Recipes, Dinner Ideas & Menus

I didn’t know how this recipe was going to turn out, but I gave it a shot anyway. This is one that Laura found online and after reading through the instructions, I knew I’d have to add a few of my own twists to things. I’m very happy that I went forth with it though because it was very good. And the vinaigrette – well, that was nothing short of utterly amazing. Trust me on this, you’ve never had anything like it.

The Recipe

This recipe includes a lot of really great ingredients that work extraordinarily well together. At first, I didn’t think the bulgur was going to integrate with many of them, but surprisingly it did. I was surprised. As a matter of fact, the bulgur was critical to the success of this recipe. It effectively soaks up much of the vinaigrette giving the entire salad a boost in flavor.

This recipe uses bulgur, kale, pecans, apple and sweet potato as the solid ingredients and butter, olive oil, chili flakes, sweet onion and coriander in the vinaigrette. The vinaigrette is different than any I’ve previously enjoyed because in this case, it’s heated in a skillet. This process contributes to the wonder of flavor that’s derived from it. It’s probably the best vinaigrette I’ve ever tasted, and I’ve tasted many.

Instructions

Serves: 6

1 1/4 Cups Dry Bulgur
Extra-Virgin Olive Oil
1 Bunch Kale, Stemmed and Sliced
1/2 Cup Pecans, Crushed
1 Teaspoon Coriander Powder
3 Apples, Cored and Diced
1 Tablespoon Apple Cider Vinegar
2 Ounces Gruyère, Grated
Salt
Ground Black Pepper
3 Tablespoons Butter
1 Sweet Onion, Diced
1/4 Teaspoon Red Pepper Flakes
1 Tablespoon Lemon Juice
2 Large Sweet Potatoes, Trimmed and Diced

Step-by-Step Instructions

I’d like to thank Diane G. over at HealthGuide for this recipe. Again, I was skeptical, but everything came together surprisingly well. I’m now a big fan of this salad.

Pre-Heat Oven

Arrange one oven rack so it’s in the center position. Then, pre-heat the oven to 425 degrees.

Roast the Sweet Potatoes

Trim the ends from the sweet potatoes and cut both of the potatoes up into 3/4 inch cubes. Place the cubes into a medium sized bowl and add 1 tablespoon of olive oil, 1/2 teaspoon of salt and 1/4 teaspoon of black pepper. Mix well until all the cubes are coated with the oil.

When that’s finished, spread the sweet potatoes over a large baking sheet and place the sheet in the oven. Let the potatoes roast for about 30 minutes or until they form a firm skin on them. Once that’s done, turn off the heat and place the cubes in a large bowl.

Cook the Bulgur

Bring 2 1/2 cups of water to a boil in a medium sized saucepan. Add 1/2 teaspoon salt to the water, along with 1 tablespoon of olive oil. When the water is boiling, add the bulgur and reduce the heat to low. Let the bulgur cook for 15 minutes.

After the bulgur is finished, spread it out on a large baking sheet to cool for about 15 minutes. When that’s done, scrape everything into a large bowl.

Prepare the Vinaigrette

Warm a large skillet over medium heat. Once the pan is to temperature, add the butter and three tablespoons of olive oil to it. Let the butter melt and cook it for about one minute. After that time, add the pecans, half of the sweet onion, the coriander, 1/2 teaspoon of salt and the red pepper flakes. Continue to cook for four minutes.

Next, add half of the diced apples, the lemon juice and the apple cider vinegar, stir, and continue to cook for another two minutes.

At this point, you’re going to want to give this vinaigrette a taste. This is what I was referring to when I raved about it at the beginning of this post. Just be sure to blow on the spoon to cool it down before you put it in your mouth.

Add the Kale

Finally, add the kale to the vinaigrette in the skillet. You may need to cover the pan for a minute or so until the kale wilts down. Stir a bit and once that happens, remove the pan from the heat.

Combine Ingredients

Add the sweet potatoes, the rest of the sweet onion and the remaining apple cubes to the large bowl the bulgur is in. Stir everything together well. After that, add the cheese and the vinaigrette to the bowl as well and stir again. Everything in the bowl should be well coated with the vinaigrette.

Alternately, you can leave off the cheese and the vinaigrette and plate the bulgur and sweet potato mix and add the cheese and vinaigrette to the plates themselves. It’s up to you.

