Orzo Salad

I have made this recipe a ton this summer, since I got it from my good friend Heather.  It is so super quick to make that it completely fits my criteria for things being made in my kitchen these days.  And it is also delicious.  De-licious!  Which is clearly my top priority.

This is great for pot-lucks or picnics, as it doesn't to be reheated.  It's perfect for me to serve to company these days, as it's one less thing to coordinate for a meal.  Just make it in advance and pop it into the fridge. 

Now personally, I hate olives.  Hate them.  Like, if a random olive bit climbs its way onto my sub at Subway, I will pick it off before eating it.  That kind of a hate.  

Yet somehow, I don't hate them at all in this recipe.  Kinda like my goat cheese experience with this recipe here.  Opening new doors for my tastebuds, I guess.

It turns out that my mom doesn't like olives either.  Which is why, when she showed up to visit a couple of weekends and caught me chopping the olives, I lied to her.  She asked if I was chopping olives and I just simply said "nope".  And prayed to God that she wouldn't ask me what I was chopping.  But she didn't.  I then ran and hid the can the olives came in in the recycling as quickly as I could.  And sure enough, she didn't catch the olives in the salad either.  So this recipe is even good for all of you olive haters out there too.

I didn't use oil-packed sundried tomatoes in my salad, but used the sundried ones sold at Costco in a huge package.  And I found that worked well, as there's also added oil in the salad.

1 C orzo dried
4 tbsp. chopped sundried tomatoes in oil
1/4 C coarsely sliced olives
1/4 C sunflower seeds 
1/3-1/4 C radicchio, finely chopped (optional)
4 tbsp. olive oil
1/8 C balsamic vinegar
2 cloves garlic, crushed

1.  Cook the orzo, as you would rice.  I cooked 1 C dried orzo with 1 C of water in my rice cooker. 

2.  Chop the sundried tomatoes olives, and radicchio.

3.  Mix together all ingredients in a bowl.

4.  Chill, serve and enjoy.

Difficulty level: easy

Cranberry Brie Salad

This is a great colourful, tasty salad.  Perfect for summer.  It's also super quick to make.  And the port flavoured cranberries and brie even makes it impressive enough for company.  Thanks to Brandi for sharing this recipe with me.

Of course, in my current state of mommy brain, I forgot to put the brie on the salad when I made it for company awhile back.  Even though I had actually gone to the grocery store to get some brie.  Some days I wonder if I will ever have a memory again...

For the dressing, I used a brand of pesto that has no pine nuts that I picked up at Metro, since I'm avoiding nuts these days.

1/2 C dried cranberries
1/4 C port wine

Put into a bowl and let stand for one hour, stirring occasionally.  Drain.  Discard port.

4 oz. chopped brie cheese
1 Boston lettuce (torn)
2/3 C croutons

Toss together in a large bowl with cranberries

Cranberry dressing:
2 tbsp. olive oil
2 tbsp. cranberry cocktail (or orange juice)
1 tbsp. basil pesto
1 tbsp. red wine vinegar

Put all in a jar and shake.

Just before serving, pour dressing over salad.

Difficulty level: easy 

Gluten-free if you omit the croutons or use gf croutons
Dairy-free if you omit the brie, as I accidentally did 

Felfel: Algerian Roasted Pepper and Tomato Salad

This roasted pepper and tomato salad, known as felfel, is an Algerian classic.  That is, according to our Algerian hostess, Assia, who we stayed with while recently in Paris.  

Both Jérôme and I love this dish.  Assia served it as an appetizer to the meal, which I suspect is probably how it is usually served in Algeria.  Back home, we've been eating it as part of our meal.  This will be a wonderful side-dish to different barbecued dishes come summer.  It can be served either hot or cold and is delicious both ways, though I prefer it hot.

Roasting the peppers is not super complicated, but takes a little bit of time.  You can always double the recipe to have it last a bit longer to make the work of roasting the peppers worth it.

In fact, I think I'm going to start making this in huge batches and freezing it so that it can be my "go to" vegetable staple this summer, in place of my (no) cream of vegetable soup, which I stashed away all winter.

