Cooking this week

This week I cooked, baked, or made:

• Poached salmon with Old Bay and lemon
• Chicken breasts with pesto and asparagus
• Szechwan Slaw (a cabbage slaw with rice vinegar and ginger dressing)
• Blueberry muffins

Heavily practicing pantry challenge, everything was out of the pantry or in-house except the asparagus and the cabbage for the slaw.

The delight of the slaw -- out of The Whole Foods Cookbook -- is that it is healthy and filling. The dressing is vinegar-based, meaning less fat.


Dressing

• equal parts rice vinegar & canola oil (usually 1/4 c. each for below amount of salad)
• 1/2 tsp. sugar (optional)
• 2 tsp. grated ginger
• 1/4 tsp.crushed red chili flakes
• 1/4 cup minced fresh cilantro
• Salt to taste

 In a bowl combine all dressing ingredients and set aside. Or cover and chill until ready to use.

Slaw

• 6 cups thinly sliced cabbage (red, green, or mixed)
• 1 large red or green bell pepper seeded and thinly sliced
• 4-8 green onions thinly sliced, including the tops
• 1 carrot peeled and sliced thin or grated
• 1/4 lb. snow peas, sliced thinly
• 1/8 cup black sesame seeds

 Mix all salad ingredients and chill. Mix dressing, and about 15 mins. before serving, toss and serve.