More treats from my garden: Beets!

This year I bought 3 different types of beets for my garden, red, yellow and candy stripe. I opened all 3 packets and mixed them up then planted them so it would be a surprise, it seems as though my slimy enemies the slugs preferred the yellow for some reason but I was still able to procure some of the others. And let me tell you - they are Be - A - Utiful!

I boiled them until they were tender and added them to some farmers market greens, red onions, Hungarian peppers, roasted red peppers and then added a little crumbled blue cheese and a simple balsamic vinaigrette. Simple perfection!

Cool Caprese Salad

I just enjoyed a weeks holiday up through the Interior and Okanagan of BC and on my way home to Vancouver Island I had to stop and go the the Granville Island Market. It really is an amazing site, so much produce from all over the world, baked goods you wouldn't believe, crafts and my favourite the Italian Market where you can get the most amazing stuffed pastas like Feta and Black Olive Ravioli and Smoked Gouda Pouches, and my favorite marinated boconccini.... Swoon!!!

All you need to add are cherry tomatoes to these baby boconccini! Drizzle with a little of the olive oil that they are marinated in and add some fresh basil if you like and what an amazing summer salad. A perfect lunch or snack during those scorcher days that we've been having.

I also added a small drizzle of balsamic - it went a long way and added a little complexity!

Sweet and Sour Veggie Ribbon Salad

I set out to make a simple salad using up a couple of veggie that I had in my fridge and was absolutely blown away by its simplicity, freshness and vibrant flavour. Honestly there is as much flavor in these carrots and zucchini as there is color! Lets have a look:

And an even closer look:

All that I did was use my vegetable peeler to make ribbons of carrots and zucchini, I added some chopped green onions and then came the magic!

I added a third of a cup of rice wine vinegar to a small saucepan with a couple of table spoons of sugar (the same ratio as you would for making sushi rice) 1/3 cup rice vinegar, 3 tbsp white sugar and warm until the sugar melts, I poured some of that over the veggies and added some fresh cracked black pepper and a small drizzle of soy sauce and it was so surprisingly yummy!

I also have some great news! I am moving into a new house! With a real Kitchen! I can't wait to share the creations I make in there with you! I am so excited right now, I have a great new job, am getting a whole house with a yard for less rent then my current 1 bedroom apartment! (Its in a small town not in the city, but this small town is my home and right on a big beautiful lake!) and I just feel that this whole year is going to be fantastic!

I hope that this year is shaping up excellently for you too!

PS : Seriously try this when you are in a rush, or just feel like something light!

A new twist on Brussel Slaw

This has become a staple of my diet. It is so tasty and full of crunchy, chewy textures. It is sweet and savoury, creamy and fresh. All at once! I swear!

For the Salad I use my food processor to shred the vegetables, go ahead and throw in 1 good size beet, 1 large carrot, 1/4 - 1/2 a medium sized red onion (to your personal onion-liking), process these on a big shred so you end up with match stick type pieces, you could also use a mandolin, but I don't have one of those - yet. Now you have a lot of crunch, and even a spice, now comes the other texture, the chewy - The Brussel Sprout!
Change the blade to the slice blade, I suppose you could do this some other way, but really brussel sprouts are small and the food processor will be the best way to shred them and keep all of your fingers. Then add a big handful of chopped cilantro; toss with the dressing and you have yourself one dreamy side dish. Bring this to a potluck and you can trick all of your non-brussel sprout loving friends, or maybe you could try this recipe and trick yourself!

The flavour and texture are very different when a brussel sprout is raw, and being one of the best things nutrient-wise that you can buy in the grocery store, I say we should all incorporate them into our diet, especially raw as that way you get the full impact of all of their goodness.

Recipe

1 large beet
1 large carrot
1/4 - 1/2 red onion
About 24 Brussel Sprouts
Handful of Cilantro

1/4 Cup Mayonnaise
1/4 Cup Yogurt
1/8 Cup Lemon Juice
1 tbsp honey
salt & pepper

Some end of Season beauties

My weakness when at farmers markets are heirloom tomatoes and the various fresh varieties of garlic. Here is a sample of what I got this time around:


A variety of 'Cherry' tomatoes, baby red onions and garlic. When you have ingredients this fresh and wonderful simple really is best. So I mad a simple tomato, avocado salad with a balsamic glaze.

I've been really into glazes lately, I made an awesome bison burger with a red wine glaze mixed in that I will share later, but following up a 'Vegan 100' post I thought I should stick to a theme!

Just look at this cute little pear tomato, don't you just want to dress it in pretty little dresses like a baby girl?

On second thought... maybe he's a little to masculine for a dress..

For the glaze:

1/2 c balsamic vinegar
3 tbs honey

Put the two ingredients in a small sauce pot and bring to a simmer, let it reduce until it is a thick syrup. Some people like to make a bunch for use later, but I've been making just a bit when I need it, and it reduced so much faster in a small amount.

