Seriously, there is no other explanation for the incredible depth of flavor, my inability to find even a merely adequate substitution, and the sense of joy I feel when that smoky essence hits my tongue.

For those of you who don’t know, Pimenton is a Spanish smoked paprika. It is made by smoke-drying various types of peppers, usually with oak wood. The type of pepper used determines whether the Pimenton is sweet (Pimenton Dulce), kinda hot (Pimenton Agridulce), or a little more than kinda hot (Pimenton Picante). When I was in Barcelona last month, I noticed its unmistakable characteristics in just about every dish I ate. In my opinion, it is absolutely essential in every kitchen. It’s such an easy way to make even the most mundane roast chicken taste like something Ferran Adria threw together.

If you can’t find it in the spice aisle or specialty food aisle of your local store, you can order it (and a bunch of other awesome Spanish stuff) online at La Tienda.

PIMENTON POTATO SALAD
serves four to six as a side dish
For this recipe, I used Pimenton de La Vera which has an especially smoky flavor and a good kick of spice. It works great, but any kind of Pimenton would work really well.

6 red potatoes, cut into 1-inch pieces
3 large eggs, hard boiled and chopped
1 small red onion, diced
1/4 to 1/3 cup mayo, or enough to make it as creamy as you like it
2 Tbs. capers
2 Tbs. minced fresh parsley
2 tsp. Pimenton
salt and pepper, to taste

1. Boil the potatoes, until they are just soft. Drain and transfer them to a large-ish mixing bowl.
2. Add everything else to the potatoes, and stir to evenly mix. Cool to room temp.
3. Transfer the potato salad to a storage container and place in the fridge for at least 1 to 2 hours before serving.

P.S. Be on the lookout for a new project I’ve got coming up. It’s a blog about my travels through Europe. I’ll also be speaking more about how my life as a new military spouse is affected by my husband’s year long deployment to Afghanistan. Stay tuned…

Sometimes it’s the smallest things that can snap us back into reality, reminding us what the true source of joy is in our lives. For me, it was simply watching My Soldier getting his uniform ready for the following morning.

For the last three weeks, he has been on block leave and we have been gallivanting around fabulous places such as Barcelona – and our living room, in jammies all day. Last night, he pulled his uniform out of the closet, and I was so excited at the thought of seeing him in it again after so long. It struck me as such an odd sensation, but I realized that being a soldier is who he is; It is a huge part of his identity and the man that I love so much. No wonder I missed seeing that uniform everyday…

But, it made me also realize something very troubling – He had never seen me in MY uniform. He had never seen me in the uniform that defines me in so many ways and is how I identify myself. I quickly ran upstairs, strapped on my Chef-R’alls (the now discontinued chef overalls from Chefwear), tied on a neckerchief, buttoned up a freshly starched coat, and slid my feet into the warm comfort of my tired, old SuperBirki clogs. I pulled a skullcap over my messy curls, ran downstairs and, before he could catch a glimpse, I donned the final touches: an Instant Read Thermometer and a Sharpie in my arm pocket.

He saw me. We were both speechless.

Tears started to roll down my face.

I miss it. I miss propping 30 pound Lexans on my shoulder and lugging them to the walk in. I miss sweating bullets behind eight blazing burners and two scorching ovens for 8 hours. I miss the foul-mouthed banter. But, most of all, I miss nourishing dozens of palates a night, and in the process, honing my craft.

Standing in the kitchen with My Soldier, both of us in our uniforms, I realized that I never want to sacrifice my identity and the title that I work so hard to earn:

Chef.

ASIAN MANGO SALSA
makes about three cups

1 huge mango, peeled and diced into 1/4-inch pieces
1 medium red onion, diced
1/2 red bell pepper, diced into 1/4 inch pieces
1/2 cup minced cilantro
3 limes, juiced
1 Tbs. Asian Chili-Garlic Sauce
salt, to taste

1. Combine all of the ingredients in a bowl and toss. You may adjust the spice as you wish.

Part of my goal with this experiment is to do very different preparations of chicken. I figure if I have to eat chicken everyday for a couple of days, I want some variety, ya know?

