09.17,09: LADIES (part II)

THE MEAL:
-Breaded salmon (same recipe as before) with quinoa
-Pickled onions
-Apple-fennel slaw
-Green beans with tomato and shallots
-Salad (provided by Jenny)
-(Not pictured because we ate it all too fast) Baked pineapple with cinnamon and rum (provided by Leah)



This week, it was my turn to have the ladies over. I tend to go a little overboard with any opportunity to make a meal. Rather than spending my time in more productive ways, I spend hours thinking of how different flavors will interact, getting ingredients, and preparing the lot. I enjoy the whole process a little too much perhaps, especially when I get to cook for a group of entertaining guests.

Though I wanted to stay vegan, the allure of the breaded salmon was a bit too much for me to ignore. So, I decided to get a small fillet and fill up the rest of the plate with greens. With my friend Hannah keeping me company (and occasionally taking breaks with me to watch Lady Gaga videos), I chopped and diced my way to the successful completion of a number of dishes.

Hannah headed out to see a strip spelling bee (which I, too, was excited to attend, until I found myself coming down with some sort of weird, possibly onion-caused, cold by the end of the evening) and Leah, Jenny and I settled down into the dinner.



Jenny, being a Latin American studies major, was excited to try the quinoa ("IT'S FROM PERU!!"). The salmon/quinoa mixture was a definite success. I highly recommend using quinoa rather than rice in all cooking endeavors; it has a richer flavor, is full of protein, and takes about 1/4th the time to cook compared to brown rice. I thought the green beans were a little on the lemon-y side, but mixed with Jenny's salad, they were a fantastic side dish. The fennel-apple slaw had the potential to be good, but I made the error of forgetting that table salt is much stronger than kosher salt, leading to an overall too salty slaw. The picked onions were great on top of the salad, but they left me feeling a bit funny and I SWEAR they're the cause of my current cold. (I'm so full of snot and feel a bit woozy, it's ridiculous. Still, every time I open the fridge, I'm tempted to eat the leftover onions. I might do it tomorrow, IF I'M FEELING DANGEROUS.) Though it's not pictures, this description is not complete without mention of Leah's dessert. Knowing my love of sugar and my dietary restrictions, Leah found a recipe in the Moosewood Recipe Cookbook for Caribbean Pineapple (or something similarly named). She let the pineapple marinade in rum, cinnamon, and sugar (I think), then stuck it in the oven for a while. It came out smelling delicious and tasting equally so. I have a can of pineapple left over from some time ago and will definitely be repeating the recipe.

Our hunger sated the the kitchen full of leftovers, we settled down to watch Gossip Girl. The show never disappoints in implausibility.