Lemon-Rosemary Cobb Salad

I totally lifted this recipe from Bobby Flay, and it is one of the two ways I will eat steak. I monkeyed around with it a bit, and I never really measure stuff, and it's become a family favorite.

1. I use that really thin steak for this, but if you actually like red meat, you can use any steak you like. Marinate it overnight in tons of garlic, salt, fresh rosemary, and olive oil. Grill it to your liking, but use a hot flame to get a nice char on the outside. Let it rest a few minutes, then slice or chop. Before you turn off the grill, halve two lemons and grill them for about 5 minutes, or until the sugars on the cut ends begin to caramelize. Save for dressing.
2. Roughly chop the other salad ingredients: romaine lettuce, avocado, green onions, crisp bacon, and tomatoes. Crumble some good bleu cheese. If you like hard-boiled eggs, add them. I think they're disgusting, so I don't. Bobby Flay grills the scallions, and uses prosciutto instead of bacon, in case you wondered. I don't bother.
3. Assemble the salad: a traditional Cobb places the ingredients in rows over the lettuce, as in my picture. I like it that way, too, so that every bite combines different flavors.
4. Make the dressing: blend the juice of one grilled lemon, about 1/2 C olive oil, salt, pepper, and a T of minced garlic (Bobby Flay uses a few cloves of roasted garlic, which is delicious, but I usually forget to prepare in advance), plus some more fresh rosemary. Taste and adjust with more grilled lemon or olive oil. There is so much creamy stuff on this salad (cheese, avocado, bacon) that I err on the side of tartness--I usually use at least a lemon and a half in the dressing. Drizzle over salad.

You'll never guess what I made.

BLACK BEAN BURGERS!

No shit. I really, really did. I think I used the fourth bunch of cilantro I've bought in preparation for these damned things, but it happened. We had a full-on work weekend and I didn't go to the grocery store (#CookFail), but luckily...we had all the ingredients for these burgers. Excepting maybe the cilantro, you probably do, too.

Note in advance: This recipe is super-forgiving. Amounts are really not important. And you can add anything you want or top any way you want. You could probably also bake them. And they reheat well!

--Drain 2 cans black beans; add about 2/3 of them to bowl.
--Mash w/ back of fork or potato masher.
--Stir in 1 egg (1), minced garlic, onion powder (2), salt, cayenne, cumin, oregano.
--Gently stir in 1/4 C panko, ton of chopped cilantro, and remaining whole beans.
--Shape into patties (smaller ones don't break up as much).
--Crisp up in non-stick pan, 4-5 min. per side, until they look a little dry.
--Serve w/ cheese, salsa, guacamole, radish slices, lettuce, sour cream...whatever.
--Put them on a roll if you're not carb- or gluten-conscious. Or in pita.

I always serve this with those frozen spicy chipotle sweet potato fries, which are extra delicious if you mix together some ketchup and Sriracha (Thai hot sauce) for dipping (3). A little mixed greens salad is nice, too.

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(1) You can use a couple of glops of mayo instead if raw egg grosses you out. It grosses me out, but it does cook while the burgers are in the pan. And literally NOTHING grosses me out more than mayonnaise.

(2) It'd be delicious if you felt like chopping and sauteeing an actual onion, along with the garlic, but that totally ruins the appeal for me, because this meal is supposed to be fast, easy, and virtually mess-free.

(3) And I hate ketchup, mind. So you know this is good if I'll recommend it.

Dinner for Slackers

Not only did I spend more money than I had planned at the grocery this week, but I also spent more time. After being cart-blocked at every turn by the Oldsters of South Pasadena, I was in no mood to roast tomatillos and slice onions, peppers, and steak for the tacos. I defaulted to the butternut squash soup.

Most of my recipes are hybrids, and this is no exception: I combine the technique from America’s Test Kitchen with part of a recipe from somewhere on Epicurious, then I tweak based on the Degree of Slack I require from my dinner at the particular moment. Here’s what I did tonight:


--halve a giant squash lengthwise; reserve gross stuff
--in multi-pot, saute gross stuff in butter 
--add onion, 3 star anise, sliced ginger, garlic; brown
--add an inch of water
--put squash face-down in steamer basket; cover
--steam until soft (20 min?)
--strain out gross stuff; pour liquid back into pot
--scoop out and add nuclear squash pulp
--add 4-5 cups liquid(1)
--puree with stick blender until smooth
--simmer for 20 minutes(2)


Sometimes I add a bit of cream, but not tonight.(3)

I also made turkey sandwiches, because soup and sandwich are still together after All These Years. But I knew I was going to blog about it later, so I gussied up the deli turkey with some thinly sliced apple, farmhouse cheddar, and avocado. I briefly considered grilling them, because that’s extra delicious, but then I realized I’d have to come up with a new title for the post and I was just way too apathetic. Deal.


It wasn’t bad, considering all the hands-off time. Family consensus is that it would have been better if I’d actually done the ATK-steaming method, because it really is delicious. But I didn’t want to do the straining or the dishes, so I just diced the squash, dumped it all in a Dutch oven, set the heat to medium, and fell asleep. In 20 minutes, I had soup. Result!

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(1) I used mostly water ‘cuz I’m cheap, and a little broth

(2) Or 40 if, like me, you fall asleep on the couch

(3) I’ll pretend that I did it to help Dorian out with that high cholesterol business, but actually I would have sneaked it in there if we’d had any.