Recipe #5 - Pea Salad with Parsley-Tarragon Dressing and Lemony Greens

Makes 4 servings.

2 cups frozen peas

1/3 cup mayonnaise
2 tsp. dijon mustard
1 medium shallot, minced
1 Tbsp. olive oil
1 tsp. minced fresh tarragon
1 Tbsp. minced fresh flat-leaf parsley
Salt & pepper to taste

4 cups loosely torn mesclun salad greens
1 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

Boil peas in salted water to heat through. Drain and allow to cool to room temperature.

Heat olive oil in small skillet and add the minced shallots. Saute for about a minute and remove from heat and allow to cool.

In a mixing bowl, whisk together the mayonnaise and mustard. Add the peas, parsley, tarragon and shallots, season with salt and pepper, and mix well to combine.

In another bowl, whisk together the lemon juice and olive oil. Add the salad greens and toss to coat.

Place one-fourth of the greens on each of four plates. Top each mound of greens with an equal portion of the pea salad.

Recipe #4 - Indonesian Salad Rolls with Peanut-Coconut Sauce

Asian-themed salad rolls are highly adaptable, so feel free to be creative with filling ingredients.

Makes 4 servings.

1/4 lb. fresh asparagus
2 medium carrots, peeled
3 fingerling potatoes
1/4 lb. bean sprouts
1/2 lb. firm tofu, drained, patted dry and cut into matchstick pieces
2 cups peanut oil
2 cups mesclun salad greens, coarsely shredded

8 spring roll wrappers

2 tsp. crushed red pepper
4 cloves garlic, sliced
3 shallots, peeled and sliced
1 cup peanut butter
1 cup lite coconut milk
3 Tbsp. brown sugar
2 Tbsp. soy sauce
1/4 cup fresh lime juice

Bring a pan of salted water to a boil. Add the carrots and potatoes and cook for five minutes. Add the asparagus and cook for two minutes. Add the bean sprouts and cook for one minute. Drain all vegetables and rinse with cold water to cool.

Heat peanut oil in a saucepan until almost smoking. Carefully add the tofu matchsticks and fry until golden and crispy, about five minutes. Remove with a strainer and allow to sit on paper towels.

In a food processor, add red pepper, shallots, garlic, peanut butter, coconut milk, brown sugar, soy sauce and lime juice. Pulse until it forms a smooth sauce.

Cut the asparagus, potatoes and carrots into matchstick pieces.

Fill a large, wide bowl with warm water. One at a time, put a spring roll wrapper into the water and let sit until it becomes soft and pliable (less than a minute). Take two pliable wrappers and put on a cutting board or other flat surface. Add the shredded greens on one half, then top with a little asparagus, potato, carrot, tofu and bean sprouts. Roll tightly, burrito-style, and plate it seam side down.

Serve salad rolls with small individual bowls of coconut peanut sauce for dipping.

Recipe #3 - Bruschetta ala DuMond

First of all, please realize that bruschetta comes in thousands of combinations and varieties. Every time we make it, it's different from any other time we make it. The recipe below is simply a guideline and represents how we did it the last time we made it. Try new and different combinations each time you have bruschetta!

Makes 4 servings.

12 slices (1/2 inch thick) bread cut from a large baguette
2 Tbsp. olive oil

1 cup herbed white beans (refer to Recipe #1, below, or click here)
2 portobello mushrooms
1 tbsp. olive oil
1/2 cup crumbled goat cheese

2 ripe tomatoes, sliced into eight slices
12 spears asparagus, trimmed of thick woody ends
1/4 lb. medium cheddar cheese, thinly sliced

1 red bell pepper, cored, roasted and peeled
1/4 fresh mozzarella, thickly sliced
1 tbsp. olive oil
3 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
1 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice
1/2 lb. fresh spinach, stemmed

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Brush each bread slice with olive oil. Place on a non-stick baking sheet and put in oven for about five minutes, until the slices begin to toast. Remove from oven and set aside.

Bump the oven temp up to 45o.

Brush the portobello mushrooms with oil and grill until cooked through and well grill-marked. Slice the mushrooms so you have about 16 slices. (You can saute sliced portobellos if you can't grill, but grilling is always better.)

