Sure It's A Salad, But It Has Bacon Too!

I have no air conditioning.  The house I live in is a tiny place that was made for nuns. (Yes, really). It's made of bricks and windows (thankfully). So in the summer, "cooking" takes on a whole new meaning for me--it means getting in and out of the kitchen without having to slave over a hot stove!

Enter the salad, whose tag-line should be, "Not just for rabbits anymore!".  You'll see a lot more salads on this site in the next few months, because salads are the soups of summer.  Seriously. You can throw just about anything together and call it a salad, no lettuce required.  Today's recipe is a pretty traditional salad recipe that is packed full of protein (and delicious, clearly) from the bacon, roasted chicken, and goat cheese. Bonus prize: it's fast and oh so easy to make!

Summer Pear Protein Salad With Warm Sesame Dressing

--2 slices of bacon, cut in half to make 4 pieces

--1 carrot, peeled and sliced into 1/8" rounds

--2 pears, cored and sliced

--1/4 cup roast chicken (or rotisserie)
--2 cups red leaf lettuce, washed and hand ripped or cut into bite-sized pieces
--2 TBSP (1 oz) of goat cheese, crumbled (about 1/4 of a 4oz. log)

Dressing (makes about 3 TBSP of dressing)
--1/4 tsp sesame seeds

--2 TBSP apple cider vinegar

--1 tsp vegetable oil

--1/4 tsp sesame oil

--black pepper

Salad:
In a small frying pan, cook the bacon over medium heat until desired crispness.  Remove the bacon from heat and drain on paper towels.  Pour the bacon grease into your handy grease jar but a small trace amount will remain in the frying pan to add a little flavor to the dressing.

While the bacon cooks, add the carrots, pears, chicken, and lettuce in a large bowl.  When the bacon is done and patted down with paper towels, rip or slice into bite-sized pieces and add to the salad bowl.  Mix the salad together and set aside.

Once the dressing is done, portion the salad and add the goat cheese to the top.  Drizzle with the dressing.

Dressing:
In the same frying pan you used for the bacon, add the sesame seeds.  Toast over medium heat for about a minute, stirring consistently.  Add the other dressing ingredients and stir with a fork or whisk to mix.  Heat for about 2 minutes before removing from heat.

Dammit Jim, I'm a cook, not a doctor...
Time: 15 minutes
Serves: 2
Approximate Calories: 381 per serving (Salad: 223 per serving; Dressing: 158 per serving)

Soft Fish, Tough Veggie-- Strong Partnership

Ugggggggh. Weekday slump. It's been a week that's been pretty ass-kicking mentally and pretty exhausting. So, for dinner options, the easier the better! This recipe is pretty rich in flavor and utilizes some simple fresh ingredients to pack a punch.  Dover sole is a light, flaky fish that almost literally melts in your mouth; the fennel bulb is a textured anise flavored vegetable.

Also, don't forget about the Operation Goodbye Gut contest!  It's pretty simple: send us a recipe, win a prize. You have until June 15th to email your recipes!

Dover Sole With Fennel and Kale
--1/2 bunch of kale (about 2 packed cups), stems removed and leaves torn into pieces
--olive oil, chopped
--garlic, minced
--small yellow onion
--fennel bulb, stalks removed and roughly chopped.
--1 lb. Dover sole filets
--2 TBSP flour

--salt and pepper
--paprika
--1/4 cup of white wine

Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Coat the kale evenly with olive oil and spread out in an oven-safe pan or on a cookie sheet.  Bake until crispy.

While the kale cooks, heat 1 TBSP of olive oil over medium heat in a large deep-sided skillet. Add the garlic, onion, and fennel to the pan and cook to translucency.

While the vegetables cook down, prepare the sole filets.

In a shallow bowl or plate combine the flour with salt and pepper and paprika. Fluff the mixture with a fork.  Rinse the sole filets and gently pat with a paper towel so that the water is removed but the fish isn't completely dry.  Dredge the fish through the flour mixture until all fish pieces are lightly coated.

When the vegetables are cooked, remove from the pan and set aside. Add another tablespoon or so of the olive oil to the pan and shake so that the bottom of the pan is coated in a fine layer of the oil.  Add the fish filets and cook each side for 3-ish minutes or until the fish is golden.

Add the fennel mixture back into the pan along with the wine. Mix together, careful not to completely destroy the fish filets. (Note: Dover sole is a light fish, it will tear when you move it around no matter how careful you are; just try not to rip the poor things totally apart.)

