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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. [...]
On my list of life’s wonderful things is freshly made bread. I have been baking bread since I was a child. I find the process relaxing, the finished product healthier for my family. I figured it out recently that it cost me about 30 cents to make a loaf of bread, wow! When I am at home, I just start some dough and go about my business, a bit later I pan it and we have fresh bread for the next few days.
Fresh bread just feels good. Sterling and I are bread lovers but Mia is not, however when I bake bread she magically becomes a fan of the stuff. [...]
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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 As Spring nears I am aching for Spring foods; and salads are definitely on my short list!
At a potluck party recently, a friend of ours, Pamela, brought her Kale Salad. Mia had tasted the salad a couple of times and each time remarked about how very delicious it was, and now it was my turn to experience it. I am not being gracious when I say it was delicious!
Kale is a wonderfully healthy vegetable related to other brassicas such as broccoli, brussels sprouts and cauliflower. As a leafy green it excels at providing beta carotene, vitamin C, vitamin K, calcium and cancer fighting anti-oxidants. Chopped, kale is thought to have powerful anti-cancer properties. How much better to chop and then bruise it to release all of the available Sulforaphane! [...]
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. [...]
Focaccia is a wonderful, Italian bread which is a perfect light meal or a compliment to salad, soup, cheese or a roasted vegetable tray. Great as an appetizer and easy to prepare this savory bread fills the senses from the moment the bread begins to raise until it is doused with garlic and olive oil and baked. I imagine Focaccia as the predecessor to the modern pizza. Deliciously satisfying and delightfully rustic, Focaccia is a peasant food that is gaining notoriety in bistros and trendy restaurants alike [...]
Waffles need not be syrupy sweet and relegated to breakfast! Waffles can be many things such as my Chocolate Waffle Layer Cake or served piled with Fried Chicken, a Southern favorite. This Cheddar and Blue Cheese Waffle is a wonderful lunch treat served piled with diced Spring onions and creamy sour cream. Serve with a crisp Sauvignon Blanc and toast the decadence of waffles and cream for lunch!
When you work with this waffle think savory not sweet. Change it to your taste but add things like tomatoes, roasted peppers, red onions, slivers of ham or bacon, even medallions of pork or grilled chicken breast. This hearty waffle will support a light luncheon or a protein heavy main meal.
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