Autumn Salad with Maple Cider Vinaigrette and Sugar Curried Walnuts

This salad is wonderful and can be adapted slightly based on greens available. It has been a couple years since I've made this salad but it was just as good as I remembered. While the recipe calls for spinach, I used a premixed bag of baby lettuces which worked out great. The recipe also calls for blue cheese, but I'm weird about the texture, flavor and "blueness" of blue cheese and opted to use goat cheese instead. I have had this salad with blue cheese before and it was delicious, so it's your preference. Seeing as how I forgot to buy a red onion, I substituted some green onion which worked out nicely too. The final adaption I made tonight was using white wine vinegar in place of cider vinegar because, well, it seems I was out.

Hmmm... seems I actually made an entirely different salad tonight!

So, here is the recipe as it was written but feel free to adapt! Enjoy!

Salad
10 oz or more baby spinach (use more)
1 ripe pear, cored and thinly sliced
1/2 small red onion, thinly sliced OR 3 green onions chopped
4 oz crumbled blue cheese

Sugar Curried Walnuts
1 cup walnuts
2 TBS butter, melted
3 TBS sugar
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1/8 tsp curry powder
1/8 tsp salt and pepper

Toss walnuts in melted butter. Stir together sugar and remaining dry ingredients. Sprinkle over walnuts and toss to coat. Spread onto nonstick aluminum foil-lined pan. Back at 350 for 10 minutes.

Maple Cider Vinaigrette
1/3 cup cider vinegar
2 TBS maple syrup
1 TBS Dijon mustard
1/8 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
2/3 cup olive oil (or a little less)

Once the walnuts cool a little bit, sprinkle them over the salad.

Green bean and Tomato Salad

Here is another summer time favorite that makes use of fresh ingredients and best served in season. I went to our local farmers market for the first time in years this weekend and lucky me it was the tomato festival! So many colorful and flavorful varieties of tomatoes for the tasting and buying! I ended up getting alot of little cherry style tomatoes in a variety of colors. I am not sure how I left the market without any larger tomatoes for sandwiches ... oh well! I also bought some fresh green beans knowing I wanted to make this salad. It is super easy and makes a great side dish. Use any kind of tomato you like .... I used cherry tomatoes although the recipe calls for two large tomatoes. Really, it does not matter so get creative and use what you've got.

Green bean and Tomato Salad

1 pound fresh green beans, trimmed and snapped in half
2 large tomatoes, cut into wedges OR lots of cherry tomatoes halved OR whatever kind of tomato you fancy
2 TBS balsamic vinegar
3 TBS EVOO
2 tsp or less minced garlic
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp freshly ground black pepper

1. Bring large pot of water to a boil. Add green beans and cook 3 - 5 minutes until crisp tender. Drain. Run under cold water to stop cooking process. Place in large bowl. Add tomatoes.
2. Combine vinegar and remaining ingredients. Whisk together. Pour over beans and tomatoes and gently toss until coated.

Yum!

Fresh Tomato and Basil Quiche

This dish is perfect for summer time as it uses fresh basil and tomatoes ... both abundant and delicious during the summer season. Do this dish justice and only make it when tomatoes are in season. It is just wrong to buy tomatoes in winter when they are hard, pale and tasteless!

I want to post this recipe now as our local farmers market is having a tomato festival this weekend!

Fresh Tomato and Basil Quiche (adapted from Cooking Light)

1 frozen/ refrigerated roll out style pie crust thawed
olive oil
1 cup sliced onion (I halved my onion then sliced)
1 clove garlic, minced
1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
1 cup sliced tomato (I mixed cherry and traditional tomato on my quiche)
1/4 cup shredded fresh basil
1 cup 2% milk
1 1/2 TBS flour
salt and pepper to taste
3 large eggs, beaten

1. Unroll pie crust and carefully place in quiche pan. Par bake at 400 degrees about 10 minutes. Poke a few holes in the crust before placing in oven.
2. Add a bit of olive oil to a non-stick skillet. Heat over medium-high until hot. Add onion and garlic, saute 8 minutes or until lightly browned. Spread onion mixture in bottom of the prepared crust.
3. Sprinkle cheese over the onion and arrange tomato slices over the cheese. Top with basil.
4. Whisk milk and flour together. Add to beaten eggs and whisk a bit more. Pour over tomatoes. Bake at 400 degrees for 35 - 45 minutes until golden and knife inserted near center of quiche comes out clean.

