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Classic Potato Salad with a Twist

March 29, 2013 in Food by traveleatlove | 5 comments

I LOVE mayonnaise. I love it on fries, especially, but I also enjoy it in salads, dips, as parts of dressings, and in my hair. Trust me, it’s great for getting knots out. One of my family’s classic Easter dishes, my mom’s potato salad, is pulled together by a mix of mayonnaise and mustard. It just has to be there.

When I received an offer to try Nasoya’s vegan nayonaise for an egg-free alternative, I was definitely intrigued and jumped at the chance to try a new-to-me product. How would it measure up with the creamy condiment I love?

On its own, nayonaise tastes surprisingly like mayo. Pretty much just like it, actually. The texture is a little more gelatinous, to me, but it’s still pleasant. I haven’t tried it on fries yet, but I think it’s going to be a happy marriage.

Since we won’t actually be home for Easter, I made a small batch. This simple recipe only contains a few ingredients, but it is always a crowd pleaser.

Ingredients:

3 cups small fingerling potatoes or chopped red bliss potatoes

1/2 cup chopped white onion

1/2 cup chopped celery

1/3 cup brown mustard (Gulden’s is what my mom uses)

1/3 mayonnaise or nayonaise

Once the potatoes are boiled and chilled, you just need to toss it all together and chill again until serving.

I love how simple this is and how it reminds me of nice weather. We had this potato salad as a side to veggie burgers topped with all sorts of fun toppings, beckoning summer and sunshine to visit soon.

The nayonaise was great in this dish; it was as delicious as ever and fun that the dish was vegan and egg-free. My husband is not a huge egg fan and even had some sort of allergy as a child, so it’s nice to be able to have the option to leave the eggs out.

My Easter memories are full of great food, and I love visiting the Eastern European stores in Dorchester this time of year. The kielbasa, paska bread, and smell of hyacinths remind me of my childhood. I just love how much smells and tastes can bring you back to a different place and time.

If you celebrate Easter, what will be on your table? If not, what are your go-to foods or smells that remind you of a favorite childhood holiday?

Technorati Tags: Easter, Food, recipe, side dish, vegan, Vegetarian, vegetarian recipe

Tags: Easter, Food, recipe, side dish, vegan, Vegetarian, vegetarian recipe

Steak with Guasacaca

February 24, 2013 in Food, recipe by traveleatlove | 2 comments

A sauce so delicious you want to put it on everything? This is it. Last summer our friends hosted us at a fantastic July 4th barbecue. It was hot and sunny, we had spent the earlier part of the day on the boat (Just over 2 months til boating season!), and we were relaxing around the fire pit with fun friends and amazing food. Venezuelan friends of our friends brought a green sauce that they apparently are asked to bring to every party. I’m not even sure what I was supposed to put it on, but once I tasted it, I wanted to put it on everything, so I did.

Fast forward to February, this cold and dreary month where things have been stressful in this household, to say the very least. The summer sun and sea can’t come fast enough; at least then when our nasty neighbor is making me sick with her smoking I can go sleep on the boat!

I had a random craving for steak last week, and this green sauce popped into my head again. A quick Google of “Venezuelan green sauce” brought me to this page, which features a recipe for Guasacaca. I didn’t know the name, but going by the way the sauce tasted, the ingredients sounded right, so I decided to make it.

Guasacaca is a vibrant green sauce that combines avocados, green peppers, garlic, onion, vinegar, and oil with generous amounts cilantro and parsley. The vinegar gives it a little tang while the herbs make it bright and flavorful.

To my Guasacaca, I also added two Thai green chili peppers, not Venezuelan, I know, but I wanted a little bit of heat. It was a good decision.

For Thursday night dinner, I picked up four small sirloin steaks at Foodie’s Urban Market, which is dangerously close to my South End office. They have such a great selection of all sorts of food, wine, and beer, and while it’s pricey, it’s also handy for picking up one or two items during the week.