Assia mentioned to me that she prefers the longer green peppers, such as the ones you see in the pictures below, as she finds them more flavourful.  I've never seen this shape of green peppers here, but it could just be because I haven't ever looked for them.  I recently made this recipe with a mix of red and yellow peppers, as that's what I happened to have in my fridge, and that was yummy as well.  Enjoy :)

5 green peppers
1 red pepper
2 tomatoes
good quality olive oil
fresh garlic, crushed
salt and pepper

1.  Roast washed whole peppers at 425 degrees Farenheit for 40 minutes.

2.  In the meantime, dice two tomatoes and crush about 3 cloves of fresh garlic.  Cook in a pan in a bit of olive oil for a few minutes, until the tomatoes are cooked.

 3.  Take peppers out of the oven and let cool.  Once cooled, gently peel off skins, take off stems and scrape out seeds.  Dice peppers.

 
4.  Drain some of the juices from the tomatoes and peppers.  Mix together and add olive oil, salt and pepper to taste.  Serve hot or cold.

Difficulty level: moderate

Taco Salad

Wonderful day yesterday.  Wonderful!  Just what I needed.  I was supposed to be at a conference on cleft lip and palate, where I had been the day before.  But I'd gotten up at 4 am for a couple of days in a row.  And then on Thursday, I spent 8 hours sitting at a conference with Chloé, plus 3 hours traveling - how does anyone commute daily to downtown by car???  Followed by a visit to the clinic with Logan that evening.  

And I was just plain pooped.

This followed a week of me running to various appointments every day.  I hadn't been in my house for any length of time the entire week.

Pooped.

So I decided to just skip my conference and stay at home to do nothing!!!!  Imagine that... bailing on a conference to do absolutely nothing...

And it was glorious.

I took Logan to daycare and then napped with Chloé.

Then I whipped up a batch of mom's spaghetti sauce.  I also made double batch of whole wheat yogurt biscuits, which Logan started devouring the minute he got home from daycare.  

And then I plopped myself down on the couch to watch The Bachelor.

Did I say glorious??

And once Logan was home we played a bit and then I knit on the couch while he was still playing.  

Glorious!! 

Apparently even Logan understood that this was not a day for whining.

I need days like this more often.  I feel refreshed and rejuvenated.

I quickly whipped up this salad for dinner last night.  It's nothing terribly spectactular and you don't even really need a recipe for it.  But I am oddly addicted to it these days.  Oddly because it was minus 27 degrees with wind chill yesterday and you'd think I'd be craving carrot and coriander soup or South American black bean soup.  But nope.  I find myself craving taco salads.  I had one at the mall the other day and have become obsessed with them.  Though I must admit that it is all that much better with the fried bowl it came in at the mall.  But this hit the spot last night.

I never buy iceberg lettuce ever, but felt that a taco salad on romaine or arugula or something of the like was just plain weird.  So I washed and ripped up some iceberg that I picked up from the grocery store particularly for this.

Threw on a good handful of sliced cherry tomatoes.

Grilled myself up a couple of chicken breasts on our wonderful Cuisinart Griddler.  I then sliced them up and saved the extras for yet another taco salad one day.  You could also use ground beef instead, with my homemade taco seasoning.

Dumped a good spoonful of salsa onto the chicken and a small dollop of low-fat sour cream on top of that.

And then grated some cheese over the whole thing. 

Just wish the grocery store hadn't been out of avocados, or I would have thrown some sliced avocado or homemade guacamole on top of this.

Add in a little Italian salad dressing if you're me, or Ranch if you're Jérôme, and you've got yourself a delicious, quick and healthy supper.  

Difficulty level: easy

Red Quinoa and Black Bean Vegetable Salad

I feel like I've been running all week.  Probably because I have been.  

It's crazy how once you have kids, popping out for groceries turns into an all-day affair.  It takes twice as long to actually get out of the house to go to the grocery store.  And then it takes you pretty much the rest of the day to put them away. That is, if you actually manage to get them away before you pass out in bed, exhausted. 

