Salads – Page 9 – Rosemary and the Goat

Tomato and Edamame Salad

I have a confession! And, I’m sure NO ONE has ever done this.

First, I want to say Happy Valentine’s Day to everyone and I hope you have something in mind for your special valentine that involves chocolate. Just in case you don’t and you want a little sweet treat, here’s my Peanut Butter Filled Chocolate Dipped Strawberry that will be a great finish to your meal.

This salad has some yummy RED (for Valentine’s Day) tomatoes to go with your dinner any night. I should have done some type of decadent chocolate dessert, but then I would be forced to eat it. So, instead, here’s a pretty healthy salad recipe for you to try.

Several years ago while on a mother/daughter trip with a friend and her daughter we visited San Francisco and then Napa. While in San Francisco we had sushi at Ozumo. You ask me how I could possibly remember the name of the restaurant from 5 years ago. Well, I journal all trips we make especially the food and the restaurants. So, we had their edamame made with sautéed garlic and a splash of soy sauce and it was outstanding and is now the only way I eat edamame.

So, my confession. We have a favorite sushi place that we go to about once a month. One time my friend and I had lunch there so I sauteed my garlic and took it in a small container and then we order their steamed edamame. I took out my garlic, added it to the bowl of edamame and then added a splash of soy sauce. The waitress came by and wanted to know what smelled so good and I confessed what I did. The next time my husband and I visited that restaurant (we always sit at the bar so we can watch) I asked if they could saute some garlic and add to the edamame and they did. Then on another visit when I asked for the same, the waiter said “oh, are you the one that asked for that before”. I said yes. I think they KNOW it is a better option that sprinkling it heavily with their Cajun season (I’m sure that’s what they were putting on their spicy edamame.).

February 13, 2012 By Sherry

Beef/Veal/ Entree/ Salads

Thai Steak Salad

I’m a copycat but it’s worth it for this recipe.

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season. Christmas came and went so fast and the New Year is here, and everyone is wanting to cut calories and food intake.

What are your New Year’s resolutions? Well when it comes to food I would like to do one vegetarian meal a week, fish at least 2 times a week (baked or pan fried), a main dish salad at least once a week, and then try and fill in the other days with healthier meals made with chicken and some pork. I think having salad is a perfect start to the new year.

What is it about a salad that is so refreshing even if it is loaded with tons of ingredients? I don’t know but I think most people feel like they are watching their calories when eating salad and that’s not always true.

A couple of years ago I gave up buying all those creamy prepared salad dressings and now whip up any type of vinaigrette at a moments notice. As long as you have olive oil, vinegar (some balsamic also), some Dijon mustard or other types of mustard and seasoning, you can whip up a dressing almost as quick as you can grab for that high fat store bought dressing that might still be in your refrigerator.

I don’t really think about the calories when I’m making a salad at home. I’m just thinking I can make one thing and not doing a protein, sides, etc., etc. Even though this salad has a long list of ingredients, you can prep everything early in the day and then just throw it together for your evening meal. For a salad with few ingredients and big taste, I posted the Bitter Green Salad with Yuzu dressing from our Hawaiian feast a few weeks ago.

My sister has always loved Houston’s Restaurant Evil Jungle Thai Salad. I have yet to taste it but I take her word that it is a delicious salad and she says it’s her most favorite restaurant salad.

So I started googling their recipe and came up with several copycat recipes. I’m sticking with the dressing recipe but added more garlic (or course) and for the salad, I omitted the noodles just because I didn’t think I would like noodles in a salad. I also added oranges instead of mango (I eat enough mango as it is), added the fresh ginger, jalapenos, the avocado and the savoy cabbage along with a mixture of lettuce. I browned my sesame seeds (not in their recipe) and the peanuts in a dry skillet which really adds a nice toasty taste to the salad. I think I changed enough ingredients in this salad to call it my own but I would have to say the Evil Thai Steak Salad from Houston’s Restaurant was definitely my inspiration.

While visiting in Chicago before Christmas, we made this one night at our son and daughter-in-law’s house, and we all enjoyed it along with some fresh crusty French bread and some Cambozola cheese.

January 4, 2012 By Sherry

Salads

Bitter Greens with Yuzu Dressing

Greens for feast day. Bitter, but oh so good.

Hawaiian Feast Day — An all day rain did not dampen our Hawaiian get together. Rigging up a method for cooking our pig and organized chaos in the kitchen ended about 11 p.m. and all the food, drinks, and wine being enjoyed by all.

