Category Archives: salad

Celery Root, Apple Cilantro Salad

04 Monday Feb 2013

Posted by in appetizer, dressing, salad, seasonal, Side dish

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DSCN2593 Food:

Celery Root, Apple Cilantro Salad– serves 4

Salad:

1 medium celery root- peeled, sliced and julienned

2 medium apples- cored, sliced and julienned (I used 1 granny smith and 1 red variety I got at the farmers market)

1/2 c. fresh arugula

1 c. cilantro leaves- whole leaves torn off stem and lightly packed

1/2 c. pistachios- lightly toasted in a dry saute pan over med-low heat

1/2 c. tart dried cherries- chopped (you can find these in the bulk section of the grocery store, mine are from the farmers market)

juice of one lemon

Dressing:

1/4 c. yogurt (I used Drake Family Farms Goat Yogurt)

zest of 1 lemon, juice of half the lemon

1 T. olive oil

1 T. maple syrup

1 inch ginger- peeled and grated

salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1. After you have prepped the celery root and apple, place then in a bowl and squeeze the juice of one lemon over the juilenned pieces. Toss lightly with your hands.

2. Next add in the arugula and cilantro leaves, toss lightly.

3. In a small bowl combine the dressing ingredients, season with salt and pepper to taste.

4. Divide the salad mixture between 4 plates, drizzle the dressing over the salad and top with the pistachios and tart dried cherries. EAT IMMEDIATELY! ENJOY!

*This salad is best eaten fresh, it will last up to one day in the fridge BUT do not top the salad ingredients with the dressing or nuts and cherries until ready to eat.

DSCN2595

DSCN2587Nutrition:

Celery root: Celery root has a number of vitamins and minerals, most notably vitamin C, potassium and phosphorus. Can be used in mashed potatoes, stews and pairs well with meat.

Pistachios: Pistachios are good for heart health, diabetes, healthy blood, nervous system, eye health, the immune system and skin health. Great raw or slightly toasted.

Cilantro: Helps to eliminate the heavy metal build up of mercury and lead from the bones and the tissues in the body. Cilantro contains, folates, vitamin B-6, vitamin C, A, K and loads of iron and manganese.

Love:

One of the reasons I love living in Utah is the change of seasons and all the possibilities of food exploration that it brings with each changing month. I love warm savory dishes in the winter, but this last week I have been craving lighter fresher flavors, probably because we have been bogged down with loads of smog and snow. All of us are longing for our backyards and deck hang outs, but for now we will have to settle for Super Bowls parties and hopefully some cuddling for Valentine’s Day (I have a love filled recipe coming up next week, stay tuned!). In the meantime we can start by enjoying this refreshing, light and crunchy salad that is a vacation in your mouth. Especially after the Super Bowl junk food you might just need this salad to get you back on track. Celery root is a fun seasonal veggie and thank goodness for something fresh during this time of year, it may make you long for summer with its light bright flavor, but hopefully if you are like me it will remind you that those backyards and decks are closer than we think.

Summer Sides- Potato Zucchini Bake & Raw Corn Salad

30 Monday Jul 2012

Posted by in salad, seasonal, Side dish

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Food:

Potato Zucchini Bake 6-9 servings

2 c. cubed red potatoes (farmers market)

2 c. cubed zucchini (farmers market)

4 small shallots, chopped (Big Papa’s garden)

1/4- 1/2 c. chopped parsley (my garden)

1/4-1/2 c. chopped mint (farmers market)

6 oz Aggiano Beehive Cheese, cubed (farmers market)

salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 365 degrees. In a large bowl mix the potatoes, zucchini, shallots, cheese, mint and parsley. Season liberally with salt and pepper. Toss again.

2. Pour the mixture into your favorite medium size baking dish. Press the mixture into the dish to even it out and compact it just a bit.

3. Bake for 45 minutes or until the top is slightly brown and the cheese is super melty. Cool just a minute and serve warm.

Raw Corn Salad serves 6

6 ears of raw corn, cut the kernels from the cob (farmers market)

1- 1 1/2 c. cherry tomatoes, halved (my garden)

1 cucumber, peeled, seeds removed and diced (farmers market)

1-2 garlic cloves, minced (farmers market)

1/4 c. chopped basil (my garden)

2 T. Slide Ridge Honey Vinegar

1 T. olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

1. Place the raw corn kernels, tomatoes, cucumber, garlic and chopped basil in a bowl. Toss lightly.

2. In a separate bowl mix together the vinegar and olive oil. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

3. Drizzle the vinegar/olive oil mixture over the corn mixture and toss lightly. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour and serve chilled.

