I must give credit and thanks to my aunt for passing along her version of her Grandma Mary’s coleslaw, which served as the basis for the dressing in our celery slaw — Thanks Aunt Lynne!  The dressing ingredients are simple:  rice vinegar, water, celery seed, mustard seed and sugar (a lot less sugar than the original version, which called for 2 cups of sugar!  Grandma Mary apparently had a sweet tooth.)  The slaw ingredients include celery, radishes, cucumber and cabbage.  We used the pre-shredded, store-bought, coleslaw-in-a-bag because it incorporates both red and white cabbage, along with carrots.  Okay, let’s be honest, we used the bagged cabbage because we were too lazy to chop up our own cabbages and carrots.  Typing this sentence took more effort than using the store-bought slaw.

If you’re more ambitious than us and chop your own cabbage, you may need to sweat out some of the moisture.  Sprinkle about a teaspoon of salt over the cabbage and let it sit for about an hour.

Then drain the cabbage of any excess moisture.  This step didn’t seem to be all that necessary for the bagged cabbage.  Yet I did it anyway.

Combine the rice vinegar, water, sugar, celery seed and mustard seed in a small pan, bring to a boil and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the sugar is fully dissolved — about 2-3 minutes.  Allow the dressing to cool to room temperature.

Slicing the celery on the diagonal makes for bigger pieces and more celery flavor in every slaw bite.

Be sure to chop up some of the tender leaves from the inner celery ribs for even more celery flavor in the finished slaw (we didn’t name it “Celery Slaw” for nothin’!)

Peel and de-seed the cucumber, then cut it into thin slices.  Also thinly slice the radishes.  Omit the radishes if you don’t prefer them, but we thought they added a nice bite to balance out the sweet/tangy flavors of the slaw.

Combine all the vegetables in a large bowl and toss them together.

Slowly add dressing to the slaw and keep tossing until the veggies are well-coated (but not swimming.)   Once the slaw is dressed to your liking, spoon just the seeds from any remaining dressing over the slaw to give it more flavor without too much liquid.

The resulting slaw paired perfectly with our buffalo and Asian-style wings — providing cool and crisp flavor “time-outs” in between spicy bites of wings.  The slaw would also go well with BBQ or any other main dish incorporating bold flavors.  It also somehow stays fresh, even dressed, stored in the fridge for several days.  Side dish MVP!

Celery Slaw

Ingredients:

• ½ cup rice vinegar
• ½ cup water
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1 teaspoon celery seed
• 1 teaspoon mustard seed
• ½ bag of pre-shredded coleslaw (or 1 head of cabbage, shredded)
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 5 stalks celery, sliced on the diagonal
• small bunch tender leaves from inner celery ribs, finely chopped
• 3-4 radishes, thinly sliced
• ⅓ of an English cucumber – peeled, de-seeded and cut into thin strips

Directions:

1. Combine the rice vinegar, water, sugar, celery seed and mustard seed in a small pan, bring to a boil and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the sugar is completely dissolved — about 2-3 minutes.  Set aside off the heat and allow to cool to room temperature.
2. Put the shredded cabbage in a large bowl, sprinkle about 1 teaspoon of salt over the cabbage and let it sit for about 1 hour.  Drain the excess moisture from the cabbage as needed.
3. Add the celery and chopped celery leaves, radishes and cucumber to the drained cabbage and toss.  Slowly add the cooled dressing and toss the slaw until all the veggies are well-coated.  Spoon the extra celery and mustard seeds from any remaining dressing over the slaw and toss again.  Serve.

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Saturday

• Room Service

Sunday 

• Take-Out

Monday  

• Lemon Chicken, Saute Veggie

Tuesday

• Greek Pork Kebabs, Black Olive-Cucumber Salad

Wednesday

• Shrimp Stir Fry, Egg rolls

Start by prepping and assembling the ingredients:  peel the squash and remove the seeds, then cut the squash into 1/2 inch pieces; and mince the onion, garlic and fresh thyme.

