Strawberry and Mixed Greens Salad

A couple of months ago I shared by go-to lunch salad, a sweet potato and mixed greens salad.  Honestly, after eating it almost daily for a month straight, my love for that salad faded (don't worry, I'm sure I will become obsessed again in the future because it's too tasty not too!)

Recently I decided to revamp it a bit to make it a little less wintery, and a little more springy.  While it's nowhere near strawberry season in Wisconsin, it must be it other places because they're all over at the grocery store in a rich red color and at such great prices!  Fresh, sweet strawberries replace the cinnamon honey roasted sweet potatoes while a salty, light feta steps in for the tangy goat cheese crumbles.  This salad is also topped with a sprinkling of craisins and a small handful of pecans.  If you're looking for a little more protein to round out this salad, go ahead and throw on some grilled chicken or some quinoa.  Feel free to customize with whatever you have on hand!

As you can see, after I photographed this beauty I threw it in a tupperware to take for my work lunch.  I suggest keeping the dressing separate if you're doing this as the balsamic vinaigrette can really eat away at the lettuce and by lunchtime it'll be really soggy.  If you don't have little dressing containers like I do, I'm intrigued with the mason jar salads as well.  If you're going to do that, I would suggest putting the dressing in first, then top with the pecans, craisins and feta, then throw in the strawberries and put the lettuce on top.  If you give it a try, let me know how it goes!

Ingredients:

• 2-3 cups spring mix lettuce (or other choice of greens)
• 1/4 cup strawberries, quartered
• 2 tablespoons craisins
• 2 tablespoons feta, crumbled
• 1/8 cup pecans (or other choice of nut)
• 2-3 tablespoons balsamic vinaigrette

Directions:

1. Spread spring mix lettuce over large plate or bowl.
2. Top with strawberries, craisins, feta and pecans.
3. Drizzle with balsamic vinaigrette.
4. Toss and enjoy!

If you like this salad, you may also like:

• Mixed Greens with Roasted Beets, Pomegranate Dressing and Goat Cheese
• Strawberry Spinach Salad
• Warm Tomato, Arugula and Bacon Panzanella Salad

Sweet Potato and Mixed Greens Salad

Lately I've been trying to work more and more on developing my own recipes and just sort of winging it when I'm in the kitchen.  I'm becoming more confident in my ability to cook intuitively as I become more comfortable with different spices and ingredients.

I've found that it's best to have some inspiration when getting going and one of the best types of inspiration I've found is thinking about meals that I've really enjoyed from a restaurant or other food establishment and trying to copy it, maybe not to a tee, but at least as a base.  As I have mentioned before on the blog, the Good Food cart is one of my favorite places to grab lunch when I'm at work and you better believe that it inspired this Sweet Potato and Mixed Greens Salad.

A bed of mixed greens are topped with cinnamon honey roasted sweet potatoes, craisins, pecans and crumbles of tangy goat cheese.  The finishing touches come from a homemade balsamic vinaigrette.  I can be lazy at times so I usually just toss some pecans on the salad right out of the bag, but feel free to toast them or even go a little crazy and use candied pecans.  If you'd like a little more protein go ahead and throw on some chicken breast.  One of the great things about salads is they can be so easily customizable depending on your tastes by swapping out ingredients or switching up the proportions.

The recipe below is for one personal size salad that serves as the main dish for the meal.  I've increased the quantities at times as well to serve multiple people, just use your best judgement.  Be careful though, because the toppings tend to sink to the bottom of the serving dish!

Enjoy!

Kelsey

Ingredients:

• 2-3 cups loosely packed greens, depending on what lettuce to toppings ratio you prefer (I like to use a spring mix for the greens)
• 1/4 cup cinnamon honey roasted sweet potatoes
• 3 tablespoons craisins
• 2 tablespoons goat cheese, crumbled
• 1/8 cup pecans
• 2 tablespoons balsamic vinaigrette

Directions:

1. Spread greens over large plate or bowl.
2. Top with sweet potatoes, craisins, goat cheese and pecans.  Drizzle with balsamic vinaigrette dressing.
3. Toss as desired and enjoy!

