Author: jstv

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Avocado Egg Salad

If you think that avocados are just something to mash-up and dip corn chips into, here’s some news for you, and we’re not talking that ‘millennial ‘ toast fad either.

Not to say either of those uses are bad, but maybe it is time to rethink this super food’s role in your pantry. Yes, super food.

In that dark green shell the “alligator pear” holds 20 different vitamins and minerals, a 100 gram serving has; 150 calories, 15 grams of healthy fats and only 2 ‘net’ grams of carbohydrates … no sodium or cholesterol. See… super food!

We came across a really great way to fix this fruit. Make an egg salad. You can skip the mayo and get a rich creamy egg salad that is perfect for a sandwich or scooping. Though we’d recommend that you use celery sticks, or carrot disks, rather than corn chips.

We have also started to slice it thin, layer it on a piece of toast, add some fresh ground pepper, and then put an over easy egg on top for a great breakfast treat.

Sure you can keep mashing up that dip because you are still getting superfood advantage, but maybe that jar of processed cheese stuff isn’t the best pairing.

Print Recipe

Avocado-egg salad

Servings: 2 people
Calories: 150kcal

Ingredients

  • 1/2 medium avocado diced
  • 2 hard cooked eggs diced
  • ¼ cup celery chopped
  • 2 teaspoons lemon juice
  • 1 teaspoon fresh chives minced
  • 1 pinch salt
  • 3 turns fresh ground pepper

Instructions

  • Dice avocado, egg and celery to about the same ⅛ inch size pieces and place in small bowl
  • Add lemon juice, chives, salt and pepper, then mix to combine 
  • This can be spread on bread, toast or scooped up with slices of fresh veggies like carrot, celery, zucchini or cucumber.
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A Spring thaw

Winter has retreated and spring’s thaw turns pasture land around the Sunriver Nature Center into ponds to contain the snow melt. Our walking trails are about the only thing still above the water level right now.

There are an abundance of birds and water fowl taking advantage of the expanded flood plain. Ducks, mostly mallard pairs, and of course flocks of Canada geese. To the year round residents there is a  marked increase in song birds, particularly robins and red-winged black birds. The black birds are aggressively staking claim to territory with red flashes from their shoulders and loud calls. There are also small birds that flit too fast for easy identification, but are adding their voices to the choir.

 

The willow groves offering cover for all this increased bird activity are starting to bud. Marsh grasses and cattail that poked brown stalks out of the snow banks show tinges of green and seem to be standing more upright in response to the April sun.

Each day’s visit presents new treasures to observe and we’ve taken to adding binoculars to the camera gear packed for our walks these blustery spring days.

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Green Goddess Goodness

It may have been years since you tried Green Goddess dressing. I remember bottles of a Kraft version that showed up in our family fridge in the 70’s . I guess it was popular on the SoCal sprout salads of the day. We recently came across a version of this dressing as part of an oven-roasted green veggie salad … it was better than I remember and actually easy to make.

Classic Green Goddess recipes use anchovies, either whole or paste to get that earthy flavor. This take on the classic swaps out pungent fish with white miso paste, more vegan friendly. You can find miso in most markets these days and it’s worth the effort.

The way we are making it is with a hand blender which allows us to do very small batches but it can stay in your fridge for a few weeks if you wanted to do larger portions. The recipe attached is weighed out in grams to make this process easier.

Try tossing a couple cups of chopped up broccoli crowns, one inch pieces of green bean and small chunks of zucchini in a tablespoon of olive oil and pepper. Spread it out on a sheet pan covered with foil and sprayed with oil and roast for 20 minutes in a 400 degree oven.

Mix this with some of the green goddess and spread over a bowl of salad greens, some wilted kale or even a mix of both.

For a speedy dinner salad check out JQ’s quick dressed greens. You add the parts of an oil and vinegar dressing to the bottom of a large bowl and then toss salad while mixing the dressing. The taste variety comes from herbs and spices added to the mix.

Print Recipe

Green Goddess dressing

This version of Green Goddess gets it's umami-ness from white miso rather than anchovies, and makes a great sauce for oven-roasted veggies, chicken, lentils, or even a mixed green salad.

