Faux Frisee aux Lardon

This post is not as pretentious as the title suggests (I hope). While we were in NYC, Katie told me about a salad with frisee and a poached egg. Then, it was on the menu at Zucco's Le French Diner. I have not been able to stop thinking about it since.


After some research, I discovered that this is a French salad made with frisee lettuce - the light green pretty lettuce that looks like lace and is also called French chicory - and a warm bacon dressing. That's trouble, since frisee is my least favorite lettuce and I don't like bacon. But do you think that would stop me?? Hardly!


After some substitutions, I ended up with a version I call Faux Frisee aux Lardon.



Faux Frisee aux Lardon
Field greens
Morningstar Farms Vegetarian Bacon
Button mushrooms
Shallot
Red wine vinegar
Poached egg


1. Cut the veggie bacon into small pieces and brown in a skillet with some olive oil. Add chopped mushrooms and brown them as well. Add diced shallot and cook until soft. Remove skillet from heat and add 2 Tbsp red wine vinegar


2. While your bacon and mushrooms are browning, poach an egg


3. Pour bacon/mushroom dressing over field greens, top with poached egg, and sprinkle with kosher salt and fresh cracked black pepper.


I really liked this salad, however; it's not appropriate for spring. It would be much more satisfying to eat a hearty salad with a warm dressing in the fall or winter. Good thing I have this blog to remind me of this in about 6 months.

Fabulous Dinner by Colin

Only make bets you don't mind losing.

It's great advice, no?

When I lived with Alicia, she made many things into a competition. It's been awhile since we've done this. But, a month or two ago, Marney, Alicia, and I met on a snowy winter's night for some bowling and beers. A few lanes into the first game, we decided that the game would be a bet - and the lowest scoring person after 3 games would have to either make or buy dinner for the other 2.

Long story short....Marney lost. By a lot. A LOT. And, like any self-respecting wife with a husband who can cook, she had Colin cook for us tonight. It was such a treat because it was the first grilled food I'd had this year, and I hadn't enjoyed a Colin meal in awhile!

This guy is magic. Culinary magic, that is. Seriously, I don't know how he does it. I have never seen him use a recipe. I have never been served overcooked food. I have never been served un-delicious food. He is MAGIC!

Tonight, the wizard created a feast that started with a green salad topped with a balsamic vinaigrette that I dream about. It's really that good.

Then, baked bread and mixed summer veggies in a foil packet on the grill: green pepper, red onion, yellow squash, zucchini, and a mystery combo of spices.

Also, sauteed shrimp in a boatload of garlic and butter or oil. These shrimp are amazing - cooked to perfection, plump and juicy, and exploding with garlic flavor.

And the masterpiece: salmon with lemon and a spice rub on the grill. The salmon was to die for. Honestly - I may change my death sentence meal. Look at how gorgeous this salmon was coming off the grill on a pretty spring evening.

Sidenote: best topic for food lovers to discuss at a cocktail or dinner party? What would you eat for your last supper if you were going to die tomorrow? Usually I would answer with a field green salad, margarita pizza, red wine, and extra dark chocolate. However, this salmon may have changed my answer. Plus, prosecco is quickly replacing red wine as my wine of choice, so I may need to re-think my whole answer!

Back to tonight's meal. It rocked. Colin amazes me. I am so jealous of his ability to cook all these different dishes (on different things like grill/stove/etc) and they all are done at the same time. Also, how in the hell does he season things so well? It's a delicious mystery that I'll be happy to try to figure out for a long time. Thanks to Marney's crummy bowling, maybe I'll get to do this again soon!

Sorry, no recipes today...just pretty pictures of this awesome dinner!

Springtime Stir Fry

Red..orange...yellow...green...I think I got all the (important) colors of the rainbow in this beautiful stir fry. Except blue, since I don't think blue vegetables exist. If I liked eggplant, I could have added that, I guess. Anyways, I was craving tofu and springtime today so I tried to combine them in this dish.

Now, I have tried cooking with tofu many, many times before and I have always been unsuccessful. I had given up, until I heard that tofu should be either baked or pan-fried in a non-stick skillet (which I had never tried). So I had 2 packages of tofu and I tried cooking it both ways. I pressed out the moisture and cubed the tofu. Half went into a skillet over medium-high heat with 1 Tbsp oil. The other half went on a cookie sheet and into a 350 degree oven for 1 hour. The pan-fried tofu turned out great - the baked version stuck to the cookie sheet. However, the tops were nice and brown, so next time I'll try the baked version on parchment or foil because I'd really like to eliminate the oil if possible.

