Friday, November 13, 2009

Tossing the guacamole

In preparing dinner last night, I had second thoughts about serving guacamole from 2005 I found in the back of the freezer. See post, "What's in your freezer?"

I just now tossed the package into the garbage.
Young collard plants growing in a containerImage via Wikipedia















But I did serve two other side dishes with antibiotic-free Australian shoulder lamb chops that were quick, easy and nutritious -- Middle Eastern fingerling potato salad and collard greens with garlic.

The multicolored potatoes came in a 5-pound bag from Costco. The salad is quick to prepare, but boiling  about three cups of potatoes, which I cut up, took about 20 to 25 minutes. You could do that while the chops are roasting in the oven. After draining the potatoes and running cold water over them, I added:
 
Juice of one big lemon
Two to three ounces of extra-virgin olive oil
Cumin, allspice, Aleppo pepper and salt to taste
Toss and serve

I washed and cut up the collard greens (from H Mart), then blanched them for a few minutes in boiling, salted water. (I have found that if you don't first blanch fresh greens, spinach and similar items, they turn brown.) Using tongs, I transferred the greens to a pan in which I had heated heated extra-virgin olive oil and dehydrated garlic chips, sauteeing them for another four or five minutes. Then I turned off the fire and covered the pan to let the greens steam until I served them.

The only problem, my wife said, is that I didn't make enough. My son thought they needed salt.


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2 comments:

  1. That's hilarious (about the guacamole). It does shock me sometimes to see what's in the freezer, so every few months I try to go on a freezer binge - using up what's left in there. Unfortunately few entrees can be made with kids fruit popsicles left over from summer, and half a dozen kinds of ice cream. The potato dressing sounds yummy!

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  2. My wife wanted to eat the guacamole.
    The potato salad recipe is modified from my mother's. I use a much heavier hand on the cumin and allspice and add the Aleppo pepper for a real zing.

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