Archive for the ‘salads’ Category

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Basil, Sweet Basil, My Love

Sunday, June 14th, 2009

There is nothing that I love more in the summer months than fresh basil.

Legend and lore have surrounded basil for centuries.

In Romania, if a boy accepts a sprig of basil from a girl, it means they are engaged to be married. In Italy, young maidens would wear a sprig of basil in their hair to profess their availability. In modern Greece, basil is used in certain religious rituals as a symbol of fertility.

Of course basil has a dark side as well. In Greek mythology basil was considered to be a cure against the bite of the basilisk. ( a part dragon, part lizard creature) Basil was long thought to be the cure for any venomous bite.

I think that basil is the most refreshing, stimulating and delicious of all the herbs. I use it every time that I am given the chance. I love it torn up in salads, simmered in a good red sauce, eaten as a refreshment between other stronger flavors (like pickled ginger when you eat sushi) and I especially love it thrown in my bathtub. I find it just as soothing as lavender.

This time around I used my fresh basil in a quick pasta salad.

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The salad is a very simple one. Extra virgin olive oil and red wine vinegar are drizzled over cooked pasta. Then fresh torn basil and sliced campari tomatoes are added to the pasta. The salad is finished up with sliced English cucumbers, fresh chopped oregano, Bocconcini and a generous amount of freshly ground pepper.

Simplicity at it’s best. I love making these simple salads. They let the beauty of the fresh herbs shine through.

Of course I wasn’t satisfied with just having a fresh basil salad. I had to make a batch of sweet basil soap too.

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You can find out more about my basil soap over at Funky Chunks and you can enter to win a Funky Chunks gift basket (containing a Chunk of sweet basil soap) over at Elle’s New England Kitchen!

What are your favorite herbs of Summer?

Posted in Enter To Win, favorites, giveaway, salads, summer, winner | 12 Comments »

Not Your Mammas Potato Salad

Monday, May 18th, 2009

 

I admit…I am on a salad kick at the moment. Last week was the cucumber salad, last night was the Fresh Bar at Ruby Tuesdays (birthday treat for me!) and tonight is potato salad.

I was not in the mood for a traditional potato salad. I wanted something to jump up out of the bowl and slap me! I needed flavor and tartness and something different. This salad delivers all three hands down.

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Potato and Green Bean Salad. Most definitely not your Mamma’s potato salad. The dressing is a breeze. Just take the juice of 2 lemons and mix together with 1/4 extra virgin olive oil. Throw in some chopped fresh mint, a handful of fresh chopped parsley, a little Cavender’s Greek seasoning, chopped garlic and a tablespoon of red wine vinegar.

Tonight I steamed fresh green beans and added them to cold, sliced cooked potatoes. I also threw in a few mini heirloom tomatoes and thinly sliced red onion for flavor and color.

Just lightly toss everything together and serve. How simple is that?! I made the potato salad a meal by serving it with a little fresh goat cheese and a few Carr’s Rosemary crackers. If you love rosemary and haven’t tried these little gems, you’ve got to rush out and get a box! I swear that I could stuff myself with these crackers smeared with goat cheese. Live on them for weeks even, they are that good! I’ve always been a fan of Carr’s…but these babies go above and beyond and they were perfect with my potato salad.

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This is another salad that does not need chilled. I love it served at room temperature. All of the flavors play together beautifully and do not need chill time to round themselves out.

What are some of your favorite non traditional salads?

Posted in Daregal Herbs, Spring, crackers, salads, vegetables | 3 Comments »

I am baaaaaack! Bringing you a Quick Salad

Friday, May 15th, 2009

 

The good news is that Life, Lightly Salted has survived a change in platforms and a change in hosting companies. The bad news is that in the process Feedburner managed to lose all of my subscribers. So if you normally read Life, Lightly Salted in an RSS reader, you will need to re-subscribe. Sorry for the pain in the rear…but it was a small casualty to deal with to get such an awesome new home an fresh look for the blog!

A little update on the home front…as well as this blog I have started my own business. I am now in the business of soap making. If you haven’t had the chance to check out my store or new blog here are the links for you to go take a look.

Funky Chunks Handmade Soaps and More

Funky Chunks Blog

While I have been working on the start up end of Funky Chunks, our dinners have been quick, painless and mostly grilled meats and salads. I had a flopped batch of scones in there somewhere and a lot of take away meals.(our local Chinese takeaway doesn’t even ask for our address for delivery anymore!) Now that things have calmed down quite a bit I can get back to the cooking! Today I would like to share one of my favorite quick salads. The beauty of this salad is that you can use most any fruit and veg combination. I make this salad on the nights that I need to clean out the produce bins. It’s very forgiving, you can use fresh vegetables, thawed frozen vegetables and even left over steamed veggies.

Mustard and Dill Salad

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For the salad…

Thinly slice up a few of your favorite vegetables and fruits. The combination that I use together most often is cucumbers, red onions, red delicious apples and grapes that have been sliced in half. This time around instead of the grapes I used this beautiful organic carrot that I came across at Wegmans. The little bugger was as big around as the apples in this salad. They really added to the presentation of the dish.

