Cilantro Lime Southwest Salad

A few nights ago, it just felt like a grill night. On my lunch break I headed to Primal to splurge on some marinated steak tips. With such a rich main dish I decided I wanted to make something lighter and more refreshing as a side.

I had pinned this recipe at one point and decided with some tweaking it was just what I was looking for. 

Leftovers (with more avocado added!) doubled as my lunch today.

Cilantro Lime Southwest Salad

Ingredients

1 cup black beans

1 cup corn (fresh or frozen/thawed)

1 medium tomato, chopped

1/2 cucumber, diced

1/2 red onion diced

1 avocado diced

Juice of 2 limes

1 clove of garlic, minced

1/4 cup rice wine vinegar

pinch of sea salt

pinch of cane sugar

1/2 cup olive oil

1/2 cup chopped cilantro

1. Mix the first set of ingredients in a large bowl.

2. Mix the lime juice, garlic, vinegar, salt, and sugar in a blender or mini food processor. Slowly add the oil, pulsing in between additions. (You can add more than the 1/2 cup of oil if you want a thicker emulsion, but I like my dressings more vinegary.) Finally, add the cilantro and blend until it is finely chopped. 

3. Add 1/2 of the dressing to the salad and mix until well incorporated. Add more dressing, if desired, or reserve the remainder for another use (marinade or dressing for another salad).

Gluten-Free Pesto Pasta Salad

Pasta salad is such an easy side dish (and great summer BBQ food) that I've been lamenting the loss of it since I started eating gluten-free. I've been aware of the gluten-free pasta varieties available, but was really trying to keep away and push myself towards more vegetables instead.

This weekend I decided grilled sausage (made at my favorite local deli) with peppers, mushrooms, and onions sounded like a really yummy and easy dinner. I'm not sure why, but I really couldn't get the idea of pasta salad as an accompaniment out of my head. 

As I was brainstorming, I was torn. Bottled salad dressing is something I really try to avoid these days (so many additives!), but I also didn't feel like making an Italian dressing from scratch. As I mentioned in my post about the kale salad, my husband is critical of my real food attempts and I knew that if I tried to make a traditional pasta salad with gluten-free pasta and homemade Italian dressing I was setting myself up for complaints. 

Instead, I found inspiration in my over-grown basil plant on the kitchen windowsill. I would make a pesto! I was counting on the stronger flavor of the pesto as a dressing to overshadow any flavor or texture issues that my husband could have with the brown rice pasta - and it worked! He didn't question the origins of the pasta and the salad wasn't measuring up against any expectation of what it *should* taste like so he just ate it and enjoyed. Success! 

Obviously this salad could be made with regular pasta, but try it out with a gluten-free variety and see what you think!

Gluten-Free Pesto Pasta Salad

Ingredients

1/2 lb cooked, drained, and cooled brown rice pasta

1 cup halved grape or cherry tomatoes

1 cup packed basil leaves

1 tbsp pine nuts or almonds (I used almonds)

1 clove of garlic, minced

1/4 cup grated Parmesan (use good quality stuff, not the stuff from a can!)

1/4 cup olive oil

1. Prepare the pasta and set aside to cool.
2. Chop the tomatoes and set aside.
3. Put all of the pesto ingredients into a food processor and blend. Add more oil, if needed, to thin appropriately.
4. Mix the pasta, tomatoes, and pesto together.
5. Chill at least two hours before serving for flavors to develop.

Raw Kale, Carrot, and Cabbage Salad

Trying new foods sometimes feels like a lot of work in the kitchen with disappointing results on the dinner plate. "Under-spiced", "odd texture", and "it would have been better with X ingredient" are the complaints I commonly get when I take a gamble on a new recipe. I love to cook, but I find these situations so discouraging. Sometimes it makes me just want to throw my hands up in the air and tell my husband, "You're right! Ordering a pizza would have been a better idea!"

Luckily, the salad recipe I'm sharing today is neither time consuming to make nor disappointing in the taste department. Bonus points: it contains kale - a super healthy, hearty green that helps this salad hold up for lunch leftovers for the next two days.

