Melon Goat Cheese Salad

Posted by CK in easy, goat cheese, honeydew, melon, pomegranate, potluck, recipe, salad, vegetarian

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A and I had some friends over for our first BBQ of the season the other day, and in the spirit of eating healthy, we accompanied our steaks with baked potato wedges and the following refreshing salad (suggested by a work colleague - with a few tweaks of my own).

As a bonus, this salad can easily be prepared as a main course to eat for lunch! It's also a perfect potluck dish! Simply toss the following ingredients together:

*Note: no particular portions are included as you can play around with the quantities as you like

• Lettuce (I used Boston Lettuce)
• Red onion, chopped
• Honeydew, cut into bite size cubes
• Melon, cut into bite size cubes
• Pomegranate seeds
• Crumbled goat cheese
• Creamy poppy seed salad dressing (use as little or as much ad you'd like)

Simple and delicious! :)

Enjoy!

- CK

Grilled Chicken and Artichoke Salad

Posted by CK in artichoke, chicken, easy, feta, recipe, salad

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Summer is upon us and it's time to take out your grilling tools! For A and I, summer is usually a time to reset our eating habits - key word HABIT. I'm the first one to know that eating healthy isn't always easy! Sticking to a routine that works is a challenge, but when you find fun and delicious recipes to work with, it makes the task that more easy! In order to get on that train, we've decided to include more salads in our diet. So, on our last grocery run, we made sure to buy ingredients that would help us create interesting salads. Here's one that was definitely a winner and that was SO easy to toss together!

Ingredients (yields 4 large portions):

• 2 chicken breasts
• Montreal Chicken Spice
• 4 handfuls of lettuce (any kind will do, I used mixed greens)
• 1 can artichoke hearts, cut in quarters
• 1/3 cup cubed feta cheese
• 1 1/2 tbsp sunflower seeds
• 1 1/2 cups cherry tomatoes, cut in half
• 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
• 1/2 tbsp honey

Method:

1. Heat your BBQ on medium-high heat for about 5 minutes
2. Cut your chicken breasts in half, along the long side (basically make them thinner) and spice them with the Montreal Chicken Spice on both sides
3. Reduce your BBQ to medium-low heat and cook your chicken through, flipping occasionally
4. While your chicken is cooking, toss together the lettuce, artichokes, feta cheese, sunflower seeds, and cherry tomatoes.
5. Once your chicken is cooked, cut it into small cubes and add them to the mix.
6. In a small bowl, thoroughly mix the olive oil, vinegar and honey.
7. Add to the salad and mix well.

This is a perfect salad to make with any kind of left-over chicken!

Vegetarian option: Replace the chicken with shrimp, or simply omit the chicken! 

Enjoy!

- CK

Mixed Beans Salad

Posted by CK in beans, easy, finger food, healthy, recipe, salad, vegetarian

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While attending a BBQ back home a few weeks ago, my aunt prepared a bean salad/dip that she served with multigrain tostitos. You can imagine my surprise when I found myself eating quite a large amount of it! i.e. amazing deliciousness.

In an attempt to create something similar, I came up with the following:

Ingredients (5-7 servings):

• 1 cup Garbanzo beans (Primo brand)
• 1 cup White kidney beans (Irresistibles brand)
• 1 cup canned corn, drained
• 2 cups diced tomatoes
• 1/2 diced white onion
• 3/4 diced sweet red pepper
• 1 cup chopped parsley
• 2 large minced garlic cloves
• 1.5 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
• juice of 1/2 lemon
• optional: red kidney beans - note that the more beans you add, the more carbs you add. 
• Mutligrain tostitos scoops

Very simply mix everything together! Add 6 crushed tostitos to each serving. I wouldn't advise adding the tostitos to the main mix as they might get soggy from the vinegrette.

This salad is perfect for a potluck, BBQ or even as an appetizer when you have guests coming over! Serve them in the scoops and you've got yourself some healthy finger food! :)

Nutritional Information (1 portion - if parted in 7):

Salad + Tostitos

Calories: 270.42

Carbs: 40.33 g

Protein: 11.03 g

Fat: 7.55 g

Cholesterol: 0 mg 

Enjoy!

