Sometimes you just need something that is quick and easy.  Of course, that's my speciality.   Don't get me wrong, there are times when I love getting involved in the long drawnout process of planning, shopping, and executing a complex multi-step meal.  For me, those times usually involve hours of pouring over cookbooks, several attempts at putting together a menu, long shopping lists and timetables, and most importantly, dinner guests. The truth is that while I thoroughly enjoy the preparation, by the time I serve my guests I am often not very interested in the food. I hope that the others find the dinner more appealing than I do on those occasions.  The planning and the preparation have been the focus of my pleasure, not the eating. For me, the most enjoyable meals are often entirely spontaneous, last minute, off-the-shelf ,or just from the garden affairs. 

Here is a simple, quick, and delicious meal for those times when I don't really feel like cooking - Shrimp and White Bean Salad on a bed of Baby Spinach.  The beans are out of a can, unless I have leftover beans, and what could be faster to prepare than lightly sauteed shrimp.  It is possible to use frozen, pre-cooked, shrimp, but I prefer fresh.

White Bean  and Shrimp Salad (for 2)
1 can of white beans, drained

2/3 - 3/4# of fresh shrimp (frozen if you choose)
2 tomatoes cut 1" cubes
2 scallions, sliced
1 tsp basil
1 tsp lemon zest
juice of 1 lemon
2 cloves of garlic, minced
3 Tbs olive oil, divided
salt and pepper to taste

In a medium bowl, combine beans, tomatoes, 1 clove of minced garlic, sliced scallions, basil, lemon zest, juice of 1/2 lemon, and about 2 Tbsp of the olive oil.  I used lemon infused oil. Toss together and set aside. Saute the shrimp over medium high heat in the remaining 1 Tbsp of olive oil with 1 clove of minced garlic, just until it turns an opaque pink color. Squeeze the juice of 1/2 lemon over the shrimp and add all to the bean/tomato mixture.  Gently toss together and season to taste with salt and pepper.

To serve on a bed of baby spinach, toss spinach with a little vinaigrette and arrange on plates.  Top with Shrimp Salad.  A nice baguette or slice of sourdough bread completes the meal.  Hmmmm, makes me hungry again.

Crackers with your cheese?  How can you say no? Who knew that it was possible to make crachers as nice as these?

The inspiration for these great Lavash Crackers comes from Peter Reinhart's book, The Bread Baker's Apprentice.  It's really just a simple bread recipe.  Make the dough, let it rise once, then instead of making a loaf you roll out the dough until paper thin and cut it into crackers.  Fun and easy.  Rolling it out is the hardest.  The thinner the dough the crisper the crackers.  So, here's the recipe.

1 1/2 cups bread flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp instant yeast
1 tbsp honey
1 tbsp olive oil
1/3 to 1/2 cup water - maybe a little more

For the dough, stir all ingredients together until it makes a ball adding enough flour so that it is pliable, but not too soft.  Turn onto a floured surface and knead about 10 minutes.  The dough should be smooth and ingredients evenly distrubited.  Place in lightly oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and let rise for 1 1/2 hours.

Mist counter lightly with oil, then transfer dough to counter.  Roll it out with rolling pin to a paper thin thickness.  I first divide the dough into two sections for ease of rolling.  When you have reached the desired thickness, let the dough relax for 5 minutes.  Carefully transfer dough to parchment lined baking sheet.  Mist with water and sprinkle with seeds or spices of your choice.  You can then use a pizza cutter to cut strips for crackers, or leave in one piece and break into pieces after baking.

Bake in 350F oven for 15 to 20 minutes.  Yum!

Gone but not forgotten.  Simply put, I love butter. I really do.  I believe it to be one of my very favorite foods.  Everything tastes better with butter.  I like it on freshly baked bread, on pancakes, in cake cakes, in cookies, in pie crust, and, hmmm . . . in everything.  I like things sauteed in butter, I like butter drizzled on my vegetables, and I especially like crab dipped in butter.  I've always liked butter.   When I was a very small child my family lived on a farm.  I enjoy a vivid memory of perching on the kitchen countertop while my mother whipped cream from our cows in the mixer to make it into butter.  I remember tasting the butter when it came together and again after she added salt.  It was devine.

I have always been one of those persons who used butter in the kitchen with wild abandon - a la Julia Child.  I, in fact, may have single handedly supported the butter division of the dairy industry after everyone else jumped ship.  It was my habit to purchase at least one pound of butter with almost every trip to the grocer.

Well, do you remember about my high cholesterol?  I'm so sorry to say that the butter days are over, at least for now.  I still love it, and sometimes crave it, but I haven't had even a taste of butter in over 10 weeks.  Remarkably, I have survived without it.  Today I'm going to share with you one of my butter survival tricks - Yogurt Cheese.  No kidding.  It's good, it's non-fat, easy to make and can be spread on things that once seemed to need butter.

