Dinner 911: Turkey Bacon and Sauteed Bok Choy Salad with Orange Dressing
I was thrilled when my dear Wendy called me in a panic from San Francisco tonight. “Help Laura! Dave will be home in a half hour and I need to make dinner.”
“Ok, we’ll do this,” I replied, the adrenaline pumping. “What do you have in your fridge?”
Salad, veggies, turkey bacon, beets and goat cheese. Great, roast beet salad. No, the beet had gone bad. Here was our solution:
-Fry up the turkey bacon. Sautee your bok choy greens in the leftover grease.
-Prepare a salad bowl with lettuce mix, chopped carrots and broccoli, dried cranberries, hard-boiled egg and goat cheese. Toss in the bacon and sauteed greens.
Then Wendy said she had fresh oranges. That prompted this dressing, probably the best part of the recipe. I drew inspiration from one we made at the magical Seasons of My Heart Cooking School in Oaxaca:
-1/4 cup fresh squeezed orange juice
-1/4 cup olive oil
-2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
-little honey if it needs sweetness
-1-2 cloves of chopped garlic
-salt and pepper
I felt so useful! Why is it so much easier to help other people plan their dinners (and lives!) than it is to figure out your own situation? The power of objectivity, I suppose.
BaltimOregon to Maine 
Great insight- we should all just plan our own lives (and dinners) with the objectivity we give to others. So maybe worrying about the consequesnces of our decisions for ourselves interferes with joyful decision making.
Don’t worry, be happy……
virmania
February 27, 2009 at 11:18 am
As Grandma would say, “What fun”. You are really turning into the “food guru”. COngrats.
Nancy
February 27, 2009 at 3:38 pm
Hehe, hardly. But I do recommend that salad dressing. It was fun to think up a recipe, with limited ingredients, under pressure. Like the Iron Chef.
Laura
February 27, 2009 at 4:32 pm
Hi Laura. I told my co-workers about your dinner rescue service and they think you should go into business. Thanks for the inspiration and good advice! The salad dressing was amazing.
Wendy
March 4, 2009 at 1:22 am
Haha, you are sweet! Like an advice column or a toll-free hotline? Ha. It was fun though. Let’s do it again sometime–you can test me:) I’ll be back east March 5-15 but will call you from there!
baltimoregon
March 4, 2009 at 9:48 am