Plate & Serve

Divide the mixture in the bowl among your plates and serve. Enjoy!

The Final Bulgur & Sweet Potato Salad

This really turned out well. If you’re into making a bulk salad for a lot of people, you’ll likely want to mix everything up in the bowl as the last step. If you’re plating for a nice dinner, you can add the vinaigrette and cheese to the tops of the plates like I suggested earlier. Do whatever looks the best. Just be sure the kale is cut up into small enough pieces to distribute evenly among plates, no matter which route you choose to take.

If you do decide to give this salad a try, please let me know your thoughts in the comment section below. Thanks for reading!

I just finished eating a bowl of this wonderful salad and I am happy to report that it was very good. I mean that. It was simply delightful. Farro is a grain I don’t eat very often, but its simple cooking method, great flavor and pleasing texture are going to put it on my list of favorites. I can purchase this grain rather easily in one of our local stores, so that’s not an issue. It’ll be put in rotation with the bulgar and barley. I really like this stuff.

The Recipe

If you’ve ever tried any of the grain salads that I’ve shared on this blog, you already know the deal. None of them have been tremendously difficult to prepare. In the most basic sense, all it takes is to it cook whatever grain it is you plan on using, whisk up the vinaigrette and prep the other ingredients you plan to mix in. Finally, after you combine everything, you’re ready to eat. Today’s recipe is no different. It follows the instructions I just laid out. And the best part is, there are no curve balls. This is a straightforward recipe to execute.

The best part about this salad, besides the farro, is the vinaigrette. It’s nice and sweet and very plentiful. It soaks right into the grain and other ingredients and makes it very challenging to take just one bite of the final product. The grain has a firm, yet tender texture and the scallions and chives add an element all to their own. With the addition of dried cranberries and shredded carrots, the dish is taken to a new level. It’s really tasty, very filling and I think you’ll love it. It’s actually perfect for guests. They would be impressed.

Ingredients

Serves: 8-10

2 Cups Dry Farro
2 Bunches Scallions
Extra-Virgin Olive Oil
1 Large Carrot, Trimmed and Grated
3 Tablespoons White Balsamic Vinegar
2 Tablespoons Honey
1 Tablespoon Pub Style Mustard
1 Bunch Chives, Sliced Thinly
Salt
Ground Black Pepper
4 Ounces Smoked Cheddar Cheese, Shredded
1/2 Cup Dried Cranberries or Cherries

Step-by-Step Instructions

I’d like to thank Hannaford for this recipe. We pulled it out of their Fresh magazine. This magazine is very surprising with all of the incredible recipes that we find in it. It’s actually become one of our resources for this website throughout the past year. I look forward to picking up a new copy each month.

Cook the Farro

Cooking farro is like cooking rice, but quicker. To be as accurate as you possibly can be, you should follow the cooking instructions on the back of your own bag. If you don’t have instructions, they’re almost all the same. Basically, for this recipe, bring six cups of water to a boil over high heat in a medium sized saucepan. Add 1 teaspoon of salt and one tablespoon of olive oil to the water. When it begins to boil, add the two cups of farro to it as well, cover the pot and turn the heat on your stove top to low. Let the grain cook for 30 minutes.

After the farro is finished cooking, pour the contents of the pot into a colander to drain.

After that, remove it from the colander and spread it out on a large baking sheet to cool. This will let you manage it easier in the salad and will allow any excess moisture to evaporate before mixing it with other ingredients.

Prep & Cook the Scallions

the scallions need to be cut two ways. For the green parts, you can slice them thinly. Once you get to the white parts, remove the rooted ends and cut the remainder in one inch pieces. Yours should look like this.

Once that’s finished, warm a large skillet over medium-high heat. Once the pan is to temperature, add one tablespoon of olive oil to it, along with the white parts of the scallions only. Let them sit in the pan for 30 seconds cooking. Then, give the pan a shake and let them sit again for another two minutes. Once that’s done, add those parts of the scallions to the large baking sheet with the farro on it to cool. The green parts of the scallions should still be in a bowl.

Prep the Carrot & the Chives

Go ahead and grate the carrot and slice the chives.

You can add these ingredients to the bowl with the green scallions in it.

Prepare the Vinaigrette

In a large bowl, add the vinegar, honey, mustard, 1/4 cup of olive oil, 1/2 teaspoon of salt and 1/4 teaspoon of ground black pepper. Whisk everything together well.

