My Families Garlic Salad Dressing

My niece visited us last week and after I made this simple salad dressing one night she asked for it every night for dinner.  I promised her I would blog the recipe.  So here it is...  ENJOY:)

My Family Garlic Salad Recipe

1/4 cup vegetable oil 

(I use women's oil or a mix of flax oil and olive oil)

2 cloves garlic minced

1 1/2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice

2 1/2 tablespoons Raw Parmesan Grated

1/4 teaspoon dry mustard

1 teaspoon Celtic sea salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper

Mix all ingredients together and poor dressing over spinach or a mix of spinach and romaine lettuce, mix really well.  Sometimes, I sprinkle tomatoes and toasted pine nuts in for some prettiness (You all know how much I LOVE PRETTY FOOD:)!  This is absolutely wonderful and very healthy!  My staple dressing for sure!

My Swedish Roots Potato Salad (Potatissallad)

8 Potatoes

2 Apples

8 Green Onions

4 Celery Stalks

Dressing

1/2 cup Mayonnaise

1/2 cup Sour Cream

2 Teaspoons Stone Ground Mustard

1 Teaspoon Coarsely Ground Pepper

1 Teaspoon Salt

Method:

Boil Potatoes and cut into cubes.  Cut peeled apples, celery, and onions into small pieces and combine with potatoes in large bowl.  Mix the dressing up by mixing all the ingredients listed above and then pour over vegetables and fruit.  Chill well before serving.  This tastes best the next day.  Serves around 6-8 people.  

Grilled Lavender Sweet Potato Sliders

Side dishes are so gratifying to make!  The possibilities are limitless.  Tonight's meal is a superb example.  I simply took sweet potatoes, peeled and sliced them, added some quick and easy ingredients, placed in foil lined with parchment paper, grilled and served. 



2 large sweet potatoes, peeled and sliced 1/4 inch thick

2 Tablespoons Earth Balance butter (it's vegan)

                     (*Note: Buy the sticks they taste better)

3 Tablespoons Agave Nectar

1 1/2 tablespoons Lavender, chopped (use extra after your done grilling) 

Dusted with Salt and Pepper

2 large pieces of foil

1 large piece of parchment paper

Method

1) Line foil with parchment paper, place sliced sweet potatoes in the center so your able to fold up the sides to cover the sweet potatoes. (This helps them cook quicker.)

Sliced Sweet Potatoes

2) Place earth balance butter, agave nectar, chopped lavender and dust with salt and pepper.

3) Fold up the side and close up if possible to make a ball shape.  Place on the grill for 10-15 minutes or until slightly soft.  Place on a warm serving platter, dust with more lavender and serve.  YUM!

Printable Version

Roasted Acorn Squash and Kale Salad

Sorry for the delay on a blog post, but sometimes life just seems to happen!  I'm back and hopefully I'm making everything you are in the mood to eat!  For me, quick and healthy meals are a must!  I'm guessing you're in the same boat?   So today, when I got home from work I knew I wanted something other than what the boys wanted for dinner!  So... I made this scrumptious hot and cold salad!  It turned out wonderful and was something I through together using ingredients I had in the refrigerator and cupboards.  NO MESSY DISHES TO WASH EITHER...YIPPEE!

Serves 1 as a main dish or serves 2 as a side dish

Ingredients for squash:
1 large acorn squash (peeled, seeded, & diced)
1/4 cup water
1 Tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon ground cardamom
2 Tablespoon Blue Agave Nectar
1/4 teaspoon salt
Fresh grindings of pepper
Foil
Parchment Paper

Ingredients for Kale:
1 cup Lacinato Kale, torn into pieces
1 Tablespoon, olive oil
Grind of salt & pepper

Method:

1) Preheat oven to 425. Take a piece of foil large enough to hold all the diced acorn squash.  Line the foil with a piece of parchment paper before adding the squash.  Fold the sides of the foil so nothing leeks out, then add the diced squash, cardamom, agave nectar, salt, pepper, olive oil and water, wrap the foil tightly (this will allow it to bake faster), and bake for 20-30 minutes just until the squash is soft but still hard enough to hold it's shape.
2) To prepare the Kale, take the torn pieces and place in a dish large enough to hold both the kale and squash together.  Drizzle the olive oil over the kale and salt and pepper, mix the kale with the olive oil with your fingers (make sure they are clean)!
3) When squash is complete, drain the squash, mix in with the kale.  Lightly, drizzle 1 tablespoon of agave nectar over the salad and decorate with your choice of edible flower or green of your choice! 

NOTE: I used an apple scented geranium leaf and a streptocarpella flower (which is not edible, but removable before eating)!

Printable Recipe

Fingerling Potato Salad with Apples

My husband was home this weekend so I made things I was trying to stay away from, but knew he would enjoy!  This version of the old stand by potato salad was really simple to make because there was no need to peel the potatoes!  The fingerling potatoes can be purchased at any store these days.  They are a fun alternative to the small basic red or yellow potatoes.  Hope you're able to find time to put this together! 

