I could have just named this ‘hearty main course salad’, but then I would be neglecting vowels that quinoa and aioli provide. Options abound with this full meal salad. You can eliminate ingredients you don’t have or those you don’t like, but figs and quinoa are a must and I promise that all of the ingredients, from toasted cashews to charred asparagus, make themselves known in each bite.
We just returned from Winterlake Lodge, located in a perfectly remote area of Alaska, specifically at mile 198 along the world famous dog-sledding path, the Iditarod Trail. Seclusion was found after a one-hour flight, by seaplane, from the Anchorage base, conveniently adjacent to Ted Stevens International Airport. I found it troubling that the airport still bears the name of the Senator who died in an airplane crash. It was nearly all I could think of as we also flew on a seaplane, a de Havilland Beaver DHC 2, built in the 50’s. The 1950’s when credit cards, radial tires, and the Barbie doll were invented. You’re thinking, were raspberry scones invented in the fifties because that would be the necessary connection to food for this post. Silly, scones were invented in ’13, 1513. Makes a seaplane seem like the Starship Enterprise.
The origin lore of beer-can chicken varies, but most agree that chicken made by propping on top of an open can of pale ale has been a tailgating favorite for years. I can only imagine the moment when drunken football fans, ravenous from loading up all that beer into their 4×4, drinking up an appetite for barbecued chicken when they realized that they left the grill grate in the garage next to their walk-behind mower. When contemplating their only supplies: a raw whole chicken, burning embers and the beer in hand they came up with this. Who knew that a desperate cooking method would create a meal that was seemingly prepared by grill masters? High five me, bro!
The components are few, the technique is simple, the result is evenly crisped skin with oh, so juicy meat.
We need more variety of vegetables in our diet. I declared this week to be “fall in love with eggplant” week. I hadn’t yet. After expressing the celebration on our refrigerator complete with color drawing of the vegetable, my kids informed me that an eggplant emoji means something entirely different from the produce I avoided all of these years.
It was time to consider this edible object to be more than a killer color or a pervy emoji. We found a recipe that was a perfect start to our week, and by week, I mean a 2-day festival.
Change of seasons in Southern California is determined by the shade of grass and the thickness of sweaters. In deep January, believe me, we are grateful, but without harsh winters, we just don’t celebrate summer like everyone else. There’s a quiet in our town. Sometimes I miss that authentic neighborhood barbecue atmosphere with kids running through sprinklers, lightening bugs, laughter that hums through screendoors, humidity, and enough water to go around. To me, summer is more a state of mind than a season.We ramped things up the other day with a spicy seafood boil that we borrowed from our coastal friends, where shellfish is a summer staple.
