Summer Tuna Salad

Oops - all gone.

I'm not typically all that crazy about tuna salad.  But in the summertime, I need to make something that does not involve a stovetop, and I need to put in strange ingredients to make it worth the fact that I'm eating canned tuna.  This recipe satisfies both.

Also, in case you didn't know, lemon makes everything taste better.

This recipe was inspired by a salad I had at the Whole Foods Co-op in Duluth:




15 oz. chunk light tuna, packaged in water, drained
1/4 c. red onion, chopped
6 oz. jar of marinated artichoke hearts, cut into bite-sized pieces
1/3 c. kalamata olives, cut in half
4 Tbsp lemon juice
zest of one lemon
salt & pepper to taste

I made this today and put it over fresh spinach.  Trés healthy.

Candied Pecans

Do you know how easy it is to make crunchy, sweet nuts?  Really easy.  I learned yesterday:

1/2 cup pecans
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup water

Put the above ingredients into a frying pan and turn the heat to a simmer (medium... medium-low?).  When it heats up, it will look kindof foamy for a while, but then it settles down.  Just let it bubble while stirring it until the sugar dries up.  (Trust me, if you've every had candied nuts, you'll know what it looks like.)

Pour the nuts out onto a piece of parchment paper to cool, and make sure to get that pan into some hot water right away so the carmelized sugar doesn't turn to cement.

That's it.  Really.  (No excuses next time you make a salad.)

Chocolate Souffle

I don't take failure very well.  I'm one o' those gals who gets right back on the horse and says, "Oh, yeah?  Well, watch THIS!"

In light of Tuesday's broth fiasco, I decided I needed to prove myself.  But not just with any recipe.  Oh no.  I had to do something daring.  So I went out to my favorite cooking store, Cooks of Crocus Hill (no, I am not paid to advertise for them) and bought some souffle cups.  And I made some frickin' souffles.

Check them out:

Gorgeous and delicious.

Just wanted to let you all know that I still "have it".  Carry on.

Kitchen Fail.

Friends, sometimes it's important to point out the obvious.  Today it is this: The purpose of making chicken & vegetable broth is to have a bowl full of broth, not a colander full of soggy chicken & vegetables.

I bought my own organic chicken at the co-op.  I roasted it myself.  It was beautiful, and I was proud.  Then, before I was able to eat it, I came down with the stomach flu.  Bummer.

Two days of recovery later, I decided I would make this chicken into chicken soup.  I stuck it in a stock pot full of boiling water, added some vegetable scraps, and let it simmer for a while.  Then, when everything had properly steeped, I poured the contents into a strainer over the sink... WITHOUT CATCHING IT ON THE OTHER SIDE!!!

So now the plumbing in my apartment got some yummy seasoned chicken broth, and I'm left with this:

Good job, Katie.  And you call yourself... a cook? *sigh*  I think I'm going to put a stop to the rest of my kitchen projects for the evening and see if I have better luck tomorrow.  (These are the times I wish I had a dog to eat my mistakes...)