Citrusalad

Our garden veggies are growing and getting crowded, so we have to thin them. Unlike the pea plants, which we can't eat and had to compost, the salad greens thinnings could be used for this Asian-ish salad. It just so happened we had 2 oranges and a grapefruit sitting in the fridge -- perfect!



The recipe for this salad is from the Vegetarian Times:

• 2 oranges, primed

• 1 grapefruit, primed

• mixed salad greens, a handful, coarsely tore (the original recipe calls for chopped arugula)

• sesame seeds, toasted

• peanuts, crushed, roasted

[the original recipe also called for chopped mint and shallots, neither of these were available at the time of preparation. I believe it's good as I made it, but I'm sure these missing ingredients could add more complexity and character]

• salad dressing: 2 T agave nectar, 1.5 T lime juice, 1 T soy sauce, salt, crushed red pepper

Toss greens and citrus with dressing, top with nuts and seeds.

Pretty, ha?

We're going to eat it with onion Sicilian pizza!

Jicamagic

Jicama is such a wonderful root! Peeling it is so much fun! It's worth eating it just for that, but it's also quite tasty, especially in this delectable salad.



This recipe is really good, and it's the best I've ever tried (admittedly, I only tried two). For this recipe I am willing to forgo my winter-summer foods rule, and have salad in winter. It's so easy to make and can make a great left-over lunch.
I altered the recipe a little bit: regular mustard instead of dijon, 1/2 can of beans instead of 1, more corn kernels, green onion instead of regular onion, jalapenos instead of green chilies, and no lemon peel. Those adjustments were mostly made due to inavailability of ingredients, convenience, or sheer laziness, but the result was still VERY good.
I can't recommend this salad enough. Try it!!

Stormy Summer Night

Yesterday I got an email from Vegetarian Times (they started sending me emails after my subscription ended, probably to get me to renew it, which I certainly did), and it enticed me with this recipe, so I tried it. I have to say, I'm not very good at following recipes, especially when I just read them and then try to recreate them from memory. So I completely forgot about the salt and pepper and cheese inside the tomato! And about the baking time! It came out soft and runny. But doesn't it look pretty? Besides, we could finally tell what chervil tastes like!



The salad is spring mix with raspberry-walnut dressing, topped with strawberries, macademia nuts and Gorgonzola cheese bits (you have to cut it small - it's really strong). Yum!

As we were munching, I felt tiny droplets of water on my feet and heard a weird tapping noise seemingly coming from under the floor. Turned out our nice sun roof was leaking! It was raining real hard outside and we got a free sample. :)

More Than Just a Fruit Salad

Trying to find a quinoa recipe for dinner last night, I stumbled upon this one, and decided to have quinoa for dessert instead. We had a relatively light dinner (leftover pizza and some red corn on the cob), so a nice nutritious dessert was fitting.



I have to say I modified it quite a bit, not because I know better, but because I didn't have some of the ingredients. So mint and flax seed were out, though I'm sure they would make a good addition. I also omitted the avocado - just because I don't like it - and replaced the almonds with pecans. Mmm... pecans... Oh, and I halfed the recipe. One cup is enough for 4 small (dessert-like) servings.
I really liked the idea of cooking the quinoa in orange juice. Very refreshing! It served well as lunches too!

Summer Foods

Summer solstice is today, but for me summer started at the beginning of three consecutive days of more than 110 degrees Fahrenheit, which happened sometime during last week or so. Summer time means summer foods, and this is exactly what we had last night.
[Mark always makes fun of me when I talk about winter foods and summer foods, but I do believe that distinction is appropriate: who wants to eat a hot soup when it's so hot outside you could easily boil it there?]

Last night's summer food was a quinoa salad. Very simple and tasty: quinoa, tomato, cucumber, olives, basil, green onions and goat cheese, all tossed together and dressed with balsamic vinaigrette.