This is a new salad, in that I used several ingredients that I didn’t usually use with last season’s salads. I’m very much liking that fresh salad time is here again. I’m going to try and grow a salad greens mix in one of my balcony containers this year… I thought of that last night, and honestly, I don’t know why I didn’t think of that before. I’ve already got basil, chives, oregano, tomatoes, and thyme out there for this year. They’re not planted yet, but I do hope to do that this weekend…
Anyway, for the salad above, I tried a few new ingredients. And let me just add, that getting my ingredients from the local farm for the first time this season made it taste all that much better! We really don’t do salads in the winter, because I simply don’t like the taste of store-bought produce bought in the off-season. It’s okay for some things when I’m cooking, but when it’s going into a bowl of greenery, I really do prefer it to be fresh!
- Bit of Romaine Lettuce
- Salad Greens Mix (New – romaine was the typical for last year)
- Tomatoes (Fresh!)
- Green Onions (Fresh!)
- Avocado (New-ish – I only add this on occasion)
- Cucumber (Fresh!)
- Blue Cheese Crumbles (New!)
- Walnuts (New-ish – I can’t wait to try cashews next time)
And that was it… It was deliciously green and, well, fresh. 
The avocado and blue cheese added a bit of creamy texture to this salad, enough so that I didn’t use any dressing. Anyway, it just tasted so darn green and fresh to me. I think I need to find a synonym here, but it was just so newly-grown good!
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Here, in all its glory, is the full bounty of what I found at the local garden center after work this evening. It’s from a fourth-generation farm founded in 1932. They’ve got their own homegrown fruits and veggies, along with some organics too. And some non-local goodies, like California strawberries. It’s a mix of local, and/or organic, and/or U.S.-grown produce and fruits. And since it’s a small, local farm and garden center, I do like supporting them. Plus, their fruits and veggies just taste so good! I’ve already found several of my flowers and herbs from there earlier this month. I like the way the asparagus is poking out at you in the above pic…
I spent my evening happily cleaning and cutting:
Tomatoes, green onions, salad mix, cherries, strawberries, celery, asparagus, bananas, mushrooms, a cucumber, and carrots. Pumpkin was interested too:
Very, very pleased…
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Courtesy of Ms. Paula Deen. She does have a knack sometimes for putting together the most outlandish ingredients… Now, I like fried things. I like bacon. I love macaroni and cheese. I even put bacon pieces in my macaroni and cheese sometimes. I still don’t think I would have ever thought [...]
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Well, I finally got the Quesadilla-type of meal that I had been wanting over the past month or so. When I had tried previously, I ended up with too much filling and the dish turned into burritos instead. Which was all fine and dandy, but I’ve had this hankering for crispy tortilla quesadillas still. And this evening, voila!
I crisped the tortillas in a dry saute pan over medium heat for about a minute or two on each side. I did that as I cooked the mushrooms and garlic, and then heated it through after adding the black beans. I layered some shredded cheese on the bottom tortilla first, next adding about 2 spoonfuls of bean mixture. That got topped with a bit more cheese and finally another tortilla. I put those on a baking sheet and cooked them in a 350 degree oven for about 5 minutes, until the cheese was melted.
I could have added some sour cream or salsa to the above picture, but I forgot. That’s the problem sometimes with taking pictures after cooking… I’m usually ready to eat dinner by then! Next time I’ll show the toppings before I start clicking away…
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It’s another rice dish for our dinner. I usually cook some brown rice over the weekend and have it waiting in the fridge. I also blanched some asparagus for this one and had that ready to go also. Then, when it’s Rice Dish Night, I cook up the remaining veggies, cook up some eggs, and warm everything through. It’s a pretty easy meal, though I tend to use several pots and pans for it. But, it’s a feel-good type of meal for me, meaning it feels healthy and welcome to my body. Except for my lunch of leftovers the next day… I usually add some blue cheese dressing to the dish and make it a bit creamier. So be it. It still tastes very good. 
Here’s the ingredients for this dish:
- Brown Rice
- Garlic, minced
- Ginger, minced
- Green and Yellow Zucchini
- Broccoli (I can never spell that right the first time)
- Mushrooms
- Asparagus
- Red Pepper Flakes
- Sesame Oil
- Olive Oil
- Eggs (Omelette-style and then sliced)
- Mine: Just a bit of shredded Parmesan
- D’s: Onion and Pepper Relish
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I found this dish on the Simply Recipes website and was looking forward to tryinig it. I, of course, made a few adjustments, mostly in the herb department this time. We really enjoyed the sauce… it was a light tomato broth of sorts, and the feta made it just a bit creamy, but not heavy at all. I served it over whole-wheat pasta, which did soak up the sauce very nicely.
For us, the shrimp seemed to be out of place in this dish… the sauce wasn’t necessarily enhanced by the seafood. I think next time I’ll make this with some turkey meatballs, or even just add some more veggies (like eggplant!). I also went a bit light on the seasonings, since it was the first time I tried it… Next time, I’ll add more garlic and more herbs… fresh basil or fresh oregano would be a nice addition. But it’s really a nice and juicy, light sauce, as you can see in the last picture. Here’s what I did:
- 1 Tbsp Olive Oil
- 1 medium Onion, chopped
- 1 Tbsp Garlic, minced
- 2 14.5-oz. cans Organic Diced Tomatoes – I used the juices from just one of the cans, and that seemed perfect to me.
- 1 Tbsp. dried Oregano – Next time I’ll try some fresh herbs, preferably basil and/or oregano.
- 1-lb. medium-sized raw Shrimp, thawed (if frozen), peeled and deveined
- Pinch of Salt
- 1 cup Feta, crumbled
1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Heat oil in a skillet on medium-high heat. Add onions and cook til softened, 3-5 minutes. Add garlic and cook 1 minute more.
2. Add 2 cans tomatoes, reserving the juice from one can if needed later. Bring to a rolling simmer. Reduce heat and simmer for 5-10 minutes til thickens a bit.
3. Remove from heat. Stir in herbs, shrimp, feta and salt. Pour mixture into an oven-safe baking dish. Bake in oven for 12 minutes til shrimp are cooked through. Serve over whole-wheat linguine pasta (or rice).
Yummy Juices:
- Adapted from Simply Recipes.
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I’ve done some cooking prep type of things. Little things, but they will save time later on… Onion is chopped, asparagus is rinsed and drying, brown rice is cooked and cooling, shrimp are peeled and deveined… I actually forgot how time-consuming the task of peeling shrimp can be. And how useful [...]
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It’s been a week of sandwiches of sorts. I made Falafel one night, to go along with some leftover Hummus. I used Fantastic Foods Falafel Mix, which we find nicely quick and tasty. I’ve never tried to make falafel from scratch… I suppose I should add that to my list.
D. had a cheese and hummus sandwich one night, while I had a remaining turkey sausage with cheese in a wrap. Nothing too exciting, as I said. We’re going out for a Mother’s Day dinner on Saturday night, but I do have my eyes on trying a new dish on Sunday…
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