Pistachio Pesto Quinoa Salad
I’ve always been a fan of pesto but a pesto featuring one of my favorite nuts – oh yeah. I…
The Salad Bar
Kale and Quinoa Salad
This recipe was the very first meal I created after giving birth to our daughter. I wanted something super healthy…
Asparagus and Sun Dried Tomato Couscous Salad
Couscous. Not only is it fun to say but I absolutely love the flavor and texture of this tiny little pasta. Couscous is amazingly light and fluffy and this salad is just that. It’s got a simple and refreshing dressing and the bits of sun dried tomato and lightly sautéed asparagus make this the perfect spring or summer salad. You can serve this dish cold so it’s perfect for a potluck or get together. Enjoy!
Lazy Fried Rice Salad
I call this Lazy Fried Rice Salad because it’s like fried rice only not fried because I was in a hurry to get lunch made and threw the ingredients together to make a chilled salad instead. Or else it’s because I was just feeling lazy and had all the ingredients assembled but didn’t want to get out a pan and make fried rice. Whatever the reason I’m glad I did. I like the chewy texture of the rice with the crunchy freshness of the vegetables and the Tamari Roasted Almonds are like tasty little treasures hidden throughout the salad. Perfect for a fast lunch or side dish at dinner. Go ahead be a little lazy today too but still enjoy a delicious meal.
Fava-licious Salad
While working on a recipe recently I needed lima beans and was having a hard time finding them. I looked at 3 different stores and finally decided that I was going to have to make a substitution. I settled on fava beans. I don’t think I had ever had fava beans before but I ended up loving them. They are plump and nutty tasting. I was so taken with them that I started looking for other recipes to make with them. I came across Ful Medames, a traditional Egyptian dish and thought it looked good since many of the ingredients were nearly identical to one of my favorite dressings. For Ful Medames you mash the beans into a spread but I didn’t want to mash the beans so I added a few additional veggies and made a bean salad. Fava-licious.
Millet with Arugula and Oranges
I could talk about how I like this recipe because of the nice balance of flavors with the bite of arugula, the sweet oranges combined with the creamy millet. Or I could talk about how eating this makes me smile to think I’m eating bird seed and how I’ve become a Euell Gibbons of sorts (for those of you too young to know who I’m talking about he was a naturalist that appeared in Grape Nuts commercials in the 70′s eating anything from pine trees to cat tails). But really, it’s much simpler than that. I like it because it just tastes good. If you are looking for something new that’s clean and refreshing and has a delicious variety of flavors give it a try yourself. Who knows what you might find yourself eating next?
Seared Sugar Snap Peas
Lately, I’ve been going through a pea phase. I’ve been buying up sugar snap peas by the pound and adding them to every meal I made. They are by far one of my most favorite vegetables. Right now they are blooming in our garden and there was no way I could pass up making a delicious meal with them.While my favorite way to eat peas is fresh out of the garden, sometimes I like to change it up a bit. By searing or sautéing the peas, their vibrant green color pops even more and you are still able to maintain some of the crunchiness. When I made this recipe I meant for it to be a side dish but it was so yummy that I ended up eating the whole thing! I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!
Sesame Snow Pea Salad
Yup, I’m still on a pea kick! I just can’t get enough of them right now. This time I bought a bunch of snow peas at the grocery store and decided to whip up this fresh and crisp asian inspired salad. I had this salad as a main dish but it would work great as a side too. It was quick to throw together and so refreshing after a day out in the sun. Perfect for summer!!!
Black Rice with Grilled Apricots
Black rice, sometimes called forbidden rice is so dramatic looking. It showcases other colors so well that when I found the most beautiful apricots in the market the other day I immediately thought of putting the two together. I could be happy with just those two things, a pool of black rice with a little apricot half nestled on top but I can’t settle for that, can I? No, I want something exotic and bursting with flavor but not so exotic that it’s difficult to make. This dish is just that, easy but so different and flavorful it will wow your tastebuds with the first bite. This dressing is great with chicken too so if you are a meat eater you can add some cooked chicken to make this dish a meal.
Raw Cauliflower Couscous
I love handbags. Some women like shoes – I like handbags. I have enough handbags that I could probably open a store and easily have enough inventory for a year. I also collect stamps and little wooden boxes – weird, I know. Apparently I collect cauliflower too. Last week I opened my vegetable drawers and found I had 3 heads of cauliflower – that’s A LOT of cauliflower. I used a bunch in my salads, shredded a whole head and made Crispy Fried Rice and even steamed a bunch for dinner one night. Even after all that I still had a good amount of cauliflower left. I Googled around for some recipes and got inspired after seeing a few for cauliflower couscous. I love the way it turned out – perfect for summertime! Enjoy.