Chop up the bacon, then cook it in a skillet over medium-high heat until it is crispy — about 5 minutes.

Add the onion, thyme and nutmeg to the bacon and cook until the onion is softened and begins to brown — about 8-10 minutes.

Add the garlic and cook until fragrant — about 30 seconds.

Stir in the flour and cook for about 1 minute.

When the flour is incorporated and the mixture has thickened, slowly add 1 cup of the chicken broth and scrape up all the browned bits from the bottom of the skillet.

Transfer the bacon and onion mixture to the slow-cooker, then add half of the squash (the other half cooks separately), the remaining cup of chicken broth, the vegetable broth and the bay leaf (torn in half) to the slow-cooker.

Toss the remaining half of the squash with vegetable oil and a generous amount of salt and pepper.

Make a foil packet for the seasoned squash by placing a layer of squash at one end of a piece of foil.

Fold the other end of the foil over the squash and seal all the edges.

Place the foil packet on top of the liquid and squash in the slow-cooker, then cover the cooker and set it to cook on low until the squash is tender — about 4-6 hours.  Enjoy the rest of your day.

About an hour before it’s time to eat, prepare the kale.  Cut away the leafy parts from the stems and discard the stems.

Then stack several leaves together and slice them cross-wise into thin strips.  Rinse and dry the leaves in a salad spinner.  Add the kale to the slow-cooker and cook on low until the kale is tender — about 20-30 minutes.  When you add the kale to the slow-cooker, remove the bay leaves and discard them, and remove the foil packet to a plate (keep it sealed so the squash stays warm.)

When the kale is tender, use a potato masher or ricer to further soften the squash pieces in the slow-cooker.  (Basically, squash the squash.)  This will make for a more creamy finished soup.  Skip this step if you prefer your chowder’s consistency to be more stew-like.

Open up the foil packet and add the remaining squash (with any accumulated juices) to the slow-cooker.  Stir in the cream, sage and brown sugar, then cook on high until the chowder is heated through — about 5-10 minutes.  Season with salt, pepper and additional nutmeg to taste.

Garnish with shelled toasted pumpkin (or sunflower) seeds and grated Parmesan cheese and serve.   The chowder tastes like you spent all day slaving over the stove, layering ingredients and flavors.  So, just wash and store the slow-cooker prior to serving, then take all the credit for single-handedly preparing an amazing meal.  I’ll never tell.

To make the dressing, combine the mayonnaise, tarragon, cayenne, Old Bay, lemon juice and salt & pepper and mix all the ingredients together well.

Cut the shrimp into bite-sized pieces and finely chop the cucumber, shallot and celery, then toss them all together in a large bowl.

Slowly add the dressing to the salad and toss until you have the salad-to-dressing ratio just how you like it (we like ours pretty light on the dressing.)

Although lobster rolls traditionally use a hot dog style-bun or roll, we decided to try our shrimp salad on thick slices of fresh wheat bread.

But don’t be fooled — buttering the bread on both sides with real butter probably canceled out any healthy aspect of the wheat bread.  (And made the sandwiches delicious.)

Toast the bread on both sides in a dry, nonstick skillet until golden brown.

Stuff a generous portion of the shrimp salad between the toasted bread slices, serve with potato chips and start planning your next beach vacation.

Shrimp Salad Roll (w/ leftover shrimp)

Ingredients:

• ½ to 1 lb. cooked shrimp, diced into bite-sized pieces (about 2 cups diced)
• ⅓ of a cucumber, peeled, seeded and finely chopped (about ¼ cup finely chopped)
• 1 celery rib, finely chopped
• 1 medium shallot, finely chopped
• 1 teaspoon of fresh tarragon, finely chopped (or ½ teaspoon dried tarragon)
• ½ cup mayonnaise
• 2 teaspoons lemon juice
• pinch of cayenne
• pinch of Old Bay seasoning
• salt & pepper to taste
• buttered bread or rolls, toasted

Directions:

1. Combine the mayo, lemon juice, tarragon, cayenne, Old Bay and salt & pepper and mix well to make the dressing.
2. Combine the shrimp, cucumber, celery, shallot and toss.  Slowly add the dressing until the salad is dressed to your liking.
3. Toast the bread or rolls and stuff with generous portions of the shrimp salad.  Serve with potato chips.

