Tonight was one of those nights. I looked into the refrigerator and tried to figure out what I could cook for dinner that was not too complicated, not too hot, not too much effort.
I spied a package of fresh tortellini. I thought, “Hey, I could boil that and throw in some vegetables and some meat and cheese. It would be a main course salad!”
Uncooked Tortellini. Image via Flickr by Scott Feldstein CC license
I put some water on to boil. I started to gather ingredients.
1 small white onion, diced
4 stalks of celery, diced
1 jar of marinated artichoke hearts, drained
4 carrots, grated
1 box cherry tomatoes
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
several slices of deli ham, diced (1/4 to 1/3 of a pound)
1/2 jar Muffuletta olive salad (use a fork to dig it out of the jar)
Most of a bottle of creamy Caesar dressing (or could use vinegar and olive oil)
Boil a package of cheese tortellini according to the package directions. Undercook just slightly. Rinse with cold water. While pasta cooks, combine the rest of the salad ingredients in a large bowl. Add the pasta. Toss and mix.
Diced celery, carrots and onion
Marinated Artichoke Hearts: Look for something like this
Muffuletta Olive Salad: Look for something like this near the pickles.
I’ve discovered that people in Wisconsin take their Bloody Marys pretty seriously. In a restaurant or bar, the drink usually comes with a beer chaser. There seems to be a statewide competition to see who can make the elaborate “groceries” to go with their drink. (I’ve been told “groceries” is the term for the excessive garnishes.)
I’m not sure when I discovered how tasty a Virgin Bloody Mary can be. But somewhere along the line I tried it and liked it.
I often make one (or two) for a snack because I feel like it’s an easy way to consume some vegetables in my diet that day. I don’t add vodka unless I have plenty of time to take a nap and I don’t have to drive anywhere anytime soon (which is hardly ever!)
The easy Tromp Queen version: I use a tall pub glass that holds about 2 c. Pour in tomato juice to about 2/3 to 3/4 full. Add 2 T of lemon juice, a few shakes of celery seed powder, a few shakes of Tabasco, a couple shakes of Worcestershire sauce, a blop of A1 sauce, 4/S Penzey seasoned salt, black pepper (or lemon pepper is good, too) and smoked paprika (if you have it). Stir with a couple of celery stalks. Add ice until the glass is full. Add a green olives on a toothpick, dill pickle spear, crispy strips of bacon — let your imagination run wild.
Some recipes add horseradish, lime juice, BBQ sauce, Old Bay Seasoning, even mustard!
Here are a couple more recipes for your enjoyment:
I bartend in Green Bay and I build mine in this order: Ice, 5 shakes celery salt, Squeeze of juice from one lemon wedge, 5 shakes Worcestershire, 2 drops steak sauce, 3 drops Tabasco, 2 shakes Old Bay Seasoning, *Vodka, Tomato juice (stir after adding or Worcestershire will pool at bottom), 2 fresh olives, 2 shrimp, 1 beef stick, 1 stick Colby-Jack Cheese, 1 pickle, and 1 fresh lemon wedge – That’s an authentic Wisconsin brunch Bloody!
32 ounces tomato juice (or try using Clamato juice, my favorite)
Juice of 1/2 lemon
Juice of 1/2 lime
3 tablespoons worchestershire sauce
1 teaspoon tabasco
1 tablespoon horseradish
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground caraway seed
1/2 tablespoon dry oregano
1/2 tablespoon ground celery seed
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
Ice
In a large pitcher, whisk all ingredients except the ice and vodka (if using) together to combine. Make the mix a few hours before serving, and chill, allowing the flavors to meld.
Fill glasses about half way with ice. If mixing with vodka, pour 2 ounces into the glass, then fill with 6 to 8 ounces of the bloody Mary mix. Garnish with a celery stick and lime wedge, and serve with a mix of olives, pickled veggies, cheese, tomatoes and salami.
In the last few years I have grown to enjoy three-bean salad. You know, the kind my Mom likes — with kidney beans, green beans and wax beans, etc. in a sweet vinegary dressing?
I definitely did NOT like this type of salad when I was younger, but I must have acquired the taste for it somewhere along the line because I often make it now.
Recently, we were getting ready to grill brats (which is practically a required summer activity in Wisconsin), and I suddenly realized I didn’t have anything for a side dish. I thought of making three bean salad, and went to my pantry cupboard to see if I had all the ingredients. Well, I had most everything but not all the “usual” ingredients — so I’ll share what I came up with because I think it turned out to be very tasty.
Ingredients:
1 (15 oz.) can chickpeas 1 (15 oz.) can green beans 1 (15 oz.) can wax beans (yellowish, light green beans) 12 oz. jar marinated artichoke hearts (quartered or chopped is fine) 1 cucumber (peeled, seeded, diced) 1 small onion (diced) Red onion is pretty if you have it. (if I had had celery or green pepper I would have diced them and added that, too)
Drain all the canned ingredients. Rinse the beans. You could decide not to drain the artichokes (and just add the marinade to the dressing) but I didn’t do that this time. Combine all the above ingredients in a large bowl and mix gently.
In a small to medium-sized bowl combine these ingredients for the dressing:
1/4 c olive oil 1/4 c red wine vinegar 1 teaspoon sugar 1 teaspoon yellow mustard (any kind is fine) 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
That is it.
If you have time to make this ahead and chill it, the flavor would be even better. I sometimes use fresh green beans or a bag of frozen green beans (cooked and chilled); they taste better than canned.
Suggested tweaks: Next time I might add some kalamata or green pimento stuffed olives. Maybe dill or a little garlic? A squirt of lemon juice?
The original recipe calls for 1 can (15 oz.) dark red kidney beans in place of the artichokes and doesn’t have the cucumber. But now that I’ve had three bean salad with cucumber and artichokes, I really like them in there. I would add them AND the kidney beans next time. In the past, I’ve also added other kind of beans I’ve had on had such as butter beans (which my Mom loves), baby limas, black beans, pinto beans, etc. If you add several more kinds of beans, you will need to double the dressing recipe and scale up the other ingredients as well (onion, celery, etc.)
I hope you enjoy this Tromp Queen tweak to traditional Three Bean Salad.
Please let me know if you try it and how you like it!
Yet another simple addition: Pasta! (and maybe shredded carrots, too?)
The Tromp Queen COOKS! 