Bran Muffins: Stay as Sweet as You Are

Bran muffins may not be the normal muffin to crave but I love this bran muffin recipe and have since I was little.  The recipe is adapted from a recipe my mom got from the dietician at the hospital when she had me.  And no, these muffins don't taste like hospital food.

These muffins are surprisingly sweet as well as nourishing!  Since this sweet muffin has stayed around my kitchen since I was born, today's song is "Stay as Sweet as You Are" sung by Nat King Cole.

BRAN MUFFINS

3 cups Kellogg's All-Bran Original cereal, divided

1 cup boiling water
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 cups buttermilk

1/2 cup canola oil
2 eggs

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 1/2 cups All-Purpose flour
2 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

1. Put 2 cups Kellogg's All-Bran Original cereal in a bowl.  Pour boiling water over it.  Stir as cereal soaks up the water.  Add sugar, buttermilk, and oil then stir together.
2. Add eggs.  Stir.
3. Combine salt, flour and remaining one cup of Kellogg's All-Bran Original cereal in a separate bowl then add to first mixture.  Stir until just mixed.
4. Add baking soda and stir gently just until incorporated into the batter.
5. Using a quarter-cup measure, scoop batter into muffin tins lined with baking cups.  I use the Reynolds Wrap Foil Baking Cups 2 1/2-inch cups.  I leave the paper liner inside the foil cup.  This batter makes 24 regular sized muffins so make sure you have enough baking cups.
6. Bake at 375 degrees for 12-15 minutes or until top springs back when tapped.

Healthier, fewer calorie variation:  Use same amount of Splenda to replace sugar.  Use finely ground wheat flour in place of All-Purpose flour.  The wheat flour will make the muffins even heartier.

Focaccia: That's Amore

I love to make focaccia.  Last year my sister started making it and I loved it so much I had to try it.  It was my first successful foray into the world of yeast breads.  After focaccia, I felt I could conquer all yeast breads!

Don't let the biga, or starter, scare you away from this recipe.  There may be a lot of steps, but focaccia is really quite easy to make!  Having fresh focaccia out of the oven is way better than you can imagine.  So give it a try!

Since I "love" focaccia so much, here's Dean Martin singing "That's Amore!"

FOCACCIA

Adapted from an America's Test Kitchen recipe.

Yields two 9-inch loaves

The original recipe called for rapid rise instant yeast, but I found the focaccia loaves came out heavier when I used it, so I switched to regular active dry yeast.

BIGA

1/2 cup flour

1/3 cup warm water (100-110 degrees)

1/4 teaspoon active dry yeast

DOUGH

2 1/2 cups flour

1 1/4 cups warm water (100-110 degrees)

1 teaspoon active dry yeast

3 teaspoons Kosher salt, divided

4 tablespoons olive oil

2 tablespoons fresh or dried rosemary leaves

Fresh Parmesan cheese, grated

BIGA DIRECTIONS

1. Heat water in microwave for 10 seconds on high in a microwave safe bowl--checking temperature with a cooking thermometer to make sure it is between 100 and 110 degrees.  Add yeast and let sit for two minutes.  Add flour and stir to combine.  Cover with plastic wrap and leave out overnight or at least 8 hours.  Biga will keep for up to 3 days in the refrigerator, but let it sit at room temperature for 30 minutes after removing from the fridge before making the dough.  Even though it can be stored that long in the refrigerator, I prefer using it the next day.

