Cosmic Rhino

Over the past year, there’s been a fair amount of discussion on food borne bacteria, e. coli, etc. I must admit that I buy a natural veggie wash from Trader Joe’s for this reason (or when I can’t get an organic ingredient from my farmer’s market). Recently, NPR ran an interesting story on their Your Health segment about two studies: one conducted by the editors of Cook’s Illustrated (also have the fabulous America’s Test Kitchen show on PBS) and researchers at Tennessee State University.The Cook’s Illustrated people evaluated the effectiveness of a variety of produce cleaning methods. Their goal was to see what removed most of the bacteria (I would’ve loved to have them also look at pesticide removal but I’ll save this for another post).

I am really picky when it comes to salad dressings because so many that you buy have additives and/or preservatives and they give me a serious headache. I love to make my own dressings, which really comes down to mixing some type of vinegar with some type of oil, salt and pepper, and perhaps some dijon, honey, citrus juice, etc. There are lots of options outside of balsamic vinegar and olive oil so experiment to get a mix that works for you. But I digress - I was going to give you a simple vinaigrette recipe…

I love this simple dinner. There are so many variations possible! I had purchased a rotisserie chicken from Wild Oats for a meal. I just threw the leftover chicken (which I had pulled from the bone), some fresh spinach, and leftover grilled onions and red pepper into a skillet, heated it up, and served it over steamed quinoa. For a sauce, take your favorite taco sauce or salsa and mix it (equal parts, or how ever you like it). So tasty! See the variations below, too.

Variations:

I can’t believe I’m posting a soup recipe during a heatwave here in Long Beach, but carrots are in season and this is a great way to get through a ton of them.

Ingredients:

• Extra virgin olive oil
• 6-7 large carrots
• 3 medium red potatoes, cut in 1/2 inch cubes
• 2 medium white or yellow onions, chopped in 1/2 inch pieces
• 4 garlic cloves, chopped
• 2-3 cups of broth (or more if you like your soup on the thinner side)
• 2″ ginger piece, peeled and chopped