Quick Carrot and Raisin Salad

I think it's natural when starting a new year to think about changes you can make to your life to make it better. Whether they work or not is a whole different story. And while resolutions at this time of year are a dime a dozen, you won't find any of them here. Any lifestyle changes I'm making, I've been making for a couple months now. And really, they're personal. Sorry.

What I can share here, besides this really delicious Quick Carrot Slaw from Cooking Light, are some things to look forward to with this blog.

1: There will be a big exciting blog giveaway this month, just in time for my birthday. I'm pretty excited about it.

2: January will again be a celebration (for the most part) of my big love of vegetables. Yippee carrot salad! It's really good. I promise!

3: There will be much much more yeast bread here. I've been dabbling in it a little bit and haven't posted because I'm not changing the recipes at all. But as I get more confident in my bread baking I'll be sharing with you!

4: Perhaps you may remember me mentioning that Chester and Louise are in the freezer. While I am tremendously enjoying the pig and the lamb, the Brain informed me yesterday that we are getting 1/4 of a cow in the next two weeks. Sorry vegetarians, but I've got a hearty portion of pig and lamb to cook up to make room for the cow. and most likely there will be more meat going on. There still will be some vegetarian recipes sprinkled in though. Like this delicious carrot salad.

5: Yes, I'm in school for another semester and that means I'm going to continue to rely on the slow cooker. SO look for more easy to prepare meals for people on the go!

6: I still love legumes and Legume Wednesday will be continuing through 2009. Starting next week.

7: I have been really crappy at responding to comments and I'm going to try much harder to respond when you comment.

Yikes! That last one sounds like a resolution so I'm going to stop here. Have some carrot salad.

Quick Carrot and Raisin Salad
adapted from Cooking Light
Yield 4 servings

1/3 cup raisins
1/2 small red onion, minced
2 Tbsp finely chopped fresh parsley
1 1/2 tablespoons sliced almonds
1 pound matchstick-cut carrots
3 tablespoons fat-free mayonnaise
juice of 1 lemon
1 1/2 teaspoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3 cloves garlic, minced

Combine the first 5 ingredients in a large bowl.

Combine mayonnaise and remaining ingredients in a small bowl, stirring with a whisk. Spoon dressing over carrot mixture; toss gently to coat. Cover and chill at least 30 minutes.

Chickpea Salad with Parsley, Lemon and Sun-Dried Tomatoes

OK, so Legume Wednesday is happening on Thursday this week. I have a good excuse for being late though. I got two days off and realized that if I didn't zip up to Michigan to visit some friends and family, then I wouldn't get to see them until after the school semester ended. I'll be in school Monday through Friday and I rarely get a weekend off from frying donuts.

I figure that you don't want to hear about the 6 loaves of bread I brought back from Zingerman's, or how much fun I had sampling cheeses at Morgan and York. How the Queen Geek and I hung out together, or how delicious lunch at Sweet Lorraine's was with my best friend T and her son. And really, did you want a play by play of my stay at my mom's house? I've seen their new vegetable garden they're putting in next year and it looks pretty big. And their cats are crazy as always.

But I'm totally off subject. Let me tell you about tonight's legume dish, Chickpea Salad with Parsley, Lemon, and Sun-Dried Tomatoes. I have to admit, when I woke up today it was with a little bit of dread because I had no idea what I was going to post on today. The day started to wear on and my mind kept running because I just was drawing a complete blank on bean dishes. Finally, I sat down with my Bon Appetit cookbook. I knew I wanted a salad. I knew it couldn't involve dried beans because it was already noon. And I wanted something different and tasty. Yowza did I get it! This chickpea salad has the strong sun-dried tomato flavor balanced by some pungent cumin oil and mellowed by the coolness of the cucumber and zing of the lemon juice. It's served at room temperature and with no mayonnaise it would be perfect for a barbecue or a picnic. I think this salad makes a lovely lunch all by itself.

Chickpea Salad with Parsley, Lemon, and Sun-Dried Tomatoes

from Bon Appetit

1/4 cup olive oil

1 Tbsp cumin seeds

2 15oz. cans garbanzo beans rinsed and drained

1 cucumber, seeded and chopped

1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley

1/3 cup drained oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes, thinly sliced

1/4 cup fresh lemon juice

1 garlic clove, crushed in a garlic press

1/4 tsp dried crushed red pepper

Combine oil and cumin seeds in heavy small saucepan. Cook over medium heat 5 minutes to blend flavors, stirring occasionally. Cool completely.

Combine remaining ingredients in large bowl. Add cumin oil and toss to blend. Season salad to taste with salt and pepper. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover and refrigerate. Bring to room temperature before serving.)

Black Bean, Corn and Cabbage Salad

I know you were probably shocked last Wednesday that I had posted about a cake. Well, okay, you probably weren't shocked when you realized that 70 billion other people posted very similar versions of the same cake. It was Daring Baker Day and thus Legume Wednesday was on hiatus. But never fear, Legume Wednesday is still going strong. I haven't managed to tire of legumes yet and I'm still finding interesting recipes to post about.
Tonight's recipe is for a common summer salad of corn and black beans. I've been making and eating this salad for years. And when I saw that Grace over at A Southern Grace was having a Beat the Heat Event (deadline is the 9th so you still have a little bit of time), I knew it was time to post this lovely and delicious salad. Mine does have a little twist in that there's some shredded red cabbage in it. I find it soaks up the lime juice nicely and provides some good crunch. The red cabbage twist actually was inspired by this recipe over at Eating Well.

This salad is high in fiber and potassium and it's fairly calorie dense, so it's really good for you. It's also slightly addictive, so you may want to go into another room and do something else while you're waiting for the flavors to blend. Like grill a pork chop or something. Although that shouldn't take an hour.

