Cucumber Sunomono

Courtesy of Dean's Mom and Obaasan Watanabe

This makes enough for 2 people, but it can easily be doubled, tripled, etc. If you're really a pro you don't measure anything, you just taste it. Don't worry- I'm not there yet either!

2 cucumbers, peeled (if you want/care) halved, cored and sliced.
1/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup vinegar (I use apple cider but Obaasan insists that all vinegar is the same)
salt

Prepare cucumbers. Sprinkle with salt (not too much here people). Leave alone for about 15 minutes. Combine sugar and vinegar until completely mixed. Drain cucumbers and squeeze out water. Combine with vinegar mixture and serve.

Okay so that's the official recipe, but the gaijin girl is here to tell you that I've completely skipped the salt step (and the draining cucumbers etc.) and I've also added the vinegar and sugar directly to the cukes without mixing first and there have been little to no discernible differences- so for a weeknight dinner, save yourself the time and throw it all together. Just don't tell Obaasan or Julie I said so.

Red Potato, Green Bean, and Cherry Tomato Salad

YUM! This is my new favorite salad. It is easy to make, delicious, and very Summery. Okay I do realize that it's only January but it has been so nice out lately that I feel like Summer or at least Spring has come early. Ahh, the delights of living in Arizona. But I digress...Back to this salad. It's crunchy, fresh and the colors look beautiful together. It goes well with practically anything you can grill and comes together very quickly, so it's easy even for a quick weeknight dinner. Try it once and I'm confident that you'll like it as much as I do! You can find the original recipe here.
In my version I quartered the potatoes so that they'd be easier to eat, added a bit more mustard than was called for, noticed that you need a little less olive oil, and my best idea was to add a smallish bag of cherry tomatoes carefully sliced in half. In my humble opinion the tomatoes make the salad. They taste great, don't get me wrong, but I think the color is what really makes the salad pop! See for yourself...happy cooking!

Hmm...as I was eating leftovers, I had a sudden inspiration for this recipe. Maybe too much though...I'll have to try it in a scant amount and report back. The proposed addition? Bacon. Oh yeah. :)