Cinnamon Honey Roasted Sweet Potatoes

Are sweet potatoes one of those trendy foods, like kale or quinoa?  Not that I have anything against trendy foods because it seems like usually they are things that are really good for you.  So maybe it's not so much that it's a trend but more of an awakening or coming out of sorts.  It's your time to shine vegetable that honestly is kind of mediocre but all of a sudden everyone is figuring out super delicious ways to prepare you!

Maybe sweet potatoes are trendy, maybe they aren't but I sure have seen them around a lot lately.  Part of that might be that I didn't used to care for their taste.  I don't know what it was about them, but they just didn't tickle my fancy.  All of a sudden though I love those buggars and can't get enough!

I remember learning about sweet potatoes in a class I took in college on world hunger.  Sweet potatoes are a type of yam.  There's a very similar yam that's grown in some African countries that is white or more similar looking to a baking potato.  Due to the difference in color, the African yams are seriously lacking in nutritional value that our sweet potatoes have due to the carotin that makes them orange.  Due to cultural reasons they are hesitant to switch to the orange ones.  A researcher at my university was working with some rural African villages to begin harvesting a yam that looked like what they were used to but had been developed to contain similar nutritional value to a sweet potato.  Pretty nifty!

These cinnamon honey roasted sweet potatoes are currently my favorite way to prepare the root vegetable.  The peeled potatoes are cubed and spread out on a baking sheet where all the action is going to happen, no need to dirty a bowl.  Extra virgin olive oil and honey are drizzled over the orange cubes and then sprinkled with cinnamon.  This creates a sweet and spicy potato after the roasting happens.  To be honest, I don't usually actually measure out the ingredients, so feel free to just wing it.

Cinnamon honey roasted sweet potatoes have great flavor and can be eaten as a side dish to any meal.  My favorite way to enjoy them is as a salad topping (salad recipe coming on Friday!)  I usually prepare a batch on Sunday and have enough then to last for salads the whole week.  Get creative though, the possibilities are endless!

Enjoy!
Kelsey

Ingredients:

• 3 large sweet potatoes
• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 3 tablespoons honey
• 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil.
2. Peel sweet potatoes and cute them into half inch cubes.  Spread out in a single layer on baking sheet.
3. Drizzle potatoes with extra virgin olive oil and honey.  Sprinkle with cinnamon.  
4. Cook for 30 minutes or until soft, stirring half way through.

Balsamic Vinaigrette

I've recently entered into the world of homemade salad dressings and I think it's safe to say that I'm never going back.  No longer will get stuck standing in the condiment aisle, staring at rows upon rows of salad dressing, never seeming to be able to find the kind I'm looking for.

Grocery shopping is actually an errand that I usually really enjoy doing.  I love cooking and food so I love being in a huge building with it picking out all the supplies I need.  Thanks to the positive influence of my fiance, our weekly grocery trip almost always includes a well planned list which leads to an efficient and enjoyable experience with no need to venture down the ice cream aisle just in case I suddenly realize that I will not be able to make it through the week without a pint of Ben & Jerry's.

One thing that still cannot be avoided is when you are awkwardly standing in the aisle trying to find something that is right in front of you and seem to be constantly in someone else's way.  Salad dressings might be my worst culprit for this.  Canned tomatoes are right up there too!

I've always found that the balsamic vinaigrette from a bottle never can live up to its companions at restaurants, or my favorite food cart, Good Food.  I assume the difference is the fresh, house-made quality.  And there's so many variations that can go along with such a simple dressing.  A one-size-fits-all recipe is sure not to please all!  For me it's always too salty and missing a bit of sweetness.

This recipe is just the way I like it and is very simple, using only five ingredients that you might already have sitting in your pantry.  The perfect ratio of balsamic vinegar to extra virgin olive oil.  A touch of honey to help balance out the acidity of the vinegar.  Salt and pepper add the finishing touches.

I make mine in my OXO salad dressing shaker and leave it sitting on the counter by the olive oil since I use it almost every day.  It doesn't need to be refrigerated and may actually harden if you do.  I use a little 2 ounce dressing container for my work lunch salads so the lettuce stays as fresh as possible until I'm ready to chow down.

