Spring Salad
This is what Spring tastes like.
Ingredients:
3/4 cup pecans
2 T sugar
8 cups baby greens or spring mix lettuces
4 large or 8 medium strawberries, cut into bite-sized pieces
2 mandarin or clementine oranges, peeled, cut in half
horizontally, and sectioned (you should have half-sections when you're done)
A small handful of Craisins
2 T herbed chevre (goat cheese), crumbled
Leftover grilled or Rotisserie Chicken (optional)
Lay out a sheet of parchment or wax paper. In a small nonstick skillet melt the sugar
over medium-low heat. For a few minutes
it will look like it's not doing anything, then all the sudden it will turn
liquid, and then will start to brown.
Just as it's become liquid but before it's brown, toss the pecans into
the melted sugar. Using a spatula, stir
until the pecans are coated in the brown carmelly sugar. Pour out onto the wax or parchment paper and
let cool for about 15 minutes (you can put it in the fridge to speed it up).
Meanwhile, toss the greens in a serving bowl. Add the strawberries, oranges, chicken (if
using), craisins, and chevre. Break up
the cooled caramelized pecans and sprinkle on top. Serve with poppy seed dressing.
Serves 4 as a dinner salad, 6-8 as a side salad.
Summer Chickpea Salad
Recipe by Jamie Oliver
I love this salad.
It's so different from an average salad (read: no lettuce!), and is
light and flavorful and perfect for a summer day. Or a day where you're wishing it felt like
summer! The addition of fresh herbs is
not completely mandatory, but it really does make a difference in the flavor,
and appearance, of the salad, so I highly recommend using the real (fresh)
thing.
Ingredients:
1 small red onion, peeled, halved, and thinly sliced
1 jalapeno or other chili pepper, deseeded and thinly sliced
1 large tomato, roughly chopped
1 lemon, juiced
Extra virgin olive oil
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 14-oz jar of chickpeas, drained
1 T fresh mint, chopped
2 T fresh basil, finely ripped or cut
7 oz feta or goat cheese (chevre)
In a large bowl combine red onion, jalapeno, and
tomatoes. Measure the lemon juice, then
add it to the bowl. Add three times as much olive oil as you had lemon
juice. Season with salt and pepper to
taste. Add in most of the chickpeas,
reserving about 10 percent. Mash up the
10 percent, then add them to the bowl as well.
Stir everything together, and you can let it sit in the bowl at room
temperature for awhile if you'd like.
Just before serving, add in the mint and basil, then top
with the cheese. Serve at room
temperature.
Makes 6 side dish servings.
Tandoori Chicken
This is my mother-in-law's recipes. She serves this often when we have big
summertime gatherings with the whole family.
It's easy to multiply if you're serving a big crowd, and can be prepared
the night before to save time. You can
also adjust the amount of hot pepper if you prefer it less spicy (I generally
use 1/4 tsp instead of the given 1/2 tsp).
We like to serve this with rice, Cucumber and Vinegar Salad and MangoChutney. Delicious!
Ingredients:
2-3 chicken breasts, cut into 1/2" strips
1/2 tsp hot chili powder, such as Cayenne or Chipotle (you
can use less to make it not so spicy)
1 tsp salt
2 T fresh lemon juice
4 T melted butter
3 T plain yogurt
1 T chopped raisins
2 inches ginger root, peeled and grated (or finely chopped)
1/2 tsp ground cumin
2 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp red food coloring (optional)
Combine all ingredients in a Ziploc bag and shake well. Let marinate in refrigerator for at least 2
hours, or up to overnight. Thread meat
onto skewers if desired, and grill over medium-high heat for 9-12 minutes,
turning every three minutes, or until cooked through.
Makes 6 servings.
Shared by Holly.
