Welcome to Texas!

(Left: Shrimp and Cilantro Hot Dog, Right: Beavertail Oysters)

This weekend Trevor and I went to check out our new city (as of August 1) of Austin, Texas! As we stepped out of the airport into the warm, balmy night and looked around and saw cacti, palm trees and flowers, I knew that we would really love living there. We had several wonderful meals. Saturday we had an excellent seafood lunch at Perla's on South Congress (Shrimp Po' Boy for Trevor, Shrimp & Cilantro Hot Dog for me), and Saturday night we had our first real Texas Barbeque at the Austin landmark Iron Works. Sunday we had a soup and chicken salad sandwiches on sourdough for lunch at Texas French Bread, and then we had a lovely dinner (Espresso Rubbed Flat Iron steak for Trevor, Angel Hair Salsa Fresca for me) at the South Congress Cafe. By the time we returned home on Monday night, we were dying for some plain 'ol vegetables. I made a quick trip to Stanley's where I picked up a big bag of produce, including two artichokes.

Articokes with Balsamic Mayonnaise Dip, and Jalapeno Spiked Couscous Salad with Goat Cheese, Radish, and Toasted Walnuts

I got the artichokes cooking in a few inches of water seasoned with salt & pepper, some lemon wedges, and crushed red pepper. I wanted to add some white wine, but unfortunately we didn't have any! I really enjoyed last week's couscous salad, and decided to do another version with some different ingredients, First I made a viniagrette with lemon, salt, pepper, olive oil, parsley, green onion, and minced jalapeno. Then I put 1 cup of the couscous in a bowl and added apx. 1/2 a cup of boiling water. I let that sit for a few minutes, before fluffing with a fork and then stirring in my viniagrette. I then added some toasted walnut halves, thinly sliced radish, some more parsley and green onion, stirred everything together, and crumbled some goat cheese over the top. When the artichokes were done cooking I whipped up a balsamic mayonnaise dip for the artichokes (a few blobs of mayo, a few splashes of balsamic, S&P) and dinner was served. I LOVED this rendition of the salad. The nuttiness of the couscous and walnuts, the crisp crunch of the radishes, the creamy pockets of goat cheese, and the lingering heat from the jalapenos made for a very fresh and well-balanced side dish. The artichokes were delicious, and we feel healthier already ;)