Enjoy!
Kelsey

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
• 3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 2-3 tablespoons honey (depending on how sweet you want it)
• Salt to taste
• Pepper to taste

Directions:

1. In a small container combine balsamic vinegar, extra virgin olive oil, honey, salt and pepper.
2. Whisk, stir or shake ingredients together until combined.  Redo as necessary as ingredients may separate.

Mixed Greens with Roasted Beets, Pomegranate Dressing and Goat Cheese

Oh my word. This might be my favorite salad of all time. Prepare yourself.

The colors are beautiful. Are they not? You can't deny it. All those reds and oranges. Possibly the perfect Valentines day salad? I might be getting ahead of myself here.

It might be because this salad was supposed to be posted before Christmas, again due to its beautiful reds and some green; therefore, I don't care if its too soon to think about Valentines day.

It is just too pretty, but too tasty not to eat.

Valentines day is a total hallmark holiday scam, but it is just another holiday excuse to eat lots of chocolate and make something extra fancy special for dinner.

I actually do that most weeks anyways, but its good excuse to have. It makes me feel more normal.

In all reality, I will probably be ordering a extra large pizza with my main man, watching The Big Lebowski, drinking white Russians.

Pizza is my favorite and white Russians are his. His and hers. Too cute.

I digress, but this is all connected to the salad. Trust me.

It is truly maybe my favorite salad I've ever made at home. Ever. It borders right on unhealthy and healthy, depending on your veggie to cheese ratio. My cheese ratio is usually, always high.

Don't let the beets scare you. They are tender, like butter and almost sweet, with a hint of earthiness.

The dressing is just the right amount of thick, creamy, a little sweet and tart. It is dreamy. I'm not one to eat salad for dinner or enjoy salad very much.

 I try very hard. I would just rather a big bowl of carbs and cheese. This salad I ate for a whole week straight. All the ingredients, dressing included keep for for at least a week.

Pomegranate molasses might be hard to find. I hear Whole Foods sells it, but you can always make it too. I used this recipe.

The salad toppings are also very customizable. I bet raspberries or strawberries would make great substitution for the pomegranate seeds.

A nice blue cheese would work well here too, in place of the goat cheese. Walnuts or sunflower seeds would be tasty too, depending on what you have in your pantry.

xo,
April

Mixed Greens with Roasted Beets, Pomegranate Dressing and Goat Cheese
Serves 4 to 6
Ingredients:
for dressing:
3 tablespoons pomegranate molasses
1 tablespoon honey
1 tablespoon red cooking wine
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
Salt
Pepper

for salad:
Spring mix
6 to 8 small beets, roasted, peeled and cut into bite sized pieces
Goat cheese, crumbled
Pumpkin seeds
Pomegranate seeds

Instructions:
roasted beets:
Preheat the oven to 400F. Wrap beets in tin foil, in a single layer (you may need to make two tin foil packages). Roast the beets for 40 to 60 minutes or until fork tender. Let the beets cool until able to handle and then peel.
for dressing:
Combine all the ingredients in a medium mason jar and shake to combine. Dressing will keep for up to a week in the refrigerator
for the salad:
In a large bowl, combine the greens, beets and desired amount of dressing, tossing to coat.
Divide among plates, topping each with a sprinkle of pumpkin seeds, goat cheese and pomegranate seeds.

Warm Tomato, Arugula and Bacon Panzanella Salad

Its tomato season just about, before you know it tomatoes will be coming out of your ears. Don't worry though because this month on the blog its all about tomatoes!

This is a really simple recipe to throw together. You could even cut it down and make it for one person because the leftovers don't keep. Soggy bread problems, ya know? Speaking of bread problems, this is the perfect salad for day old bread. You want the bread to be a bit dried out so it takes its time absorbing the dressing.

This recipe can really be adjusted to your own tastes as well. Add as much or as little arugula or basil as you want. Play around with it a little bit. Trust your instincts! Add more tomatoes if you want. It is your salad after all. This is just a good foundation to build off of.

I love me some roasted tomatoes. They get all jammy and soft. Delicious. This recipe creates that feeling without having to turn the oven on. The tomatoes get fried up quickly in some bacon fat and they leave behind all their juices in the pan that will make up the bacon dressing eventually.

