Cucumber and Celery Salad with Tuna

This was the second salad I made with my daughters when we were discovering more about salad. I chose this salad because it didn't contain lettuce or greens of any kind, so we talked about how many different choices there are when it comes to making salad. We threw this together quickly, on a Sunday afternoon, right as we walked in the door from church and it was ready it just a few minutes.

My daughter measure the ingredients for the dressing and stirred it all together. She loves to chop, so she did that too.

I would have preferred that this salad contained less sugar in the dressing, but that is probably because I don't really care for sweet dressings.

We decided to serve this salad on top of some red leaf lettuce leaves from our garden. It was very good and quite refreshing.

Cucumber and Celery Salad with Tuna
Everyday Food, June 2011

2	teaspoons poppy seeds
3	Tablespoons rice vinegar
1	Tablespoon sugar
2	Tablespoons olive oil
2	cucumbers, halved lengthwise and cut into 1/4-inch moons (6 cups)
3	celery stalks, cut into 1/4-inch pieces, inner leaves reserved
2	cans (5 ounces each) solid white tuna in water, drained and flaked coarse salt and pepper

In a medium bowl, stir together poppy seeds, vinegar, sugar, and oil. Add cucumbers, celery, and tuna; season with salt and pepper. Toss well to coat. Sprinkle with celery leaves and serve immediately (or refrigerate, covered, up to 1 day).

Curried Red Lentil and Swiss Chard Stew with Garbanzo Beans & Seeded Cornmeal Biscuits

I have professed my love for red lentils before. I actually love all types of lentils, but red ones are just so delicious.
One of my good friends, who I was able to reconnect with recently, shared a great recipe with me a number of years ago and I shared it HERE. (along with another great red lentil soup)

Ever since I tried my friends soup years ago, I have been buying red lentils- at the local health food store, in the bulk section) and trying different recipes with them.
I love it when lentils are combined with dark greens and swiss chard is a definite favorite. I always use the stems and ribs of my swiss chard, because they soften up nicely and are yummy.

This Stew contains curry powder and garbanzo beans, so it is super healthy. And so tasty.
Perfect for the cold weather we are having. I know lots of places are colder than here right now, but this morning when I went to exercise it was a whopping 18 degrees! Not fun.

I found the Seeded Cornmeal Biscuits when I was searching on myrecipes.com for a hearty bread item to go along with this stew. They sounded perfect- a combination of whole wheat flour, cornmeal and lots of seeds on top. I have had great success with other biscuits on this site and knew they would be fabulous.
Once again, I like hearthy, healthy tasting breads. Some people in my family do not- mainly my hubby. He prefers Wonder Bread.
But the good news on these biscuits is that they were really popular with my kids. And they tasted good the next day and the next one after that.
I wish I had some of this leftover right now because I would eat it for breakfast.
(The recipe uses plain yogurt as a topping, I used Greek yogurt)

Recipe for Curried Red Lentil and Swiss Chard Stew with Garbanzo Beans

Recipe for Seeded Cornmeal Biscuits

Citrus Poppyseed Cake

This was another cake I made for a friend. We picked it out together while we were looking at Martha Stewart's website. I thought it looked really pretty and sounded good too.

There is a nice combination of citrus zest going on in this cake. I love zest. It smells so good and gives things so much flavor.

This triple layer cake has cream cheese frosting between the layers and then the top is covered with a lemony glaze.

My friend said the frosting was amazing, but that the cake dried out a little bit before they cut into it. So, if I was going to make this again, I think I would make a lemon/lime simple syrup and brush it over the cake layers so that they wouldn't dry out, or just be really careful to keep it covered tightly until right before you wanted to eat it.

Citrus Poppyseed Cake
Apply the glaze just before serving to ensure it's soft and shiny.
Ingredients
Makes 1 eight-inch-round layer cake.
1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature, plus more for pans
3 3/4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for pans
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 1/2 cups granulated sugar
7 large eggs, lightly beaten, room temperature
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 cup milk, room temperature
1/2 teaspoon grated lemon zest
1/2 teaspoon grated orange zest
1/2 teaspoon grated lime zest
1/3 cup poppy seeds, plus more for sprinkling
Shiny Cream Cheese Frosting
Lemon Glaze
1 navel orange, optional
1 lemon, optional
Directions
Heat oven to 350 degrees. Place two racks in center of oven. Butter three 8-by-2-inch round cake pans; line each with a circle of parchment paper. Butter paper, and dust pans with flour; tap out excess. Set aside.
Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt in a medium mixing bowl. Set aside.
In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream butter on medium-low speed until lightened, 1 to 2 minutes. Gradually add sugar; beat until color has lightened, 3 to 4 minutes, scraping down sides of bowl once or twice. Drizzle in eggs, a little at a time, beating on medium-low speed after each addition until batter is no longer slick but is smooth and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Stop to scrape down bowl once or twice so batter will combine well. Beat in vanilla on medium-low speed.
Reduce the mixer speed to low. Alternately add reserved flour mixture and milk, a little of each at a time, beginning and ending with flour mixture. Scrape down the bowl once or twice. Beat in lemon zest, orange zest, lime zest, and 1/3 cup poppy seeds.
Divide batter evenly among the prepared pans. Bake 30 minutes, then rotate pans for even browning. Bake until a cake tester inserted into center of cakes comes out clean, 5 to 10 minutes more. Transfer to wire racks to cool, 15 minutes. Turn out cakes, and set on racks, tops up. Cool completely.
Remove parchment from bottom of each layer. Save best-looking layer for the top. Place one layer on the serving platter. Spread 1 1/2 cups cream-cheese frosting over the top. Place second cake layer on top, and spread remaining 1 1/2 cups frosting over top. Place reserved layer on top. Chill cake, loosely covered with plastic wrap, 1 hour.
To serve, stir lemon glaze well, then pour onto center of top layer of cake, letting it run down the sides. Using a single-hole zester, cut long strips of zest from orange and lemon, if desired. Arrange zest in loose spirals on the top of cake, and sprinkle lightly with poppy seeds