Add the cooked kale into the mix--or serve the filets and fennel mix on a bed of crisped kale, mmm. Once the wine has reduced serve!

Dammit Jim, I'm a cook, not a doctor...
Time: 35 minutes
Serves: 4
Calories: 297 per serving

Operation Goodbye Gut: A Contest!

Hello June. Hello swimsuit. Hello pool parties. Hello gut.

Grrr. Gut.

I know it could be worse. People don't (often) ask me if I'm pregnant. (I'm not, and yes, there have been one or two who have looked at my little round belly and asked). I have what is known as a "First World Problem."  I am happy, healthy, and well-fed. I have many options open to me as far as food is concerned and my little Buddha isn't so large that it's unhealthy. And I don't look like this guy:

But I'm tired of the chub-rub, where the top of my jeans digs in to my tummy.  Perhaps you've noticed some tweaks to the Bacon & Other Bad Habits site? There have been more vegetarian choices (because I'm not eating much meat minus the chosen pork product) and I've added nutritional content to all new recipes.

Okay, I love bacon. I know that it isn't the most health-conscious choice, but seriously, what is a life without things you love?  There IS a way to enjoy things we like in a way that is still good for us (and bad for our guts!) so.... It's CONTEST time!

I've got fun prize packs thanks to the folks at BIGS™ Sunflower Seeds (the makers of delicious summertime treats that feature J&D's Bacon Salt). These prize packs have everything you need to enjoy an afternoon at the baseball game or a bbq--including beer coozies!

Your mission, should you choose to accept it:

From now until June 15th, submit a recipe that is secretly healthy but sure doesn't taste like it!

You will be scored on the following three items*:

--Total calorie count per serving
--Ease of preparation
--Accessible ingredients/tools

*Extra points if your recipe includes bacon or a bacon-inspired product!

Winners will be chosen by June 30th and the winning entry will be posted here (clearly) with recipe credit of course, and perhaps a big fancy photo of you.

Email Your Recipes!

Federal Trade Commision, this fine print is for you:

Winners will receive one prize pack courtesy of BIGS™ valued at $50.00. Bacon & Other Bad Habits does not receive any funds from the fine folks at BIGS™. They were just nice enough to give us some super cool schwag that our fellow bacon-lovers could win because they're nice people and they love bacon too.

Are You Spicy?

I don't own a grill. I know that seems somehow blasphemous to both the gods of summer and the gods of food, but it's true.  Not even a George Foreman.  To clarify, I know how to grill and grew up in a household where the grill was gassed up all 12 months of the year.  But since I don't have any space at my house for one of my own, I make do indoors with a grill pan and a flat cast-iron skillet.

Since I have to substitute for the rich dynamic flavor of grilled meats, I'm fond of using dry rubs to give my indoor meats some extra oomph.  Today's recipe is for spicy steak, as the full flavors of the following spices lend themselves well to a rich piece of red meat.  Dry rubs also do wonders to breathe new life into cheaper or tougher pieces of meat.

And if you're not a sad grill-less person like me, feel free to slap this bad boy on the outdoor fire...

Spicy Steak
--dry rub
--1lb. piece of flat steak like flank, flat iron, hanger, skirt, or a chunk of top round (pictured here)
--cooking spray (if cooking indoors)

Let the steak come to room temperature before cooking.

Spicy Dry Rub:
*I rarely measure my spices so I recommend starting off small as you can always add more later to make it fit your taste to become more or less spicy, garlicky, peppery, etc.
--1 tsp. garlic powder
--1/4 tsp. onion powder
--2 tsp. brown sugar
--1 tsp. paprika
--1 tsp. ancho chili powder
--1/4 tsp. salt
--1/2 tsp. black pepper
--1 tsp. red pepper (ground or flakes)

In a smaller bowl, mix all the spices together with a spoon until evenly combined.

Using your fingers, grab large pinches of the dry rub mixture and rub it into the steak. When the first side is evenly coated with rub, flip it over and evenly cover the other side of the meat. Use all of the dry rub.

Grill steak!

Or heat a large cooking-spray coated skillet or cast iron skillet over medium to medium-high heat and cook until desired doneness (ours are cooked to medium), scraping away any fat that cooks off.

Remove from heat and let rest a few minutes before slicing. Cut against the grain before serving. This is AWESOME in salad!

Dammit Jim, I'm a cook, not a doctor...
Time: 15 - 20 minutes
Serves: 4
Calories: 302

Vegan. Green. Curry.

