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Summer is in full swing and that means it is salad season. This salad is full of fresh Summer ingredients like tomatoes, basil and oregano and hearty with shrimp. Chilled and served with warm, crusty bread this salad makes a satisfying lunch or dinner entree.
As the flavors are dependent upon the fresh ingredients it is important to use only the best and only the freshest ingredients you can find. Vibrant lemons, minty basil and earthy oregano come together in a Mediterranean inspired salad and surprise the taste buds with sweet shrimp; top it off with salty onion pickles for a unique flavor sensation. [...]
There is a wonderful Mexican Bread called Bolillo and they are great for tortas, and the subject of this post the wonderful Molletes. Simply delicious a Mollete is a Bolillo, relative of a French Baquette, piled with salsa, frijoles and queso and cooked for a bit until all is bubbly and heated through. As the ingredients are few it is very important that you use only the best, most flavorful ingredients.
Make your own refried beans with freshly cooked beans (a can works too) and salsa, venture into a panaderia and buy fresh bolillos. Skip the Rosarita pasty refried stuff and the overpriced picante sauce and go for the goo stuff! Fresh, vine ripened tomatoe, onions and chilies, frijoles and queso. Don’t get uptight about the bacon fat, it will make the dish excellent.
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I drove to SLO today and decided to drive the scenic route through the Nipomo Mesa, wind my way along the coast through Arroyo Grande and then through the Edna Valley. The drive is beautiful and peaceful and one always encounters roadside produce vendors.
My tomatoes aren’t quite ripe yet so I purchased a couple of pounds of delicious, vine ripened and sweet tomatoes along Los Berros. I love to visit this little stand in the small, warm valley below the mesa where juicy, ripe, tomatoes are piled in baskets for one to choose and pay on the “honor system”.
Caprese is a remarkably easy to prepare salad and should be made of only the very freshest ingredients! Vine ripened tomatoes, Mozzarella Bufala, fragrant Basil Leaves and copious amounts of the best olive oil are the foundation for one of the tastiest salads available!
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There is an absolutely wonderful sauce served with Schwarma in Lebanese Restaurants. I love it! Lebanese Yogurt Garlic Sauce is not only a must on Shwarma but makes an exceptional dip with vegetables and flat bread. Garlicky and satisfying this dip is based in healthy yogurt and is very easy to make.
I usually use fat free, Greek Style Yogurt because it is creamy, delicious and very good for you. Yogurt Vegetable sticks such as red peppers, celery, carrots and snap peas are each equally at home with this wonderful dip. [...]
The most wonderful time of year is when fresh tomatoes arrive in the garden but just a bit before that some pretty darn good ones arrive in the store. Tomatoes are wonderfully delicious, sweet and juicy and full of good for you stuff.
Extremely simple to prepare and a real treat is a fresh tomato pie. Flaky pastry filled with tomatoes and topped with cheese makes for a wonderful light lunch and is perfectly complimented by a salad of Spring greens. [...]
The ideal meal, in my opinion, is one that you can pick up with your hands, is full of flavor, satisfies compliment wine and make my guest say “Yum Yum”. Piquillo Rellano Crostoni meet all of my criteria!
Piquillo Peppers “Little Beaks” are grown in Northern Spain and provide a mildly piquant unique taste. These little peppers are roasted over open coals and are both deliciously sweet and savory. Piquillo Peppers have a thin flesh which is perfect for stuffing. I love to make Piquillo Rellano with a variety of different fillings but the little peppers are especially good with Chevre.
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Some friends called and we made plans for lunch in our home. Having just been through Valentine’s Day I was a bit tired and decided to plan ahead a bit to make things easier on myself. This was a winner! [...]
I recently enjoyed an Angel Hair Pasta Salad at a Mediterranean restaurant, and was inspired! Tender, thin pieces of pasta drenched in a light dressing was a perfect lunch for my lazy afternoon.
I decided to try to replicate the salad but ended up with a version I liked a lot more. I started with Capelli d’angel “Angel Hair” and drenched it with a mixture of fruity olive oil, lots of fresh garlic, and deliciously ripe lemons; stuffed with ripe tomatoes and scallions and crowned with rich, double cream, Hungarian Feta my salad was more than I hoped it would be.
This salad is very easy to put together and can be ready for a taste in about 15 minutes but the flavors need to meld together so make it a few hours ahead for best results. Don’t be tempted to use anything but the best olive oil and only Capelli d’angel; any other pasta will be too heavy and the light, fresh flavors of the dressing will be lost. [...]
 Fresh beets are a delicious, naturally sweet, and very good for you vegetable that should be a part of any diet. High in folates and betacyanin, the stuff that give them their intense color, beets are powerful for fighting cancers, reducing cholesterol levels and fighting heart disease and reducing inflammation. Anyone of these benefits should make them a must have part of a healthy diet. [...]
A favorite in our family is tomato soup and throughout the Winter I usually make a pot of it each week. Whenever I serve tomato soup I am usually asked for the recipe. Since I have never had a recipe I promised Tracy I would write down what I did the next time I made it and place it on my blog.
This is an incredibly easy to make, tasty, healthy soup which is easy on the budget. [...]
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