Citrus Soy Marinade

Use this marinade for any kind of meat. My husband and I have used it for skirt steak and swordfish steaks. It's awesome.

If you are marinating steak you can do so up to 24 hours. If you doing fish, 30-40 minutes is plenty. If you do it longer, the marinade will end up cooking the fish.

zest of 1 orange
zest of 1 lemon
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup vegetable
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
4 garlic cloves minced
1 TB grated ginger

Combine all the ingredients at once. Very simple.

Summer Corn Chowder

4 cups fresh corn (get 8 ears of corn, and shave off corn kernels with serrated knife)
2 carrots, diced
2 onions, diced
2 celery stalks, diced
1 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp fresh ground pepper
4 slices of bacon, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
8 cups low-sodium chicken stock

Start off by cooking down bacon in soup pot. Cook on medium high until bacon is crisp, then remove and set aside. Add carrots, onions, celery, and salt/pepper to soup pot, and cook in remaining bacon fat on medium for 15 minutes. Then add 3 cups of corn, and cook for another 5-8 minutes. Taste and add additional salt or pepper.

Add chicken stock, and cook for about 20 minutes. Again taste and see if it needs additional seasoning. Then use immersion blender and puree soup. Once it's smooth, add last cup of corn and the bacon you set aside, and cook for another 5-8 minutes.

That's it!

You won't even miss the dairy.

I ate too much at my parent's over vacation

Got on the scale the day after my vacation, and I don't just feel fat. The scale doesn't lie. I went to Stew Leonard's one too many times. If you are from Connecticut, you'll know what I'm talking about.

Anyway, it's time to eat light so salads are in order.

Here are a few of my favorite salad dressings. I never buy bottled dressings. Homemade is a million times better and super-easy.

Honey Balsamic
2 TB honey
2 TB balsamic vinegar
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
salt/pepper

Honey and Rice Wine
2 TB honey
2 TB rice wine vinegar
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
salt/pepper

Dijon Vinaigrette
2 TB Dijon mustard
2 TB red wine vinegar
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
salt/pepper

Honey Dijon Vinaigrette
2 TB dijon mustard
1 TB honey
2 TB red wine vinegar
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
salt/pepper

Strawberry Balsamic
2 TB strawberry jam
2 TB balsamic
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
salt/pepper

In all of these recipes, simply mix all ingredients other than oil with a whisk and then add olive oil in a slow stream until incorporated. You won't be disappointed with any of these. Delicious. Just remember not to dress the salad until right before you eat.