Love:

Pictured above is the two summer sides and McDowell Family Farm grilled chicken. Does summer get any better than this? I don’t think so. We also had a High West Vodka Lemonade- yum! Summer is all about fresh local ingredients and these side dishes are full of just that. The Raw Corn Salad is fresh and sweet, the Potato Zucchini Bake is full flavored and comforting, perfect with grilled chicken. I hope one of these dishes shows up at your next get together.

The ‘Big’ Salad

14 Monday May 2012

Posted by in beans, dressing, salad, seasonal

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Food:

The Big Salad

Spinach, chopped (in season)

Arugula

Roasted Chickpeas (2c. fresh cooked, or canned chickpeas, toss with 2 tsp. olive oil 1/2 tsp. salt- bake 400 degrees for 30-45 min.)

Beets, roasted or raw and diced (in season)

Asparagus, roasted and chopped (in season)

Peas, steamed (in season)

Parsley, chopped

Clifford Farms Bacon, chopped (local, I bake mine @375 for 15 minutes)

Avocado, diced

Goat cheese, crumbled (local)

1. Toss lightly all of the ingredients into a BIG bowl. Season with a squeeze of lemon, salt and pepper.

2. Dress with your favorite salad dressing. Here are two you might try,

Hummus Dressing or Tomato Vinaigrette

Nutrition:

Spinach, beets, asparagus and peas are all in season right now. When the Downtown Farmers Market opens June 9 these will be some of the first seasons picks. Local, seasonal produce is the best bang for your bite. Take advantage and make this salad!

Love:

When I was a kid I would spent hours in the kitchen making these very elaborate salads with iceberg lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, radishes and anything else I could get my hands on. Plus, I would make my then signature dressing of oil, vinegar, lemon salt and pepper. I loved those salads! They are what sustained my childhood. Now days I still love salads but I think my taste buds have grown up a bit, no more iceberg!  Last week when I was at a loss on what to make for dinner I thought ‘why not a BIG salad?’ and Viola! dinner was done. We enjoyed these all week, the color of the beets, peas and asparagus, the crunch from the crispy chickpeas and the creamy tart flavor of the goat cheese took our senses to a whole other level. With the weather warming up this was the perfect meal to enjoy outside in the backyard, and the bonus is that I prepped all the ingredients at the beginning of the week so they were ready to go each night. I hope this inspires you to make your own BIG salad, ENJOY!

An Oldie But A Goodie- Beet, Spinach and Quinoa Salad

11 Sunday Mar 2012

Posted by in dressing, quinoa, salad, seasonal, Uncategorized

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Food:

Beet, Spinach and Quinoa Salad

*Update: This time I made my own homemade goat milk ricotta cheese to go on top.

Nutrition:

Beets: Beetroots are a great source of fiber, manganese and potassium. Beetroots have been shown to help disorders of the liver, mainly for their stimulating effects on the liver’s detoxification process. The pigment that gives beets their rich, purple-crimson color, betacyanin, is a powerful cancer-fighting agent.

Love:

This is one of mine and Billy’s favorite salads to have for lunch. Beets and spinach are spring veggies and since SLC is going to be feeling like spring this week I thought it was the perfect time to make this salad again. Enjoy!

P.S. Pictured below is the Tomato Vinaigrette that I make to go with this salad. This dressing is shaken not stirred.

Shaken not stirred

What’s Cookin’

26 Sunday Feb 2012

Posted by in beans, breakfast, DIY, quinoa, salad, seasonal, Side dish, vegan

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Love:

You know what I love about blogging? Other blogs! Do you ever wish you could live in someone elses kitchen? Well, I do. That’s what I get from other blogs, they do the work and I look fabulous. My hope is that I do that for all of you.

So have fun seeing what I have been busy in the kitchen whipping up, and thanks for the other blogs I follow for inspiring me to get in the kitchen keep cookin’.

Food:

Lentil Meatballs

 I found this fun recipe on Pinterest, which lead me to this great new blog Sprouted Kitchen. These Lentil Meatballs were easy to whip up, and there was also a recipe for a Lemon Pesto to go with them (I switched parsley for basil and walnuts for pine nuts). Billy loved these. They were what was for lunch last week.