 

For the dressing…

1/4 cup malt or cider vinegar

1 tablespoon honey

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 heaping tablespoon of whole grain mustard

a generous addition of Daregal fresh frozen dill

Mix all of the dressing ingredients together. Play around with them to get the flavor that you like. I prefer mine to be heavy on the vinegar and herbs with very little oil. You can even throw in a little sour cream to make the dressing a little smoother. The important ingredients here are the whole grain mustard and fresh herbs. Everything else is up for adaptation.

Add the dressing to your sliced veg and fruits. This salad can be refrigerated, but I recommend bringing it to room temperature before serving. It really brightens up the flavors. This is best made the same day that you are going to serve. It doesn’t keep well. Only because the juices from the fruits and vegetables will dilute your dressing.

This salad pairs beautifully with grilled chicken and fish. We’ve even been known to eat it alone for dinner with a nice hard roll on the side.

Hope that everyone has a fabulous weekend! Summer is just around the corner!!

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Posted in Uncategorized, cheap eats, salads, summer, vegetables | 6 Comments »

Simple Pasta Salad with Lemon Dressing

Wednesday, March 4th, 2009

** Winners of the Banana Nut Cheerios  gift basket giveaway are listed at the end of the post.**

We all have days when we don’t feel like spending any time at all in the kitchen. Yet we still need to make something fresh and tasteful for dinner. On those nights it’s good to have a simple, tried and true dish in your back pocket. A quick pasta salad is that dish for me. Pasta salads appeal to me because you can use just about any vegetable that you have in fridge and the dressing combinations are endless. The dressing can be cream, citrus or vinegar based. They can be hot or cold. The pasta salad can be served alone as a light meal or you can add grilled meat or fish making them great for dinner.

Here’s a simple pasta salad that you can have on the table in 20 minutes. It’s light, full of flavor and perfect for a busy evening. The tomatoes and spinach bring a ton of flavor and the lemon and oregano brighten  up the salad and make it extra special.

Why wait for summer to make pasta salads? They are quick, easy and perfect for any season.

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Simple Pasta Salad with Lemon Dressing

serves 2

3 ounces of any small pasta
handful of grape tomatoes, sliced in half
1/3 of an English cucumber, sliced thin
large handful of fresh spinach, chopped
2 tablespoons fresh oregano, minced

Dressing:

1 egg
1/2 of a lemon
1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
zest of 1/2 lemon
1/4 cup vegetable stock
3 tablespoons sour cream
freshly ground pepper
salt

Cook pasta al dente. Rinse with cold water, drain and set aside.

To make the dressing:

Warm up the vegetable broth in the microwave.
Whisk together egg, lemon juice,lemon zest and garlic.
Pour egg mixture into a small saucepan on low heat.
Whisk in the warmed broth gradually.
Stir constantly until the dressing thickens. (thick enough to coat the back of a spoon)
Set aside to cool.

Place pasta in a bowl. Add in vegetables and oregano. Toss to mix.

Once dressing has cooled whisk in the sour cream and season to taste with salt and pepper.

Can be served right away or refrigerated for a few hours before serving.

What is your “on the table in a flash” meal?

Winners of the Cheerios gift basket giveaway are….

Karin, Leslie and Diva

Ladies…please e-mail me your addresses so that Blog Spark can get your baskets out to you.

Posted in pasta, quick meals, salads, summer | 7 Comments »

So Much Potential

Tuesday, September 9th, 2008

A few months ago I picked up a container of sweet potato salad from a local market. While the salad was good it just didn’t live up to it’s hype by the salad girl at the market. I’m sure that it was mass produced days before and had lost a lot of flavor by the time it reached my plate. We all know how it goes…something at the market catches your eye. You think to yourself…wow! that looks delicious. You spend something like $13.99 a pound for it, only to get it home and be completely disappointed with your new find. Sweet potato salad was that disappointing find for me. I knew that it could be so much more. It has so much potential. So I give you my version of sweet potato salad…..

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Citrus and Agave Sweet Potato Salad

vinaigrette:

    * 1/4 cup orange juice
    * 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
    * 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
    * 2 tablespoons Agave nectar
    * fresh ground pepper to taste
    * salt to taste

Salad

    * 3 large sweet potatoes (cooked, peeled and cubed)
    * 1 small red onion, diced
    * cranberry trail mix (I use Sunny Cranberry from Archer Farms)
    * fresh cilantro, chopped (to taste. We love the stuff and use a lot!)
    * salt & fresh ground pepper

   1. For the vinaigrette: combine orange juice, vinegar, oil and agave nectar. Add salt and pepper to taste. The salad will not take all of the  vinaigrette, but it never hurts to have a little extra.
   2. For the salad: combine all salad ingredients and toss lightly to mix.
   3. Pour vinaigrette over the salad, toss lightly to coat.
   4. Refrigerate salad for 2 hours to blend flavors. This salad is best served at room temperature or slightly chilled. I find that serving it cold straight from the fridge doesn’t allow for the brightness of the flavors to come through.

    Feel free to play around with the ingredients. It’s a very forgiving salad. Instead of orange juice you can try lemon juice. Instead of the cilantro use some fresh mint. You can replace the agave nectar with a local honey. Any dried fruits go beautifully with the sweet potatoes so feel free to use what ever you have on hand. If you make the sweet potato salad, let me know what combinations that you came up with!

 

“No matter how busy you may think you are, you must find time for reading, or surrender yourself to self-chosen ignorance.”

– Confucius

Posted in salads, sweet potatoes | 8 Comments »

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