Celery and parmesan salad

This is one of my husbands favourite dishes and since it is so incredibly easy to make that is a very good thing.  A couple of weeks ago, after what seems like a very long winter we had a Sunday evening that was warm and sunny,  warm enough to have Sunday dinner on the deck! this is pretty good for what was mid April, so I barbecued a pork tenderloin, roasted some vegetables, made a quick cheesy potato gratin, and made my husbands favourite salad.

This is a great salad because it easy and quick to make for 20 or 2 or even one, and I often make this mid week when something fresh and crisp is needed to counter a rich main course. Don't be put off by the simplicity of this recipe, it comes from Italy the masters of simple good food. This made enough for 4 for dinner

8 ribs of celery thinly sliced (I used a mandolin)
1 cup of grated fresh parmesan cheese
Juice of 1 lemon
2 tablespoons of olive oil

Lay the sliced celery on a platter that allows the celery to be almost in one layer.

Sprinkle over the cheese

Moroccan cous cous salad

This is a go to salad for me, when cooking for a crowd. It ticks all the boxes, it is quick and easy to make, keeps well without refrigeration and tastes good. Also it is something that can be made with items that are probably in your pantry right now. Nancy found a recipe for this a few years ago, neither of us can remember where, and it has definitely morphed over the years.

Cous cous is actually a very small pasta, though it looks like a grain. I made this the other evening when we were enjoying yet another beautiful warm evening and wanted to throw dinner together quickly with out shopping.

Feeds 6

1 cup of cous cous
2 cups of boiling water or hot chicken stock
1 teaspoon of ground cardamom
1 small can of garbanzo beans or half a large
1 bunch of green onion chopped
1/3 cup of chopped dates (or raisins)
1/3 cup of roasted almonds slivered or chopped
Juice of one lemon
1/4 cup of olive oil
1/4 cup chopped mint
1/4 cup chopped cilantro

Put the cous cous  and cardamom into a bowl and add the boiling water and 1 teaspoon of salt or stock.

Cover with a plate or saran wrap and leave for at least 5 minutes.  The cous cous will absorb the liquid and should be dry enough to seperate when picked up with a fork.

While the cous cous is absorbing the liquid prepare all the other ingredients. 

Israeli cous cous salad

To go along with the chicken tagine that I made up in Whistler I made some Israeli cous cous salad.  I have seen this on the cooking shows on TV a lot but I had never actually had any.  So this was a great opportunity to give it a try. It is like regular cous cous a pasta, but the balls are much larger than regurlar cous cous resembeling tapioca if you remember that from your child hood.

This fed 4 with really no left overs

1 cup israeli couscous (you could of course use regular cous cous as well)
1 pint cherry tomatoes
3 garlic cloves
1/4 cup parsley, Italian flat leaf, chopped
Small bunch of mint leaves, slivered
1 bunch of green onion chopped
1/4 cup olive oil
2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
1 cup snap peas cut up


Cut cherry tomatoes in half and place cut side up on a foil lined roasting pan,  along with unpeeled cloves of garlic.

Roast in 400 degree oven for 20 minutes or until you see bits of brown around the tomatoes. No need to turn. Hint - you are roasting with the cut side up to allow more liquid to evaporate from the tomatoes.

Meanwhile, cook Israeli couscous according to package directions. Another grain could be substituted, such as bulgar or barley. You should have about 3 cups cooked. Allow to cool slightly before combining. This is the package of cous cous we used, as you can see they called it Mediterranean cous cous for some reason, when it is normally called Israeli cous cous,  even though it was actually made in Israel

English pea, bacon and cheese salad

We regularly go for a Sunday night pot luck and poker game at a friends house.  Each week is a different food theme, and recently it was British.  Well the challenge for me was to come up with something green to go with the heavy meat centric dishes that were being served.  I came up with this, which is a salad I can remember having in cafes and restaurants in England, if never having actually made it myself.

Actually it was very tasty and a good salad for a pot luck as it keeps well and cab be made in the middle of winter when perhaps fresh salad ingredients are not so readily available.

