Showing posts with label Summer Salad. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Summer Salad. Show all posts

Friday, August 5, 2011

Green Bean Salad with Goat Cheese

I love browsing my favorite blogs or finding new blogs I've never explored before. How many food blogs do you think there are on the internet today? Every day I find at least one recipe to bookmark, often they're recipes I haven't made before or wouldn't normally make. Rarely do I prepare a main dish salad for lunch or dinner. When I saw this recipe and realized I had all of the ingredients on hand, it became the perfect Sunday lunch.

Everyone says you eat with your eyes. Anyone would be drawn to the vibrant colors in this salad. Fresh summer green beans, bright yellow corn and juicy red tomatoes make up the pallet for your eyes and feast for your stomach.

When I make this salad again, I would cook the green beans a little longer. While I enjoy my green beans crunchy, cooking just two minutes leaves them a little too crisp for my taste.



Green Bean Salad with Goat Cheese Dressing
Recipe Courtesy of Love & Olive Oil
Yield:
4 servings

Ingredients:

1 pound green beans, trimmed
2 ounces crumbled fresh goat cheese
Zest of 1 lemon
1 tablespoon lemon juice
2 tablespoons apple juice
1 garlic clove, minced
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
1/3 cup chopped fresh basil, divided
3/4 cup fresh corn (from 1 ear corn)
1 large tomato, diced

Directions:

Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add green beans and cook just until they turn bright green and are barely tender, about 2 minutes. Alternatively, you can steam the green beans in a microwave save, lidded glass container. Fill with approximately 1 cup of water, and microwave on high for 2 to 3 minutes or until beans are crisp tender. Drain and rinse with cold water to stop the cooking. Pat dry.

To make the dressing, whisk together goat cheese, lemon zest and juice, apple juice, garlic and pepper in a small bowl. Toss green beans with half the dressing and half the basil or basil and spread on a platter. Top with corn and tomato, drizzle with remaining dressing and sprinkle with remaining basil.

I am linking this to Foodie Friday at Designs by Gollum and Miz Helen's Full Plate Thursday!

Friday, September 3, 2010

Cucumber Salad

Don't forget to join Gnee of Singing With Birds and me for our So Long Summer BlogBBQ!!

Can you believe it’s September? For many people September means summer is coming to an end and the kids are back in school. I can’t help but be reminded that the Farmer’s Market ends in a few weeks. We’ve so enjoyed the fresh fruits and vegetables from our garden and the Farmer’s Market.

I’ve never done much with cucumbers except slice them or use them in a green salad. When I saw this recipe on Always Order Dessert, I couldn’t wait to give it a try. The only changes I made were to use basil instead of cilantro and to add some leftover quinoa. This is a delicious fresh summer salad. The colors are beautiful and the flavors are so clean, a pefect salad for an end of summer BBQ!




Cucumber Chickpea Salad

2 cans chickpeas, rinsed
2 large cucumbers, diced into 1/2" cubes
1 bunch cilantro, stems removed, leaves chopped finely
1/2 small red onion, diced
3 tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Zest and juice of 1 large lemon
1 teaspoon Apple Cider or Red Wine Vinegar
1 teaspoon Kosher salt (more to taste)
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

In a large bowl, combine the rinsed chickpeas, diced cucumber, cilantro, and red onion. In a separate bowl, whisk together the olive oil, lemon zest and juice, vinegar, salt, and pepper. Add the dressing to the chickpea mixture and toss to coat. Taste and adjust seasoning if necessary (depending on how much juice your lemon had, you may need a bit more vinegar or oil. This can be eaten right away or made up to 24 hours ahead.

I am linking this to Foodie Friday at Designs by Gollum.

Tuesday, August 17, 2010

Roasted Roma Tomatoes

Did you plant tomatoes this summer? We planted a chocolate cherry, a roma and a slicing tomato. All three plants have done well but the roma produced like crazy.

Roma’s make wonderful tomato sauce but aren’t the best slicing tomato. I plan to make sauce and sun dried tomatoes . How could I use them for a side dish? I found this recipe on the ever popular Pioneer Woman Cooks. I may have cooked mine a little long, a couple of them kind of exploded on the baking sheet. Although we love Caprese Salad, these were a nice change.


I am linking this to Tasty Tuesday's, Tempt My Tummy Tuesday's and Tuesday's at the Table.

Wednesday, August 11, 2010

Caesar Salad

If Caesar Salad is one of the salad offerings at a restaurant, Tim orders one. Me, I've never been a big fan. A few months ago when I compiled my Top 50, I included Caesar Salad. Since it's Tim's favorite salad, I wanted to know how to make one. Trying to make use of my huge library of cookbooks, I searched them for a recipe. I just didn't find one that seemed like THE one. I found this recipe on Simply Recipes. If you're familiar with Elise's site, you know her recipes are awesome. This is the ONE!! I think maybe the reason I've never been a big fan of Caesar Salad's is because I haven't tried a really good one! If you like Caesar Salad, give this recipe a try, you won't be dissapointed.




Caesar Salad Recipe
Courtesy of Simply Recipes

If you have a concern about the raw eggs called for in this recipe, you can use pasteurized eggs, or you can coddle the eggs first by immersing them in boiling water for 1 minute, before cracking them open. If you don't have anchovies available, add a teaspoon of worcestershire sauce to the dressing.