You could make this salad more complicated (although fresher and probably even tastier) if you start with all local produce, but I kept it quick and started with some bagged organic kale and shredded carrots from Trader Joe's. You could also cheat and use red cabbage that's already been shredded. Whatever you do, don't cheat with the dressing. A bottled dressing will not have the fresh, acidic, tangy flavor you need for this salad to reach perfection.

Raw Kale, Cabbage, and Carrot Salad with Tangy Lime Dressing 

Ingredients

Salad

1/2 bag (or 6 oz) chopped kale

2 cups (or 4 oz) shredded carrots

1/2 head (or 5 oz) shredded red cabbage

1 apple, peeled and cut into sticks

2 scallions, chopped

1/4 cup raw slivered almonds (optional)

Dressing

Juice from 2 limes

1 tbsp spicy brown mustard

1 tbsp maple syrup

2 tbsp cold pressed olive oil

salt & pepper, to taste

1. Mix all of the salad ingredients together keeping the nuts separate.

2. Place all dressing ingredients in a small mason jar and shake well until blended. 

3. Pour the dressing over the salad and toss well to incorporate.

4. If you are using the almonds, sprinkle them over the salad just before serving.

Strawberries for every meal

Although I did visit the Farmer's Market and stocked up on basic supplies (milk, eggs, and salad greens) last weekend, this week has been a disaster for meal planning. Between travel, meetings, and family celebrations I didn't get to make many real dinners this week. As I don't have too many meals to share, I decided to focus on one ingredient we used a lot this week instead...

...Strawberries!!

I fondly remember picking strawberries with my mom and sister every summer. Unfortunately, I feel as if the berries weren't treated properly. We would pick a whole bunch of them (because it was fun!), have strawberry shortcake that night, eat a few over the next few days, freeze some, and everything else ended up rotting because we get bored of them.

I was dedicated to not letting that happen this time! We took the kids on Father's Day morning to a small, very reasonably priced local farm and picked 4 pounds of berries. By Wednesday morning every last berry had been eaten and I took the girls back to pick more! Here are some of the delicious ways we enjoyed our fresh berries...

Breakfast - Delicious whole wheat based banana bread incorporating fresh whole berries

Adapted heavily from this recipe

Ingredients

3 very ripe bananas

10 small strawberries

2 eggs

2 1/2 cups white whole wheat flour

1/2 cup natural sugar

1/3 cup unsalted butter

1/4 cup coconut oil

1/2 cup milk

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

1/4 cup brown sugar

1. Preheat oven to 350. Grease or spray a loaf pan with butter/oil. Mash bananas in a bowl and set aside.
2. In bowl of stand mixer, cream together butter, coconut oil, and natural sugar. Add milk, eggs, and bananas and mix until well blended.
3. Mix together dry (flour, baking soda, salt, brown sugar) ingredients in a separate bowl with a whisk. Add dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix just until incorporated.
4. Pour batter into prepared loaf pan. Insert the whole strawberries into the batter - push them in just until they disappear, but not far enough that they are touching the bottom of the pan.
5. Bake for 60-70 minutes.

Lunch - Refreshing yogurt and granola parfaits perfect for lunch on a warm summer day

Homemade whole milk yogurt and homemade granola make this a great "real food" for breakfast, lunch, or snacking!

Dinner - Fresh crisp lettuces, sweet berries, creamy feta, and crunchy homemade croutons topped with tangy honey mustard vinaigrette make this a great pairing with the grilled protein of your choice

Strawberries pair beautifully with the feta and honey mustard dressing in this flavorful side

Honey Mustard Vinaigrette (from Real Food Has Curves)

Mix together all ingredients in a small bowl with a whisk until well blended:

• 6 TBSP olive oil
• 1/4 cup white wine vinegar
• 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
• 2 teaspoons honey
• 1 mashed clove of garlic
• 1/2 tsp ground black pepper
• 1/4 tsp salt

Dessert - Rich, creamy strawberry ice cream churned at home with nothing artificial added!

Scaled down and modified based on what I had in my fridge from this recipe

Ingredients

1 cup reduced fat or whole milk

1/2 cup whipping cream

1/2 cup half & half

1/2 cup natural sugar

8oz pureed fresh strawberries

Splash of lemon extract

Dash of sea salt

1. Mix all ingredients in a bowl with a whisk
2. Freeze according to ice cream maker directions
3. Remove to a freezer safe container and continue freezing

Cooking the FM

It's been a week and I never checked in about what I was cooking with all the products I scooped up from the Farmer's Market last week. Where have I been? Why haven't I posted anything? Kids and exhaustion are my answers.