We Americans seem to always want to put our salad at the beginning of the meal or even right along with the main course. If you are like me, and I love salad, I tend to fill up on that course before the main event even makes its appearance. In Europe salad is often served after dinner and is a refreshing finish to the meal before dessert arrives. (I will not be turning down dessert in France)

This is a simple looking salad that had a pleasing punch of flavor and definitely did it’s job as a bridge between courses.

A salad does not have to have a hundred ingredients to be delicious and this recipe proves just that. Don’t get me wrong, I like lots of ingredients in a salad, but this salad was perfect for this meal.

We were looking for a palate cleanings salad and my friend Peggy’s nephew, Pal, came up with this recipe he was going to make. He ended up having dog problems and had to return to Austin and missed our feast. But, we did not miss his salad because his Aunt had all the fixings and recipe to produce this wonderful salad. This salad will freshen your tastebuds and leave you wanting more of what’s to come next to your table.

December 13, 2011 By Sherry

Appetizers/ ColdApp/ Food Stories/ Salads

Michie Feast Day — Hawaiian Style

Aloha, Komo Mai, E komo mai, Mahalo!

Hello (friends and family), Come in, Welcome, Thank you (for coming and participating in our feast).

Menu:

Sushi Musubi (Spam Sushi)

Corn Crab Bisque

Poke

Hawaiian Coconut Crusted Shrimp with Orange Horseradish Lime Sauce

Bitter Greens with Yuzu Dressing

Pork Belly on Steam buns with Hoisin, scallions and cucumber

Porcini Dusted Sea Scallops with Tomato relish and pea sprouts/micro greens

Kona Pale Ale Basted Suckling Pig served with

Hawaiian Coconut Rice Salad (recipe below) and Papaya Chipotle Salsa

Drunkened Pineapple Upside Down Cake Macadamia Coconut Ice Cream

MaiTai Cocktail

Hawaiian Beer

Wine (lots of it)

This was a night of cocktails, food (lots of it), wine, (no hula) lots of fun with family and friends.

We have been doing our Michie Feast Day for about 9 years now. We have done everything from frog legs, sushi, tapas, French Country, Italian, Mexican, oysters 7 ways, New Orleans and this year Hawaiian. This all started when my husband fried our turkey for the first time. After using 3 gallons of oil to fry the turkey, we decided we needed to use the oil again before throwing it away so we bought some frog legs and the rest is history. After that first year we moved on to other themes.

My daughter and her newly wed husband just returned from their honeymoon in Hawaii in November. So, a Hawaiian theme was quite fitting for this year’s feast. We got to hear all about their 27 mile bike ride down a volcano and all about the beautiful waterfalls and the food they sampled while there. My daughter-in-law, Brooke and her friend, Heather, made all our beautiful tissue paper flowers and decorated the tables. We even had a kid’s table with decorations (see pictures below). Our table always looks great when Brooke is put in charge.

December 3, 2011 By Sherry

Salads

Arugula and Watermelon Salad

Watermelon with any kind of greens is fantastic.

I love the pine nuts in this salad. No such thing as too many pine nuts.

I can’t believe it is Labor Day already and summer is behind us. Well, almost, the heat is still here so here is one more salad to add to your summer collection.

Arugula is a fairly new green to me. I guess it was about 4 years ago that I first discovered them, and then while in Italy “rocket” salad was on every menu. After ordering the Rocket Salad for the first time, I realized that it was my new friend “arugula” I was eating. If you love a peppery taste to your greens then you need to be eating arugula. I love it on sandwiches, even grilled on a panini, chopped up in a pasta salad or just eat it straight out of the bag.

This particular recipe called for just arugula but I have another NEW friend and that is pea shoots/sprouts. Pea shoots are the leaves of the pea plant and they are oh so cute and delicious. You can put them in a salad, stir-fry them, bake with fish or chicken or wilted into a risotto or pasta dish. They are delicious chopped into marinades and dressings. Can you image your favorite sandwich with some arugula and a big pile of pea sprouts. Makes my mouth water. I may just have to do a blog on a great little pea shoot recipe I have.

I do grow my own arugula and it grows best here in Texas from Fall-Spring. I have tried growing micro greens before in the house with no luck. There’s a company called Sprout People where I ordered my kits and even a hemp bag to grown them on but can’t seem to keep them as moist as they need to be to produce. I have not tried my hemp bag yet so may try that soon. Sprout people now have pea sprouts you can order to grow. So, if you can’t find them in your local store, try growing them.