I simply prepped my steaks by seasoning on both sides with sea salt and pepper and grilling them to perfection on my grill pan. I topped the steaks with the Guasacaca and served with mountains of steamed spinach and baked sweet potatoes, both of which found their way dipped in the Guasacaca as well.

This meal was perfect, a mix of winter and summer and a delicious way to brighten up a challenging week. The addition of a Chilean red wine on the side definitely didn’t hurt.

How are you keeping warm and hopeful for brighter days this February?

Ingredients: (adapted from original recipe posted on on Venezuelan Food and Drinks)

1 medium onion, roughly chopped

2 green sweet peppers, seeded, deveined, and roughly chopped

2 ripe avocados, peeled and seeded

2 cloves garlic

2 spicy green chili peppers

Half a bunch of fresh parsley leaves

Half a bunch fresh cilantro leaves

A third cup red wine vinegar

1 tablespoon salt, or to taste

Pinch of black pepper

1 cup olive oil

Add all ingredients except for the olive oil to food processor and puree until smooth. Slowly stream in olive oil until combined completely.

Serve this sauce with meat, fish, vegetables, chips, crackers. . . it’s so delicious it goes well with just about everything.

Technorati Tags: comfort food, dinner, Food, Guasacaca, meal planning, meals, recipe, steak

Tags: comfort food, dinner, Food, Guasacaca, meal planning, meals, recipe, steak

Breakfast for Dinner: Sweet Potato Hash

February 19, 2013 in Food, recipe by traveleatlove | 6 comments

Is it Spring yet? I am so over the cold, wind, and snow. I spent the weekend with my family in New Jersey, and while they didn’t have snow, they had plenty of cold and wind. All I want to do until April is cozy up under a blanket, drink red wine, and eat.

Getting away for the weekend was wonderful, made especially so because last week was awful. Between a stressful week at work, no sleep, and being diagnosed with a lung condition, thanks to my neighbor’s insistence on smoking inside, I was ready to collapse with exhaustion on Friday. Lots of sleep and family time later, and I am feeling better. . . but still lacking in energy. I think I just need some warmth and sun.

Healthy comfort food is always a win-win; you get to eat something warm and cozy while also feeling good about feeling your body with nutrients, despite wanting nothing more large quantities of cheese.

I was in the mood for eggs and sweet potatoes, so for dinner last night I came up with a quick and easy sweet potato skillet hash, topped with eggs.

Since my amazing husband braved the snow on Sunday to fully stock the house with groceries, I had a lot of delicious add-ins to make this easy dinner pretty spectacular.

Ingredients:

large sweet potato, grated

2 cups black beans

2 cups frozen pepper strips

1 cup corn kernels

2 eggs

guacamole, hot sauce, Greek yogurt, hot sauce, and cilantro for topping

I threw this dinner together by sautéing the potato, beans, peppers, and corn together in some olive oil until the pan was dry and sizzling at the bottom. The plan was to create a crust with the potatoes.

I cracked two eggs and gently placed them on top then popped the skillet into a 400 degree oven and kept an eye on it until I saw that the whites were fully cooked. This resulted in perfect, slightly runny yolks. Yes.

We added our own mixes of toppings to our bowls of hash; mine included lots of cilantro, guacamole, hot sauce, and a tiny dollop of Greek yogurt.

This made for a delicious dinner that didn’t make me feel bad about my food decisions. It seems that the second I stopping being able to sleep, I lost the excellent workout routine I started with my new job, and poor eating habits followed, which finally resulted in constantly beating myself up over weight gain, something I haven’t done in years. Time to get back on a healthy track while also being a little easier on myself, I think. It’s also time to start some serious yoga and/or meditation to create a little quiet when everything feels like overwhelming chaos.

How are things with you?

Technorati Tags: breakfast, dinner, healthy, recipe, sweet potatoes. food, Vegetarian