Cooking On the Side

Asparagus Torta

Kathy Strahs — Fri, 31 May 2013 09:00:04 +0000

Can anyone tell me what this dish is? I know it’s called an Asparagus Torta…but what is it?

I’ve been carrying this recipe around for a few years now, it was printed on the little twist-tie that goes around a bunch of asparagus. It’s a simple little recipe, with a lot of eggs and parmesan like a frittata. But it also calls for a lot of breadcrumbs, giving it a texture similar to southern cornbread dressing or spoon bread. It’s tasty! Dare I say it’s almost like a savory brownie? That might be going a little far.

I’m a pretty good Google searcher, but the best I’ve been able to come up with so far is that it’s likely Italian in origin. I’m categorizing this torta under “Brunch” because it tastes like an egg dish I’d enjoy for breakfast or lunch (and, in fact, I did), or an appetizer, but I could also see it as a dinner side dish. But I’m still really curious to learn when it’s supposed to be served. Did someone at the asparagus company just make this up, or is this type of torta really a “thing” somewhere in the world? If you have any insights, please share!

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For the Love of Strawberries!

~ One of the best strawberry recipes I tried in recent years was this one for Panna Cotta with Balsamic Strawberries - cool, white, creamy pillows and their balsamic-drenched sweet toppers.

~ If you find yourself with lots of strawberries on your hands this season (like, say, from a strawberry picking outing?) turn them into this Quick and Easy Strawberry Jam.

About Cooking On the Side...

It’s the recipe collection I didn’t even realize I had – the one derived from the side of a bag of fresh vegetables, a box of sugar, a jar of mayonnaise. Cooking On the Side – as in on the side of food packaging – is all about “revealing” these on-the-package recipes, with photos of how they actually turn out, cooking notes and more descriptive directions than package space usually allows for. -- Kathy

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Skillet Green Beans and Bacon…and the Simple Things

Kathy Strahs — Thu, 23 May 2013 22:22:12 +0000

I’ve started this post precisely one zillion times. How could it possibly take that many attempts to write up some simple Skillet Green Beans and Bacon? Because, to be honest, my mind has been occupied with lots of other things – national tragedies, tough stuff closer to home. It’s kind of hard to get going about green beans.

I don’t know about you, but I could use a good dose of perspective right about now. I recently found some in the form of photos captured by my kids. If you’re ever curious to know what the world looks like through the eyes of children, may I suggest supplying them with a camera. I finally downloaded the 212 photos that my 3- and 5-year old have snapped on their little Fisher-Price digital camera over the past year. The images, blurred by overexcited photographers, are…refreshing. The major themes are: selfies, toys, food on their plate, what’s on TV, the buildings we pass on the way to school and mommy (me). Really, it’s the simple things.

I thought I’d share a few of them here – no editing or cropping, these are the real deal.

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Strawberry Banana Bread

Kathy Strahs — Sat, 11 May 2013 20:28:27 +0000

One of my greatest joys of motherhood is having the chance to view the world through the wide eyes of my two little kids. Everything…everything is so much more fun and exciting and vibrant to them. Especially something as simple as strawberry picking.

I’ve driven past the family-owned U-Pick strawberry fields in Carlsbad for years, but I’ll be honest – the thought of my little kids (particularly my 3-year old little boy) streaming down the rows of ripe red berries gave me a little pause. But this year, I mustered up the courage to bring the kids strawberry picking. You know what? It was actually kind of a breeze (and we got an amazing Strawberry Banana Bread out of it!).

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Avocado Icebox Pie

Kathy Strahs — Mon, 06 May 2013 18:40:45 +0000

I hope you didn’t use up all of your avocados for Cinco de Mayo guacamole…if you did, you’re gonna want to get some more! Even the non-avocado fans in my house (which would be everyone except myself) loved this Avocado Icebox Pie.

Think cool, creamy lemon pie…with a gentle floral note that you can’t quite place. That would be the avocado. It’s subtle, but it’s there. In fact, there are really just three simple ingredients to the filling: avocados, sweetened condensed milk and lemon.

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Carrot Cake Yogurt Parfaits…and the Morals of the Story

Kathy Strahs — Tue, 02 Apr 2013 22:38:55 +0000

The moral of this story is…when life gives you a carrot cake that clings to the pan despite an ample coat of baking spray, make Carrot Cake Yogurt Parfaits!

A second moral might be…when you change a cake recipe – even slightly – there may be repercussions.

And we may as well go for a third moral…sometimes things may not go as planned, but they may end up even better.