With kids, it's probably never possible to say that you haven't had a crazy week. There are just shades of craziness.  Ranging from the only slightly crazy, 'my house is a little upside down and I'm still in my p.j.'s at 5pm on Saturday' crazy day to the 'I can't find a single frickin' thing in my house, it's such a mess, and I haven't showered in... wait... when was my last shower????' kinda day.

Thankfully, I can still remember my last shower, which means that this past week wasn't full blown crazy, as it can sometimes get.  But it's been busy nonetheless.  And yes, I am still in my pyjamas at 5pm!  And just realized that I don't even remember if I brushed my teeth this morning...

Logan's ear infection came back again earlier this week.  And Chloé has been showing signs that she's following in Logan's footsteps and likely has reflux.  Complete with the wanting to be held 24/7.  Thankfully, she's at least a great sleeper at night (count it - 8 hours straight last night!!), so that makes it still manageable.  But nevertheless, with all of this going on, and the related doctors appointments and the like, the week has flown by and I haven't had a moment to sit down.

So I decided that yesterday would be an 'at home' day so that I could feel a bit renewed before the weekend.  That idea lasted about 10 minutes.  After dropping Logan at daycare, I decided to just pop by the grocery store to pick up some cilantro for this recipe, since I knew that I wanted to make this today.  Which somehow morphed into a full grocery load, a visit to Toys 'R Us, the health food store and a purchase of some gorgeous new winter boots that I am super excited about.  

And all of this by 11 a.m.

Whew!  And somehow my day of relaxation got hijacked, as by the time I'd put everything away and had lunch, it was already time to pick up Logan at daycare.  How is it that time seems to go by twice as fast once you have kids??   

Much like many women, I am afflicted by bite-off-more-than-I-can-chew-itis.  The severity of my condition varies over time, though I've gotten much better at managing my symptoms.  But it flares up every now and then.  Today it was out in full force.

This morning I found myself with this self-imposed mountain-high list of recipes I wanted to make this weekend, including this salad that I'm about to post here, raspberry truffle brownies, grilled cilantro shrimp skewers, another (no) cream of vegetable soup and some homemade granola bars that I will post shortly.  Clearly a case of bite-off-more-than-I-can-chew-itis when you have two kids under 20 months.  In my previous life, I would have been able to get all of this done before noon, throw in a 2 hour workout at the gym and still had the rest of the day to myself.  But with kids, its a whole different story.  Apparently, I'm still adjusting to new expectations of what you can actually accomplish in a day.

Hence why my kitchen now looks like this:

  At least my freezer is now stocked with soup for the week.

(No) cream of vegetable soup, simmering away

(No) cream of vegetable soup

In the end, I managed to finish all of the recipes.  And this salad was delicious at lunch.  And dinner.

And I still had enough time left to hang out lots with Logan and cuddle on the couch with Chloé.  So I guess that's all that matters.   

I got this recipe from the Oh She Glows blog.  My sister had tried a couple other recipes from this blog and said they were all good.  And though my intention was to try the same one Ash had first tried, I got side-tracked by this delicious-looking quinoa salad on Angela's blog. It actually reminds me a lot of my tabouleh salad.  I particularly love the red quinoa and the different coloured veggies, as it makes it all look so beautiful.  Perfect for entertaining or potlucks.
 
For the salad:

1 C uncooked red quinoa
1 (14 oz.) can black beans, drained and rinsed
 1 red pepper, chopped
1/4 C fresh cilantro, finely chopped
2 green onions, chopped
1 C fresh corn
1 small avocado, chopped into 1 inch pieces 

cooked red quinoa in the rice cooker

rinsed black beans and canned corn

chopped red pepper, avocado, green onions and cilantro

For the dressing:

4-5 tbsp. of fresh lime juice (juice from 2 small limes)
1/2 tsp. kosher salt, or to taste
1/2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
1 garlic clove, minced
1/4 C fresh cilantro, finely chopped
1/4 C extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 tsp. ground cumin, or more to taste

1.  Cook 1 cup red quinoa according to package directions (in my rice cooker, I use 2 C water for 1 C of quinoa).

2.  While quinoa is cooking, prepare the chopped vegetables and whisk together the dressing.

3.  Allow quinoa to cool after cooking for about 5 minutes.  Fluff with a fork.  Add the beans and vegetables and toss well.

