One of my geeky friends shared an entire "bundle" of food blogs with me on Google Reader. I've been overwhelmed with everything from recipes to restaurant reviews, and as a result have only read about 25% of what people have posted.
However, somehow I stumbled upon this idea, and I tried it tonight.
I am so glad I did!
The basic idea is a caprese salad--tomato, fresh mozzarella, basil, evoo, and balsamic vinegar. However, in this version, you replace the tomatoes with fresh slices of peach.
Yes, it sounds a bit odd. But trust me. It is GOOD. If you live in a place where peaches are in season right now (this week they were $.69/lb at my Safeway), buy some and make this.
Simple, easy, and quick, it was a hit with the little geek and the baby geek (sans basil and oil/vinegar). Apparently the big geek had never eaten a traditional caprese salad and was unfamiliar with the texture of fresh mozzarella, which he didn't love. Oh, well, more for me--next time he can just have peaches and basil, because I WILL do this again.
Ingredients:
Fresh ripe peaches
Fresh mozzarella
Fresh basil
EVOO
Balsamic vinegar
Slice peaches and mozzarella. Arrange slices, alternating fruit and cheese, overlapping on a plate. Stack several basil leaves together. Use kitchen shears to slice little "ribbons" of basil over the top of the fruit and cheese. Drizzle with EVOO and Balsamic vinegar.
ENJOY!!
Showing posts with label salad. Show all posts
Showing posts with label salad. Show all posts
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Pulled Pork Sandwiches with Tangy Slaw
Have I mentioned how much I <3 the crock pot? Because I really do. I have a few standard easy meals that use the crock pot, and this is one of them.
Here's what you do:
1. Spray the crock pot with cooking spray. You really should do this every time you use the slow cooker. Trust me.
2. Slice an onion and put it in the crock pot (optional).
3. Place meat in crock pot. I usually use pork tenderloin. I was too cheap to buy it this week, so I got pork shoulder roast instead. If you do the shoulder roast, you should trim off as much fat as possible before you put it in the crock pot.
4. Cover with your favorite BBQ sauce. We like Sweet Baby Ray's. You could make your own, but I am lazy.
5. Cook for 4-10 hours, depending on the meat, or until it is "shreddable."
Shred meat with 2 forks, place on bun, top with tangy slaw. YUM!
Tangy Slaw:
The Big Geek doesn't eat mayonnaise, so this was my solution. He still won't eat this. Damn, he is picky. However, it is good, so I still make it this way. Except when I'm extra lazy and buy the cole slaw kits. Which I've been known to do.
1 pckg shredded coleslaw mix, or shred a head of cabbage and some carrots, and maybe a red onion if you have it in the food processor.
Dressing:
1 cup sugar
1 tsp salt
1 tsp celery seed (or omit salt and use 2 tsp celery salt)
1 tsp dry mustard
1 cup vinegar (I use cider vinegar)
2/3 cup vegetable oil (Canola works well)
Combine dressing ingredients and bring to a boil (or if you are lazy and/or don't read the entire recipe and are like, "oh, crap, but I wanted to just throw this together," toss the bowl in the microwave for 2-3 minutes--assuming it's not a metal bowl). Pour over cabbage and toss. Cool, then refrigerate (if you were one of the "oh, crap" people you CAN put it on your sandwich at this point--it's just better if it sits for a while).
Pulled pork is from me. Coleslaw is from about.com.
Here's what you do:
1. Spray the crock pot with cooking spray. You really should do this every time you use the slow cooker. Trust me.
2. Slice an onion and put it in the crock pot (optional).
3. Place meat in crock pot. I usually use pork tenderloin. I was too cheap to buy it this week, so I got pork shoulder roast instead. If you do the shoulder roast, you should trim off as much fat as possible before you put it in the crock pot.
4. Cover with your favorite BBQ sauce. We like Sweet Baby Ray's. You could make your own, but I am lazy.
5. Cook for 4-10 hours, depending on the meat, or until it is "shreddable."
Shred meat with 2 forks, place on bun, top with tangy slaw. YUM!
Tangy Slaw:
The Big Geek doesn't eat mayonnaise, so this was my solution. He still won't eat this. Damn, he is picky. However, it is good, so I still make it this way. Except when I'm extra lazy and buy the cole slaw kits. Which I've been known to do.
1 pckg shredded coleslaw mix, or shred a head of cabbage and some carrots, and maybe a red onion if you have it in the food processor.