Life is just really crazy (I'm extrememly overdue for a "mommy" post...) and I can't seem to find the time to share on here as much as I'd like to. I know I don't really have all that many readers, but I like to think of this as my creative outlet and posting makes me happy. 

So, I am stealing 15 minutes this morning and sharing my meals from last week. Between shrieks of, "Mommy! I need - insert ridiculous demand - NOW!", cleaning/cooking non-stop, and dealing with an infant who has discovered the best way to make her needs known is through loud, disgruntled squealing I didn't remember to snap photos of everything, but I'll share the ones I did take. 

Happy reading and menu planning!

Saturday - Get together at my in-laws house and swimming for the first time this season. We ordered sandwiches, but I made the salad pictured in the upper left with organic green leaf lettuce, fresh radishes, cucumbers, shallots, homemade salt and pepper whole wheat croutons, and fresh dill dressing.

Sunday - Marinated cube steak and sauteed mushrooms/onions with organic (frozen) green beans and pasta pictured middle right. We also finished the leftover salad from the previous night.

Monday - Scrambled farm fresh eggs with dill, feta, and mushrooms on homemade pita bread (upper right) for breakfast. Dinner was fajitas made from leftover cube steak with red peppers, onions, and mushrooms, shredded cheddar, sliced avocado, and sour cream served on homemade tortilla wraps. 

Tuesday - For breakfast all week my kids ate whole wheat pancakes that I made over the weekend and froze. I had a conference in the evening so my husband just did take-out for himself and leftovers for the bug.

Wednesday - Before heading to work, I threw some yogurt into the oven to culture. For dinner, chicken thighs and pasta salad with the Rasta Pasta blend, pearls of fresh mozzarella, and organic grape tomatoes. Both were marinated in a homemade Italian dressing. I also threw together a quick dill cucumber salad in a red wine/mustard dressing that wasn't great. I'll tweak the recipe before I post anything about it. 

Thursday - Beet yogurt dip pictured on the middle left for lunch on leftover pitas. For dinner, mild pork sausage sandwiches with the rest of the mushrooms, red peppers, and onions on rolls from a local bakery (with regular refined flour I am sure...) and a tabbouleh like salad made with fresh herbs, quick cooking barley (I was thinking barley instead of bulgar - it turned out pretty yummy despite my mistake!), cucumbers, and feta.

Friday - Pizza was the plan! Dough and shredded mozzarella from Roma's Imports in Latham. The bug topped hers with pieces of baked ham, we made ours half and half. The first was a local red sauce topped with the leftover sausage/onions/peppers. The other half was spread with the homemade garlic scape pesto pictured on the bottom right and topped with some sundried tomatoes and cheese.

Farmer's Market Menu Planning

We do have a few year round farmer's markets (Troy Waterfront Market), but this is really the start of the season to start looking for fresh local products. I try to go every weekend (missed it last weekend because I was in the office) and check out what things are starting to become available. I spend the rest of the week searching out and pinning recipes so I am ready to cook with what I get the following week.This year I've been frequenting the Troy market, but might check out the Delmar one next weekend.  This was the first weekend that my goal was really to buy the majority of my groceries at the farmer's market. Pictured below is what I purchased with links to the vendors that I could remember...

1/3 pound spicy mixed lettuces
Overflowing pint of radishes
About 1 pound of red beets
Bundle of garlic scapes
Bunch of dill
Quart of white button mushrooms
Dozen local eggs
1/2 gallon whole milk
Pint of chocolate milk
1/2 pound "Rasta Pasta" blend
1/2 pound Garlic Basil fettuccine
1 lb mild Italian pork sausage
2 large chicken thighs
1.3 pounds of cube steak

I can't remember the exact prices of everything, but I went into the market with $60 and left with a pocket of change and a single dollar bill. I'm guessing I spent about $57 dollars. Not pictured, but also prominent in my menu planning is a loaf of white wheat bread from All Good Bakers that they generously gave me for free when I was in for lunch on Friday.

