I tried to come up with a snappy name for this post, but this salad has so many ingredients that it was difficult to decide which deserved to be front and centre. Since the dressing is made with peanut butter and ginger, these flavours are in every bite. And quinoa, well, I can’t hide the fact that we have been eating quite a bit of this grain, as you can see from previous posts.
I hope that everyone had a great Mother’s Day weekend. Jamie and I travelled back to Hamilton so that we could spend time with our families. Normally Mother’s Day is a lovely spring day, with the sun shining and flowers blooming, but yesterday was exactly the opposite. We had rain, freezing rain, snow and a few glimpses of sunshine. Not the ideal day to host a family BBQ in Mom’s honour.
I really want to force the warm weather to be here to stay. When Jamie and I moved last December, we moved downtown. We are so close to bike paths and walking trails that weave in and around Parliament Hill and Gatineau, but the weather really has to improve for us to do more exploring. As part of my defiance of the still too cool weather, I have been making a lot more warm weather foods. This mango salsa is a summer treat that goes well on its own or as a delicious topping for a turkey burger.
With spring finally here I want to dive into salads. There is something about the warm weather that makes us want to eat cold, crisp foods. Last year I used fennel for the first time in a fennel, apple and chicken salad. Fennel wasn’t the star of that salad; it was more of a complimentary character. So, since a year has passed, I figured it was time I gave fennel a staring role in one of our meals. Since I enjoyed the combination of fennel and apple so much before, I searched out a recipe with those two ingredients. Here is the result of that search.
Jamie and I actually went searching for fennel recipes at different times, but we both thought this one would be the perfect starting point. It is nice to think that we are in sync 🙂
This recipe is from the Epicurious site. I have used recipes from this site before. I still rave about how great the coconut cream pie turned out, and I found the recipe on Epicurious. Now that I have jumped into the world of the Smartphone, their app was one of the first that I downloaded.
This recipe appealed to me, because it is coleslaw. I am a huge fan of coleslaw. My favourite (and don’t judge me on this) is Dixie coleslaw. You know the one, it is fluorescent green and you can buy it by the gallon at the deli counter. I don’t know why, but there is something about that coleslaw that I find mildly addicting. Hmmm, I wonder if I can make that at home? I have never tried, but now I think I have found a summer project.
Another reason I wanted to make this was because it was a great excuse to bust out the mandoline that we received as a wedding gift. I haven’t used it as much as I thought I would, but with the ingredient list calling for thinly sliced fennel, celery and julienned apples, it was the perfect opportunity.
The difficult part about making this dish is the waiting. Oh, and making sure that all the thinly sliced ingredients make it into the bowl! 😉 Is there anything more appetizing that thinly sliced fruits and vegetables that provide a satisfactory crunch? If you can wait 24 hours, this coleslaw is the perfect marriage of summer flavours. Jamie and I served it with some homemade sausage patties and devilled eggs. A little taste of summer in the middle of spring. Awesome!
Do you have a favourite coleslaw recipe? Or a summer-time guilty pleasure that compares to my Dixie coleslaw addiction?
Adapted from:
Epicurious – Celery, Apple and Fennel Slaw
Ingredients:
Directions:
Even though the first day of spring was over a month ago, I feel like we are still waiting for Mother Nature to wrap her head around the idea that winter is over. We have been enduring crazy temperature swings. Warm one day (no jacket, wearing short sleeves warm) and the next day we wake up to an ice storm.
In trying to keep warm weather thoughts in mind, I decided to whip up a batch of devilish eggs. Nothing says warm summer days like the tastiness of a devilled egg. Who doesn’t love devilled eggs? Little bites of egg salad in a handy edible container of egg. Egg stuffed with more egg = Awesome!
Brussels sprouts have to be one of our favourite vegetables. I really don’t know why I didn’t enjoy these when I was a kid, but they have become a regular staple on our grocery list. I quite often find myself cooking up way more than we need so I can eat the roasted sprouts cold the next day as a delicious snack 🙂
This past weekend Jamie and I were back in Hamilton, visiting friends and family. A pre-Easter trip so that we don’t have to travel on the long weekend. I especially enjoyed spending time with my nephew, Sam. We made chocolate covered marshmallows, candy pancakes and went to a Maple Syrup Festival. There is a reason I am an aunt 🙂
When Jamie and I got back into town earlier this week, I had a moment of panic when I wasn’t sure what I was going to share in today’s post. I didn’t have anything planned out. Thankfully I had just received the most recent copy of the Food Network’s magazine in the mail. I sat myself down on the couch and started flipping through the recipes. I figured I could find something that would inspire today’s post.
With St. Patrick’s Day celebrations only a few days away (or starting today and lasting into the wee hours of Sunday night 😉 – I thought I would present you with a green soup to mark the occasion.
A lot of St. Patrick Day festivities involve heavy or fried food served with an abundance of Guinness or green beer. This recipe will offer you a healthy green alternative that you can easily work into your regular recipe rotation.
This week while grocery shopping, I saw a new salad dressing; an avocado dressing with lime and jalapeño. As I reached to grab the bottle and put it in my cart I thought, wait, I can likely make this at home. So instead, I went to the produce section and grabbed a fresh avocado and jalapeño pepper.
I wanted to make a salad that would compliment this flavour combination, so I went to my spice cupboard and pulled out a selection of spices. I thought that a spiced chicken breast served on top of mixed greens and topped with an avocado dressing would be delicious.
Cherry tomatoes have to be one of my favourite snack foods. I just love the sweetness of the tomato and they really are adorable. Just little bites of summer.
When I was looking through one of my cookbooks for a new side dish, this recipe appealed to me. Confit Cherry Tomatoes. Now, I am not familiar with confit, in fact, the only time I see this term is when it refers to duck. Since I am not a huge fan of duck, the idea of confit has never really struck me as something I needed to try. But cherry tomatoes, well, I never pass up an opportunity to eat more tomatoes, so I figured it was time the confit made an appearance in our kitchen.
I have tried making a variety of different hummus recipes, and have loved each one. I am still amazed at how simple it is to make, and totally regret all the money I threw away by buying it pre-made in the grocery store.
As part of trying to stick (more or less) to a Paleo diet as part of my getting back on track for the New Year, hummus has been off my list, as it is made with chick peas, and they contain a lot of carbohydrates.
However, I have found a new hummus substitute and I couldn’t be happier. Drum roll please – Ta Da – Cauliflower Hummus 🙂
Ruby Reduction 