I’m glad that my wife loves talking with people.  Everywhere we go either she or I is asking a waitress or a cook how they prepared something.  In most cases the cook or chef is happy to oblige.  This dish is a result of my wife’s insatiable curiosity regarding new recipes and her ability to charm the socks of of anyone… Even if that someone happens to be a chef in Izmir, Turkey.

Haydari is a fairly common dish in Turkish Meze.  Generally it’s a mix of yogurt, garlic, mint and olive oil.  I’ve seen some recipes that call for sumac as well.  This one is a slightly less spicy version that uses carrots (Havuçlu) and omits the garlic and dill usually found in the dish.

Just 5 ingredients and about 10 minutes of prep will get you something spectacular, especially if you’ve gone ahead and made a batch of flatbreads to slather this wonderful dip on.  of course, you can always just eat it with a spoon, too.  (I may have eaten most of it that way…  It’s possible.)

This is a dish that you just have to try!  it rivals turkish style yogurt hummus for yum-factor and is just as simple to make, but has a much lighter and fresher flavor.  If you’re looking for the perfect way to get a few carrots on the table.  This is it.

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Before someone asks, the name of this dish was coined my wife. When I asked her what I should call it for the post, she answered immediately “Surprisingly Wonderful Broccoli Slaw with Sesame”, so there you have it.

But of course there’s a story leading up to that point:

Earlier today I asked my wife if she would like some stir fried broccoli slaw.  Her response was to raise an eyebrow, let loose a very well earned supportive sigh and mutter “Sure, Honey.  I’ll try some”. which is nearly equivalent to “Oh my goodness, he’s trying to kill me with food again”.

She’s earned the right to have these moments.  Not all of my ideas end up in something wonderful.  Some don’t even make it into the realm of edible, and for the past 5 years she has had to endure my lows along with my highs.  Yes, she has the right… And  to top it off,  she has apparently never met a broccoli slaw that she’s liked.

Until today, that is.

A few simple ingredients, a hot stir fry pan and a few minutes of your time can generate a product that is far more than the sum of its parts. It’s a perfect side for pork, fish or chicken and lends a wonderful texture to any meal.  It’s 100% vegetarian, so can be served at a mixed dinner party with no shame whatsoever. It’s amazing on its own as well, which makes it perfect for a nearly guilt free afternoon snack, which was how I presented it today.

do you have a favorite use for a store-bought salad or greens mix?  if so, let us know in the comments.  We’d love to hear about it.

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Popularity: 3% [?]

Bok choy is one of my favorite vegetables.  It’s versatile, it’s flavorful and my kids love it.  In fact, it’s third in line of favorite sides in our house, beaten only by corn and brussels sprouts. (I know, my kids are strange.)

Bok choy also manages to stand up well to heavy flavors without giving up its own identity, which makes it a perfect pair for my love of Asian flavors like soy and oyster sauce, which both play a part in this dish.  It’s great for salads, wonderful in a stir fry and even roasts well, all things that make it a pantry staple in my home.

This particular dish was inspired by this one from a Veggie Venture, but of course I took it my own direction the moment it hit the kitchen.  The result was so wonderful that I made it for breakfast the next morning as soon as I realized I was going to have a few minutes of sunlight to shoot with.

This is an amazing combination of flavors and i think it would pair perfectly with salmon or any other fish you’d like to set it next to.  In fact, the next time I make it, I’ll be serving it with Sesame crusted salmon…  If someone beats me to that, please let us know how it turns out!

Do you have a favorite bok choy recipe?  if so, please drop a link or a recipe in the comments.  I can always use another way to cook this wonderful veggie up!

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Popularity: 3% [?]

This is a simple little side dish that my kids absolutely adore and hey, any vegetable dish that I can get my kids to ask for is most definitely worth sharing, right?  It can be thrown together out of  a few simple ingredients and is ready in minutes, yet adds quite a bit of flavor to any plate.

I generally make this using frozen ingredients I always have close at hand, but there is absolutely no reason that it could not (and indeed should not) be made with fresh ingredients if you have them.  My kids, being of a generation quite content to eat frozen snacks heated from a box in the microwave don’t mind that I use less than perfect ingredients and it’s great in a pinch, but I’d probably opt for fresh if company was coming.

Regardless of the previous temperature of the ingredients, this is a very tasty dish and works very well with chicken, pork or fish.  It plays well with others and has been seen dancing with green beans, peas and broccoli a time or two.  Give it a try, I think you’ll like it!

(Note: I probably would have called it a corn relish on my own, but you try to get a nine and eleven year old to eat something called corn relish!  That’s way too far out of their comfort zone, so I dubbed it by what I tossed in the pan and they seemed happy enough.)

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Popularity: 4% [?]

Butternut squash is one of those things that until a year or two ago I had heard about but never really experimented with.  It’s also one of those things I lament not having tried earlier.  It’s great for a variety of things and I use it in everything from soups to chili, but to stay with the year’s trend of keeping things as simple as possible I give you butternut squash in its most perfect state; roasted.

While you can roast butternut squash in just about any fat that suits your fancy, I have several favorites.  The most common are extra virgin olive oil and bacon fat, but using bacon grease overwhelms the delicate flavor of the squash and I just happened to have something a little more exotic hanging around in my fridge when I decided to make this dish.

I had goose fat.

A quick note: Halving the squash before you peel it is a real time saver as well as a convenience.  It’s much easier to hold on to the squash while peeling if you have the dimple left by the seeds to hold onto while you’re removing the tough outer skin and the squash won’t want to slip all over the cutting board while you’re halving it. Once skinned, it’s a snap to slice the squash into manageable pieces for roasting.

Now I’m not saying that here’s anything wrong with olive oil and if you’re looking for a vegetarian snack or side you should most definitely use it.  In my case, having one of the holy grails of roasting fats on hand was more than I could pass up and the flavors of the completed dish were just short of absolute perfection (see my notes as to why it was just short and not right on.)

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Popularity: 4% [?]

Brussels sprouts.  As a kid the mere mention of the things would have sent me running to my room in fear, yet here I am sharing a recipe for them at the request of my kids, who absolutely adore them.  It’s a strange turn of events to be sure.

It’s strange the things I adore today that I never would have touched as a child.  I’m not sure if it was the lack of fresh ingredients in our diet for most of the year, or if my tastes have just changed that much.  I know that most of the vegetables we ate for may years were canned, that probably didn’t help.

In any event, these sprouts do not disappoint.  They have my Son’s seal of approval and I have to admit that I’ve eaten two plates of them in the last two days.  They truly are tasty. As a matter-of-fact, I think I’m going to add them to my permanent Thanksgiving lineup in one form or another.  That way I know my kids will eat at least one green vegetable at the family table…

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Last night was a busy one here. Mrs. Seat of her Pants is under deadline for several projects as well as planning a baby shower for a friend. Thankfully the shower has been postponed until Monday due to icy road conditions all over North Texas and Oklahoma. (Perhaps in your part of the world as well?) Thus leaving me with duty for Mr. Seat of his Diaper while she types like a madwoman at her keyboard.

Myself… Well I’ve got around 6 projects calling for my time as well, plus the little one, so I was fairly distracted too.

With both of us truly busy on things, I decided that something quick to prepare was in order. For me this usually means anything baked, roasted or braised, as I can just toss it on and walk away from it until it smells right.

So off to the cupboard for a look. There are some potatoes that are in definite need of use before they go bad, so we’ll grab those. In the fridge I’ve got some mushrooms in roughly the same state. I was either going to use them tonight or they were history, so onto the counter they go. Read more…

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