Steak Salad with Feta Vinaigrette

A few weeks ago, Antoinette and I cooked dinner for our families together - SO fun and SO delicious! Antoinette made a similar salad to her Mediterranean Orzo Salad which uses this awesome feta vinaigrette. Tasting as we went, we both joked the feta vinaigrette should be made by the gallon! It's so good, and I've been putting it all over everything. Now that BBQ season hit the Pacific Northwest early, we've made a couple of tri-tip roasts on the grill and a couple more in the smoker. Left over tip is great in a bunch of things - eggs, burritos, salads. I've been making this chopped salad with most of our left overs since our garden lettuce is going nuts, and the feta dressing is perfect!

Steak Salad with Feta Vinaigrette
Serves 2

1/4 cup crumbled feta
2 tablespoons olive oil
3 tablespoons lemon juice - about 1/2 a lemon
1/8 teaspoon bouquet garni or herbs de Provence
Fresh ground pepper

1 head of lettuce
2 carrots, julienned (since all of Pintrest went Paleo, I bought a julienne peeler - AWESOME. I love it!)  
1/2 cup peas
1/2 cup sliced cherry tomatoes
1 cup chopped cucumber
5 basil leafs, chopped
4 ounces chopped left over tri tip or other steak
2 tablespoons sunflower seeds

I've taken to making the salad dressing in the bottom of the serving bowl. It makes for one less thing to wash, and I'm guaranteed to get all of the dressing on the salad!

Next, I add the other ingredients to the salad bowl, topping everything with the lettuce last.

Toss everything together, top with the sunflower seeds and enjoy!

This salad can go so many ways depending on what's in season, but I really love adding the fresh basil. It's such a great flavor!

Things made this time last year...

Soy Glazed Salmon

Crab and Kale Manicotti

Ginger Soy Chicken Breasts

Mango Guacamole and Homemade Salsa

Chopped Kale Salad with Pecorino, Raisins, and Walnuts

Smitten Kitchen is one of my favorite food blogs (other than NPC of course).  Deb is amazing.  She takes amazing pictures and has great recipes that I can relate to and really enjoy.  Not to mention, she does all of this amazing work in a tiny little NYC kitchen.  I can only hope that NPC will be where Smitten Kitchen is one day! 

While scrolling through recipes for Easter, I came across a kale salad that just looked delightful!  I needed at least one dish that was “atypical” for Easter and was sure to please since I was hosting for about 12 other people that day.  After all, my NPC reputation is always on the line!  This chopped kale salad turned out to be a hit…and I even earned a “fancy” label J  Go figure!  I’ll take that any day!

Chopped Kale Salad with Pecorino, Raisins, and Walnuts

½ c walnut pieces

¼ c golden raisins

1 tbsp white wine vinegar

1 tbsp water

¼ c panko

1 tiny clove garlic, minced or pressed

kosher salt

3 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil

1 bunch Tuscan kale

2 oz pecorino (ground in food processor)

½ lemon, juiced

black pepper

Toast walnuts in a dry skillet over low-medium heat, tossing occasionally.  Let cool.  In a small saucepan over low heat, simmer white wine vinegar, water, and raisins for 5 mins, until plump and soft.  Set aside in liquid.

Toast breadcrumbs and garlic in a skillet together over low-medium heat with a pinch of salt until golden.  Set aside. 

Note: Garlic will be fragrant once it is properly toasted.  However, garlic burns quickly and turns rancid.  Be sure to stir constantly to prevent burning.

Trim heavy stems off kale and remove ribs.  Add kale to bowl of food processor and pulse a few times until chopped.

Modification: Chopping the kale is one of the changes I made to the original recipe.  I decided to chop in a food processor because it literally takes a few seconds to do.  Also, since kale is so bitter, it helps to get small bites of kale with the other salad ingredients for an amazing combo that isn’t overpowering.

Put kale in a large bowl.  Add pecorino, walnuts and raisins.  Add olive oil and lemon juice and toss until all the kale is coated.  Taste and adjust seasonings with salt, pepper, and leftover vinegar mixture from raisins.  (I used all of the vinegar mixture.)  Let sit for at least 10 mins before serving.  Top with breadcrumbs just before serving.

Black Eyed Pea Salad with Baked Tortilla Chips

Every New Year’s Day, many people start the year off by having black eyed peas.  Why?  Because the superstition is that they are lucky.  Well here’s a dish that will give you luck, help you keep your new year diet, and is very high in nutritional value.  This black eyed pea salad is another dish I learned to make while participating in the Daniel Fast.  The veggies give a nice crunch, the vinegar gives it zing, and the jalapenos give it a kick.  A fantastic combination!