4 cups fingerling potatoes
1 large red apple, peeled and diced
3 celery stalks, sliced
1/2 small sweet onion, diced small
2 tablespoons Italian parsley, finely chopped

Dressing:

1/2 cup alterative mayo or real mayonaise if your diet allows
1/2 cup sour cream
2 teaspoons dijon mustard
1 teaspoon of both salt and pepper (prefer to use freshly ground)

Method

1) Boil potatoes and cut in half.
2) Place potatoes, onion, apples, celery and parsley together in a bowl, you would like to serve in.
3) Mix the dressing ingredients together in a seperate bowl.
4) After you have mixed the dressing together, pour over the potato mixture and mix together well.
5) Place finished product in the refrigerator for an hour, or longer, then serve.

****NOTE****This can be made a day in advance if you would like!

Herbed Fingerling Potatoes

Are you wondering if I fell off the planet?  Well, something like that!  Our family has been praying for over a year for a job for my husband and one 'finally' came through!  Yea haw!!!  It seemed everything this Christmas turned out wonderful!  So here is one of the potato recipes I made Christmas Eve night...this one is yummy!

2 lbs small fingerling potatoes
6 rosemary sprigs
1 tablespoon dried thyme
3 garlic cloves, minced
Kosher Salt to taste
1/2 cup olive oil
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
2 tablespoons chopped flat-leaf parsley

Method

1) Preheat oven to 425.  Put potatoes in pot and cover with water.  Add 3 sprigs rosemary, 2 teaspoons thyme, 1 clove garlic, and season with salt.  Boil until the potatoes are tender but not soft.  Drain, discard the herbs you boiled the potatoes in.  Place the potatoes in a oven safe dish you can serve in.
2) Mix together in a separate boil the remaining rosemary, thyme, garlic and salt.  Also, the olive oil, and red pepper flakes.  Pour this mixture over the boiled potatoes and place in the oven for 20 minutes.  Take potatoes out of the oven, sprinkle with parsley and serve at once! Enjoy these smell wonderful!

Homemade Baked French Fries

This recipe is really not a recipe at all, but rather something we all tend to overlook when we want to add a starch to a meal.  Or maybe I should rephrase this and say, "I" forget about making them.  I usually think about rice, Quinoa (pronouced, keen-wa), egg noodles, baked potatoes or mashed potatoes or quite frankly, anything along these lines.  However, baked homemade french fries are a healthy alternative to the others with little "bad" fat added if you don't deep fry them!  Here is a simple way to enjoy a french fry without the guilty feeling after you eat them!

3-4 large baking potatoes, washed and sliced perpendicular to the length of the potato (the fries should be
       long and slender in shape).
1-2 tablespoons olive oil or a mixture of flax seed oil and olive oil (remember I'm thinking healthy)
Salt & Pepper to taste (sometimes I add garlic salt if we are 'in' the mood)
1 sheet of parchment paper

Method:

1) Line a baking sheet with parchment paper to keep the potatoes from sticking, preheat the oven to 425.
2) Next, place the potatoes on the baking sheet not allowing them to over lap.  Brush (using a pastry brush) the potatoes with your choice of oil and salt and pepper to your liking.  Place in the preheated oven for up to 20 minutes depending on the thickness of your potatoes and serve at once.  This should serve 4-5 people depending on the size of the potatoes!  Enjoy, these are easy and good!

Baked Cranberries

 I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving!  We had to add a Herbed Persimmon Spoonbread to our Thanksgiving menu...per my husband!  Really, with all the other food we needed this too?  One of the big hits this Thanksgiving was the baked cranberries.  Here is the recipe which would be a wonderful addition to a Christmas dinner as well!

1 lb. bag fresh cranberries
2 cups sugar
1/2 (12oz) bag frozen whole raspberries, thawed
3 Tablespoons Orange-flavor liqueur
1/2 cup sugar

Method

Spread rinsed and drained cranberries in glass 9 X13 dish.  Sprinkle evenly with 2 cups sugar, toss to coat.  Bake in a preheated 350 oven until hot and bubbly and sugar is dissolved (about 45 minutes), stirring twice.  Gently stir in raspberries, liqueur and 1/2 cup sugar.  Refrigerate, covered for 3 hours or longer.

Baked Cranberries!

Roasted Sweet Potato Salad

I made this recipe up after purchasing a similar salad while at work one day.  I fell in love with it and decided to try to make my own version.  It turned out wonderful...so here you go:

2 Sweet Potatoes
2 Tb. Red Onion, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
½ Red pepper, diced
2 Tb. Organic cilantro, minced with knife
½ cup Canola Mayonnaise (use your desired amount)
1 Chipotles in adobe sauce
2 Tb. Lime Juice
Sea Salt & Pepper to taste

Method:

Bake sweet potatoes until soft but firm, peel skins and dice up. In separate bowl add the remaining ingredients and stir together until well combined then add the sweet potatoes.

Seasonal Corn on the Cob!

Various ways to make corn on the cob....
Well, just like anything else "Corn on the Cob" can be made in many ways!

1. The Traditional:  Boil in water on the stove top!  Peel the corn, place in the boiling water and wait 10 or so minutes!  Some like it with sugar added to the water and then some like to add salt!
2. The "Fair" style:  This requires a grill and in my book locks in the "true" flavor of the corn.  Just soak corn with husks in water for about 2 minutes.  Place corn on the grill (with the husks on) this takes about 10 minutes or so.  Peel corn an serve at once...you pick the toppings!
3. The "Micro" Corn:  Peel the husks off the cob and put in a shallow dish with a microwavable lid.  Depending on your microwave this could take up to 5 minutes or less.  (Not a big fan of this way...I feel the corn loses a lot of flavor in the microwave!)