Post Tagged with: "salad"

fennel napa cabbage slaw

fennel napa cabbage slaw

On Friday I told you a bit about the weekly farm box that comes to our home full of healthy, farm fresh veggies. I also told you that this vegetable delivery sometimes makes me have to think a bit outside of the box.

For instance: Vancouver crept into summer this year and the first week of the program we received a box full of mystery greens. Dandelion greens, mustard greens, horseradish greens, some edible flowers, other various mystery greens and a gigantic lettuce. After having a little #firstworldproblems style meltdown wondering what on earth I got myself into, we made interesting flavourful salads and stirfrys and topped off the week with a delicious dandelion green soup. Three years ago, I never would have imagined those worlds coming out of my fingertips.

And more recently week after week after week of fennel bulbs. And I don’t really like fennel. But every week, without fail, a fennel bulb (complete with stalks and leafs) arrives at our home, ready to be eaten. We’ve had mini pies with fennel, pizza with fennel, roasted potatoes with fennel, and most recently a delicious (and super quick to prepare) fennel-napa cabbage-apple slaw.

The other flavours—especially the sesame oil—toned down the fennel flavour so much in this slaw so that I really enjoyed it. The inspiration recipe also included cashews (which I simply forgot to add, but would have been the perfect “finishing” feature for this delicious slaw, making it one-dish-lunch-worthy).

Napa Cabbage, Green Apple & Fennel Slaw

Inspired by this recipe.

Ingredients
Slaw

  • 1/2 head thinly sliced Napa cabbage
  • 1 fennel bulb, thinly sliced
  • 1 green apple, cored, quartered and thinly sliced
  • 2 green onions, thinly sliced
  • 1/2 cup raw cashews, coarsely chopped

Dressing

  • 1/8 cup cold-pressed olive oil
  • 1 large, juicy Meyer lemon
  • A few drops of sesame oil
  • Coarsely ground sea salt
  • Freshly cracked pepper

Directions

  1. In a deep salad bowl, toss together the cabbage, fennel, apple slices, green onions and cashews.
  2. In a small container, whisk together the remaining ingredients; season to taste. Add more lemon juice, if desired.
  3. Drizzle over the slaw ingredients and toss. Eat immediately.

July 30, 2012 0 comments Read More
debbies potato salad + jalapeno chicken

debbies potato salad + jalapeno chicken

Thanks to everyone who has expressed concern about my death cold. It’s slowly but surely going the way of the dodo bird, woohoo! Though at day number 11, I certainly wish it was just gone. But don’t worry, it didn’t stop me from shooting the heck out of a super cool trash the dress session on Saturday evening!

So, back to business: this post brings you not one but two delicious recipes, just in time for the heat of summer! The first up—one I can’t believe that I haven’t shared before—Debbie‘s Dilled Potato Salad.

I tasted this salad on my first trip to Ottawa in 2005 or 2006 to meet the future in-laws, and I’ve been making it (and sharing it) ever since. Anyone who tries this potato salad wants the recipe. It’s that good. But vegetarians beware, there is a secret ingredient (ok… bacon) that makes it veggie-unfriendly. For those of us non-veggies: well, that secret ingredient makes it seriously delicious. To top it off, we got new potatoes from our CSA this week. Farm fresh potatoes + Debbie’s Potato Salad = oh.my.goodness.delicious.

So, I was most excited about the potato salad last night. But I decided to go a little crazy and make a jalapeno potato chip crusted chicken inspired by this recipe I came across on (you guessed it) Pinterest. This is not your basic good-for-you chicken breast. Its second main ingredient? Crushed Miss Vickie’s Jalapeno Chips. I wish I could explain in words how delicious this chicken was. But I’m struggling, so I’ll just go with: so delicious I’m going to have to actively stop myself from making it every single week this summer. And the icing on the cake? It’s super simple.

Debbie’s Dilled Potato Salad

Note: This is the recipe that Debbie shared with me in 2005, the recipe in our wedding cookbook from Debbie (2010) uses less mayo (3/4 cup) and has a few additional ingredients (1 tsp of red wine vinegar, 1 tsp of lemon juice, and 3 tbsp of olive oil), but I prefer the simple flavours in the original.