The recipe called for pine nuts and I always toast mine because I think it flavor of the nut is delicious when nicely browned. There is not anything I would change about this salad — it is crisp, fresh, sweet and the feta and pine nuts make it simply wonderful.

September 5, 2011 By Sherry

Salads

B-E-A-T Salad

Bacon, egg, avocado and tomato salad.

This was a paleo recipe that my daughter gave me a while back. I really am trying to cook and eat a little healthier at least for the next couple of months.

If you don’t know what the paleolithic diet is well it is also referred to as the “caveman diet”, “Stone Age diet” and hunter-gatherer diet. Eat like our ancestors did. The diet is centered on items like grass-fed pasture raised meats, fish, vegetables, nuts, seeds, minimal fruit and EXCLUDES grains, legumes, dairy products, sugar and also processed oils or really most processed food for that matter.

I have found after looking at many of her recipes that some are quite good and very tasty. And for the time being I will be trying some of her favorites occasionally. The key word in that statement is “time being” and “occasionally”.

The author of this recipe also suggested adding a tablespoon of mayonnaise. I took the mayo and added a little healthy olive oil and toss it with the mixture. Loved the salad is all I can say.

August 18, 2011 By Sherry

Salads/ Vegetables

Pesto Cauliflower with Arugula Salad

No boring cauliflower taste here.

A side dish or salad? You decide how you want to serve it.

I’ve really never been a cauliflower fan and it’s one of those vegetables and have to talk myself into buying because I know it is good for me. Not even a fan of raw cauliflower on a veggie tray even though I know it is going to get dipped into something really good.

I would like to learn to add the white flowery head to my vegetable repertoire especially since I’ve, for the time being, taken potatoes off the table. Cauliflower can actually be made into mashed potatoes by steaming or boiling it and mashing as if it were a potato. The mashed cauliflower is great when folded in with some mashed green peas. Beautiful combination.

In case you are trying to talk yourself out of trying this recipe, remember that cauliflower is one of the cancer fighting vegetables, is full of Vitamin C, low fat and high in fiber. Now, did that change your mind?

July 27, 2011 By Sherry

Entree/ Fish/Seafood/ Salads

Grilled Seafood Salad

Shrimp and Salmon make the perfect combo in this salad.

I’m one of those people who can never make a decision on almost anything. I second guess everything I do wondering if there is a better way of doing it or, if I’m buying something then I’m thinking there may be something out there I haven’t seen that I will like better. So, I try not to shop. Not one of my favorite things to do — lucky for my husband.

Picking out shrimp is easy. Does one buy 30/40 count, 18/20 count, heads on/off, cooked/uncooked. Now that is easy compared to picking out salmon.

Should I buy farm raised salmon or wild Atlantic salmon. Do I want the whole side so I can make fresh salmon cakes from the left overs or do I want the tail piece which is one of my favorite pieces becauses it gets nice and crispy around the edges. Do I want salmon steaks or better yet do I want steelhead trout which is nice and red like salmon, cheaper by a couple of dollars a pound and has a milder taste than salmon. There’s always canned salmon and even that has options — pink or red.

There’s always smoked salmon which you don’t have to do anything to but open the package, put a little on a cracker with some onion, capers, and boiled egg — instant appetizer.

July 18, 2011 By Sherry

Salads

Grilled Romaine Salad

Grill lettuce? Yes, and it is delicious.

Right off the grill. Give it a few chops and you are ready for another new salad recipe.

This is grilling season and we grill everything around this house — just about any kind of fruit, all kinds of fish, meats and sausages, and all sorts of vegetables. So, why not salad? Have you ever considered grilling lettuce?

Over the last few years I have seen chefs do this on different cooking shows and last year I tried this for the first time. I can’t believe it has taken me this long to getting around to posting the recipe.

I don’t think it ever gets too hot or even too cold that we don’t cook out when the mood hits. We decided to grill some fish one night and I though, why not give my husband one more thing to do. After all, that will give me one less thing to do and more time to do something else. As always, I made some changes to the original recipe which was just romaine, oiled and grilled.

There are several ways you can do this recipe. One is to just brush the halved romaine with oil, grill and then drizzle dressing over the grilled romaine. The other is to take the cut romaine and put in Ziploc bags and add the dressing to marinated about 15 minutes before grilling. When grilled, top with toasted pine nuts (optional) and sprinkle with Parmesan Cheese. This time I did the recipe, I brushed the halved romaine with some of the balsamic dressing, grilled on flat side first until it was nice and grilled, turned it and grilled a few more minutes. I did use the pine nuts and Parmesan cheese and it was fantastic.