Black Bean, Corn, and Cabbage Salad
inspired by Eating Well

2 cups frozen corn kernels
2 (15oz) cans black beans, rinsed and drained
2 cups shredded red cabbage
1 cup diced tomatoes
3 large scallions sliced
Juice of 2 limes
2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

Combine all ingredients in a bowl. Let stand for 1 hour so that corn thaws and flavors meld. Serve cold.

Cherry Tomato and Lemon Salad

So. It's still hot. And we'll continue on with trying not to turn on the oven. So tonight, I'm still trying to eat up some of the many vegetables crowding my fridge. I've been playing on the Internet rather than solely relying on Vegetables Every Day and Serving Up the Harvest. I found this interesting looking Cherry Tomato and Lemon Salad that was first displayed in Gourmet Magazine May 2005.

Unfortunately, I didn't get to my cherry tomatoes soon enough and about half of them were bad. So my little salad was a little bit light on the tomatoey goodness. But overall it was excellent. I don't really know how to explain the flavor sensation. It was tangy and zesty and a party in my mouth. The tomatoes didn't really taste like tomatoes. They were nice and sweet and mild. I really really like this salad. It was so quick and easy to make. Of course it would be a little less painful if I didn't somehow have tiny little cuts on all my fingers. Lemon juice and cuts are not a good blend.

Cherry Tomato and Lemon Salad

from Gourmet Magazine

2 large lemons

1 Tbsp sugar

1 lb cherry tomatoes cut in half

3 Tbsp chopped fresh chives

2 tsp extra virgin olive oil

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp black pepper

Finely grate enough zest from 1 lemon to measure 2 teaspoons. Trim ends of both lemons, then stand lemons on a cut side and cut peel, including all white pith, from lemons with a sharp paring knife (discard peel). Cut segments free from membranes, then cut segments crosswise into 1/4-inch pieces. Toss lemon segments gently with sugar in a bowl.

Stir in remaining ingredients and zest, then let stand, covered, at room temperature 15 minutes (to allow flavors to develop).

Fennel, Apple and Pecan Salad

A couple months ago, I asked my mom why she had never introduced us to fennel when we were kids. I told her I felt like I missed out because I only recently discovered it. At this point my mom confessed she'd never heard of it when we were kids. It was a sad moment, thinking of all those fennel recipes I'd missed out on tasting.

Always one to make up for missed opportunities, while leafing through my new cookbook Serving Up the Harvest, I noticed that fennel was one of the vegetables she highlights. Sure fennel is a mid- to late- summer vegetable. And the only place around I can get it is at the Meijer's in the next county. Still I was bound and determined I was going to try at least one of the fennel recipes in my new book. The heat seems to have broken around here, but the humidity is still killer, so I decided to go with the Fennel, Apple, and Pecan Salad. No cooking required.

This sweetness of the fennel plays against the tang of the buttermilk and the sour of the apple just perfectly. It's crunchy. It's cool. The toasted pecans really add some interesting accents to the texture and flavor. And frankly, it's kind of pretty. I like to think of it as a fennel slaw almost. It would go great with barbecue. I cut my fennel and apple small so that I could get bites that were fennel, pecan and apple all at the same time. And I'm glad I did.

Fennel, Apple, and Pecan Salad
from Serving Up the Harvest by Andrea Chesman

1/3 cup buttermilk
2 scallions, white and light green parts only, minced
2 Tbsp olive oil
2 Tbsp cider vinegar
salt and freshly cracked black pepper to taste
2 fennel bulbs, trimmed, cut into quarters, and thinly sliced
2 apples, quartered, cored, and thinly sliced
1 cup pecans, toasted
Chopped fennel fronds to garnish

To make the dressing, whisk together the buttermilk, scallions, oil, vinegar, and salt and pepper to taste in a small bowl.
Combine the fennel, apples, and pecans in a large bowl. Toss to mix. Pour in the dressing. Taste and adjust the seasonings. Garnish with the fennel fronds and serve.

Grilled Zucchini Feta Salad

With the current summer heat, my kitchen now stays at a constant 83°F. This makes me really averse to turning on the stove or the oven. For several days now I have existed on "man food". Food that makes the Brain happy. Things like lunch meat sandwiches, ordered in pizza, and Tostino's Pizza Rolls. The Brain may love food like this, but I'm craving vegetables. SO as I lay sweating on the couch, hooked up to my home electric stim unit, after yet another dismal Dr's appointment, I decided that I needed to somehow find a way of cooking the zucchini on my counter.

This particular zucchini came from my garden. Which is now completely overgrown with weeds. Ugh. This particular zucchini was also mighty delicious. While I washed the remaining Daring Baker dishes (geez there were a lot), I let the sliced up zucchini marinate in some olive oil and garlic. Then I threaded them on to skewers and grilled them until I felt they were done. Add a sprinkle of feta, a splash of red wine vinegar, some kosher salt, and some fresh cracked black pepper and I'm not unhappy to know there are two more big zucchini waiting for me to eat them. And my house didn't get any warmer than it already is!

Grilled Zucchini and Feta Salad

an original Shazam recipe

1 large zucchini

2 Tbsp olive oil

1 Tbsp minced garlic

kosher salt

fresh cracked black pepper

1 Tbsp red wine vinegar

2 Tbsp crumbled feta

Slice the zucchini into 1/2 inch slices. If the diameter of the zucchini is more than an inch and a half you may want to cut the zucchini into half moons or smaller sized chunks. Let marinate for 30 minutes. Then thread the zucchini onto skewers, as many skewers as needed. Grill over high heat until grill marks appear on zucchini and squash is softened. Pull zucchini off skewers onto a plate. Drizzle with red wine vinegar and sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste. Add crumbled feta cheese and enjoy warm.

