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Grilled String Bean Salad with Arugula Recipe

Wednesday, August 1st, 2012

Alrighty, we are back to CSA season (Community Supported Agriculture Weekly Food Box). CSA involves creative cooking is at its best.  What is that show again where they are only given certain ingredients and they have to make something delicious?  Having a CSA a box has been our chance at our own version of ‘Chopped.’

If you want to learn how to cook, sign-up for a CSA weekly food box and get to work!

John’s been the main cook lately.  He had string beans and arugula to work with.  So he found this salad recipe that only had a few ingredients and it was a great weeknight summer meal for two. Add some crusty sourdough to make it a meal.

Grilled String Bean Salad with Arugula & Lemon Recipe

  • 1/2 – 3/4 lbs. String Beans (yellow or green), trim each end off but keep beans long
  • 3 tablespoons olive oil
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 2-3 large hand-fulls of arugula, trimmed
  • 1-1 1/2 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
  • Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Toss the beans with the olive oil and garlic.  Let them sit for a bit and then wrap all of them in a square of tin-foil, for grilling. Warm the grill up while you are letting the beans sit for 10 or so minutes.  Then grill the beans in the aluminum foil pack for 15-25 minutes – be sure not to char or burn them too much, a little tastes good to me.  Let the beans cool a bit.  Combine the beans with the rest of the ingredients (arugula, salt/pepper, lemon zest).  Serve!

* I’ve read you can use your oven if you don’t have a grill – (425F for 30 mins).

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Mozzarella & Melon Fruit Salad Recipe

Friday, September 2nd, 2011

Summer isn’t over yet!  This was another potluck summer find recipe for us (thanks Bennys for another good one, that was delightfully surprising).  You know, the surprise with this dish was a treat because it was a new take on an old classic (or maybe the other way around and I’m not aware).  We loved the hint of basil against the sweetness of this unique fruit salad. The mozzarella balls add an interesting texture to the fruit salad because the taste is definitely a subtle taste that mixes well with the fruit and basil.

Fruit Salad with Mozzarella Recipe

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Brussels Sprout & Arugula Salad Recipe

Wednesday, August 17th, 2011

This is a tasty salad, a bit time consuming, but worth it.  Potlucks are some of the best places to catch a new recipe worth your time, so thanks Tee for this one.  You have to blanch the Brussels sprouts first and then peal them off as leaves to put into the salad.  Then you mix all the right stuff from arugula to almonds and Parmesan together for a hearty and crunchy salad.  It’s a hit!

Brussels Sprouts & Arugula Salad Recipe ->

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Tassajara Kale Salad & Esalen Kale Salad: I’ve heard kids will even eat Greens like this!

Friday, May 13th, 2011

First off, I LOVE this salad! It is now my favorite way to eat greens.  I’ve made it three times in two weeks.

Feed your kids greens early on … as a salad, and it just might stick … so I’ve heard! At least this is what some photographer friends in Santa Cruz told me who recommended the recipe.  They were eating Carob, given to them by their parents, a generation before I was.  Thinking nothing of it, they said, kids like this salad too.  I started laughing, thinking to myself, not a chance I would have been excited about eating greens as a kid unless it was seamlessly slipped-into my Ohio, kid diet as a cold salad that has a bit tougher lettuce and that had no description that it was kale.  I mean, we flipped out when my mom made stuffed peppers for dinner as kids.  A story about a cousin who grew up in California came to mind when thinking about kids eating kale.  This cousin had eaten such healthy, organic food as a kid that when his parents were forced to stop by KFC and get him some fast food one time, he threw up!  Don’t worry, when I moved out to CA, I corrupted him by introducing him to loaded baked potatoes.

  • TASSAJARA KALE SALAD vs. ESALEN KALE SALAD

In terms of these two variations on the cold kale salad, I would recommend combining aspects of both.  I over salted the Tassajara Kale Salad the first time but liked the fruit aspect, ginger, honey, and lemon dressing in this recipe but would add the sprouts, red onion, and nuts from the Esalen Kale Salad recipe in the future.

KALE IS SO GOOD FOR YOU!


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Posted in CSA Food Box Recipes, Greens, Home Cookin', Salad | 2 Comments »
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Crazy-Cool Cousin’s ‘Eat it Everyday’ Salad Recipe

Saturday, February 26th, 2011

This salad recipe got me thinking, are favorite dishes or recipes those that you could eat over and over everyday (regardless of calories)? If so, this salad will be on my favorites list for this year and it is only February.  This salad has really grown on me, so much so, that I desire it at every meal where our cousin’s are present.  In this family we eat salad at the end of the meal,  so by the time you are done eating everything, with this salad, you are actually craving it.  Cousin C says this is a variation on a salad his mother made growing up and then he also saw a variation of it at Esalen in Big Sur when he worked there.  Now we can all try and make it.  I think Bragg Liquid Aminos (made from health-giving, NON-GMO soybeans and purified water) is one of the secret ingredients here.  Another fun part of this salad is that you can really add or take away ingredients based on what you have in the fridge as long as you have the onion, lettuce, and the dressing ingredients.

