Kale & Brussels Sprout Salad

Two of my favorite vegetables - kale and brussels sprouts - wrapped into an easy to make salad. Win. Win. The recipe comes from Bon Appetit - I adapted it by adding dried cherries and skipping the cheese. Click to see the recipe on Bon Appetit. I served this yummy salad with some seasoned and ready to cook whole chicken from Whole Foods.

Grilled Caponata Salad with Cheesy Toast

Delicious and easy way to use up all those fresh vegetables you overbought at the grocery this week! As a pseudo vegetarian, this dish is perfect. A variety of colorful, fresh vegetables char grilled served with some cheesy bread. If you need the protein, cook up some chicken, seafood or steak. The original recipe called for grilled flatbread but since I had none, I made my own grilled cheesy toast - ciabatta sliced up with olive oil, garlic and mozzarella and Parmesan cheese.

"Pick Your Own" Adventure: Hollin Farms

Goods from my first visit to Hollin Farm. Total Price? $25!

My new favorite trek outside of D.C is a scenic hour or so drive that ends in an amazing pick your own farm - Hollin Farm in Delaplane, VA. I only discovered this place last month after my friend Amy and I stumbled upon it after a failed attempt to visit another farm. Not wanting to drive back to the city, we started exploring and totally lucked out. If you like knowing where your food comes from - a pick your own farm like this is awesome! Acres and acres of vegetables and fruit at incredibly cheap prices compared to a grocery store.

Yes please, I would like this as my view every day

Snacks for the car ride...Apple Cider Donuts fresh from the farm

Roasted Corn and Edamame Salad

I'm a big fan of packing lunch during the work week. For me, its easy. its quick. its healthy. its cheaper. and most importantly I can control what goes in it. So I am always looking for something new and different to take for lunch. So in one of my random "recipe challenges" (aka come up with something new based on what you already have in the house), I came up with this roasted corn and edamame salad. Final verdict...absolutely delicious!

Shrimp & Avocado Salad with Citrus Dressing

1. 
2. My new favorite meal is what you see above! I made it for lunch two weekend days in a row and seriously contemplated taking all of the pieces to work and making it for lunch again today. This shrimp & avocado salad with citrus dressing (original recipe courtesy of Food & Wine magazine) is what I would consider genius. Its colorful, its packed with flavor, its light and healthy. The perfect lunch in the summer before hitting the pool or a great salad starter for a dinner party. Enjoy and thank Food & Wine for sharing this magnificent recipe!
   
   

Wheat Berry Salad & Contest Giveaway!

 Last weekend I was tasked with bringing side dishes for my friend’s bbq (my other side dish: crunchy asian slaw) and wanting to continue my trend of trying something new, I figured this was the perfect chance to test out Bob’s Red Mill Hard Red Wheat Berries that they so graciously sent to me! Last month, I met some reps from Bob’s Red Mill at the BlogHer ’11 Food Conference, which I attended for work, but had the added benefit of me being able to pick up some ideas, tips, etc. for this blog. Score me! Having mentioned that I’ve never cooked with wheat berries, I was happily surprised when I received a package a few weeks later with two large bags of Bob’s Red Mill Hard Red Wheat Berries! In case you don’t know wheat berries are kernels of wheat with a protein content of 15% or better. These berries can be cooked as a cereal, added to salad for extra crunch and protein or milled into flour.

So after flipping through my cookbooks, I settled on a wheat berry salad recipe from the Barefoot Contessa. The end result? a delicious, different and very popular side dish! The best part about this salad is that you can customize it to your tastes or what you have in your pantry or fridge. Next time, I’ll making it with some combination of dried cranberries, edamame, celery and/or some feta!

So for my first contest (and to see if I can get people to comment more!), I’m giving away a 2lb bag of Bob’s Red Mill Hard Red Wheat Berries!  In the comments tell me your favorite wheat berry recipe or what you would put in this recipe if you were making it or your favorite Bob’s Red Mill product. I will find a random number generator app to figure out how to pick a winner! Then if you’re the lucky winner all you have to do is wait for the mail to arrive with your wheat berries! Contest ends on Monday, June 27th!

