I’ve been so busy lately, I barely have time to procrastinate which confirms what I’ve always suspected:  planning is but a series of decisions about what not to do so that I can do what I’d like.  Sometimes this is simply not doing anything — or anything significant, that is.  In the case of my food life, that means I’ve come to a complete standstill baking my way through Peter Rhinehart’s The Breadbaker’s Apprentice.  Although I’m not a foreigner to bread baking, it isn’t something I’ve ever done routinely, and so any excuse not to keep the original pace I set along with others in the BBA Challenge group keeps me from taking on the next recipe.

I suppose I could blame my delay on Bittman and his salads.  After all, the hottest time of the year is finally drawing to a close here and so the ease of throwing a salad together after a very long day would keep most people from baking anything.  Or perhaps it was that last gas & electric bill reflecting three completely decadent days of central air-conditioning.  Honestly, I’ve slowed down on my salad production as well.  Although I still cook most evenings, we don’t get around to eating until nearly 8pm, so the idea of photographing any of what I prepare doesn’t compete with flopping on the sofa, visiting with the resident menfolk, and staring at the television.  No, the serious cooking usually happens on the weekend now, and last weekend seemed to feature roasted green chilis, or what are known as Anaheim chilis.

I love them.  I love their glossy bright green color, the fresh crunch of a bite right from the raw chili, and the smoky aroma that fills our house whenever I roast them on the stove.  Also known as California Chilis, Anaheims are featured in  chili rellenos.  They’re especially good added to anything with cheese or eggs.  I usually keep a can or two in my pantry, but they’re so easy to make I usually also have a few fresh chilis around.  Occasionally they sit on the counter longer than I’d planned and turn red.

Planned…yes, there’s that word again.  I won’t tell you what I planned not to do last Sunday as I wallowed in my favorite room in the house, but I did make Bittman Salad No. 25, a Fresh Creamed Corn & Green Chili Casserole, some Pan Roasted Red Potatoes with Green Chilis and Onions and a Roast Chicken that sadly did not benefit from green chilis.

Let me know if anyone has made ice cream with green chilis and I’ll be first in line.

Bittman Salad No. 25

1 Anaheim chili, fresh roasted, seeded, sliced

handful cilantro

1/4 orange bell pepper, chopped

1-2 heirloom tomatoes, cut into wedges

1/4 red onion, chopped

corn tortillas, cut into strips, fried and well drained

chili lime salt

freshly squeezed lime juice optional

Bittman suggests that you can use packaged chips for this salad, and of course, I agree, but we usually have half a package of tortillas after a taco dinner, so it’s perfect to fry a batch of strips or triangles just to enjoy.  In this salad, I used strips.  Fry in hot oil in small batches so the strips aren’t crowded.  Drain on paper towels, and salt well.

Arrange the whole fresh chilis over an open flame and turn frequently as skins blacken.  When nearly completely black, cover or wrap in a clean, dry cloth for at least 15 minutes.  Then, peel and discard skin, seeds, stem, and membranes.  Do not rinse!  Slice into strips.

Lightly toss all ingredients on a large plate and sprinkle chili lime salt over.

Notes:

• This salad has a lot of great flavor and texture, but I’m partial to these flavors.  I had to restrain myself from adding avocado.
• With no salad dressing which is usually loaded with fat this salad is diet-worthy.  Sure the tortilla strips were fried, but if the oil is hot enough, you’ll find there’s almost no oil on the paper towels you place them on after frying.  Besides, how many strips end up in a serving of this?  Four of us enjoyed this salad.  That’s not a lot of calories.
• Chili lime salt is one of those things one could find herself obsessing over.  Easily.  Such a great way to get flavor with little or no effort.  It enhances whatever it’s sprinkled on.
• This is one of Bittman’s best.  Truly.

Since I began working my way through Mark Bittman’s “101 Simple Salads for the Season”, I’ve not quite been able to keep up with the goal I set to make at least five salads in a seven day week.  Most of the time, it’s simply that I was missing a key ingredient, or I hadn’t planned on making a trip to the market for the third time in three days.  I’ve planned ahead, but even that has caused some problems because we all know that fresh produce won’t wait forever to be used.  On weekends, I’ve been able to make a salad for my lunch, and then another for dinner, so I’ve made up a bit of time, but the goal isn’t necessarily to make all the salads by a particular date; instead, it is simply to make all the salads.

A few of you have mentioned that you’d like to get this book.  It’s not a book — it’s a list that was printed last month in The New York Times.  Each “salad” is really only a suggested list of ingredients and quantities mentioned only occasionally with phrases such as, “not a lot,” “a few,” “a bit,” and “loads.”  I think that’s what I enjoy best about this experience.  Cooking, or in this case, making salad isn’t necessarily about exact amounts of anything when you want something light and healthy without a lot of fuss.  It’s more about learning what will taste well together and which textures contrast appealingly.  It’s also about being able to relax a bit on dealing with a specific recipe, experimenting, and tasting as you go to decide how much of a particular flavor you enjoy.

As I’ve made each salad, I’ve only kept notes about what I’ve included in each salad, ingredients I’ve added, if any, and only occasionally, the quantities of dressing ingredients.  We don’t use bottled or packaged salad dressing , so experimenting with flavors is always something we enjoy.  If a dressing works especially well, then I will keep a quantity list, but even then, the amounts will be estimates.  There are no measuring cups or spoons — only squirts, glugs, and dollops of this and that along the way.

I’ve featured salads Nos. 29, 13, and 14 in respective posts, but in keeping with the spirit of simplicity, I’ve decided to group more of them together in a single post.  We’ll see how that goes.  In the meantime, make a salad!  Fourteen down, seemingly a million to go.

Let’s call this particular series fabulously delicious, shall we?

No. 59: Seared Tuna with Olives, Capers, and Tomatoes

Lunch for One: Sear yellowfin in a very hot pan with some olive oil.  Season with salt and pepper.  Slice a cup of grape tomatoes (cherry toms are too sweet and not tart enough for me…), and toss with a handful of pitted large green olives, a tablespoon of capers with their juice, and some sliced basil. Squeeze a bit of fresh lemon juice over,  taste and season. Drizzle over some good extra virgin olive oil and finish with cracked pepper.  So delicious.

No. 11: Baby Bok Choy, Grape Tomatoes, and Capers

A Dinner Salad for Three: Par boil three baby bok choy and dunk in an ice bath.  Coarsely chop.  Toss with halved grape tomatoes, a tablespoon of capers with juice, drizzle over extra virgin olive oil and squeeze a half lemon over the mixture as well.  Taste, season, and sprinkle on some crumbled feta.  Truly crisp, and refreshing.  I had no idea you could eat bok choy this way, but I’m hooked.

No. 20:  Napa Cabbage and Radishes with a Peanut Chili Lime Vinaigrette

A Dinner Salad for Three: My husband made this salad while I was writing this and came up with his own version of the dressing.  It’s shredded napa cabbage with sliced long red radishes whose name I can’t recall (hot and spicy…) and English cukes were added.  Goodness this was so good, I have to make it for myself again.  His vinaigrette recipe follows:

Peanut Chili Lime Vinaigrette

3/4 c. peanuts

juice of 1 lime

1 cherry pepper, roasted and sliced

1 T kosher salt

1 tsp. pepper, freshly ground

2 T cilantro, chopped

1/4 c. extra virgin olive oil

Toast peanuts well until oils are being released.  Add all ingredients to food processor and blend.  Add more oil to get desired consistency.