Cucumber & Fennel Salad
I have a bunch of cucumbers that my neighbor dropped off for me. I’m a big believer in share the wealth, especially if you are sharing with me. My mom is visiting and has been doing most of the cooking, but today I was done with work early. I told her we had to do something with the cucumbers and thought about the cucumber salad my grandfather loved. I wanted to throw in some fennel and dill because it was in the garden and would add a little more flavor. My mother threw in some paprika and I asked her about it. She said – the salad was Hungarian in it’s roots (which means my grandfather learned it from my grandmother or great grandmother who immigrated from Hungary) and she mentioned she had it that way in a recent visit to a Hungarian restaurant. If you have Hungarian Paprika – throw a little in.
I sliced my cucumber and fennel using a mandolin, then my mom cut them a little smaller. I would have added onions, but my mother is allergic, and using a mandolin for that would be awesome as well.
- 2 cucumbers peeled and sliced very thin
- 1/2 onion sliced very thin
- 1/8 cup fennel bulb sliced very thin
- 1 cup sour cream
- 1 tsp chopped fresh dill
- 1/2 tsp Hungarian Paprika
Soak cucumber slices in salt water, drain and pat dry. My mother insists that the cucumbers be cut up smaller, though I remember slices. Place the cucumber, the onion, the fennel in a bowl. Fold in the sour cream. Stir in the dill and sprinkle with paprika.
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Tomato Basil Quinoa Salad
Lots of cool ideas come to fruition when you’ve got the ingredients growing right in your own backyard. I wanted a side salad to go with a Turkey Tenderloin we barbecued on the grill. Quinoa is such an amazing grain, and perfect for a summer salad. The tomatoes, basil and parsley were in the raised beds, but my onions disappeared from the bed, so if you have them, finely dice a few and add it in too if you like.
Ingredients:
- 1 cup Quinoa (pre cooked)
- 2 cups water
- 3 small tomatoes diced
- 1 handful of basil chopped
- 1 handful of parsley chopped
- salt
- pepper
- balsamic vinaigrette
Rinse Quinoa until it runs clear to get rid of saponin then drain with a sieve. Put the Quinoa in a pot with the water and salt. Let boil, then cover and turn down to simmer – about 20 minutes. You should see the tiny spiral germ separate from the grain. Let it sit on with the lid on for a few more minutes. Fluff with fork.
Throw in the tomatoes, basil, parsley, salt, pepper, and stir in a little vinaigrette. It’s a nice light addition to dinner.
I made extra Quinoa intending to make another salad with it for dinner the next night, but my daughter made her own salads during the day and left nothing behind. Obviously, it’s good stuff.
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Red Ruby Cabbage Slaw
July 4, 2009 by Diana
Filed under Recipes, Salads, Side Dishes
This is my contribution to the Independence Day Celebration at my brother in laws. I wanted something bright, something kind of healthy that make use of some of the cabbage we have in the garden. This slaw has a nice wine vinegar sauce that you sauté it in and is a cool side for your picnic plate and it’s lovely to look at too. This recipe came from my Joy of Gardening Cookbook
Ingredients:
- 3/4 cup of wine vinegar
- 1/3 cup pure maple syrup or brown sugar
- 1/4 cup of water
- 2 tbs fresh tarragon or 1 tbs dried
- 1 tsp caraway seeds
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 6 cups finely chopped red cabbage
- 1 medium onion finely diced
In a saucepan, combine the vinegar, maple syrup, water, tarragon, caraway seeds, and salt. Heat until simmering. Add the cabbage, onion and stir. Cook, stirring often for 5 minutes or until the cabbage is bright magenta and slightly crunchy. Transfer the cabbage to a ceramic or glass salad bowl and chill before serving.
Happy Fourth of July – Everyone!!!
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Barbecue Chicken & Salsa Lettuce Wraps
My friend Linette had a Black Bean n’ Corn Chicken Salad Sandwich that she posted the other day. I loved the idea, but wanted something a little lighter instead of a sandwich. She used Dei Fratelli’s Black Bean and Corn Salsa, which I happened to love and have on hand, and I also added some rice to absorb some of the liquid in the salsa. The chicken was leftover from our Father’s Day cookout. The barbecue rub added a nice extra bit of flavor to the mix. I freeze my rice when I have extras, so this meal can be a very quick throw together dinner using mostly leftovers. I need to use different lettuce next time though, because this one fell apart easily. You can have this as a free form salad also – instead of wrapping the lettuce just layer it on the plate.
Ingredients:
- Precooked chicken (like leftover barbecue)
- Dei Fratelli’s Black Bean and Corn Salsa
- Cooked Rice
- Lettuce
- Cheese (we used Colby Jack)
Peel Chicken from the bone into bite size pieces. Mix together with a jar of Salsa in a bowl. Place inside a lettuce leaf, a small spoonful of rice, the salsa and cheese. Roll it up together. That’s the whole recipe. If you don’t have a thick enough lettuce leaf it can be messy (we used some garden lettuce – it was a little on the small size) and you might just want to assemble a salad by layering the ingredients. This is a great work night, or busy night dinner. When everyone was done, my husband went back and threw the remnants into one last final salad for himself because it was too good to leave anything behind.
What about you, are you inspired by reading other people’s post? Do you happen upon something and think – I could do that? I hope that you try out our Cookerati recipes and ideas and I hope they work out well for you too!