Kidney Bean Salad

Once upon a time when I was in college, I had a very bad breakup with a boyfriend who happened to be a raging alcoholic. I quit my bartending job, and moved home to my mom's house where I promptly decided to clean up my life. I quit drinking completely and I became a vegetarian. It lasted about 3 months. I discovered that I can't do soy and that makes vegetarianism difficult, and just because he was an alcoholic didn't mean that I was.

During that brief period of vegetarianism, my mom made me this delicious kidney bean salad which was passed down from her mom. It's super easy and I had to call my mom today to get the recipe (becaues, yes, it's Legume Wednesday!) I just couldn't bear to cook anything in the oven and the stove after slaving all day on the July Daring Baker Challenge. In fact, the Brain and I are ordering pizza in tonight. We're celebrating that I passed my math test. Woohoo!

But I digress. This lovely kidney bean salad is cool and refreshing. When my mom made it for me I knew it wasn't super duper healthy, but I also knew I was getting protein from the beans and it wasn't going to make me sick like the tofu, soy milk and vegetable protein stuff was. And best of all, it can be made from pantry items. Although truth be told, I didn't have any sweet pickles in the house, so I just substituted a couple spoonfulls of sweet relish. Delicious.

Kidney Bean Salad

from Grandma Shazam

1 (15oz.) can light red kidney beans, drained

2 stalks celery thinly sliced

several sweet pickles, chopped (to taste)

a little less than 1/2 cup Miracle Whip

Mix everything together in a bowl. Chill well, and serve.

Greek Week Day 2: Tomato Salad

When I was planning the menu for this week I thought I would make the Summer Salad (Kalokerini Salata). But then I realized that it was very similar to the Greek Salad I posted here. Right down to the lack of lettuce. So I was all set to make it anyway, somewhat half-heartedly, but then I looked at the recipe below the Summer Salad. It was for a Tomato Salad, Domatosalata. And it was mighty refreshing.

I happen to have some fresh oregano growing in my garden and it added a beautiful herby flavor to the juicy tomatoes and crunchy onions. I didn't let the salad marinate for an hour because we were hungry and I'd spent the majority of the afternoon dealing with the latest tantrum of Wilma the Knee. Wilma the Knee is starting to be a real downer. So even without the time spent letting the flavors mingle this is a light and excellent salad. I will be making it again when my tomatoes ripen in the garden. Or really whenever it's a hot muggy day like today and I want a salad.

Incidentally, The Complete Book of Greek Cooking, states that "olive oil is used as a dressing on both vegetables and salad green. It is combined with either lemon or vinegar. Fresh herbs, mainly dill, mint, and oregano, are often used in salads and dressings." See? This book not only has fabulous recipes, it also provides an insight into traditional Greek cooking.

Tomato Salad (Domatosalata)

Straight from The Complete Book of Greek Cooking (because I'm learning about Greek food and I'm not quite at the stage where I'll be experimenting with it yet.)

2 medium onions

1 Tbsp salt

5 to 6 tomatoes

2 tsp torn fresh oregano leaves

1/4 cup olive oil

salt to taste

Cut onions in half and slice thin lengthwise. Sprinkle slices with 1 Tbsp salt, cover with cold water, and soak for 5 minutes. Drain.

Cut tomatoes into small pieces. Add onion slices, oregano, olive oil and salt. Toss lightly. Let salad marinate at least 1 hour before serving.

Buffalo Chicken Salad

It is hot. Any piece of exposed skin sticks to anything it touches. Any skin not exposed is getting kinda sweaty. Lately the whole motive when planning dinner is minimizing the amount of time adding to the already sweltering temperatures inside the house. Partly this is my fault. I've been so far successful in keeping the air conditioning unit out of the window. You know keeping our energy usage down and being green and all that crap. Besides, this third day of weather over 90 degrees is just a heat wave. It's supposed to end tonight. Or tomorrow morning. Call me an optimist.

So today's effort to make dinner without resorting to raw food, or peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, is a delicious Buffalo Chicken Salad. Total cooking time is about 6 minutes of broiling. It also involved opening and closing the fridge a bunch of times. So I think it evens right out. And it was very healthy and delicious to boot!
Now if we could just get these thunderstorms that are looming on the horizon to cut the humidity. Then things would be just fine.

Buffalo Chicken Salad
adapted from Ellie Krieger and the Food Network

2 (8ounce) boneless, skinless, chicken breast halves
3 Tbsp Frank's Hot Sauce
2 tsp olive oil
2 hearts Romaine, cut into 1-inch strips (about 8 cups)
2 celery stalks, thinly sliced
2 carrots, coarsely grated
2 scallions, green part only, sliced
1/2 cup Blue Cheese Dressing (recipe follows)

Preheat the broiler. Thinly slice the chicken and toss in a large bowl with the hot sauce and oil until the chicken is well coated. Arrange the chicken on a baking sheet and broil until it is cooked through, about 6 minutes.In a large bowl, combine the Romaine, celery, shredded carrots and scallions. Divide the greens between 4 plates. Top with chicken and serve with Blue Cheese Dressing and more hot sauce

Blue Cheese Dressing

2 Tbsp Hellman's Canola mayonnaise
1/4 cup low fat buttermilk
1/4 cup plain fat free yogurt
1 Tbsp white vinegar
1/2 tsp sugar
1/3 cup crumbled blue cheese
salt and ground pepper

Fold a full sheet of paper towel into quarters and put it into a small bowl. Spoon the yogurt onto the paper towel and place in the refrigerator for 20 minutes to drain and thicken. In a medium bowl, whisk the buttermilk and thickened yogurt into the mayonnaise until smooth. Add the vinegar and sugar and continue to whisk until all the ingredients are well combined. Stir in the blue cheese and season, to taste, with salt and pepper.

