Three salads and a soup

Boring but useful: that's a label we used to give a certain kind of story assignment -- one you had to write but didn't really want to.

That's the way I feel about my decision to have three salads and a soup for the backbone of our summer weekly menu. It works, but I don't even want to talk about it.

About a month ago I planned to discipline myself by writing the week's menu in this blog. Yay! Then you too could eat boring but useful dinners, without even planning.

What happened is that we are actually eating this way, but the planning is slipshod.

No excuses!
Here's what I learned so far:

Mom's slaw with fish and rolls, Greek salad (cucumbers, tomatoes, green onions, olives, feta) with shrimp, steamed asparagus with lemon and salt with hard-boiled eggs,  chicken salad, sharp greens like dandelions with fried eggs and smoked paprika, tuna and white beans and roasted red peppers ...

Soups: chili, lentil with ham, lentil without ham but with brown rice and frizzled onions, pumpkin and lentil.

Big dishes: Mom's spaghetti and meatballs, chicken cutlets in the oven topped with some bottled sauce (There are lots of these now -- we like Thai.),  grouper with tomatoes and olives, easy chicken Parmesan with tomato sauce and noodles or polenta.

I am experimenting with spending less time in the kitchen. I kind of miss the old way of messing around, humming tunes and chopping and stirring. To be continued.

The law of slaw

A friend on chemotherapy told me that not much food appeals to her, but for some reason her eyes lit up when I said "coleslaw." I used The Zen of Slaw for starters, then improvised. Here's their guide for a pound of shredded cabbage and one carrot:

1 tablespoon distilled vinegar

1/2 cup mayonnaise

1 tablespoon white sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

1/2 teaspoon celery seeds (not celery salt)

I had a whole cabbage, so I doubled this, using all the mayonnaise we had, without measuring. Then I added a cup of sour cream so I wouldn't have to go to the store for more mayo. 

If you like slaw without mayonnaise, try Mom's slaw. 

Mom's slaw

Mom never bought ready-cut slaw. And she's right – cutting your own is not that hard, & it's better because it's all different sizes, not uniformly perfect like the machine-cut stuff. Besides, you can say, "I did it myself." Her dressing is perfect, sweet-sour, & easy.

Mom's slaw dressing

Sprinkle 1/2 C. sugar (I use about 1/4 C.) over 1/2 head thin-sliced cabbage.

Add 1 green pepper & 1 green onion, chopped. (Sometimes I skip this. Sometimes I grate in a little regular onion.)

In a small pan mix 1/3 C. vinegar, 1/3 C. oil (I use corn oil.), 1/2 t. salt, 1/2 t. celery seed, 1/2 t. dry mustard. Bring it to a boil. Pour over the slaw. That's it. If you eat it right away it will be crispy, but it keeps well if you don't mind soggy slaw. Clark prefers it that way.

Variation: Mom would sometimes fry a few strips of bacon & use the drippings instead of the oil. Take out the bacon & drain it. Add the rest of the dressing ingredients to the skillet & bring to a boil. After you pour it on the cabbage, mix, & add the crumbled bacon.