As you can see, I used my gigantic bowl for this. Everything is going to go into this bowl, so the bigger the better.

Combine All Ingredients

Add the cooled farro and the white parts of the scallions to the large bowl with the vinaigrette in it. Also, add the green scallions, carrots, chives, shredded cheddar cheese and the dried cranberries to the large bowl as well. Mix everything thoroughly.

Plate & Serve

You can keep this salad in the large bowl and let others scoop the salad out of it from the table or you can divide it up now between plates.

The Final Farro & Honey Mustard Vinaigrette Salad

I love this salad. I’m totally making this dish again. If you decide to give it a try, please let me know your thoughts in the comment section below. Thanks for reading!

Well, I tested out my new grill pan last night and I’m happy to report that it functions better than I imagined it would. I used it to grill the zucchini in the recipe I’m going to share below and it did a splendid job. I got the sought after “sear” marks and the zucchinis were actually cooked to perfection. Because of the ridges in the pan, the vegetables were cooked unevenly, giving them a range of very desirable textures. What a success.

Take a look at this photo. Tell me that doesn’t look great.

The Recipe

This is a very simple recipe. There are only two things that need to be cooked and both of them are extraordinarily straightforward. First is the toasting of the pecans. If you’re a follower of this blog, you already know how to do this. If not, I’ll explain it down below. Second is the grilling of the zucchini. That’s so easy too. You’re going to love this recipe.

The flavoring in this salad comes from only a few things. Salt, pepper, extra-virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Of course, you’ll taste the primary ingredients themselves, but what I just listed are the “enhancers.” The things that help bring out the flavors from the more prominent ingredients.

I think you’re going to enjoy this salad. It’s easy, doesn’t require much and can be put together fairly quickly. I made this last night as our dinner and it was no problem at all.

Ingredients

Serves: 4

1/2 Cup Pecans, Gently Crushed
4 Medium Sized Zucchini, Trimmed and Sliced Lengthwise 3/8 Inch Thick
Extra-Virgin Olive Oil
Salt
Ground Black Pepper
Balsamic Vinegar
4 Cups Mixed Baby Greens
4 Ounces Parmesan Cheese

Step-by-Step Instructions

Before I continue, I’d like to thank Yotam Ottolenghi for his incredible cookbook titled Plenty. I got my inspiration for this recipe from it. Many of his recipes are simple, yet elegant. That’s what I like about him so much. He also introduces a fair number of ideas I hadn’t yet considered, so browsing through this book is always a pleasure.

Toast the Pecans

Warm a small skillet over medium heat on your stove top. Then, once the pan is to temperature, add the crushed pecans, 1 teaspoon of extra-virgin olive oil and 1/4 teaspoon of salt.

As the pecans toast, be sure to keep them moving by flipping them in the pan. Once you begin to smell them toasting, remove the pan from the heat. They’re finished.

Prep the Zucchini

For the zucchini, trim both ends of each one. Then, slice the zucchini on the bias so they’re approximately 3/8 of an inch thick. Here’s a photo of some of mine.

Pre-Heat the Grill Pan

Warm up the cast iron grill pan by placing it over medium-high heat on your stove top. You’ll want to keep it there for about five minutes.

Toss the Zucchini in Oil

Next, place the sliced zucchini in a large bowl and add 1 tablespoon olive oil to them. Also add a few pinches of salt and a few pinches of pepper. Toss them until all the slices are coated with the oil.

Grill the Zucchini Slices

Next comes the grilling. Once the pan is nice and hot, place the zucchini slices into it. You won’t need to add any oil, since you already coated the slices with it. Also, since the pan is so hot, there will be some smoking. I just wanted to make you aware of that.

Let the first side of the slices cook for about two minutes. Then, use a fork to flip them and let the other side cook for another two minutes. They should look something like this.

You have to admit, they look good. In my opinion, anyway. I’m surprised at the results of this grill pan. I may be falling in love with it.

As you finish cooking the zucchini slices, place them back into the large bowl. Once they’re all there, add one tablespoon of balsamic vinegar to them and toss again.

Combine Ingredients

Add another tablespoon of olive oil to the zucchini in the large bowl, then, add the mixed garden greens to them and toss everything well.