Beet and Beer Salad

So, in case you haven't noticed (like the Brain) that I've been on a teensy bit of a bender this week. This week has been all about beer. But why? Why not really. Well actually there are a couple reasons.

First, it's the week leading up to St. Patrick's Day, and while that may seem like a good enough reason, Emeline over at Sugar Plum is hosting a fabulous Pub Crawl blog event.

Second, I'm Catholic so drinking is definitely not forbidden. It's what we do. Heck it's almost encouraged. Come to Church and have some wine with us. (As a side note, this is not technically the case, Catholic doctrine says that the wine through a miracle becomes the blood of Christ so it's not actually wine anymore.) One could extrapolate that if wine is OK then beer must also be OK.

Third, beer tastes really good. And when I was searching for something for Emeline's blog event I found a whole bunch of delicious recipes I wanted to try.

So why am I submitting tonight's recipe for the Pub Crawl? Well, it's damass good. I mean really surprisingly beerily delicious. Beer and beets. Who would have thought. And it's also really original. Although it's not very original of me to submit it being that I took inspiration from a recipe on Bon Appetit. Really, although I really really liked all of the beer recipes so far, I think this one is so unexpected and almost healthy (really- go to epicurious.com and check out the nutrition info) that I like it the best. Maybe it's been a while since I've had a fresh vegetable and I was craving them. Even the Brain, who doesn't care for beets, ate his whole salad up. That says something.

Of course you could probably slather a brick in beer, bacon, and feta and I'd eat it all up.

Warm Beet and Beer Salad

Inspired by Bon Appetit

3 beets, peeled and cut into thick wedges

3 thick cut bacon slices

1/2 large onion sliced thinly

1/4 cup balsamic vinegar

1 Tbsp packed brown sugar

1 tsp anise seed

1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese

3 cups spring mix salad blend

Cook beets in boiling salted water until tender, approximately 12 minutes. Drain.

Meanwhile saute bacon in a large skillet over medium high heat until crisp. Transfer bacon to a paper towel lined plate to drain and cool. Once cool, crumble the bacon. Drain off all but 1 tablespoon bacon fat from the skillet and add onions and saute for about 3 minutes or until they start to caramelize. Add the beer, vinegar, sugar, and anise seed and cook for 5 minutes. Add the beets and cook for 5 more minutes until the dressing is reduced and thick.

Spread the salad blend over two plates. Heap the warm beet and onion mixture on top of the salad mix. Sprinkle the crumbled bacon and feta on top and serve immediately.

Carrot Salad with Lemon Walnut Vinaigrette

We are expecting yet more snow. Somewhere around 8 to 14 inches of snow is predicted. It's just downright depressing. The Meijer's was packed full of people stocking up before the storm when I went grocery shopping today. I have to admit I was stocking up too. But I was only stocking up until the big doctor's appointment next Friday. I also went to the library and although I discovered that it has a larger cookbook section than the local Borders, it took me almost 2 hours to find 5 books to check out. I was careful, just in case, to pick books that I can renew for 3 weeks at a time, so that IF I have to be off my feet I'll have something to read. I've also learned that I need to alphabetize my book list by author and genre (fiction, nonfiction, etc.) because either I was looking in the wrong places or my book list is highly obscure. I'd love it if you could recommend a good book to add to my reading list.

So by the time I got home, I was cranky and developing a headache. I wanted something to eat that wasn't a lot of hassle, yet tasted good. I started some soup. While the soup was cooking (for 30 minutes, but at that point it seemed like forever), I made this wonderful perky salad. Yes, I called it perky. Try it, you'll see what I mean.

The hardest part about the salad was shredding the 2 whole carrots. But even that I did on the box grater instead of the Cuisinart. We don't have a dishwasher and it was a cleanup issue. So once the carrots were shredded, bing bang boom, I mixed up the vinaigrette and it was done. And it was good. The mustard and lemon and walnut oil created a surprisingly happy combination. To quote one of the actress guest judges on the original Iron Chef "Hee hee hee hee. It tastes like a party in my mouth. hee hee hee hee."

Carrots in Lemon-Walnut Vinaigrette

from Healthy Cooking For Two (Or Just You!)

1 Tbsp lemon juice

1/2 tsp Dijon mustard

2 tsp walnut oil

1 1/2 cups coarsely grated carrots

Salt and pepper to taste

In a small bowl, whisk together the lemon juice and mustard until blended; then gradually whisk in oil.

Add the carrots and toss well. Taste the salad and season it with salt and pepper as needed.

Per Serving: 78 calories, 4.7g total fat, 0.4g saturated fat, 0mg cholesterol, 32mg sodium, 0.9g protein, 9.1g carbohydrates, 2.7g dietary fiber.

If you have a nut allergy, you can substitute canola oil for the walnut oil.

Spicy Bell Pepper Salad

Sometimes when I go to the grocery store things aren't on my list and I know that I'll need them for recipes I've planned to cook through the week. These are the staples. Things like carrots, potatoes and peppers. You would think that I would remember whether or I have these things or not, but remember, I've run out of flour without knowing it before. Sometimes I think I don't have them at home and I end up with enormous excesses of them. Remember the 10 pounds of carrots? And sometimes I forget that I don't have them at home. I did this with potatoes this week. It's hard to make a potato dish without potatoes. Unfortunately, instead of those potatoes I grabbed peppers. Close, but no cigar. Suddenly I had 6 bell peppers of assorted colors in the fridge. And really I'm not eating 3 days of stuffed peppers. I like them, but that's too many days in a week.

