Sunday's Salad/Ancient Grain Power Salad

It has been an interesting week, and I have missed checking in with you :(

You'll never guess what I will be doing bright and early tomorrow morning...I'm taking a hot air balloon ride!!!!!! I'm so excited :)))) 
Since this is the summer of the bucket list, the opportunity came up and I decided not to let it pass me by. I will take lots and lots of pictures, and share them on Tuesday.   

I was once asked what my favorite meal of the day is. Hands down, my favorite meal is lunch. When I was in school, I always ate breakfast before leaving home, but by 10:30 in the morning, my stomach would start to growl. Lunch could not come soon enough. Sometimes I was lucky enough to have a thermos of hot soup and a piece of cornbread in my lunchbox. That first bite was always just the best! All these years later, I still begin to get hungry around 10:30 in the morning, and the first bite of my lunch is still...just the best!

Along with soup, I love sandwiches and salads. At some point, I'll share some of my sandwich concoctions. They're pretty good if I say so myself ;) But today, I want to share a wonderful salad I made this past week. The grain is quinoa, love quinoa! The other ingredients consist of garbanzo beans, feta cheese, radishes, and arugula.   

Here's what really makes it special, the dressing. Fresh lemon juice is mixed with olive oil, oregano, and chopped kalamata olives. All of the ingredients are blended resulting in a lovely, earthy red dressing.

I placed a big scoop of the quinoa mixture on a bed of mixed greens.

Then drizzled the dressing over the salad. Delicious!!!

The quinoa salad mixture will last for a few days in the refrigerator, so great for repeated lunches.

Ancient Grain Power Salad
downloadable recipe

Ingredients

For the salad;
2 cups cooked quinoa
1 1/2 cups canned garbanzo beans rinsed
1 cup slightly chopped arugala
1/2 cup chopped red radishes
1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese
Mixed greens of your choice for serving

For the salad dressing;
6 tablespoons fresh squeezed lemon juice
6 tablespoons olive oil
6 tablespoons chopped kalamata olives(pits removed of course)
2 teaspoons dried oregano
salt and black pepper to taste

For the salad;
Cook quinoa according to package directions. Allow to cool. Add the remainder of the ingredients, except for the mixed greens. Mix well and set aside.

For the salad dressing;
Place all ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth. Adjust salt a black pepper to taste. 

To serve;
Place mixed greens on a plate. Place a large scoop of the quinoa mixture in the middle of the greens. Drizzle dressing over the quinoa and greens. Serve and enjoy! 

 The salad dressing will keep for at least a week in the refrigerator, so it can be enjoyed on other salads of your choice.

Wishing you many happy lunches!

Rhonda

Sunday's Salad/Goddess of Greens Salad, and a Refreshing Drink

Having a 'coke' was a treat when I was growing up, not something we drank on a daily basis. My fondest memories of drinking a soft drink were after our weekly afternoon of swimming. We were treated to the soft drink of our choice, and a bag of chips. I feel like a stone-age leftover saying this, but when I was growing up, chips did not come in the humongous bags that they do now. What we ate would be considered a very small bag by today's standards. But, after an afternoon of swimming, a soft drink and a bag of chips was such a treat. 

Truth be told, I still enjoy a soft drink from time to time. Yes, I know all about the bad things in a soft drink. I feel this way, everything in moderation. But, my go to drink in the summer time is a refreshing drink made with hibiscus tea. The natural red color of the blossoms is so inviting. 

I really like Mighty Leaf teas, and order the teas I drink directly from the company. You can find their site HERE. Sign up for emails as they have some wonderful specials, like putting their teas on sale for half off.

I brew the tea in a pitcher, usually 6 tea bags. I allow the tea to brew for at least 30 minutes. Once brewed, remove the teabags and allow the tea to cool. Once cooled, I add 1 orange sliced, 1 lemon sliced, and about 2" of fresh peeled and sliced ginger. Store in the refrigerator overnight to allow the juice to infuse the tea. If you would like to sweeten the tea, add stevia to taste. 
Serve in a pretty glass. Garnish with a slice of orange,and enjoy. If you would like some bubbles, add club soda, or sparkling water. For parties, mix the tea with some Prosecco for a refreshing cocktail. 

I can go through an entire pitcher during the course of the day, and to be honest, the thought of a soft drink never crosses my mind. So if you would like to try and cut down on your soft drink consumption, give my Hibiscus Tea recipe a try. I think you'll love it!    

I have been planning to share this salad with you for the last few weeks. If I say so myself, it is OMG good!