Dressing:
1 cup sugar
1 tsp salt
1 tsp celery seed (or omit salt and use 2 tsp celery salt)
1 tsp dry mustard
1 cup vinegar (I use cider vinegar)
2/3 cup vegetable oil (Canola works well)
Combine dressing ingredients and bring to a boil (or if you are lazy and/or don't read the entire recipe and are like, "oh, crap, but I wanted to just throw this together," toss the bowl in the microwave for 2-3 minutes--assuming it's not a metal bowl). Pour over cabbage and toss. Cool, then refrigerate (if you were one of the "oh, crap" people you CAN put it on your sandwich at this point--it's just better if it sits for a while).
Pulled pork is from me. Coleslaw is from about.com.
Saturday, April 11, 2009
Antipasto Salad and--BUNNY CAKE!
Had some friends over today to color Easter eggs, and wanted an easy lunch, so I bought some hot dogs and threw together a pasta salad. It was based loosely on a recipe from Taste of Home.
1 package penne pasta, cooked (spirals would have been better, but I wanted to use up some of my excess pasta)
1 small jar quartered marinated artichoke hearts
1 green pepper, diced
1/2 onion, diced
bunch of cherry tomatoes, halved (I just kept putting them in until I thought I had enough)
about 4 oz provolone cheese, cubed
about half a can of black olives, halved
about 1 lb low-fat salami, chopped
dressing:
1 1/2 cups olive oil
1/2 cup red wine vinegar
1/4 cup sugar
about 2 Tbsp fresh oregano, chopped (or 1 dried)
1 tsp salt
Combine all ingredients in large bowl. In small bowl, combine dressing ingredients. Pour dressing on pasta mixture and toss to coat.
I took out some of the pasta salad before adding the salami as one of our friends is Muslim and doesn't eat pork. But after she went home I threw it all back together. :) I know, I know, our Muslim friend came over to decorate eggs. It's a multi-cultural world, my friends.
Also, the original recipe called for chickpeas (aka garbanzo beans), but I couldn't seem to find any at Safeway and I didn't have any at home (I could have sworn I did). It also called for pepperoni in addition to the salami, but they didn't have turkey pepperoni at Safeway and do you know how much fat is in that stuff?
It was good, and will be even better tomorrow. I may eat some for dinner, too.
Then after naptime, the geeks and I made a bunny cake.
Here's what you do:
1. Make a cake in 2 round pans. Whatever kind you like. Mine is carrot.
2. After they cool, cut one of the rounds to make the ears and a bow tie. It kind of looks like this when you cut it: ()() Ok, imagine those parenthesis are part of a big circle. If you google "bunny cake" you can find pictures.
3. Cover a cookie sheet or tray or something (piece of cardboard?) with foil and place the cake so that it makes a bunny with a bowtie shape.
4. Frost with white frosting. Since my cake is carrot, my frosting is cream cheese. I do not suggest using the low-fat cream cheese to make cream cheese frosting. It's kind of thin. But we survived.
5. Decorate. We put coconut on the bunny to give him "fur" and used candy and some pink decorator icing for the rest. Tint some coconut green by putting it in a ziplock bag with a few drops of green food coloring and shaking.
6. Admire your bunny cake!
1 package penne pasta, cooked (spirals would have been better, but I wanted to use up some of my excess pasta)
1 small jar quartered marinated artichoke hearts
1 green pepper, diced
1/2 onion, diced
bunch of cherry tomatoes, halved (I just kept putting them in until I thought I had enough)
about 4 oz provolone cheese, cubed
about half a can of black olives, halved
about 1 lb low-fat salami, chopped
dressing:
1 1/2 cups olive oil
1/2 cup red wine vinegar
1/4 cup sugar
about 2 Tbsp fresh oregano, chopped (or 1 dried)
1 tsp salt
Combine all ingredients in large bowl. In small bowl, combine dressing ingredients. Pour dressing on pasta mixture and toss to coat.
I took out some of the pasta salad before adding the salami as one of our friends is Muslim and doesn't eat pork. But after she went home I threw it all back together. :) I know, I know, our Muslim friend came over to decorate eggs. It's a multi-cultural world, my friends.
Also, the original recipe called for chickpeas (aka garbanzo beans), but I couldn't seem to find any at Safeway and I didn't have any at home (I could have sworn I did). It also called for pepperoni in addition to the salami, but they didn't have turkey pepperoni at Safeway and do you know how much fat is in that stuff?
It was good, and will be even better tomorrow. I may eat some for dinner, too.
Then after naptime, the geeks and I made a bunny cake.