DOUGH DIRECTIONS

1. Heat water in microwave for 55 seconds on high in a microwave safe bowl.  Add yeast and let sit for three minutes.  Add flour and stir.
2. Add biga to dough and stir until combined.  Cover with plastic wrap and let sit for 15 minutes.  Get used to setting a kitchen timer when making focaccia.
3. Add 2 teaspoons Kosher salt to dough and stir until incorporated.  Cover with plastic wrap and let sit for 30 minutes.
4. Using a bowl scraper sprayed with Pam, fold dough over itself, turning the bowl 90 degrees.  Repeat folding the dough 7 more times.  Cover with plastic wrap and let sit for 30 minutes.
5. Repeat the folding and sitting for 30 minutes two more times (with a total of three 30-minute risings).
6. About 30 minutes before the dough goes into the oven, preheat it to 500 degrees with a baking stone in the oven when it is still cool.  If you don't have a baking stone use an upside-down rimmed baking sheet.  
7. Prepare a clean counter surface and dust with flour.  Using a bench scraper or sharp kitchen knife halve the dough.  Take one-half and shape on the counter into a ball.  Shape the other half.  In a 9-inch round cake pan (I use Fat Daddio) coat the pan with 2 tablespoons olive oil and 1/2 teaspoon Kosher salt.  Repeat for the second 9-inch round cake pan.
8. Place a dough half right side down in the pan and gently circle in the pan to coat with olive oil and salt.  Flip the dough right side up and coat the same way.  Repeat with the second dough ball.  Cover the pans with plastic wrap and let sit for 5 minutes.
9. Press dough with fingertips outward from the middle to the outside to stretch.  Be careful not to tear the dough.  If the dough resists stretching, cover and let sit for another 5 minutes.  Poke dough with a fork 30 times to remove air bubbles.  Sprinkle 1 tablespoon rosemary over each pan.  (I used fresh rosemary from our garden.)  Sprinkle Parmesan cheese to taste.  Cover and let sit for another 5 minutes or until the dough appears bubbly.
10. Remove plastic wrap and put pans in the oven on the baking stone or overturned baking sheet.  Lower oven temperature to 450 degrees.  Bake for 20 minutes or until the tops are golden brown.  Put pans on a wire rack to cool for 5 minutes.  Remove loaves from pan and let cool on wire rack.  Don't put them on a plate as the bottom crust will get soggy.  Serve immediately.

Hermit Bars: No, I Didn't Say Kermit Bars...

My mom grew up in upstate New York and loved cookies called Hermit Bars from a regionally local bakery.  After living all over the United States and never find a bar cookie like the one from her childhood, she devised this recipe to approximate happy memories and flavors.

The funniest story about these cookies?  My sister made them with a church group to give away at Christmastime.  Everyone kept asking her why they weren't green.  She couldn't figure out why anyone would think Hermit Bars should be green.  Then she realized they thought she was saying Kermit bars (as in Kermit the Frog).  I suppose you could add green food coloring to the batter or the glaze but I won't be held responsible for the results...

Even though these cookies have nothing to do with Muppets, I did thoroughly enjoy the movie The Muppets from 2011.  Here's Kermit's most recent song "Pictures in My Head."

HERMIT BARS

COOKIE INGREDIENTS:
1¾ cup flour

¼ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon nutmeg, heaping
¼ teaspoon cloves, heaping
1 teaspoon cinnamon, heaping
¼ teaspoon allspice , heaping

½ cup butter, softened
2/3 cup brown sugar
¼ cup molasses

1 large egg
1¼ cup raisins

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Combine flour, salt, baking soda, nutmeg, cloves, cinnamon, and allspice in a small bowl.  Set aside.
3. In a large bowl cream butter and brown sugar.  Add molasses and mix.
4. In a food processor, put in egg and raisins.  Process until raisins are little bits.
5. Combine processed raisin mixture with butter mixture.
6. Add flour mixture.  Stir together well but don’t beat for a long time.
7. Spray a 9”x13” pan—Baker’s Secret Signature 9" x 13" Oblong Pan is the best—with Pam.
8. Bake for 9-12 minutes or until edges pull away slightly from pan sides.  Bars will seem doughy.  Insert a toothpick or thin knife to make sure they are done.  As the bars cool, they will set.  Let cool in the pan over a wire rack.

GLAZE INGREDIENTS: 
2 tablespoons butter
2 cups confectioner's sugar
½ teaspoon vanilla
2-3 tablespoons half and half

1. Cream butter and confectioner’s sugar.  Add vanilla and 2 tablespoons half and half.  Make the consistency such that it will drizzle off a fork.
2. Drizzle thin lines of icing diagonally across the pan after bars have cooled for 2-3 minutes. Drizzle again in the same pattern.  Cool for another 15 minutes then cut into bars. 
3. When still warm, serve with ice cream.  
4. To store, line a container with waxed paper and and layer cookies between more waxed paper.  These bar cookies do freeze well.

Granola Cookie Sandwiches: You've Changed

This cookie recipe was born of a failed monster cookie recipe.  So I altered the recipe a bit and turned them into a great granola cookie to use in ice cream sandwiches!

