My Mother always uses the expression “doctor it up” when she’s seasoning something. She’s a wiz in the made from scratch area and her ability to add a little something to prepared foods or take out always amazes me. You’ve probably already read about her amazing salad dressing in my Eat Your Vegetables blog post from January 28th and if you haven’t, check it out. Her knack for adding just the right amount of just the right thing is uncanny. I can’t Bend It Like Beckham, or Fly Like Mike. I can’t Sing Like Mariah, but damn if I haven’t learned to Season It Like Joyce.
Finding most store bought chicken salad lackluster, Mom adds celery seed, fresh chopped onion and more mayo. To hummus she puddles a little olive oil, adds a bit of flake salt and a sprinkle of paprika. She will take a knish, break it in half, add salt and pepper, onion powder and a drizzle of olive oil and bake it to crispy perfection. Pizza delivery sometimes arrives cold or soggy. Mom oils the bottom of a pan and heats that, then adds the pizza and bakes it on 450F for 10 minutes.
For fabulous grilled cheese sandwiches, she uses seeded rye bread and puts Everything But The Bagel seasoning on the insides to keep those spices spread evenly. Mom drips a mixture of honey and cinnamon onto half of a grapefruit and microwaves that jewel for 25 seconds for the perfect caramelization. She blends whipped cream right into hot chocolate! Mayo, mustard powder, and sweet relish bring new life to Mom’s tuna salad. For a quick marinara, she sautés onions with olive oil, salt, pepper, dried basil, and garlic, and then adds store bought tomato sauce. Her finishing touch is just a pinch of sugar to cut the tartness of the tomatoes. Brilliant!
I have a few salad hacks that are just great and super easy. I take bagged salad and dress it with a simple emulsion of lemon juice, honey, olive oil, salt, and pepper. If I’m feeling crazy I add apple cider vinegar, minced shallots, and a few salty capers. To the salad I have three go-to recipes. One is to add sliced strawberries, candied walnuts and goat cheese medallions. Door number two is apple chunks, shredded cheddar and pecan halves. And option three is grapes, blue cheese, diced chicken and toasted pistachio nuts. I find the cheese/fruit/nut combo really wakes up the greens and the prickly acid of the lemon brings the whole bowl together. (Throwing an herb into the mix also adds depth of flavor and freshness. You can try cilantro, Italian parsley or basil.)
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