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Saturday

• Chinese Delivery

Sunday 

• Pork Chops Milanese, Lionshead Brussels Sprouts

Monday  

• Black Bean Soup

Tuesday  Happy Valentines Day!

• Lobster in Spicy Tomato Sauce with Fresh Fettuccine

Wednesday

• Take-Out

To make the vinaigrette, heat 1.5 cups of cranberry juice and 1/2 of a minced shallot over medium high heat and cook until the liquid is significantly reduced by more than half the original amount.

Combine the reduced cranberry/shallot mixture with the juice of 1/2 a lemon, 3/4 cup canola oil, about 6 drops green Tabasco sauce, 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt and 1/4 teaspoon white pepper and blend all the ingredients together.  (We used our hand-held immersion blender, which is a great kitchen tool.)  Then stir in the chopped dried cranberries and fresh thyme.

Toasted pumpkin seed FAIL.  It was a failure on several levels — cooked too long at too high heat, and the seeds still in the shells were not so good in the finished dish.  But you never know until you try.  The original recipe calls for toasting the seeds in the oven at 425 degrees for 6-8 minutes, which didn’t really work for us.

We toasted another batch at 375 degrees for the same amount of time, which worked out better.  But we found that the shells were still a little tough and distracted from the other ingredients in the finished salad.  We recommend using shelled pumpkin seeds, or if you can’t find them, try shelled sunflower seeds.  Toasting optional.

Dice the squash into bite-sized pieces and place in boiling water until tender — 2-3 minutes.

Remove the squash from the boiling water and place it in ice-cold water to halt the cooking process.

Then drain the cooled squash.

Combine the squash, diced apples, pumpkin seeds, chopped arugula and a pinch of salt and white pepper.  The original recipe calls for pouring a little Sprite over the diced apples before adding them to the salad, in order to keep them from getting brown.  We skipped that step and just chopped up the apple right before assembling the salad.

Toss the salad with the cranberry vinaigrette, slowly adding the vinaigrette until the salad is dressed to your liking.

We served the salad with roasted turkey breast, and the flavors came together into a mini-Thanksgiving meal.  The salad would also be good paired with roast pork or chicken.

Saturday

• Sauteed Cod w/ Garlic-Herb Vinaigrette, Avocado & Quinoa Salad

Sunday 

• Grilled Wings – Buffalo & Asian Style, Fried Baby Artichokes, Celery Slaw

Monday  

• Carmelized Onion & Grapefruit Salad w/ Shrimp

Tuesday

• Teriyaki Pork Chops w/ Baby Bok Choy

Wednesday

• Take-Out

The ingredients for the mushrooms include:  mushrooms (we used baby bellas), shallots, parsley, red pepper flakes, Parmesan cheese, an egg, breadcrumbs, olive oil and salt & pepper.

Use a damp paper towel to wipe the mushrooms clean, then separate the stems from the caps.

Finely chop the mushroom stems.

Finely chop the shallots as well, then heat about a tablespoon of olive oil over medium-high heat and saute the shallots until they begin to soften — about 2-3 minutes.

Add the chopped mushrooms and red pepper flakes to the shallots and saute until the mushrooms soften and release their juices — about 2-3 minutes.

When the mushrooms and shallots are done, set them aside off the heat to cool for 5-10 minutes.

In a large bowl, combine the egg (beaten — like that team in the blue jerseys is going to be on Sunday — Go White!), breadcrumbs, chopped parsley, grated Parmesan cheese and salt & pepper.

Add the cooled mushrooms to the breadcrumb mixture.  If the mushroom filling seems a little too dry, add a teaspoon or two of olive oil.

