Tribute to the Onion

As I was chopping several onions last night while cooking dinner, I started to contemplate on this vegetable and how, until recently, I really never liked onions. Onions seemed to always rub me the wrong way. They often left me with a pungent, lingering taste in my mouth that seemed to last for days. I disliked them because they stung my eyes horribly while chopping them up. I remember picking pieces of onions out of prepared meals and discarding them with disgust. And then there was the turning point. I don't know when exactly the shift took place, but suddenly I was cooking a lot with onions. Like almost daily. Red onions, Vidalia, Spanish -- you name it. They just didn't seem to bother me anymore. I actually have grown rather fond of them.

Did you know that the onion is one of the oldest vegetables and can be found in recipes spanning the entire world? Traces of onion have even been found next to fig stones dating back to 5000 BC. The onion is also one of the easiest vegetables to be transported and stored, staying fresh, for long periods of time. Perhaps this is why it was so popular among seafarers back in the day before modern refrigeration.

The onion also has many ancient medicinal properties, one of which states that Roman gladiators rubbed down with onion to firm up their muscles. Doctors were known to prescribe onions to facilitate bowel movements, relieve headaches and even replenish hair loss. Modern day remedies include curing the common cold to prevention against heart disease.

I guess where I'm going with all this is that specific "tastes" grow and change, evolve and reinvent. And that's one of the magical gifts of life. It doesn't have to pertain to "food" tastes, either. It can be a specific genre of music, a friend, or even a hobby. Personally, I can relate this to my adjustment to a new "career" as a stay-at-home mom. It is quite obvious, during the past year, that I have been rebelling and refusing the validity and importance of this new role. What I have lacked to realize is that just because I have bundled up inside so many negative, predisposed images of this new "career" doesn't mean I can't find new, positive, purposeful ways to live each day. Just because I didn't like "you" before doesn't mean I can't like "you" now.

So back to the onion. The fact that I never really liked onions, until recently, is probably due to becoming more aware and discarding those old, negative, predisposed notions of taste. So, cheers to you my onion friend. As fickle as you may be with your sometimes sharp, tangy, spicy, and sweet taste, you are a wise old chum and a wonderful accompaniment to any meal. May you continue to flourish in my recipes and add a spice of life to many dinners to come!

Now was that kinda of a weird post?

Taco "Lego" Salad

Our dining room table has recently taken on a whole new persona. Call it Lego space command central, mega star ship depot, Star Wars Republic Commando runway...you get the point. Even a U.S. Coast Guard Fire boat has taken a liking to the table. I'm not sure when all these vessels decided to move in, but it wasn't until I started to set the table last night and was having difficulty finding a spare, shall we say, "landing pad" to place a napkin, fork and knife, that I realized this was definitely becoming a problem.

Not that I mind these heavily ammo-loaded, protectors of our universe objects hanging out on our dining room table. I used to get pretty distressed when, god forbid, the table wasn't meticulously cleared of all the clutter prior to the dinner hour. But, I've learned over the years that you have to pick your battles, and having to ask Mr. Star Wars Republic Destroyer to find a new home was no simple feat. It only became a problem when the Star Wars Destroyer started to attract his friends and, well, suddenly some Lego pieces started to become missing-in-action, and there was barely an empty space for a place mat, and then when I cracked my tooth on a foreign object while eating my Taco Salad last night.

No, I didn't really crack my tooth on a Lego piece, but come on, enough is enough. Sometimes you have to put your foot down and draw the line. I really do enjoy the dinner hour with my family, and I have to say that when the table is nicely set and things are in order, everything seems to go more smoothly. The food tastes better, the kids are less distracted and everyone overall seems to be more relaxed. So, even though I may have to pull in some serious backup, I'd say it's time to end the rebellion and get my dining room table back.

Taco Soup and Salad

Serves 6

4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 1/2 pounds ground sirloin
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1 tablespoon ground coriander
1 tablespoon chili powder
1/2 tablespoon oregano
1 large yellow onion, chopped
3 garlic cloves, chopped
Salt and pepper
1 can (15 oz.) stewed tomatoes
1 quart chicken stock
3 limes
1/3 cup medium taco sauce
1 head iceberg lettuce, shredded
1/2 pint cherry tomatoes, cut in half
1 handful fresh cilantro, chopped
1 handful fresh flat-leaf parsley, chopped
1 cup sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
Sour cream, for garnish

Heat medium soup pot over medium-high heat with 2 tablespoons olive oil. Add the ground sirloin and brown. Season it with the cumin, coriander, chili powder, oregano, onion, garlic, salt and pepper. Stir to combine and continue to cook for 5 minutes. Add the stewed tomatoes and chicken stock, then bring the soup up to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes.

In a small bowl, combine the juice of 2 limes, taco sauce, salt and pepper. Whisk in 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Reserve the dressing.

In a salad bowl combine the shredded lettuce, tomatoes, half of the cilantro, parsley and grated cheddar cheese. Pour the dressing over the salad and toss.

