Thai peanut slaw

This recipe was found on facebook and it looked so pretty and sounded healthy so I decided to give it a try.  It was great.  Very colorful and flavorful.  It gave the knife a workout but I think that you could, if you were so inclined, buy at least some of the vegetables pre-shredded at the grocery store.  I planned this salad to be served at two events a couple days apart and the first event was kind of a run through for the second event.  I prepped the vegetables for both salads at the same time, placing the chopped and shredded veggies in a zipper bag in the fridge.  I then made the dressing for the first salad and will make the dressing for the second salad on the day that I serve it.  This was an easy salad to make.  Prepping the vegetables was a little time consuming but not hard.  I used a mandoline to make thin slices of the two cabbages and the carrots and then chopped the slices smaller with a knife.  I think that you could use purchased shredded cabbage and carrots or use a box grater or the shredding blade of a food processor to obtain the same results.  I was attempting to get slightly bigger pieces than your standard cole slaw.  I used a knife to slice the table onions and to chop the cilantro and peanuts.  The dressing came together quickly whisking a few ingredients in a small bowl and then poured over the vegetables.  The dressing calls for both grated ginger and grated garlic and I used my microplane to do both and it worked well.  It is a nice sized salad.  I used my big stoneware bowl to mix all the ingredients together and then transferred it to the bowl I planned to serve it in.  It did shrink down a little bit once the dressing was added.  The cilantro and ginger brought a nice freshness to the salad.  Definitely a keeper.

Thai Peanut Slaw

Ingredients

Green cabbage shredded (I used a whole large cabbage for two salads)
Red cabbage, shredded (I used two small heads for two salads)
carrots, shredded or cut into thin small slices (I used a pound for two salads)
scallions, one bunch sliced, both white and green parts (I used about 10 for both salads with all of the white and half of the green)
1/2 cup Cilantro, roughly chopped.  (I chopped up a large bunch and split it between the salads)

2/3 cup dry roasted peanuts, roughly chopped

Dressing:

1/4 cup canola oil
1/4 cup soy sauce
2 Tbsp Truvia
1 Tbsp grated fresh ginger
2 cloves garlic, grated
1 Tbsp sesame oil
salt and pepper to taste

Prep the vegetables, I elected to use slightly larger pieces hoping for a bigger pop of color and it was a good choice.  Place in a large bowl and mix together.  Place the dressing ingredients in a small bowl and whisk until the oil and soy sauce is thoroughly combined.  Roughly chop the dry roasted peanuts, stopping before they get to be too fine.  Pour the dressing over the vegetable mixture and stir.  Add the peanuts and stir.  Can top with additional peanuts and cilantro if desired.  The original recipe says that it will keep in the refrigerator covered for three days.

For my second salad I placed the prepped cabbages, carrots, onions and cilantro in a zipper bag in the fridge and will make a fresh batch of dressing the day it is served and toss together with the peanuts just prior to serving.  Alternatively, the dressing could be doubled and one half poured over the first salad and the second half stored in the fridge and re-whisked before pouring it on the second salad. 

source: here

marinated watermelon and tomato salad

My sister shared some salad with me.  She found the recipe in a magazine called Real Simple.  It was on the cover and caught the eye of her daughter.  It tasted great so I asked for the recipe and vowed to take a picture of it and blog about it before I had finished it off.  This salad has some ingredients that I would never have thought to try together.  Watermelon and tomato.  Who would have thought? 

The colors were beautiful.  The red of the watermelon and the yellow/orange of the cherry tomato is such a happy color combination.  I just needed to decide how to do a picture of it that does it justice.

Nikole's handcrafted pottery bowl on tan?

Small white dish on green?

Glass salad plate on blue?

stack of glass plates on wood?