4.  Drizzle dressing over salad and toss well with salt and pepper to taste.  Bring salad to room temperature before serving.  Keep fresh in a sealed container for 1-2 days.  

Makes about 5 cups.

Enjoy|

I love, love, loved the avocado in this salad and threw in 3 instead of 1.  Angela also suggested to only use fresh corn in the recipe, as she found the frozen corn she had used became rubbery.  I used canned corn and found it worked fine.

And on that note, I am off to enjoy a glass of my favourite wine.  Happy weekend everyone! 

Difficulty rating: easy

Watermelon Salad

My mom had this salad recently at a potluck and called me right away to give the recipe to me, because she loved it so much.  I made it this past weekend when my family was down.  It's a light, refreshing salad, nice on a hot summer day, such as those forecasted for the next few days. It only takes a few minutes to make, so it's a great recipe to make when entertaining.

watermelon
crumbled feta (I used light)
fresh basil
freshly ground pepper

1.  Using a melon baller, ball 1/4 to 1/2 of a watermelon.

2.  Crumble a handful of feta into the watermelon.

3.  Chop a small handful of the fresh basil finely and add to the salad.  Add only a bit at first, and then adjust for taste. 

4.  Sprinkle the salad with freshly ground pepper.  Mix the salad and then sprinkle with a bit more fresh pepper.

Grilled Potato Salad with Ceasar Dressing

 This is another of the salads that I made while my family was down this past weekend. It's quick and easy to make and I much prefer it to a traditional potato salad (which I have to admit, I don't really like).  I wouldn't add any salt at all to the potatoes, as the store-bought ceasar dressing and bacon (even though I bought low-sodium bacon) have more than enough and the salad ends up way too salty if you add even a bit of salt to the recipe.

24 small new potatoes, red or white
2 tbsp. olive oil
salt and freshly ground pepper
8 oz. cooked bacon, cut into pieces
2 green onions, thinly sliced
1/2 C ceasar salad dressing (I use Renée's light)
shaved fresh Parmesan cheese

1.  Place potatoes with skins on in a saucepan.  Cover with cold water.  Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes.  Drain well.

2.  Cut potatoes in half.  Place in a bowl.  Add olive oil and salt and pepper.  Toss to coat.  Place in a grill basket and grill over medium heat 15-20 minutes or until lightly browned, turning occasionally.  Alternatively, you can cook them in the oven at 450 degrees Farenheit for 35 minutes, turning once halfway through.



3.  Meanwhile, in a skillet, cook bacon until crisp.  Drain on paper towels and tear into pieces.

4.  Place potatoes in a bowl.  Add bacon, onions and ceasar dressing.  Toss to coat.  Add additional salt and pepper to taste.

5.  Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.

Broccoli Salad

5:30 yesterday morning and I can hear Logan's wailing rousing me to awareness... can't babies learn that anything before 6am (well heck, 7am!) is just too darned early???  It was 4:10 this morning...  I'm finding that since I've started back to work and he's in daycare, the early mornings are really getting to me.  Probably since I don't really get a chance to nap anymore, like I used to do with him every day.  At least when he was a newborn and then when I got pregnant again.  I can't wait until he is old enough to use my friend's technique of teaching him a 6 and showing him that he can't get out of bed until he sees a 6 on his clock. I am counting the days... months... oh God... please not years....

I guess one of the advantages of early mornings that wouldn't occur without a baby is that when your family is coming down for the weekend, you've had time to feed and dress your son, marinate the meat, make all of the salads and dessert and clean your kitchen... and all of this before it is even 8am.  How did I ever get things done before when I would sleep until 9 and then head to the gym until noon??  ;)

Anyhow, I've been making all sorts of recipes in the last little while, since we've been with friends and family lots on the weekends, enjoying the beautiful weather of summer. I just haven't yet had a chance to type them all up and post them.  But they will get here... Here's one to start you off though.