1/2 package of bacon
1 medium bag of frozen peas
1/2 lb of cheese preferably English cheese I used Double Gloucester
1 bunch of green onions chopped

Dressing ingredients
1/2 cup of mayonnaise
1 tablespoon of Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons of milk
2 tablespoons of fresh mint chopped.

Chop up the bacon and cook until it is crispy place on paper towel to drain.

Salad to go with Hummus dressing

I am continuing taking lunch every day, when I want a change from the big batch of soup made on the weekend, I try to take left overs or salad.  I found this way of packing salad for lunch this means that I can make several salads and have them sitting in the fridge ready to pick up and take in the morning.

So that I do not have the same salad every day, I mix up the ingredients, based on what is in the fridge and also mix up the dressing.  I love hummus, and I nearly always have some in the fridge, either home made or bought, as it makes a healthy snack with carrot sticks. So I decided to make a dressing out of it.

Hummus Dressing

• 1/4 cup of hummus 
• Juice of 1 lemon
• 1 tablespoon of water
• 1 sprig of fresh mint chopped
• 1 sprig of fresh basil chopped.

Place the dressing in the bottom of a large plastic container

Crispy chopped salad

Saturday evening we were invited over to a good friends for dinner.  She was making Mexican lasagna and I offered to make a salad to go with it.  I love cilantro and I would usually have used it in this salad; but her husband really does not care for it, so I switched it up a little. Though it was a cold wet dark evening I wanted to make a salad that was crisp and light to compliment the rich slightly spicy main course.

Dressing

• Juice of 1 lemon
• 1 teaspoon of honey
• 4 tablespoons of olive oil
• 1 garlic clove grated
• Salt and pepper

Salad

• 1/2 bunch of large green onions chopped
• 1 container of small tomatoes halved
• Small bunch of basil chopped
• 1 sprig of fresh mint leaves chopped
• 1 heaped cup of bean sprouts
• 1 romaine lettuce
• 1 avocado chopped

Mix all the dressing ingredients together in a small bowl and add the avocado to stop it from going brown.

Crisp lime avocado and chick pea salad

This time of year is full of parties, drinks, rich food and little to no exercise, so for the annual Christmas potluck at work I like to make a light crisp salad to counteract all the damage I am doing to my body.

This year I am into avacodo's in a big way and often have a salad with avacado in it for my lunch or dinner, so I decided to make an avacado salad with a south west twist.  This made a potluck salad for 12.

One large avacado chopped into large chunks
Grated zest from one lime
One can of chick peas
Small bunch of cilantro chopped.
3 Hearts of romaine lettuce

Dressing ingredients

• Juice from 1 lime
• 2 tablespoons of white balsamic vinegar or a good white wine vinegar with a pinch of sugar
• 1 bunch of green onions chopped
• 3 tablespoons of olive oil
• 1 clove of garlic grated or crushed
• 1 teaspoon of salt

Put the avacado in to the bottom of a large bowl and add the zest of the lime.

Avocado Chicken salad

Avocado seems to have taken over from the quinoa as the new super food. It is high in antioxidants, helps lower cholesterol and of course it tastes great.  Though anything that creamy tasting has to have fat in it,  half an avocado has the same grams of fat as one and half tablespoons of mayonnaise, most of it being unsaturated. I saw this idea somewhere, I would like to give the due credit, but I am afraid I do not know where it was that I saw it, but it was an idea I had to try.

I had a cooked chicken breast left over last week and it produced chicken salad for one sandwich and topping for a salad for a quick dinner as well.

1 large cooked chicken breast (or perhaps left over turkey)
1 avocado mushed
Juice of one lime
4 green onions chopped
2 tablespoons of cilantro chopped
Salt and pepper to taste

Mush up the avocado until there are few lumps and then add the lime juice, green onions and cilantro.

Mix together and taste for salt and pepper, and then add the chopped chicken.

Pot luck broccoli and grape salad

Another pot luck at work this week to celebrate the 50th birthday of someone who I have worked with for 28 years!  We were both in our 20's and before children, together we travelled to London, San Fransisco and Seattle, and spent far too much time shopping.  When we both grew middle aged is beyond me.  We had a spa themed pot luck to celebrate and honour our newest member to the 6th decade of life.