Serve with a fresh summer salad! Yum!

Spring salad with grapes, pistachios and goat cheese

Alright all those who love a good Spring salad this is for you. I love goat cheese and am lucky enough to have a few local farms that supply it, although if I need to keep our food budget in mind, store bought works just fine. The dressing used for this salad is wonderful and it makes ALOT and you only use a little to coat the salad, so plan to store it in a jar and have for salads later in the week.

This recipe is from Cooking Light

Easy Herb Vinaigrette

9 TBS white wine vinegar
1 1/2 TBS honey
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup EVOO
3 TBS fresh chopped basil
3 TBS fresh minced chives

1. Combine all ingredients, stir well with a whisk. Store in mason jar or other container in refrigerator.

Spring Salad

1/4 shelled dry-roasted, pistachios, finely chopped
1/2 cup (4 oz) goat cheese
1 (5 oz pkg) mixed salad greens or spring lettuce
1 cup seedless grapes, halved
1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper

1. Place pistachios in a shallow dish. Divide cheese into 12 equal portions, rolling to form 12 balls. Roll each ball in the pistachios until well coated. Set aside.

2. Combine herb vinaigrette and greens in a large mixing bowl, and toss gently to coat. Add grapes to salad and gently toss. Top salad with cheese balls once served on salad plate.

Banana-Orange Pistachio topped muffins

I've really been into having a second breakfast snack to take to work with me when I get hungry. Or for elevensies. I used to bring granola bars (still do some days) but I wanted to mix up my snack work a little bit and have been pretty inspired recently with recipes found on Pinterest.

In the last couple months I've made a variety of yummy bars based on the raspberry bar recipe. I made blueberry bars, peach bars and apricot bars too. They were all delicious although the peace was my favorite!

Next came some healthy breakfast cookie. It was good but total health food. Chewy from lack of flour and the only sweetness came from the bananas. I'm not saying these will not find their way into my snack rotation again, but I was ready to move onto something new after the first batch was gone.

Yesterday I did a search for pistachio muffins and came across a healthy yet yummy sounding recipe. No green dye in these either. What is up with that anyway? Who decided pistachio muffins should be green? Gross.

I made a couple alterations to the original recipe such as using sugar in place of agave and adding some wheat germ. Overall I like these. Just a hint of sweetness which makes them nice for a morning snack.

Hope you enjoy them too! Happy snacking!

Banana-Orange Pistachio Topped Muffins 

Altered from original recipe found on Anja's Food 4 Thought

3 ripe bananas, mashed
2 oranges, grated for zest
1/2 cup fresh squeezed orange juice
2 eggs
3 TBS canola oil
1/2 cup sugar (or more if you like a bit sweeter muffin)

2 cups quick cook oats
1 cup flour
2 TBS baking powder
1/2 tsp salt

brown sugar
pistachio nut meats


Preheat oven to 350 and line muffin tin.

1. Combine mashed banana, orange peel, orange juice, eggs, oil and sugar in a medium bowl. Mix well.

2. Mix together dry ingredients in a large bowl. Pour wet mixture into dry ingredients and stir until just combined. Spoon batter into muffin tins.

3. Sprinkle some brown sugar and pistachios on top of each muffin.

4. Bake 20 - 30 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.

Pistou Soup - French Minestrone

Ok ... I'm really loving The Essential New York Times Cookbook. I've made three recipes from the book so far and each has been delicious.