I decided to mostly make cold salads to go with our meals this weekend so that I didn't have the headache of trying to prepare dinner while at the same time entertaining and putting our little guy to bed. I haven't made this salad in quite awhile, but it's a nice summer salad.

1 bunch of broccoli (3 C)
1/2 C chopped red onion
1/4 C sunflower seeds
1/2 C raisins
1/2 C feta cheese or cottage cheese (I use light feta)

Dressing:
1/2 C plain yogurt
1/4 C mayonnaise (I use light)
2 tbsp. sugar
1 tbsp. lemon juice
salt and pepper to taste

Mix together dressing ingredients and pour over the salad.  Chill and enjoy.

Arugula Oven-Dried Tomato Salad

I've had a super, super, super lazy day... I've been sick all week and have had next to zero energy. Thank goodness it's a holiday here in Quebec, so Jerome is home and I was able to yet again spend much of my day on the couch. I slept until noon (well after getting up from 5:30-8:30 with Logan), then fell asleep again with Logan from 1-2:30. And I've spent much of my afternoon lying on the couch being lazy. So here was my only contribution to anything in the house today, as Jerome spent much of his day finishing painting the basement, installing lights, etc. 

You have to make this well in advance, as the tomatoes take a long time to cook. But the salad itself is super quick and easy to make. I usually use fresh parmesan on the salad, but I didn't have the energy to dig to the very bottom of my freezer to find some. So this time I just used the crappy store-bought powdered kind. But it's way better with real parmesan. I also didn't use plum tomatoes, as I only had vine tomatoes, but it worked out just as well. I think that the plum tomatoes are just less juicy, so probably a better choice if you have to go to the grocery store anyhow.

2 large bunches arugula, stems trimmed
1 C oven-dried tomatoes, cut into 1/4-inch slices
2 tbsp. olive oil
1 tbsp. balsamic vinegar
salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
1 oz. freshly grated parmigiano-reggiano cheese

1.  To make oven-dried tomatoes (use plum tomatoes): Preheat oven to 325 degrees Farenheit.  Cut tomatoes into wedges (quarters for small tomatoes and sixths for larger ones).  Arrange tomatoes on a baking sheet in a single layer.  Bake for 1 1/2 to 2 hours or until tomatoes are dried slightly but still soft to the touch.  Be careful not to overdry.  Remove from oven and allow to cool; cut tomatoes into 1/2-inch pieces.

2.  In a large bowl, gently toss together arugula, tomato slices, olive oil and balsamic vinegar.  Season with salt and pepper.  Place on salad plates.  Using a vegetable peeler, shave some cheese onto each plate.  Serve immediately.

Cucumber Mango Salad with Cilantro Lime Dressing

This is another wonderful salad from Brandi's great salad cookbook... that I do not know the name of, but need to buy so that I don't have to constantly bug her to give me her salad recipes every time I eat over there :)

The original recipe calls for macadamia nuts (I'm drooling writing this, thinking of our trip to Hawaii and the delicious macadamia nuts we ate there...). Brandi substituted toasted sunflower seeds, so I followed suit since I can't eat nuts right now. Though I did an even lazier version and didn't even bother toasting them (but I'm sure that makes it even better). I can't wait to try it with macadamia nuts as soon as I'm done breastfeeding though, as I think that combination sounds fantastic. I actually forgot to put the sunflower seeds in the second time I made it, so you won't see any in my picture, but they do make it better. I also substituted 1 tbsp. sesame oil and 1 tbsp. canola oil for the peanut oil, since I didn't have any. And as with all recipes calling for fresh coriander - don't leave it out!!