The cookies are very hearty, just like a soft granola bar.  The ice cream filling gives that satisfying cool, light taste to offset the heartiness of the cookies.

Sometimes changes don't turn out as well as granola sandwich cookies, like in the jazz standard "You've Changed" sung by the great Nancy Wilson.  But changes or alterations are inevitable in life and we make the best of them!

GRANOLA COOKIES FOR ICE CREAM SANDWICHES

Ingredients:

16-ounce jar Smucker’s Natural chunky peanut butter--stir in oil on the top

1 cup packed brown sugar

1 cup granulated white sugar

8 tablespoons butter, softened

3 large eggs

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

2 teaspoons Karo Corn Syrup

4 to 4 ½ cups quick cooking oats

2 ½ teaspoons baking powder

½ cup chopped pecans

Ice cream

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350°F.  Line cookie sheets with parchment paper or silpat mats.

In a large bowl, beat with a mixer to combine the peanut butter with the sugars and butter.  Add eggs and vanilla and mix until smooth and consistent.  Then mix in the oats, baking powder, and pecans.

Please note:  If after baking a test cookie, the cookie spreads too much, add 2 tablespoons of quick cooking oats at a time.

Roll cookies into balls and flatten between palms of your hands.  Press smooth with the bottom of a flat-bottomed glass.  

Bake 8-10 minutes. Do not over bake.  They will set after being removed from the oven.

Transfer cookies to wire racks to cool.

Once cool, scoop desired ice cream flavor onto one upside down cookie.  Top with another cookie right side up and gently push the two cookies together.

Oatmeal Pancakes: I Can't Believe That...

Last night was quite the night at the Dubuque County Fair!  I got to throw T-shirts to the audience for Eagle 102 and Y105 before Safety Suit and Daughtry, respectively.  Most of my tosses only reached the Festival Area or Mosh Pit!  So it was good to be close to the stage to get a T-shirt.  Oh, and I did get hear "Over You" live!

After a late night out, a healthy breakfast is essential to reboot the system.  So I tried and adapted a new recipe, Healthy Oatmeal Pancakes.  They are an tasty and nourishing!

Last night really was very fun.  I am still a little bit in shock that I got to wear a media pass and go backstage!  I guess I could say I can't believe I got to do it!  I used today's song for the blog discussing I can't believe I'm going to law school, but it applies here, too, as a good "can't-believe-it" song.  So here's "I Can't Believe that You're in Love with Me" sung by Frank Sinatra.

HEALTHY OATMEAL PANCAKES

Adapted from a Hy-Vee recipe.

DRY INGREDIENTS:

¼ cup white flour

¼ cup whole wheat flour

½ cup quick oats

1 tablespoon Splenda

1 teaspoon aluminum-free baking powder

½ teaspoon baking soda

Dash of nutmeg

WET INGREDIENTS:

½ cup skim milk

½ teaspoon lemon juice

1 egg

1 tablespoon unsweetened applesauce

1 tablespoon canola oil

Combine dry ingredients in a bowl.  Stir then set aside.

Wisk together wet ingredients in a separate bowl. 

Over medium heat, let skilled get hot enough to sizzle butter without burning the butter. 

Add wet to dry ingredients and stir together as little as possible.  If too thick to scoop out with a ¼-cup measuring cup, add a tablespoon of water at a time to thin the batter.

Scoop ¼ cup of batter onto hot skillet.  Turn over pancakes when bubbles stop appearing.  Do not let the first side get too browned.

Serve immediately or cool on a wire rack and freeze.  Once pancakes are frozen, you can put into single serving pint bags or in a quart bag.  Freezing keeps them from sticking together so they can be removed from the freezer one at a time. 

Toast the frozen pancakes on a low setting.

60th Annual Dubuque County Fair: Daughtry

The t-shirt I'm wearing tonight!

This week is the 60th Annual Dubuque County Fair!

Y105, the station I intern at as a co-host on the weekday morning show with Chris Farber from 7:00-10:00 AM is sponsoring the Daughtry show tonight at the 60th Annual Dubuque County Fair!  So I will be on the stage throwing Y105 t-shirts to concert goers before the show starts!

