Tabouleh

 If you are looking for a healthy, quick and easy side dish tabouleh is a great choice! Tabouleh is  traditional middle Eastern salad. There are many variations of this salad some recipes call for mint and parsley and some call for onions and garlic along with fixins like tomatoes and cucumbers. The tabouleh I make is pretty simple but quite tasty! Next time you need a healthy side dish, give this one a try. 

Ingredients
Makes 4 servings

1 cup bulgar wheat 
1 3/4 cup of boiling water
juice from 1 small lemon
1 tbs olive oil
2 tomatoes
2 cups parsley
S&P

Place the bulgar wheat in a mixing bowl along with the lemon juice. Bring the water to a boil and pour into the mixing bowl with bulgar wheat. Stir then let it sit for 30 minutes. While the bulgar is cooking prep the veggies

Remove the seeds from the tomato and dice into small pieces. Rinse the parsley, remove the stems and mince until very finely minced.

After 30 minutes pour the bulgar mixture through a fine mesh strainer to remove excess water. Place the bulgar back into the bowl and add in the parsley, tomato,, olive  oil, S &P and mix well . Place in the fridge until you are ready to serve. Serve cold and enjoy! 

Cold Quinoa Salad with Green Beans, Mozzarella & Tomatoes

The temperatures have been in the 70's the past few days and it already feels like summer! Lucky me, my job is seasonal so I get to enjoy some time off of work once the ski season is over. I have been enjoying my first few days off of work and spent my time doing yard work, soaking up the sun and enjoying Tahoe life. 

Last summer I decided I wanted a little more grass in our backyard and it grew very well. Today I spent a some time filling in the patches missing grass and a few hours prepping more of the yard for some more grass seed. If you live in Lake Tahoe then you know most of our backyards consist of dirt, rock and weeds so prepping the yard for grass is tough work but worth it. 

I don't know about you but working outside in the sun gets me craving cold salads, soups and sandwiches. Earlier this week I made a few cups of arugula pesto so I decided to plan my lunch around it. I gave my hands a good scrub and decided to get to fixing lunch. This cold salad is quick, easy and packed full of protein and deliciousness. 

Ingredients 
Makes 4 servings
1/2 cup red onion, diced
2 garlic cloves, diced
1 tsp olive oil
2 cups water 
1 cup quinoa, rinsed
1/2 lb green beans
3 tbs arugula pesto
8 oz buffalo mozzarella
2 medium tomatoes
1 can chickpeas


Pour the oil in a medium pot and bring to medium heat then add in the onion and garlic, saute for 3 minutes. Add in the quinoa, cook for another 3 minutes, then add the water along with a pinch of salt and bring to a boil. Once the water is boiling bring to a simmer, cover and cook for 20 minutes. When the quinoa is done fluff with a fork and set aside to cool.

Remove the stems from the green beans and cut them into 1 inch pieces  Bring a separate pot of water to a brisk boil and cook the green beans for 3-5 minutes. I like my green beans extra crispy so I only cooked them for 3 minutes. Drain and set aside to cool.

While the quinoa and green beans are cooling cut the mozzarella in to small cubes, dice the tomatoes and add them into a bowl with the chickpeas and arugula pesto. Add in the green beans once they are cooled and toss well until all the fixins are well coated in pesto. 

Serve the green bean mixture on a bed of the cooled quinoa, season with pepper and enjoy! You can drizzle a little balsamic vinegar if you would like but this dish is good the way it is. 

Radish & Orange Salad

Anyone can throw a salad together but for those who just need some inspiration here you go. I had some yummy Trader Joe's Orange Muscat Champagne Vinegar in the fridge and thought it would go great with all of the radishes I had from my CSA box. For all of you folks who have a crazy amount of radishes and don't know what to do with them just toss them in a salad and enjoy! 

Ingredients
Makes 4 Small Salads

1 daikon radish, peeled & sliced thin
1 large watermelon radish, peeled & sliced thin
1-2 navel oranges, peeled & cut into cubes
2 avocados, peeled, pitted and diced
3 carrots, sliced

2 cup arugula
2 cups mixed greens
10 mint leaves (optional)

Dressing:
1/4 cup orange muscat champagne vinegar*
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1 tbs olive oil

Mix the dressing and set aside. Add all of the other ingredients into a salad bowl and toss with the dressing a little at a time until you have as much or as little dressing as you like. 

*If you don't have the dressing above just juice an orange and add it into the red wine vinegar and oil. 

