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Summer Salad part II

When you are looking at summer sides, cucumber salad is a great addition. This one is actually like a fridge pickle but with less sugar. It keeps and travels (think camp & picnic) and makes a great fresh addition to any offering.

We like to use English Cukes, as they have fewer seeds and seem to hold up better, but any cuke should work. 

Print Recipe

Asian Cucumber Salad

Ingredients

  • 1 english cucumber, thinly sliced
  • 1/4 red onion, thinly sliced and cut iinto ribbons
  • 1/2 tsp salt

Dressing

  • 1/2 cup rice wine vinegar
  • 1 tbsp sesame oil
  • 2 1/2 tbsp Mirin
  • 1 clove garlic, minced
  • 1/8-1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes, to taste
  • 3/4 - 1 tsp granulated sugar

Instructions

  • Place sliced cucumbers into a fine-mesh strainer suspended inside a medium sized bowl. Season with salt. Toss thoroughly to combine.
  • Place in the refrigerator for a least 30 minutes or up to overnight to drain the cucumbers of excess moisture.
  • Remove cucumbers from fridge and transfer to a clean kitchen towel. Pat dry.
  • Add the cucumbers and red onions to a bowl. Add half of the dressing and toss to coat.
  • Place salad in refrigerator and allow flavors to develop for 30-60 minutes, stirring occasionally.
  • Taste and add more of the dressing as desired. Garnish with sesame seeds, peanuts and avocado.

Dressing

  • In a small bowl, combine rice vinegar, sesame oil, Mirin, garlic, red pepper flakes and sugar.
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Fire Season

Compared to the rest of Oregon, we live in an area that has higher than average wildfire danger. I’m talking, evacuate your neighborhood type of fire danger.

Just a few years ago, a 168-acre wildfire, ignited by a downed power line, threatened homes in our neighborhood. High wind helped spread it quickly. The fire forced an evacuation neighbors still talk about to this day. Evidence of charred ground and trees show how close the fire came to wiping out our area.

So … we take our wildfire abatement seriously in these parts.

Primarily in the spring and fall, prescribed fires are planned and implemented. These fires are supposed to reduce the severity and intensity of future wildfire. Targeted areas are usually forests surrounding communities and homes.

There is even a map illustrating planned fires. Just this spring a fire took off just miles from where we live. We assumed it was a controlled burn but found out later it wasn’t. Several homes were destroyed … so now we regularly check the controlled burn map.

Luckily for us our HOA (Home Owners Association) has scheduled a wildfire abatement crew to remove excess combustible materials in and around our neighborhood. And the local fire folks regularly send out information on how best to manage hazardous conditions on private property.

Recently we drove through a controlled burn south of Bend on Highway 97. As you can see there’s plenty of combustibles right next to the road. Kinda of scary.

Of course one of the effects of these controlled burns and wildfires is smoke. Depending on prevailing winds, the stuff moves into the area, sometimes lingering, other times moving on. We quickly realized we needed a plan to deal with the stuff.

Number one defense strategy is to control the air quality inside our home. We decided on the Molekule Air Purifier. It does a great job cleaning smoke, pollen and mold in our air.

We’ve made small adjustments to how we do things. If we can’t walk outside due to smoke, we drive someplace we can. We open windows by using the sniff test … we walk outside and test the air quality. For the most part this is a seasonal inconvenience we have learned to work around.

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Summer Salads, part I

Summer brings a change to our kitchen. Basically, we do a lot less oven roasting and a lot more grilling. The other change is we add several basic vegie salads to the fridge, to help make meals easier … at home or on the road.  

The next few Thursday posts will contain recipes and notes on the different salads we like. We hope you like them too and if there is a summer salad you really enjoy, please take a moment and share it in the comments. We’ll load it in the recipe page and let the other readers of the blog know.