Smear four bread slices with the herbed bean mixture, top with four slices of mushroom, and scatter goat cheese on top. Put the slices on the baking sheet while prepping the other bruschettas.

Grill the trimmed asparagus spears until cooked through and grill-marked. Place two slices of tomato each on four slices of toasted bread. Top each with three asparagus spears, and top each with sliced cheddar to cover. Set these four on the baking sheet while prepping the final bruschettas.

Roughly chop or slice the roasted bell pepper. Heat the olive oil in a no-stick skillet. Add the minced garlic and cook for a minute or two until fragrant. Add the lemon juice and the spinach. Cook a couple minutes more until the spinach is completely wilted and cooked down and the liquids have evaporated. Top each of the remaining four bread slices with garlicky spinach, followed by roasted red pepper, and top each with sliced fresh mozzarella.

Add these four bruschettas to the baking sheet and put it in the oven. Keep an eye on the bruschettas so nothing burns. After several minutes, check every minute, and remove when most of the cheeses look melted and bubbly.

Serve each person one each of the three different bruschettas. They go great with either a Caesar or Mediterranean salad.

Power Up in Wenatchee!

Mark is spending a few days in Wenatchee, Washington to get some Energy Rush TV editing done and also cover the 4th Annual Power Up! Summit. The summit is put together by Advance Vehicle Innovations (PluginCenter.com), which in turn is sponsored by the Port of Chelan County. The AVI Consortium actually includes fourteen agencies from Washington's Chelan and Douglas counties and many private and public partners throughout the state and nation.

These folks get it, more so than virtually any other government entity anywhere. They've been promoting the electrification of transportation since before most people were even aware there was such a thing. This year's Power Up! conference is bigger and better than ever. According to Ron Johnston-Rodriguez, the Port's Director of Economic Development and PluginCenter, this summit's agenda is "packed with the latest information from innovators in plug-in hybrids, battery technologies, charging stations, fleet applications, 'smart' grid integration of electric vehicles and renewables, industry training, career opportunities and more."

Wenatchee is truly a wonderful place, with plentiful sunshine, friendly people, rivers, mountains, blue skies and, yes, cheap electricity. Learn more about Wenatchee here.

Sheri' and Mark just purchased a fantastic Toyota Prius this week, so the timing for covering this Wenatchee conference is right. Our new Hybrid is bright white, just like the one pictured above (but without the signage, and without Ron Johnston-Rodriguez behind the wheel). Also, ours doesn't get 100+ m.p.g. (well, it does when it's going downhill!).

Loreto, B.C.S.: Relaxation to the Extreme

Last week we took a brief trip to Loreto, Mexico. It's in Baja California Sur (B.C.S.) on the Sea of Cortez. Loreto seems like what Los Cabos must have been like about 30 years ago. That's wonderful, but it makes us sad to think about what Loreto surely will be like three decades from now.

The signs are evident already. Just five miles south of the town, a rapidly developing area known as "Loreto Bay" is emerging, complete with massive condominium complexes, resort inn, shops and golf courses. It's known as "Gringoland" and is probably a great haven for those who desire to surround themselves with other well-to-do Americans, well insulated from the local populace.

However ... to get a true feel for the sense of place, you need to immerse yourself in the town of Loreto. We stayed at the fabulous Posada de los Flores, situated in the center of the city, next to the town square and across the street from the municipal center of government. It was a five-minute walk to the beach and the mercado seafront drive. A number of cool restaurants and bars line the seafront, and a wide sidewalk is there as well, stretching the entire length of beach. One thing we came to realize was the prevalence of Mediterranean food available in the restaurants in Loreto. Yes, there was mostly Mexican fare in the city (guacamole, fish tacos, salsas, etc.), but we ended up sampling bruschetta, pasta, pizza and other fare. It turns out the town was "founded" by an Italian Jesuit priest, and a number of Italians have settled there over the years. This is something we didn't know until we got there.

