afternoon snack

I'm back for the second time this week! And with another food picture. This one seems a bit better. Can you tell what it is? Maybe not. It's a new-old favorite, Curried Egg Salad.

I discovered this recipe at our natural food store, The Good Food Store, a couple of years ago. I haven't made it for a while now but recently we started eating a lot of eggs and I was looking for some variety. It provides a nice change of pace from tuna salad and seems more appropriate to cooler winter weather. It is a little bit tangy with bits of sweet.

The best part is the fabulous eggs. These are not just any eggs, these eggs are from free ranging chickens who live just down the valley from us. The yolks are a beautiful orange-y bright color. I had a regular egg from the nearby deli the other day and was shocked by it's color. The yolk was almost as white as the white! And nearly tasteless. Ew!

Here's the recipe, in case you want to try it yourself.

Curried Egg Salad
12 hardboiled eggs, peeled and diced
1/4 cup raisins
1 green onion, finely chopped
2 Tbl fresh cilantro, chopped
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1 Tbl curry powder
salt and pepper to taste

Mix all ingredients and serve on bread or over lettuce.

tonight's project: cole slaw

I'm not a real big cole slaw fan but when I saw that our upcoming (tomorrow) all staff potluck luncheon was being supplied with corn on the cob and ribs, it seemed a fitting dish. At the time I signed up it was 90+ degrees out and the thought of cooking even potatoes or pasta for a salad seemed too much. I opted to try something new.

Since I've barely eaten cole slaw let alone made it, I turned to the internet for a recipe. The fewer ingredients, the better. I came up with this recipe that swears it's a fool proof classic.

Cole Slaw
1 large cabbage, shredded or chopped as you like
1/2 cup finely diced onion
1 1/2 cups mayo
1/4 cup cider vinegar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 tsp ground black pepper
salt to taste

Mix everything together and let sit for 2 hours to overnight, chilling. Taste for salt and pepper before serving. Keeps 2 days in the fridge then it goes watery and isn't as nice.

As you can probably tell from the picture, I couldn't resist messing with the recipe just a little bit. I grated a couple of carrots and some red cabbage to add for color. I'll let you know what the verdict is after the luncheon. Looks and smells pretty good to me.

and the soup's good, too!

I was given this delightful little pot by my friend, Robyn. She saw how I coveted hers when I visited her last fall. I have been waiting for the perfect opportunity to use it. Tonight was the night. It was time to reheat some soup. See the handy pour spout and comfortable handle? How perfect is that? So thank you dear Robyn for putting a little delight in my evening.

Say, the soup recipe is really good and easy, too. Wanna try?

Chip & Salsa Soup
Servings: 4
Prep time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 10 minutes

3 1/2 cups vegetable broth
1 15 oz can of black or pinto beans, drained and rinsed
1/4 cup chopped green onions
1 1/4 cup fresh salsa, mild or medium
1 T canned diced green chiles
1 cup corn kernels
2 cups tortilla chips broken into bite sized pieces
1 cup avocado chunks

Place the broth, beans, salsa, corn, green onions and chiles in a medium saucepan. Cook over low heat for 10 minutes to blend flavors.

Place 1/2 cup chips and 1/4 cup avocado in each of four bowls. Ladle the soup over the avocado and chips. Serve at once.