I could repeat the chocolate bell pepper salad, but it's been cold outside and sleeting and generally yucky and I wanted something cooked. My mind has officially drifted to wishing it was spring. This of course was not helped by the fluke sunny 50 degree morning we had on Monday. Now I want to plant my garden and grill on the BBQ (which currently is under a healthy layer of sleet).

And this salad would go great with BBQ. It's the Spicy Bell Pepper Salad courtesy of Bon Appetit. It's not really too spicy. The spicy actually brings out the sweetness of the peppers. I'm sure it would be better with fresh dill, but my dill plant is also under a nice covering of sleet and has been dead for a long time. I used dried dill and it worked pretty well, although the fresh dill would be prettier. I'd like to try it next time with fresh. And yeah, there will be a next time. With a nice grilled steak. or chicken. and a beer. mmmmmmmm.

Spicy Bell Pepper Salad

from Bon Appetit

1 1/2 tsp caraway seeds

2 Tbsp olive oil

1/2 tsp dried crushed pepper

1 red bell pepper, cut into 1/3 inch thick rings

1 green bell pepper, cut into 1/3 inch thick rings

1 yellow bell pepper, cut into 1/3 inch thick rings

1 medium onion, cut into 1/4 inch thick rounds, separated into rings

1 lemon

2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced

2 Tbsp dried dill or 1/4 cup fresh

Peel lemon with potato peeler so that you have wide strips of the zest (no white parts).

Toast caraway seeds in large skillet over medium high heat until fragrant, about 1 minute. Stir in oil and crushed red pepper. Add all of the peppers, onion rings, lemon peel, and the garlic slices. Saute until all of the vegetables are crisp tender, about 7 minutes.

Transfer pepper mixture to a bowl, mix in dill and cool. (Here you can remove the lemon peel, but I found it added a really interesting and cooling dimension to the dish.) Juice the lemon and mix it in with the salad and season with salt and pepper to taste.

Hooray it's my 100th post!

If Only the BBQ wasn't buried in snow...

After yesterday's oh so decadent chocolate sandwiches that left me sitting around bloated and overstuffed with a happy smile on my face, today is the triumphant return of vegetables! I return to vegetables with perhaps one of the healthiest. Cabbage. Both red and white cabbage too. Double whammy!

Cabbage is a great source of Vitamin C. It's also high in manganese, dietary fiber, folate and vitamin B6. Cabbage is one of those worldwide vegetables. It can be found all over Europe, it's used in cuisines from India and the Orient. It can be eaten boiled, fermented, sauteed, or even raw. Like I did.

I wanted to make a red and green cabbage coleslaw. I guess I just thought it would be pretty. That and Val over at More Than Burnt Toast keeps posting recipes to BBQ. Our BBQ keeps getting snowed in. How weird is it that we have more snow in February than in January? Very odd if you ask me. All this BBQ posting has me in a picnic sort of mood. So I hunted around and found this recipe on Epicurious that I sort of used as my inspiration.

Although I kept having to switch bowls to get one big enough to accommodate the entire salad, it was a fairly easy recipe to make. I personally found it easier to just cut up the cabbage by hand than to use the food processor and spend so much time cleaning it. But I'm sure the food processor would work for this too. The result was this lavish and colorful salad that is super super tasty. It would go great with a burger. Or if you're a vegetable nut like me, a heaping helping is a satisfying lunch!

And since it only used half a head of red cabbage and half a head of green cabbage, expect more cabbage recipes in the very near future. Cabbage starts to lose its vitamin C quickly after being cut.

Multicolored Cabbage Slaw

inspired by Bon Appetit

3 Tbsp rice vinegar

2 Tbsp vegetable oil

1 Tbsp sesame oil

2 Tbsp creamy peanut butter

1 Tbsp soy sauce

2 Tbsp packed brown sugar

2 large cloves garlic, minced

1 Tbsp minced ginger

1/2 medium head of red cabbage thinly sliced

1/2 small head of green cabbage thinly sliced

1/2 yellow bell pepper cut into thin strips

1/2 red bell pepper cut into thin strips

1 cup precut matchstick carrots strips

4 green onions thinly sliced (green and white parts)

1/2 cup chopped cilantro

1 Tbsp sesame seeds

In a small bowl mix together vinegar, oils, peanut butter, soy sauce, sugar, ginger, and garlic until combined.

Combine cabbages, peppers, carrots, onions, cilantro and sesame seeds in a very large bowl. Add dressing and toss to coat.

Creamy Peanut Dressing

Sometimes, when I have a bad morning, like this morning where I discover that the soup I had planned for lunch got mysteriously fizzy over the weekend. This morning, I also discovered that last night I had stepped in doggy doodoo in my favorite running shoes. I also managed to slip on some ice on the way to work, went flying and landed in a mud puddle. So by 9am I was muddy, had no lunch, had smelly shoes, and a big blue bruise on my big behind. I did what any other red blooded American woman would do. I came home and ate a bunch of Girl Scout Cookies.

The day managed to get better, but bearing in mind my one thousand calorie breakfast I needed something light for dinner. I also had to work mostly in the constraints of what's in the fridge and pantry because remember I was away all weekend? I haven't done my grocery shopping for the week yet. SO I consulted the Healthy Cooking for Two cookbook and found a Creamy Peanut Dressing for salad. I chopped up some romaine lettuce, a little red pepper, a little yellow pepper, a couple radishes, about half a can of water chestnuts, a slice of onion and added some sliced mushrooms. Behold! I made an Asian chopped salad of sorts. I didn't measure any of the salad ingredients, but you get the idea. It was very very tasty and I'm starting to feel super healthy.