Ingredients

    Salad

  • 1/2 lb bacon
  • 1 1/2 lb small red potatoes (or new potatoes, if in season)
  • 1/4 cup sliced green onions (green and white parts)

    •  
    Dressing

  • 1 cup mayo (or 3/4 cup mayo, 3 tbsp olive oil, 1 tsp lemon juice, 1 tsp red wine vinegar see note )
  • 1 tbsp dijon mustard
  • 2 tbsp chopped dill
  • Optional (and delicious): 1/2 tsp celery seed or salt

Directions

  1. Cook bacon, let cool, then crumble. Cook and chop potatoes. Let cool.
  2. Meanwhile, mix ingredients for dressing.
  3. Combine bacon, potatoes, and green onion in a bowl. Pour dressing over salad and toss.

Jalapeno Crusted Chicken

Serves 4
Inspired by: Life as a Mrs.

Ingredients

  • 4 chicken breasts
  • 1 egg
  • pinch (or dash or several shakes) cayenne pepper
  • 1 bag crushed Miss Vickies (or Kettle) Jalapeno Chips

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 325F. Line a baking sheet with parchement paper and place an oven safe cooling rack on top.
  2. Beat egg + cayenne pepper in a shallow dish. Crush chips in a second shallow dish.
  3. Dip chicken breast in egg mixture and then in chips. Ensure there is a healthy (i.e., thick) coating of chips on all sides of the chicken. Place on cooling rack.
  4. Bake at 325F for 25-35 minutes until chicken is cooked through.

July 16, 2012 1 comment Read More
thai beef and mango salad

thai beef and mango salad

I have to say, I’ve been a bit remiss on posting this amazing recipe for thai beef & mango salad.
I found a draft in my drafts folder, from June 1, 2011. You read that right… 2011. So, I’ve been intending on posting about this salad for 383 days.

In any event, now is a great time to post about it. Firstly, since it is my brother’s birthday and he is in Thailand (HBD Dano!) and secondly because we enjoyed this salad again last Friday night. It formed part of a thai-stravaganza, featuring: summer rolls, this salad, red curry, and a tapioca coconut cream desert.

The recipe for this salad comes from the William Sonoma Asian cookbook, which I picked up for about $15 at Safeway in my first year of law school. I selected it because I liked the pictures. That’s how I rolled back then. Ok. still.

It’s super tasty, pretty easy (especially if you prepare the marinade and the dressing the night before), and fun. Who doesn’t love a salad with green, red, and yellow? You could probably make a pretty delicious version of this by marinating and grilling extra firm or pressed tofu as well.

Thai Beef (or Tofu) and Mango Salad

Adapted from William Sonoma Asian
Serves: 6 as part of a larger meal, 3-4 as a complete meal.

Ingredients
Marinade & Protein

  • 1 cup coconut milk
  • 1/8 cup fish sauce
  • 3 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 tbsp palm or brown sugar
  • 1 tbsp (or more) fresh cilantro, minced
  • 1 lb flank steak (or extra firm/pressed tofu)

Salad Dressing

  • 1 green jalapeno OR 1 red thai chile
  • 2 tbsps fresh cilantro stems, chopped
  • 2 tbsps fresh mint, chopped
  • 2 tbsps fresh mint, chopped
  • 1/8 tsp ground black pepper
  • 1/8 cup fish sauce
  • 5 tbsps fresh lime juice (2.5 really juicy limes)
  • 1 tbsp palm or brown sugar
  • 2 tbsp canola oil

Salad

  • 2 mangoes (your favourite variety)
  • 1 lemongrass stalk
  • 1 thai red chile
  • 2 shallots, thinly sliced
  • 1/8 tsp ground black pepper
  • 1/4 cup julienned fresh Thai basil
  • 1/4 cup fresh cilantro
  • 1/4 cup fresh mint
  • 1 head red-leaf lettuce

Directions
The night before or 1 hour ahead:

  1. Marinade: Mix together coconut milk, fish sauce, garlic, sugar and cilantro in a large ziplock bag. Add flank steak or tofu, coat well, and marinade in fridge for up to 24 hours. Bring to room temperature before cooking.
  2. Dressing: Seed and chop the chile, and combine in a mortar with the garlic, cilantro stems, mint and pepper and grind together with a pestle until a paste forms (if you don’t have a mortar and pestle, you can just smoosh them together with something heavy until you release all the juices). Transfer the paste to a bowl and whisk in fish sauce, lime juice, and sugar. Drizzle in the oil while whisking. Cover and refrigerate until serving.

