Summer Berry Goat Cheese Salad

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How was your weekend?  Mine was relaxing and productive (snore, I know).  Took a bike ride, barely dodged the rain.  Met a friend for an afternoon coffee, barely dodged the rain.  Both times got lucky and was just drizzled on in between down pours.  Typical Brussels weather.  One minute it's sunny, the next it's raining buckets without warning.  I also did lots of cooking and had a successful trip to the market.  See?  Productive.  I don't know what took me so long to get into these markets.  Maybe it was the fact that I am normally not successful in leaving the house before 2pm on the weekend.  Maybe it was because I was afraid or felt guilty of butchering French over and over again at each and every stand.  Either way, no more excuses.  I love the market and getting by on hand signals doesn't seem to be a problem.

Raspberries, Blueberries, Strawberries and fresh goat cheese from farm to market to table.  Lettuce, too.  It was nice to wash the dirt off of the lettuce instead of pesticides. 

Surprisingly, we got to enjoy this salad on the patio in between down pours.  Perfect timing.

I heard it's been a heat wave in the US.  This is the perfect salad for those hot hot days where you wouldn't dream of turning on the oven or even the stove.   Creamy goat cheese on a bed of leafy greens topped with summer berries and a homemade raspberry vinaigrette.  Need I say more?  We will be making this Summer Berry Goat Cheese Salad all summer long. 

Summer Berry Goat Cheese Salad

Serves 2 as a main course

Ingredients:
Half a head of leafy green lettuce
1 big handful of spinach
1/2 c strawberries, sliced
1/2 c raspberries
1/2 c blueberries
1/4 c almonds, chopped
1/3 c goat cheese, chopped into crumbly bits
1 recipe Raspberry Vinaigrette as follows

Raspberry Vinaigrette:
1 clove garlic diced
2 T raspberry vinegar
1 T olive oil
2 T water
1/4 tsp dijon mustard
salt and pepper to taste
Squeeze of 1/4 of a lemon

Directions:
Combine vinaigrette ingredients in a glass jar and shake.  Set aside.  In a large bowl, layer in lettuce, spinach, berries, goat cheese and almonds.  Pour dressing over salad, refrigerating leftovers for up to one week.  Serve Immediately. 

Bon Appétit!

I couldn't really eat it in one of those bowls.  A girl needs room to move things around and mix things up. 

Did you do anything fun this weekend?  Do anything to beat the heat?  Now it's time to catch up on the last 3 eps of the Bachelorette.  This girl has been seriously slackin'.  Enjoy your Sunday! Pin It

Colorful Caprese Salad

Pin It This salad tasted as good as it looked.  And it looked as good as it tasted!  You get the picture.  This good looking salad was tasty.   It's all in the ingredients when it comes to making a delicious Colorful Caprese Salad.   Fresh Buffalo Mozzarella is preferred, though regular fresh will also do.  Vine Ripened Tomatoes from the garden are preferred, but these cute colorful ones from the store will do for now.  Freshly cut sweet little Basil leaves are mandatory, and if there is one thing to remember it is that few things in life are as important as a high quality Extra Virgin Olive Oil.  Throw it all together with some sea salt and freshly cracked pepper and you have the perfect starter salad, or main course.  Heck, I love it so much I would eat it for dessert.

The trick to eating a Caprese salad is to get a basil leaf, a tomato, and about half of a little Mozzarella ball in each bite.  I don't think I ever took such time making "perfect bites."

and another.......

Then I got a little rambunctious and decided to drizzle on some liquid gold, a cream of Balsamic Vinegar (this kicks up the fancy factor a bit).

Now that I have bored you with my story on "how I ate a Caprese Salad for dinner one night," I'll get on with the recipe and as always, thanks for listening ;)  How do you eat your Caprese Salad?  The more details the better!  Comment below.

Colorful Caprese Salad

Serves 2 

 

Ingredients: 

1 medium vine ripened tomato, halved and sliced thinly

1 pint of mixed yellow, red and orange cherry tomatoes

14 mini Mozzarella balls (or one normal Mozz ball, sliced)

20 Fresh Basil Leaves

1-2 Tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Sea Salt

Freshly ground Pepper 

 

Cream of Balsamic or a high quality Balsamic Vinegar (optional, but not necessary)

I served mine on a small handful of garden spinach to get my greens in, but this is definitely not necessary.

Layer in tomatoes, Mozzarella and basil.  Sprinkle with Sea Salt and freshly ground pepper.  Drizzle with Extra Virgin Olive Oil.  Serve immediately.  

Bon Appétit!  

 

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Greek Style Quinoa Salad

Pin It As everyone else in the food blogosphere, I am officially obsessed with quinoa.  When did this all start, you ask?  (as if you really would ask that.)  I will tell you anyway.  I think it was when I made Cilantro Lime Quinoa Salad three times in one week and then two the next.  Seriously.  Lucky for me, quinoa is Über good for you... in such large doses however, I am not so sure.  Needless to say, it's time to venture out to other ways to prepare quinoa (and maybe max out at 1-2 times/week?).   Although, after trying this dish, limiting my usage will become more difficult, as it was excellent!