Shiny Cream Cheese Frosting
Let this frosting chill for at least three hours before spreading. Use this to frost Citrus Poppyseed Cake or your favorite cupcakes.
Ingredients
Makes 3 cups.
12 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
3 cups confectioners' sugar
Directions
In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat cream cheese on medium-low speed until smooth, about 1 minute. Add butter, and cream until smooth, about 2 minutes. Add confectioners' sugar on low speed, and mix until completely combined.
Beat frosting on medium speed until smooth and fluffy, about 1 minute. Transfer to an airtight container, and chill until firm, 3 hours or overnight.

Lemon Glaze
Ingredients
Makes 2/3 cup.
1 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar
3 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
Directions
Place sugar in medium bowl. Gradually add lemon juice; stir with fork to combine until smooth, adding more juice if needed; mixture should be slightly thick. Glaze may be made 3 to 4 hours ahead and kept, in an airtight container, in refrigerator.

Up Next- Stacked Burrito Pie

Poppy Seed Cake with Lemon Glaze

This is another cake I made a couple of months ago for a dinner. I have actually made this cake once before and knew it was good and moist, so I figured it was a perfect candidate for giving away.
It is dense like pound cake and very lemony, but the lemon glaze keeps it moist and delicious.
Sorry this is a ridiculously short post, but I had this in my hanging out in my drafts and figured this week would be the perfect time to share it. Enjoy!

Poppy Seed Cake with Lemon Glaze (from Better Homes and Gardens)
Ingredients
3/4 cup butter
4 eggs
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1-1/2 cups granulated sugar
1/4 cup poppy seeds (about 1 oz.)
1 8-oz. carton dairy sour cream
1 recipe Lemon Glaze*
Directions
1. Let butter and eggs stand 30 minutes. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour 10-inch fluted tube pan; set aside.
2. In medium bowl combine flour, baking soda, and salt; set aside. In large mixing bowl beat butter on medium 30 seconds. Gradually beat in sugar. Beat in eggs and poppy seeds. Alternately add flour mixture and sour cream to butter mixture; beat on low after each addition just until combined. Spread evenly in prepared pan.
3. Bake 40-45 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted near center comes out clean. Cool in pan on rack 10 minutes. Meanwhile, prepare Lemon Glaze. Remove and invert cake on rack; poke all over with fork tines. Brush glaze over cake. Serve immediately or cover and refrigerate. Makes 16 servings.
4. *Lemon Glaze: In small saucepan heat 1/4 cup sugar, 1/4 cup lemon juice, and 2 Tbsp. butter over medium-low heat until butter is melted and sugar is dissolved.
Makes 16 servings.


Coming Tomorrow- Thai Risotto

Vegan Tuesday-Red Lentil-Cauliflower Curry with Poppy Seed-Cornmeal Roti

One of my favorite blogs is Pink Stripes. Wendy bakes up the most wonderful treats and makes the most delicious looking food. She started doing Vegan Tuesdays awhile ago and I actually bought the cookbook- Veganomicon, because of all the wonderful looking recipes that Wendy was making from it. I tried a recipe from this cookbook a couple months ago-Butternut Squash & Pumpkin Seed Rice Paper Rolls, and really liked it.
My brother in-law was coming to town for an overnight visit and I wanted to make something amazing for dinner. I have raved and raved about red lentils and I had some in the pantry, so I grabbed Veganomicon and looked up a recipe that had red lentils in it. I chose the Red Lentil-Cauliflower Curry. The recipe suggested pairing the curry with Poppy Seed-Cornmeal Roti, which is a unleavened flatbread, and I thought that sounded like the perfect accompaniment. I actually picked up some Whole Wheat Pastry Flour the last time I went to Whole Foods and used that in the roti, since it was suggested as a way to make it a little bit more tender. Since we were having red lentils anyway, I decided to start the whole meal off with Garlicky Red Lentil Dal. (In case you missed the post about that dip, it really is the best tasting dip I have ever had.) We used the Roti to eat the dip and also ate it along with this wonderfully tasting curry.
It was a great dinner and everyone loved it. Eating vegan is more delicious than I ever would have imagined. Not that I am going to be doing it every day, but I think I can handle it once a week. To see what Wendy made for this week's Vegan Tuesday, check out her blog- Pink Stripes and while you are at it, stop by Veggie Num Nums, because Michele has joined in the fun too.

Red Lentil-Cauliflower Curry
Poppy Seed-Cornmeal Roti



Up Next- Caribbean Pork Tacos with Pineapple Salsa