Quinoa Spinach Bake

 I thought I had a pic of the finished project, sorry. I found this great recipe on Whole Living. I love all things quinoa, it is so versatile. I thought this Quinoa Spinach Bake would be great with the Lentil Meatballs and I was right. I chopped up some fresh spinach, tossed in the Lentil Meatballs, topped it with the Quinoa Bake and finished it off with the Lemon Pesto. Voila! Lunch was fantastic.

Banana Walnut Pancakes (I call them love pancakes)

 Raw Slaw w/Tahani Dressing

Homemade Goat Milk Ricotta

Raw Cashew Dreamcake

All four of these recipes came from the same blog, My New Roots! I know, I know a little obsessed, but I don’t care. The creator of this blog is into Holistic eating, living, being, cooking just like me! I have to say that I hope my food is as awesome to y’all as hers is to me.

The Pancakes are vegan, gluten-free and are made with walnut flour. We have made them two weeks in row-yum! New favorite.

The Raw Slaw is great for this time of year, all the ingredients are seasonal (bonus). We had it last Monday for Soup and Salad Night. I strive to have a balance between raw and cooked foods in my diet and this salad is perfect for that. Not to mention that it is fabulous to look at!

Homemade Goat Milk Ricotta was too easy to make and went perfect with my Roasted Bell Pepper Tempanade for Oscar night on the couch. This recipe will definitely make another appearance in my kitchen, so good. I made my own cheese!!! Bonus: I got to use local Drake Family Farms Goat Milk.

Raw Cashew Dreamcake, you had me at hello. A raw dessert that taste like cheesecake? Sorry people this one is a no brainer, and the bonus is that I got to use honey from my buddy Dean’s bees and local raspberries that I had in the freezer.

Thanks for the blog love. Enjoy!

Hummus Dressing

18 Saturday Feb 2012

Posted by in dips, DIY, dressing, salad, vegan

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Food:

Hummus Dressing- makes 1 1/4c.

2 scallions (green onions), chopped white and greens

1 garlic clove, chopped

1 lemon, zest and juice

1/4c. parsley, chopped

1/4c. tahini (I use Artisana Raw Tahini)

1/2c. canola oil or olive oil (I used a combo of both)

1 tsp. cumin

1/8 tsp. cayenne pepper

1/4 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. garlic salt

1/4 tsp. onion powder

1/4c. water

Directions:

1. Place the scallions, garlic, parsley, lemon juice and zest in the food processor, pulse to combine. Next add tahini, cumin, cayenne, salt, garlic salt and onion powder to the pulsed mixture and pulse again to combine.

2. With the motor running add the oil until combined. Turn off, scrape down sides. With the motor running again add the water. If you think you need more, add it until you get the desired consistency.

3. Taste for seasoning and then store in a container and refrigerate.

Nutrition:

Tahini- Tahini is a ground sesame seed paste, similar to peanut butter. It is a creamy, oily, and smooth nut butter rich in calcium and iron.

Lemon- Lemons are a good source of vitamin C, B6, potassium, folic acid, flavonoids and the important  phytochemical limonene.

Parsley- Extremely rich in a number of nutrients including chlorophyll and carotenes. Parsley is a good source of vitamin C, folic acid and iron. It is also a good source of minerals including magnesium, calcium, potassium and zinc.

Olive oil- Healthy oils are important in the prevention and treatment of asthma, arthritis and cancer. Healthy oils are important for lowering systemic inflammation. Research has shown that women who regularly ingest olive oil have a smaller risk of breast cancer.

Love:

Lately I have been getting request from friends like, “can you develop an app for my phone of your blog, so that I can just click on it and it tell me what to make for dinner.” Maybe someday! Or “hey can you break down the nutrition stats for each recipe, example fats, carbs, protein, etc?” I wish! That takes more time than you think. But the other day I got a request that I thought was doable, my client Cindy is in love with this ‘hummus dressing’ from Trader Joe’s. Well, we don’t have a Trader Joe’s so she asked me if I could work on a recipe for her craving. I did just that, VOILA! Hummus Dressing. I think this will work just fine, just before I got started on the recipe I sent my friend Sadie in California a text that read “if you go to Trader Joe’s today can you look for ‘hummus dressing’ and take a picture of the ingredient label for me? Thanks.” My under cover mission worked and guess what? My version was much healthier and I was happy to finally meet one of these request.