Then I used my wok to stir-fry on high heat the following: onion, red/yellow/orange peppers, leeks, asparagus, and sugar snap peas. When the veggies are crisp-tender, splash in some soy sauce or tamari, veggie stock, and sriracha sauce.

I know stir fry is typically served over rice, but I'm way too impatient to cook rice for 45 minutes, and it usually sticks to the pot anyways, and I honestly don't even like rice that much. So, in a flash of genius I chopped up some cabbage and scooped the yummy veggies over the crispy crunchy light green cabbage. So it was almost like a stir fry salad. Tasted great and the leftovers will make fabulous and healthy lunches this week!

Springtime Stir Fry

Baked or pan-fried cubes of tofu

Sliced red, yellow, and orange peppers

Sliced yellow onion

Sliced and rinsed leeks

Asparagus, cut into 1 inch pieces

Sugar Snap Peas

2 Tbsp Soy sauce (or tamari)

1 Tbsp Sriracha sauce ("The Rooster")

1/2 cup Vegetable stock (approx)

In a wok, stir fry the veggies in 1 Tbsp vegetable oil on high heat until crisp-tender (approx 6-8 minutes). Add the soy, sriracha, and stock and cook for another minute. Add the tofu back into the mixture. Serve over rice or cabbage.

Restaurant Review - Heidi's Minneapolis

Went to Heidi's last night with my friend Sarah. No reservations, just walked in on a Friday night at 7pm. Surprisingly, it wasn't that busy. The restaurant is small, with tiny tables set very close to each other.

The host was kind of snooty and seemed irked that we hadn't made a reservation. Which would have been fine if they couldn't get us in - we would have left. But I think he wanted put put on a pouty show of how difficult it was for him to accommodate us. Please. We were seated in less than 5 minutes.

We ordered a bottle of syrah that was really, really good. It was so fruity and complex I could have had just that for dinner and been happy.

Then an amuse bouche of salmon tartare with kimchi mayo - for only $2.50. Wasn't on the menu but apparently the chef makes a different bouche each night. I loved it.

For the entree, I ordered the evening special which was Hawaiian ahi tuna, seared rare, and served on top of smoked couscous, caramelized onions, and eggplant fondue. Sounds like a bunch of weird funky flavors but together they were amazing.

Sarah ordered the filet mignon with asparagus and potato, and we shared a green salad with crispy yam strips. Overall, a fabulously delicious meal, and not terribly expensive. For both of us, with a great bottle of wine and big entrees, the tab was slightly less than $100.

Heidi's = thumbs up.

We then hit up Salut Bar Americain in Edina where I finally had my first glass of Veuve Cliquot, which was excellent! Sarah had a "smoking" cosmo which was full of dry ice so it bubbled and steamed for over 5 minutes in an embarassing display. We did succumb to temptation and shared a gigantic piece of chocolate cake with vanilla ice cream, and I had a double espresso. It was heaven.

Totally extravagant night, and not very lean, but worth it.

New Prosecco Review

Went to Trader Joe's today. Jackpot! Best wine steals ever. My usual prosecco that is sold there is $6.99 per bottle, and it is superb. A really nicely balanced sparkling wine that's not too sweet or dry.

The really friendly and talkative workers there told me that TJ's now sells another brand of prosecco that's only $4.99 per bottle! When you buy 12-24 bottles at a time, that $2 per bottle can add up! But does it taste any good?????

First impression after 1 sip.....not horrible. Much sharper than the $6.99 bottle, not as smooth, less fruity. But it does go well with food that requires a drier wine. Bottom line? Good, but if you're feeling rich, I would bust out that extra two bucks and stick with the original TJ prosecco. However, in these tough economic times, and if you are trying to cut corners wherever possible, $4.99 can buy you an evening's worth of entertainment in this lovely blue bottle!

Score? Six bubbles, out of a possible ten bubbles. This means it's a great value and it's not terrible wine. Try it for yourself and decide! I will probably buy this again just to switch things up now and then.

NOTE: the lowest possible score I can give to wine is five bubbles, because any wine is a good wine in my book.

New Gadget - Flower Petal Egg Poacher

I got a present! From Cass! And it's sooooo pretty. It's a tulip-shaped egg poacher. You can also use it for making custards or little cakes.