In all honesty, this preparation came about out of necessity to use up some things in the fridge. European fridges are notoriously teeny tiny and mine is no exception. Gone are the days of shopping for a whole weeks groceries – I can’t even fit a whole head of romaine lettuce in my veggie bin. Small amounts of leftovers are doable, but for the most part, I can only store about 2 or 3 days worth of food in the fridge.

It just so happened that I had the quinoa, chickpeas, herbs, half an avocado and bits and pieces of other veggies in the fridge. Plus, I had some honey mustard sauce already prepared from a chicken nugget dinner with the kiddos two nights previous. If you already have about 1/4 cup prepared honey mustard on hand, just add some olive oil and lemon juice to it to make the dressing for this salad.

I threw it all together with some chicken and had a pretty fantastic little lunch.

CHICKPEA QUINOA CHICKEN SALAD WITH HONEY MUSTARD DRESSING
serves one as a main course, or two as a side dish

Salad:
1/2 cup cooked quinoa, cooled
1/2 cup cooked chickpeas, cooled
meat from 1 chicken leg quarter, skinned and shredded
2 inch piece cucumber, diced
1/2 yellow bell pepper, diced
1/2 avocado, diced
1 small tomato, seeded and diced
2 Tbs. minced fresh parsley
2 Tbs. minced fresh cilantro

Dressing:
1/2 lemon, juiced
2 Tbs. dijon mustard
2 Tbs. honey
1 Tbs. extra virgin olive oil
salt and pepper

1. For the salad: Combine all of the salad ingredients together in a bowl.
2. For the dressing: In a small jar, combine all of the dressing ingredients and shake it up until it is emulsified.
3. Assemble: Pour the dressing over the salad and toss to combine.

This evening for dinner I had planned to eat the leftover Dal Curry with Spinach and Brown Rice that I had made a few nights ago. But, for lunch today, I attended the Annual Vegan Chili Cookoff and couldn’t seem to muster the strength for another meal consisting almost exclusively of legumes. I needed veggies. STAT.

So, I started rummaging. Somehow, through some amazing intervention of the Leftover Food Gods, this was literally all that I had left in my produce bin. Well, okay, I also had some tomatoes, a russet potato, and a pear. But, other than that, this was what I had left. Actually, now that I think about it, I should have thrown the pear into this salad as well. It would have been amazing. Oh, well. Maybe next time.

And, yes, there will be a next time.

This salad was a beautiful, perfect combination of crunch from the veggies and soft suppleness of young coconut flesh. The flavors melded smoothly with the sweetness of the ginger and maple and the tang of the vinegars. The umeboshi plum vinegar provided a lovely splash of saltiness, and there with a subtle kick with the last minute addition of chili garlic sauce.

In order to make this dish raw, (obviously) leave out the chicken, use untoasted sesame oil, and replace the caramelized ginger with 1 Tbs. grated fresh ginger. If you would like a little extra protein, throw in some slivered almonds. Also, you can use agave nectar in place of the maple syrup and apple cider vinegar in place of the other vinegars. Unfortunately, you will have to leave out the chili garlic sauce altogether, but if you throw half of a minced jalapeno in with the veggies, I’m sure you won’t even miss it.

If you are new to the magic that is the young coconut, here is a tutorial on how to open it and get to the meat. And, don’t forget to save the coconut water inside. That stuff is the nectar of the gods. Seriously.