Surprisingly the bacon isn't over powering as you might expect. It gives just the right amount of salty bacon flavor and crunchy topping.The vinegar and mustard add nice balance to the dressing. You could easily use green onions or shallots in replace of the leeks. I just happened to have bought leeks the day before at the farmers market. 

Overall this is a really easy and beautiful salad to throw together for friends. The crispy bread with the juicy tomatoes and rich bacon and spicy arugula go so well together. Try adding some mint for a little extra freshness with the basil. More tomato recipes to come this month! Enjoy!

April

Ingredients:
1 french baguette or french round, cut into 1 inch cubes 
6 slices smoke bacon (3 ounces), cut into 1/4 inch pieces
1 1/2 pints tomatoes, halved
1 leek, sliced

1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 1/2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
3 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
Salt, to taste
Pepper, to taste

2 handfuls of arugula
Handful of basil

Buratta, mozzarella or goat cheese to serve

Instructions:

1. Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F. Spread bread in one even layer on a rimmed baking sheet and toast bread in oven for 15 minutes or until the bread is crispy, but not browned. Meanwhile, fry bacon over medium heat, until crispy. Using a slotted spoon, remove bacon from pan, reserving 1 tablespoon of bacon grease. Add the halved tomatoes, cut side down to the pan, cooking over medium heat for 3-5 minutes or until softened and slightly caramelized. Remove the tomatoes, using a slotted spoon again, and set aside. 
2. Over medium heat, add a tablespoon of oil to the pan and saute the leeks until softened and lightly golden, about 5-7 minutes. Turn off the heat and add the lemon juice, balsamic vinegar, remaining olive oil and dijon mustard. Whisk it all to combine (it will be thick and clumpy, that is okay). Season to taste with salt and pepper. 
3. In a large bowl, add half the bread and top with half the tomatoes, arugula, basil and dressing. On top of that add the remaining bread and vegetables and dressing and toss to combine. Serve immediately and garnish with some bacon, buratta (or cheese of your choice) and a drizzle of balsamic vinegar.

Broccoli Salad

I love cookbooks.  I especially love cookbooks with big, colorful pictures and glossy pages.  I love flipping through them, looking at all the pretty pictures.  Oooing and ahhhhing over them.  Putting sticky notes in all the recipes I plan on making but almost never do because I always default to finding them on the internet instead.

As much as I love all the pretty pictures and glossy pages of a Giada cookbook, there's something to be said about a good old church cookbook.  The kind where all the parish member submit their family recipes and then it's sold as a fundraiser.  It's filled with lots of comfort food, simple, home cook type recipes that isn't usually found in those book publisher deal cookbooks.

When I asked my mom for her recipe for broccoli salad, she sent me a picture of two pages from the church cookbook and told me she took bits and pieces from each of the four broccoli salad recipes to make her own.   I took her advice.  Keeping the mayonnaise, vinegar and sugar dressing, but substituting some Greek yogurt in as well.  The broccoli and bacon was standard, but I decided to throw in raisins, red onion and cashews as well.  The dressing ended up being a little on the generous side, so if your looking to stretch the recipe a little farther or just have some extra broccoli sitting around, I think you could easily use 3.5-4 cups of broccoli bites.

Enjoy!
Kelsey

Ingredients

• 3 cups broccoli, cut into bite size pieces
• 10 strips of bacon, crumbled
• 1/2 cup light mayonnaise
• 1/2 cup plain fat free Greek yogurt
• 3 tablespoons sugar
• 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
• 1/2 cup raisins
• 1/2 cup diced red onion
• 1/2 cup cashews

Directions

1. In a small bowl, stir together mayonnaise, yogurt, sugar and vinegar.
2. In a large bowl, combine broccoli, raisins, onion and cashews.  Mix in dressing until salad is evenly coated.
3. Chill in refrigerator until ready to serve.

Dijon Brussels Sprouts

Brussels sprouts are more of a fall and winter vegetable, but you can get them all year round and they are green. Green is a very spring like color, right? I think so and that is what I am going for. This here little recipe came about around new years time. Its been a long time since I've updated the blog regularly, but I had not forgotten about it! I'm always thinking and creating.