I have always wanted to prepare something Greek, anything Greek.  Hard to believe, I have never really made anything Greek before, so when I came across this Greek Style Quinoa Salad from Kalyn's Kitchen, I had to make it!  If you haven't been to Kalyn's Kitchen before, you should definitely check it out, she has some great recipes!

While you quinoa is cooking, chop everything: green pep, red pep, cucumber, grape tomato, olive, feta, and a little bit of fresh mint.  Make your vinaigrette, too.  Cool your quinoa.  I stuck mine in the freezer to speed up the process, as I was getting a little impatient and really hungry.

Layer all the veggies, olives, cheese & mint over the chilled quinoa.  Taste Tester gave me props on my presentation (that was a first!).

 Another nice color combo. 

Top with the vinaigrette and mix.  Let flavors settle for 20 minutes before serving (the longer you can wait the better.. this is hard, I know).  I had leftovers for lunch the next day and it was sooo much more flavorful.  Which leads me to my recommendation, make it a day in advance.

Greek Style Quinoa Salad
slightly adapted from Kalyn's Kitchen

Ingredients:
3/4 c quinoa (rinsed)
1 1/4 c water 
1/2 red bell pepper
1/2 green bell pepper
1/2 cucumber
1 c grape tomatoes
1/3 c kalmata olives
1/4 c crumbled feta cheese
1/4 c mint (I prefer a little less, depends how much you like mint)

vinaigrette:
1/3 c Extra Virgin Olive Oil
3 T fresh squeezed lemon juice
1/4 tsp cumin
dash of cinnamon
salt
salt and pepper to taste


Directions:
Rinse quinoa 2-3 times.  Pour rinsed quinoa in a small sauce pan over medium heat for a few minutes, to toast the quinoa a bit.  Add water, bring to a boil, then cover and reduce to a simmer.  Simmer with cover on for 10 minutes.  Do not remove cover but turn heat off.  Leave on burner covered for 10-15 minutes.   Remove cover.  Your quinoa should be nice and fluffy.  Chill.

Whisk together EVOO, lemon, cumin, cinnamon, and salt. Refrigerate until ready to use

Chop peppers, cucumber, tomatoes, olives, feta and mint.  Once quinoa is cooled, mix veggies and olives with quinoa.  Add feta and mint.  Top with dressing and mix.  Salt and pepper to taste. Store in refrigerator until ready to serve.

Voila.  Another tasty way to prepare quinoa and perfect bring to work leftovers.  Bon Appetit!!

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Veg Out Detox: Take I - Strawberry & Grapefruit Salad with Mint

Pin It I can't help but think of what a great barbecue side dish tonight's dinner would be.  Speaking of...what happened to the nice weather?  Feels like February all over again, and the dreary weather is supposed to continue through out the week. Blah. Sounds like someones got a case of the Mondays.  Well, I certainly do.  Anyway, as I mentioned, after  last week's heavy (but delicious) eating, it is time to veg out.  Veg out we did, with tonight's light and refreshing, Strawberry & Grapefruit Salad with Mint.  The mint and the vinaigrette give it the perfect amount of zip.  This salad would be great with any fruit combination, any nut topping, or topped with a nice goat or feta cheese.  As with most throw together dishes, almost any combination will do.  I think this will be the first post of a few good detoxifying salads and we need it!

For April, the strawberries have been surprisingly good, and on sale!  This weekend I plan on going to a farmer's market and start getting more into cooking with what's in season.  In addition, it looks like I just found a great web site about eating organic and sustainable in Brussels.  Might be useful for my Brussels friends: Click here to go to tebiki.be, "An English Guide to a Sustainable Life in Brussels."  This could have been useful a long time ago!

 
Strawberry & Grapefruit Salad with Mint
Adapted from kraft foods

Ingredients:

Salad:
2 c washed and dried baby spinach (or your choice of greens) 
1  1/2 c strawberries, washed and sliced
1 grapefruit, sectioned and peeled 
1/2 c almonds toasted
2 Tbs freshly chopped mint leaves

Raspberry Vinaigrette:
1 clove garlic diced
1/4 c raspberry vinegar
1/8 c olive oil
1/8 c water
1/4 tsp dijon mustard
salt and pepper to taste
and a squeeze of lemon if you are feeling zesty (I normally am)

Directions:
Combine vinaigrette ingredients in a glass jar and shake.  Set aside.  In a large bowl, mix the spinach, strawberries, grapefruit sections and mint.  Pour vinaigrette over salad.  Top with toasted almonds.  Serve immediately.

Bon Appétit! 

I just love the raspberry vinaigrette!  Who knew it is so easy to make fast, healthy salad dressings at home?  I will definitely be using this vinaigrette when I make my all time favorite goat cheese salad (a new favorite I never knew I liked until moving to Belgium!).  Do you have any great detoxifying salad recipes?  I am on the hunt! 

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