Crunchy Asian Slaw

For my friend, and fellow blogger, KG's BBQ this weekend, I was tasked with making a side. Not wanting to make potato salad, macaroni salad or pasta salad, I stood in the produce section and stared....for 10 minutes until I settled on making some type of slaw. Remembering this crunchy asian slaw my aunt made years before, I set out to re-create it. The end result a very easy to make, refreshing and asian-fusion cole slaw! The addition of uncooked ramen noodles and sliced almonds completes this bright and colorful side dish.

Chicken Fajita Spinach Salad

This chicken fajita spinach salad with guacamole and salsa is my go to dinner salad.  Seeing that I'm not that big a fan of salad, I need new ways to trick myself in to eating any plate full of greenery. Since spinach leaves are my favorite greenery, I chose it as my base, filled it with sliced carrots, sauteed chicken and bell peppers and topped it with fresh avocado slices and a great salsa. I made this salad for my mom when she was here and she loved it - especially the salsa as a salad dressing idea!

Chickpea Salad

This month's supper club theme was Taste of Spring, meaning food that should be eaten when the sun comes out, flowers are blooming and birds start to sing! What this meant to me was something light, refreshing and easy. Not having much time to whip something up, I decided on this chickpea salad with lemon, parmesan and fresh herbs from the April 2011 issue of Bon Appetit magazine. I wasn't sure how this salad would turn out, but after the 10 minutes it took to prepare and taste, it was clear this would be a hit for my supper club gals! If you love chickpeas, you will love this salad!

Pan Roasted Salmon & Bread Salad

When I knew my mom was coming to town, I started planning out dinners with new recipes so she could be my taste tester. Seeing how we both have commented we need to incorporate more seafood into our diets - I settled on a pan roasted salmon and bread salad recipe from Food & Wine magazine. What resulted was the perfect, fast and healthy all-in-one meal that I could serve her after a 7 hour car ride between Ohio and D.C. The combo of salt (capers), spice (red pepper flakes), sour (lemon) and crunch (the ciabatta bread chunks) provided a new and innovative way to enjoy salmon.

Corn and Bell Pepper Salad

I'm a big fan of my bell pepper and tomato bruschetta because of the freshness and crunch of the ingredients. Fresh corn is another favorite - a perfect symbol of summer and the outdoors. So wanting summer to hurry up and get here and after seeing a few bell peppers in my fridge and a can of organic corn (hey we're just emerging from winter, so I turn to canned organic corn when I can't get it fresh), I decided to combine the two and make a corn and bell pepper salad. OMG - the end result was delicious! This, for sure, will be a staple in the summer months. The crispness and lightness of this dish will be a great contrast to the DC humidity and high temperatures that make me want to live off of Icee Freeze Pops.

Chicken, Blueberry and Walnut Salad

Another yummy and healthy salad - roasted chicken, blueberries and walnut spinach salad. Delicious! 

Tuna, Carrott and Walnut Salad

I'm not cooking this week because I have limited food in my house and I refuse to grocery shop since I'm headed off on a work trip! So this week's posts are going to be lunch focused. First up, random combination salad I made several weeks ago during a health cleanse: tuna, sliced carrots and chopped walnuts spinach salad.

Steak Nicoise Salad

Reason #1 I will never be a real vegetarian...steak is soooo good. This salad is a twist on the old staple tuna nicoise salad and for those of you who don't really like salad (like me - too much chewing for too little enjoyment) this one is a winner. It takes less than 30 minutes to put together - it's an easy and good weeknight meal!

A quick recap: season strip steak and cook in a skillet; cook red skin potatoes and fresh green beans in seasoned boiling water. Once done mix argula and kalamata olives with dressing - lemon juice, dijon mustard and olive oil. Top with potatoes, green beans and steak. (add extra dressing if you like)

p.s. another recipe from America's Test Kitchen 30-Minute Suppers.