's original mayonnaise and 1/2 cup full-fat sour cream (Use a brand like Daisy that contains just cultured cream.)

Instructions:

Defrost the spinach on a plate in the microwave.  When you are able, break the spinach into small chunks to speed up the defrosting process.  (Be sure to use the defrost setting so that the spinach, and your fingers, do not get hot.  Ask me how I know this.)  While the spinach is defrosting, put the water chestnuts in a food chopper and chop them until they are in small pieces.  Set them aside in a small bowl.  When the spinach is still cool but no longer icy, place it in a dish towel and wring the towel over the sink to remove as much excess liquid as possible from the spinach.  (Be sure to use a towel that you don't care too much about because the spinach will turn it a greenish hue.)  Return the spinach to the plate.

Chop the white parts of the green onions and place them in a separate bowl.  To this bowl add the parsley, salt, dill, garlic, black pepper, onion powder, basil, oregano, and cayenne pepper.  Add either the dairy-free option or nut-free option of mayonnaise plus the remaining ingredients.  Stir all of these together.  Then stir in the defrosted spinach.  Transfer the spinach mixture to the food chopper and chop until the spinach is in small pieces.  Pour the dip back into the bowl and stir in the water chestnuts.  Transfer to a serving bowl and chill for at least 2 hours before serving.