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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.

Red Wine Vinaigrette

This homemade vinaigrette is a fridge staple at my house and I haven’t found a salad it does not taste good with. I get so spoiled with homemade dressings, I can’t stomach bottled dressings anymore. 1 C Canola or Grapeseed Oil 1/2 C Red Wine vinegar (I do more like 3/4 C) S&P 1/6 C sugar ( you can also use honey ) 1/3 C finely chopped purple onion Shake and refrigerate! You can double or triple this amount as well.

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.

Mandarin Orange and Beet Salad

You’d never know most of this salad came from a CAN! 1 can beets 1 can mandarin oranges Mint leaves torn Goat cheese or your favorite cheese (feta would be good too) Dressing- 2 Tb leftover mandarin orange juice 2 Tb red wine vinegar 2 Tb EVOO (extra virgin olive oil) S&P to taste

Mozzarella and Tomato Stacked Salad

So pretty and oh so tasty! Layer: Sliced tomatoes Fresh mozzarella Basil leaves Drizzle EVOO and Balsamic glaze. Finish off with kosher salt and fresh ground pepper.

Filet Mignon Piadine

Store-bought pizza dough, I think Whole Foods has the best one. Slather with EVOO and put directly on the grill or Traeger. Romaine and Red leaf lettuce Traeger grilled green onions and asparagus cut up TJ frozen corn heated through tomatoes Grated Parmesan Grilled Filet – coat with EVOO and your favorite rub. I like seasoned salt and pepper. Let sit to room temperature then grill until medium rare. Let sit for 10 minutes and slice thinly. / I used my red wine vinaigrette dressing that’s in a previous post.

Cottage cheese, tomato, and avocado salad

After one too many handfuls of Peanut M&Ms this weekend, today’s lunch was just what I needed to reboot. Cottage Cheese (Costco 2% is the best by far) Sliced tomato, avocado, and cucumber Sprinkled with lemon zest, a dash of lemon juice, and Tajin (YUM)