Ingredients

  • 60 grams mayo
  • 30 grams buttermilk
  • 3 grams lemon juice
  • 10 grams white miso
  • 1 clove garlic about 3 grams
  • 15 grams green herbs see note

Instructions

  • A hand blender works really well for small batches. This can be made in a food processor but you'll need to double or triple the quantities. If you are using a hand blender (Bamix), add ingredients in the order listed, keeping herbs on top. In a food processor you can just load it all in.
  • Mix with short pulses stopping often to scrape down the sides, until the herbs and garlic are very finely chopped and the mixture is smooth in texture.

Notes

  • Measures are in grams so you can increase the amounts easier. Just put the mixing vessel on a scale and add ingredients. This amount is good for two large bowls of mixed greens with roasted veggies.
  • Herbs - you can use any combination of fresh green herbs you like. We use about 2 tablespoons(Tbsp) parsley, 1 Tbsp chives, 1 Tbsp tarragon  and then add basil to get 10 to 15 grams.
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Watching the weather

The day begins with coffee, Weather Underground, and the crossword. It’s important to know what’s happening outside as you plan the day and week ahead. The high desert  has great vistas whose beauty is in the sky and clouds.

This particular morning there was a notice of thunderstorms on the forecast app. Always on the look out for weather picture opportunities, this storm was scheduled for late afternoon and seemed too good to pass up.

Deciding to document the storm we head east toward the Fort Rock area. This part of the high desert has a great expanse of sky. The plan was to get ahead of the storm and be set up to catch the action.

We opt for the Summer Lake Wildlife Refuge, offering a perfect location, just off Highway 31 near the the town of Summer Lake and to the north end of the town’s namesake.

This put us exactly where we hoped to be…surrounded by storm clouds. Thunder never materialized and for the most part we avoided rain and hail, all the time capturing images of the three or four different storm cells pushing up against the mountains to the east and west of us.

As icing on the cake, migratory birds were paddling around in the water ways. I guess the only down side were black clouds of mosquitoes. Even then the storm’s wind helped disperse the pests.

Finally, on the way back home and closer to Fort Rock, we managed to catch a tremendous sunset. A great ending to a day of weather watching (check out newest photo essay for more images of the storm).

 

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Salad in minutes

As the main salad maker in our family, my goal is to ensure we eat fresh veggies every day. A quick, mixed green salad fits the bill nicely. So why do I hesitate when it’s time to make a salad?

For me it’s the prep…washing the greens, peeling the veggies, and measuring assorted oils, vinegar and herbs. Apparently I am a lazy salad maker. Still, determined to do better, I decide to streamline my process.

All cleaning is done at one time. Vegetables are washed (check out Fruit & Vegetable Wash), then stored immediately after our weekly grocery run.

Now that everything is prepped, we are ready to assemble a salad at any time.

Print Recipe

Salad in minutes

Prep Time4 minutes

Ingredients

  • 2 Tbl olive oil ratio of 3 to 1, olive oil to vinegar
  • 2 tsp vinegar
  • pinch of salt
  • grind of pepper
  • pinch of thyme
  • handful of spring greens per person
  • 1/4 cup freeze dried blueberries per person
  • 1/8 cup sliced roasted almonds per person

Instructions

  • Place oil, vinegar, salt, thyme in large bowl and stirvigorously until emulsified. 
  • Put greens, blueberries and almonds and lightly toss until coated in dressing. Serve.

I only make enough dressing for the meal at hand. The ratio of oil to vinegar is three to one: three parts oil to one part vinegar. Not every vinegar is the same strength, so “to taste” is important here.

Choose a bowl three times bigger than the salad you are making…why? Because it’s a tossed salad and this helps contain all the parts.

The dressing is mixed first. Let sit a few minutes to blend the flavors, then the greens and extra fixings are put in the bowl and it’s all tossed.

Sometimes the extras are held back and dressed on top of the salad. Depending on how heavy they are, the really heavy stuff will end up on the bottom of the mixing bowl and make distribution more troublesome.