Stuff a heaping spoonful of the mushroom filling into each mushroom cap, then place them on a cookie sheet.  You may want to spray the sheet with a little nonstick spray or line it with foil, since the mushroom caps will release their juices a bit while they cook in the oven.

Bake the mushrooms in the oven preheated to 325 until the mushroom caps are cooked and the filling is browned — about 20-25 minutes.  These earthy bites are flavorful on their own, but would also be good served with Ranch dressing (it’s a Texas thing) or maybe a little marinara sauce for dipping.  Enjoy!

Stuffed Mushrooms

Ingredients:

• 1 container of whole mushrooms
• 2 medium shallots, finely chopped
• 1-2 pinches red pepper flakes
• 1 tablespoon olive oil (more as needed to moisten filling)
• ½ cup breadcrumbs
• ⅓ cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 1-2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
• 1 egg, beaten
• pinch of salt & pepper

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
2. Wipe the mushrooms clean with a damp paper towel and separate the stems from the caps.  Chop up the stems into small pieces and set the caps aside.
3. Heat a tablespoon of olive oil in a skillet over medium-high heat, add the shallots and saute until they begin to soften — 2-3 minutes.  Add the chopped mushroom stems and the red pepper flakes to the skillet and cook until the mushrooms soften and release their juices — 2-3 minutes.  Remove the skillet from the heat and allow the mushrooms and shallots to cool for 5-10 minutes.
4. Combine the beaten egg, parsley, Parmesan, breadcrumbs and salt & pepper in a large bowl.  Add the cooled mushrooms and shallots and mix everything together.  If the mushroom filling seems too dry, add about a teaspoon of olive oil.
5. Stuff a heaping spoonful of the mushroom filling into each cap.  Place the caps, filling side up, onto a cookie sheet and bake in the oven until the caps are cooked through and the filling is browned — about 20-25 minutes.

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Prepare the broccoli rabe by cutting off the thick bottom ends of the stalks (about 2 inches worth) and discard, then cut the remaining portions of stalk, leaves and florets into bite-sized pieces.  Rinse the rapini well and run it through a salad spinner.

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil, add the broccoli rabe and cook until the rabe is slightly tender — about 2-3 minutes.

Use tongs to remove the rapini from the hot water into a bowl of ice cold water to stop the cooking process.  After a minute or so, drain the rabe and set it aside.

Bring the water used to blanch the rapini back to a boil, add the pasta and cook until al dente.

While the pasta cooks, heat about 1/3 of a cup of olive oil, along with 4 cloves of garlic in a large skillet over medium heat. Cook until the garlic becomes golden brown — about 2-3 minutes.  Then add about 1/2 a teaspoon of red pepper flakes.  The original recipe calls for mincing the garlic, but we Dan went off-recipe and cooked ours whole but slightly crushed.  I didn’t prefer the big pieces of garlic and would have liked it to be a little more evenly distributed in the finished dish.  Next time we’ll probably do it my way compromise and slice the garlic into thin pieces.

Add the broccoli rabe to the skillet and cook until it is heated through — about 3-4 minutes.

When the pasta is al dente, drain it and reserve about a cup of the pasta water.

Add the broccoli rabe “sauce” to the drained pasta and stir everything together.  Slowly add the reserved pasta water as needed if the pasta seems too dry.  Serve in a low bowl garnished with a generous amount of grated Parmesan cheese.  Not long after we made this meal, we saw a chef on the Today Show make a similar version, using anchovies instead of garlic in the olive oil and garnishing with bread crumbs, which would also be delicious.  If you’ve never tried broccoli rabe, we recommend either of these recipes as a good introduction to this super healthy vegetable.

Saturday

• Dinner and a Movie

Sunday 

• Peri Chicken Thighs, Mac-N-Cheese, Brussels Sprouts

Monday  

• Italian Wedding Soup

Tuesday

• Taco Pizza

Wednesday

• Take-Out