CABBAGE SALAD WITH YOUNG COCONUT NOODLES AND CRYSTALLIZED GINGER
serves four

For the Salad:
3 cups shredded red cabbage
1 cup shredded Napa cabbage
1 cup shredded cooked chicken, optional
meat from 1 young coconut, sliced thinly into “noodles”
3 scallions, thinly sliced
1 carrot, diced or shredded
1/2 cucumber, diced
1/2 cup cilantro, chopped
1/4 to 1/2 cup finely chopped crystallized ginger
2 Tbs. each black and white sesame seeds

For the Dressing:
1/4 cup toasted sesame oil
3 Tbs. maple syrup
2 Tbs. brown rice vinegar
1 Tbs. umeboshi plum vinegar
1 tsp. Asian chili garlic sauce
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1/4 tsp. Himalayan salt, or 1/2 tsp. sea salt

1. In a large bowl, combine all of the fixins for the salad.

2. Combine all of the ingredients for the dressing in a jar and shake it up until it emulsifies. Or, just whisk it all together in a small bowl. You may need to tweek the amount of each ingredient to find the balance that is just right for you.

3. Pour the dressing over the salad, mix it up, and dig in.

OTHER CABBAGE SALAD RECIPES FROM AROUND THE BLOGOSPHERE:
Tassajara Warm Red Cabbage Salad at 101 Cookbooks
Red Cabbage Salad with Braeburn Apples and Spiced Pecans at Serious Eats
Thai Cabbage Salad with Chicken at Eat This.
Swiss Chard Cabbage Salad with Garbanzo Beans, Broccoli Stems and Cottage Cheese
Red Cabbage and Dried Figs Salad at Chocolate and Zucchini

Recently, I have become a huge fan of tempeh. A few years ago, I had sworn myself off of soy products because I was scared of something found in soybeans called phytic acid. Phytic acid is present in all legumes, grains and seeds, but soybeans have the highest concentration of all. It is a so-called “anti-nutrient”, which means it can prevent your body from properly absorbing calcium, magnesium, iron, and zinc. However, rumor has it that if a food is fermented, it greatly reduces the amount of phytic acid that is present. Upon hearing this, my love affair with tempeh began.

Tempeh is simply a fermented block of soybeans. It has a very neutral flavor, not a sour taste like one might imagine coming from a fermented food. It can be used in place of tofu in many recipes, and quite honestly, I think it tastes better. In this salad, it offers a nice savory flavor and meaty texture that really takes this salad to a whole new level.

HERBED CHOPPED SALAD WITH TEMPEH AND BALSAMIC-MARINATED ONIONS
serves two
adapted from a recipe by Renee Loux

1/4 cup freshly chopped Italian parsley
4 large basil leaves, thinly sliced (chiffonade)
1 Tbs. chopped fresh oregano leaves
1 tsp. minced fresh thyme leaves
1/2 red bell pepper, seeded and thinly sliced
8 cherry tomatoes, halved
1 celery rib, sliced
1 carrot, peeled and sliced
1 avocado, peeled and sliced, optional
1/2 large head romaine lettuce, chopped

Dressing:

3 Tbs. Extra Virgin Olive Oil
2 Tbs. lemon juice
1 Tbs. umeboshi plum vinegar
1 Tbs. balsamic vinegar
2 tsp. agave nectar
1 tsp. maple syrup, preferably Grade B
sea salt and white pepper, to taste

Tempeh:
1/2 pkg. (4 oz.) tempeh, cut into 1/4 inch dice
2 Tbs. Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 tsp. wheat-free tamari
1 tsp. Balsamic vinegar
1/2 tsp. maple syrup
sea salt, to taste

Balsamic-Marinated Onions:
1 large sweet Vidalia onion, sliced thinly
2 Tbs. balsamic vinegar
2 Tbs. wheat-free tamari
1 Tbs. maple syrup, preferably Grade B

1. For the onions: Mix together the vinegar, tamari, and maple syrup. Toss the onions with the dressing and allow to marinate while your oven preheats to 200 degrees. Spread the onions and sauce out onto a baking sheet and bake about 3 hours or until the onions are softened and sweet.

2. For the dressing: Put everything in a jar and shake, shake, shake until well combined. It tastes best when the flavors are allowed to marry in the fridge for at least 1 hour.