Now I can have some of my chocolate for dessert....

Creamy Peanut Dressing

from Healthy Cooking for Two (or Just You)

2 servings

1/4 cup nonfat plain yogurt

4 tsp creamy peanut butter

2 tsp lemon juice

Thai garlic chili sauce

soy sauce

In a small bowl using a small whisk, blend the yogurt with the peanut butter and lemon juice until smooth. Stir in Thai garlic chili sauce and soy sauce to taste.

Nutrition Information Per Serving: 79 calories, 5.3g total fat, 1g saturated fat, 1 mg cholesterol, 74 mg sodium, 4.3g protein, 4.9g carbohydrates, .7g dietary fiber.

Cacao Nib Vinaigrette and Bell Pepper Salad

Chocolate has long been seen to have a calming effect on women everywhere. When my mom went back to work all the younger men knew to bring her a piece of chocolate. Every day. They also called her "Your Highness", but don't ask me how that got started. They're engineers. What can I say?

When the Brain hurt himself, (he's hanging in there and appreciates all the good wishes), I went to the grocery store and stocked up on chips and Chef Boyardee and the various "boy" foods that he likes. I also stocked up on 2 bars of Ghirardelli chocolate, a bar of Hershey Cacao Reserve dark chocolate with nibs, and a Dagoba Xocolatl bar. I knew that at some point in the 3-6 weeks it will take for him to be more comfortable and 8-12 weeks for the pain to go away that I will need some chocolate.

Chocolate has also long been considered an aphrodisiac. The Aztecs thought it invigorated men and made women less inhibited. Chocolate contains Phenylethylamine and Seratonin which both make you feel happy. They cause rapid mood change, a rise in blood pressure, increased heart rate and an energy boost. Wheeee. Perfect for some hanky panky.

Chris at Mele Cotte is hosting a blog event about aphrodisiacs used in appetizers, side items or dinner dish to celebrate Valentine's Day. And I'm coming in right under the wire with only 2 hours left until the deadline. I've heavily borrowed from a couple recipes in The Essence of Chocolate by John Scharffenberger and Robert Steinberg (which is an unbelievably cool book that explains all about chocolate making and the cacao plant and has some gorgeous photos), to come up with a Cacao Nib Vinaigrette. Then because I figured salad dressing isn't really a side item, appetizer, or dinner dish, I made a yellow bell pepper salad. A really easy yellow bell pepper salad. And although this salad and vinaigrette won't necessarily make you rip your clothes off, it's pretty tasty.

And where did I get Cacao Nibs? Why I got them on a trip up to Ann Arbor at Morgan and York, one of my favorite places to shop while I'm there. I've heard they are also available at gourmet shops from Scharffen Berger. But we don't have any gourmet shops in this county.

Cacao Nib Vinaigrette

adapted from The Essence of Chocolate

5 scallions sliced thin

2 Tbsp balsamic vinegar

1 1/2 tsp cacao nibs, coarsley chopped

1/2 cup olive oil

Mix the scallions and balsamic vinegar and let sit for 15 minutes. Stir in cacao nibs and then slowly whisk in olive oil. Makes 3/4 cup.

Yellow Bell Pepper Salad

1 yellow bell pepper

2 Tbsp Cacao Nib Vinaigrette

Salt and freshly cracked pepper

Slice the yellow bell pepper into thin stips. Toss with vinaigrette. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

I told you it was easy.

Jicama and Carrot Salad

My friend S came down to visit this weekend. When I first met S she had no interest in cooking. We'd go to the gym and work out for hours, remember I was a gym rat, and I'd tell her about whatever new recipe I was eager to try and she would tell me about the new frozen dinners on the market and which ones tasted best. So fast forward several years and S married P. P is a very particular cook. It's not a bad thing. He likes things to be just so. P is rubbing off on S.

S is now interested in cooking. Yay! She's getting pretty good at it too. So while S was visiting, after we did things like eat at the Mexican restaurant in town and drive the 50 miles to the fancy shopping center and Trader Joes, we ended up at Meijers buying things to make dinner with. S turned to me and let me know that she had discovered Jicama.

Jicama is the tuberous root of a vine native to Central America and Mexico. It's kind of an ugly root, but once you peel the skin and make sure to get the top 1/8 of an inch too, the inside is a lovely off white. Jicama is very crunchy and has a taste sort of like a cross between an apple and a turnip. Jicama stores its carbohydrates as dietary fiber in the form of inulin. Yes that's the same stuff as in Jerusalem artichokes. But not to worry, jicama doesn't have those malodorous side effects! Jicama is actually mostly water and is pretty porous so it soaks up whatever dressing you put on it. It is pretty much always eaten raw. Oh and for as tasty as the jicama root is, don't eat the vine attached to the root. It's poisonous.

S and I picked a jicama at Meijers, but we got so involved making a pasta sauce and stuffing ourselves with Zingermann's bread and baking cupcakes, that we didn't get around to making a salad. So today's salad is for S. It's again from my Vegetables Every Day book. I know. I know. I keep picking recipes out of this book. But seriously, I've barely scratched the surface. And if I'm making all these tasty recipes shouldn't you go get it and try some tasty recipes of your own? I'm not going to post them all you know. And as expected, the book did not disappoint. This salad is light and tasty and delicious. I really like the sesame-ginger vinaigrette and the crunch of the jicama.