So far I've made:

• a simple green salad using a handful of the radishes tossed with some store bought organic lettuce I had to use up, cucumber, and shallots and dressed with a homemade dill dressing and homemade croutons
• thick slices of french toast (simply whisk 4 eggs, about 1/4 cup of milk, and a generous splash of vanilla then soak your bread slices before cooking in a buttered skillet/griddle - add a delicious crust to the slices by sprinkling one side with organic cane sugar as it cooks) and fried eggs

Check back later this week for more recipe/meal ideas

Friday Five: Real Food Recipes

For some time now I've been looking harder at the foods I feed to my family. Many times my best intentions have been crushed by the time consuming nature and financial burden of providing real food three meals a day for three (now four!) people. I've also been so lost weeding through all the different claims regarding which foods are REALLY the best that I can't shop without spending hours reading labels and find myself staying awake at night worrying about what I am going to cook the next day.

Finally, I've found a way to simplify matters:

• I buy the highest quality meats, dairy, and produce I can by mini-shopping multiple times per week.
• I'm only buying local dairy from Meadowbrook Farms or Battenkill Creamery and looking for a more local source for eggs.
• I am anxiously awaiting fresh local produce, but I am also accepting the rule that conventional produce is better than no produce.
• I've stopped cooking things like potatoes, rice, or pasta just because I think there needs to be a "starch" on the table.
• Anything I can make, I am trying to make myself including sandwich bread, rolls, pita bread, granola, yogurt, ricotta, etc. I've also started juicing (more on that later...).

I'm premiering my new focus on nutrition with a Friday Five featuring some of the meals I've made in the past few weeks.

1. Crock pot Free-Range, Organic Chicken. Original recipe can be found here - I left out the cayenne pepper to make sure it wasn't too spicy for my bug. The chicken cooks up so tender it literally falls apart when you take it out of the crock pot. The huge advantage of cooking a whole chicken is that I can get at least two meals out of it. The first night we eat it straight out of the crock pot with veggies as a side. Second meal ideas? Chicken salad, chicken/cheese/veggie quesadillas, chicken fried rice, etc, etc, etc!

2. Homemade Chicken Stock with the leftovers from above. Recipe can be found here. I used some of the stock right away to make a delicious chicken, alphabet noodle, and vegetable soup and froze the rest in ice cube trays so I have a freezer bag full of stock cubes on hand when I need them.

3. Eggplant stacks with homemade ricotta. Eggplant slices were pre-salted to draw out the water and then prepped with egg wash, dipped in homemade whole wheat breadcrumbs, and pan-fried in olive oil. Ricotta and fresh basil were sandwiched between the slices and topped with marina sauce and fresh mozzarella before baking. This was delicious and I can't wait to try it again with fresh eggplant this summer.

 

4. Cobb Salad tweaked from a recipe found here. I added shrimp because the bug loves it and shrimp made the salad into more of a "meal" for my husband. All of my produce was store-brought organic, but I can't wait until we start getting fresh, local tomatoes and cucumbers to make it with. I used feta cheese instead of blue cheese because I always have it on hand. The salad dressing recipe was delicious with either red wine or apple cider vinegar and feta instead of blue cheese, but I recommend reducing olive oil to 2-3 TBSP.



5. Homemade yogurt! In the past, one of my co-workers and his wife told me that they made their own yogurt. At the time I was confused and slightly put-off by the idea. After reading up on the technique, I realized how easy it was and decided to give it a try! I followed the instructions here, but halved the recipe as it was my first batch ever and I didn't want to waste milk if it didn't work out. I started with whole milk from Meadowbrook Farms and Stonyfield Organic Whole Milk yogurt. I've been eating this for breakfast all week with bananas, frozen berries, and homemade granola. If I really want to sweeten it, I add a swirl of maple syrup or honey. FYI - I never used to look forward to eating yogurt for breakfast because I would always feel hungry an hour later - this is SO not the case when you have real yogurt made from real milk.

 

Here's a listing of some of the reading and viewing I've done recently to help me along:
Nina Planck's Real Food for Mother and Baby
Michael Pollan's The Omnivore's Dilemma
Real Food Tastes Good
100 Days of Real Food
Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead
Hungry for Change