 

1 English cucumber (peel on), thinly sliced
1 cup of mango, chopped (Brandi has also used thawed frozen mango chunks and this works well - I happened to have a bunch of ripe mangoes on hand both times I've made it)
1/2 C macadamia nuts, toasted and finely chopped (or toasted sunflower seeds)

Dressing: 
 2 tbsp. lime juice
2 tbsp. peanut (or canola) oil
1 tbsp. finely chopped fresh cilantro
1 tbsp. sweet chili sauce (I used chili garlic sauce because that's what I had in my fridge)
1/2 tsp. dried crushed chilis
1/4 tsp. salt

Mix all dressing ingredients in a jar. Toss dressing into above cucumber, mango and nut mixture.

Creamy Maple Syrup Dressing

This is a simple, tasty homemade salad dressing. I have no idea where I found the recipe, but it's one of few salad dressings that both Jerome and myself like. I love oil and vinegar dressings, with tons of vinegar in them... my mouth is watering just from writing that. Yum! Jerome doesn't really like vinegar and prefers creamy dressings, which I'm not a huge fan of. This one is creamy but still has a bit of the tangy flavour to it that I like of a salad dressing.

1 C your favourite mayonnaise (I used Hellman's light)
1/2 C pure maple syrup
1/4 C apple cider vinegar

Mix all ingredients together thoroughly. Chill and serve with salad.

Mexican Burgers and Spinach Salad

Mexican Burgers

This first recipe comes from the cookbook Barbecue Party, which was a gift from my mother-in-law. You probably can't find it in Canada. This recipe is a nice twist on a classic burger. When I made it, I only used about 500g of beef, as that's all I had. And I used a can of kidney beans. I have no idea how close to 310g that is... but it worked.
 
750g medium ground beef
210g red kidney beans, rinsed and drained
4 green onions, chopped
2 hot red peppers, finely chopped
1 tsp. hot paprika (I just used regular, as I didn't have any hot)
1 tbsp. tomato paste (I usually open one and put the rest in the freezer for future use)
whole-wheat hamburger buns
 
1. Mix the beef, kidney beans, onions, hot peppers, paprika and tomato paste together in a bowl. Divide into 6 even parts and form into patties. (I crushed the kidney beans a bit before mixing them together, as we find the patties sometimes fall apart on the bbq and that this helps to keep them together better. I also got 7 patties out of 500g of beef, so I figure I'd get even a few more if I'd used the full 750g of beef. But I guess it depends on how big you like your burgers).



The burgers are then ready to grill on the bbq. They recommend serving it with guacamole on top, which is exactly what we did, as I randomly happened to have some in the fridge. Delicious...

 

The burgers are freezer-friendly once cooked.
 
Spinach Salad
 
The second recipe is one of my mom's and is a summer favourite. It's not quite as good now as it is in summer, when the fruit is ripe and local. But still yummy. I usually only make the almond topping when we're having people over for dinner. But my doctor has told me to avoid nuts while breastfeeding, due to my family history of nut allergies. So I made them tonight as a special treat, even though it was just my hubby and I, since I won't be able to make them over the summer. They only take a few minutes to make and are a fabulous way to top off the salad for guests.
 
I didn't have any cantaloupe and my kiwis weren't yet ripe enough, so I just used strawberries and mandarin oranges. But in the middle of summer, I use whatever fruit I have on hand, including blueberries, mangoes, etc.

Salad:
baby spinach
strawberries
kiwi
mandarine oranges
cantaloupe
 
Dressing:
2 tsp. dried onion
1/4 C Worcestershire sauce
1/4 C sugar
1/4 tsp. paprika
1/2 C canola oil
1/4 C raspberry vinegar
 
Almonds:



1/4 C almonds
1/4 C sugar
a knob of butter
2 tsp. water

1. Mix the ingredients for the sauce together and set aside. Do not pour over salad until you are ready to eat.

2. Cook the ingredients for the almonds over medium heat for 5 minutes, or until golden brown. Sprinkle over the salad.

Vietnamese Noodle Salad

In keeping with my Thai cravings, I've been digging through my recipes to find any recipes that are almost remotely Thai... and have decided that Vietnamese is close enough to Thai to serve my cravings. So I just whipped up a batch of this to take in our lunches this week.