For the salad:

A handful or more cherry tomato's
1/2 an Avocado

Really this is just a chop and go, so make more if you want more, I slice the cherries in half and then dice the avocado. Tumble them in a bowl and top with coarse sea or Himalayan salt, drizzle with the glaze (careful its intense!) and enjoy!

Refreshing Apple and Fennel Salad

What a great salad for a warm day, and man have these days been warm! We are so lucky to be having such a beautiful spring here on the Island. After such a cold winter, an early summer is just what we need. Who am I kidding I always love an early summer it is just so rare around these damp parts I hardly consider it possible!

Anyways on to the salad. I use thin slices of apple and fennel with a little bit of red onion. That's it! Dress it up with the juice of a lemon, a splash of red wine vinegar, olive oil, salt and pepper. Maybe a little honey if you like it sweeter. Honestly how much better could it get when you get a simple recipe for a refreshing salad, so that you can get back out into that beautiful sunshine!

Brussell Slaw

I read this idea in a health magazine, but my oh my is it a winner! Probably because they didn't intend on slathering it in a creamy mayo based dressing, but as I always say life is about balance, and this particular practically claimed that Brussell Sprouts are the healthiest thing going. I claim that they are darn tasty! Take a peek:

I have always liked my Brussel Sprouts, but for those of you who don't this is an awesome way to get yours in. And it is totally worth it because they are basically little parcels of healthy vitamins and minerals.

Salad:

5 cups of brussel sprouts
1 carrot
1/4 red onion

Dressing:

1 cup mayo
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
3 tbsp sugar
salt & pepper

I toss the carrot through the food processor on the grate option and then put on the slicer and put trimmed and cleaned brussel sprouts through along with the onion. Mix up the dressing ingredients tasting and adjusting as you see fit. Then toss the veggies through it. I always top my slaw with sunflower seeds, but only at the end otherwise they get all soggy.

Roasted Beet and Green Bean with Creamy Roasted Garlic Dressing

What to do with so much roasted garlic? Put it in a creamy, dreamy dressing and drizzle it over carmalized veggies ofcourse! You need to have balance right, healthy beets that can do funny things to the color of your pee and green beans make it feel alright to smoother creamy, garlicy goodness all over it, and it couldn't be any easier to make. *Bonus if you make extra, you can use it for any other salad later in the week.

Would you call this a salad? I'm not sure, when I was growing up I got alot of comments from my little friends about how my Mom didn't put lettuce in her salad, she thought it was just a filler, so our dinner salad resembled a greek salad with out the olives, and feta aka mostly chopped veggies so I suppose my view of salad may be different but it was delicious! Also I think out here in the culinary world lettuce doesn't mean salad, - You want to know a huge pet peeve of mine; people who call lettuce salad! Its not salad! Its lettuce!
Wow I didn't realize that I had all of this salad baggage... but it sure feels good to let it out!

Anyways... heres the recipe:

Roasted Garlic Salad Dressing

1/2 C Mayo
1/2 C Sour Cream
1 Head Roasted Garlic
Juice of 1 lemon
S&P

I just whizzed all of this up with a hand blender to emulsify the garlic, you can play with the amount of lemon juice until it gets to a drizzley consistancy but it should be 1 good lemon, maybe more if yours aren't so juicy!

For the veggies I chopped the Beet in half and then sliced into 1/2 moons about 1/4 inch thick, snipped both ends off the green beans (I think they look prettier this way, feel free to be lazy and only chop one end if you want) drizzle with Extra Virgin, sprinkle with S&P and roast in a 400 degree oven, it took my oven about 1/2 hr, just take them out when they are tender and carmalized, put them on a pretty plate, My Aunt made the one in the picture above, and drizzle with the dressing. Mmmm... here's another though sliced almonds roasted with the veggies, I'll give that a try next time!
Ta for now!

Corn and Black Bean Salad

Such a delicious departure from your average salsa.
This dish is rich in protein and fibre, it can be eaten as a salad,
or with chips and veggies as a salsa!


Recipe:

1 Can of Black Beans
1 Can of Corn
1 Medium Bell Pepper
1 Medium Tomato
4 Green Onions
Big bunch of Cilantro

Dressing:
3/4 C Salsa
1/2 of the Juice from the Corn
Juice of 1 Lime
Salt & Pepper

Rinse the beans really well, add them and the corn to a largish bowl, save the juice from the corn for later. Chop the Bell Pepper (I used red, choose your fave) and the tomato fairly small. You want all off the vegetables to be roughly the same size and the corn and beans are definitely on the small side - don't stress out about this but if you do want to dip it on a chip you'll want to get all of the yummy bits on there! This goes for the green onions too, I use the whole thing, green and white, you could easily substitute red onion but my boyfriend doesn't appreciate them as much as I do so I decided to please him this time with the green.

Mix up the ingredients for the dressing and add to the salad, mix it all up and add as much cilantro as you like.

Serve with chips or as a side salad and enjoy!!