I know you will look at these pictures and see a mushy bunch of lettuce that looks like someone forgot it in the refrigerator about a month after it’s prime but this was the sweetest tasting salad. I think grilling the lettuce brings out some sweetness and then of course the balsamic in the dressing adds to the perfection of this recipe.

June 12, 2011 By Sherry

Salads/ Side dish

Asparagus and Mushroom Salad

Fresh asparagus and mushrooms make a great salad.

Anyone who lives in the north and has dealt with inches or I should say FEET of snow this past winter is excited to see the crocus pop up in the Spring. I remember when we lived in Iowa and had 120 days of snow cover and spotting our first crocus popping up through the snow and I knew that Spring was just around the corner. Now summer is here and I’m looking for more salad recipes to try with our great bar-b-q that my husband will be doing all summer long. This would be a great additional to your Memorial Day celebration. Happy Memorial Day to everyone!

Asparagus is one of those Spring vegetables that I can hardly wait for because I know the price will get much lower than what I have to pay in the winter months. The day I made this recipe I paid $1.77/lb. So, I have quite a few asparagus recipes I’m going to be posting.

Most people tend to think that only the tiny thin asparagus is tender but that’s not true. I have bought asparagus as thick has my finger and it has been just as tender as the thinner variety. You will also see white asparagus and when we were at a farmer’s market in Chicago last spring, we bought some purple asparagus which was beautiful and wonderful. Now that would make a pretty salad, purple, green and white asparagus. That is, if you could find all three varieties at the same time.

May 28, 2011 By Sherry

Salads

Baked Goat Cheese Salad with Dates

Another salad recipe to add to your collection.

I think I am on a roll trying new salad recipes. I said a few weeks ago that I led a pretty sheltered life when it came to trying different salad recipes. Growing up eating a “combination salad” or wilted lettuce salad made me yearn for something more. I knew there was a whole world of salad ingredients and combinations of dressings, fruits, and nuts that could take an ordinary salad to a whole different level.

I love salads of almost any variety and use to think they were better when I had them in a restaurant. Now, I am rethinking that thought because I have been trying some wonderful recipes and usually come up with my own variations. This particular salad came out of aWilliam Sonoma salad book. It called for spring mix and goat cheese. Now how boring is that. The baked goat cheese was a nice addition but, I decided to add some chopped dates to add a little sweetness and I just happened to have some pea sprouts on hand and I added some toasted walnuts. Those changes really perked up this salad. If you don’t have access to pea sprouts maybe try some alfalfa sprouts or arugula. I think figs would be a good substitute for the dates. Also, next time, I’m giving the baked goat cheese rounds a drizzle of honey.

The first time I made this salad, I served some warm bread with the meal and we had two goat cheese rounds on our salads. We spread the goat cheese on some of the bread and it was delicious.

May 20, 2011 By Sherry

Salads

Italian Chopped Salad

Those little white beans are great in this salad!

When it starts to get hot, nothing sounds better than some kind of good salad with a light dressing and maybe a piece of grilled salmon. This is the time of the year in Texas that we start grilling most of our meals and eating outside.

Growing up a salad to me meant head lettuce, cottage cheese, tomato and a chopped boiled egg covered with French dressing. Yes, the French dressing that is orange and comes in a bottle. We called that salad a Combination Salad and that was what you asked for in a restaurant. That is the only salad I remember ever eating until I got married and started experimenting with recipes. I still love that salad but would not serve it to anyone I know except for my husband.

Coleslaws, yes. Potato salad, yes, no macaroni salad and no salad using anything but iceberg lettuce. Honestly, I don’t remember any other lettuce being sold at our grocery. Of course, I didn’t grocery shop so I don’t know what was sold. I forgot about a salad my mother use to make — Wilted Lettuce Salad. My dad had a terrific garden and she would pick his curly leaf lettuce add some green onions, bacon and a boiled egg and heat up the bacon fat with a little sugar and vinegar and pour it over the salad. Now that was and is a good salad and I make that occasionally with fond memories.

I love salad and just about anything you can put on a salad. It’s exciting too to be able to go out in my herb garden and pick some lettuce, arugula, chives or herbs to go into a salad I’m making.

I think this salad could be served as a main dish salad by adding some shredded grilled chicken. I have made this salad many times and always forget to double the dressing recipe when I use the whole head of romaine. I also use a soft sun-dried tomato instead of the oil packed ones then I chop them up and add to the dressing.

May 10, 2011 By Sherry

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