Yogurt Cheese
Yogurt, I used plain, non-fat - any quantity works

Cheese cloth
a little salt
herbs, if desired

Basic yogurt cheese is simply made by draining yogurt in cheese cloth overnight.  First, line a strainer with  cheese cloth and spoon in the yogurt.  Then gather the cheese cloth together and suspend the ball of yogurt over a bowl to catch the liquid.  Allow to drain overnight.  When the cheese has thickened add a pinch of salt - which will counter the tart flavor of the yogurt.  You may also add other seasonings of your choice.  For a savory herbed cheese you might try basil, thyme and a little pressed garlic.  For a breakfast spread I add a little sugar and a drop of vanilla.

This spread is nice with crackers, and in sandwiches.  I also like it on pancakes and waffles,with syrup or on toast with jam.  Yogurt cheese is not only non-fat, but has twice the calcium and protein of regular yogurt, thanks to the draining process.   Try it,  I think you'll like it. Really.

It really must be spring.  There is no place better than Oregon in the springtime.  Spring arrives and departs here slowly, with spring-like weather lasting from March through the first of July. Really.  By the end of June we're all longing for those consistently warm summer days, but along the way the parade of blooms is jaw dropping and non- stop.  Well, let me tell you that the parade has begun!

I just completed a tour of our front yard.  Even on this rainy day it made me happy.  The ferns, which we cut back months ago, have finally come alive, sticking up their heads and unfurling their delicate green tendrils.  In one area of the yard they are surrounded by a sea of lily-of-the-valley plants.  I definitely have a love/hate relationship with lily-of-the-valley.  They are so beautiful, and smell so delightful, but, oh, do they love to take over the garden.  Kind of pushy for my tastes.  I fight them every year.  One year I put an add on Craigslist, offering them free to anyone who would come and dig them up.  I had gardeners digging around in my lily patch for over a week.  That tamed them for a while, but can't say that I really got control.

I am thankful to the previous owners of our house for having the foresight to plant the yard full of flowering shrubs.  Sure, we have modified their vision; we've removed a number of plants, done a lot of pruning, and have added some of our own favorites, but the original  plants beautifully form the backbone of our landscape design.  There is no denying that spring is the time when this yard comes into its own.  Currently the daphne is in full fragrant bloom and the old, giant mollis azaleas are beginning to put forth some blossoms.  I can't wait to see what comes next.

Reyn has continued to work on cleaning up the backyard and garden.  He has spent the past week adding gravel to our paths and laying bark mulch around the garden edges where it had thinned out - mostly due to marauding deer cruising through the yard.  We have just installed the last gate and now think that we are completely deer proof.  If we can only remember to close the gates.

A couple of years ago we planted rhododendrons around the perimeter of the back yard.  Our hope was that they would eventually form a beautiful flowering hedge around the yard.  The plants have grown and are now nearly touching.  They are just now coming into bloom.  It looks like the gaps between the plants will be mostly filled in by next spring. Our deer fence runs just behind the rhodys and seems to disappear as the trees behind it leaf out. We've had such a good time planning, putting in lots of hard work, and now watching as this yard comes together, one piece at a time.  Now all we need is good weather.

On the lookout for low-fat desserts. I like desserts as much as anyone, in fact I really enjoy finishing a meal with a little taste of something sweet.  If the truth be known, I crave it. It can drive me crazy.  Recently I was hosting a group of friends for a meeting and dessert.  This group is particularly challenging when it comes to desserts, ie. no chocolate and no dairy.  Using the garden for inspiration I decided on something made with rhubarb.  My own dietary limitations made the search for the right rhubarb medium even more of a challenge.  Hmmm, something with no butter or cream, no cobbler, no rhubarb pie, no mousse. After cruising my way through several cookbooks and an online search I put together a tasty sponge cake rolled up with a pureed rhubarb filling.  The only fat came from the eggs used to make the cake.  Voila, dessert! 

Rhubarb Cake Roll

For the filling-
1 pound of rhubarb, chopped
1/2 cup sugar
1 packet of unflavored gelatin
1 tbs. cold water
In saucepan cook rhubarb with sugar over medium heat until rhubarb becomes soft and can easily be stirred into a puree.  In a small bowl sprinkle gelatin over cold water and let soften, about 1 minute.  Add gelatin to the rhubarb and stir over low heat until gelatin is dissolved.  Transfer filling to a bowl set in a bowl of ice water. Stir occasionally until cool and thickened.

For the cake-
4 large eggs, separated
1/2 cup sugar
2 tsp lemon zest
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 cup flour
1/4 cup cornstarch

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line the bottom of a greased jelly-roll pan with foil or parchment paper.  Grease the foil and dust with flour.  Beat egg yolks with 1/4 cup of sugar, lemon zest, and vanilla until thick and pale in color.  In a large bowl with clean beaters, beat egg whites with salt until they hold soft peaks.  Gradually beat in the remaining 1/4 cup of sugar and beat until the whites hold stiff peaks.