This recipe was given to my by my Aunt Liz, though it is originally one of Bonnie Stern's recipes. This recipe is great for my family, as everyone can eat it - nut and wheat free. As such, it makes a great addition to family camping trips. When camping, we usually leave out the chicken, so that we don't have to be super concerned about the keeping of it in the cooler. Otherwise, I always add the chicken in for some protein.

1/2 lb. spaghettini or rice vermicelli
1 lb. cooked diced chicken
1 English cucumber, chopped
1 grated carrot
1 sweet red pepper, chopped
3 green onions
1/2 C fresh cilantro (as always, I don't recommend leaving this out)

Lemon Sesame Dressing:
1 garlic clove
1 tsp. minced ginger
3 tbsp. Thai fish sauce
2 tbsp. hoisin sauce
3 tbsp. lemon juice
3 tbsp. water
1 tbsp. hot Thai sauce or 1/2 tsp. hot chili paste
1 tbsp. sesame oil



You can find Thai fish sauce and hoisin sauce in the Asian section of well-stocked grocery stores. Otherwise, you can definitely find both in Asian specialty grocery stores.

If you make this in advance, toss it with dressing at the last minute. Garnish with peanuts and coriander if there are no allergies.

Brandi's Avocado Cranberry Salad

I have this recipe filed in my recipe book as 'Brandi's Salad', since it was given to me by my friend Brandi. She has a great collection of different excellent salad recipes that she's passed along to me over the years from a cookbook that she got a few Christmases back. The recipe is a bit different and the dressing is homemade, so it's nice to serve when having guests. It also takes only seconds to prepare. I just whipped up a batch for dinner a few seconds ago, since we had some avocados about to go bad in the fridge.

Brandi's Avocado Cranberry Salad

romaine lettuce
avocado
pumpkin seeds
dried cranberries

Dressing:
1/4 C seasoned rice vinegar
1/2 C olive oil
2 tbsp. mayonnaise
2 tsp. maple syrup

Using a good quality olive oil will make a big difference in this dressing. Costco has random companies in from time to time doing samples of their olive oils. Though they tend to cost at least double the price of the generic huge olive oil sold at Costco, it's well worth the investment. I always keep on hand both a good quality olive oil and the generic stuff and choose depending on the recipe I'm making (and whether or not there are guests over the show off to!).

French Onion Soup and Ceasar Salad

I made this for dinner last weekend. It is one of my favourite winter meals - classic comfort food. This is what we always have for Christmas Eve dinner with my family and we all love it. The soup recipe is my mom's and the salad recipe is my dad's. And both are delicious. So good, in fact, that I have rarely had either a French onion soup or ceasar salad as good as these two recipes when I eat in restaurants. Though you have to like both vinegar and garlic to enjoy the salad.

Mom's French Onion Soup

4 onions
3 cans of consomme soup
french bread
shredded mozzarella, cheddar and monteray jack

1. Cut up the onions and saute in 1/2 C of water for 25 minutes (bring the water to a boil and then simmer).
2. Add 3 cans of consomme soup and 2 cans of water and simmer for one hour.
3. Put toasted buttered bread in French onion soup bowl and add soup.
4. Top with mixture of cheeses and broil until cheese is melted.
   

Dad's Ceasar Salad Dressing

1 crushed garlic clove (I usually use considerably more)
1 egg yolk

Mix together and then stir in:

4 tbsp. olive oil

Progressively add, while stirring:

dash of tabasco/hot sauce
dash of Worcestershire sauce
1 tbsp. lemon juice
1 tbsp. red wine vinegar
3 tbsp. parmesan (or can mix in later with the lettuce)
freshly ground pepper to taste

Mix with romaine lettuce.

Optional:
croutons
bacon bits
additional parmesan

Date and Apple Sweet Bread, Chickpea Salad and Camping Apple Crisp

We spent the weekend at Oka Provincial Park with Heather, Bap, Liz, Darren and the boys this weekend. I brought along some muffins for breakfast. I got this recipe from the Vergers Lafrance a few years ago while apple picking there and it has been a favourite ever since.