Watermelon Radish & Citrus Salad

I think I have found my favorite raw winter salad. We have been getting lots and lots of radishes in our CSA vegetable share but they aren't something I use often when cooking. I have been trying to get creative and find creative ways to use them but I have been slacking on my radish recipes. This week we got a few oranges and more radishes which reminded me of a salad I saw in a cookbook. I made a few additions to the recipe and added a dressing. This combination of raw vegetables and fruit is such a tasty salad and it is great for you. 

Ingredients
3 watermelon radishes, peeled
1 large jicama, peeled
2 oranges, peeled
1 cucumber

Dressing
3 tbs orange juice
juice from lemon juice
1 tbs olive oil
1 tbs dijon mustard

Slice the watermelon radish and cucumber into very thin slices and cut in half again into crescents  Peel the oranges making sure to reserve a few pieces to juice for the dressing. You only need is 3 tbs so juice cut first then squeeze the juice. After you peel the jicama cut it into rectangular slices. Mix all these ingredients in a bowl and set aside.

Mix the dressing fixins in a small bowl then toss the salad with a little dressing at a time. Enjoy cold. 

*I served it over lettuce but it also makes a great salad on its own. 

Fennel & Apple Salad with Lemon Vinagrette

Fennel is loaded with vitamin C, fiber and potassium and is great for your liver. It is a very new vegetable to me but I first I was a little close minded. I was told it had a strong licorice flavor and I am not a fan of licorice. This is the second dish I have made with fennel and I have to say I like it a lot! The licorice flavor is not as bad as I thought it would be so I totally suggest giving it a try!

This first fennel dish I made was on a pizza with mushrooms and caramelized onions... YUM! Tonight I decide to eat it raw with a salad and I am so excited about this recipe. It is such a delicious combination of flavors. 

Ingredients
Makes 4 small salads

1 apple, sliced

1/2 cup cranberries

1/2 cucumber, sliced

1/2 bulb of fennel, shaved

4 cups mixed greens

Dressing

Mix ingredients below in a small bowl.

1/3 cup lemon juice
1 tbs olive oil

3 tbs red wine vinegar
1 small shallot, diced

Toss the apple, cranberries, fennel and cucumber in the dressing. Top the mixed greens with the mixture making sure to scoop some of the dressing as well. 

Russian Kale Cesar Salad (vegetarian)

One of the vegetables in my basket was Russian Kale. The boyfriend requested that I make a kale Cesar salad (vegetarian of course). After making two trips to the grocery store I realized I forgot lemons so I had to make the dressing with lime juice, and it was quite delicious. 

• 4 cups of kale, chopped
• 1 tomato, chopped
• croutons (optional)

Dressing:

• 1 egg yolk
• 1/2-3/4 cup Parmesan
• 1 garlic clove 
• 2 tbs lemon or lime juice
• 3 tbs olive oil 
• S&P

Place dressing ingredients in a food processor and pulse until smooth. Toss your kale and tomatoes with the dressing and serve.

*Add as much or as little olive oil as you would like. I don't like oily dressing so I keep it to a minimum. 

* If you have a good loaf of bread laying around I suggest making croutons.

Persimmon & Pomegranate Salad

I've been crazy busy the past few weeks gearing up for the winter season and have not spent enough time in the kitchen and have not made any additions to my bog in quite some time. Thanksgiving was just a few days ago and since I got to spend the entire day in the kitchen I now have a couple good recipes to share.

One new addition to my Thanksgiving dinner menu was a delicious Persimmon & Pomegranate Salad. This dish is easy, colorful and good for you! 

Persimmon & Pomegranate Salad

• 6-10 persimmons, sliced
• pomegranates seeds (1-2 pomegranates)
• 8 oz crumbled goat cheese
• 2 tbs chopped thyme (plus a little more for garnish)
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1/8 cup balsamic vinegar

Place the persimmon slices on a plate and top with a sprinkle of goat cheese and a few pomegranates seeds. Add another slice of persimmon on top and repeat with goat cheese and pomegranates  seeds. Whisk together the thyme, olive oil and vinegar and drizzle over the pomegranates right before serving.

*If you have leftovers just chop up the persimmons serve them on a bed of lettuce with some chicken just to change it up.

Blueberry, Pear, Gorgonzola Salad with Roasted Almonds

Looking for a refreshing quick and easy salad for one? This one is simple and YUMMY!! 