About 1/2 hour before go time:

  1. Peel the mangoes and cut flesh into thin slices. Using only the bulb of the lemongrass, peel away the tough outer layer, smash the stalk with the side of a chef’s knife, and cut on the diagonal into 1/8 inch slides. Seed and julienne the chile. Set aside.
  2. Heat up your bbq (you can also bake protien in the oven or cook it on the stovetop, but bbq is my preferred method). Remove protein from marinade, pat dry, and bbq/cook to your liking.
  3. Meanwhile, line a serving platter with lettuce leaves.
  4. If serving flank steak, slice across the grain into thin strips. Pour juices into dressing and stir well. If using tofu, slice into thin strips. Add protein, mangoes, lemongrass, chile, shallots, and julienned herbs to the dressing and toss to coat.
  5. Spoon mixture on top of lettuce and serve.
  6. Enjoy!

June 18, 2012 0 comments Read More
green bean+barley salad

green bean+barley salad

Ok, first things first… Before we go too crazy talking about Debbie’s delicious salad, go enter in the draw to win two super amazing prints from January Jones Prints!  No one has entered yet, so that means you have pretty much a 100% chance of winning.  100% chance people!

Second things second… A huge shout out to my friend Del for connecting with me on Google Friend Connect! Yay Del!  Unfortunately the sidebar is acting up so I need to work out some kinks. Usually, you will be able to join our party way over to the right (under the heading “let’s connect”)! It’ll be fun!

And now to the meat vegetables of the post (it is a vegetarian salad, after all).  It’s that time again folks!  Time for another delicious recipe from my sister-in-law Debbie’s amazing cookbook.  Lots of you have told me you are fans of Debbie’s steak and mushroom salad, and who wouldn’t be?  It has steak, it has mushrooms, and most importantly… it has bacon.  But, as the weather gets warmer and we start worrying about our bikini (or board shorts, or speedo, whatever) bodies, maybe a salad that includes bacon-fat fried mushrooms isn’t quite the best thing to eat.  So today I present Debbie’s Green Bean and Barley Salad.  An (almost*) equally as delicious, vegetarian (but not vegan) friendly, and much much healthier, alternative.

*Seriously guys, there is no steak, or bacon or bacon-fat fried mushrooms in this one, it’s never going to beat out the other guy in a race to delicious.  But it is still pretty darn amazing.

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The hubs and I eat this salad as a warm meal unto itself, but it would be just as tasty chilled at a picnic.  Or as a supporting dish at dinner. It’s seriously yummy.

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This is because it gets its flavour from delicious things:

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Part of what makes it so yummy is barley.  I love barley.  Ever since I was a little kid and my grandma’s chicken soup included barley I’ve been a big fan.  But only recently have I come to realize just how versatile it is.  I always have a big (2 kg/4 lb) bag of barely in my cupboard, because who knows when the barley urge will strike!

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I also love green beans.  Is there a more prefect vegetable?  Other than asparagus, I’m not sure there is.

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So go off and get cooking friends, you won’t be disappointed!

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PS – Go here to buy Debbie’s cookbook for more delicious recipes.  Just do it.  You know you want to.

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We followed up dinner with our favorite macarons from Lemon Tree Patisserie.  Y.U.M.

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Debbie’s Green Bean and Barley Salad

Serves 6, or 2 as a (really big) meal.

Ingredients

  • 1/2 lb Green Beans
  • 1/2 cup pot or pearl barley
  • 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 tbsp white wine vinegar
  • 1 tbsp lemon juice
  • 1 small clove garlic
  • 1 tsp minced fresh thyme
  • 1 tsp Dijon mustard
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1/4 tsp pepper
  • 2 cups baby arugula
  • 1 cup grape or cherry tomatoes, halved
  • 2 green onions, thinly sliced

Directions
Trim beans, cut in half then blanch in saucepan of boiling water until tender-crisp, about 3 minutes. Cool in ice bath, drain and pat dry.

