All posts filed under: Salads

Autumn Quinoa and Kale Salad with Maple Roasted Delicata Squash

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I tried to celebrate World Vegetarian Day on October 1. I really, really tried. I had found a recipe for “smoked eggplant” in an Indian cookbook and chalked it up to kismet that I had all the ingredients in the pantry. I roasted the eggplants whole on the grill, then peeled the charred skin away and cut it up in cubes. I sautéed onions, garlic, chiles and added some warming spices. The kitchen smelled amazing! And then I tasted it. It tasted like poison–acrid and so bitter! I tried to zhoosh it up with some coconut milk and fresh lime juice, but it would not budge and remained wholly inedible.  There was no saving it, and so we ate chicken…on World Vegetarian Day.  I hate when that happens. Eggplant disasters aside, I am no stranger to vegetarian cooking and I’ve been a vegetarian and a vegan at different points in my life. So, with October being Vegetarian Awareness Month, I want to be mindful of incorporating more meatless meals into our weekly rotation. Let me be completely honest–I won’t be …

Heirloom Tomato and Burrata Caprese Salad and That Time I Broke the Cat.

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DIY and I just don’t get along and I’ll tell you why.  Home improvement projects, on the whole, are NEVER as easy as they look, and sometimes, when you’re me, they can cause a cascade of unfortunate events that just might make you decide that the ugly wallpaper in the bathroom just might be fine for another year. It all started last Saturday morning.  It was that glorious, early morning golden hour, before the cats were awake and meowing, before breakfast needed to be made.  HGTV was on in the background, I was reading the latest issue of Better Homes and Gardens on my iPad and then an article popped up on my Houzz app that gave me 11 (really awesome) reasons to paint my interior doors black!  Do you know Houzz?  Houzz is awesome.  It’s a huge database of Things You Want to Do To Your House But Should Really Call a Contractor for.  “This is a great idea!”, I thought. “This is going to be an easy, low budget update!”  So, with visions swirling …

(BABY!) Israeli Couscous (BABY!) Asparagus and (BABY!) Mushroom Salad with Red Wine Vinaigrette

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Ahh, babies.  It’s been a long time since I’ve had babies on the brain. Most of my peers had kids so long ago that they are now old enough to be productive members of society; but a month ago, one of my closest and dearest friends had a baby boy the day after my birthday!   I cannot tell you how excited I am that a new baby has come into our little group of mostly child-free friends! I don’t have children of my own and that’s not entirely by choice.  I struggled with infertility for many years before coming to the realization that one day my lady parts were going to become my undoing.  That realization came in 2007 when I landed in the hospital with a collapsed lung caused by severe endometriosis.  The following year, almost to the day, my lung spontaneously collapsed again. That time, I spent 6 grueling weeks in the hospital having 4 unsuccessful surgeries before finally heading to the Mayo Clinic for treatment.  Remember when I mentioned my scars a few weeks back?  That situation accounted for …

Arugula and Golden Beet Salad with Grapefruit Vinaigrette

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When I was a kid, beets were the one vegetable that I would not touch with a ten-foot pole! It was the 1970s and the only beets we had came in a can and I thought they were awful! But the moment I had fresh, roasted beets served with goat cheese, I was hooked. Now I can’t get enough of them! Earthy, sweet, gnarly-beautiful beets are made even sweeter by slowly roasting them in the oven with cinnamon sticks and bay leaves and marinated in a gingery-grapefruit vinaigrette.  If ever there was a salad that makes you feel warm inside, then this is it!   The weather is finally starting to warm up a bit, but it’s technically winter, so we can still take advantage of ripe, winter citrus, leafy greens and root vegetables.  This salad beautifully bridges the gap between the long, cold winter and the warm sun of spring that’s just waiting around the corner! Golden beets are not always available, so when I see them at the market, I grab them.  Milder …

Roasted Tomato Caprese Salad with Kale Pesto

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I recently purchased “The Sprouted Kitchen” cookbook by Sara Forte and I became a little bit obsessed with this one particular recipe for “Heirloom Tomato Stacks with Bocconcini and Kale Pesto”; so much so, that I’ve made it twice this week!   The original recipe, with its beautiful photograph of mid-summer, juicy heirloom tomatoes nestled on top of a bed of pesto and stacked between layers of fresh mozzarella cheese lured me right in!  I was hooked!  The only problem is…it’s not mid-summer.  Not by a mile.  And you and I both know that February tomatoes leave a lot to be desired–they aren’t very sweet; they are often flavorless at best and mealy at worst.  I’ve learned that slowly roasting tomatoes with a bit of olive oil, a sprinkle of sugar, salt, pepper and garlic totally solves the problem of less-than-flavorful off-season tomatoes, so you can have this salad year-round! The kale pesto is also a stroke of in-season genius, as it’s too early for fresh basil as well!  The kale pesto is a perfect …

Chinese New Year & Cucumber-Enoki Mushroom Salad

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Last weekend marked a Trifecta of Celebratory Celebrations:  Chinese New Year followed by The Husband’s birthday, which landed squarely on top of Superbowl Sunday!  Oh, and Groundhog Day, too!  Shoot. Now it’s a Quadrant? Quadrifecta?  Anyway, there was a lot going on last weekend and all of it was surrounded by delicious things to eat! On Friday, the first day of the Year of the Horse, we ventured into Chinatown (yes, Las Vegas has a Chinatown, and a good one at that!) for Chinese soup dumplings, or Xiao Long Bao.  Now, if you’ve never had them before, let me tell you, they are amazing little feats of culinary engineering!  These little dumplings are traditionally filled with pork and a little gelatinized broth encased in a bun.  When the buns are steamed, the gelatinized broth melts and becomes like soup, so that when you bite into the delicate bun, you are treated to a steaming hot burst of soup and meat!  Delicious!  Actually, I’m not even sure why I’m getting you all excited about soup dumplings …

Fagioli, Cipolle e Tonno — Grilled Tuna and White Bean Salad

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I first had this very simple tuna and white bean salad at Chef Carla Pellegrino’s Neapolitan restaurant, Bratalian.   It was so delicious that I had to ask the manager what was in it.  I was shocked to learn that the simplest ingredients: lemon, olive oil, salt and pepper, were what made it so good!  After having it at the restaurant, I set out to recreate the dish and now it’s a weekday staple dinner for us.  The base of the salad is peppery arugula dressed with a drizzle of olive oil, fresh lemon juice, salt and freshly ground black pepper.  The main part of the salad is juicy grilled tuna paired with creamy cannellini beans, crisp red onion and celery. This salad is crazy-good and amazingly simple to make.  I usually use canned whole white albacore tuna for this dish, but today I used fresh tuna, because I had a thought that it would be even more amazing–and it did not disappoint.  I think from now on I will use fresh tuna whenever possible. …