Swiss Chard

Last night I had mom and dad over for a thank you dinner for all their help with our recent move. I have a nice new kitchen and thought there was no better way to break it in then to prepare a meal for my family.
On the menu was baked lemon fish with sauteed Swiss chard and bowtie artichoke salad. It was a little something new for everyone to try.  I tried out swiss chard which is a type of green for Jack and I one night and we loved it and ate it all by ourselves. Mom and  Dad love the spinach in the vinegar so I knew they would like the swiss chard, Since Jason is not a big fan of greens I made the artichoke salad for something new for him. He had never had artichokes before. They all liked their "something new" last night. Here are the recipes of the swiss chard and the artichoke salad below.

Swiss Chard
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 bunches swiss chard, leaves removed and chopped

Heat olive oil in skillet over medium heat infuse oil with garlic. Then add the Swiss chard and saute until wilted about 2 min. Season with salt and pepper and serve hot.

This goes great with fish!

What Swiss chard looks like

Bowtie Artichoke Salad

2 14 ounces cans quartered artichoke hearts, drained
8 ounces bowtie pasta, cooked and drained
1/4 cup sun dried tomatoes, chopped
1 small red onion, chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/4 cup chopped parsley leaves
salt and freshly ground black pepper

 Toss all ingredients in a serving bowl and let rest covered in the refrigerator for at least one hour before serving. Best if sits overnight if you have the time or want to make ahead.

recipe by Sunny Anderson

Black Bean Salad

A great side dish for Mexican entrees. We had this on the side with tacos one night. The next day for lunch we had taco salads with the leftover taco meat and put this on top. Jason even commented it would be great on nachos.

Black Bean Salad
2 cans black beans, drained
2 Roma tomatoes, diced
1/4 cup diced red pepper
1/4 cup diced red onion
1/4 cup green onions
1/4 cup diced pineapple
1 tablespoon chopped cilantro
1 jalapeno, minced and seeded
4 tablespoons red wine vinegar or sherry vinegar
juice of 1 lime
3 tablespoons honey
1 tablespoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper
pinch of ground cumin

Mix all ingredients in a large bowl and refrigerate for 1 hour.


Recipe from Guy Fieri

Turkey Larb

I tried out a new type of cuisine a Thai dish called Turkey Larb. Don't let the name fool you it is good...nothing like lard, which it sounds like and at first I thought that was what is was called, turkey lard. It was tested and proved to be a success so I thought I would share.

Turkey Larb

Dressing
1/3 cup fresh lime juice (4-5) Limes
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice (1 large)
2 tablespoons fish sauce*
2 tablespoons honey
Larb
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
1/2 red onion diced
3 shallots thinly sliced
1/4 cup minced lemongrass**
1 chopped thai chile stemmed and thinly sliced (serrano is one kind)
kosher salt
11/2 lbs ground turkey
1/2 cup chopped mint leaves
freshly ground pepper
1 head butter lettuce. Leaves separated (like small heads of lettuce if you cannot find it romaine lettuce leaves work too)

Directions
Dressing: In a small bowl, whisk together the lime juice, lemon juice, fish sauce and honey. Set aside.
Larb- In a large skillet, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the onion, shallots, lemongrass, chile, and salt, to taste. Cook until the vegetables begin to soften, about 5 minutes. Add the turkey and season with salt. Cook, stirring frequently, until the meat and vegetables are cooked through, about 5 minutes. Add the dressing to the pan and cook for 2 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the mint. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.

To eat just spoon turkey mixture onto lettuce leaf and eat like a wrap. To make it more filling we put rice first on the lettuce then the meat, or serve with rice on the side. I also didn't want to work with chilies I was afraid it would be too spicy for the little one so just added red bell pepper it tasted great to me.

*Here is a picture of the fish sauce. It is in the ethnic food isle and it is in a bottle like vinegar. I was a little daunted by this ingredient but you could not taste anything fishy at all.

 **When I saw this dish being demonstrated she cut up the lemongrass but once my brother made dinner for us and used lemongrass I remember it being in a tube already done!  I looked for it that way and found it in the herb section of my grocery store by the produce.

This recipe was by Giada De Laurentiis from the food network.