I'm not bored with eating salads.
Not yet, at least.
I'm not sure when it begins to happen, that moment that I am done done done with eating another salad green but so far, so good. I find with so many different salad dressings and combinations of ingredients together for the salad, it staves off the boredom of eating greens.
I wasn't sure if my hubby would go for the green onion salad dressing but he was pleasantly surprised, as I was with it. I also thought that the grated cheddar added an interesting touch.
Have a super weekend folks!
(And if you need some more salad ideas, hit my archives
here.)
...
Spinach Salad with Apples and Cheddar
makes 8 servings
1/3 cup olive oil
2 tbsp wine vinegar
1/2 tsp Dijon mustard
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground pepper
1/4 cup sour cream
1/4 cup green onions, finely chopped
1 lb spinach
2 apples, diced & tossed with 2 tbsp lemon juice
1/3 cup toasted almonds
1-1/2 cups cheddar cheese of your choice, grated
For the dressing: combine oil, vinegar, mustard, salt, pepper, sour cream and onions. Cover and thoroughly chill it before serving.
Combine salad ingredients (spinach, apples, almonds and cheddar cheese). Toss with the salad dressing and serve.
Recipe adapted from: Apple and_spinach_salad_with_cheddar
What?
You thought I was joking about the eating of lots of salad greens this week? HA! I'm not kidding you. I gained a solid 4-5 pounds eating all that dessert... my chlorophyll friends are here to help my backside.
I am very lucky to have garden fresh produce. I'm even luckier that I have a hubby that does all the gardening. We really do have a yin and yang relationship. He grows the food and I cook it.
I was instructed that our spinach was ready for picking. I guess it tends to bolt quickly but I don't mind it so much since I get to use it sooner.
Recipe up tomorrow!
After having so much dessert and sweet things around the house the last while, the scale was telling me that I would be on a salad diet the next week or so.
I often go through salad cravings. I know, sounds weird. But, when I've been abusing my body with too many sweet things, I actually look forward to something healthy. They ("they" as in those scientist people, I'm guessing.) say that children self-regulate themselves to make sure they get all the nutrients they need. We as adults tend to ignore that but I definitely know that my body wants healthy after weeks of dessert binge eating.
As I mentioned in my last post, I harvested arugula salad greens from my gardens. (
I like to say "gardens" - in plural- makes it sound so posh and "oh la la" when it's really several small plots in our yard! haha). I also used some of our hydroponic tomatoes from our
Grow-Op. (Hey
Valerie, the hydroponic tomatoes are now done - we got a large yield of red tomatoes- I lost count but I'm guessing at least 50 tomatoes of different sizes, from about 7 plants. We won't be starting up more but waiting for our outdoor tomatoes to produce.)
Something I really enjoyed, aside from the arugula leaves, is the lentils. I think it's such a great addition to a salad. Gives the salad a bit more oomph and a nice texture and taste with every bite.
...
Arugula and Lentil Salad with Goat Cheese
serves 8-10
1/2 cup dried green lentils
3 tbsp white or red wine vinegar
3/4 tsp dijon mustard
1/4 cup olive oil
6 cups arugula salad greens
4 small tomatoes, diced
1/2 small red onion, thinly sliced
1/4 cup (3 ounces) goat cheese, crumbled
Cook the lentils in 1-1/2 cups water (or vegetable broth, if you prefer) for about 20 minutes. Drain and set aside.
Combine vinegar and mustard. While whisking, slowly add in the olive oil until emulsified.
Arrange together arugula, tomatoes, red onion and lentils in a bowl. Drizzle the mustard dressing. Top with goat cheese. Serve.
Recipe adapted from: Arugula and Lentil Salad with Goat Cheese, Martha Stewart Living May 2010 Magazine
You say Arugula, I say Rocket. Well, I say either really, especially once I learned they are in fact the same thing. Apparently, this salad green has many different aliases: Rugula, roquette and rucola. Clever really, because if someone tells you they don't like Arugula, you can serve them Rocket salad instead. HA!
I harvested these pretty leaves last week. You can easily distinguish their leaves, given their lobed appearance, very much like acorn leaves. They are quite meaty looking greens in comparison to some of their fellow green leaf varieties out there.
Upon a sampling of a leaf in my garden, I was unsure if I was hooked on the flavor. It's quite a strong leafy-green flavor with a peppery bite. It actually felt like it packed some heat.
But, I tried it in a salad recipe (it will be up tomorrow) and I have to say, it's a hit around here. We've already planted another row in our garden. I love having fresh produce, right in my back yard!
I have lots of recipes that I want to get around to trying. I either mentally file them away or physically clip out or earmark pages to sift through later.
This was one of them, however, I bumped it up in queue. When I saw it on
Cookbook Cooks blog, I knew it was a done deal. I modified it but I'm sure the original recipe is equally good. I love peanut butter and I love chocolate. Any recipe with BOTH these ingredients perks my taste buds. AND, this was so easy in that you don't have to cook it. AND it has crunch with all the seeds it, which is something else I
really like. I was in heaven.
Fantastic recipe but I think I had about half the fudge to myself. Oh gosh, how bad is that? Folks, next week will be the week of salads. I'm not kidding. I've been in a sugar coma here. Page a chef to redo my weekly menu! STAT!
...
Peanut Butter and Honey Fudge Squares
makes 16 squares
1 cup peanut butter
1 cup liquid honey
3/4 cup cocoa powder
1/2 cup sunflower seeds
1/2 cup sesame seeds
1/2 cup dried unsweetened coconut
1/2 cup chopped pecans (or nut of your choice)
1/2 cup raisins
Warm the peanut butter and honey together in a pan until homogeneous. Remove from heat and add cocoa powder. Mix until well blended.
Stir in sunflower and sesame seeds, coconut, nuts and raisins.
Press the mixture into a plastic wrap-lined a 9 x 9 cake pan. Chill for a couple of hours before slicing into squares.
