Friday, May 26, 2017

Different Foods-Countries, Bowling, Steaks,

Talking about spinach salad yesterday it occurred to me that I had never had spinach in a salad before I emigrated to Canada. Only ever had it cooked. Then I thought of beet greens, didn't even know they were edible before I came here. I have recently found out that you can eat radish greens too, I tried a little and wasn't a convert much as I like radishes. Another thing I had never had was a sweet jellied salad with my main meal, aspic salads, yes, but not some of the things which were dished up to us when we first came to Canada. I have never enjoyed sweet jellied salads with savoury foods. I have never made anything in aspic myself but my mother, who was a brilliant cook, often used to make things in aspic which were delicious. We used to joke that my mother could cook anything but she couldn't pronounce the name of it. I wonder if some of these foods are eaten in the UK these days? Hilary, if you are reading this, that's a question for you to answer please, or anyone else from the UK. Another thing I had never eaten was squash, we have/had marrow in the UK which I have since discovered classifies as a squash but things like butternut squash and so on I had never heard of.

Bowling was absolutely dreadful Thursday. Matt had one good game, I didn't. Blaming my aching legs which really didn't have anything to do with it. Afterwards we went and bought some very expensive fillet steaks from the Victoria St. Market which I hope will be tender enough for Matt. I get so tired of serving him meat which he finds too tough. Hopefully these will be OK for him. Mind you, if they are, we probably can't afford them very often from there.They are wet aged so I will be interested to see what the result of that will be.

We finished the spinach salad on Thursday night but this time I added some avocado which made it even better.

This recipe was in Kevin Lynch's Closet Kitchen blog and, because of the asparagus, not to mention the spinach, I decided to use it today. One thing we do not have is a barbecue, the reason being because we live in an apartment building. Not sure if we could use our indoor outdoor grill.

Grilled Chicken and Asparagus Caprese Spinach Salad with Bacon and Avocado

Servings4
A hearty summer grilled chicken and asparagus spinach 'caprese' salad with tomatoes, mozzarella, basil and a balsamic vinaigrette along with some bacon and avocado!

ingredients
  • 1/2 pound boneless and skinless chicken breast
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • 1 pound asparagus, washed and trimmed
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • 1 tablespoon oil
  • 4 strips bacon, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
  • 6 cups baby spinach, washed
  • 8 ounces tomatoes, diced
  • 8 ounces mini bocconcini or mozzarella balls
  • 1 large avocado, diced
  • 1/4 balsamic vinaigrette
  • 1/4 cup basil, sliced
directions
  1. Season the chicken with salt and pepper and grill over medium-high heat until cooked, about 3-5 minutes per side before setting aside.
  2. Toss the asparagus spears in the oil, salt and pepper and grill over medium-high heat until crisp-tender and slightly charred before setting aside to cool and slicing into bite sized pieces.
  3. Meanwhile, cook the bacon until crispy and set aside on paper to els to drain.
  4. Mix all of the ingredients and enjoy!


OptionFor One-Pan: Make this a one-pan meal by cooking/pan-searing/pan-grilling the bacon in a pan, followed by the chicken, followed by the asparagus.
Option: Cook the bacon before hand to speed things up and to allow you to do all of the cooking at the grill.

Have a great day
 

20 comments:

  1. Hi Jo - I'll answer briefly ... I used to make a tomato jelly salad ring .. it was delicious. We've always had lots of different veggie and getting interested in food in the 60s ... lots of 'new' (old) things were being tried ...

    Elizabeth David I wrote about in my cookery series, Marguerite Patten, the Cordon Bleu series ... really brought new ideas to the British family ... and since then people with an interest in foods in the hedgerows and from old recipe books have brought more to our attention.

    I came across butternut in South Africa ... but I'm sure if one lived in London - it'd have been there ... I got hooked into the Cordon Bleu recipes ... and brought spaghetti squash seed back from the States - you probably couldn't then, but I did ... now I wouldn't! We got one squash ... but now so many varieties grown here ...

