Love Arugula!!

Pomegranate Apple and Arugala Salad

11.28.10 – Seriously the best salad I’ve ever had! Denis isn’t a real fan of arugula and I could eat it every day. Tonight he made a salad that I hope will please everyone else as much as it did me.
Yields: 4 servings
Ingredients
1 pomegranate, seeded & divided
Dressing:
1/4 cup sour cream
2 tablespoons yellow mustard
4 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
2/3 of pomegranate seeds for dressing
1/2 cup canola oil
Salad:
1/2 container arugula
1 Honey Crisp apple
1/4 cup slivered almonds, toasted
1/3 of pomegranate seeds
Directions
Dressing:
Put pomegranate seeds in a blender and pulse until juiced. Strain seeds through a sieve and return juice to the blender. Add in sour cream, mustard and vinegar to blender and pulse to combine. Add oil in a stream while blending to lightly emulsify until combined. Do not over-mix ingredients.
Place arugula, pomegranate seeds, apple and almonds into a large salad bowl and toss to combine. Drizzle dressing into bowl and toss to combine.
This recipe printed from Key Ingredient.
Direct recipe link: http://www.keyingredient.com/recipes/4372013/pomegranate-apple-and-arugala-salad/

Easy lunch with ingredients that are always on hand

The month is almost over. Time is going by way too fast!
This is one of those recipes that I always have the ingredients on hand for. Not fancy just good basic flavors.


Chicken-and-Wild Rice Salad

Southern Living

10.10 – Changes – slivered almonds instead of pecans, chile oil instead of pepper, arugula instead of water cress. I also added in some steamed broccoli. I think the broccoli took away some and muddied it up a bit. I always have these ingredients on hand so it’s a great lunch and is great left-over the next day.

Yields: 6 servings
Ingredients

1 cup chopped pecans
3 tablespoons soy sauce
3 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
2 tablespoons sesame oil
1 (8.5-oz.) pouch ready-to-serve whole grain brown and wild rice mix
3 cups shredded cooked chicken
1 cup diced red bell pepper
1 cup coarsely chopped watercress
1/4 cup minced green onions
Pepper to taste
Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350°. Bake pecans in a single layer in a shallow pan 10 to 12 minutes or until toasted and fragrant, stirring halfway through.

2. Whisk together soy sauce, vinegar, and sesame oil in a large bowl.

3. Prepare brown and wild rice mix according to package directions. Stir chicken, next 3 ingredients, toasted pecans, and rice into soy sauce mixture. Add pepper.

This recipe printed from Key Ingredient.
Direct recipe link: http://www.keyingredient.com/recipes/2182044/chicken-and-wild-rice-salad/

A great light lunch

Bulgur Salad with Lightly Roasted Vegetables

I loved this salad and had it for lunch. I think it would be great as a side dish for grilled meats. Two things that are important - dicing the vegetables into 1/4-inch and not overcooking them. The tomato paste I use is in a tube so it's easy to just use a little when I have a recipe that calls for a tablespoon.


Yields: 6 servings
Ingredients

2 cups coarse bulgur, rinsed
2 cups hot water
1 medium zucchini, cut into 1/4-inch dice
1 medium carrot, cut into 1/4-inch dice
1 small red onion, cut into 1/4-inch dice
1/2 red bell pepper, cut into 1/4-inch dice
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1/2 medium cucumber—peeled, seeded and cut into 1/4-inch dice
Crushed red pepper
Directions

Preheat the oven to 400°. In a large bowl, cover the bulgur with the hot water. Cover the bowl with a plate and let stand until the water has been absorbed and the bulgur is tender, about 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, on a large rimmed baking sheet, drizzle the zucchini, carrot, onion and bell pepper with 2 tablespoons of the olive oil. Season with salt and pepper and toss well. Roast for about 15 minutes, until the vegetables are slightly softened; let cool.

Fluff the bulgur with a fork. Stir in the tomato paste. Fold in the roasted vegetables, lemon juice, cucumber and the remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Season with salt, black pepper and crushed red pepper. Serve at room temperature or slightly chilled.

This recipe printed from Key Ingredient.
Direct recipe link: http://www.keyingredient.com/recipes/2181020/bulgur-salad-with-lightly-roasted-vegetables/

A night in France by way of Asheville!

I just finished a great visit in Asheville with Tracy, Joe and the kids. We had lunch at 7 Bones and then went to Ben's first soccer game of the year. Charlotte had fun taking photos and we had fun watching Ben play a great game. We had such a big heavy lunch that Tracy and I were craving a salad and settled on a Salad Nicoise. Such a perfect meal on a hot summer night. This is Julia Child's recipe. I probably used double the lemon juice and vinegar called for. It's a matter of taste and what you like.

Salade Nicoise

From Julia’s Kitchen Wisdom, by Julia Child.
Of all main-course salads, the Nicoise is my all-time favorite, with its fresh butter-lettuce foundation; its carefully cooked, beautifully green green beans; its colorful contrast of halved hard-boiled eggs, ripe red tomatoes, and black olives; all fortified by chunks of tunafish and freshly opened anchovies. It’s a perfect luncheon dish, to my mind, winter, summer, spring, and fall an inspired combination that pleases everyone.

Yields: 6 servings
Ingredients

1 large head Boston-lettuce leaves, washed and dried
1 pound green beans, cooked and refreshed
1-1/2 tablespoons minced shallots
1/2 to 2/3 cup basic vinaigrette
Salt and freshly ground pepper
3 or 4 ripe red tomatoes, cut into wedges (or 10 to 12 cherry tomatoes, halved)
3 or 4 "boiling" potatoes, peeled, sliced, and cooked
Two 3-ounce cans chunk tuna, preferably oil-packed
6 hard-boiled eggs, peeled and halved
1 freshly opened can of flat anchovy fillets
1/3 cup small black Nicoise-type olives
2 to 3 tablespoons capers
3 tablespoons minced fresh parsley
Directions

Arrange the lettuce leaves on a large platter or in a shallow bowl. Shortly before serving, toss the beans with the shallots, spoonfuls of vinaigrette, and salt and pepper. Baste the tomatoes with a spoonful of vinaigrette. Place the potatoes in the center of the platter and arrange a mound of beans at either end, with tomatoes and small mounds of tuna at strategic intervals. Ring the platter with halves of hard-boiled eggs, sunny side up, and curl an anchovy on top of each. Spoon more vinaigrette over all; scatter on olives, capers, and parsley, and serve.




Basic Vinaigrette Dressing

From Julia’s Kitchen Wisdom, by Julia Child

This is a bare-bones recipe for the simple all-purpose vinaigrette, which you will vary as you wish. Its beauty lies solely in the quality of your ingredients. Note that you will so often see proportions of 1 part vinegar to 3 parts oil, but that can make a very acid, very vinegary vinaigrette. I use the proportions of a very dry martini, since you can always add more vinegar or lemon but you can’t take it out.

Yields: 6 servings
Ingredients

1/2 Tbsp finely minced shallot or scallion
1/2 Tbsp Dijon-type mustard
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 Tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/2 Tbsp wine vinegar
1/3 to 1/2 cup excellent olive oil, or other fine, fresh oil
Freshly ground pepper
Directions

Either shake all the ingredients together in a screw-topped jar, or mix them individually as follows. Stir the shallots or scallions together with the mustard and salt. Whisk in the lemon juice and vinegar, and when well blended start whisking in the oil by droplets to form a smooth emulsion. Beat in freshly ground pepper. Taste (dip a piece of the salad greens into the sauce) and correct seasoning with salt, pepper, and/or drops of lemon juice.