Jicama and Carrot Salad with Ginger-Sesame Vinaigrette

from Vegetables Every Day by Jack Bishop

2 Tbsp rice vinegar

1 Tbsp soy sauce

2 tsp grated fresh gingerroot

1 Tbsp canola oil

2 tsp dark sesame oil

Freshly ground black pepper

1 large jicama, peeled and julienned

1 large carrot, peeled and shredded on the large holes of a box grater

2 medium scallions sliced thin

Whisk the vinegar, soy sauce, ginger, and oils together in a small bowl. Season with black pepper to taste.

Place the jicama, carrot and scallions in a bowl. Drizzle the dressing over the vegetables and toss. Serve immediately or refrigerate for up to 4 hours.

Arugula Salad

Tonight, the Brain has alternate plans for dinner. And I think I've maxed out the potential for bacon in vegetables. Well at least for right now. After so many delicious and yet mildly not so great for my figure vegetables, I've decided to switch directions and do a healthy arugula salad.

We grew arugula last summer. And no, this is most definitely not made from that arugula. But the Brain and I both liked the peppery taste of arugula better than both the spinach and the leaf lettuce we grew. So this summer we'll be planting more arugula. Arugula is also known as rocket, roquette, rugula and rucola. It's very low in calories and high in Vitamins A and C. Interestingly, Arugula is also an aphrodisiac. So this salad might be lovely to split between you and your honey on Valentine's day. If you believe in that kind of stuff anyway. Personally, I think it's a bunch of hooey. What makes February 14th so special anyway. I'd serve this to the Brain any day.

So how did I get arugula in Nowhere, Ohio? Easy. I drove approximately 50 miles to Trader Joe's. I didn't drive there specifically for arugula. I was driving up there anyway, decided to go to Trader Joe's and LO! There was arugula. I may have squealed when I found it. I'm easily excitable. The salad is terrific and peppery with creamy bites of goat cheese and cool slices of crisp apple. It goes perfectly with my Martha Stewart for Costco Crimini Mushroom Soup with Sherry. Yes, Costco is nearby to Trader Joe's. It was a big trip to the city for me!

Arugula Salad

2 cups arugula (packed)

1/2 tsp lemon juice

1/2 Tbsp walnut oil

1 oz fresh goat cheese

1 firm Gala apple

salt and pepper to taste

Toss arugula, lemon juice, and salt and pepper together in small bowl. Move to plate(s). Drizzle with walnut oil. Sprinkle crumbled goat cheese on top. Slice apple and place neatly alongside salad.

Red Cabbage Salad

So I turned to my trusty Vegetables Every Day cookbook tonight. Man, I am so easily persuaded yesterday it was my "new" cookbook, and today it's my old and trusty one. OK so I turned to my new favorite (does that sound better?) cookbook for tonight's lovely side dish. I didn't mean to pick another salad, there are tons of actual hot vegetable dishes, but this one caught my eye and just wouldn't let it go.

Although it's hard to get more American than my family which started showing up here in 1640 and wreaked all kinds of havoc including starting the Salem Witch Trial problem (bad bad girls run in the family), we somehow managed throughout the years to marry other people of mostly German descent. SO we say things like "were you snitching the bacon"? "Don't shputt!" (which means something like don't act like something bad can't happen to you.) and "Throw away your schnippels." Schnippels is a great word, I have no idea how its spelled, but it basically means your cutting scraps. The other thing that comes from being mainly of German descent is that foods like red cabbage and sauerkraut and spatzle become comfort foods. Don't worry, I will get to posting about spatzle, but right now we're concentrating on vegetables.

Red cabbages are really good for you. They are higher than green cabbage in vitamin C. They are loaded full of folate and potassium. And there's a bunch of fiber to help with... ahem... a, shall we call it, sluggish digestive system. With this final point in mind, I didn't eat all of tonight's salad in one sitting. That doesn't mean I didn't want to.

This salad is crazy good. It has the crunchy sweetness of the red cabbage mixed with the creamy tang of the goat cheese and then chewy little bursts of salty bacon. Oh how I love those chewy little salty bursts of bacon! I was crunching along thinking, Hey this is a pretty good salad. Then I got a piece of bacon and it evolved into "Holy Jesus, thank you for this delicious salad." I don't even think my salad got all the bacon it's supposed to have, as I have a nasty nasty habit of munching on available cooked bacon even if I know it goes someplace special. So it might be even better than mine tastes right now!

The only slight problem is that this is supposed to be a warm salad and frankly it is darn chilly in our house and my salad is only lukewarm. Still tastes good though. Definitely better than pie.

Warm Red Cabbage Salad with Bacon and Goat Cheese

adapted from Vegetables Every Day by Jack Bishop

1 small head Red Cabbage

6 slices bacon, chopped

2 Tbsp olive oil

1/2 small onion, minced*

3 Tbsp cider vinegar**

Salt

Freshly ground black pepper

4 oz. goat cheese crumbled

Remove outer leaves of cabbage. Quarter the cabbage through the stem end. Cut out and discard the core. Slice the cabbage into thin strips. Place the cabbage in a large bowl and set aside.

Cook the bacon in a skillet over medium heat until very crisp, 8 to 10 minutes. Use a slotted spoon to transfer the bacon to a plate lined with paper towl. Drain off all but 1 tablespoon bacon fat.

Add the oil to the bacon fat left in the pan and heat briefly. Add the shallots and saute over medium heat until softened, about 2 minutes. Stir in the vinegar and salt and pepper to taste***. Simmer for 30 seconds to let flavors combine.

Pour the dressing over the cabbage and toss to combine. Add the bacon and goat cheese and toss several times. Serve immediately.****

*Mr. Bishop calls for 2 medium shallots, minced, but frankly I don't keep shallots on hand.