Stir one third of the whites into the yolk mixture then gently fold in the remaining egg whites.  Sift flour and cornstarch over batter and fold in until the batter is just combined.

Spread batter evenly in prepared pan and bake for 6 - 9 minutes, or until the cake is lightly colored and springs back when pressed lightly.

Dust a kitchen towel with powdered sugar and invert the warm cake onto it.  Remove foil carefully from cake.  Starting with a long side, loosely roll up the cake in the towel.  Cool for 30 minutes.

Make a syrup by bringing to a simmer 1/4 cup of sugar with 2 tbs lemon juice and 2 tbs water. Simmer until the sugar is dissolved.

Unroll the cake carefully and brush with half of the warm lemon syrup.  Spread the cake with the thickened rhubarb filling and carefully reroll the cake - this time without the towel.  Transfer to a platter, seam side down and brush with the remaining syrup.  Chill at least 2 hours, or overnight.

To serve dust the cake with powdered sugar and slice diagonally.  I topped each piece with a sprinkling of lemon zest and served it with lemon sorbet. Unfortunately I became distracted and forget to photograph the finished product.  You'll just have to use your imagination.

Back in the groove. I'm not sure what happened to get me off track, but I was stumbling around all last week, I had trouble getting myself motivated, I think it was the weather.  In anticipation of an upcoming road race I had increased by running distances and was hungry all the time, but I couldn't think of anything to cook.  The good news, at least for the two of us in this house, is that I've recovered.  We are eating well once again.  I hope you like some of my upcoming meal ideas.  As usual, I'm after easy, delicious, low-fat meals.

Garlic Baked Halibut on fresh Spinach with steamed red potatoes, and a saute of match stick peppers and zucchini was quick and tasty. 

Garlic Baked Halibut

Halibut (or other white fish) filet
1 tsp olive oil

2 cloves of garlic, sliced
salt and freshly ground pepper
a pinch of red pepper flakes
Lemon pepper seasoning
1/2 Lemon

Brush the fish with olive oil, then sprinkle with seasoning ingredients.  Squeeze lemon juice over top and bake at 425 degrees for about 8 - 10 minutes, depending on the thickness of the fish. (10 min. per inch thick).

Meanwhile - scrub and steam quartered red potatoes.

For the  vegetables-
1 garlic clove, slivered

1 red bell pepper
1 yellow bell pepper
1 zucchini
Salt and freshly ground pepper
1 tbsp olive oil ( I used lemon infused olive oil from California)

Cut each vegetable uniform in match stick sized pieces about 2" long.
Saute briefly in olive oil, over medium heat.  Season and serve.

Serve fish on a bed of fresh baby spinach leaves.  A simple, and simply delicious meal.  Uncomplicated, fresh and colorful.  A recipe for success.

Waiting out the weather.  I can't believe it's been a week since my last post.  I'm blaming it on the weather.  I've been immobilized by the rain . . .  and the cold . . .  and the hail . . . and the wind.  Day after day, with no end in sight.  Can this really be spring?  What happened to all those nice warm days?  Oh, yeah, it is Oregon.  I've got to pull myself out of this slump - tomorrow I must get out the cookbooks and plan a shopping trip.

This has really been one heck of a week for weather, we even had a couple of near freezing nights - just after Reyn moved many of his little starts of lettuce, spinach, chard, and onions from the cold-frame to the garden.  We knew he was taking a chance, it's always hard to watch those little babies succomb to the elements.  The surprising thing is that most of the transplants survived even the hail and are holding their own.

I took a quick tour of the garden today.  The peas are now about 2" tall and doing well even after being stirred up by the squirrels, who always insist on investigating a newly turned patch of ground.  The garlic seems to be growing at warp speed with the plants looking fuller each day, and I'll soon be able to pull a few stalks of rhubarb.  We have a couple of spinach plants and a few arugula plants that overwintered and are just about ready to go into a salad.  I'll be so glad when I no longer need to purchase salad greens.

Our little cold-frame has been great.  We have lots of onion, lettuce, leeks, chives, cilantro, and tomatoes coming along nicely under it's protection. The seedlings in the little newspaper pots I made are doing well with the newspaper holding up to the constant watering.  I'm anxious to try some zinnias in the newspaper pots, which should make them easier to transplant into my flower beds.

The  cold-frame is quite large. Today Reyn transplanted  lettuce starts directly in the ground under the cover of the plastic.  They are nestled in a lovely bed of garden compost and pine needles.  The warmth and protection from the rain, along with our rich fish fertilizer should get them off to a good start. As the weather gets warmer we'll exchange the plastic cover on the cold-frame for a porous row cover that won't heat up so much when the sun comes out. 

Although it has been hard to get me out to the garden this week, Reyn has found time between the storms to continue nursing his little plants and preparing the open garden beds.  It may be cold and wet today, but I know the sun is coming.