- CK

Guillaume's Cooking: Chicken Quinoa Salad

Posted by CK in chicken, easy, quinoa, recipe, salad

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Before we head into this absolutely delicious recipe, I would like to introduce our new monthly guest blogger: Guillaume! While he is a work colleague of mine, he's worked in restaurants for many years. So, I'm sure he'll bring some great insight into the art of cooking! :) One of his recipes will be featured every second wednesday of every month. So make sure to check in! Welcome Guillaume!

This is one of my simple “go-to” dish I do very often as it requires very little preparation and it is enjoyed by all of my friends. If you wish to save a bit of time during the preparation, you can easily replace the tomato sauce by sun-dried tomato pesto or regular pesto. This dish incorporates many elements of a Greek salad with the feta bringing all components of the dish together with its saltiness and creaminess. The richness of the roasted pine nuts accentuates the texture of the quinoa. The use of quinoa instead of pasta keeps the dish light and fresh.

Preparation:

25 to 30 minutes

Ingredients:

Chicken

• 2 chicken breasts (diced)
• 1 Lemon or lime
• 1 teaspoon of cinnamon

Quinoa

• ½ cup of quinoa
• ½ cup of stock (chicken or vegetable)
• ½ cup of water

Tomato Sauce

• 2 Tomatoes
• 1/3 cup of finely chopped white onion
• 1 finely chopped garlic clove
• 1 teaspoon of oregano
• ¼ cup of pine nuts

Vegetables

• ¼ cup of finely chopped red pepper
• ¼ cup of finely chopped green pepper
• ¼ cup of finely chopped cucumber
• ¼ cup of finely chopped red onion
• ¼ cup of feta (crumbled)

Method:

1. Place the chicken breasts in a plastic bag and add the juice from one lemon or lime. Add the cinnamon and bit of salt and pepper to taste. (the cinnamon can be replaced by oregano, thyme, cumin, or any other combination of spices you may enjoy). Vacuum seal the bag and place in the refrigerator while cutting the vegetables.
2.  In a saucepan, boil water and blanche the tomatoes for five minutes. Remove the skin and dice the tomatoes. Keep some of the liquid used to blanche the tomatoes in a cup.
3. In another saucepan, bring to boil ½ cup of water and ½ cup of stock. Incorporate the quinoa and cook on medium heat, stirring intermittently, until all the liquid has evaporated. Let the quinoa cool for 5 minutes.
4.  In the saucepan used to blanche the tomatoes, combine a bit of oil and add the finely chopped white onions and garlic. Add the diced tomatoes, the oregano, and some salt and pepper to taste. Let the onions, garlic and tomatoes reduce at medium heat stirring once in while. As the tomatoes, onions and garlic reduce, add some of the liquid used to blanche the tomatoes as needed to help build the sauce base. Cook for 10 to 15 minutes.
5. Lightly roast the pine nuts in a pan. In a blender, incorporate the tomato sauce and half of the roasted pine nuts. Blend until the texture of the sauce is nice and smooth. Let the sauce sit for 5 minutes.
6. Cook the chicken in a pan or on the barbecue. Let the chicken rest for 5 minutes before dicing it.
7.  In a bowl, combine the quinoa and tomato sauce, the rest of the pine nuts, the vegetables, the feta and the chicken.
8. Serve at room temperature or chilled.

Dill Broccoli Salad

Posted by amanda in broccoli, budget, dill, easy, feta, quick, recipe, salad, vegetarian

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C and I have just come back from a helluva long weekend at an amazing cottage on Leslie Lake. While we were there we revisited some favorite recipes from last year's cottage adventures, and mixed up some new ones. Because it was gonna be hot as heck, I focused on salads this year, making one coleslaw, and one pasta salad. M and I had prepared pretty awesomely for the cottage, but came back to empty pantries at home, so tonight I mixed together some leftover ingredients from the first two, and came up with something pretty tasty for a hot summer's night.

