Spinach Salad

I quickly threw this salad together recently and wanted to share it with you because it's:  good for you, easy, includes good cheese, has lovely color, you don't need to turn on the oven if it's hot where you are.

Ingredients:

8 oz. fresh spinach

1/4 of a small red onion, thinly sliced

1/4 cup feta or goat cheese, crumbled

1/4 cup dried cranberries

4 tablespoons walnuts, rough chopped

After washing and drying off, tear spinach into small pieces. Grab a bowl for the spinach and throw in the remaining ingredients. Add your favorite homemade salad dressing and you're good to go. 

Lemon Pasta Salad

I love all things lemon.  This recipe from the Neely's originally called for asparagus and regular peas, but I modified the ingredients a bit to get it how I like it, and of course, you can do the same.  This is a great salad to take to a summer pot luck or picnic.

1 pound corkscrew pasta

3 bell peppers, rough chopped

2 tablespoons Dijon mustard

1 garlic clove, minced

1/4 cup fresh lemon juice

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

Freshly ground black pepper

Salt

1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved
1/4 cup freshly chopped dill leaves

8 ounces crumbled feta cheese

Bring a large pot of water to a boil over high heat. Add the pasta and cook until al dente. Drain and rinse with cold water.

Whisk together the mustard, garlic, lemon juice, and olive oil in a small bowl. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.

Add the tomatoes, dill, peppers, feta, and the mustard dressing. Toss with tongs to coat the salad well. Taste and add additional salt and pepper, if needed.

Aleta's Chicken Salad with Homemade Salad Dressing

Try this tasty chicken salad with homemade dressing. Aleta says this is a great and satisfying dinner. 

Salad:
Mixed salad greens 
1 small grilled chicken breast, cut into bite-sized pieces
1/2 apple, cut into bite-sized pieces
2 tablespoons toasted walnuts 
Raisins or Craisins 

Dressing:
3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
2 teaspoons Splenda
2 teaspoons grainy/course ground mustard
dash pepper
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 shallot peeled and finely chopped 

Whisk all of the above ingredients together and then whisk in:
1/4 cup olive oil

Put the salad ingredients in a big bowl. Make the dressing and toss it all together with the salad, and serve. This dressing makes enough for two dinner salads and keeps in the refrigerator in a covered container for several days. 

Homemade Cherry Ice Cream Without a Machine

Delicious red, juicy cherries are all around now and this is an easy recipe for making homemade cherry ice cream without a machine. I have not tried making this with other berries, but suspect you could substitute them for cherries. 

Ingredients:
2 cups pitted cherries
3/4 cup half-n-half
1 cup cream
1/2 cup sugar
pinch of salt

3/4 cup milk
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
2-3 teaspoons almond extract (optional)

Have a bowl on ice ready in the freezer. Place the ice in a larger bowl and set the smaller bowl in it. Put your rimmed 13" x 9" baking dish in the freezer. This is for pouring the ice cream mixture into later on and will help speed up the cooling process.

In a medium saucepan, add cherries, half-n-half, cream, sugar and salt. Heat on medium heat. Right before the mixture boils, lower the heat to simmer for 15 minutes. Put mixture carefully into a blender and purée.

Pour mixture in the smaller bowl on ice. Add the milk. Stir in lemon juice and almond extract (optional). The almond extract brings out the deep flavor of the cherries.

Pour this mixture into the 13" x 9" baking dish in the freezer and freeze for 45 minutes. Take it out, break up frozen bits with whisk or spatula. Repeat this process at 30 minute intervals until it’s nearly impossible to break apart anymore.

Scoop into containers and place in the freezer until ready to serve. 

Photo and recipe (modified) are from:  http://www.soupbelly.com

Hazelnut Halibut with Lemon-Basil Cream Sauce

As promised, a Pacific Northwest-inspired seafood recipe, and it is so, so good! Hazelnuts are all over the Pacific Northwest and are used as mulch. If you cannot find hazelnuts in your own locale, you could use macadamia nuts or cashews. The measurements for both recipes are estimates, so feel free to adjust to your own tastes. Enjoy your food!

Halibut:

2-3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil 

2 halibut filets

1 egg white, whipped slightly 

1/2 cup toasted hazelnuts, crushed 
salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Heat a large pan (with lid) to medium-high heat and add the oil. Dip the halibut in the egg white and then into hazelnut mixture, pressing so it sticks. Add fish to pan and brown on both sides. Reduce heat to medium-low. Cover with lid and cook for 

5-10 minutes until fish is opaque throughout. Serve hot, covered with lemon-basil cream sauce. Season with salt and pepper.

Lemon-Basil Cream Sauce:

4 tbsp salted butter
2 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
2 tbsp vegetable stock or chicken stock 
2 tbsp Oregon pinot grigio
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup heavy whipping cream
1 tsp lemon zest
4 tbsp fresh basil leaves, torn or chiffonade

Melt the butter in a small pot over medium heat till slightly golden brown. Add the lemon juice, stock, wine, and garlic and cook on medium-low for 10-15 minutes or until reduced by about half. Whisk in cream until combined and reduce heat to low. Add lemon zest and stir. Sauce will thicken a bit after it starts to cool. If it isn't as thick as you'd like, you can thicken it up by first mixing some cornstarch with cool water and adding it to the sauce. If you add a thickener, bring the sauce back to a boil, and then reduce it again. Add the basil to the sauce just before serving, or place it on top of the sauce after drizzling it over the hazelnut halibut.

Chilled Asparagus with Garlic Aioli

Asparagus is great as a chilled side dish or appetizer. I had to put something together quickly for a party recently and made this in about 20 minutes. The aioli is so delicious as a dip for the chilled asparagus...along with many other things!

Ingredients:

1/2 cup light mayonaise
2-3 cloves garlic, minced

1 bunch of asparagus

Mix mayo and garlic. Chill to blend flavors for about 30 minutes.

Cut 2-3" off the bottom of the asparagus bunch and rinse well. Put into a pot of boiling water for about 3 minutes. Asparagus will be a bright green after boiling. Drain asparagus and immediately submerge into a bowl of cold ice water. Chill in the fridge for about and hour. Serve with aioli. Crunch, crunch.