We'll begin with the salad dressing;

Begin by roasting 2 poblano peppers. It can be done in the oven with the broiler, or outside on a grill. Roast until blackened. Once roasted, place the peppers in a plastic bag for 15 minutes to steam. Remove and pull off the blackened skin, and seeds.    

Place the skinned peppers in a blender along with 1/2 an avocado, 1 clove of garlic, 1 egg yolk, Dijon mustard, buttermilk, lemon juice, salt, black pepper, and olive oil.  Blend to form a green cloud of deliciousness. 
    

Chop or tear up 4 cups of kale and place in a salad bowl. Top the kale with 4 sliced radishes, 1/2 cup of cooked red quinoa, and 1/2 cup of pumpkin seeds. This can be done ahead of time and kept in the refrigerator for a few hours until ready to serve.

 

 Pour 1/3 of the salad dressing over the salad, and mix well. Top the salad with 1/2 cup of crumbled feta cheese, and mix into the salad.
  

Serve the salad with extra dressing on the side. Believe me, it's so good, you'll want to add a little more. A friend of mine said that she could eat the dressing like soup!
  

Since kale holds up in the refrigerator, the leftovers are wonderful the following day for lunch. 

Goddess of Greens Salad
printable recipe

dressing;
2 Poblano peppers
1 egg yolk
1/2 avocado
1 clove garlic
1 1/2 teaspoons Dijon Mustard
1/3 to 1/2 cup buttermilk
3 teaspoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 1/2 cups olive oil

Roast poblano peppers in the broiler or on the grill until skin is blackened, about 10 minutes. Place in plastic bag and allow to steam for 15 minutes. Remove from bag, remove blackened skin and seeds. Place in blender along with egg yolk, garlic, mustard, buttermilk, lemon juice, salt, and black pepper. Blend. While blender is running, slowly pour in the olive oil. If a thinner consistency is desired, add more buttermilk. 

Salad;
4 cups kale chopped or torn
4  red radishes sliced
1/2 cup cooked red quinoa
1/2 cup pumpkin seeds
1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese

Place kale, radishes, red quinoa, and pumpkin seeds in a large salad bowl. Pour 1/3rd of the dressing over the salad, and toss well to mix. Top with the feta cheese, toss once again, and serve. 

The leftover dressing will last refrigerated for at least 3 days. It's good as a dip for carrot and celery sticks, too! 

Enjoy!

Rhonda

Sunday's Soup/Greens at Their Best!

My first experience with a radish was when I was about 3 years old. I was hungry, and had been told that I had to wait until lunch for something to eat. Well, being the industrious child that I was, I thought that I would just go out to the garden and pick a carrot. Now, I have always loved carrots, at least raw carrots. Although, it wasn't until I was in my early twenties that I really began to love cooked carrots. So, I went bouncing out to the garden and made my way to a row of what I thought were carrots. I remembered that the seed packet had a picture of "white carrots," maybe just a different variety??? Well, how surprised was I when I bit into that so called white carrot and got the shock of my short life when it burned my mouth! I threw that awful "carrot" on the ground and went running into the house in search of a drink of water. My father found the "carrot" with one bite taken out of it laying on the ground. He came in holding it in his had and asked if I had pulled it up and taken just one bite. I admitted that I had, but that it was sooo hot. I found out that it wasn't a carrot, but a white radish. Well yuk!, and thought, "I will never eat another radish as long as I live." Amazingly, I now love radishes, even the white ones ;)  

I especially love getting the huge winter radishes.

My favorite breakfast is a piece of great seeded bread, a slice of good cheese, sliced radishes, topped with sliced avocado with a sprinkle of herbs, salt, pepper, and finally a sprinkle of olive oil. YUM!!! I eat this for lunch, too! 

A while back, I shared a recipe for a Rustic Radish Soup. I had purchased a bunch of radishes from the farmer's market and I just couldn't bear the thought of throwing out the greens. What a lovely soup. Over the winter, with all the radishes I purchased, I decided to look around for another recipe and I discovered a delightful food blog, Taste of Beirut. I love Middle Eastern food, so when I saw her recipe for Peas and Radish Greens Soup, I thought it would be worth a try, and I am so very happy that I did.

What makes the soup special are the spices, cumin and turmeric. Along with the radish greens, and peas, there are 2 potatoes along with onions and garlic. So it's a very simple recipe. The author included 2 cups of yogurt. I did not add the yogurt. So it adapts well to a vegan version of the soup. A beautiful, green, satisfying, aromatic soup.

Just a quick note about my bowl. I loved hammered aluminum serving pieces. I found this piece some time ago. It has a glass insert, and the lid is so special. Take note of the pea pod handle. Sadly, I only have one :( 

In the end, I am happy that no one holds me to the declarations I made as a child. Little did I know when I was 3 that I would one day grow to love a radish!

