Grilled green salad with coffee vinaigrette

This was really tasty and flexible in terms of choice of vegetable. As you can see, I cheated and snuck some red peppers in there. I also grilled jalapeño (de-seeded and deveined), asparagus, green onion and Costco's power greens mix (chopped). I topped the salad with fresh avocado and cucumber. Finally, I used 2 tbsp of prepared espresso instead of the instant kind. I think instant might be the better way to go but this was delicious nonetheless. Thanks to kimmy for providing a whole new level of excitement in the Maiz Waller kitchen with a year's subscription to Bon Apetit magazine for my 31st birthday!

Using these exact vegetables is not the point; choose whatever’s in season and can stand up to being charred. The genius coffee dressing brings it all together.

Ingredients SERVINGS: 8
4 spring onions or 8 scallions, white parts only, spring onions halved lengthwise, quartered if large
4 tomatillos, husks removed, rinsed, quartered
1 large or 2 small nopales (cactus paddles), spikes removed
4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
4 ounces queso fresco
⅔ cup olive oil, divided
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
3 tablespoons Sherry vinegar or red wine vinegar
2/3 1 teaspoon honey
1 teaspoon instant espresso
Vegetable oil (for grill)
3 cups torn frisée
1 cup trimmed watercress
½ English hothouse cucumber, halved lengthwise, seeds removed, thinly sliced
1 cup fresh cilantro and parsley leaves with tender stems

Preparation

Combine onions, tomatillos, nopales, garlic, cheese, and ⅓ cup olive oil in a large resealable plastic bag; season with salt and pepper. Seal bag, pressing out air, and toss to coat. Let sit at least 1 hour. Whisk vinegar, honey, and espresso in a medium bowl until honey and espresso are dissolved. Gradually add remaining ⅓ cup olive oil, whisking constantly. Season with salt and pepper; set aside. Prepare grill for medium-high heat; lightly oil grates. (Or, heat a grill pan over medium-high.) Remove onions, tomatillos, and nopales from marinade; grill, turning occasionally, until tender and charred in spots, about 5 minutes. Let cool. Remove cheese from marinade and grill, turning often, until browned on all sides, 8−10 minutes; let cool. Cut vegetables into bite-size pieces; coarsely chop cheese. Arrange greens on a platter. Season with salt and pepper and drizzle with half of vinaigrette. Top with cucumber, herbs, and grilled vegetables and cheese; drizzle with remaining vinaigrette. Do Ahead: Vinaigrette can be made 2 days ahead. Cover and chill. 

Mustard aioli grilled potatoes with tarragon

These were very tasty - almost like a Spanish style potato salad. I had never tried tarragon and was surprised to discover its licorice taste.

Boil 5 whole Yukon gold potatoes until you can pierce the entire potato. Once cooled, cut the potatoes into just larger than bite sized chunks and coat with aioli (see recipe below). Grill until chat marks appear. Once plated, season with salt and pepper, olive oil and fine herbs of your choosing. I used tarragon.

For the aioli mix:

1/2 c. Mayonnaise

Heaping tbsp of Dijon mustard

Heaping tbsp of course ground mustard

1 clove crushed garlic

Dallop of honey

Salt and popper

Inverted sugar for Pedro's spring tripel ale

It's Eaater weekend and I woke up today on Good Friday to find Pedro inverting sugar in the kitchen for his spring batch of tripel ale.

Inverting the sugar, using cream of tartar, helps the yeast to digest the sugar more easily and quickly. It also cuts costs when making the usually expensive to brew Belgian tripel ale. Usually you would have to buy Belgian candied sugar, which can be quite costly. Including easier to digest sugar for the yeast raises the alcohol content - we're expecting this batch to come in between 9 and 10%. As my dad would say "a true memory eraser." 

Kale and quinoa salad with oranges and candied almonds

This salad is a perfect complement to any meal, especially heavier meats like beef or lamb.

Start by sautéing some asparagus (we had some leftover that I wanted to use up - that's what's great about this salad is that you don't have to stick to the veggies I recommend). Chop the asparagus diagonally and throw in a large bowl. Chop 1 red pepper, 1/2 red onion, and 1 naval orange. Top off the large mixing bowl with chopped kale, removing all of the stems from the leaves (kale is fibrous enough without them!). Put a layer of cooked quinoa on top and dress with the below mixture. This dish sits well overnight in the refrigerator.

Dressing

In a mason jar (for shaking) mix:

1 crushed clove of garlic

1/2 cup olive oil

3 heaping tbsp red wine vinegar

1 packet if stevia

1 heaping tsp of salt 

Heavy pinch of cayenne pepper 

Spring teaser lamb kabobs

Pedro nailed it with these delicious lamb kabobs.

We ground lamb shoulder from Costco and added minced red onions, jalapeño, fresh garlic, salt, pepper and rosemary. Pedro braved the March cold to grill the meatball kabobs with red pepper, mushrooms and red onion. 

The lamb grilled so tender with the perfect kick from the jalapeño. Seriously delicious!

Sautéed bok choy soup

I recently spent a week with my sister in Washington, D.C. Both of our offices are located in Chinatown and I went on a Chinese vegetable binge for the week - constantly hunting for sautéed bok choy and backsweetened (honestly rot-gut) wine.

Well I brought the addiction home and made this delicious sautéed bok choy soup.

Start by trimming the bok choy diagonally using the stalk and leaves. If you have a wok, all the better, but I just sautéed mine in a regular frying pan. Add garlic and fresh ginger. As soon as the garlic starts to brown, add some soy sauce.

Meanwhile, cook up a couple packs of ramen. Only use one of the seasoning packets to reduce the salt (since you'll be adding plenty from the bok choy). Once the bok choy softens and the soup is ready, combine ingredients in one soup pot.

Garnish with avocado, pepper, Siracha and cilantro. Yum!

Poached egg, asparagus and pesto

This would be perfect served atop an English muffin! (As you can see, we didn't have any in stock :)

Pan roast the asparagus stalks after trimming the woody stem. Add garlic, salt and pepper to taste.

Meanwhile poach a few eggs, using the Bobby Flay method... Swirl some simmering water, add vinegar and drop an egg in the middle of the whirlpool. Once the eggs congeals, remove it and place it gently in an ice bath. You can leave your poached eggs here for up to a few hours before serving. Drop the egg in the hot water quickly right before serving to reheat.

Garnish with pesto, paprika and balsamic reduction.