Note: Many canned jalapenos have sugar in them.  If you are making this for the Daniel Fast be sure to check the label!

I like to pair this salad with my homemade baked tortilla chips.  I buy organic whole wheat tortillas from Trader Joe’s.  These are honestly the best tortillas for making chips with.  They crunch up very nicely and have great flavor.  A little olive oil, salt, pepper – and you have homemade chips that go well with anything! 

Salad:

2 (15oz) cans black eyed peas, drained and rinsed

1/3 red onion, finely chopped

½ large green bell pepper, seeded and finely chopped

½ large red bell pepper, seeded and finely chopped

5-6 pickled jalapeno slices, finely chopped

½ c chopped fresh cilantro

¼ c extra virgin olive oil

¼ c balsamic vinegar

salt

pepper

splash of jalapeno juice from jar

Chips:

2 whole wheat tortillas (Trader Joe’s brand preferably)

extra virgin olive oil

salt

pepper

In a large bowl, stir together peas, onions, bell peppers, jalapenos, and cilantro.  Add oil, vinegar, jalapeno juice, salt and pepper to taste.  Stir well to combine.  Serve at room temperature or chilled. 

Preheat oven to 375F.  Pour a couple of swirls of oil onto tortillas.  Both sides of tortilla should be lightly coated with oil.  Sprinkle both sides of each tortilla with salt and pepper.  Using a pizza cutter, cut tortillas into triangles.  Spread out tortilla pieces over a baking sheet.  Cook for 7 minutes, flip, and then continue cooking for another 5-7 minutes or until done.  Chips will be lightly browned and crispy.

Sweet and Spicy Peanut Noodle Salad and Beer Can Chicken

I am friends with a chef. I real professional chef who directs and staffs and manages a HUGE professional kitchen. I have no idea how many people they serve everyday, but I do know he works crazy hard, makes amazing food, and he's willing to teach me something new every time we hang out - cheers to you Tom! On top of all of this, he's married to a dear friend of mine who's been adding love and joy to my world for 23 years! Last time we had a weekend together he taught us Beer Can Chicken - this is hands down my favorite way to make a chicken. We've cooked this chicken in our smoker, and baked it in the oven. It's moist, delicious and super easy. 

The second recipe is a great way to use up the extra bits of Beer Can Chicken. I love spicy salads, (Lettuce Wrap Salad and this Mango Chilli Chicken Salad are some favorites!)  and this is a great new one for our rotation. Like a lot of my recipes, I upped the veggies. In this particular recipe I decreased some of the oil used in the dressing.

Beer Can Chicken
Preheat oven to 350
Line a baking dish with tin foil 

1 whole chicken
1/2 can of beer*
1/4 cup rub of choice (we've used dry run and blended herb rubs)
*(we've used micro-brew IPAs, Coors and even a giant Fosters for a turkey. All good! I've heard Near Beer and O'Douls comes in cans. I wonder if root beer would taste?)

Pat dry the chicken, remove the neck and organs and rub it all over with your favorite dry rub. My dear chef friend made ours, it is smoky a little sweet, tangy with a little kick of spice. We are so lucky!! 

Drink half a beer and place the can in the cavity of the chicken. The bird needs to stand up on the beer can. Bend the can a bit if needed. Place the bird and can on the foil lined baking dish. Bake at 350 until the thickest part registers 165 degrees. About an hour and 15 minutes.

We baked this chicken specifically to use shredded. Sunday night we made pizzas and this was part of a BBQ Chicken Pizza. Monday I made a green salad for lunch and topped it with some chicken. Monday night we made the Sweet and Spicy Peanut Noodle Salad with a bit more of this chicken. This salad is SO good! 

Sweet and Spicy Peanut Noodle Salad - adapted from A Cozy Apron
Serves 4 as a light dinner

For the Dressing
3 tablespoons honey
3 tablespoons rice vinegar
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon sesame oil
2 tablespoons peanut butter
3 cloves of garlic, pressed or minced
Sriracha - to taste. We added ours on top of the salad servings since we were sharing with our toddler.

For the Salad
1/2 pound noodles - I used spaghetti
5 oz chopped chicken - about 1 breast
2 cups shredded red cabbage
1 1/2 cups sliced carrots
3 green onions
1 1/2 cups sliced cucumbers
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
2 tablespoons chopped peanuts for garnish

Start a pot of water to boil for the noodles and start in on the dressing. In a very large bowl, whisk all of the dressing ingredients until smooth. We added the Sriracha later to keep the dressing mild so our toddler would eat it.