You're gonna need:
1 bag (roughly 5 cups) of broccoli, julienned (I had a bag of PC broccoli slaw in the fridge)
Half an onion, chopped
1/4 of a cucumber, sliced in cookies and quartered
1/4 fresh dill, chopped
PC Artichoke and asiago salad dressing (or anything creamy and cool)
a small handful of feta cheese, crumbled
tons of freshly cracked black pepper

Mix it all together and eat your heart out! Delicious with cheese pizza.

Sparkling Summer Salad: Or, How I learned to stop slicing and love the mandolin,

Posted by amanda in apple, budget, celery, cilantro, cucumber, healthy, lemon, quick, recipe, salad, summer, vegan, vegetable, vegetarian

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I get a terrible feeling when I come to the end of a recipe I have all the ingredients for (ish) only to read the final instruction: crockpot-ing, immersion blending, dutch oven-ing...or any number of other final touches for which I don't have the right kitchen tool (yet!). So, having recently acquired a very handy mandolin from the previous owners of my new house (when someone leaves something in a cupboard still in the box, that's a housewarming gift right?), I've spent the better part of the afternoon julienning everything slice-able in my fridge (which is more than you'd think! Skinny cheese sticks anyone? Strawberry stick-men? Long long banana slices? No?).

The very tasty outcome of this little experiment is a pretty awesome summer salad: it's crunchy, tart, filling, and refreshing, and above all, easy (especially if you have a mandolin or any other kind of slicing tool).

You're gonna want:
A large bowl
A little bowl
A mandolin (you lucky duck)

In your big bowl toss together:

3 stalks of celery, sliced thick
half a cucumber, julienned
2 large carrots, peeled and julienned
2 granny smith (or other tart) apples, julienned [to do this, cut the apple into 4 sides, then attempt to slice - I kept the peels on)
l large handful of fresh cilantro, roughly chopped

In your small bowl mix:
1/2 cup lemon juice
1-2 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp apple cider vinegar (optional)
1 tbsp sugar (also optional - i wanted my dressing a little sweeter than lemony)
large grain salt to taste (I used a citrus chili salt mix and it was perfect)
cracked black pepper to taste

Drizzle the dressing over your salad mix and stir around until well distributed. Cover and keep in the fridge for an hour to let the flavours combine if you have the time, or serve fresh immediately!

Springy fig salad

Posted by amanda in easy, fig, recipe, salad, vegan, vegetarian

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I don't have pictures of my salad on hand, 

so here are some pictures of the spring flowers I do!

This Ottawa March weather seems to be alternating between salad and soup worthy (a bit like us!) so here's a bright tasting salad, replete with all sorts of chewiness and crunchiness to complement these new sunny days. Though you may have to invest in a package of figs (unless you're making a large number of salad servings), it will last you forever, and because the figs are dried, it will keep a really long time too!

To serve four:

Soak 5-6 dried figs in warm water for 10 minutes, in a small bowl.

Then:

Chop up 6-7 large leaves of washed romaine lettuce

Grate two large carrots

Slice up two mini cucumbers

Slice two-three hand fulls of fresh red grapes in half

Remove the figs from the water and dry them. Then, chop each fig into little wedges.

Mix your veggies, distributing them amongst your  4 plates or bowls, and combine your grapes with the figs.

Distribute the fruit evenly on the salad.

Dress with your favorite vinaigrette (I recommend Renee's Pear and Blue Cheese vinaigrette if you can get it! Most grocery stores carry this brand).

ENJOY!

Springy Grapefruit Salad

Posted by amanda in cheese, easy, grapefruit, healthy, lemon, salad, spinach

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free your fruit!!...into your belly

Spring is in the air (she said, as it snowed aggressively outside her window)! Or it was this past Family Day weekend anyhoo. A little wishful thinking never hurt, right?

Spring means salad season, and there's nothing I like better than a tasty combo of fruits and veggies, and of course, cheese. Cheese is pretty key.

If you're getting tired of our first spinach/parm salad (but how could you!) - here's a variation on a theme with a little more zing. Also, recent studies have indicated that eating citrus fruits lowers a woman's risk of blood-clot related stroke, so get peeling!

Here's an easy, healthy, tasty salad for 4:

You're going to need:

8oz (250g) of baby salad. Wash it.
Half a cup of Parmesan flakes (shredded or flaked, not ground or whatever...if you have a block of it, use a veggie peeler for speed's sake. You can also buy it flaked, as per the petals in the earlier recipe).
1 grapefruit (I prefer red) peeled and segmented.

Toss (more like mix) these ingredients with you hands in a large bowl for ideal distribution onto 4 plates or into bowls.

Dressing: In a small bowl mix....

Juice of half a lemon (or roughly 1.5-2 tbsp)
2-3 tbsp olive oil
chopped chives to taste (you're going to sprinkle this over the salad, so a large tbsp or two would do, unless you really want to up the chivey-ness)
fresh ground pepper

For a little protein consider toasting some slivered almonds and tossing them in there. Raisins might also be yummy. Flax seeds if you're feeling ambitious, though they would probably be best mixed into your dressing, or else they'll sink to the bottom.

Dress your salad and enjoy!!

Kick Up Your Coleslaw

Posted by amanda in brocolli, budget, carrot, celery, coleslaw, daron richardson, do it for daron, easy, mayonaise, mental health, salad, vegetable, vegetarian, zazaza

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Tangy and tasty!

There's this little place in my neighborhood called Zazaza, and they make the tastiest, most creative pizzas I've ever had the pleasure of getting my paws on. While this isn't a story about them, you should totally check them out for eat-in or take-out. They're also great supporters of the Do It For Daron initiative involved in raising awareness about, and transforming the experience of youth mental health issue, born out of the tragic death of 14-year old Daron Richardson in November 2010.

So, Zazaza is a great community restaurant, full of great people, supporting an even better cause that warrants all the attention it can get in this difficult times for teens.

In addition to these excellent things, Zazaza serves a ridiculously delicious coleslaw with their pizzas. I don't even LIKE coleslaw, and I LOVE this coleslaw. I think it has to do with their dressing, which is the part I usually don't like about the average 'slaw (since from this blog, I'm sure you can deduce that I am seriously into vegetables).

My take on their dressing is as such..in a bowl mix together:

1/4 cup mayonnaise (or miracle whip or sandwich dressing or whatever you're into these days)
1/2 TBSP Apple cider vinegar (any other vinegar would also work, but would alter the flavor slightly, so experiment!)
1 TBSP whole grain mustard (my mustard option of choice, though I'm sure others are tasty...a spicy mustard would probably be divine!)
1/2 TBSP Brown sugar
1 TSP red pepper flakes (more if you're REALLy into kicky cole')
A couple of good cracks of black pepper

Spoonful by spoonful I used this to dress: [you're basically looking at being able to dress 6.5-7 cups of veggies  all told, so divide up as you like)
2 large celery stalks sliced thinly
2 large carrots sliced thinly
roughly 11oz of carrots (julienned), broccoli stalks (julienned) and red cabbage (sliced thinly)

I love broccoli coleslaw, so usually go heavy on it..of course proportions here are up to you, but this is the quantity of slaw content that the dressing is proportional to.

Tasty additions would be:
-dried cranberries
-flax seeds
-toasted almond slivers or slices

Cold Quinoa Salad

Posted by amanda in budget, celery, cucumber, dressing, easy, healthy, quinoa, recipe, salad, tomato, vegetable, vegetarian, yellow pepper

1 comments

The finished product~

After all that holiday cheer (turkey pies, bacon based salads, and wines of all kinds), it might be time to get back to basics...like vegetables, and primary colors. This cold quinoa salad has both of those things, and is really easy to make. Though he might just be trying to placate me, M said he liked this one too. I adapted this recipe from a recipe on a box of Casbah quinoa...it didn't look like it would have enough crunch or flavor as it was originally intended, so I adjusted some quantities and ingredients to make up for that:

Fluff your quinoa to give it texture and to
make it grainy

First, cook up your quinoa (225g, or 1.5 cups):
To do this, bring 3 cups of vegetable broth to a boil.
Then add your quinoa to the broth; stir, and reduce the heat to low. Allow this to cook for between 15-20 minutes: you want the water to be completely absorbed by the quinoa.
When cooked, fluff the quinoa with a fork.
Let the quinoa cool while you prepare the rest of the salad ingredients.






In a large bowl combine:

Half a cucumber (I prefer skin intact) - thickly sliced and quartered
3-4 stalks of celery  - sliced
1 quart grape tomatoes - halved
1 yellow pepper - roughly chopped
(half a red onion would probably delicious chopped into this, though I didn't do so myself)
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley (you could up this even, especially if you love parsley, and go to 1/2 cup)









In a small bowl, whisk together:

Apple Cider Dressing

1/4 cup virgin olive oil
4 tbsp Apple Cider Vinegar
1.5 clove garlic, minced
2 tsp red pepper flakes
3 or 4 good cracks of black pepper



Once the quinoa has cooled, combine it with the vegetables. Drizzle the dressing over the mixture and let sit in the fridge for a few hours to let the flavours settle.

A nice touch would be to add 2 handfuls of fresh baby spinach to the mix before serving.

Exciting Post-Holiday Broccoli Salad Update!!

Posted by amanda in brocolli, budget, dressing, easy, mayonaise, salad, vegetable, vegetarian

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So a few months back I posted a slapdash version (not that there's anything wrong with slapdash...amirite?) of my very own personal momma's broccoli salad - one that's been a holiday favorite chez our house since she made it for the first time a few years ago. So, this Christmas she asked me to make it to save her some chopping time, and sent me the recipe (no slapdashery at Reddick family Christmas). Much to my dismay I realized how very different her salad actually was from the one I'd put together here. BUT this can be good! Cause that one's yummy...and so is this one!


This salad takes a little chopping time, but the ingredients keep nicely once chopped. After this Christmas no less than SEVERAL boys asked me for this recipe. BOYS asked for SALAD. So, you know it's good :)

This is the body of the salad, but the original also calls for bacon. Probably a shit ton of bacon.

1 large head broccoli (or, two small heads) (cut into small pieces)
2 cups red grapes (cut in half)
1 cup celery (large dice)
1/2 cup onion (minced as thin as you can)
2/3 cup slivered almonds (lightly toasted)

I doubled that for our family dinner of 13 guests. Notably, this salad keeps fairly well, and makes a great lunch, (probably even greater with aforementioned bacon) so it's nice to make up a double batch and keep it in the fridge.

Try not to think about the dressing too much: it's a combination of mayonnaise, sugar, and vinegar. The amounts are sort of up to personal taste, though it's mostly mayonnaise.


To dress the doubled ingredients, you're looking at roughly:

1 cup of mayonnaise
1/3 cup of sugar (though I always use a little less of this than even I call for here)
2 tablespoons of vinegar


Add it to your mix of veggies in spoonfuls only until it's as coated as you like it - I find that these amounts are the easiest to get the right tangy to sweet proportion of, but make a bit too much dressing to actually use. Another suggestion then, is to just keep these proportions in mind, and sort of wing it with the dressing, tasting as you go. It always turns out delicious, so don't sweat it :) I'll post a picture of mine the next time I make it (M ate all the leftovers, which is a very very good sign).




Add in the toasted almonds last.

 Happy (late) new year from Stute Kitchen! Stay tasty ;)

Spinach Pear and Parmesan Salad with Balsamic Mustard Dressing

Posted by amanda in budget, cheese, dressing, easy, recipe, salad, spinach, vegetarian

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This salad is really easy, and could be made really beautiful with a little careful pear-placement. I tend to go right in for chaotic salads, but you could make something quite pretty out of this one.

For the dressing, whisk together

3 parts olive oil

1 part balsamic vinegar

.5 tablespoon whole grain mustard

1 tsp brown sugar

a dash of salt

(These are my preferred ratios, and probably makes enough for two servings, however give it a shot and adjust to meet your own needs and tastes)

Drizzle this over
2 bartlett pears, sliced very thin, length-wise (one per person)
1.5-2.5 cups baby spinach per person

Once dressed, toss in half a cup of freshly grated parmesan (though not pictured here, shaved parmesan "petals" make for a sharper, more assertive parmesan presence that is super delicious. Saputo Parmesan Petals are my flowery cheese source of choice!).

Serve immediately

Cottage Component 1: Picnic-Perfect Summer Salad

Posted by amanda in budget, celery, cucumber, dill, dressing, easy, feta, healthy, onion, pasta, pasta salad, pepper, quick, recipe, salad, spinach, tomato, vegetarian, yellow pepper

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It's summer tiiiimmmme and the cooking is eeeeaasy here at Stute-kitchen :) Team Stute has returned from a fantastic weekend away at a cottage with good friends, gorgeous weather, and GREAT food. Combining our forces we came up with a delicious cottage-time lunch: pasta salad and barbecued skewers. Fresh ingredients and a new spin on these old classics takes traditional summer food to a new level of goodness.

You're gonna need:

• Roughly 2 generous cups of uncooked shell (conchiglie) pasta
• One yellow pepper, seeded and cut into slim chunks (or however you like your pepper in a salad), if you go really chunky, use 2 peppers
• Half a cucumber, sliced into half circles
• 2-3 stalks of celery, diced roughly
• 1 pint (usually a container) of cherry or grape tomatoes, halved
• 1/4 of a sweet onion (though any kind would likely do, this salad gets more onion-y the longer it exists, so choose wisely), finely chopped
• 3 tbsp fresh dill, chopped
• 3-5 generous handfuls of baby spinach (mixed greens will do in a pinch, but they don't keep as long once the dressing is mixed in).

Dressing: Whisk together...

1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 cup lemon juice
2 heaping  tbsps Red Wine Vinegar
1 clove of garlic, minced
Ground Black Pepper to taste

Topper:

Roughly 1.5 cups of light feta cheese -though really, add as much or a little as you like - , rinsed, dried, and crumbled (my new technique is to rinse the block from the brine, and then squeeze the liquid out in my fist, over the sink - this dries and crumbles simultaneously, then you can just brush your hands off in the salad)

To assemble:

1. Cook the pasta (roughly 8-10 minutes to get it al dente), rinse in cold water, and set aside.

2. Combine all your veggies, except the spinach, in a large bowl, using your hands to mix gently, being
sure to distribute the dill.

3. Add pasta to veggies, again, stirring with hands.

4. Add spinach by handful, assessing how much or how little you will want personally. Mix with hands (this avoids breaking the pasta shells)

5. Pour dressing over pasta and veggies (if you don't like getting oily, use a utensil here, but I swear, hands is the way to go)

6. Chill.
7. Crumble feta into salad before serving. Mix.

This makes roughly 10 servings, depending on the appetites in the room. Be sure to wait 20 minutes or so before hitting the lake!!!
-A

Salads: Recipes for freshness

Posted by CK in avocado, honey, recipe, salad, shrimp, walnuts

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On my way back from vacation last week, I picked up a copy of this month's Women's Health Magazine and stumbled upon a great article about how to make good, healthy, refreshing salads. Here's a quick salad recipe I put together based on the suggestions from the article (While I couldn't find the electronic version of this article, I found very similar salad tips on the Women's Health website). I also found a very good honey balsamic vinegrette to top up the salad. It turned out filling and most importantly - delicious! :)

Ingredients (for 1 large portion):
- a few shrimp (I had about 10 small-medium sized shrimp)
- half an avocado
- 3 hand fulls of baby spinach
- 1/3 of red pepper, chopped
- half a tomato, diced
- 1 tablespoon of crushed walnuts

One simple step: Mix it all together!

Vinegrette Recipe:
- 1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
- 1/4 cup honey
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 1 teaspoon soy sauce

Wisk all together!

I only put about 3 teaspoons on my salad before eating, but you can easily cut it down to 2 and you'd still get the amazing taste. Refrigirate the rest so you can use it another time!

Enjoy!

- CK

Taboule under 10 minutes

Posted by CK in parsley, recipe, salad, vegetarian

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This traditional Lebanese dish is so delicious and yet always seems to be take such a large amount of effort. Last night however, I decided to embrace my Lebanese roots and stop complaining about the effort it takes to make what I think is a trademark of the Lebanese tradition. That's when I came to realize it really only takes about 10 minutes to make taboule - at least to make 1-2 portions.

Note that this taboule is the real deal. The ones you find in stores with A LOT of bulgar are not good verisons of taboule ;)

Here's what you'll need:

• 1 bunch of parsley
• half a tomato - chopped into cubes
• 1/4 of an onion - chopped into cubes
• 1tbsp of bulgar (for lack of bulgur at my house, I used 2 pinches of cooked couscous because it doesn't really taste the same)
• 1/2 tbsp of olive oil
• 1/2 tbsp of lemon juice

*add olive oil or lemon juice to taste.

Preparation:

1. Chop the stems off the parsley bunch then chop the parsley into tiny little pieces
2. Add the chopped tomatoes, chopped onions, olive oil, lemon juice and bulgar
3. Mix well.

*If you're not going to serve right away, hold the olive oil and lemon juice. Add and mix right before serving only.

THAT'S IT!!!!

Enjoy!

-CK

A Sweet Crunchy Creamy Broccoli Salad

Posted by amanda in easy, healthy, quick, recipe, salad, side, vegetarian

0 comments

Speaking of the brassica family (weren't we?), broccoli is another hearty green you may have run out of ways to love. Never fear. My mom makes an excellent variation of this salad that involves sliced grapes and a more homemade dressing, so I'll post that as soon as I can get her on the horn, but for the time being, this is a reduced and speedier version of her salad.

You'll need

• 1 large head of brocolli, florets snapped or sliced off into small pieces and and with sections of the stalk sliced into disks
• 1/4 red onion, chopped up very small
• small handful sliced almonds (i like the ones that are chunky rather than flat)
• 1/3 cup dried cranberries (ideally not artificially flavored) - for a superfood variation, try dried goji berries!

poppyseed dressing of your choosing (recipe to come, thanks to mom)

Put all dry ingredients in a bowl, broccoli at the bottom. Pour on about 2tbsp dressing to start with, and stir it all with a wooden spoon. Add dressing to combined ingredients until your desired creaminess versus chunkiness is achieved. Serve cold. Makes 4 servings give or take. Refrigerate.





photos courtesy of thepetitfour.com and vegetarian-nutrition

Pan-Roasted Shrimp with Cheese and Beans Salad

Posted by CK in beans, recipe, salad, shrimp, vegetarian

0 comments

Little time-consuming, nutricious and delicious - my general rule of thumb when it comes to cooking on a week day! To help kick start the week, C put together a very refreshing salad that works for both summer and winter seasons (I'm sure it would be a great addition to a bbq this summer - noted). Although the original recipe calls for Wisconsin aged cheese, this recipe turned out to be fabulous with just regular cheddar/mozarella cheese, PLUS it only took about 15 minutes to make! Chef Michael Symon - thank you.

Ingredients:

• 1 clove garlic, minced
• salt and pepper
• Juice of 2 lemons
• 1/2 cup (4 ounces) extra virgin olive oil plus 1 tablespoon for shrimp
• 2 tomatoes, diced into medium sized pieces
• 1 can of white beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 cup (about 4 ounces) cheese, cut in small dice - whichever one you prefer
• 1 pound large shrimp, peeled and deveined
• 1 tablespoon of basil

Directions:

1. Place garlic in mixing bowl. Add pinch of salt; mix.
2. Add lemon juice, stir and slowly whisk in olive oil.
3. Add tomatoes, beans, cheese and basil. Mix well and set aside.
4. Pan-roast shrimp: Heat remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil in sauté pan. Add shrimp and cook, turning until pink and cooked through, about 3 minutes. Do not overcook.
5. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
6. Add warm shrimp to prepared mixture and toss.

Delicious and nutricious! :)

Enjoy!

-CK

Earl's Warm Potato Salad

Posted by CK in potato, recipe, salad, vegetarian

2 comments

As my boyfriend and I were travelling in the Rockies last week, we came across Earls Restaurant, which seems to be a very popular chain restaurant across Canada (we unfortunately don't have it in Ottawa nor anywhere in Quebec, which is why I had never heard of it). Regardless, our very delicious baby back ribs came with a side of vegetables and probably the most amazing potato salad I've ever had (or at least, something very close to that).

So I searched online, and found ALOT of different recipes, but this one looks like it's the closest to the real deal. Although I had it with some bits of bacon, removing them from the recipe makes a great appetizer for a vegetarian meal! Probably NOT the healthiest choice, but I definitely recommend either cooking it yourself or trying it at Earls.

Ingredients:
- 4 cups cooked potatoes
- 1/2 cup chopped celery
- 2 hard cooked eggs, chopped
- 1/4 cup green onions, sliced
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/8 teaspoon pepper
- 1 cup Miracle Whip
- 1 teaspoon prepared mustard
- 1/4 teaspoon celery seed
- 1 teaspoon horseradish
- dash of green tabasco or red pepper (optional)
- 1 tablespoon cider vinegar

Preparation:
1. Simmer potatoes until fork tender. Remove skins, and cut into cubes.
2. In a bowl, combine celery, eggs, potatoes, onions, vinegar and seasonings. Toss lightly to combine.
3. In a separate small bowl, mix mustard, and Miracle Whip. Stir into potatoes and serve warm.

Variation: Add cooked and crumbled bacon bits to the salad dressing.

The restaurant's website offers the following nutritional information for their warm potato salad. For 217g:

Calories 431.00
Protein (g) 9.00
Carbohydrates (g) 29.00
Fibre (g) 2.50
Fat (g) 31.00
Saturated fat (g) 7.90
Trans fat (g) 0.70
Cholesterol (mg) 40.00
Sodium (mg) 523.00

Mediterranean Couscous Salad

Posted by CK in couscous, mediterranean, recipe, salad, vegetarian

1 comments

I often have leftover vegetables that I don't know what to do with before they go bad, and always end up using them up in a stir-fry or in a grilled vegetable sandwich. However, there are other ways to use leftover vegetables. 

In the spirit of mediterranean dishes, this recipe was suggested by williamcooks, a chef with great recipes and cooking techniques I follow on Twitter. I haven't tried it yet, but it sure sounds delicious! If you decide to try it before me, let me know how it is! Enjoy! (source: http://notecook.com/salads/mediterranean-couscous-salad/)

Ingredients:

- 1 sm. eggplant, peeled
- 1 sm. zucchini
- 1 sm. yellow squash
- 1 red onion, cut into 6 slices
- 6 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil, divided
- 1 tsp. kosher salt, divided
- Coarsely ground black pepper
- 3 c. dry Israeli couscous
- 6 tbsp. lemon juice
- 1 c. (4 oz.) crumbled feta cheese
- 1 pt. cherry tomatoes, cut into halves
- 2 tbsp. slivered basil

Preparation:

1. Prepare grill.
2. Cut eggplant & squashes lenghtwise into 1/4″ thick strips. Brush eggplant, squash & onions w/ 2 tbsp. olive oil, & season w/ 1/2 tsp. salt & pepper. Place crosswise on grill grate. Cover & grill over direct heat 1-2 min. on ea. side.
3. Place couscous in a pan. Add enough water to cover by 2″. Bring to boil. Reduce heat & simmer, covered til tender, about 10 min. Drain & place in lg. bowl.
4. Combine lemon juice, remaining olive oil, & remaining 1/2 tsp. salt. Whisk well. Pour over couscous. Add cheese, tomatoes, basil & grilled vegetables. Toss well.

Serves 8.


Nutritional Information:
Per serving; 370 cal.; 15 g. fat; 15 mg. chol.; 10 g. pro.; 50 g. carbs.; 5 g. fiber; 450 mg. sodium.