Mmm Thai curry. Hello delicious. Not to be confused with its tumeric-based Indian and Pakistani cousins, Thai curries are made of red, green, panang, and massaman curry pastes (among others). While both kinds of curries are delightful, the Thai version is heavy on the vegetables and often comes in a coconut milk broth.

I made a big batch of this to feed me and some out of town guests who are Vegan. If you are a carnivore, you can make yours with chicken pieces or beef and chicken broth. I made my own green curry paste using a recipe I found on the internet years ago (God knows where) but you can use a jar or packet purchased from the grocery store. If you are a vegetarian or vegan, and you pre-purchase the curry paste make sure you buy the kind that doesn't have fish sauce or shrimp paste in it!

Vegan Green Curry:
--1 block of extra firm tofu, well-drained and chopped into bite-sized chunks
--1 1/2 cups of uncooked jasmine rice
--1 TBSP sesame oil
--1 TBSP olive oil
--Garlic, minced
--Ginger, minced
--1 small onion, chopped
--1 large head of broccoli, chopped into smaller florets
--1 16oz. bag of frozen stir-fry vegetables
--1 pint of grape tomatoes
--1 14oz. can of coconut milk
--Green curry paste
--2 1/2 cups of vegetable broth

In a frying pan sear the tofu on medium to medium-high heat.  Make sure all sides are seared.

Cook rice according to package directions.

While the tofu sears and the rice cooks, heat the sesame and olive oils in a large pot or dutch oven over medium heat. When the oil is warm, add the garlic, ginger, and onion. Saute until translucent.

Add the broccoli and frozen vegetables and cook, stirring often, until the vegetables begin to get tender.  Add the tomatoes and stir to mix all the vegetables together. 

Add the coconut milk and the curry paste. Stir to fully dissolve the curry paste. Start in small batches, because remember, you can always add more curry paste but you'll have a hard time taking some away!

When curry paste is dissolved add the vegetable broth and bring to a boil. Turn heat down to simmer and add the seared tofu, stirring to combine. Continue to add curry paste, as needed, until the curry is to your taste.

Serve over the rice.

Dammit Jim, I'm a cook, not a doctor...
Time: 40 minutes
Serves: 6
Calories: 230 per serving

Use Your Food To Fight Cancer

I found this TED talk from William Li about how to use diet to preemptively fight cancer fascinating and I hope you do too!  Not familiar with TED? Find out more about their campaign to spread ideas.

Not Your Nonna's Primavera

Summer is threatening to come (though it did snow earlier this week so I kind of wish it would threaten a little harder) and with it a bevy of fresh vegetables. This simple pasta dish combines a delightful mix of veggies with two different cultural flavors--the Italian-American dish of pasta primavera and the flavors of Morocco.

Moroccan Pasta Primavera
--1 lb. uncooked pasta
--5 whole fresh garlic cloves
--6 whole tomatoes, stems and core removed
--1 bell pepper, cut in 1/2 and de-seeded
--1 TBSP olive oil--salt & pepper
--ginger powder
--cumin
--paprika
--tumeric
--1 small onion, chopped
--1 small shallot, minced--1 bell pepper, de-seeded and cut into strips
--1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut into strips
--fresh basil
Cook pasta according to package directions.

Heat oven to 400 degrees. Place tomatoes, garlic cloves, and pepper halves inside a baking dish. Roast at 400 degrees for 20 minutes or until vegetables are tender.

While pasta cooks and veggies roast, heat olive oil in a medium-sized skillet over medium heat.  Add 1 teaspoon of each of the spices and stir, cooking about a minute. Add the onion and shallot, stir together and cook 2-ish minutes. Add the pepper slices, stir together and cook another 2-ish minutes before adding the chicken strips. Cook until the chicken is cooked through, stirring occasionally. Feel free to add a little more spice (to yer taste) as the chicken is cooking.

Remove the veggies from the oven and allow to cool a few minutes.  Remove the skins from the tomatoes and roughly chop or smash them. Roughly chop the garlic and slice the pepper.

Drain the pasta and return it to the pot it was cooked in.  Place the pot on an un-used eye on the stove so as not to overcook the mix. Add the smashed tomatoes and chopped garlic and pepper. Add in the chicken/pepper mixture and stir all of it together.  Take the fresh basil and tear pieces into the pasta mixture. Serve!

Dammit Jim, I'm a cook, not a doctor...
Time: 40 minutes
Serves: 6
Calories: 416