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Goat Cheese, Mango, and Steak Salad

Steak, Goat cheese, and Mango Salad One of my goals on here is to help you become more comfortable with inviting friends to “life at your table”. Wether it’s a diet coke and peanuts during a play date or neighbors over for dinner, invite someone over. I promise it will be worth the effort! This salad can be done ahead of time and looks fancier then it is. Red leaf and butter lettuce Avocado, sliced Asparagus, roasted and chopped Mango relish- Store bought pineapple salsa with fresh mango and cilantro (tastes homemade) Grilled shrimp, steak, or chicken Goat cheese log Macadamia nuts, chopped or ground in blender Asian Soy dressing- combine 1/2 C EVOO 2 Limes, juiced 1/3 C Red wine vinegar 2-3 TB Soy sauce 1 TB garlic 2 green onions, chopped Dash of sugar Dash of Sesame oil Ground pepper Macadamia Goat cheese patty – Squish goat cheese into disk shape. Coat in ground macadamia nuts. Put patty in toaster oven or high heat in oven for 1-2 minutes. (Nuts burn easily so keep watch). Pineapple mango salsa-…

Casear Brussels Sprout Salad

Mixing up a basic salad to keep my dinner time fresh and interesting! Sliced Brussels sprouts Shaved Parmesan Prosciutto or Bacon, crumbled Chicken breast, sliced Caesar Dressing- 2 parts store bought Caesar Dressing 1 part fresh lemon juice 1 part EVOO S&P ETC. I never make Caesar dressing, so I find adding some lemon juice and olive oil make it taste homemade and less bottled. This works for other store bought dressings as well. Adding some vinegar or citrus and oil to dressings can make it taste fresher. Torn croutons would be fantastic on this too.

Cobb Salad Wraps

Why have I never thought to do this? Grilled Tortilla Chicken, cut into chunks Tomatoes Bacon Blue cheese Hard Boiled Eggs Avocado Cucumber Romaine lettuce Balsamic Vinaigrette Definitely making this when I get home!

Pickled Zucchini

Spicy Pickled Zucchini Who has leftover zucchini from their garden?This is a delicious way to put it to good use (and it goes on the BLT you will most definitely want to make). Trust me, it’s incredible and worth the time. I was skeptical at first but have made it 3 times in the last week. The onions are to die for as well! 3 medium zucchini, thinly sliced 1 medium white onion, thinly sliced 2 shallots, thinly sliced 2 garlic cloves, peeled and halved 1 1/2 TB sea salt 1/4 C fresh dill sprigs 1 small fresh red chile pepper, very thinly sliced 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes 1/2 TB yellow mustard seeds 1 TB Black peppercorns 3/4 cup cider vinegar 3/4 cup white wine vinegar 1/3 cup sugar Cut the zucchini into thin slices. Place in jar along with the cloves of garlic. Add remaining ingredients (except dill) in a sauce pan. Set it over medium heat and bring just to a boil. Remove from heat and carefully pour over zucchinis and garlic in the jar. Top with…

Kale, Pear, and Goat Cheese Salads

Playing around with my current kitchen ingredients for a Fall salad for tomorrow. Chop kale very thinly Cut pear and apple (Granny Smith is good with this salad) into matchsticks Add toasted pecans or whatever you have in your freezer (you always keep nuts in your freezer, right?) *Toast or candy your entire bag of nuts and then freeze whatever you don’t use and you’ll be ready for your next weekday salad. Add crumbled TJ blueberry vanilla goat cheese (always in my freezer). Dressing- balsamic evoo maple syrup sliced shallots s&p This salad will hold up well because kale doesn’t wilt very fast.

Goat Cheese Stuffed Pears

‘Tis the season for everything pear! These goat cheese stuffed pears look gourmet, are so easy to make and taste amazing. Use any type of pear (I think red pears look best) slice 4 in half and scoop out middle with a melon baller or spoon. Combine 4 oz goat cheese (Vermont creamery apricot and thyme is to die for in these), chopped dates, honey, toasted pecans, kosher salt, a dash of cinnamon, and ground pepper. (Use any type of cheese and toppings you love, the possibilities are endless.) Stuff cheese mixture into pears. Fill baking dish with some apple juice or cider then place the Stuffed pears on baking dish. Cover and cook for 20 minutes at 400 degrees. Place pears on top of any type of greens you like. Bon Appetit! For your Traeger: cook on 400 degrees for 20 minutes and it’s twice as good!

Stacked Cobb Salad

The other day I was eating string cheese and wheat thins for lunch with my kids when my husband sent over a picture of the most beautiful stacked salad he was having at lunch in Minneapolis. Today, I grabbed some ingredients from the salad bar at my local grocery store, turned on Giada while the girls were napping, and ate like a Queen! Having a food stacker is helpful for this but not necessary. (A food stacker looks like a giant round cookie cutter and can be found at any cooking store.) A measuring cup, cookie cutter, or can might work. I decided to stack a Cobb salad but feel free to use any ingredients you like! I shredded iceberg lettuce and added a little dressing to it. Chopped tomatoes Chopped hard boil eggs Diced bacon Blue cheese Sliced purple onion Avocado Lump crab meat Arugula micro greens Add each ingredient on top of each other and press down firmly. Hold down ingredients and slowly pull up stacker. I whipped up a dressing of lemon juice, EVOO, chopped garlic, and…

3 Step Salad

My idea of the perfect salad comes in 3’s. You don’t have to have specific ingredients and you can be creative with it! 1. Toss in your favorite kind of cheese. What do you have on hand? Goat cheese, feta, or parmesan..are all great ideas. 2. Add fruit or veggies. Pear, apple, leftover asparagus? They all work! Cut them into different shapes and sizes for look and variety. 3. Add any nuts or seeds that you have in your freezer or cabinet. Cashews, pecans, or pistachios are all great ideas (make sure to toast them). Nuts keep great in the freezer so I always have at least four varieties on hand (same with cheeses). Finally, I always use at least 2 kinds of lettuce. I love the different texture and flavors it gives to the salad. In this case I used 3; spinach, arugula, and baby bibb lettuce. Your perfect salad can be done in 1,2,3!

Orange, Grapefruit, and Pistachio Salad

Are you having a dinner party or guests over for the New Year? If so, there is so much you can do ahead of time. Plastic bags can be your best friend when entertaining. When I’m throwing a party or having friends over, my refrigerator is full of party food in plastic baggies. They’re disposable when it’s “go” time and keep things fresh and ready to go. This is one of my favorite salads lately: Mixture of spinach and arugula Orange sections Grapefruit sections Pistachios Feta cheese Avocado.

Bruschetta Chicken Salad with Brie Croutons

Dinner last night was based on having Brie cheese that needed to be put to use before it went bad. It’s also a salad take on one of my favorite dips (that I’ve posted before). I raided the kitchen and was pretty happy with the end result! Mix of butter lettuce and arugula Sliced leftover grilled chicken beast Instead of dressing I made a bruschetta topping of tomatoes, garlic, green onion, EVOO, balsamic glaze, and s&p. Sourdough Brie cheese “croutons”. Broil your favorite bread with sliced brie cheese. Top with kosher salt and cut into squares. Top with julienned basil, more balsamic glaze, and toasted pine nuts.