I brought a salad, as potlucks are always shy on healthy dishes and I really like broccoli salad, also this is a good salad for taking somewhere as it actually needs to sit in its dressing for a while.

• 2 heads of broccoli broken in to small florets
• 1/2 red onion thinly sliced and chopped
• 1/2 cup of toasted slivered almonds
• 1 cup of chopped green grapes

Dressing

• 1/3 cup of mayonnaise
• 1/3 cup of plain yogurt (or all mayonnaise)
• 1 tablespoon of sugar
• 1 teaspoon of salt
• 4 tablespoons of white wine vinegar
• 2 tablespoons of milk (or enough to get the right consistency)

Combine the salad ingredients except the almonds in a salad bowl.

Toast the almonds and when cooled place them in a Ziploc bag.

A salad for fall with pear dressing and pecans

Though the temperatures belie it, fall is well and truly in full swing, and even if it is still warm and sunny somehow I still feel like fall flavours and want to be wearing boots and wool skirts.  So when I was making a salad on Saturday night I was inspired by the beautiful pears sitting in the warm autumn sunshine on the counter.

Several years ago I saw Jamie Oliver make a salad dressing by grating pears and so I though I would give it a go.

Pear salad dressing

• 1 Pear grated (with out the peel)
• 1 tablespoon of olive oil
• Juice of one lemon
• 1 teaspoon of sugar
• 2 tablespoons of white wine vinegar

Avocado salad to pack for lunch

Starting September this year I have been taking my lunch to work every day. I am not really sure why the change,  previously I never took my lunch, I guess I am a bit of an all or nothing person.  Actually there are several factors, 1. to eat lighter to lose weight, 2. eat only food using natural ingredients, 3 spend less money and perhaps the most important, I got a little bag that is perfect for taking lunch.

Remember those shaken salads at Macdonalds?  It was a good idea and made with good ingredients it is a brilliant idea this is a take on that. I saw this idea on pinterest of making layered salad with the dressing on the bottom, they were made in canning jars, as are far too many things on pinterest.  I do not have any giant spare canning jars so a Rubbermaid container had to do.  Perhaps not quite so pretty, but very practical and available.  The idea is that you put the dressing on the bottom and then layer the ingredients making sure that anything that is going to get soggy by being in contact with the dressing is far above it.

1/4 red onion chopped
1 avocado chopped
Juice of one or one and half lemons
1 tablespoon of olive oil
salt/pepper
small handful of fresh basil and mint chopped
1 cup of chopped cherry tomatoes (from my garden!)
1/2 cup of sprouted beans (optional)
lettuce to fill the container

I have listed the ingredients in the order that I put them in to the container.

I tossed the avocado  in the lemon juice and oil to stop it from discolouring. Then added the ingredients in order.

Cabbage and apple salad

This weekend is thanksgiving in Canada, and there are many family recipes and traditions that surround this celebration.  For one of my best friends it would not be a turkey dinner with out this salad that her mother used to make, so I asked her to write it up to share.

Gillian has asked me to be a guest blogger to feature this family favourite so here goes.

We all have some tradition that we bring to our festive meals.  My signature dish known to all who shares my turkey dinner has been this salad, which has been passed down by mother, and I believe my grandmother.  The crisp texture and fresh taste an excellent complement to the comfort flavours and soft textures of a turkey dinner.  The other bonus is that this salad is equally good for at least the next day or two.

The salad is generous portion that is perfect for the extra meals the next day.  While proportions can vary I suggest the following ingredients.