Ingredients
1/2 cup high quality extra virgin olive oil
4 cloves fresh garlic, peeled, smashed, then minced
1 baguette, preferably a day old, sliced thin
1/4 cup freshly juiced lemon juice (plus more to taste)
4 ounces Parmesan cheese, grated
1 teaspoon anchovy paste, or 1-2 anchovies, smashed and minced
2 eggs
Freshly ground black pepper (1/4 teaspoon or to taste)
1/2 teaspoon salt
4-6 small heads of romaine lettuce, rinsed, patted dry, wilted outer leaves discarded

1 In a very large bowl, whisk together the olive oil and garlic. Let sit for half an hour.
2 While the oil is sitting, make the croutons. Spread the baguette slices out over a baking sheet (may need to do in batches), lined with parchment paper or Silpat. Brush or spray with olive oil (or melted butter, or if you want garlicky croutons, dip pastry brush in the garlic infused oil you have sitting in step 1). Broil for a couple of minutes until the tops are lightly browned. (Note: do not walk away, these can easily go from browned to burnt.) Remove and let cool.
The steps up until this point can be made ahead.
3 Add anchovies and eggs to the oil garlic mixture. Whisk until creamy. Add salt and pepper and 1/4 cup of lemon juice. Whisk in half of the Parmesan cheese. Taste, add more lemon juice to taste. The lemon should give an edge to the dressing, but not overwhelm it.
4 Using your hands, tear off chunks of lettuce from the heads of lettuce (do not use a knife to cut). Add to the oil mixture and toss until coated. Add the rest of the Parmesan cheese, toss.
5 Coarsely chop the toasted bread and add (with the crumbs from the chopping) to the salad. Toss. Serve immediately.

Serves 4-6 for a main course or up to 8-12 for a side.

Saturday, July 3, 2010

Pink Saturday - Quinoa, Beet and Walnut Salad

Happy Pink Saturday!!! We're on an extended Fourth of July weekend trip. I will visit everyone's blogs when I return.

One of my favorite veggies from the Farmer's Market is beets. I never used to like beets but I think that's because I'd only eaten them pickled. A couple of summer's ago, I discovered roasted beets. They are so sweet and so easy to prepare. Just cut off the tops, rub in olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper, wrap in aluminum foil and roast in a 400 degree oven for an hour. Test for doneness, they should be fork tender. Once they have cooled, rub off skin. I use rubber gloves so I don't end up with beet colored hands. Slice and enjoy.

Most days, I come home for lunch. I am always looking for something different for lunch. I found this recipe. How perfect, I had leftover quinoa in the frig. I added black beans for protein. Not only is this a beautiful pink salad, it is delicious!!!

Quinoa, Roasted Beet and Walnut Salad

3-4 medium beets, washed and trimmed (do not peel)
1 c. (240 ml.) dry quinoa
2 cups (480 ml.) water
1/2 c. (120 ml.) walnuts, lightly roasted and cooled
2 cloves of garlic, minced
grated rind of one lemon
juice of one lemon (about 1/4 cup)
2 T. (30 ml.) balsamic vinegar
1/4 c. (60 ml.) extra-virgin olive oil
2 tsp. (10 ml.) dijon mustard
1 tsp. sugar
1 can black beans
1/3 cup (80 ml.) fresh cilantro, chopped
salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 425 F. Wrap beets in foil and bake until extremely tender, about 45 minutes-1 hour. Let cool, then peel off the skins and dice into 3/4 inch (2-cm.) cubes. Set aside.

Bring water to boil in a small heavy saucepan. Rinse quinoa well and add to water. Return to boil, then reduce heat to low and cover. Allow to simmer, untouched, for 25 minutes, then check to see if water has been absorbed. If not, continue simmering until all water is absorbed, then uncover and allow to cool. (If you are in a hurry, you can turn the hot quinoa into a glass bowl at this point and place it in the fridge for about 30 minutes).

In a nonstick frypan, heat oil and add garlic and lemon rind. Cook and stir for 2 minutes, then add balsamic vinegar, lemon juice and stevia. Remove from heat.

Add beets to cooled quinoa. Break walnuts into pieces and add to the bowl. Pour dressing over and toss well until quinoa is tinted pink. Add cilantro and combine well. Season to taste with salt and pepper. This salad is even better the second day, after flavours meld. Makes 4 servings.




I am linking this to Pink Saturday at How Sweet the Sound!

Thursday, June 3, 2010

Quinoa Salad With Sugar Snap Peas


When you search for recipes for quinoa, you'll find a lot of salad recipes available. I found this recipe for Quinoa Salad With Sugar Snap Peas in my endless stack of recipes torn from magazines.

I come home for lunch almost every day and am always looking for something new to eat. This is a great salad for a summer picnic or family reuinion. It's easy to put together and won't spoil in the heat. The sugar snap peas and the chives add a nice color and crunch to the quinoa. I substituted sunflower seeds for the pumpkin seeds. This salad has lots of possiblities, different nuts or veggies. I think I will try it with asaparagus next time.

I am linking this to Foodie Friday at Designs by Gollum.

Sunday, August 23, 2009

Perfect Summer Salad

Our tomato plant has produced the best slicing tomatoes. A fresh, juicy sliced tomato is a great summer salad. To make the salad even more perfect, fresh basil and mozarella. I miss these wonderful flavors during our cold winters.

Insalata caprese (the salad from Capri) The salad was created in the 1950s at the Trattoria da Vincenzo for regulars out for a light lunch.






Caprese Salad

Large tomato, sliced
Fresh Basil Leaves
Fresh Mozarella
Olive Oil
Kosher Salt
Freshly Ground Pepper




Slice the tomato. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Place basil leaves on top of tomatoes, slice mozarella and place on top of basil. Drizzle olive oil over all. Chill until serving time.