Homemade salad dressing. I heart you.

The problem with eating fresher foods and making everything from scratch is that store bought products I used to enjoy taste fake now. I can't eat Campbell's soups, and I stopped eating salad because store bought dressings just taste like vegetable oil or mayonnaise. However, as a girl with 13 flavors of olive oil in my kitchen, the latter issue is not difficult to resolve.

Dressing - As made last night

1 tbsp mushroom olive oil
1 tbsp herb olive oil
4 tbsp regular olive oil (I just won't use vegetable. I don't care if recipes call for it.)
4 tbsp aged balsamic
4 tbsp fig balsamic
4-8 tbsp white vinegar (to taste, and to desired texture)
8 thin slices fresh garlic
4-6 sun dried tomatoes
a few sprinkles of fresh or dried basil

Throw everything but the white vinegar into a blender and blend until everything is pureed into a sort of paste. Put it into a plastic container and add white vinegar by 1-2 tbsp quantities until you reach your desired flavor and texture. I used a lot because I like a thinner dressing, and the balsamic was a bit strong for me.

Croutons - My first attempt that was not a charred mess

Coated one side of bread in nonstick spray, garlic powder and olive oil and baked for 15 minutes on 250. Then I duplicated for the other side and sliced with a pizza cutter. I might slice the bread first next time.

So what exactly does one DO with four pounds of green beans?

I have compulsive grocery shopping issues. I always have. I have a pantry full of random boxes of bread mix I bought last year, canned whatever and anything else that won't spoil and happened to look like a bargain six months ago. I try to control this by centering recipes around the things I compulsively buy, but then I compulsively buy something else to go with those recipes. It's a vicious cycle.

So it was no surprise when I left the Farmer's Market a couple of weeks ago with thirty pounds of vegetables, half of which are now chopped up in my freezer because I had to unexpectedly leave town and my stove is broken.

Included in these thirty were four pounds of sugar snap green beans. (Note: This was before the broken stove.) I consulted my life guru, www.google.com, looking for ways to cook green beans, came up with some general ideas, and went to town. Here are my two favorites.


Easy Szechuan Green Bean Stir Fry

This is a total cheater recipe but still rocks. I use Szechuan stir fry sauce that I bought at Sevananda.

Stir fry 1-2 lbs of green beans, chopped to 1-2 inch length, along with some chopped red and green bell peppers and mushrooms. Cook in olive oil, soy or Bragg sauce, Szechuan stir fry sauce and minced garlic (I've recently switched to fresh over the little jars and WOW). When you have reached your desired texture, sprinkle a whole bunch of sesame seeds on top. Easy and awesome.


Goat cheese and almond delight

Stir fry 1-2 lbs of green beans, chopped to 1-2 inch length, along with some chopped almonds. Cook in olive oil (flavor of choice) and minced garlic. Squeeze lemon juice onto the beans while cooking. When you have reached your desired texture, stir in your desired amount of goat cheese. This one kind of wowed me. Goat cheese should be on everything.

I tried a fried green bean recipe, but haven't perfected how to make them "fried" without making them fatty and nasty. Maybe I will try breading and baking them when the oven is back in commission...

Brussels Sprouts Are Fun!

I have discovered the easiest vegetable to make delicious EVER. Seriously. All you have to do to make brussels sprouts awesome is cut them in halves or quarters and cook them in various ways with one or two ingredients. Where has this cruciferous beauty been all my life? I would have been way healthier in my twenties if I had known such things...

My tried and true favorite:

Take some brussels sprouts, halve or quarter them. Throw them in a pan with some chipotle olive oil, garlic and salt. Cook on medium until they reach your preferred texture. (Yes, that's all.)

Thank you, internet.

Google helped me come up with this one. Take some brussels sprouts, halve or quarter them. Throw them in the microwave for 2 minutes or however long it takes to achieve desired texture with some olive oil. When they are ready, mix a bit of dijon mustard and salt. (Yes, that's all.)

Szechuan? Yes please.

I thank Cristy, Google and Tasty China for the inspiration for this recipe.

Take some brussels sprouts, halve or quarter them. Mix in some soy or Bragg sauce, ginger, garlic, rice vinegar, chili oil, Szechuan peppercorns and stir fry. Yum.