• 
  
• 1 medium green cabbage, chopped 
• 2 apples, firm varieties i.e.: granny smith, Spartan or 1 of each
• 2 stocks celery, diced
• 4 green onions, chopped
• ¼ cup Italian parsley, chopped, with some sprigs for garnish
• Optional:  ¼ cup toasted almonds and/or ¼ cup dried cranberries

Dressing

• 1 lemon
• Mayonnaise, ½ cup
•         ½ tsp. Dijon mustard
• 1 tbsp. apple cider vinegar or white wine vinegar
• Salt, 1 tsp.
• ½ tsp. curry power
• 1 tsp. sugar

Vietnamese Seared beef salad

To go along with the fried noodles with spicy peanut sate that we had on Saturday we wanted a fresh salad to complement the noodles, and we found the recipe in the same book.

I was also delicious and did have a wonderful fresh crunch. Again the recipe called for vegetable oil, but as always I substituted olive oil.

1lb of flank steak (or any steak really)
1 tablespoon of oil
1 cup of bean sprouts
1 small romaine lettuce
1 bunch each of mint basil and cilantro stalks removed
1 lime cut up to serve

Dressing
Grated rind and juice of 2 limes
2 tablespoons of fish sauce
2 tablespoons of raw cane (or brown) sugar
2 garlic cloves grated
2 lemon grass stalks finely sliced
2 red chillies seeded and finely sliced.

Combine all the dressing ingredients together.

Pan fry or barbecue the steak until it is wonderfully golden on the outside, but very rare inside. rest for 10 minutes, and then slice thinly

Crispy salad with almonds to go

Wednesday night was one of the three Celebration of Lights fireworks competition in Vancouver.  This consists of three nights of the most spectactular fireworks displays and over 1 million people all around English Bay coming down to see them.  I am lucky enough to have a couple of friends who have boats moored within a 10 minute walk of the bay.  So I met with them for a dinner on board before walking over to watch.  I made a salad to go along with some wonderful sandwiches that Nancy made.

I made the dressing at the bottom of the container and then layered the ingredients on top, so that when I arrived and we were ready to eat, all I had to do was shake the container with the lid on and voila freshly tossed salad.

Dressing
3 tablespoons of olive oil
2 tablespoons of vinegar (I used my home made herb vinegar this time it was tarragon)
1 tablespoon of dijon mustard
1 small garlic clove grated
1 handful of fresh chopped mint and basil
1 teaspoon of salt.

Salad
1/2 english cucumber cubed
4 campari tomatoes cubed
1/2 bunch green onion chopped
1/2 can of garbanzo beans
1 head of romaine (cos) lettuce chopped

Topping
3/4 cup of toasted slivered almonds

Mix all the dressing ingredients in the bottom of a large sealable container.

Then layer the ingredients finishing with the lettuce, so that it is not touching the dressing, therefore stopping it from getting soggy.

Grilled chicken marinated in yogurt

Marinating chicken breasts in yogurt helps keep them moist, and when you are cooking with skinless boneless chicken breasts you have to take all the help you can get to keep them from being dry. Since my husband is away for a week back east, I was cooking for myself and was trying to keep it lean, and so I bought two free range chicken breasts and had one for dinner and put the other in the freezer in the marinade for later.

I wanted to add some flavour as well as moistness so I used some garlic and herbs de provance.

For two chicken breasts.

2 garlic cloves
2 tablespoons of herb de provence (or any other herbs you have on hand)
1 teaspoon of course salt
1/2 cup of plain yogurt
2 chicken breasts.

Combine the garlic, herbs and salt in a pestle and mortar or mini chopper.

Grind up to create a flavour paste.

Deconstructed ratatouille

To go along with the leg of lamb we decided to make ratatouille, but I wanted to use the barbecue to roast the vegetables rather than cooking them on the stove, so stopping me from slaving over a hot stove on a very hot day. I bought the mini peppers which are so prevalent here at the moment, they are so sweet and full of flavour, and I wanted to serve them whole. So we came up with the idea of just combining the ingredients that usually make up ratatouille and calling it deconstructed, which is very trendy these days.  Never let it be said that I am not on the cutting edge of food trends.

To feed 13

2 bags of mini peppers
1 large eggplant sliced
4 zucchini sliced
20 small tomatoes halved

First I roasted the mini peppers whole, until they were slightly charred but not too much.

