Spinach, Mango, and Edamame Salad

Spinach, Mango, and Edamame Salad

This being spring (or summer as it has been lately), I've been hoping we could eat more leafy green things to stay healthier...or at least attempt to do so.

Spinach is always a good green leafy choice.  While picking up spinach at the store, there were nice ripe mangoes that I thought would go well with the spinach.  Wanting one more ingredient, I added edamame.

While trying to come up with the dressing for my salad, I seem to have come up with a decent, Asian inspired vinaigrette that does not involve vinegar.  Equal parts of sesame seed oil, lemon juice, and sesame seeds.  The acidity was perfect for the spinach.

Braised Rabbit

Braised Rabbit

For a while now I've been wanting to braise a rabbit. Lots of delays later, I finally got around to it. I would hope that The Guinea Pig considers it well worth the wait. 


I recently received a gorgeous Le Creuset braiser that was used in the preparation of this meal. Ever since I got it, I kept trying to come up with a good combination of ingredients that would enhance the rabbit without overpowering it. I wanted to keep it as simple as possible, but thought that onion alone would be too simple. 


My "Eureka" moment came while I was at work trying to work out a problem. It dawned on me that golden raisins would be perfect, and they were! They added a bit of sweetness and plumped up with the juices of the dish. 


The onions, raisins, a splash (or cup) of white wine, and salt/pepper were all that I used. Once it was done braising, I served the rabbit and sauce over a plate of pearl couscous. 


For a first try, it was pretty good. Next time I'd like to get the rabbit seared a bit better and the onions caramelized a bit more so that the dish would have a deeper color. I bet my Guinea Pig would also appreciate it if I toned down the seasoning a bit.

Bacon Hash

Bacon Hash

Life has been crazy and this little blog of mine has suffered as a consequence.  To breathe new life into it, what better topic is there to post about than bacon?

For Christmas, I got a cook book devoted to bacon.  The very first (and unfortunately only so far) recipe that I have tried was a bacon hash.

I'm still honing in the bacon sizing on this one.  I've now made this recipe twice, once with bacon slices of about an inch and another of about a quarter inch.  Neither was satisfactory.  Next to try is a half inch slice.

Don't get me wrong, the outcome was delicious each time.  I just want that perfect balance of the amount of bacon in every bite without it being overpowering.

The one thing that did surprise me when making this recipe was the ease with which potatoes got grated.  I've always expected it to be a lot harder, more like what grating carrots feels like, but it was almost easier than grating an apple.

The Kitchen Sink

The Kitchen Sink

This is one of those sides that started out as an idea and then I kept adding more stuff to it as time went on.  Feels like this dish contains everything but the kitchen sink, hence the name.  It's got:  bacon, brussel sprouts, granny smith apple, fresh cranberries, golden raisins, carrot, pistachios, and pinot grigio.  It started out as a brussel sprouts with bacon and apples dish.

The kitchen sink turned out to taste a lot better than it sounds.  The salty, sweet, acidic notes all balanced each other out.  If we were to season it, that might even be better, but Guinea Pig and I decided to eat it just the way it came out of the pan over some basmati rice.

Guiltless Meringues

Guiltless Meringues

We had a carton of egg whites in the fridge that was going to expire soon, so it was time to bake either meringues or angel food cake.  Meringues won the toss this time.

Egg whites being healthy to begin with, I wanted to get the outcome to stay healthy, so I turned to Splenda instead of sugar.  I flavored it with some vanilla and raspberry extracts.

The rule to bake these, as I learned it through practice, is low and slow.  You would think that I would know this by now.  Luckily, I caught it in time to save it.

Came out crumbly, delicious, and guilt-free.  Even Guinea Pig approved the use of Splenda.  No bad side affects to the taste.  Considering making these for x-mas (yes, in a few days), but need to pick up more egg whites and some food coloring to make it more fun.

Roasted Broccoli

Roasted Broccoli

I had half a head of broccoli sitting in my fridge.  I was going to use it to make the peanut chicken, but that never materialized.  As I was browsing the interwebs, I came across a picture of broccoli florets on a baking sheet, which got me thinking back to the broccoli in my fridge.

I came up with a new way for the Guinea Pig and I to eat broccoli.  I roasted it with some garlic and then added lime zest and juice and almond slivers.  The almond and garlic slices were supposed to play off of each other.  I only used salt and ground chipotle peppers to season it.  Add a bit of olive oil so the broccoli doesn't stick and done!

It came out good enough for me to experiment again.  Next time I should leave all the proportions the same except for broccoli, I need to use a full head of florets.  Or maybe half broccoli half cauliflower?  I should also use lower heat so the garlic doesn't crisp too much before the broccoli florets cook.  Either way it was a successful first pass at a new way to enjoy broccoli.

Apple Carrot Potato Soup

Apple Carrot Potato Soup

With the cold weather comes the hankering for soups.  Browsing through my collection of ideas, I spotted a recipe that I had all the ingredients for in the fridge/pantry.  Sounded like a good sign, so I proceeded to make the soup.

I had Guinea Pig peel while I chopped.  I used only water (3 cups), all the listed spices, and added a few garlic cloves to the recipe.  After cooking over low heat for 15 minutes, the carrots were still hard.  I poured in the water and simmered for 20-30 minutes, until the carrots were cooked through.  It was just a tad more soup than our blender could handle, so we split it into two batches.  We finished it off by seasoning with salt.  We decided against using pepper, because the other spices covered enough of those taste notes.

Both the Guinea Pig and I were surprised as to how little soup the recipe yielded.  We filled up two soup mugs to bring to work for lunch and had less than a cup of soup remaining.