Fixins

• 1/2 Cup Blueberries
• 1 Pear Sliced
• 1/4 Cup Roasted Almonds
• 5 Cups Mixed Greens or Spinach
• Gorgonzola Cheese (as much or little as you like)
• Optional Topping- Sliced Green Onions

Dressing

• 2 Tbs. Raspberry Vinaigrette (I used Annie's Organic)
• 2 Tbs. Balsamic Vinegar

The fixins above make 2 salads. 

Bell Pepper & Corn Salad

This is a yummy corn salad which can be a side dish or a salsa. It is quite yummy! If you are grilling grill the corn first otherwise it is good raw. 

• 5 Ears of Corn, kernals cut off
• 2 Tomatoes, chopped
• 1 Green Bell Pepper, chopped
• 1/4 Red Onion
• 3 Garlic Cloves
• 1/2 Cup Basil, chopped
• Juice from 1 Lemon
• 1 Tbs Olive Oil
• S & P to taste

Mix all ingredients in a bowl and place in the fridge. Serve cold. *The longer this dish sits the better it tastes.

Asian Salad with Baked Tofu or Chicken

This is a super yummy salad! I was craving chicken but since the b/f is a vegetarian I decided to try and make baked tofu. It turned out amazing!! The marinade and the dressing are pretty much the same ingredients so it's a user friendly salad. I had some sesame Asian dressing in the fridge so I mixed a little in my dressing recipe for fun and it was delish! 

Baked Tofu or Chicken Marinade

• 1 tbs sesame oil
• 2 tbs rice wine vinegar
• 2 tbs soy sauce
• 1 clove garlic, chopped
• 1 tbs agave nectar (optional)

Mix the above ingredients in a shallow dish.

Baked Tofu -Slice the tofu into cubes, dry on paper towels then marinate in the mixture for an hour, flipping the tofu to make sure it is coated. Preheat the oven to 375. Place the tofu in a non-stick pan and bake for 35 minutes. Turn the tofu after 15 minutes. After 35 minutes broil the   tofu one each side until it starts to brown.

Chicken -Cut the chicken into cubes, place in a bowl or zip lock bag with the mixture and marinate for an hour.  Preheat the oven to 375. Place in a non-stick pan and bake for around 20 minutes. 

Salad Fixins
* I usually chop everything up and put it in tupperware so what ever I don't eat I can have ready for the next day. 

• 1 can  mandarin oranges, halved (reserve the juice for the dressing)
• 1 can water chestnuts, halved
• 1 sliced cucumber
• 1 shredded carrots
• 1/2 cabbage, sliced
• chopped romaine lettuce
• chopped cashews or peanuts

Dressing 

• 2 tbs sesame oil
• 1/4 cup rice wine vinegar
• 1 tbs soy sauce
• juice from the mandarin (taste as you add)

My Flavor of the Month Salads

Beet & Orange Salad w/Avocado Creamy Dressing

(Makes 3-4 Servings)

Salad Fixins:

2 to 3 Large Beets - boiled, peeled & sliced
1 Navel Orange - peeled & cubed

Macadamia Nuts 

2-4 cups of Mixed Greens or Spinach

Place all salad fixins on a plate then top with dressing.

Dressing: 

1 Avocado, peeled and remove seed

3 tbs of Orange Juice 

1/2 Lime Squeezed

Dash of Olive Oil

Place all of the dressing ingredients in a food processor and blend until smooth. 

*If you dont have orange juice use  (save the peels with little pieces of orange left to juice for dressing)

Orange, Carrot & Pepper Salad

(Makes 3-4 Servings)

Salad Fixins:

2 Bell Peppers (1 Orange, 1 Yellow), cut in thick strips

5-6 Carrots Peeled

1 Navel Orange - peeled & cubed

2- 4 cups of Mixed Greens or Spinach 

Goat Cheese

Toasted Almonds

Dressing:

Red wine vinegar & touch of walnut, sunflower or olive oil

Preheat the oven to 350. Place the carrots and bell peppers in a baking dish and toss with a little sunflower, walnut or olive oil and bake for 15+ minutes or until carrots are tender. Remove and let cool.

Place the lettuce and orange on a plate, top with carrots and peppers and top with crumbled goat cheese and almonds.