The most basic of these salads is Chopped Salad. You’ll find a variety of recipes in any search, because it’s a basic go to recipe. Our main criteria is for the dressing to be simple, low fat, low carb. As evident in the recipe, the variety is also in vegetables used. It’s what you like and/or have on hand. This turns out ot be a great end of the week vegetable drawer emptier. 

Chopped Salad is super versatile. It is great as a side to any grill entree. Add it to a bed of greens and some protein and you have a salad entree. Enjoy!

Print Recipe

Chopped Salad

Ingredients

  • 1/4 lb green beans cut into 1/4 inch pieces
  • 1/2 cucumber, seeded and cut into 1/4 inch pieces
  • 1 small yellow or red pepper, seeded and cut into 1/4 inch pieces
  • 4-5 small tomatoes, seeded and diced into 1/4 inch pieces
  • 4-5 fresh basil leaves, chopped
  • 1/2 cup fresh parsley
  • 1/2 cup corn

Vinaigrette

  • 3-4 tbsp olive oil
  • 2 tbsp white wine vinaigrette
  • 1/2 clove garlic, minced
  • 1/2 tsp dijon mustard
  • 1 pinch salt and pepper, to taste

Instructions

  • Lightly blanch green beans. Don't overcook. Cool in a bowl of cold water, then cut into 1/4 inch pieces.
  • Peel cucumber. Seed and cut into 1/4 inch pieces.
  • Seed and cut yellow or red pepper into 1/4 inch pieces.
  • Seed and dice tomatoes into 1/4 inch pieces.
  • Chop fresh basil leaves.
  • Chop fresh parsley.
  • Toss in corn and gently mix ingredients together.

Vinaigrette

  • Mix olive oil, white wine vinegar, garlic, dijon mustard and salt and pepper. Stir vigorously until well incorporated.
  • Add vinaigrette to chopped salad and mix thoroughly. Refrigerate.
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A Bug Hunt

With any hobby there are varying levels of involvement. We tend to be involved. So when it comes to fly fishing, aquatic entomology is part of the process.

Streams are much more alive with insect activity subsurface than you might expect. The best way to know what fish are eating is to sieve up some information … literally.

Three types of insects make up a majority of food sources, caddis, mayfly and stoneflys. The best imitation for an aquatic invertebrate is part latin name and part fisher folklore. Mostly you’re looking at size and color. Information obtained from the sample tray is taken to the tying bench and applied to a standard pattern.

It’s not clear if all this leads to more fish. The immersive nature is part of the fun. Plus you get to see lots of interesting creatures. Lately we’ve been pointing the macro lens at the collection tray and the videos are otherworldly, but a bug hunt is also part of the fun.

 

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Picnic Treat

We always called it camping cake and for as long as I can remember, it was a part of Sunday fishing trips.

Not sure whose recipe it was, but this date rich cake, topped with walnuts and chocolate chips, is the perfect sheet cake for summer outings.

The start of summer seemed like a good time to pull out the recipe along with the green cookie bowl … nostalgia for Schommer kids. In case you’re one of the unlucky few who don’t have the recipe, it’s included at the end of the post.

The recipe uses dates to sweeten the cake. This also means the cake stays moist for much longer. When you include the ‘frosting,’ nuts and chocolate chips. this is really the perfect summer picnic treat.

Print Recipe

Camping Cake

Sheet cake that is perfect for picnic baskets

Ingredients

  • 1 cup chopped dates
  • 1 cup boiling water
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 cup shortening
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 ¾ cup flour
  • 2 tablespoons cocoa
  • 10 oz semi-sweet chocolate chips
  • 1/2 cup walnuts coarsely chopped

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 350 and grease a 9 x 13 cake pan.
  • Mix together dates, boiling water and soda, set aside.
  • Cream shortening with sugar and then add eggs.
  • Sift together flour and cocoa, blend all ingredients together and spread evenly in cake pan.
  • Top with walnuts and chocolate chips.
  • Bake for 30 to 40 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean.
  • Allow to cool, then cut into 2 inch squares. Cake keeps well in closed container for 4 or 5 days, but also freezes well.