In the end, I’m actually glad my original plan for a nice, traditional carrot layer cake with cream cheese frosting for Easter dessert didn’t work out. I ended up with fabulous carrot cake dessert that, with maple-whipped Greek yogurt in lieu of frosting, was just as delicious and even a bit healthier. Read on to hear about where I messed up…ahem, changed course…and how I ultimately wound up with results even better than I’d planned.

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Easter Bird’s Nest Cookies

Kathy Strahs — Fri, 29 Mar 2013 00:04:59 +0000

Believe it or not, these Easter Bird’s Nest Cookies actually appeal more to grown-ups than to kids…at least according to my non-scientific research earlier this week at our annual playgroup Easter egg hunt. While the kids mainly honed in on the little candy-coated chocolate eggs, my friends found themselves grabbing for seconds of the not-too-sweet toasted coconut shortbread nests.

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9-Layer No-Bake Matzo Cake

Kathy Strahs — Mon, 25 Mar 2013 04:27:59 +0000

I couldn’t resist – a recipe like this begs to be tried, don’t you think? This 9-Layer No-Bake Matzo Cake is only half as tall as it was supposed to be. The original recipe, from the back of a box of Manischewitz matzo, called for a whopping 18 layers of chocolate covered matzo, sandwiched with almond-laced whipped cream, espresso-spiked chocolate mousse and crunchy chopped almonds.

Look at that. It’s quite the behemoth – about 12 inches tall, extrapolating from how high my short stack reached. The recipe called it a “S’more Cake”, but with the absence of both graham crackers and marshmallows, that seems like a bit of a stretch. Whatever you want to call it, it would be quite the conversation piece at a Passover seder, to say the least! And, fortunately, much of the conversation would also center around how surprisingly tasty it is. A challenge to serve, yes (easiest to serve it a layer at a time), but it’s actually kind of delicious.

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Fried Wontons

Kathy Strahs — Tue, 26 Feb 2013 23:14:54 +0000

Crispy, hot Fried Wontons filled with pork and shrimp instantly take me back to my childhood, and the delicious homemade wontons my friend’s mother would bring over to our house. I don’t think I’ve ever eaten wontons at a Chinese restaurant – it’s always been a homemade treat, which makes them extra special to me.

You’d think I would have made these wontons for the dumpling party our local San Diego food bloggers group held this past weekend. If only I’d had that forethought! Instead, I made steamed siu mai, one of my all-time favorite dim sum orders. But then I turned over the package of wonton wrappers, as I tend to do with any product, and discovered a wonton recipe on the back that called for nearly the same exact ingredients. Of course, I realized this after I’d already made my siu mai filling…no big deal, I made siu mai for the party on Saturday, wontons for the family on Sunday!

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Sweetheart Brownies

Kathy Strahs — Thu, 07 Feb 2013 22:20:45 +0000

I’ll admit that the idea for these Sweetheart Brownies came during a gym workout. My mind should have been in the moment, focused on following the Zumba teacher’s tricky dance moves, but all I could think about was can you coat brownies in candy melts? We all have our own way of focusing!

I instagrammed the photo above during the Super Bowl last Sunday. With half an eye on the game, (I’m an incurable multitasker), I gave the Valentine’s Day brownie idea a try, with some rather sweet results.

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Air-Fried Hot Wings…Plus an ActiFry Giveaway!

Kathy Strahs — Wed, 30 Jan 2013 19:13:57 +0000

My husband declared these Air-Fried Hot Wings were a “10 out of 10!” when he came home from the gym and found them in the fridge. It was all I could do to save him some, I think I could have devoured the whole plate. I can’t wait to make more for the Super Bowl on Sunday. And to think they were made without a drop of oil!

Friends from Instagram have been listening to me go on about my exploration of the T-fal ActiFry for the past week. I’m pretty smitten with this versatile “healthier cooking” machine. Read on for the super-easy Hot Wings recipe (I’ve included an oven method too!), the french fries, risotto and granola I also made and the chance to win an ActiFry (a $250 value) of your own! [THE GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED]

Continuing my pursuit of making healthier versions of some of my favorite dishes, I was intrigued by the ActiFry, which bills itself as the “healthy alternative to traditional deep fryers.” Hot air pulses into the ActiFry while a stirring paddle continually moves the food around for even cooking. It’s not “frying” as we traditionally know it, but the end result is food that gets evenly crisped with a scant amount of oil. It takes just one tablespoon of oil to make crispy french fries…that had me intrigued!

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