    Hope that helps - cheers Hilary

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    1. Thanks Hilary, tomato jelly would be savoury, which is fine, but here they have sweet jelly salads, which I think are horrid. I used to have (maybe still do, not sure) Elizabeth David's book and I have several of the Cordon Bleu series. I have Sheila Hutchins' books and Marguerite Patten plus many others. I still have a 1935 Mrs. Beeton too.

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  2. I hate jell-o salads, as they are called here. I don't even like jell-o, let alone the stuff folks throw in there. Ugh.
    When I was reading all the Hercule Poirot books, there is one where he retired to grow marrows. I couldn't for the life of me figure out what Christie was talking about. I used to analyze bone marrow in the lab and had never heard the word used for any other purpose. I finally Googled and learned that it is a zucchini. Why didn't she just say so?
    As for Matt, has he ever been checked for TMJ? That makes chewing difficult too.

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    1. I love jell-o but not the salads Denise.

      No, Marrow is NOT a zucchini, it is similar to look at, but tastes quite different. A lot of people think they are the same. You can also eat the marrow from a beef bone, we used to have it on toast and it was delicious.

      Never heard of TMJ, reading the description, don't think he has that, he just finds a lot of meat tough.

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    2. Google says it is a zucchini, so now I am truly confused.

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    3. I promise you it isn't Denise. I have eaten both many times and the texture and flavour are different.

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    4. Just to put matters of the zucchini and marrow into context ... we grew marrows in England pre and post war ... and that was it - so to speak. Then we got introduced to marrows being picked young ... hence zucchini and the Italian influence.

      So a marrow is a mature zucchini, or courgette - the names get muddled up in the English speaking world ... it's just the way it is ...

      Like aubergine and eggplant ... and others ...

      Bone marrow is delicious isn't it - a common (cheap) food after the war ...

      I don't want to open a can of worms here ...?!?!?! Cheers to you both - Hilary

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    5. Sorry to take issue with you Hilary, but when we lived in the Carolinas a friend used to grow zucchini and for me he allowed them to grow to marrow size. They didn't taste anything like the marrows I used to eat. However, my mother would have agreed with you.

      Now, I have to get chasing worms to get them back into the can.

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  3. I am just not into jello salads because I never liked jello. Sorry to hear your bowling was not as good but glad you could go. Have a great weekend!

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    1. Like I just wrote to Denise, I love Jell-o but not salads Birgit. I still enjoy bowling even if I don't score very well.

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  4. Raw spinach for me as always been a thing as well as cooked. I love it. Tim does to. Then when I was a prep cook we made raw spinach salad with bacon, hard boiled egg crumbles and ranch dressing. I've made it a few times for Tim and he loved it. Eaten cold. Better as it sits.

    Sorry about your bowling. Is it Matt himself and his teeth or gums or is it the meat?

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    1. Funny isn't it Ivy? I love it too these days, but had never heard of it in the UK.

      I think it is the meat, I just cope with it better than he does.

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    2. It is funny but understandable in a way too. Even here in the states, some areas eat things that I never did. Before moving to NWPA, I'd never heard or had chili with corn bread. I had no idea

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    3. That applies in Europe too Ivy. I know for a fact that in Italy things can differ from town to town. Probably true in lots of places although nowadays there is contact all over the country so people learn of things other people do. Let's face it, when we came to Canada the Internet hadn't been invented.

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    4. Excellent points, Jo. Also, what I love about sharing food online and reading blogs.

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    5. True Ivy, that's how we all learn.

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  5. I've never been a fan of jello unless it's in parfait form with fruit and whipped cream. Aspic stuff grosses me out wicked bad. Like the time we were served airplane head cheese on Air France. That was in 1982 and my stomach still lurches at the memory. lol

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    1. I like it with whipped cream to JoJo. But I do like aspic, as in chicken in aspic or something similar. Head cheese makes its own jelly anyway.

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  6. There are so many different things to do with squash. It's always interesting to learn how different foods are prepared across the pond.

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    1. You're right it is Susan. Part of my hobby I guess.

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