Date and Apple Sweet Bread

· 1 tbsp. instant coffee granules
· 1 C boiling water
· 1 8-oz. pkg. of dates, chopped
· 2 ¼ C flour (I use kamut flour)
· 2 tsp. baking powder
· ½ tsp. baking soda
· ½ tsp. salt
· ¾ C lightly packed brown sugar (I reduce it to 2/3 C)
· 1 egg
· 1 C apples, peeled and grated
· ½ C chopped nuts
· ½ C raisins (optional)
· 2 tbsp. melted low-fat margarine



1. Dissolve the coffee in the boiling water. Pour over the dates and let sit.

2. Mix together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Add the brown sugar and mix well.

3. Beat together the egg, apples, nuts, raisins, margarine and the date and coffee mixture. Stir until well mixed. Pour into a 9 x 5 x 3 inch greased bread pan.

4. Cook at 350 degrees Farenheit for 60 to 70 minutes.

Freezer-friendly.

I usually make this as a bread, as the recipe indicates, but made it as muffins for the weekend, as I figured it would be less messy. I baked them for 25-30 minutes.

I also made the following salad for the weekend, which I got from my Aunt Liz a few years back. I often make this for a quick lunch. I typically make it with tomatoes and green onions, though both versions are good. I also put loads of garlic into it.

Chickpea Salad

1 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
120 g feta cheese, crumbled
1 sweet red pepper or 1 tomato, chopped
2 green onions or 1 red onion, sliced
1 clove garlic, minced
2 tbsp. lemon juice
1 tbsp. olive oil
¼ tsp. dried thyme
¼ tsp. each salt and pepper



1. Whisk dressing together and pour over lentils, feta, vegetables and garlic. You can optionally sprinkle fresh coriander over the salad.

The following recipe is one that I used to make in Girl Guides years ago and is still a camping favourite.

For a vegan version, omit the feta cheese.
 
Camping Apple Crisp

2 Dad’s oatmeal cookies
applesauce

1. Put a Dad’s cookie on a piece of foil, shiny side facing in. Place a few spoonfuls of applesauce on top of the cookie, and then top with a second cookie.

2. Place near the campfire, without being directly in the flames and cook for 10-20 minutes, depending on the intensity of the fire, flipping over to cook both sides evenly. It is ready to eat when the cookies have become soft. Eat warm with a spoon.

Tabouleh Salad

This recipe comes from Lyne at work from a potluck a few years back. As I've told her before, she's given me some of my favourite recipes. I miss working with her if only to steal great recipes off of her (just kidding Lyne!). I just made this for lunch and it is great and is a nice salad to bring camping.

I often make this with quinoa instead of bulgur to increase the protein content of it. I also tend to make it without the chicken (because I'm too lazy to actually cook any) and sometimes throw in a 2nd can of chickpeas depending on how much bulgur/quinoa I've made, as I usually end up with way more than the recipe called for. I'll also often toss in some diced peppers as well.

Tabouleh Salad

· 1 C bulgur (medium or coarse)
· 1 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
· 2 chicken breasts (optional)
· 2 tomatoes, seeded and chopped
· 1 C diced English cucumber
· 1 C minced fresh Italian parsley
· 1/2 C chopped green onions / red onion
· ¼ C chopped fresh mint

Dressing:
· ¼ C lemon juice
· 2 tbsp. olive oil
· 2 cloves garlic, minced
· 1 tsp. salt
· ½ tsp. pepper



1. In saucepan, bring 1 ¾ C water (or chicken broth) to boil; stir in bulgur. Reduce heat to low; cover and cook for 10 minutes or until no liquid remains. Transfer to large bowl, fluffing with fork. (For quinoa, you use a quantity of 2 parts water to 1 part grain).

2. Add chickpeas, tomatoes, cucumber, parlsey, onions and mint.

3. For the dressing, in a small bowl, whisk together lemon juice, oil, garlic, salt and pepper; pour over bulgur mixture and toss to combine.

Note: Use 1 lb. peeled and deveined grilled large shrimp instead of the chickpeas.

Makes 4 servings.