Plate & Serve

Divide the mixture between four plates. Then, sprinkle the toasted pecans over everything and add the Parmesan cheese as well. If you want, you can even drizzle some additional olive oil over the salads.

The Final Char-Grilled Zucchini Salads

I get so happy when a dish is easy to photograph. Sometimes, things don’t go my way. This time, it was as easy as it gets. I think it’s those grill lines. They make anything look better. Anyway, give this recipe a shot. If you like in-season summer vegetables, you’ll love this. Thanks for reading!

A few weeks ago, I purchased a large five pound bag of quinoa. I wanted to prepare a quinoa salad, which I did. I shared it right here on this blog. That salad I made was so good that we began looking for more similar looking ones. Laura browsed online for a little while and came up with something that looked simply fabulous. I agreed with her sentiment and whipped it up last night. It didn’t take long at all and the results were stellar.

The Recipe

This is a simple recipe to prepare. It only takes a few steps and those steps are very straightforward. First, you’ll need to blanch the edamame. Then, cook the quinoa, make the vinaigrette and prep the vegetables. Put everything together and that’s it.

If you’ve ever had any type of quinoa salad before, you’ll surely know what’s in store for you here. The primary difference between this one and others you may have tried is the “greenness” of this dish. Almost everything is green, which, in my opinion, looks kind of cool on the plate. Also, honey is used in the vinaigrette, so there’s a bit of sweetness and the avocado on top adds that uniquely smooth flavor and texture. Overall, this is a very pleasant salad and it’s one I would definitely prepare again in the future.

Ingredients

Serves: 2

1 1/2 Cups Frozen Shelled Edamame
2 Tablespoons Lemon Juice
1 Tablespoon Honey
2 Tablespoons Extra-Virgin Olive Oil
Salt
Ground Black Pepper
1 Medium Sized Cucumber, Trimmed and Sliced Thinly
1 Cup Dried Quinoa
2 Tablespoons Fresh Mint, Coarsely Chopped
2 Tablespoons Fresh Basil, Coarsely Chopped
2 Tablespoons Fresh Dill, Chopped
1 Medium Sized Avocado, Peeled and Sliced Thinly

Step-by-Step Instructions

I’d like to thank Self for this recipe. Again, Laura found this online and it couldn’t be more simple to prepare and enjoy. There are many great recipes on this website, so I encourage you to make a visit to check them out.

Blanch the Edamame

Fill a medium sized saucepan about half way with water. Bring the water to a boil over high heat. When it’s boiling, add the edamame and let it cook for three minutes. When that’s finished, empty the contents of the pot into a colander and run it under cold water until the beans are cooled down.

Cook the Quinoa

Follow the instructions on the package of quinoa you purchased. On mine, it said the ratio of dry quinoa to water is 1:2. So, I added two cups of water to a medium saucepan, along with 1/2 teaspoon of salt and brought the water to a boil. Then, I added the quinoa, reduced the heat to low, covered the pot and let cook for 15 minutes.

When the quinoa is finished cooking, remove it from the heat and uncover the pot to let it cool for a bit.

Make the Vinaigrette

In a medium sized bowl, add the lemon juice, honey, olive oil, 1/2 teaspoon of salt and 1/2 teaspoon of pepper. Whisk these ingredients together well.

Prep the Vegetables

In this recipe, it’s not critical when you prep the ingredients because it’s so slow moving. As you work your way through it, the quinoa cools, which is a good thing.

First, I picked the basil leaves from my garden and then chopped them up.

Then I picked some mint from my garden as well and I chopped that up.

By the way, you can grow both of these plants on your windowsill rather easily. You should give that a try.

Finally, I chopped up the dill and trimmed and sliced the cucumber.

Combine Ingredients

Add all the ingredients, except for the avocado to a large bowl and mix to combine.

Make sure the ingredients are coated with the vinaigrette well. If you want, you can also add a few additional tablespoons of olive oil.

Plate & Serve

Divide the contents of the bowl among two plates. You’ll likely have leftovers. Then, peel and slice the avocado and place those slices on top of the salad. Serve and enjoy.

The Final Quinoa & Avocado Salad

This was a good one. I know the instructions seem longer than I initially described them, but really, this takes no time at all. Especially if you’re making this for a lot of people. You can get much more efficient with your process by prepping in bulk. Give this salad and try and let me know what you think about it. Thanks for reading!