Enjoy :)

Rhonda

Sunday's Salad/Mediterranean Summer Salad

I haven't posted a recipe in quite a while, but this one, at least in my opinion :), is well worth the wait. I originally made the salad during the winter, but for lack of a better name, I'm calling it a Mediterranean Summer Salad. It's light, and yet hearty enough for a main entree when you would like a lighter meal. For those of you who are vegan, it's perfect as it's full of protein.

Easy, easy to put together, just begin with mixed greens, about 3 cups. I like to tear them up a bit before I add the rest of the ingredients.

Top with 1/2 cup of cooked and cooled quinoa.

Next, 4 large, or 6 small radishes thinly sliced.

Chop 1/2 of a fennel bulb. The spicy aspect of the radishes mixes perfectly with the slightly sweet taste of the fennel.

Now add 1/4 cup of toasted and cooled chopped walnuts. If you are in a hurry, delete the toasting, but if you have time, the toasting of the walnuts adds a nice flavor. 

Chop 1 small avocado.
 

Toss the salad and set aside.

The dressing is so, so good. By all means, don't skip this step!
You'll need;
1/3 cup tahini (sesame seed paste)
1/3 cup of good olive oil
1 clove of garlic smashed and finely chopped
juice of 3 fresh lemons
Sea salt and black pepper to taste
Mix well. 

Dish up the salad, be sure to dig to the bottom as the good bits always fall to the bottom of the bowl. Drizzle the salad dressing over, dig in and enjoy! A warning, the dressing is so good that you'll want to eat it right out of the bowl!!!

The salad will make 2 large entree servings, or 4 side servings. Just increase ingredients for a larger crowd.
 

Mediterranean Summer Salad

Yield: 2 Entrée servings, or 4 side servings

Ingredients:

3 cups of mixed greens

¼ cup cooked and cooled quinoa

4 large, or 6 small sliced radishes

½ bulb fennel chopped

¼ cup chopped and toasted walnuts

1 small avocado chopped

Salad Dressing

1/3 cup tahini (sesame seed paste)

1/3 cup olive oil

1 clove garlic smashed and finely chopped

Juice of 3 lemons

Sea Salt and Black Pepper to taste

Directions

Mix all salad ingredients.

Stir to combine salad dressing ingredients.

To serve, drizzle salad dressing over salad and enjoy! 

Sunday's Soup/Rustic Potato with Radish Greens

Don't worry, this isn't turning into a food or cooking blog.

This last week I was asked to put a couple of my art pieces in an exhibit. As much as I would like to participate, my answer was, "I'm sorry, but if I add one more thing to my plate, I think I will lose my mind." It has been a difficult summer, with one thing after another going wrong. And on top of it all, we have had house guests, which I truly enjoy, but, I'm tired. With two guests in the house this past week, I decided to just take a break and not visit the blog. 

Although I may take a break, I still eat, and I still cook, and I still enjoy sharing some of my wonderful finds with you!

Last week I told you how I just couldn't throw away the lovely greens from the carrots that I purchased at the farmer's market. Well, this week it was the greens from the radishes that I purchased. I thought that if the greens from the carrots could make such a lovely pesto, what could I do with the radish greens?

Well, they are wonderful in soup! The original recipe is called Rustic Radish Soup. It's actually a potato soup with radish greens, so I took the liberty of changing the name :) 

To make the soup, you begin with leeks and a purple onion that you chop and then saute in butter. For a vegan version, just use olive oil.

The recipe says that you may either skin the potatoes, or leave the skin on. I left the skin on the potatoes just to add to the nutrients in the soup. 

Once the leeks and onions have softened, the potatoes are added along with water. The recipe also calls for the addition of an anchovy. Again, for a vegan version, just leave it out. I love anchovies, so I added it and all it does is enhance the soup. 

The mixture is then boiled until the potatoes are tender. At that point, add the radish greens along with some chopped parsley and allow to cook for another 5 minutes. Puree the mixture and then add 3/4 cup of chopped radishes.  

Allow the radishes to sit in the hot soup for a few minutes before serving. They will become tender and will also mellow a bit. 

The final addition to the soup is cream. I saw no need for the cream and deleted it from my soup. So as you can see, the soup is very adaptable to a vegan version.

In case you missed it, you can find the original recipe HERE. I think that if you decide to give the recipe a try, you'll truly enjoy the mellow, yet robust taste of the soup. This soup is perfect for a cold winter evening, but I'm one of those crazy people who eats soup all year long, even on the hottest days! 

Enjoy!
Rhonda