Here's what you do:
1. Make a cake in 2 round pans. Whatever kind you like. Mine is carrot.
2. After they cool, cut one of the rounds to make the ears and a bow tie. It kind of looks like this when you cut it: ()() Ok, imagine those parenthesis are part of a big circle. If you google "bunny cake" you can find pictures.
3. Cover a cookie sheet or tray or something (piece of cardboard?) with foil and place the cake so that it makes a bunny with a bowtie shape.
4. Frost with white frosting. Since my cake is carrot, my frosting is cream cheese. I do not suggest using the low-fat cream cheese to make cream cheese frosting. It's kind of thin. But we survived.
5. Decorate. We put coconut on the bunny to give him "fur" and used candy and some pink decorator icing for the rest. Tint some coconut green by putting it in a ziplock bag with a few drops of green food coloring and shaking.
6. Admire your bunny cake!
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
Lemon Basil Bow Ties
I think this is from Taste of Home.
This is a quick, easy side dish that could be made into a main course by adding some sliced grilled chicken or scallops (or other protein, although I don't think beef would be very good). It's meant to be served hot, but I served it cold as a pasta salad for a playgroup party today.
4 cups uncooked bow tie pasta (I used "easter" pasta today in the shapes of bunnies and eggs and carrots, but bow tie would work best with this sauce/dressing
1 garlic clove, minced
1-2 Tbsp olive oil (I thought it needed more)
1 Tbsp lemon juice (about 1/2 a lemon)
1 tsp grated lemon peel (if you don't have a plane grater, you should get one, it works way better than my "lemon zester")
1/2 tsp salt (or less, I thought it could have used less)
1/4 tsp coarsely ground pepper
1/2 cup loosely packed fresh basil leaves, thinly sliced
1/4 to 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
Cook pasta according to directions. Meanwhile, in a skillet, saute garlic in oil for one minute. Stir in the lemon juice, lemon peel, salt, and pepper. Drain pasta. Add to skillet. Add basil. Toss to coat. Cook and stir for 1-2 minutes or until basil is wilted. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.
I will make this again--it was easy and good--as a way to use leftover chicken in the future.
Also, I hate dishes, so I put the pasta in a colander and did all the dressing in the pasta pot, then put the pasta back in (rather than use a skillet). It worked just fine, although I maybe could have let the pasta pot cool down a bit more.
Update: I made this again yesterday, using bow tie pasta. I used more like 5 tbsp oil, the juice and zest of an entire lemon, 2 Tbsp garlic, and doubled the salt and pepper. I also cut up some leftover chicken breasts that had an Italian marinade on them and tossed them in before I added the pasta. We ate it warm, and it was GOOD. This may become a staple in my house. The Big Geek loves lemon, the little geek likes eating "butterflies," and I just like eating. :)
This is a quick, easy side dish that could be made into a main course by adding some sliced grilled chicken or scallops (or other protein, although I don't think beef would be very good). It's meant to be served hot, but I served it cold as a pasta salad for a playgroup party today.
4 cups uncooked bow tie pasta (I used "easter" pasta today in the shapes of bunnies and eggs and carrots, but bow tie would work best with this sauce/dressing
1 garlic clove, minced
1-2 Tbsp olive oil (I thought it needed more)
1 Tbsp lemon juice (about 1/2 a lemon)
1 tsp grated lemon peel (if you don't have a plane grater, you should get one, it works way better than my "lemon zester")
1/2 tsp salt (or less, I thought it could have used less)
1/4 tsp coarsely ground pepper
1/2 cup loosely packed fresh basil leaves, thinly sliced
1/4 to 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
Cook pasta according to directions. Meanwhile, in a skillet, saute garlic in oil for one minute. Stir in the lemon juice, lemon peel, salt, and pepper. Drain pasta. Add to skillet. Add basil. Toss to coat. Cook and stir for 1-2 minutes or until basil is wilted. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.
I will make this again--it was easy and good--as a way to use leftover chicken in the future.
Also, I hate dishes, so I put the pasta in a colander and did all the dressing in the pasta pot, then put the pasta back in (rather than use a skillet). It worked just fine, although I maybe could have let the pasta pot cool down a bit more.
Update: I made this again yesterday, using bow tie pasta. I used more like 5 tbsp oil, the juice and zest of an entire lemon, 2 Tbsp garlic, and doubled the salt and pepper. I also cut up some leftover chicken breasts that had an Italian marinade on them and tossed them in before I added the pasta. We ate it warm, and it was GOOD. This may become a staple in my house. The Big Geek loves lemon, the little geek likes eating "butterflies," and I just like eating. :)
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