Hello, welcome to Cutting Spices! My name is Jin Curry and I’m an amateur baker and cook, full time student, and human being. I also garden. Look forward to posts on life through my eyes.
I like making food, a lot of it. I will share all my recipes and the techniques I learn along the way. My food is geared towards people who want to eat tasty food that’s also good for you, as well as for those who either don't have a ton of time and/or are too lazy to cook. Also, the desserts featured here? Probably not so healthy, but just as delicious.
I'll also be including my fun adventures through higher education, also known as college from time to time.
Today I want to share a quick recipe that are part of my dinner menu.
Simple garden salad with raisin bread croutons.
Garden salad is relatively straight forward.
You’ll need:
6 leaves from a heart of romaine lettuce.
1 medium beefsteak tomato.
1 cucumber.
½ of 1red pepper.
2 carrots.
1 stalk of celery.
- First off, wash everything. Sanitation is very important. Be sure to let things dry because no one likes a salad with soggy ingredients. Shred the leaves, set aside. Take a peeler to the cucumber and carrots.
- Now, salads naturally require a lot of cutting and dicing. You’ll be doing that now. Cut the carrot into circles for your salad. Cut the cucumber in circles as well, but quarter those circles. We need bite-size, yes yes?
- As for the pepper, we only need a half. Just save the other for nearly any other dish. Peppers are extremely versatile. So, once you got that half and de-seeded it, put it face down so you’ve got a flat surface on the bottom, which is pretty much a rule with anything you’re chopping. Putting your bent fingers down on the pepper, cut down lengthwise along the “barrier” your fingers create. This prevents you from cutting yourself. When you’ve got pepper strips, rotate them and cut them into tiny, bite-sized pieces.
- Next up is the celery, which you simply cut into bite-sized pieces.
- For the tomato, slice off the top and place that facedown. Cut into the tomato horizontally, so you’ve got a bunch of slices. Then cut down twice (in a criss-cross fashion) so you’ve got a diced tomato.
- Add all of this to a serving bowl. Put the cucumber on the bottom with the lettuce on top. Arrange the carrots around the edges, followed by the celery and peppers as in the picture at the bottom of the post. Top with the croutons which you’ll make in a second. For now, time to make the dressing…
Oil and Spices Dressing.
You’ll need:
1/3 cup vinegar
¼ cup oil
1 clove garlic, minced
½ tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
½ tbs oregano
½ tbs basil
¾ cup water
- Combine all ingredients and mix them up. Pour over salad.
Raisin Bread Croutons
You’ll need:
1 raisin cinnamon bagel or 2 slices of raisin cinnamon bread
1 tbs garlic powder
2 tbs olive oil
½ tbs basil
1 tsp salt
1. Cut up your choice of bread stuffs into bite sized cubes, for easy crouton eating.
2. Heat up oil in pan on low – medium heat.
3. Sprinkle garlic powder, salt, and basil on croutons and mix it around to spread the delicious flavors. Put lid on pan and let cook for 4 minutes. Stir it around occasionally.
4. Add some more olive oil at this point and stir it around, just to let the croutons get a little wet. Continue to cook for a few more minutes until you have crispy croutons.
5. Remove from heat and serve with your salad.
The croutons won’t be too sweet. They’ll have a very herb-y tasty to them, but a hint of smoky sweetness. Even if you don’t like cinnamon raisin bread stuffs, this would definitely work for you.
That’s the dish for tonight. Stay tuned for more!
In other news, I've officially started my hunt for a culinary education. I'm not sure whether I want to get an associate's in cooking or a baking certificate...
Devry called me today but they don't offer a culinary program at all so they're out.
As I research more I'll be sure to put what I've learned up here.
On that note, I bid you a good night. Thanks for reading. Look forward to tomorrow's item of the day! <3
I'd fuck the salad... hard.
ReplyDeletethat makes me want to eat carrots and celery
ReplyDelete