Squeeze the juice of the remaining lime into the soup. Ladle the soup into serving bowls and garnish with sour cream and a sprinkle of cilantro.

Dinner Disappearance

No, this is not a post about someone breaking in and stealing my ready-to-serve chicken casserole for tonight's dinner. Instead, this post is about how it never seizes to amaze me how my husband can vanish into thin air, in a "beam-me-up Scotty" sort of way, particularly around the dinner hour, and mysteriously end up at a card game that he swore he told me about the night before. I just don't get it. Why can't I get away with these magical vanishing acts? Why is it that Cole and Austin would have me lassoed and tied up like a loose bull before my ass was even half way out the door?

I'm not sure what the reasoning is, or how it is that Dan has become such a master at becoming missing-in-action at key, trigger, moments, but it is something that I've had to learn to deal with as long as I choose to remain in this marriage. We all have our faults, after all. And I'm sure if you asked Dan why, whether it be an escape from his kids or his crazed wife, he really would have no idea that he possessed such a vanishing trait at all. He probably would be actually quite thrilled.

So, next time your chicken casserole, I mean husband, disappears during the dinner hour, praise him for being the smart one in the relationship who has figured out the master of this fine art. Who knows, maybe I'll try disappearing tonight at an opportune moment. I hear there are some good movies playing. Or, at the least, I could try locking myself in a closet with a bottle of wine and a good book.

Recipe for Disaster

Do not attempt to drive your 4-year old to preschool, take a shower, drive your 8-year old to Target, pick-up your 4-year old at preschool, play short-order cook at lunch, help your 8-year old build a 1,000 piece Star Wars Lego ship, have 8-year old's friends over, try to put the 4-year old down for a nap, bake chocolate chip cookies before dinner, cook Grilled Chicken Parmesan, have the 8-year old run a bath with freezing cold water, clean up and put everyone to bed.

Alone. Without back-up.

Mix all that up with a 9:30 pm phone call from your husband's friend, who is depressed and out of work, and doesn't care if your husband is not home, because all he wants to do is pour out all his problems on YOU.

Needless to say, it wasn't a good night. And, unfortunately, the husband got the grunt of it upon returning home at 12:00 am after an evening of consuming Sierra Nevada's at his local watering hole.

I often feel that it's the woman in the relationship who gets the short end of the stick while the man gets to play with his friends and eat out at fancy places for lunch on a frequent basis. But, when I really think about the episodes that happened last night, would I have really wanted to sit in a dark bar and drink Sierra Nevada's all night with a bunch of stinky guys? No. Would I have liked to ditch the depressing phone call friend on my husband? Yes. Would I have liked my husband to come home early and cook dinner? No, because I actually really like to cook. So, all in all, it's really how you look at these everyday situations and realize that maybe your stick ain't so short after all. (And trying to cram in a week's work of activities with your kids into one short day is not the best idea, either.)


Grilled Chicken Parmesan

6 servings

2 pounds thin chicken breast cutlets
Salt & pepper
Extra-virgin olive oil
4 garlic cloves, chopped
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1 small yellow onion, finely chopped
28 oz. fire-roasted diced tomatoes
20 fresh basil leaves
1/2 cup Parmesan
1/2 pound mozzarella
6 cups mixed greens
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar

Heat an outdoor or indoor grill pan to high. Season the chicken with salt and pepper and drizzle with olive oil. Cook for 3 - 4 minutes on each side and transfer to a foil-covered plate.

Place a medium pot on the stove over medium heat. Add 2 tablespoons olive oil, garlic, red pepper flakes and onion. Cook for 10 minutes, stirring often. Add the tomatoes and heat through, 2 minutes. Wilt in the basil and season the sauce with salt and pepper.

Preheat the broiler to high.

Layer the chicken with the tomato sauce in a casserole dish. Top the casserole with Parmesan and mozzarella. Brown the chicken Parmesan casserole under the broiler for 3 minutes. Meanwhile, prepare the salad.

Place the greens in a salad bowl. Dress with the vinegar and 2 tablespoons of olive oil.

Serve the chicken Parmesan alongside a little salad.

Voila! Delicious!

(Recipe adapted from Rachael Ray's 30-Minute Get Real Meals)

Change

We traditionally celebrate New Year's with good friends at the Dombrowski's annual house party. Every year Ted prepares an amazing dinner for 50+ friends and this year was no different, except for some reason, the party felt "easier". Maybe because our kids are getting older, or the adults were feeling "younger". Whatever the reason, it was an evening filled with good conversation, delicious food and a muck of kids running about. We've been celebrating New Year's with the same friends for over 10 years now. And even though we may only see some of them once a year, we seem to always be able to pick right back up where we left off. Sure, some things change. Hair-styles, careers, girlfriends, and even the occasional "who's that guy" party straggler. But the things that really matter seem to always stay the same. Camaraderie, good cheer, awesome food and laughter. So, here's to 2010. Even though many of us are wishing for a changed-better 2010, here's to holding on to all the good that 2009 offered us.