*This tastes great even without the lettuce

Both recipes adapted from http://www.wholeliving.com/173430/eat-rainbow 

Tomato, Kale & Garbanzo Bean Salad

2 cans of garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
2 vine ripe tomatoes, seeded and chopped
3-4 large kale leaves, washed and chopped
1 lemon, squeezed
3 garlic cloves
S&P
1 tbs olive oil

Saute the garlic in the olive oil on low for 2-3 minutes, then add the kale. Cover the saute pan and cook for just a few minutes to soften. Be sure not to over cook it so it stays a little crunchy. Once it is ready set aside to cool. Place the garbanzo beans in a large bowl and toss with the lemon juice and a little more olive oil. Next add the cooled kale mixture making sure to scrape out all of the garlic and olive oil from the pan. Stir well then toss in the tomatoes, S&P. Place in the fridge to cool and serve cold.

Green Bean & Goat Cheese Salad

Salad:
4 cups of mixed greens
1 lb of fresh green beans, cleaned and ends trimmed off
1/4 cup chopped red onions
2 garlic cloves
1 fresh squeezed lemon
lemon pepper
8 oz cherry tomatoes halved
8 oz goat cheese, crumbled
1/4 cup sliced almonds

Dressing:
1 fresh squeezed lemon
lemon pepper
1/4 cup white wine vinegar
1 tbs sunflower oil
salt and lemon pepper.

Toss the green beans in lemon juice from 1 lemon, lemon pepper and a little olive oil. Sautee garlic and onion for 5 minutes then pour the green bean mixture into the pan and cook for10-15 minute or until they look tender. Remove from oven and let cool.

While the green beans are cooling make the salad dressing. My measurements are not exact but just taste as you go and keep the oil to a minimum. Then in a separate bowl add some mixed greens and a few halved tomatoes. Add green beans then top with goat cheese, almonds and dressing.

*makes 2-4 salads

Cucumber Mango Salad with Edamame Basmati Rice

Cucumber Mango Salad

Ingredients:
3 cucumbers - seeded, peeled and cut into squares
3 mangoes - peeled and cut into squares
5 radishes - sliced
1/4 cup - chopped mint & basil
2 tbs sesame seeds
1/4 cup white wine vinegar

Mix first four ingredients together and then toss with the vinegar. Top with sesame seeds. (Maybe add a little lemon juice to the mint and basil to keep from turning brown)


Edamame Basmati Rice

Ingredients:
1 package shelled edamame
1 cup basmati rice, uncooked
1/4 cup diced mint
1/4 cup rice wine vinegar
salt

Cook the edamame and basmati rice according to instructions. Once they are done cooking mix them together in a bowl. Add add in mint, vinegar and salt and toss.

Theses actually taste really good mixed together!

Asparagus Salad

Asparagus is in season and I can think so so many yummy recipes that I enjoy with this crunchy green vegetable. This salad recipe is super delicious and good for you too! The longer you let this mixture sit the better it tastes. I like to make the asparagus mixture the night before I plan to eat it so the flavors intensify. If you don't have time to let it sit then just enjoy as is, it is still quite tasty. 

Ingredients
Makes 4 Servings

1 1/2 lbs asparagus, washed and the very bottom cut off
2 tbs lemon lemon juice
1 tsp olive oil
1-2 tbs lemon pepper seasoning
2 cups of cherry tomatoes, halved
1 red or green bell pepper, diced
1/2 red onion, diced

Dressing
1 lemons, juiced
1/3 cup balsamic vinegar
1 garlic clove, minced
2 tbs olive oil
S&P

Mix the dressing in a small bowl and set aside. 


Fixins

1 avocado, peeled and sliced
4-6 cups of mixed greens or butter lettuce



Preheat the oven to 400. Toss the asparagus in 2 tbs lemon juice, olive oil and lemon pepper. Place in a pan and bake for 15 minutes. 

Once the asparagus is cool, chop it into 1 inch pieces and place it in a large bowl with the bell pepper, red onion and tomatoes in the large bowl and toss in the dressing.

Assemble your salad starting with the lettuce then spoon about 3/4 cup of the asparagus mixture (make sure to scoop up some of the dressing). Place the sliced avocados on top then serve.

Edamame Corn Salad

1 package of cooked and cooled edamame beans (no shell)
2-3 ears of corn
cilantro (frozen trader joe's cilantro works best)
touch of brown sugar
rice wine vinegar

In a bowl combine and stir the cilantro, a tbsp. of rice wine vinegar and brown sugar until the sugar disolves. Remove kernels from the cob and place into the bowl and add edamame. Stir all ingredients together. Taste and add more rice wine vinegar if needed.