Cousin’s Salad Recipe

Serves 4 as a side salad

Salad:

  • 2 cups of Romaine Lettuce
  • 1 cup of Arugula
  • Dried Cranberries
  • Sweet and Spicy Pecans (from Trader Joe’s or an alternative)
  • Grated Parmesan (Raw Parmesan from Trader Joe’s or an alternative)
  • Avocado, peeled, pitted and diced
  • Red Bell Pepper, sliced
  • Red onion, sliced
  • Cilantro, coarsely chopped

Dressing:

  • 6-8 TBSP of Olive Oil – per cup of lettuce (2 TBSP per cup of lettuce)
  • 3 TBSP of Bragg Liquid Aminos (1 TBSP per cup of lettuce)
  • 3 tsp of Balsamic Vinegar (1 tsp per cup of lettuce)
  • Garlic powder, sprinkled over top of salad
  • Squeeze Lemon juice of 1/2 lemon over-top of salad

Preparation:

Prepare all salad ingredients and place in a large salad bowl.  Toss together.  Then sprinkle dressing ingredients over-top of salad and mix well again. Serve!

Posted in CSA Food Box Recipes, Home Cookin', Salad | 3 Comments »
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Lemon Cashew Chicken Salad Recipe

Thursday, February 10th, 2011

Sunset Magazine recipes are the go to place to find a recipe when friends are coming over and you don’t have time to try the recipe the week before. I really trust Sunset Magazine’s recipes because they always test them to ensure their quality and they always have flavor and spice.

For the holidays this year, a friend got me the Sunset Cookbook.  There are so many recipes in it worth trying that it will take me years to get through all of them.  This recipe has great flavor and can be eaten for dinner on salad and for lunch the next day in a sandwich.  Don’t skimp on the Jalapeno, you need at least 2-3 TBSP to feel a bit of heat.  Also, this chicken salad is half the harm utilizing Greek Yogurt for half of the Mayo.  Um, the flavor is partially acquired from the white and dark meat of a rotisserie chicken!

Lemon Cashew Chicken Salad Recipe

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Cabbage Salad with Avocado, Toasted Pumpkin Seeds, and Lime Vinaigrette Recipe

Tuesday, January 25th, 2011

A few weeks ago I was inspired to recreate this Mexican salad after I had a version of it at Tacubaya, a tasty upscale Taqueria in Berkeley and the casual sister restaurant to Dona Tomas.  This salad is great because it’s crunchy, tangy, and versatile.  You can eat it on a weeknight as a main dish when you’re on a diet, use it as a base for a taco salad, as a relish for fish tacos or pulled pork sandwiches, or just as a side dish for any Mexican entree such as Chili Rellenos or Enchiladas.

Oh, I got a new photo-toy for photographing food for the blog!  It is called a Photo Softbox Light Tent!  It should be fun to see what we come up with. What do you think so far?

Mixed Cabbage Salad with Pumpkin Seeds, Avocado, and Lime Vinaigrette Recipe

  • 1/2 head red cabbage, thinly sliced
  • 1/2 head green cabbage, thinly sliced
  • 2 cups salad herb mix (any mixed organic salad greens are good)
  • 4 green onions, chopped
  • 3 carrots, shredded
  • 1  red onion, thinly sliced
  • 1/2  cup chopped fresh cilantro
  • Optional: 1 Jalapeño or serrano chile pepper, minced
  • 1/2 cup Pepitas (pumpkin seeds), toasted
  • 2 Avocados, cut into bite-size pieces

Mix all Cabbage ingredients in a large salad bowl.  Toss salad well with Lime Vinaigrette.  Put the dressed cabbage mixture on each plate and top with toasted Pepitas and sliced avocados.  Serve!

Lime Vinaigrette Recipe:

  • 1/4 cup olive oil
  • 2 tbsp fresh lime juice
  • 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar OR red wine vinegar
  • 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

Salad Description @ Tacubaya:

Ensalada de Primavera- mixed greens, shredded cabbage, carrots, red onion and avocado tossed in a lemon vinaigrette, sprinkled with toasted pumpkin seeds.

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Herb Salad Mix & North African Lemon Dressing Recipe

Saturday, January 15th, 2011

Are you still on your New Year health kick?  We have been able to keep our food baby bellies pretty quiet so far even though we have cut back on carbs and booze.   The reason we have been able to keep the grumbling to a minimum is because we haven’t sacrificed flavor for healthy food, this time around anyways!  This recipe is a perfect example of flavor trickery on your health-o-meter.

This is one of those recipes that we just added to our, “Impress your Friends at a Dinner Party, Recipe Card Box” because it is that good!

Over the holidays we made this North African Lemon Dressing from the Tassajara Cookbook and paired it with a Mixed Herb Salad and served it with a Foret Saison Farmhouse ale.   I had read that you should pair Saison Farmhouse ale with spicy sausages and meats.  For a vegetarian pairing I picked this salad recipe because of the spice kick to the dressing, from the cayenne, and it did hold its own with a great Belgian beverage.

North African Lemon Dressing Recipe

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