Look at those colors!

marinated watermelon and tomato salad

10 cups watermelon, cubed
1/4 cup fresh lime juice
1 1/2 pounds tomatoes, chopped or cherry tomatoes
1/2 small red onion
1/2 cup basil, freshly torn
2 Tbsp olive oil
3/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper

Combine the watermelon and the lime juice and allow to stand at room temperature for 15 minutes.  Add the remainder of the ingredients and serve or refrigerate until ready to serve. 

broccoli salad

In May there was a birthday party for my daughter Nikole's 30 birthday.  Colleen and Tom brought this broccoli salad and it was really good.  Colleen agreed to share the recipe.  The dressing is made the day before and refrigerated.  The bacon and seeds are added a few hours before serving and the only last minute task is to stir all the ingredients together.  Colleen said that she doubled it for the party.

broccoli salad

2 bunches broccoli, cut into florettes
1/2 cup raisins
1/2  medium red onion, diced
1 pound bacon, cooked, drained and cut into bite size pieces
1/2 cup sunflower seeds (without shells)


Dressing

1 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup sugar
2 Tbsp salad vinegar

Make the dressing the day before and keep in the refrigerator.  A few hour before serving add the bacon and seeds to the vegetables and right before serving stir in the dressing.

cowboy caviar

This was a salsa that Robb brought to the birthday party.  It was made by his mom, Traci, and she graciously shared the recipe.  It was delicious, full of fresh, healthy ingredients, many of which will soon be available from the garden or farmer's market. 

Cowboy Caviar

1 each red, yellow and green peppers, chopped
1 large red onion, chopped
4 stalks celery, chopped
2 cans shoe peg corn or mexicorn, undrained
1 can pinto beans, drained and rinsed
1 can garbanzo beans or black eyed peas, drained and rinsed
1 can black beans or black beans with jalapenos, drained and rinsed

Cook the following and pour over vegetables and beans:

1cup canola oil
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup vinegar

Refrigerate overnight and serve with Fritos scoops or chips.

spinach salad

This salad is the April recipe review from the Aggieville cookbook.  The salad is spinach, bacon and water chestnuts with a homemade dressing.  The spinach is fresh from the greenhouse, picked today with only a quick rinse.  The bacon is cooked crisp and crumbled and I used canned water chestnuts.  Water Chestnuts come in whole or slices and I used the sliced and then cut the slices crosswise.  I think that you could have left them as whole round slices or chopped them.

The dressing goes together very quickly and easily.  The recipe called for minced onion so I chopped mine quite fine in the food processor first and then added the rest of the ingredients and made the dressing in the food processor.  The dressing is red in color and reminds me of a french dressing but a little sweeter.  I used a sweet onion and I soaked it in some ice water for 30 minutes before I used it to try and reduce the hotness of the onion.  I used canola oil and white vinegar but I think good variations could be obtained by using olive oil and/or a different vinegar, such as a cider, wine or seasoned rice vinegar.  The dressing ingredients make enough for many salads.

Spinach salad and dressing

Salad

2 lb fresh spinach, washed
1/2 package cooked, crumbled bacon
1 can water chestnuts

Dressing

1 cup oil
1/3 cup catsup
1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup vinegar
2 Tbsp minced onion

 For salad, tear the spinach into bite sized pieces and combine with crisply cooked, crumbled bacon and chopped or sliced water chestnuts.

For dressing: blend all ingredients in a blender or food processor.  Pour over salad when ready to serve.   

I am linking to Tasty Tuesday

next year this will be a farmstand recipe

The farmstand cookbook is a small but expanding collection of recipes using ingredients from the farmstand.  I have other recipes too but they are blogged about either at The Bakery at Mom's Hobby Farm or A Dozen For Dinner where I have started reviewing a new cookbook each month and then each month after a recipe from that cookbook.  So, I am already behind.  But just a little behind.  In March I was to review a recipe from the January cookbook and a recipe from the February cookbook.  It is April 2 and I am cooking and writing for March.  I made a cabbage salad tonight that called for cabbage, red onion and green pepper.  These are all vegetables that I did not grow last year but are on the planned list for this year.  

Here is a picture of the salad:

and here is the recipe for the salad.