Last night I made Pistou Soup, which according to the cookbook is a sort of French minestrone. I've been using the same minestrone soup recipe for years and while it's good, hubby was never a big fan, and to be honest it was good but not great. I decided to give this recipe a try and it was a winner, passing the hubby seal of approval which is a big deal when it comes to soups. We both thought the soup was full of flavor ... maybe even a bit surprised by how yummy it was!

This soup is really wonderful and just as scrumptious the next day as leftovers .... I'm having some right now as I type. I made the soup vegetarian by using veggie broth rather than chicken broth.

Pistou Soup

1 TBS olive oil
1 onion, diced
1 - 2 carrots, peeled and diced
1 turnip, peeled and diced
4 cups water
2 cups chicken broth (I used veggie ... your choice)
1 TBS salt
2 large white potatoes, peeled and diced
1 large leek, white and pale green parts only, diced and rinsed well
1 zucchini, diced
2 handfuls green beans, cut into 1 inch pieces (I used frozen)
2 TBS finely chopped parsley
2 TBS finely chopped basil (wrong season for fresh basil, I used 1 TBS dried)
2 large cloves garlic, minced
2 large tomatoes, peeled, cored seeded and chopped (uh ... I just cored and chopped)
1 TBS olive oil
1/2 cup undrained canned white beans ( I used 16 oz can of cannelloni beans)
1 handful thin spaghetti broken into thirds
freshly ground pepper

1. Heat oil in large saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion and cook 3 minutes. Add the carrot and turnip and cook 1 minute. Stir in the water and broth, bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and cook 10 minutes.
2. Add salt, potatoes, leek, zucchini and green beans. Simmer 20 minutes, skimming foam from surface if needed.
3. While the soup simmers, combine the parsley and basil in a medium bowl. Stir in garlic, tomatoes and live oil. Set aside.
4. Stir in beans and spaghetti into the soup. simmer 8 minutes.
5. Stir in the tomato mixture into soup, season with salt (if needed ... I did not add any more salt), pepper and simmer 2 minutes longer.

Enjoy!

Greek Lentil Soup

I was given an amazing cookbook for my birthday this year ... The Essential New York Times Cook Book! It's huge. It's hardback. It's wonderful! I could not wait to choose a recipe to try and waited only a few days before trying a soup.

I love lentil soup although my hubby is not such a fan. In order to please us both I decided to make this soup along with other Mediterranean foods including falaful, pita, tzatziki, hummus, etc. We had a scrumptious Greek buffet for dinner which was fabulous! It's a good thing I decided to include all those side dishes because as it turned out I misread the soup instructions and allowed only two hours cook time rather than three, so there was actually no soup for dinner that night.

The soup was amazing for lunch the next day though!

So, if you like lentil soup (and even if you don't) give this one a try. Allow plenty of time for cooking as it does cook forever but it's worth it. I shared this soup with co-workers and they all raved about it. Even my hubby said it was delicious!

Faki (Greek Lentil Soup) from The Essential New York Times Cook Book

1 lb green lentils
8 cups warm water
1 large onion, chopped
 2 - 3 garlic cloves, chopped
2 small stalks celery, finely chopped
5 - 6 canned Italian-style plum tomatoes and their juices
1 large bay leaf
4 sprigs parsley
chopped mint, basil or oregano to taste (I used about 2 TBS mint)
 1/3 cup olive oil
salt and freshly ground black pepper
red wine vinegar

1. Wash and pick over the lentils, and place in a soup pot with warm water to cover. Let stand for 1 hour.
2. Bring the pot of lentils to a boil. Add the onion, garlic, celery and tomatoes, cover and simmer for 1 hour.
3. Stir in the herbs and oil and season with salt and pepper. Continue to simmer, covered, for another 1 1/2 hours or until the soup is very thick and the lentils are tender. Stir occasionally. Add 2 TBS red wine vinegar toward the end.
4. Serve hot with additional vinegar on the side if desired.

*** a couple cooking notes suggested in book***
use regular green lentils
be generous with the salt as the lentils really soak it up
it makes ALOT of soup so be ready to share it or freeze it