Now you know of my love for Daughtry's song "Over You" from a previous post when Chris and I interviewed Chris Daughtry on the Y105 morning show.  I'm excited to hopefully hear it live tonight!

Another of my favorite Daughtry songs is "It's Not Over." So here it is!  I'll tell you all about the show tomorrow!

Shortbread: Just a Simple Melody

This shortbread literally melts in your mouth.  It's such a simple recipe with only three ingredients: flour, sugar, and butter.

British shortbread is more like a crisp biscuit and is the more familiar "shortbread" type sold in America.  This shortbread has far more butter than British shortbreads and is also textured more like a cake-y cookie.  If cooked longer, it is a bit more like the British shortbreads.  Either kind is simple and simply delicious!

To celebrate simplicity here's Ella Fitzgerald with Chick Webb's Orchestra singing "Just a Simple Melody."

SHORTBREAD

2 1/2 cups flour
6 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 cup butter

Preheat oven to 300 degrees.

Combine flour and sugar in a bowl then put into a food processor.  Add butter cut into 16 pieces.  Once food processor is covered and closed, press pulse button between 15-20 times or until the mixture is crumbly and pulling together.

Prepare a jelly roll pan by lining it with a silpat.  Dump the mixture onto the silpat.  Press together and knead three or four times until it forms a ball.  Shape the ball into a long rectangle on the silpat.  With rolling pin gently roll the rectangle to be about 1/4-inch thickness.

Using a large, straight-edged metal spatula, press the sides in to make them straight.  Press down on top of mixture against the spatula so that the sides of the rectangle are square to each other.

Using the same spatula, press down to cut into 1-inch squares.  Lift the pieces a few at a time and separate them then put them on the same silpat about half an inch apart.

With a fork, pierce the tops twice diagonally.

Bake for 18-24 minutes or until golden brown.  Cook for shorter time if you like very soft shortbread.

Allow the cookies to cool on the silpat lined pan for five minutes then remove cookies to a cooling rack.

Old Fashioned...Sugar Cookies

I'm not sure why these cookies are called "old fashioned" sugar cookies other than they seem a bit old fashioned.  They are a rolled into a ball and rolled in sugar rather than rolled out and cut out with a cookie cutter.  Regardless, I do love them!

Usually, I roll them in colored sugar but I was out of it.  I could have used Sugar in the Raw which gives the cookies a golden hue!  Instead, I used Wilton White Sparkling Sugar.  I think the sheen makes them look particularly old fashioned!

These cookies literally melt in your mouth!  Just be careful not to over bake them.  If you do, they will be crispy wafers instead of soft cookies.

Honestly, whenever I hear the words "old fashioned" I think of the Frank Sinatra Christmas song "An Old Fashioned Christmas."  I know it's July, but there is such a thing as Christmas in July, so I think it's okay to use a Christmas song!

OLD FASHIONED SUGAR COOKIES
Adapted from a recipe in the Mary Engelbreit's Cookies Cookbook.

1 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
1 teaspoon baking powder, aluminum free
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 1/4 cups flour
1 cup coarse colored or white sugar or Sugar in the Raw

Preheat oven to 365 degrees.  Prepare baking sheets with silicone baking mats.

In a large bowl, beat butter and sugars on medium speed until batter is light in color and fluffy.  Beat in egg, vanilla, baking powder, and salt.  Carefully beat the flour in until combined.

Put coarse sugar in a shallow dish.  Roll dough into 1-inch balls and roll each ball in coarse sugar until coated.  Place cookies on baking sheet 2 inches apart.  Using the bottom of a clean glass, flatten each dough ball.  If dough sticks to the bottom of the glass, put 1/4 cup powdered sugar in another shallow dish and dip the bottom of the glass in it between each cookie.

Bake for 8 minutes or until lightly golden on top.  Remove from oven and let cookies sit on baking sheet for two minutes.  Carefully remove each cookie to a wire rack.  These cookies are very fragile just out of the oven and will crack in half if the spatula isn't fully under the cookie.

Potato Salad: Summer Wind

Potato salad is a great summer food.  This picnic staple is classic in my family!