Frisée Salad with Lardons and coddled Eggs

Saturday was Bastille Day, so there was nothing else to do but throw on tablecloth from Provence and cook a french meal.  Helen from work and her husband were keen to have a traditional french meal with several courses including hors doeuvres, salad, soup, main, dessert and cheese.  So I tried to oblige, though due to the heat I nixed the soup. The first dish that we made was my favourite French salad, a warm salad with a poached egg on top.

We ended up being 13 for dinner, so poaching that many eggs all to be ready at the same time, seemed to be too hard, so we (Helen I think) came up with the idea of coddling in muffin tins instead.

This fed 13 but I will give ingredients for 4 as that seems like a more normal quantity. Traditionally this would have been done with just frisee lettuce which can stand up to the warm dressing, but we did add some other greens to stretch it out and that was fine too.


6 ounces salt pork or thick-cut bacon slices
3 tablespoons white wine vinegar
Butter to line the muffin tins
4 large eggs

1 head of Frisee lettuce

Cut the salt pork into small strips (lardons) and fry slowly until they have given off most of their fat and are crispy.

Just starting to cook the lardons

I am afraid I did not get a picture of the cooked lardons, but they were crispy and brown and swimming in the fat that they had given off.

Green and white salad for dinner on the deck

The first day of the July long weekend dawned with torrential rain and low clouds and I am ashamed to admit that we had breakfast at about 11:00 and did not get dressed until after noon.  We finally set out to the teeming metropolis of Maderia Park to hunt and gather for dinner and rent a movie for later.  At the liquor store they assured us that by 6:00 we would be able to enjoy a glass of wine outside on the deck.  Though at the time that seemed impossible her prediction came true.

At 6:00 we were indeed sitting out on the deck enjoying a glass of wine before dinner.  We had picked up some lovely baby back ribs from The Oaktree market and cooked them in a dry rub and finished them off on the barbecue.

Nancy made a delicious light salad with some spectacular local oak leaf lettuce also picked up at the Oakstreet market.

This made a salad for two.

Thai Salad rolls

Thai was the theme for Sunday night poker last week, so I decided to take Thai style salad rolls. I avoided eating spring rolls for years as they just did not appeal to me for some reason. Any way I made some with a friend a couple of years ago and now I am a convert.

These are easy to make ahead and great for a take along pot luck or putting out at home for a get together.  I have made them in the past with seafood, but this was to be a Thai meal and when I researched on the Internet it appears that in Thailand they traditionally use chicken. You could also make them vegetarian replacing the chicken with tofu.

3 chicken breasts sliced into strips
1 tablespoon of brown sugar
2 tablespoons of fish sauce
Juice of one lime
1 red chili sliced or replace with hot sauce
1 package of large dried rice wrappers
1/2 package of thin dried rice noodles
1/2 cup of fresh basil roughly chopped
1/2 cup of fresh mint
1/2 cup of cilantro
1 red pepper sliced thinly
1 bunch of green onions sliced long ways
1 romaine lettuce sliced

Mix the brown sugar fish sauce and lime juice together and add the chicken and set aside. While you prepare the remaining ingredients.

Add the rice noodles to a pot of boiling water, then turn off the heat let the noodles cook in the hot water for a few minutes until they are soft and cooked through, then drain and rinse well in cold water to stop them from sticking.

This is what the noodles look like before cooking

Stir fry the marinaded chicken strips in a tablespoon of oil.

Texas Ceasar salad

We were going over for a night of Texas Hold'm at a friends house really big stakes, $5.00 buy in and pot luck.  The theme for the pot luck was Texas food, I perused what others were bringing and I thought a salad was in order. I check on the Internet for suggestions and came up with Texas Caesar salad on epicurious.com of course I had to adapt due to what I had on hand, but the dressing sounded interesting and tasty so I decided to give it a try.

Dressing ingredients



1 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1/4 cup plain yogurt
1 teaspoon of salt (or to taste)
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup chopped shallots
2 garlic cloves
1 jalapeño chili, seeded, chopped (use less if you do not want too much heat)
Juice of 1 lime
3/4 cup olive oil

Place all the ingredients except the olive oil in a mini chopper or blender.