I made up a ridiculous easy way to transform canned sweet corn into something a little more sassy.
Ready? Set. Go.
Open and drain a can of yellow sweet corn. Heat a drizzle of oil in a skillet, and throw in the corn. Toss that around for a couple minutes until some of the kernels start to blacken just a bit, so it almost looks like you grilled it. Remove from heat and pour into a bowl. Add a sprinkling of salt and a good squeeze of fresh lime juice.
That’s it!
Serve it on the side with some tacos or add to a salad or whatever you like. It will seem like you’re having a summer BBQ, even if it is rainy and awful outside.
Aaaand here’s a song! With sort of an awkward music video…
I’ve been very much into radishes these days. They just look so pretty and red, like little crispy jewels nestled in a thicket of green leaves (which don’t taste very good…I tried eating them). I sometimes eat them just plain and raw, toss them into salads, or slice them for soup garnish. But why should the radish only get to be an accoutrement? They deserve to be the star of the show once in awhile too, right? So I gave my radishes a spotlight and made such a refreshing and simple salad with them, and it only takes a couple of minutes to throw together.
All you need are radishes, fresh parsley, olive oil, and sea salt. ‘Tis a small cast of characters, but they all play very important roles. Just slice up however many radishes you desire into discs about the width of quarters. Chop up a bit of parsley, and toss that into the radish slices with a pinch of salt and a drizzle of olive oil. Eat immediately for maximum crispness, and take in the beautiful simplicity of this salad.
Happy New Year friends!! I took a longer break than I expected to, and I’m terribly sorry. But I’m getting back into the groove (aka back into the kitchen) and I’ll be writing more regularly from now on. Pinky swear.
For my first post of 2012, I thought it would be great to start off the year by going shopping. A lot of people I talk to say they don’t make interesting meals because they don’t have ingredients for them. That’s stupid. Take an hour out of your week, and go to the store. Stock up on some staples and grab a few fresh ingredients, and you’ll have the supplies to make basically anything. And by staples, I don’t mean neon orange mac ‘n’ cheese, ramen noodles, and frozen dinners. Put those down right now. Okay, keep one for an emergency, but put the other 19 boxes down.
Your fabulously fast and fun food feature is back for a fourth tip. Today we’re making trail mix! Trail mix is a staple in my life. I’m on the go a lot, and trail mix’s sustaining powers are what keep me alive. You may be thinking to yourself, “Trail mix is so simple, so boring, why bother blogging about it?” To which my answer is, “Because.” How many times have you bought a pre-packaged trail mix rather than making your own? You probably buy it about 99.9% of the time. Actually, I’d venture to say you buy it about 100% of the time. You probably don’t even like all of the things in it, am I right?
Image via Wikipedia
I mean, who really wants those weird Brazil nuts? They look like sloth toes. Not appetizing. You’re wasting money dude. Plus, they usually add unnecessary stuff like extra salt and oil to the nuts.
By making your own, you get exactly what you want, how much of what you want, and you can control the nutritional content. I like my almonds raw, for example. They’re healthier and I think they taste better.
Image via Wikipedia
But is trail mix ever made of raw almonds? No. It’s not. I was sick and tired of the man telling me what kind of nuts and fruits were going to be in my trail mix, so I put my foot down, once and for all.
I bought a pound of raw almonds, a half pound of dried cranberries, and a bag of dark chocolate chunks (I used 5 oz. of them). Mix it all up and you’ve got trail mix for days, for a fraction of the price that an equivalent amount of store bought mix would cost, and it’s exactly what I want.
Image by Fatma S via Flickr
Sometimes I get creative and add stuff like smoked paprika to an individual bag of it. I like the way the smokiness goes with the dark chocolate. That’s another beauty of this. It’s pretty basic, so you can customize it and have a slightly different flavor every day. I hope I’ve inspired you to rebel once and for all against pre-packaged mixes of 60% peanuts, 15% tree nuts, 15% petrified raisins, and 10% candy coated chocolate. There is so much more to life than that. I swear.
Happy munching!
Take a hike, eat some trail mix, and listen to this song.
Funfetti cake makes people really happy. There’s something about the bright rainbow sprinkle surprises laced through fluffly white cake that instantly makes you giddy with childish joy. Funfetti cookies are like funfetti cake, but even more fun.
If you are hosting a lot of people or need to bring a treat somewhere, bring funfetti cookies. Don’t worry, it’s not cheating just because you didn’t make them totally from scratch. They’re super quick to make, and people will ooohh and aahh over them.
All you need is a box of funfetti cake mix. Follow the often over-looked recipe for cookies, which is on the side panel.
The recipe is as follows: mix together cake mix, oil, and eggs, roll into balls, and bake for about 7 minutes. Let cool, and frost with funfetti frosting. This step is crucial.
Tip: make them super small. People won’t feel guilty about eating them, and you’re less likely to have crumbs and frosting in your carpet afterwards because you can eat them in one or two bites.Â
Whether you’re trying to impress your friends with how classy you are, or you’re just sick of eating mac’n’cheese and hot dogs (I’ve been babysitting a lot…), it’s good to know how to throw together an appetizer/cold cuts plate. I’m talking about a grown-up appetizer plate, not a bag of Fritos and some bean dip (not that there’s anything wrong with Fritos and bean dip…they’re delicious). Last night I was shopping for ingredients for my gazpacho (recipe coming soon to theaters near you now playing here). I had a loaf of french bread, but i wasn’t going to need all of it, so I decided to make a light dinner out of the rest of it. I picked up a little salami from the deli counter, and a handful of cheese fragments. I shop mostly at Ralph’s, and they always have a basket of small wedges of really nice cheeses that typically cost around $1 each. Look for something like this at your grocery store. Nothing says fancy like offering a selection of artisan cheese. Try to get a variety–mild and strong, creamy and hard. I got a manchego, a gouda goat, an applewood cheddar, and something raspberry because it sounded interesting. I also got an extra tomato, because I like to eat all of the food groups. I try to be healthy…
I brought all of this stuff home, cut a few thick slices of the bread, sliced up the tomato and sprinkled it with garlic salt and pepper, and laid out the bread, tomato, salami, and cheese wedges on a big wooden cutting board, along with a little bowl of olive oil and balsamic vinegar. It looked way pretty and rustic and stuff.
And there you have it. Instant, classy, inexpensive hor devours. Or, in my case, dinner for one. I don’t share well with others. Just add a bottle of Two Buck Chuck Charles Shaw and pick a classy Pandora station, like Dean Martin or something, pretend you have some manners, and people will think you’re super sophisticated.
I’m working late tonight so I don’t have much time to write, but I didn’t want to deprive you of a post, because I know you’re all hanging on my every word and anxiously anticipating what wonders will come out of my kitchen next…right? So I was inspired to start a new section called quick tips-little snippets to make your life easier and more delicious.
Get ready to witness this momentous, history making occasion…my very first quick tip!!
Lips’ Quick Tip #1:
Chipotles in Adobo in Your Freezer
I love spicy food. I really love chipotle chillies. So smoky. So sneakily fiery. The problem is, although I have tried, you just can’t use a whole can in one recipe, unless you’re feeding a million people or one fire eater. I hate using part of the can and wasting the rest, so here’s how I solve this.
Image via Wikipedia
When I open a new can, I take out the whole chilies and chop them up on a cutting board really small. Then I put them, along with the sauce left in the can, in a little plastic container and keep it in the freezer. That way, whenever I feel like kicking up something I’m cooking, I just scrape off a little scoop of the frozen chillies and keep the rest in the freezer for later. I hope this changed your life.