Sam the Cooking Guy

There are a ton of things I loved about living in San Diego...my friends, the weather, the smell...it also gave me my love for Thai food, fish tacos, and cooking in general, seeing that SD was where I first had my own kitchen (and boys to impress, natch.)

There are obviously a million special memories to savor from any big city you live in for any extended period of time. One of my most favoritest things, however, was Sam the Cooking Guy. (Favoritest is totally a word today.)

This is Sam. Back then, he was just a local dude who liked to cook, and someone brilliant decided he was rad enough to put on local television. I. Love. Sam. Hubby and I both absolutely adored his show, and it was one of those quirky things we had in common back in our dating days. His food is generally pretty simple, but it's always packed with flavor, and he honestly looked like he was just having a good time cooking. In his own kitchen-dog running through the shot and all. Sometimes he even burned shit. It was awesome.

Last year I discovered that Discovery Health had picked up his show for a bit, and I was beyond stoked. It wasn't quite as fun as the original, being "real tv," but that happens. Now it looks like you can still catch him on certain local channels, but not here, so I have no idea what it's like these days. Check it out and let me know??

Anyway, I forget about Sam...and then for some reason he'll pop into my head. Last week that happened, and I immediately started craving his Roasted Tomato and Goat Cheese Salad. Hubby swears I had never made it for him before, but that can't be true...but the fact is, I need to make it more often. It's fabulous.

While I was at it, I also tried his Pasta with Artichokes. All I can say is yum.

Add a roasted head of garlic and a loaf of french bread to all of that, and it was quite the garlicy feast. Sam, you never let me down. And am just now realizing I should have asked for one of his cookbooks for Christmas.

Tomato & Goat Cheese Salad
(adjusted to serve 2)
1 package cherry tomatoes (I used yellow ones this time)
1/3 cup goat cheese, crumbled
A few cups of mixed greens or romaine
3 cloves garlic, crushed
Olive oil
Balsamic vinegar
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper (I actually used white kampot pepper)

Cut tomatoes in half or fourths, depending on how big they are. In a bowl, combine tomatoes, garlic, a tsp or two of olive oil, salt, pepper, and a splash of balsamic. Cook at 400 for about 25 minutes or until tomatoes are soft and starting to brown.

Arrange greens in bowl, top with tomatoes, and sprinkle on goat cheese. Top with a bit more olive oil and balsamic (less than a tbsp or so, depending on your taste) and finish with more pepper.

Oh, and if you need more of a reason to jump on the Samwagon, there's always this: