Showing posts with label salad. Show all posts
Showing posts with label salad. Show all posts

Sunday, April 2, 2017

Cupboard Tomato Mozzarella Salad

A beautiful, colorful, delicious salad made with mostly cupboard ingredients plus tomatoes, mozzarella and purple onions. Great for barbecues, buffets and potlucks. It's even better the next day!



I know that is a strange name but I honestly couldn’t think of a better one.  This gorgeous salad is made mostly with ingredients from your kitchen cupboards, with the exception of fresh tomatoes, mozzarella and a little onion. And perhaps a bit of chopped basil. But look at the colors!

It’s great for a buffet table or to bring to a potluck because this salad just gets better after it sits a while.  So forgiving, beautiful and delicious.

Ingredients

  • 1/4 large purple onion


  • 2 tablespoons lemon or lime juice or vinegar
  • 10.5 oz or 300g red grape tomatoes (I used NatureSweet Cherubs.)
  • 10.5 oz or 300g yellow grape tomatoes (I used NatureSweet Sunbursts.)
  • 1 jar (12 oz or 240g) marinated artichoke hearts
  • 1 can (drained weight 6 oz or 170g) pitted black olives
  • 1 can (15 oz or 425g) chickpeas or garbanzo beans
  • 8 oz or 226g fresh ciliegine or cherry size mozzarella balls
  • 1 can (14 oz or 400g – 7.5 oz or 212g drained) hearts of palm
  • Sea salt
  • Black pepper
  • A few leaves of fresh basil (optional)


Method
Slice your onion very thinly and add to a salad bowl that will be big enough for all of your ingredients.   Pour in the juice or vinegar and set aside for a few minutes.


Open the jar of marinated artichokes and add them to the onion, with all of their marinade, along with the tomatoes and mozzarella.


Drain the cans of olives and chickpeas, rinsing the chickpeas if necessary, and add them to the salad bowl.


Drain the can of palm hearts and cut into pieces about the size of your tomatoes.


Add them into the bowl.


Toss and then sprinkle the whole bowl with sea salt.  Add black pepper to taste.


If you are adding basil, stack the leaves, roll them up and slice them thinly.  Add to the salad and toss again.  (This salad did actually have basil but, unfortunately, I wasn’t able to photograph that step.)

Bring to your sister’s house for a barbecue or wherever you have been fortunate enough to be invited.


Enjoy!



My mom took this one showing a little of the basil.  Thanks, Mom! 
If you are looking for more dishes using fresh tomatoes, you are going to love this week's Sunday Supper. Check out the link list below to see what our talented tastemakers are sharing. Many thanks to our host, Rini from Healing Tomato, and our event manager, Cricket of Cricket's Confections.

Sunday Supper Recipes Using Fresh Tomatoes

Chicken Recipes

Main Courses

Pizza, Pies, and Pastas

Side Dishes

Snacks

Soups and Salads

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Wednesday, February 1, 2017

Black-eyed Pea Salad - Saladu Ñebbe #FoodieExtravaganza

This hearty black-eyed pea salad is full of good stuff but what makes it so tasty is the fresh lime juice and the hit of heat from the habanero pepper. I cautiously only put one pepper in this time. Next time I’m adding more!



Last weekend my husband and I did a massive clear out of all three of our freezers. The normal-size kitchen one, the even smaller one on top the beer fridge and the more capacious deep freezer. We hauled everything out and put it back in some sort of order. Frozen homemade sauces together. Poultry and beef on another shelf. Seafood on one side and the bottom drawer? It’s filled with pork products. The Great Freezer Cleaning also revealed a bag of dried black-eyes peas. It seemed like an omen.

This month my Foodie Extravaganza group is sharing heart healthy recipes. Beans and vegetables are probably two of the most heart healthy things you can eat, unless you are cooking those beans with smoked sausage. (My favorite way!) Even so, I like to think that the fiber and nutrition in beans outweighs the fat in the sausage. After all, sausage is also seasoning and you wouldn’t necessarily get a piece in each bite.

But beans are also great in salad, like this one of Senegalese origin, called Saladu Ñebbe or Salatu Ñebbe in the original language. There are several recipes in English online but they all seem to come from the same source, an article in Saveur magazine. Switching to French for my search, salade niébé, did turn up a few more. Whatever you call it, I’ll be making it again. I served it with seared tuna steaks, a delicious accompaniment.

Depending on which website or cookbook you consult black-eyed peas either don’t need to be soaked or they do. I treat them as I do all other beans. If I am not cooking them in a pressure cooker, I soak them overnight, if I have the time, or I quick soak them in boiling water for one hour, before cooking. Whichever method you choose, you are going to need about 2 1/2 cups or 400g cooked black-eyed peas for this recipe. One cup of dried peas should yield about that right amount.

Ingredients
2 1/2 cups or 400g cooked black-eyed peas (1 cup or 200g dried black-eyed peas, boiled and drained – you can substitute canned peas. Rinse and drain them well.)
1 habanero or Scotch bonnet chile
3 large green onions
2 small cloves garlic
3 tablespoons fresh lime juice
1 yellow bell pepper
250g cherry or grape tomatoes
1 medium cucumber
1 small bunch parsley
6 tablespoons olive oil
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Optional for serving: salad greens

Method
Mince your habanero pepper and the garlic. Trim off the roots and slice the white part of your onion tops. In a large bowl, mix the three with the lime juice and set aside to marinate, with about a half teaspoon of salt.

This has a two-fold effect. First of all, it takes mellows the flavors of the raw garlic, onion and the habanero. Secondly, it makes sure that those flavors will be infused in the dressing.

Cut your cherry tomatoes into quarters. Seed, stem and chop the bell pepper.

Chop the green part of the onion tops and the parsley.

Cut the cucumber in half lengthwise then in half again. Use a sharp knife to remove the seeds, then cut the cucumber into small pieces.



Add the olive oil into the salad bowl and mix well with a fork.



Pile in the black-eyed peas. Stir well to coat.



Add in the chopped vegetables and herbs. Mix well.



Season with salt and pepper to taste. This salad can, of course, be eaten immediately but, unlike most salads, it gets better and better as it hangs out in the refrigerator.



If not serving right away cover with cling film and refrigerate. Remove from the fridge about 20 minutes before you are ready to serve to it’s not super chilled. Stir well.

Enjoy!


Many thanks to our Foodie Extravaganza host this month, Wendy of A Day in the Life on the Farm. Do check out the link list of all of our other heart-healthy recipes!



Foodie Extravaganza celebrates obscure food holidays or shares recipes with the same ingredient or theme every month.

Posting day is always the first Wednesday of each month. If you are a blogger and would like to join our group and blog along with us, come join our Facebook group Foodie Extravaganza. We would love to have you!

If you're a reader looking for delicious recipes, check out our Foodie Extravaganza Pinterest Board! Looking for our previous parties? Check them out here.

Pin it!

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Posted by at 4:43:00 AM 0 comments
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Sunday, August 7, 2016

Grilled Corn Ravioli Caprese Salad

Nothing shouts summer like a Caprese salad with lovely deep red, vine-ripened tomatoes, except perhaps a grilled corn ravioli Caprese salad. The smokey sweet corn adds more summer sunshine and the ravioli make this tasty dish more filling.


I love corn on the cob cooked anyhow you’d like to cook it. Boiled, steamed, grilled, roasted - love them all. I could cook a pot of fresh corn on the cob and eat the whole thing and call it a meal, no other dishes necessary. But for this week’s Sunday Supper theme of summer corn, that hardly sounded like a recipe worth sharing.

Cook corn on the cob.
Slather with butter.
Sprinkle with salt.
Eat.
Repeat.

So I had to get creative. Inspiration struck when I came across a package of fresh Italian ravioli called Girasole or sunflowers. They were shaped like flowers, the outside pasta cut like tiny petals, and were filled with tomato, mozzarella and olives. They would be perfect for adding to a Caprese salad, topped with grilled sweet corn! You can certainly use whatever ravioli you have available, though I'd avoid ones with meat or seafood if you are serving this at room temperature and need to leave it unrefrigerated for a while.

Grilled Corn Ravioli Caprese Salad

Recipe Type: Salad
Author: Stacy Rushton
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 6
Vine-ripened tomatoes layered with ravioli, fresh mozzarella and basil, then topped with grilled sweet corn. Like summer should always be.

Ingredients
  • 1 package - about 9 oz or 250g fresh ravioli
  • 4-5 ripe summer tomatoes
  • 2 small ears sweet corn on the cob
  • 9 oz or 250g fresh mozzarella
  • small bunch fresh basil
  • sea salt for salad plus more for water to boil ravioli
  • black pepper
  • good extra virgin olive oil
Method
Boil the ravioli according to package instructions, in salted water. Drain and cover with a damp cloth to keep the ravioli from drying out. If you are a perfectionist - as I can be sometimes - count the ravioli. Now you know how many slices to cut the tomatoes and mozzarella into to make it all come out even.


Grill the corn on grill pan over a medium high heat until it has lovely grill marks all over. Turn every couple of minutes till done. Remove from the heat and allow to cool. When the cobs are cool enough to handle, cut the niblets off with a sharp knife.

Slice your tomatoes and your mozzarella. (See comment on ravioli above.)

Pick the leaves off of the basil and discard the stalks. Set aside the smallest ones for garnish and cut any large ones in two.


On a large platter, start arranging your salad: ravioli, mozzarella, tomato, basil. Repeat until you have used up all of your ingredients.


Sprinkle on the corn and season with salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Give the whole salad a good drizzle of extra virgin olive oil then sprinkle on the remaining basil.



Enjoy! 


If you love sweet summer corn, you are going to love the line up my Sunday Supper family has for you today! Many thanks to Ellen from Family Around the Table who is our host this week, and our event manager, Renee of Renee's Kitchen Adventures.

Appetizers
Breakfast and Salads
Side Dishes
Main Dishes
Desserts


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Sunday, July 17, 2016

Fresh Peach Cucumber Salad

Fresh peaches that aren’t fully ripe can still be used in a fresh peach cucumber salad, adding a tart bite with a hint of sweet. An herby dressing with mint and parsley complement the peaches beautifully.

Food Lust People Love: Fresh peaches that aren’t fully ripe can still be used in a fresh peach cucumber salad, adding a tart bite with a hint of sweet. An herby dressing with mint and parsley complement the peaches beautifully.


This week my Sunday Supper group are using peaches in a variety of recipes both sweet and savory. I’m in the Channel Islands right now where apparently they make no bones about the fact that the peaches are picked too young. The little plastic boxes they are sold in say quite boldly – Ripen At Home. But I think we all know how that turns out. They really don’t taste the same or ripen well at home. Never mind, though, because slightly under ripe peaches are still tasty in salad. If you are fortunate enough to have good peaches, those work too!

Fresh Peach Cucumber Salad

Aside from the mint and parsley, the dressing is a basic vinaigrette so if you have a favorite vinaigrette recipe, by all means use it and just add the herbs to the salad itself.

Ingredients
For the dressing:
1/4 cup or 60ml extra virgin olive oil
1/8 cup or 30ml good quality white wine vinegar
1/2 teaspoon whole grain mustard
3 tablespoons finely minced fresh mint
1 tablespoon finely minced parsley
1/4 teaspoon sugar
For the salad:
1 English cucumber
4 peaches
1/4 medium purple onion
2 1/2 oz or 70g pea sprouts

Method
Put all the dressing ingredients in a jar. Close the lid tightly and give it a good shake to combine the ingredients. Set it aside at room temperature while you get on with prepping the salad.

Cut your cucumber lengthwise in half, then cut the halves again so you have four long pieces. If the seeds are too juicy, you can but them off and discard. (My dog loves them!) Chop the cucumber into smaller chunks.

Cut the peach off the pit in slices, then cut those into smaller pieces. If you have freestone peaches, you can remove the pit, then slice and cut.

Finely slice your onion.



Add the cucumber, peaches and onion to a large salad bowl.  Give the herb dressing another good shake and drizzle on just as much as you need to wet the peaches and cucumbers. You might not use it all. (It’ll keep well in the refrigerator for a week or two.)

Food Lust People Love: Fresh peaches that aren’t fully ripe can still be used in a fresh peach cucumber salad, adding a tart bite with a hint of sweet. An herby dressing with mint and parsley complement the peaches beautifully.


Toss to coat.

Add in the pea sprouts just as you are ready to serve and toss again.

Food Lust People Love: Fresh peaches that aren’t fully ripe can still be used in a fresh peach cucumber salad, adding a tart bite with a hint of sweet. An herby dressing with mint and parsley complement the peaches beautifully.


Enjoy!

Food Lust People Love: Fresh peaches that aren’t fully ripe can still be used in a fresh peach cucumber salad, adding a tart bite with a hint of sweet. An herby dressing with mint and parsley complement the peaches beautifully.


Many thanks to our Peachy Keen host, Sue of Palatable Pastime and our event manager, Renee of Renee’s Kitchen Adventures. Take a look at all the deliciousness we have for you this week!


Starters:
Breakfasts:
Beverages:
Condiments:
Sides & Salads:
Main Dishes:
Desserts

Pin this Peach Cucumber Salad!  

Food Lust People Love: Fresh peaches that aren’t fully ripe can still be used in a fresh peach cucumber salad, adding a tart bite with a hint of sweet. An herby dressing with mint and parsley complement the peaches beautifully.


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Sunday, July 3, 2016

Pumped Up Potato Salad

Pumped up potato salad combines new potatoes with charred red peppers, tomatoes, olives, feta and basil for a wonderful summer salad.
 
Food Lust People Love: Pumped up potato salad combines new potatoes with charred red peppers, tomatoes, olives, feta and basil for a wonderful summer salad.


I love new potatoes. In fact, if I can make a confession, we ate them for dinner last night and they are on the menu again tonight. You see, it’s the season. One can find little potatoes at other times of the year but what separates a new potato from a simply small potato is the thin skin that can be eaten. In some varieties, like the Jersey Royal, it’s so thin that it can be rubbed off with bare hands. In any case, with new potatoes, no peeling is necessary.

Here's another confession. I wanted to name these Pimp My Potato Salad but my younger daughter wouldn't let me.

Pumped Up Potato Salad

This week my Sunday Supper group is sharing easy recipes for the Fourth of July. While my grandmother’s more labor-intensive mayo-based potato salad is far and away my favorite, this pumped up potato salad is a close second. It’s easy to make and travels well – no big worries about refrigeration - which makes it the perfect for bringing to an Independence Day picnic or barbecue.

Ingredients
1 1/2 - 2 teaspoons salt
1 lb or 450g new potatoes
3 tablespoons white balsamic vinegar
6 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 small onion
1 garlic clove
14 oz or 400g grape tomatoes, assorted colors
1 red pepper
1/2 cup or 70g pitted, sliced black olives
3 1/2 oz or 100g feta cheese
Black pepper
handful basil leaves

Method
Put the potatoes to cook in a pot of boiling water with about 1 1/2 teaspoon salt added in, until fork tender.

Meanwhile thinly slice your onion and crush/mince your garlic. Add them to a large bowl with the white balsamic vinegar. Sprinkle on some salt and give the content a good stir. Set aside to marinate.



Skewer your red pepper with a fork and hold it over the flame of your gas stove, turning slowing until the pepper is charred on all side.

If you don’t have gas, you can also roast the pepper in a very hot oven. Pop charred pepper in a sturdy plastic bag when it’s done and twist the top closed.

When the potatoes are cooked, drain them well and set aside to cool for about five minutes.

Mix the olive oil in with the other dressing ingredients.

Remove the red pepper from the bag and use your clean hands to rub off the charred skin. Cut off and discard the interior membranes and seeds. Slice the red pepper into strips.



When the potatoes are still warm but not hot, add them to the bowl and toss to make sure that they are covered with the onion garlic dressing. If there are a few that are bigger than bite-sized, you can cut these in half.





Add the pepper strips, tomatoes and olives to the salad bowl. Toss well.

Food Lust People Love: Pumped up potato salad combines new potatoes with charred red peppers, tomatoes, olives, feta and basil for a wonderful summer salad.


Crumble in the feta and sprinkle on some more salt, to taste and a few good grinds of fresh black pepper.

Tear the basil leaves with your hands and toss them with the rest of the salad.

Enjoy!

Food Lust People Love: Pumped up potato salad combines new potatoes with charred red peppers, tomatoes, olives, feta and basil for a wonderful summer salad.





Many thanks to Cindy from Cindy's Recipes and Writings who is hosting this week and Shelby from Grumpy's Honeybunch, our event manager. Your hard work is greatly appreciated, ladies!

Are you looking for some easy recipes to bring to a Fourth of July celebration? Sunday Supper has got you covered! Check out all great recipes below – so many that are red, white and blue as well!

All-American Appetizers
America the Beautiful Beverages
Raise the Flag Breakfasts
For the Red, White and Blue Salads and Main Dishes
Oh Say Can You See Desserts


Pin this Pumped up Potato Salad! 

Food Lust People Love: Pumped up potato salad combines new potatoes with charred red peppers, tomatoes, olives, feta and basil for a wonderful summer salad.
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Sunday, May 8, 2016

Green Mango Sambal

Side dish or condiment? This green mango sambal goes great with Balinese-style grilled fish or any dish that could use some perking up with chili peppers and sharp green mango.
 
 

Just over a year ago, I shared a recipe for Ikan Bakar Jimbaran or Bali Spicy Grilled Fish, a whole grouper that had been marinated in a spice paste, then cooked over a charcoal fire and basted with kecap manis or sweet soy sauce.

It is properly served alongside a spicy side dish called sambal matah, made from lemongrass, purple onions and chilies, with shrimp paste or ground dried shrimp. I changed that up and used tart green mango in place of the lemongrass, creating a dish that is less of a condiment, more of a salad. I rounded the meal out with another Indonesian recipe, recently shared here, long beans with coconut.



This week the Sunday Supper theme is Spice is Nice and Some Like it Hot. In Indonesian, we can differentiate between heat hot – panas – and spicy hot – pedas. In fact, many languages have this distinction. Why English, with its huge vocabulary, does not, is a mystery to me. This recipe is definitely pedas or spicy hot!

Ingredients
2 green mangoes – about 11 2/3 oz or 330g whole
2 small purple onions – about 5 1/3 oz or 150g
Juice 1 lime – about 2 tablespoons
2 tablespoons crispy prawn chili sambal
1 tablespoon fish sauce
Salt to taste

Can't find crispy prawn chili sambal? Sub:
1 oz or 28g dried shrimp
4-5 small red chilies
2-3 teaspoons coconut oil

Method
Peel and thinly slice your onions. Put them in a bowl big enough for the whole dish and squeeze the lime juice over them. Give it a stir and leave to marinate while you cut the mangoes.

Peel one side of your mangoes. Cut each into tiny strips by carefully hitting one side of it with the blade of your knife.


Then thinly slice a layer off. Repeat until you get down to the mango pit, then peel the other side and repeat the process.



Add the mango, the crispy prawn chili sambal and fish sauce to the onions.

Mix well. Taste the dish and add a little salt, if necessary.



If you can’t find crispy prawn chili sambal, use a mortar and pestle to grind the dried shrimp into a fluffy powder. Add in the chili peppers and keep grinding until they make a thick paste with the shrimp powder. Add in enough coconut oil to loosen the paste a bit. Once you've added this to the mango and onions and stirred well, don't forget to add the fish sauce too.

Enjoy!



Not every dish that has spices is necessarily spicy hot! Check out this great list of recipes from my Sunday Supper group. Many thanks to our host today, Susan from The Chef Next Door.

Aromatic Appetizers
Distinctive Drinks
Daring Desserts
Masterful Mains
Seasoned Sides
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Sunday, February 21, 2016

Roasted Savoy Cabbage Slaw with Spicy Bacon Dressing

Roasting cabbage wedges before slicing them for coleslaw brings out the sweetness in this winter vegetable, which is further enhanced by the salty, spicy, slightly creamy bacon dressing. Best of all, this coleslaw can be made a day or two ahead.

We eat a lot of salads in the summertime, especially since we moved to Dubai three years ago. With temperatures soaring it’s hard to think about turning the stove on unless it’s really, really necessary and something chilled and fresh like this Tuscan Bean Salad is the perfect dinner. As we head into Autumn, salads get heartier and we enjoy what the French called salades composées including this Sweet Potato French Bean Lentil Salad. But even during winter here, salads are a favorite. They change complexion somewhat, with the addition of couscous or bulgur wheat, making them heartier and more sustaining. Or they feature winter vegetables like cabbage and Brussels sprouts. This week our Sunday Supper group is sharing winter salad recipes, hosted by super Sue of Palatable Pastimes. Make sure you scroll on down to the bottom to see all the great dishes we have for you today.

Ingredients
For the coleslaw and dressing:
6 slices streaky bacon
Rendered bacon fat from streaky bacon

For the coleslaw:
1 head Savoy cabbage (Mine weighed 1 3/4 lbs or 800g.)
Generous handful small red radishes – About 9 or 70g – Put more if you love them.

For the dressing:
1 clove garlic
1 small purple onion – about 2 1/2 oz or 70g
1 small red chili
2 tablespoons white Balsamic vinegar
4 tablespoons plain Greek-style (thick and full fat) yogurt
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon bacon fat (or use more olive oil)
1 heaping teaspoon whole grain mustard
Good pinch flakey sea salt, plus extra to taste once the coleslaw is tossed

For optional garnish – young beet sprouts

Method
Fry the bacon until crispy and drain on some paper towels. Set aside one tablespoon of the bacon fat for the dressing and save the rest for brushing on the cabbage before roasting.



Preheat your oven to 425°F or 220°C.

Cut the cabbage into six thick wedges and place them in a large baking pan. Brush the bacon fat on with a pastry brush.



Roast the cabbage wedges in your hot oven for about 15-20 minutes or until the tops are turning brown. Some of the leaves on the bottom may get very dark. If they taste burnt when they come out, discard those bits.



Mince your garlic and chili pepper and put them in a small bowl with the balsamic vinegar. You can remove the seeds of the pepper if you don’t like things too spicy, of course. I left mine in. Cut the onion in half and then slice it as thinly as you can. Add it to the vinegar bowl and stir.





When the cabbage is out of the oven, set it aside to cool. You want it to be browned on the edges, but still crunchy.

Add the yogurt and the mustard into the dressing, along with the salt, and stir well.



Chop the bacon up, reserve a good handful for sprinkling on the coleslaw and add the rest to the dressing, along with the 1 tablespoon of bacon fat you set aside earlier and the olive oil. Mix well.



Once the cabbage is cool enough to handle, cut out the hard stalk in the middle and slice the wedges up into strips.

Remove any thick ribs as you go along. You can share these with your furry helper, if he’s nearby. Vegetable lover that he is, mine is always right under foot when the cutting board comes out.

Cabbage, you say? Don't mind if I do. Cabbage is good for dogs! 

Remove the ends of the radishes and slice them into pretty white circles rimmed with pink.

Pile the sliced cabbage and radishes into a large bowl with plenty of room for tossing.



Add on the salad dressing and toss well to coat.

Taste a piece or two and add a little sprinkling of salt, if necessary. This can be served immediately or stored, tightly covered in the refrigerator for a day or two.

When you are ready to serve, let the coleslaw warm up a bit, if it’s been refrigerated. Give it another good toss, plate it up then top it with the reserved bacon bits and some young beet sprouts, if desired.



Enjoy!

Are you a fan of winter salads too? Have we got a line up for you!

#SundaySupper Winter Salads


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