Meanwhile, in pot of boiling salted water, cook barley until tender but still chewy. Drain and let cool for 5 minutes.

In large bowl, whisk together oil, vinegar, lemon, garlic, thyme, mustard, salt, and pepper; add barley and beans tossing to coat well.

Add arugula, tomatoes, and green onions, tossing well.

Stir in cheese and eat right away, or let stand for up to one hour or refrigerate for up to 4 hours and stir in cheese before serving!

Enjoy!

May 28, 2011 1 comment Read More
arugula apple salad

arugula apple salad

This is a tasty salad and chicken schnitzel combo I came across about a year ago on Epicurious.  The original salad recipe calls for frisee and belgian endive.  The first time I made it I substituted arugula for both because my grocery store doesn’t carry either frisee or beligian endive.  Lame, I know.  A few months later, I was able to try the recipe as originally concocted, and you know what?  It just didn’t work for me, but my arugula substitution?  Delicious!

This recipe would be the very best in the early fall when the apples are at their very best. However, it is also a welcome change from the heavy winter meals on those first early days of spring.

The schnitzel requires a bit of work, especially if you pound your chicken and make your own breadcrumbs, which I (rarely) do. I actually slice my chicken in half lengthwise in order to make it about half thickness. I find this works out very well and saves me so much time. Does anyone know of a “foodie” reason why I shouldn’t be doing it this way? (I had a few pictures of the chicken cutlets, but they look like raw, breaded, chicken, I’m going to let you use your imagination on that one!)

The salad is easy. Just prepare your dressing, slice up your apple into matchsticks and your radishes into rounds.

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Mix it all up with your dressing and your arugula.

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And serve with the schnitzel. Delicious.

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Chicken Schnitzel

Adapted from Epicurious
Serves 2
Ingredients
2 boneless skinless chicken breast
All purpose flour
1 large eggs
1/2 tablespoon minced fresh Italian parsley [Don't forget the parsely, it takes this schnitzel from ok to awesome.]
1+ cups (about) fresh breadcrumbs made from crustless country wheat bread (preferably organic)
1 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided
1 tablespoons canola oil, divided

Instructions
Place large piece of plastic wrap on work surface. Unfold 1 chicken thigh near 1 end of plastic. Fold other end of plastic over chicken to cover completely. Using mallet, pound chicken to 1/4- to 1/3-inch thickness. Set cutlet aside in plastic sheet. Repeat with remaining chicken thighs and 5 more sheets of plastic wrap. DO AHEAD: Cutlets can be made up to 1 day ahead. Refrigerate wrapped in plastic. [This is the good way to make cutlets. The lazy person way is to slice your chicken in half lengthwise so they are half the thickness. This has always worked well for me!]

Place large scoop of flour in shallow dish (such as pie dish). Beat eggs and parsley in another shallow dish to blend. Place 2 cups breadcrumbs in third shallow dish. Unwrap 1 chicken cutlet and sprinkle all over with salt and pepper. Coat cutlet completely with flour, then egg mixture, then breadcrumbs. Transfer cutlet to rimmed baking sheet. Repeat with remaining chicken cutlets, adding more flour and breadcrumbs as needed.

Divide half of butter and half of oil between 2 large skillets; melt butter with oil over medium-high heat. Add 3 cutlets to each skillet. Cook until coating is golden brown and crisp on bottom, about 3 minutes. Using spatula, transfer chicken to sheet of foil. Divide remaining butter and remaining oil between skillets; swirl to melt butter. Return chicken, browned side up, to skillets. Sauté until bottoms are browned and chicken is cooked through, about 3 minutes longer.

Arugula Apple Salad

Adapted from Epicurious’ Frisee Apple Salad
Serves 2

Ingredients
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
3/4 tablespoon shallots, finely chopped
1/4 teaspoon finely grated lemon peel
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 small Pink Lady or Jazz apples, quartered, cored, cut into matchstick-size strips
5 radishes, trimmed, thinly sliced
1 tablespoons coarsely chopped fresh Italian parsley

Directions
Combine lemon juice, chopped shallots, and grated lemon peel and lemon juice in small bowl. Gradually whisk in oil. Season dressing to taste with salt and pepper. DO AHEAD: Can be made 2 hours ahead. Let stand at room temperature. Rewhisk before using.