3. For the salad: Toss everything together, except the avocado, in a large bowl.

4. For the tempeh: In a small bowl, combine the tamari, vinegar, and maple syrup. Heat the olive oil in a saute pan over medium high heat. When the pan is hot, add the tempeh and stir-fry until it is golden in color. Add the sauce and stir until the liquid is absorbed and the tempeh is a rich brown color.

5. To assemble: Add the tempeh to the lettuce and veggies. Toss with the dressing and divide the salad among individual bowls. Garnish the salad with sliced avocado and balsamic-marinated onions.

The inspiration for this salad came from a few different sources. First, the dressing is a play on the ever-popular Cashew-Tamari dressing at this locally-famous, now extinct, vegetarian restaurant that I used to work at. People literally used to come to West Lynn Cafe from all over town several times a week just for this dressing. I changed up this recipe a bit which I think makes it even better. I use less oil and kick up the amount of tamari to lower the calories and make it a bit saltier. Feel free to experiment with the amounts as you wish, though.

Second, I got the idea for the salad itself from another restaurant that Luke and I ate at recently. Although it was a big national chain restaurant, which I usually stay away from because the produce in chains tends to be poor, the salad was amazing. I decided to some remodeling to the restaurant version because a.) I wanted more, more, more veggies, and b.) I had a bunch in the fridge that need to be used up. The great part about grilling veggies is that you can pretty much put together any mish-mash of veggies you’d like. Once they are all grilled and diced together, whatever mix you use will most likely taste amazing. So, I put it all the stuff I had in the fridge together and it became this: The Greatest Salad of All Time!

GRILLED VEGETABLE AND SALMON SALAD WITH CASHEW-TAMARI DRESSING
serves two really hungry folks to four averagely hungry folks
dressing adapted from Mother’s recipe

Note: You will probably have leftover grilled veggies. It’s a sad thing, I know. Use them to top burgers, throw them over some pasta with a delicious tomato sauce, or stir them into some creamy polenta. Vegetarians and vegans, feel free to top the salad with a yummy grilled portabella, or some tofu or tempeh instead of salmon.

Grilled Veggie Mix:
1 corn on the cob
1 Japanese eggplant, sliced into rounds on a bias
1 zucchini, sliced into rounds on a bias
1 yellow squash, sliced into rounds on a bias
4 scallions, green ends trimmed
1 bunch thick asparagus, woody ends snapped off
1 red bell pepper, cut into four big chunks
1 yellow or orange bell pepper, cut into four big chunks
1/4 cup canola oil
sea salt and pepper, to taste

1 pound fresh Wild Alaskan Salmon, cut into 2-4 fillets
canola oil spray
salt and pepper, to taste
1 head Romaine lettuce, chopped
1/2 cup sun-dried tomatoes, rehydrated and sliced
1 avocado, peeled and diced

Cashew-Tamari Dressing:
1/4 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 Tbs. Balsamic Vinegar
3 Tbs. tamari, or as needed for desired saltiness
1/4 cup cashews, or more as needed

1. For the dressing: In a tall, thin container or glass measuring cup, combine the oil, vinegar, tamari and cashews. Using an immersion blender, pulse the mixture until it is emulsified, but there are still small bits of cashew throughout the dressing. Taste for flavors and adjust as needed. This dressing is pretty thick. However, if it is too thick to pour, add more liquid as needed to thin it out. If you don’t own an immersion blender, BUY ONE NOW! pulse everything in a regular blender.

2. For the grilled veggies: Heat either an outdoor grill or grill pan to moderately high heat. I prefer to grill veggies inside so that they don’t fall through the grate. If you grill outdoors, place a large sheet of foil on the grate for the veggies.

3. Brush the corn with oil and sprinkle on salt and pepper. Throw all the other veggies together in a large bowl and toss with canola oil and salt and pepper. Grill all of the veggies on both sides until they have a nice char on them but are still crisp. Remove from heat and transfer to a cutting board. Cover with foil and set aside while grilling the fish.

