whee!

Apple-Cabbage Slaw with Kumquat Dressing

January 20, 2012 - Written by Diana

You knew I was going to do something with that kumquat ginger syrup didn’t you?  I made another chicken roast, with a side of winter vegetables and a really cool tasty Apple-Cabbage Slaw with Kumquat Dressing.  A little sweet, a little vinegary, but all good.  In fact, my daughter ate it and then stopped and said – “Wait, this is slaw, you tricked me.”  I asked if she liked it and she said she did, but it was still slaw.

We had a full house – both of the kids were home and the fiancee was at dinner too, so I brought out the leftover kumquats for a tasting.  My daughter died laughing over the name and then refused at first to eat it.  She wanted to peel the skin which I said was the best part.  My son and the fiance popped them in their mouths without a second thought, but my daughter really had to get herself ready.  Then she was fine until the tart juice squirted in her mouth making her pucker.   Later I thanked …

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There’s Cilantro in my Watermelon

September 14, 2011 - Written by Diana

Today was the second time I bought this salad from work. As I was going through the line, the cashier asked me why they put the green stuff on the watermelon. I told her it was cilantro and I thought it was tasty. She obviously disagreed.

I’m not a cilantro fan, but watermelon as a salad with a little heat is actually yummy.

The ingredient list is easy:

Chunks of watermelon – bite size
Cilantro chopped
Jalapeno – diced really itty bitty
Red Onion – diced really small

Toss and serve.

Enjoy!
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Melon & Blackberry Fruit Salad Tossed with a Mint Simple Syrup

July 24, 2011 - Written by Diana

We were invited to my brother in law’s for a small family cookout, and I wanted to throw together something cool and delicious for a side dish.  We bought melons and blackberries at our local farmer’s market.  The mint is something my daughter and I have been trying to cultivate in our garden.  Mint can get out of control easily, so we’re planting patches of mint down at the bottom of the legs of our deck.  It can go out of control all it wants down there.  We have one mint plant my husband mowed totally down to the nub and after it grew back, then my son scalped it with the weed whacker and it’s back again.  I need hardy plants with the two of them around because they can’t tell the difference between weeds and herbs.  I am loving all the different things I can put mint into, it’s so tasty.

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Beet, Feta & Spelt Berry Salad with Strawberry Vinaigrette

July 7, 2011 - Written by Diana

Beet, Feta, Spelt Salad with a Strawberry Vinaigrette

My Beet, Feta and Spelt Salad was my favorite of the two salads (the other was a pasta salad with peas, lamb mint sausage and a dill mint pesto) that we brought to the 3rd of July family gathering.  It’s a potluck and I try to bring something new to the table, to make it interesting.  Of course the young boys wouldn’t touch it, because it was healthy looking, and an aunt said she didn’t eat beets because they taste like dirt.  I say earthy – she says dirt.  Her husband liked it, and so did my family.  I made a pretty big batch, so we had leftovers for breakfast and then some for dinner again.  I also left a small bowl behind for my daughter because she had to work and wasn’t able to go with us.  Feel free to cut down on amounts, I was cooking for a potluck, and had plenty of leftovers for us, which I wanted by the way – so …

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Salad For Breakfast

May 14, 2011 - Written by Diana

Recently, we were discussing breakfast.  It came out that one person ate her breakfast as a salad. She cooked up her eggs and bacon, and ate it over salad.  Well, here we were a week later, and out of bread, rolls, wrap, pita, etc.  I thought, well, what the heck – let’s try breakfast as salad, because well, heck it’s salad season.  So I cooked up my breakfast and put it over some nice greens with avocado, and salsa.  The salsa is difficult to see under the egg, but it’s there.  I really enjoyed my breakfast this way though I will let my salsa warm up a little first next time. Really cold salsa with warm eggs is too much of a temperature difference.  A zap in the microwave or letting it come to room temp would be a little better.

Ingredients:

Prepare your eggs and Pancetta in your favorite way.  Create a salad and place the cooked eggs and pancetta on top. Sprinkle with salt, pepper and herbs.  Enjoy!