But it has to be made right so it still tastes refreshing and not heavy and pasty.  The recipe below is how we make potato salad.  I suppose you could say it's a cross between potato and egg salad, getting the best of both worlds for a hot summer day and a cool evening meal!

And a great "summer" jazz song is "Summer Wind" sung by Frank Sinatra.

POTATO SALAD

3 eggs
3 celery stalks, diced
¼ cup red pepper, diced
½ cup onion, diced
12 red potatoes, medium size
1 teaspoon honey Dijon mustard
3 T. sweet relish
½ cup low fat mayonnaise
¼ cup half and half
¼ t. black pepper
½ teaspoon dill weed


Hard cook the eggs.  Put them in cold water covering them.  Bring to boil then turn down to medium heat.  Set timer to cook them for 10 minutes.  Insert eggs in icy cold water.  Peel shells off as soon as cool enough to handle.  Rinse then dice two eggs.  Rinse the third egg but set it aside.

Wash potatoes, cutting out any bad spots.  Cut into 1-inch cubes.

In a large pot, boil potatoes just until done, do not let them cook too long.  Test by inserting a fork into a potato piece.  If it pierces easily, the potatoes are done.

Drain water.  Set aside potatoes to cool.

In a large bowl put mustard, relish, mayonnaise, half and half, black pepper, and dill weed.  Stir until smooth.  Mix in diced celery, red pepper, onion. 

Add cubed potatoes.  Toss to coat the potatoes with mayonnaise mixture.  Add diced eggs.  Stir gently. 

Put salad in a serving bowl.  Slice the third hard cooked egg and garnish the salad with it.  Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Steak Sandwich: I'll Never Smile Again

We love steak sandwiches at the Chaston house!  They are a favorite lunch staple.  And you don't have to go to a restaurant to get a good one!  You can actually make them at home.

I'm pretty sure that if I never have the opportunity to have another steak sandwich that I'd never smile again...so here's the song "I'll Never Smile Again" sung by Frank Sinatra.

STEAK SANDWICHES

6 Scali rolls or Swiss Egg rolls
4 ounces cream cheese

1/2 medium onion, chopped

1/2 red pepper, chopped

2 Roma tomatoes, diced1 pound deli medium or rare roast beef, or pastrami, shaved--falling apart
freshly ground black pepper
4 ounces provolone, white American, or white cheddar cheese

Cut the rolls to have a top and bottom but hinged still on one side.  Spread the inside of both top and bottom with an amount of cream according to preferred taste.

Over medium heat, get a frying pan hot.  Put one teaspoon olive oil on the hot frying pan.  Put all vegetables on the frying pan and stir attentively for about two minutes.

Rip deli meat and put it into the pan with vegetables.  Saute just until meat is heated for between 1-2 minutes.

Put hot meat and vegetable mixture on the cream cheese of both top and bottom of roll.

Put a slice of provolone, white American, or white cheddar cheese on the bottom meat, cream cheese roll so that when the sandwich is closed, the meat on the top roll and the bottom roll melt it.

Taco Meat: Romance

Tacos are a favorite at our house--so much so that we almost always have the fixings for tacos at hand!

Generally, we just throw everything together and don't measure.  But for the sake of a recipe, I did measure this last time we had them.

Tacos are just so easy when you already have the meat all made up.  Plus, they are such a crowd pleaser!

Another crowd pleaser is the song "My Romance" sung by Ella Fitzgerald.  Everyone loves to feel loved!

TACO MEAT

1 pound ground sirloin

2 teaspoons chili powder

1 teaspoon cumin

1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1/4 teaspoon pepper

1/3 cup Pace Chunky Salsa - Medium

GARNISHES

1 cup grated pepper or cheddar cheese

1 avocado

1/2 medium onion, sliced thinly

1/4 red pepper, sliced thinly

1/4 cup Pace Chunky Salsa, Medium

In a large skillet cook meat, breaking into small pieces.  Add spices and salsa.  Simmer for about five minutes on low heat. 

Serve in warmed tortillas with cheese, avocados, sliced onions, sliced red pepper, and more salsa.

Pasta with Pesto: All Alone

Truth be told I love linguine.  I like that it's long, flat, and thinner than fettuccine.  Linguine is basically my favorite pasta "shape."