All in all, we feel Loreto is our new favorite place in Mexico. (We found Cancun and Los Cabos to be WAY too overdeveloped and overdone, and Isla Mujeres was a little too isolated.) Another nice surprise: There are no beggars there, nor are there small children on the streets trying to peddle Chiclets to la turistas. Also, U.S. dollars are as welcome as pesos, most of the locals in retail and restaurants speak at least enough English for those of us who don't do well in Spanish to get by, and almost everyone is warm, friendly and relaxed.

And one other observation: As wine lovers, our previous visits to Mexico led us to believe that decent wine was nearly impossible to come by there, and it was prohibitively expensive when you could find it. But a number of wineries have sprung up in Baja in recent years, and OK wine is now readily available. Yes, cold cerveza is still the sip of choice on the waterfront, but it was a nice surprise to find some tasty unoaked chardonnays and drinkable merlots in the wonderful town of Loreto.

Recipe #2 - Seared Ahi Tuna with Herbed White Beans

Makes 4 servings.

1.5 lb. wild fresh high-quality ahi tuna
1 Tbsp. peanut oil
Salt & pepper

2 15 oz. cans white beans, drained and rinsed
2 medium shallots, finely diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 Tbsp. fresh parsley, minced
1 tsp. fresh rosemary, minced
1 Tbsp. fresh chives, chopped
1 tsp. fresh thyme, minced
1 Tbsp. olive oil
2 Tbsp. dry white wine
1/2 cup lowfat milk
4 oz. neufchatel lowfat cream cheese
Salt & Pepper

Rinse tuna and cut into 4 equal portions. Rub with peanut oil and season with salt and pepper. Set aside on a platter in the refrigerator while preparing white beans.

In a wok, saucepan or large saute pan, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add garlic and shallots and sweat until cooked but not browned. Add herbs and white beans and continue cooking over medium heat, stirring frequently for several minutes. Add wine and cook for a couple more minutes until it evaporates.

Lower heat and add the milk. Allow to simmer for about five minutes, then add cream cheese, one tablespoon at a time. Continue to simmer, stirring often. During this process, start mashing up some of the beans with a large fork or masher. The idea here isn't to end up with a smooth puree, but rather a chunky-yet-creamy mixture.

Heat a saute pan which has been coated with cooking spray until almost smoking. Add the tuna steaks and sear for about one minute. Turn them and sear the other side for a minute or two. The tuna should be well-seared on both sides but still rare and red in the middle. Let the tuna rest on a cutting board for a couple of minutes, then slice each steak into 1/4-inch thick slices.

Spread about 2/3 cup of white bean mixture onto each plate and top it with tuna slices. Serve with a steamed vegetable, such as broccolini or asparagus, and a fresh green salad.

Recipe #1 - Upscale Tuna Casserole

Makes about 8 servings.

12 oz. dried pasta (farfalle, orechiette, wide noodles for example)
7 oz. good-quality canned/jarred/packaged albacore tuna (it's worth the money to get the best you can find)
1 cup frozen peas
2 Tbsp. butter or oil
1 sweet onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 cups sliced wild mushrooms (portobello, oyster, shiitake, porcini, or any combination)
2 Tbsp. white flour
1.5 cups low-fat milk
Salt & pepper
4 oz. sharp cheddar cheese, grated

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Boil the pasta in salted water according to package directions until al dente. Cook the peas briefly in boiling water to warm. Drain both pasta and peas in the same colander. Sprinkle with a bit of oil to keep it from sticking.

Melt the butter or oil in a heavy saucepan and sweat the onion and garlic until soft. Add the mushrooms and cook until they release their juices and begin to brown a bit, about 8 minutes. Sprinkle in the flour and mix well to create a roux. Slowly add the milk, stirring often until it becomes a warm sauce with the vegetables.

Put the pasta/pea mixture in a large mixing bowl. Add the mushroom sauce mixture. Flake in the tuna and mix everything well. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Pour into a large casserole dish that's been treated with cooking spray. Scatter the grated cheese evenly over the top. and bake for 30 minutes at 350 degrees.

Serve with steamed green vegetables (asparagus, broccoli, brussels sprouts) and a green salad. Enjoy!