Next chop all of the veggies. I used a mandolin to thinly slice the cucumbers and carrots. Grating them would be just as easy and just as nice.

When the noodles are done, rinse in very cold water and toss with the dressing. Add in the veggies and toss until everything is nicely coated in dressing and nicely mixed up.

Serve in bowls and top with chopped peanuts, more cilantro and some Sriracha.

Enjoy!!

Pesto and Pea Salad and Watermelon Mocktails

I love summer. LOVE. IT. It's my favorite time of year. I love the smell of hot trees. I love the sound of sprinklers and kids. I love grilled food and fresh veggies. It's perfect! And the Pacific Northwest is in prime-time summertime. Our veggies and herbs are going nuts and we are trying to use them up as fast as we can. Ina Garten makes a wonderful pesto and pea salad, that I made with basil and parsley we are growing. We ate this with a roasted chicken and had watermelon mocktails swirled with mint we are growing. It was a really good dinner, and it was so pretty - just like summer!

Pea and Pesto Salad - from Ina Garten
Serves 2 (With left over pesto)

For the Salad
5 oz of baby spinach
1 cup of peas (I used frozen peas, defrosted in hot water)
1 lemon

For the Pesto
1/4 cup toasted pine nuts - divided
1 1/2 cups basil leafs
1/2 cup of parsley
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup olive oil
2 cloves of garlic
Salt and pepper to taste

Defrost peas in hot water for a few minutes. While peas defrost, arrange spinach on a large platter and toast pine nuts for pesto and to top the salad.

In a food processor, pulse half the pine nuts and Parmesan cheese. Add garlic and pulse a few more times. Add in basil and parsley. While the food processor runs, pour in enough olive oil to make a nice paste. I used about a 1/4 cup. Season with salt and pepper to taste. 

Toss spinach with peas and about half the pesto. Top with reserved pine nuts. Serve with sliced lemons.

Watermelon Mocktails
Makes 2 

6 cups chopped seedless watermelon
1/2 a lime, juiced
1 cup soda water
2 sprigs fresh mint

In a blender combine watermelon cubes, and lime juice. Pulse until well blended. Divide the juice between 2 tall glasses and top with soda water. Swirl with mint and drink up!

Enjoy some summertime!!

Made this time last year...
Veggie Hand Pies and Peach and Blackberry Galette

 
















Green Chili Turkey Burgers

Dirty Rice

Mediterranean Orzo Salad

I have a dish for you that is sure to emit summer vibes!  What else says summer than a cold pasta salad with a citrus-feta vinaigrette and colorful veggies?  That’s what this orzo salad is all about.  My husband and I needed a healthy dinner because our summer hasn’t been full of what should be “healthy summer eating”.  Therefore, I wanted to make something light but filling. 

This orzo salad is chock full of veggies and would be even healthier if you used whole-wheat orzo.  However, I couldn’t find it at my grocery store.  I will definitely be making it again when I find some.  On the side we had lemon-pepper grilled chicken with corn on the cob.  It made for a deliciously vibrant and guilt-free meal that is sure to be on the rotation!

Mediterranean Orzo Salad

1 ½ c uncooked orzo

2 ½ c baby spinach, chopped

½ c sun-dried tomato julienne strips, chopped and drained

¼ c chopped red onion

3 oz marinated artichoke hearts, chopped and drained (or more if desired)

2 baby cucumbers, cut into thin slices

1 tsp salt

1 tsp pepper

½ tsp crushed red pepper

¼ c extra-virgin olive oil

¼ c fresh lemon juice

¼ c feta cheese, plus additional for topping

1 tsp herbs de Provence

Cook orzo according to package directions.  Drain, rinse with cold water.  Combine orzo, spinach, tomatoes, onion, artichoke hearts, and cucumbers in a large bowl.   Season with salt, pepper, and crushed red pepper.  Stir and then set aside.

Tip: Rinsing pasta immediately with cold water stops the cooking process and allows it to remain al dente.  If you continue to let it steam it will continue to cook.

For the feta vinaigrette, combine olive oil, lemon juice, feta cheese and herbs de Provence in a small glass bowl.  Whisk to emulsify. 

Kitchen tool: I have a salad dressing decanter that I use all of the time for homemade salad dressings.  I just pour all of the ingredients in the decanter, shake them to emulsify (instead of whisking) and then pour it directly on my salad.  The decanter has little spouts and a rubber stopper that makes it the perfect all-in-one tool.

Add about half of the vinaigrette to the orzo mixture.  Taste.  Add more dressing and salt and pepper to taste.  Top orzo salad with additional feta and stir in (optional).