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Tuna Pasta Salad
I had Tuna Pasta Salad for the first time at my cousin’s wedding. It’s a great cold salad/dinner. It has been a dish I’ve brought to summer family cookouts, and is something I make regularly over the summer. Along with the salad (topped with salad finishers), we had Tuna Pasta Salad for dinner last night. It was so warm in the house, that we ate out on the cooler back deck as the sun went down. Then my son had another plateful at the dinner table after we came inside. That made me happy, I worry about him eating enough during track season. We ate the whole salad for dinner and later on snacking, the four of us. Some days this salad will last two meals, other days only one depending on how hungry we are. This is one of the recipes I trusted my kids(when they were early teens) to make without supervision so that we’d have a meal ready when I arrived home from work.
Ingredients:
- 2 cans Tuna
- 1 box farfalle (I used the barilla minis this time)
- 1 cup peas
- mayonnaise (I use light)
- finely diced onion (1/4 cup)
- 2 tsp dill chopped
- 2 tsp parsley chopped
- salt
- pepper
Cook up the farfalle, drain and rinse with cold water. You can throw your peas in with the pasta when you rinse. I use frozen peas and just rinse them off. After they are drained dump it into big bowl, add mayonnaise until it reaches the right coating. I like mine just coated, my mom likes her thick, some people like it very dry. Just dollop it in one spoonful at a time, mix it in until it’s the consistency you like. Then dump in the rest of the ingredients and combine. You can serve right away, or cover and put into the fridge to keep cool. If you leave it in the fridge for too long, the pasta will absorb some of the mayo and you might need to add back in a little more.
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Tuna, Chard & Rice Salad
Last night I threw together a salad that we all loved – almost all loved. My son likes salmon better than tuna, but still he ate it and still thought it was good (though it might be better with salmon). I told you about my lovely gadgets that I used to make this delicious meal and now, here’s the recipe to go with it. Chard is growing well in my garden, so probably my recipes will focus on that for now. I’m trying to do semi seasonal cooking.
2 Tuna Steaks (sprinkled with Denny Mike’s)
1 Shallot
1 clove garlic
Olive Oil
Chard – My daughter brought in a big chard bouquet, but we only used half.
6 dried figs – chopped
2 cups cooked rice (I used texmati)
Mustard Vinaigrette
Sauté the shallots and the garlic in the olive oil in a grill pan. Then grill the Tuna on top of that after the shallots and garlic become soft. We only used half the chard. Strip the stems off and grilled them with the tuna. The rinse the leaves and spin them dry then tear them up into salad size pieces. Using two cups of cooked rice, mix in the chopped up figs, the grilled onions and garlic and the chard stems chopped into inch size pieces, some salt and pepper. Layer the chard, the rice mixture and the grilled tuna. Top with a mustard vinaigrette.
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Tomato Caprese – Delicious and Beautiful
September 11, 2008 by Diana
Filed under Salads, Side Dishes
I’ve been making Tomato Caprese for years, although this year it has a name everywhere. I’ve made it and seen versions of it done so different ways. I placed it on a platter for labor day, but we’ve had it chunky with mozzarella balls or small tomato pieces with small mozzarella pieces in a bow or even mozzarella and basil stuffed cherry tomatoes. No matter how you slice it or stack it, it’s just a perfect side dish to a meal. It’s fast and easy and delicious. It goes very quickly and no leftovers. Not only that, but it’s such an easy recipe, that once someone sees it they copy it for their own gatherings.
Ingredients:
- Tomatoes – different color tomatoes best for contrast
- Mozzarella
- Basil – Fresh from my garden
- Light Balsamic Vinaigrette (Newman’s own is my favorite)
For Labor Day, I took slices of the tomatoes and alternated them with slices of mozzarella. I chopped up the basil and sprinkled it on top and then drizzled with the vinaigrette. It went too quickly, I should have made another platter.
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What I am digging
August 17, 2008 by Buff
Filed under Product Reviews, Salads
I am not the Vinegar King, but I am friends with the Vinegar Queen. I do love vinegar, though. All kinds of different vinegars. I used to be a straight white vinegar kind of guy, but then I got hooked on balsamic, red-wine vinegar and apple cider vinegar for changes of pace.
Lately, I’ve been on a rice wine vinegar kick – specifically Nakano Original Rice Wine Vinegar. I love the sweet and sour taste of it on my salads and cucumbers. It’s flavorful enough that you can just use it and olive oil with a dash of salt and pepper.
I have used it with Good Seasons Italian Dressing and it’s really tasty.
Give it a try. You’ll be glad you did.
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Cold Chicken and Couscous Salad
June 14, 2008 by Diana
Filed under Fast and Easy, Salads
It’s been a little warm, so I wanted a salad or something cool to eat rather than a hot meal. I decided to try a cold couscous salad, and I made a green salad to go with it. We have plenty of salad greens and herbs growing right now. Plus it’s pea pickin’ time around here. I like to make my meals based on what’s available. In the summer it will depend on what’s ripe or ready to use after I’ve visited the garden and brought some fresh things inside.
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Best Fast Side Dish
June 11, 2008 by Diana
Filed under Fast and Easy, Salads
School is over for this year for us. The last few weeks have been a whirlwind of activities. One event was the track potluck. It’s right after practice, parents can come, and you are assigned something to bring. I work 40 minutes from the school and home, so I stopped at the store and picked up some cutup fruit. It’s always a big hit, and I didn’t have to worry about how to keep it fresh while I was at work. However, the best thing I saw there was a really fast salad that one girl put together in less than 5 minutes.
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