Mixed Green Salad with Pears, Goat Cheese, and a Fig Vinaigrette

When I came across this pretty looking salad, I thought it looked perfect as a light side dish for the crab leg dinner that my parents were making for us while we were visiting Kansas City for my sister's bridal shower.  I honestly don't think I had ever eaten figs before I made this, but I loved it in the dressing.  I used my favorite 18-year balsamic vinegar, which made for such a great flavor....make sure you use really good balsamic in this!

The salad was elegant enough for a special occasion or holiday, and it was easy and simple.  I loved this salad, but Kevin thought it would be better with some chopped walnuts or sliced almonds so I'll probably try that next time.  The recipe below makes the perfect amount of salad for 6 people.

Ingredients:

6 cups mixed salad greens
1-1/2 cups thinly, sliced, cored Bosc pear
1/4 cup crumbled goat cheese (I think I probably used more than this)
1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
5 dried Mission figs, stemmed and coarsely chopped
6 Tablespoons water
1 Tablespoon fresh lemon juice
2 Tablespoons minced shallots
1 teaspoon minced fresh thyme
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 Tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1/4 teaspoon Kosher salt (I used coarse sea salt)

Directions:

Combine balsamic vinegar and dried Mission figs (stemmed and chopped) in a small saucepan over high heat and bring to a boil. Lower heat and simmer until reduced to 1/3 cup, about 5 minutes.

Combine the fig mixture, water and fresh lemon juice in a blender or use you immersion blender, and process until smooth.

In a small bowl (or use a mason jar so you can just shake it up) add the blended fig mixture with shallots, fresh thyme, crushed garlic, extra-virgin olive oil and Kosher salt. Stir or shake well to combine.

Thinly slice your Bosc pear, leaving the skin on. Place 1 cup greens on each of six plates; topping each serving with 1/4 cup pear and 2 teaspoons goat cheese. Drizzle vinaigrette over each serving.

Source:  The Noble Pig Blog

Fruit Salad - Revisited

I make fruit salad a lot in the summer as a side dish for whatever we make for dinner that night on the grill.  I seem to use a different combination of fruits each time, but I really enjoyed this combination so I think I will be repeating it quite a bit over the next few months.  This combination of fruit really tastes great, and the different colors look really pretty together!  This made a big bowl of fruit salad that would serve about 6-8 people.

Ingredients:

4 yellow peaches, chopped into bitesize pieces
2 mangos, peeled and chopped into bitesize pieces
2 apples, chopped into bitesize pieces
Juice from half of a lemon
1 small container of raspberries
Small bunch of green, seedless grapes (I used maybe 1/3 of the bag)
Sugar, if your fruit isn't fully ripe

Directions:

First, toss the chopped apples with lemon juice to prevent them from browning.  Next, sprinkle a little sugar over the peaches and mango pieces if they need a little extra sweetness (I bought my fruit the same day I made the fruit salad so I did use a little sugar since the fruit wasn't fully ripened).  Then, mix all the fruit together and serve.  If you are making this ahead of time (which I did), you might want to mix the raspberries in right before serving so that it doesn't turn your other fruit red.

My First Caprese Salad of the Summer

In addition to the mint I'm growing this summer to make mojitos, I'm also growing 3 tomato plants.  I love summer tomatos - I usually use them to make caprese salads, bruschetta, or BLT sandwiches.  In recipes like these with so few ingredients and the tomatoes playing a star role, tomatoes bought in the winter just aren't the same. 

I was so excited when I realized I actually have a couple tomatoes that were turning red!  I picked two tomatoes and used them to make a caprese salad to go with our dinner tonight (I picked some fresh basil from my garden as well).  This isn't really a recipe, but I'll give you an idea of how I put this together and some tips. 

The #1 most important thing when making caprese is to use high quality ingredients - that's where my summer tomatoes come in.  Also, use good fresh mozzarella - That rubbery ball of fresh mozzarella wrapped in plastic won't taste as good as the higher quality mozzarella balls that float in the liquid (buffalo mozzarella is really good).  Use good EVOO and more importantly (in my opinion) use good balsamic vinegar.  I use this amazingly sweet 18-year balsamic vinegar that costs about twenty bucks a bottle - I had a taste of it a few years back, and now that I know what good balsamic tastes like, I just can't bring myself to stop buying this incredible, yet expensive stuff.

The second most important thing is to salt your tomatoes - if you don't salt them enough they will taste bland....don't be scared of salt!  Just add a little at a time and take a quick taste to see if it tastes right. 

Sometimes when I make a caprese salad, I use chunks of tomatoes and the little fresh mozzarella balls mixed together, but tonight I made a layered caprese salad.

Ingredients:

Ripe summer tomatoes - I used two
Fresh mozzarella - I used two of the mozzarella balls that came in a container of four
Basil (either whole leaves or chopped, whichever you prefer) - I probably used around 12 basil leaves
EVOO
Balsamic Vinegar
Salt & Pepper, to taste

Directions:

Slice each tomato into 3 or 4 slices, depending on how big they are, and slice the fresh mozzarella.  First, lay the tomato slices on a plate and salt the tomatoes to taste.  Layer the tomatoes with the mozzarella and basil.  Drizzle with EVOO and balsamic vinegar and season with salt and pepper, to taste. 

This is a perfect side dish for any summer meal :)

Fruit Salad

I've found myself eating less fruit now that it's wintertime, so I made an effort to buy a lot of fruit when I went to the grocery store last week.  A few days later, I threw some of it together for a quick, light side dish to go with the Caribbean jerk chicken sandwiches we were having for dinner. 

For this fruit salad we used a whole pineapple, 2 mangos, half a carton of strawberries, and some red grapes.  Fresh and delicious!

Lana's Salad

The reason this salad is called Lana's Salad is because my Aunt Lana has been bringing this salad for years and years to family dinners.  I think this is probably my favorite salad, or at least my favorite salad that I actually make.  The dressing is sweet and flavorful, and any salad topped with cheese and bacon has to be good, right?  Anyways, this salad is great for any occasion, and I highly recommend trying it!  This is the salad that added the green to our thanksgiving menu :)

Ingredients:

Salad-
1 bag Fresh baby spinach
1 bag Spring Mix Salad
1 1/2 Cups Dry Large Curd Cottage Cheese (Dry curd cottage cheese can be very hard to find....if you can't find dry curd cottage cheese, you can use regular cottage cheese that you drain as much liquid as you can with a cheese cloth or strainer.  Another option is to use feta cheese instead, but it has a much stronger flavor so I would cut the amount of cheese in half)
3/4 lb. bacon fryed and crumbled

Dressing-
1/4 Cup Sugar
1tsp Salt
1tsp Dry Mustard
1 Tblsp. Poppyseed
2-3 Tblsp. Finely Chopped Red Onion
1/3 Cup Cider Vinegar
1 Cup Olive Oil

Directions:

Mix all of the dressing ingredients together. Let the dressing stand at least 1 hour before serving in the refrigerator (I usually make the dressing in the morning so it has a long time to sit).

Mix together spinach and spring mix in a large salad bowl.  Add the bacon crumbles and the cottage cheese on top of the salad. Pour on dressing and toss all together.