4. For the Salmon: Spray the fillets with canola oil and season with salt and pepper. If grilling outside, place the fish, skin side up, over indirect heat (not directly over the coals). Cook for a few minutes or until the fish easily releases itself from the grate. Flip the fish and continue cooking, skin side down, for about 3-5 minutes, or until the fish is just cooked through. Transfer to plate, cover with foil, and allow to rest for 5 minutes.

5. Cut the corn kernels off the cob and dice the eggplant, zucchini, yellow squash, and peppers. Cut the scallions and asparagus into one inch pieces. Toss all of these veggies together with the lettuce, sun-dried tomatoes, and avocado.

6. Divide the lettuce and veggie mixture amongst individual bowls. Remove the skin from the salmon and place a fillet on top of the veggies. Serve Cashew-Tamari dressing on the side.

Deb has yet to steer me wrong, so when I saw this recipe on her blog, I thought I would give it a try. Plus, I knew my legume-obsessed client would just love everything about it.

To up the nutritional value a bit, I used sprouted chickpeas instead of the canned variety. Soaking and sprouting beans also allows them to be more easily digested, thereby avoiding the…um…*usual repercussions* of eating them. You can try to sprout them yourself by soaking chickpeas in lots of water for 36-48 hours. Then, drain them and allow them to sprout at room temperature for 2 days, being sure to give them a little drink of water 3 times a day. However, I find it much less time consuming to just buy them. They are located in the produce section of my local grocery store. (I’m referring to Central Market, for you Texans out there).

This salad is so light, yet plenty filling. It’s packed with plenty of protein from the chickpeas, fiber from the whole grain, and healthy fats from the avocado. Along with the zip from the lemon, the smokiness of the roasted pepper and the fresh herbs, I’m sure you’ll find that it fits just perfectly in your summertime picnic basket.

WHOLE GRAIN SALAD WITH CHICKPEAS, RED PEPPERS, AND AVOCADO
serves four
adapted from a recipe by Deb

Note: This salad can be easily adapted to fit a gluten free diet. Instead of the bulgur, try using either steel cut oats or quinoa. Also, if your produce department doesn’t carry sprouted chickpeas and you don’t want to sprout them yourself, replace them with 1 can, drained and rinsed.

1 1/2 cup bulgur wheat
3 cups water
3 Tbs. lemon juice
1 tsp. honey or agave nectar
1 tsp. cumin
1/4 tsp. cayenne
salt, to taste
1/4 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1/2 cups sprouted chickpeas
1 large red bell pepper, roasted, peeled, seeded and diced
1/2 cup diced Heirloom tomatoes
1 shallot, minced
1/4 cup minced fresh parsley
1 avocado, peeled and diced
12 Romaine heart leaves
1 pkg. Whole Wheat or Teff Pita Bread, warmed and cut into wedges

1. Bring water to a boil in a medium-sized pot. Add the bulgur and simmer for 10 minutes or until most of the liquid has been absorbed and the grain is soft. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Spread the bulgur out on the prepared baking sheet and refrigerate it until it is full chilled. (I stuck it in the freezer for 30 minutes to speed up the process.)

2. Meanwhile, bring another medium-sized pot of water to a boil. Add the sprouted chickpeas and simmer until they are just softened. Drain the chickpeas and transfer them to a medium sized bowl. Set in the fridge and allow to cool along side the bulgur.

3. In a small jar, combine the lemon juice, honey, cumin, cayenne, salt and oil. Shake, shake, shake until well combined and emulsified.

3. When the bulgur and chickpeas are cooled, combine them in a large mixing bowl. Add the red bell peppers, tomatoes, shallot, parsley and dressing. Toss until well combined.

4. To serve, line each plate with 3 lettuce leaves. Spoon a mound of salad on the lettuce and garnish with diced avocado. Serve with a few pita wedges on the side.