Combine arugula, radishes, and parsley in large bowl. Toss salad with dressing and serve.

March 16, 2011 0 comments Read More
steak + bacon

steak + bacon

My sister in law Debbie is a fabulous cook; her salads are seriously amazing. She is also a wonderful person. Shortly after the hubs and I announced we were getting married, Debbie started on a project, which resulted in what was far and away our most thoughtful wedding present.*

*Thoughtful wedding presents can be great… provided 1) you know the couple will love them (a la giraffe that wasn’t — a story for another day) or 2) they aren’t an item “for the home”… save those for the showers. People register for a reason. No one needs two toasters.

Debbie spent the better part of the year creating a cookbook for us, and “Fabulous Favourites: A Selection of Deb’s Favourite Recipes” was born. The cookbook is amazing, it includes drinks, appetizers, soups, salads and deserts. Debbie didn’t just create a cookbook. She also prepared and photographed* almost every recipe in the book. Delicious.

*Photographs actually taken by my brother-in-law and nephew (I think).

Throughout the last 13 months, I have had the opportunity to make several recipes from the cookbook. And it is the gift that just keeps on giving, there are still several more to try, but I have found the best one.

The first time I made it, the hubs looked at me with wide eyes upon his first bite and muttered “why have we ever eaten anything else”. It’s that good.

Vegetarians and vegans, run away in fear, as this salad contains steak. It also contains bacon. It also has mushrooms that are sautéed in bacon grease.

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The result is nothing short of amazing.

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And it couples really well with a couple of pieces of fresh beer bread on the side!

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I’ll publish Deb’s recipe (and my modifications) here, but if you are dying for more of Deb’s delicious recipes, you can order your very own copy of “Fabulous Favourites: A Selection of Deb’s Favourite Recipes” right here.

Warm Steak Salad with Cashews

From: Fabulous Favourites: A Selection of Deb’s Favourite Recipes

Ingredients
For the salad:

  • 1 bunch of greens [I generally use arugula.]
  • 8 to 10 mushrooms, sliced
  • 8 to 10 slices of bacon
  • 3 tbsp cashews
  • 3 tbsp Jarlsberg cheese, grated [After lots of experimentation, I prefer swiss, I find Jarlsbeg a little intense, this salad already packs a lot of punch]
  • 1 lb [or less] beef tenderloin
  • 1/2 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
  • 3 tbsp coarsely ground black pepper [I just serve with a pepper grinder on the table]

For the dressing:

  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 2 shallots, minced
  • 1/2 tsp fresh black pepper [or to taste]
  • 2 tsp sea salt [or to taste]
  • 1 tsp Dijon mustard
  • 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
  • 2 tbsp red wine vinegar
  • 3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

Directions
Combine garlic, shallots, black pepper, salt, mustard, Worcestershire sauce, and vinegar into a bowl.

Whisk thoroughly to mix and continue to whisk while slowly adding oil. Alternatively, use a food processor.

Allow dressing to stand at room temperature 3 to 4 hours [I always forget this, and it ends up standing for about 1/2 hour] in order to let flavours develop.

Wash and dry the greens and place into a large salad bowl.

In frying pan, cook the bacon, add the mushrooms, and briefly sauté with the peppercorns. [I fry the bacon in strips, then I remove from heat and blot it with paper towel to get the excess grease off. Meanwhile, I drain all the grease from the frying pan and sauté the mushrooms in the thin layer of bacon fat remaining. Once the bacon is cool enough to touch, I use kitchen scissors to cut into bite sized pieces and add them back to the pan. ]

Add cashews to bacon/mushroom mixture and cook for 30 seconds. Remove from heat.

Grill or fry the beef to taste (quite rare if desired). Cut the beef into strips.

Add the beef, mushroom and bacon mixture, and tomatoes to the greens. Add the dressing. Toss to mix thoroughly.

Garnish with grated cheese [I mix my cheese in in the previous step] and serve immediately.

Serves four. [Hmm... I've never noticed this before. We eat this as an entire meal, no appies or deserts, and it serves two.]


February 27, 2011 2 comments Read More