I also have an affinity for pesto.  Honestly, I don't remember the first time I tried pesto.  My mom used to buy it in tiny jars when I was little.  I'm grateful for stores like Sam's Club that sell economical large bottles of pesto so I don't have to wait for a special occasion to enjoy it once!

I decided to go an extra step today and wilt some spinach to go with it.  So here's my recipe for easy pasta with pesto with wilted spinach!  This recipe is for one person, but it would be easy to adapt for more servings.

Since this is a recipe for just one, here's Frank Sinatra singing "All Alone."

PASTA WITH PESTO

1/5 box of Barilla Linguine

1/4 teaspoon olive oil

Handful of washed baby spinach

1 tablespoon prepared pesto (like Artisan Fresh Pesto)

Grated Parmesan cheese to garnish

Cook linguine according to directions and drain.

Saute spinach in olive oil over medium-high heat until wilted.

Top linguine with spinach, pesto, and cheese.

Penne Casserole: Dream

I have always loved this recipe!  I love lasagna but sometimes when I make it, somehow it just doesn't come out right after all that work of dividing ingredients between layers and making sure to not tear the long noodles!

However, Penne Casserole always comes out right--every time!  It's fast and easy.  Don't let the "casserole" part put you off.  It's the easy-to-make, comfort cousin of lasagna!

I literally have dreams about this casserole I love it that much...okay that's an exaggeration.  But I do crave it often.  And I do love the song "Dream" sung by Dean Martin, so enjoy!

PENNE CASSEROLE

2/3 cup Simply Kraft Fat Free Cottage Cheese

1/3 cup low-moisture part-skim mozzarella, grated

1/3 cup Kraft Natural Finely Shredded Italian Parmesan Cheese

1 pound Barilla Penne Pasta or Barilla Mezze Penne

1 1/2 pounds spicy sausage, cooked and drained

2 jars Classico Tomato and Basil Pasta Sauce

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Cook Penne for 9 minutes (Mezze Penne for 7 minutes).  Undercooking keeps the pasta from becoming mushy in the pasta sauce as it bakes in the oven.

Meanwhile, combine the three cheeses in a large bowl.

Drain pasta and immediately add to cheese mixture in bowl and mix until the cheese is melted over the pasta.

In a 9 x 18 (or a 9 x 13) pan spread enough pasta sauce to barely cover the bottom of the pan.  Put half of the pasta/cheese mixture in the pan.  Empty the partially used jar of sauce over the pasta.  Add half of the sausage.  Add the rest of the pasta, sauce, and sausage in that order.

Cover with Reynolds Wrap Non-Stick Heavy Duty Aluminum Foil.  Bake for 25 minutes, then remove the foil and bake for another 5 minutes.

Serve immediately.

Tuna Salad with Pasta: The Waterfront

Tuna salad can often be watery and tasteless or pasty and bitter. But never fear! My family recipe for tuna salad always comes out at the right consistency and tastes great!

My younger brother likes to eat this salad as a sandwich.  I like to eat it on top of pasta.

Since tuna salad is a fish dish, I thought "I Cover the Waterfront" sung by Billie Holiday would be a great fit!  The song expresses the longing of a woman waiting for her sailor boyfriend to come back home!

TUNA SALAD WITH PASTA

¾ cup Hellmann's® low fat mayonnaise

¼ cup half and half

¼- ½ cup sweet relish, according to taste

¼ teaspoon French's® Dijon Honey Mustard

6 cans white tuna in water, drained

½ cup chopped onion

1 cup thinly sliced celery

Zest from 1 lemon

½ teaspoon dill weed

¼ teaspoon cracked black pepper

1 can pineapple slices, drained

1 large tomato, thinly sliced

8 ounces Barilla® Pipette Pasta, cooked al dente, drained

2 tablespoons fresh Parmesan cheese, grated (optional garnish)

1. Put mayonnaise, half-and-half, relish, and mustard in a large bowl.  Stir together.  
2. Add drained tuna, onion, celery, lemon zest, dill weed, and black pepper.  
3. Cook pasta.  Cool slightly by letting stand at room temperature.  Do not rinse.  
4. Put pasta in a bowl, top with tuna salad.  Put a half a slice of pineapple, tomato slice, and half a lemon slice at the side of the bowl.  
5. Garnish with Parmesan cheese, if desired.