Salad Season Has Arrived!

May 12, 2011 - Written by Diana

I arrived home from work to a hot and sweaty daughter studying at the computer.  When I mentioned dinner, she replied – anything but not hot.  Salad season is on folks, especially now.  This is the best time for fresh salads because salad greens love early spring best.  They don’t do so well in the super heat of the hazy summer end, but planting seeds outside in the end of winter will bring you perfect greens in the beginning of spring when the bugs are still on vacation.  I hope to have a few more cool evenings with warm tomato soup, stew or a roast, but I’m looking ahead to more salad days.

Tonight’s dinner was both quick and easy to prepare and all the ingredients in my fridge, so I didn’t have to run out for anything.  The quinoa was made up in a big batch but frozen in dinner size portions.  You can set it to defrost in the fridge, or if you are like me and deciding at the last minute, you can microwave for one minute, stir it around a little and it’s ready to go.  The rest of the ingredients came together into a nice salad …

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Grilled Turkey and Avocado Salad

October 1, 2010 - Written by Diana

I’ve mentioned before my Cook Once Eat Twice Method of Cooking.  Grill up a bunch of stuff, and use part of it another day.  We grilled some Turkey Breasts the other night, and then I tore the turkey off the bone and used it for a great salad, with big pieces of vegetables, and some avocado.  We were going to use dressing, but instead, my husband and I (to use one of my sister’s phrases) rocked the salsa.  One of the best lowfat, low calorie topping for a salad is salsa.   Look closely at the salad, I used some zebra striped tomatoes.  This year was the first time we planted them, and they are so delicious and full of flavor.  Put striped tomato plants on your list for next year’s garden.  I love to throw sliced up avocados into the salad.  When my mom was visiting, she said she had never tasted avocados or guacamole before, so she was intrigued and liked it.  Avocado’s don’t have a huge amount of flavor, though they are good tasting, however, they are worth the effort to throw into the salad because they are so good for you.

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Smoked Chicken Salad with Herbs

August 19, 2010 - Written by Diana

I have a smoker that I’m trying out, and I’m not ready to discuss it yet;  however, I did smoke a couple of chickens. We ate one for dinner that night, and then chilled the other in a fridge and tore it up for a salad.  I made a nice cold chicken salad for dinner, served in romaine lettuce leaves.  The leaves make a cool vessel for the salad, roll it up, slice it across into two and it’s a chicken salad lettuce wrap with hardly any mess.   My family loved the chicken salad, with my daughter and husband fighting over the last bits.  I liked the smokey taste, but also all the fresh herbs that came straight from the garden.  I have a kitchen tool, sort of a knife that I’ve come to like a lot that is perfect for chopping herbs, so I’ve been using big bunches in my recipes when I can.  I also chopped and then toasted some almonds in a pan to add into the salad.  The toasty almond bits were really delicious when they hit your tongue.  I also added a couple of green onions and a little  bit of chopped celery,topping it off …

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Wild Rice Salad

August 11, 2010 - Written by Diana

We knew there were going to be vegetarians at my son’s graduation party.  I’ve been feeding his vegetarian friends whenever they came to visit.  I don’t like picky eaters, people who don’t eat because something looks funny, or  because it isn’t made the same way as their mom makes it.  However, I do believe in accomodating dietary restrictions, and choices.  These kids are not problem children and will find a way to help make things work, but for my son’s party I wanted there to food they would love, because I wanted them to know that they are always welcome and that I was thinking specifically of them.   Don’t get me wrong, it wasn’t a hardship, this dish is really an easy to make no fuss dish.  I quadrupled and changed up a recipe I found in Cooking Light – Kitchen Secrets for Quick and Easy Meals.  This booklet ( thicker than a magazine) is packed with plenty of great tasting and looking dishes.   I love the dill, green onion and feta combination, it’s fantastically delicious and fresh.

Wild Rice Salad with Chickpeas, Dill and Lemon