celery, cucumber, red bell pepper and fresh mint salad

David made this salad for our 4th of July BBQ last weekend. It was delicious and gave us an opportunity to use some of the mint we've been growning (one of the few plants in our yard that's survived the Houston drought!) I don't like many salads but I did like this one.

 Source: The 150 Best American Recipes
Prepared By: David
Serves 6

You will need:

6 celery ribs, cut into 1/4-inch-thick slices
3 cucumbers, peeled, halved, seeded, and cut on the diagonal into 1/4-inch-thick slices
3 scallions, white and green parts, cut into 1/4-inch-thick slices
1 red bell pepper, halved, seeded, and julienned
1/2 red onion, halved again and thinly sliced

For the Vinaigrette
1 Tbs. Dijon mustard
1 garlic clove, minced
1/4 cup white wine vinegar
1 tsp. ground cumin
1 tsp. salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup olive oil
2 Tbs. finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
2 Tbs. finely chopped fresh mint

Prep:
In a small bowl, whisk together the mustard, garlic, vinegar, cumin, salt, and a few grinds of pepper. Add the olive oil in a slow, steady, thin stream, whisking as you go. This will form an emulsion and thicken the dressing. Stir in the parsley and mint. Just before you’re ready to serve the salad, pour the vinaigrette over the vegetables. Using a large metal spoon or you hands, toss until everything is evenly coated. Taste to see if the salad needs more of anything, particularly salt, and serve.

fennel, red pepper, and mushroom salad & mussels in beer

Last night was Mediterranean night at our house.  David prepared delicious fennel salad and mussels cooked in beer.  Our old mussel recipe was from the same cookbook and "mussels with smoky bacon,lime, and cilantro" prepared with bacon and white wine and ketchup -- the new one, is based on the old recipe (which is posted here) but substituted beer for wine, and took out the ketchup and bacon - neither of which I was particularly fond of.  If you can find Mediterranean mussels definitely use those, the ones featured in these photos are Canadian, much smaller, tasty, but no match for their Mediterranean counterpart.

Salad:
prepared by: David
serves: 4-6
source: The 150 Best American Recipes

2 pounds fennel bulbs, trimmed, quartered and cut into very thin crosswise slices
2 large red bell peppers, seeded and cut in thin 2-inch slices
8 mushrooms, cleaned and thinly sliced (1/4 lb)
2 tablespoons minced parsley
1 tablespoon minced chives
2 ounces shaved Parmesan

For the dressing:

1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons sherry vinegar
1 garlic clove, very finely minced or pressed
salt and freshly ground pepper
1/2 cup olive oil

Combine the salad ingredients in a large bowl. Whisk together the lemon juice, vinegar, garlic, salt, pepper, and olive oil. Toss with the salad and serve.

Mussels:
prepared by: David
serves: 4 (we eat them all though)
source: 150 Best American Recipes + David's improvements


1/4 pound thick-sliced lean smoked bacon, cut into 1/2 inch pieces - we leave this out
2 large shallots, thinly sliced
1 large jalapeño pepper, thinly sliced into rings, seeds removed
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/2 pound plum tomatoes, coarsely chopped, or one 14 oz. can whole peeled tomatoes, drained - we use 1 roma tomato only
1/2 cup dry white wine - we substitute a bottle of beer
2 Tablespoons ketchup
3 1/2 pounds medium mussels, scrubbed and debearded
2 Tablespoons lime juice
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
2 Tablespoons unsalted butter
Bread, for dipping in the juice

Cook bacon in a large enameled cast iron Dutch oven over medium heat until crisp, about 8 minutes. Pour off all but 2 tablespoons of the fat. Add shallots and jalapeño, season with salt and pepper, and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened but not browned, about 4 minutes. Add the tomatoes and cook for 3 minutes. Add wine and ketchup and simmer until reduced by half, about 4 minutes. Increase heat to high and add mussels. Cover and cook, shaking pan a few times until the mussels open, about 5 minutes. With a slotted spoon transfer the mussels to four large serving bowls. Remove the Dutch oven from the heat and stir in the lime juice, cilantro and butter. Ladle the sauce over the mussels and serve at once with the bread.