Now, you can of course poach eggs using nothing more than some hot water and an egg. However, Cassandra believes that when you do something (even if it's as mundane as poaching eggs), you should do it in style. I agree! These little flower cups are adorable and they make your eggs so pretty, and therefore more delicious!

First, simmer some water in a pan, grease your silicone flower cup and crack an egg into it.

Place your pretty tulip with raw egg in the simmering water, cover, and cook for 6-8 minutes (I did 6, since I'm becoming more and more fond of runny eggs).

Turn cooked eggs upside down onto a nice pile of sauteed onion, mushrooms, and kale (seasoned with balsamic vinegar, nutmeg, salt and pepper) and top with freshly grated parmesan cheese.

Isn't it gorgeous? Goes really well with prosecco!!!

Thanks, Cass - once again, you have improved my style!

What I Ate In NYC

Just returned from the most fabulous weekend in New York City. Shopping, dining, drinking, dancing, and spending time with some of my favorite people....what could be better?

And since this blog is about being lean and green, yet still eating yummy food, thought it would be appropriate to share some of the goodness I got to eat while in NYC.

Friday - first day there - after waking up at 4am, flying, subway-ing, and shopping, was definitely ready for a nice lunch. Katie and I found The Cub Room with a great prix fixe lunch for $15. We first demanded wine (!), then started with a fennel salad with apples, walnuts, and bleu or gorgonzola cheese. Second course was salmon with green veggies and fried mashed potato balls (hush puppies?). This salmon was just so pretty, I've never seen it rolled up like this!

Then we ended the meal with dessert - chocolate lava cake for Katie, cheesecake for me (and maybe another glass of wine?). Good start to the weekend!

That night, Cassandra took us to Indochine, the painfully obvious fashion model hotspot. She tried to tell us the portions were small...yeah right! We started with some sauteed asian greens and a green salad. For the entree, Katie had some very spicy shrimp.

I ordered the fish special, which was grilled striped sea bass on lemongrass and green veggies. It was HUGE, and really, really delicious.

We then made our way to the Thomson LES hotel and the new "members only" bar on 7th floor called "Above Allen." Apparently, they will soon be issuing membership cards and people like me won't be able to get in (without people like Cass and Katie to help!). But it was a great ending to a great day!

Saturday dawned beautiful and sunny. We made our way to Central Park for a lovely stroll in the sunshine. (NOTE: this marked the first time we were mistaken for locals and asked for directions, which was awesome and would only have been cooler if I actually knew where the Plaza was...who doesn't know where the Plaza is???? Duh, it is of course on 5th Ave and Central Park South). Then a tour of the World Trade Center site, and Battery Park.

Lunch on Saturday was at Kampuchea, the first and only Cambodian restaurant in the City. I had a great roasted cauliflower sandwich that I really enjoyed, especially when complemented with a lychee martini.

Dinner with Cass and Ben Saturday night was at some sushi restaurant - maybe I had too many lychee martinis at Verlaine's happy hour but I have no idea what this place was called. However, I do remember that the sushi was really super delicious!!! Here are some gorgeous pictures:

The rest of this night is a blur, but there are some embarassing photos that include pink heart sunglasses to indicate that I didn't just go to bed early.

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Sunday was a rough morning. Katie and I found somewhere to eat breakfast/lunch and read some trashy gossip magazines and try to get our brains unscrambled.

Cass re-charged our batteries with a sugar rush with some really fabulous cupcakes to celebrate Katie's birthday!

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Sunday dinner was truly memorable at Zucco's Le French Diner. Zucco himself in indescribably cool, he makes me wish I'd been to France. I ordered a Pan Bagnat sandwich (like a Nicoise salad, only on a baguette with fries). It was really good. But the ambiance....the ambiance was the best. Teeny tiny restaurant, kitschy decorations, authentic French owner. LOVE this place. No wonder Cass and Ben are regulars. I have no photos because that would have been terribly gauche.

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The weekend ended so perfectly. Just as if we were celebrities, Katie and I hit up the nearest Pinkberry (next door to our apartment!) for a fro-yo snack. YUM! Expect our photo to show up on Perezhilton.com soon.

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Bottom line: one of my best vacations ever. Had a blast. LOVE NYC!!!!

PS - all photos courtesy of Katie Hanson. Thanks girl - you are GREAT! Let's do it again someday!!