My New Year's Eve plans were pretty disorganized and last minute. Most of my friends were doing dinner or something that didn't involve me with their boyfriends. Silly couples. I decided to hell with them and planned to make myself a steak and brussels sprouts.

Just when I had come to terms with spending the start of my new year with a steak and bottle of wine, my married friends got down with the steak dinner plan to start the night. This is how these dijon sprouts came to be.

We were crunched for time. It was "late". There were places to go and people to see. My friends brought mushrooms, bread, brie and steaks. For the sake of time we decided to combine the only two veggies we had into one dish. Dinner came together in 30 to 40 minutes, snacking on cheese and drinking wine can be distracting.

Shredding the sprouts is the most time consuming part, but I've made this three or four times, using several different methods. I've used my mandolin, food processor slicing blade and pre-shredded brussels sprouts from Trader Joe's. You could also slice them carefully with a knife. Up to you. I prefer the mandolin or food processor. The texture is more delicate and frilly. Using a food processor is probably the quickest. Just trim off the stems and toss 'em in there.

Slice up some shrooms. Use any kind you want. As many as you want. I've used pre-sliced variety packs of mushrooms, little bellas and shitakes. Don't like mushrooms? Don't use 'em. Try adding a extra cup of brussels sprouts.

Cooking time is maybe 7 to 10 minutes. No time at all. More than enough time to throw some meat in a hot pan to go along with your brussel sprouts. I would recommend starting the meat before the brussel sprouts though. Just a thought.


This is so easy and flexible that it is really up to you. It was my go to dinner side for a few months. I went through a phase of eating steak and these for dinner anytime I had company. It got rave reviews every single time.

April

Ingredients:
4 ounces sliced mushrooms
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 teaspoon olive oil
3 cups shaved brussels sprouts (about 6 ounces)
1 3/4 teaspoons whole grain Dijon mustard
Freshly ground black pepper
Kosher salt

Instructions:

In a medium skillet, heat the butter and olive oil over medium heat. When the butter is melted, add the mushrooms and saute for 2 to 3 minutes.

Add the brussels sprouts, Dijon mustard and a generous pinch of freshly ground pepper; toss the mixture together and cook until softened, 3 to 5 minutes. Salt to taste (my Dijon mustard was fairly salty so I added only a pinch). Transfer to a plate or bowl and enjoy.

Grandma Spencer's Strawberry Spinach Salad

Yesterday was my dad, the "Big Man's", birthday.  In our family we don't go all out or anything for birthdays, but we did all head over to Mom and Dad's house to have a nice family dinner.  Mom had to work late yesterday and my offer of making dinner was turned down because it would've apparently taken too much time so we ended up ordering pizza for dinner.  As a nice little side to go along with our pizza I decided to make this strawberry spinach salad.

This salad is a family favorite.  When we were kids (well maybe not my brother who also wouldn't eat ketchup) we would always gobble it up even though it was full of spinach!  My Grandma Spencer used to always make it and it was a recipe that we made sure to get from our grandpa once she had passed away.  Now we make it for special dinners every once in a while or it's also great to take to pot lucks as well. 

And in case you were wondering, there was no cake for dessert, Dad is not a big cake person.  Instead we had brownies, his all time favorite.  My sister Avery made the brownies and added pecans to half of them because that's the way dad likes them.  (Well Dad would prefer the whole pan have nuts but some other people in the family are picky.)  

Ingredients

• 12 oz fresh baby spinach
• 2 tablespoons sesame seeds
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 2 tablespoons cider or raspberry vinegar
• 1-2 tablespoons sugar
• 2 tablespoons minced green onion
• 1 teaspoon salt
• dash of pepper
• 1 pint strawberries, sliced

Directions

1. Combine oil, vinegar, sugar, green onion, salt, and pepper in a small bowl.  Refrigerate for a couple of hours (or longer.)
2. Toast sesame seeds at 350 degrees for about ten minutes (150 for about 5 minutes in a toaster oven.)
3. Toss spinach, sesame seeds, dressing, and strawberries in a large bowl.  Enjoy!