Broccoli-Cheddar Soup on the Food Network- Soup and Salad Night

29 Saturday Oct 2011

Posted by in salad, soup

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Broccoli-Cheddar Soup on the Food Network

I posted the link above for the soup, there is only two things that I did different and here they are…
1. I used 4 c. veggie broth (in their recipe they use 2 c. chicken stock and 2 c. of half and half)
2. I sauteed some bacon in the soup pot before I started making the soup. I scooped out the cooked bacon and about 2 T. of the bacon oil for my salad dressing. I left the rest of the bacon oil to saute the vegetables for the soup.

-Bacon Avocado Salad- Makes 2 servings

1 head of butter lettuce, torn into pieces and rinsed and spun in a salad spinner
1 avocado, diced
4 strips of sauteed crispy bacon, chopped
2 T. reserved bacon oil
2 T. red wine vinegar
2 T. veganaise or regular mayo
salt and pepper

1. Start with the dressing, whisk red wine vinegar into the reserved bacon oil, next add the veganaise and whisk again. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
2. Place the torn clean lettuce into a large mixing bowl, pour over half of the dressing and toss lightly.
3. Plate your greens and top with diced avocado and chopped crispy bacon, drizzle the rest of the dressing over the two salads.

Tart Dried Cherry Quinoa Salad w/ Walnuts, Parsley and Olive Oil

29 Saturday Oct 2011

Posted by in appetizer, quinoa, salad, vegan

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I love this dish! It was a perfect side dish for lunch with my Market Squash Soup (recipe on the blog). Delish! Easy, healthy and totally gourmet. You can mix in different dried fruits and nuts to suit your taste. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

2 c. cooked, cooled quinoa (quinoa is a great source of protein and it’s gluten free, a major staple in the Cosmo Hippie Chef kitchen)
1/2 c. tart dried cherries, chopped (I got mine at the Farmers Market, but you can find them in the bulk section at the grocery store)
1/2 c. fresh parsley, chopped
1/2 c. walnuts, chopped
2 T. olive oil
salt and pepper

Directions:

1. Cook quinoa according to the directions (Simple: Boil 2 c. water and a pinch of salt, when boiling add 1 c. quinoa, rinsed, to the boiling water. Bring to boil and then turn heat to medium and simmer for 15 minutes until all the water is absorbed.) Let cook completely.
2. Scoop cooled quinoa in a large mixing bowl, add all the rest of the ingredients- tart dried cherries, parsley, walnuts, olive oil and salt and pepper (salt and pepper to taste). Mix all together. Taste to check salt and pepper.
3. Let chill in the fridge for a least one hour for flavors to mell together. Serve as a side dish, snack or for lunch.

-A drizzle of Sesame Oil just before you eat puts this dish over the top. (Thanks Brenna for the idea)

Lentil Salad- It’s What’s For Lunch

15 Wednesday Jun 2011

Posted by in beans, salad

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I needed something fast to make for lunches this week. This Lentil Salad fit the bill, it’s fresh, fast and taste like summer. Feel free to use any vegetables that you like, you can also swap out the herbs if you prefer to use different ones. Enjoy!

-Lentil Salad-

For the lentils:
2 c. lentils soaked in water overnight

1. Drain and rinse the lentils, place in a large pot and add 3 c. of water for every cup of lentils. (6c. total).
2. Bring to a boil, add a pinch of salt (and a piece of Kombu-optional), skim the foam of the top of the lentils. Place a lid on the pot turn down the heat to medium or medium low and simmer for 30 minutes.
3. After 30 minutes take lid of pot and pull out a few of the lentils and smash between your fingers, if they mash easily they are ready. If not cook a little longer.
4. Drain the lentils into a colander in the sink, and gently rinse the lentils under cold water. Set aside while you chop the rest of the ingredients.

Mix ins-

2 sweet potatoes, peeled and diced- use raw
1/2 c. – 3/4 c. diced celery
1 large cucumber, peeled and diced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 onion, chopped
1/4 c. olive oil
1/4 c. apple cider vinegar
fresh parsley, as much as you like
fresh basil, same as above
fresh mint
salt and pepper

1. Scoop the lentils from the colander to a big bowl, add all the mix-ins and toss lightly. Mix well. Taste for salt and pepper- add more if needed.
2. Divide into containers for lunches.

Dressing- I put this in it’s own container on the side for each serving

2 tsp. olive oil
2 tsp. apple cider vinegar
2 tsp. favorite dressing of choice (I used leftover House Dressing from Tony Caputo’s)