**Sherry vinegar as the recipe requests is nowhere to be found in my little town and I wasn't driving to the next county for it. The cider vinegar compliments the cabbage nicely in my opinion.

***You can stick your finger in the bubbling pot of dressing if you want, but I just eyeballed it. Actually, I giggled when I read this one.

****Yeah, my digestive system would go into overdrive if I ate the whole thing myself, so over here we're trying to chill it in the fridge and finish eating it tomorrow.

Cucumber Salad

I have a new cookbook. Well, it's not really new. I got it in November. But I've never cracked it open before. This fabulous book is Vegetables Every Day by Jack Bishop. And I've finally made something from it. Why wait so long? I love vegetables, really its a little bizarre how much I love vegetables, but I'm not some kind of freak that I'd turn down making something sweet and delicious and sugar laden because I'd rather eat a cucumber. Given the choice of cake or vegetable, it's most likely that I'll choose cake. Especially if it's frosted (the cake, not the vegetable). Now if dessert is pie, I might be the lunatic eating more peas.

So being that it's January and everyone seems to be on a get healthy kick. And people everywhere are stepping away from the butter and heading gloomily to my favorite part of the grocery. No not the ice cream section. The produce section. Stay with me here. I figure I'll help entice people to eat their veggies by providing a month's worth of veggie recipes. I can't promise there won't be bacon. In fact there will be bacon mighty soon. And I will occasionally take a break from posting about veggies for the next cupcake hero and the Daring Bakers challenge and maybe a birthday cake. I never step away from the butter.

So tonight's recipe is a delicious healthy Asian Cucumber Salad with Sesame. Yeah, I know, cucumbers are a little on the bland side. And I had flashbacks to making Kimchi that the cucumber slices are salted and pressed for an hour. I even told the Brain, who was sitting there happily eating spaghetti, that if it turned out like Kimchi we were tossing it. But when the Brain said he didn't want any, I didn't argue. I ate the entire salad. Geez I'm a pig. Good thing I went to spin class this morning. This salad is seriously delicious. The dressing isn't overbearing and the cucumbers are still fairly crunchy and cold. If I wasn't full on cucumbers I think some nice lean protein like chicken or fish would go well with it.

Asian Cucumber Salad with Sesame

from Vegetables Every Day by Jack Bishop

3 medium cucumbers, peeled, halved lengthwise, seeded and cut on a diagonal 1/4 inch thick

1 Tbsp kosher salt

2 Tbsp rice wine vinegar

2 Tbsp toasted sesame oil

1/2 tsp sugar

1/4 tsp hot red pepper flakes

1 Tbsp sesame seeds, toasted in a dry skillet until golden brown

1) Toss the cucumbers and salt in a large strainer or colander set over a bowl. Fill a gallon-size Ziploc bag with ice water and set the bag on top of the cucumber slices. Drain for 1 hour.

2) Meanwhile whisk the vinegar, oil, sugar, and pepper flakes together in a small bowl and set the dressing aside. Stir every once in a while throughout the hour.

3) Thoroughly rinse the cucumbers under cold running water and pat dry. Toss with dressing and toasted sesame seeds.

Welcome 2008!

Man, I'm OLD! I have to admit that's the first thought that comes to mind when I realize that its 2008 already. I'm not really old. There are older people out there. There are younger people. It just smacks me on the head every New Year's that, as my dad would say, I'm not getting any younger.

That being said. I love January. It's like a brand new fresh year that isn't messed up yet. 2007 started out with so much promise, I got married in April. But really there was so much turbulence, so much change, and I really really don't handle change well. Sudden deaths and weddings, massive joy and betrayals, worries and unbelievable anger. It was like one of those horrible movies on the Lifetime for Women network. But here is 2008. Brand sparkly new.

As a rule, I don't really believe in New Year's resolutions. I think they're like diets, they work for a while and then wear off. But I started thinking this week about how the gym gets crowded every January and it makes things annoying when you want to work out, and I realized that in my turbulent 2007 I lost the part of me that I most admired about myself. I lost my gym rat status. I am no longer athletic. I am a flabby blob that sits at work and then sits on the couch.

Granted, I stopped working out hard because everyone was concerned that I would walk down the aisle on crutches. And the idea of working out in a gym in a small town where I had little hope of keeping any anonymity was intimidating. But I like working out. I like pretending like I have a shred of athletic talent. I like how I feel about myself when I work out on a really regular basis. I miss my me time. So I'm making a lifestyle change again, and it coincidentally lands on January 1st. I'm training for triathlons again. I have my eye on 3 of them, but I have to get the training process started before I'll be able to convince the Brain to fork over some cash for it. He's not horribly tight with the money, but he doesn't see paying for something if I'm not going to do it.

There. Now that that's out there, don't worry. My sweet tooth is still the size of Texas, or something massively huge like Texas. I am still in the Daring Bakers. And I'll still be doing the cupcakes every month. Like I said, diets don't really work. So while I'm posting these lovely recipes, I'll just be eating smaller portions of them.

Also I'm doing a little blog changing. I now will posting the total miles on foot, swam, and biked on the side of the blog. (Swimming and biking might not rack up the numbers very soon. It is winter here. And me in public in a bathing suit might take some courage.) And to show I'm well rounded I'm also going to post what books I've read this year. I have to admit, I got the idea from Mrs. White over at Pretty to Think So.



So what was for dinner? Traditional New Year's food. Lentil Salad with Feta Cheese and some baked fish. I'm not sure why lentils and fish are traditional foods for the New Year, but I've heard they are and I like them. And my cucumber, cherry tomatoes and feta cheese looked like they needed to be eaten or they soon would rebel.

Lentil Salad with Feta Cheese
from Cooking Light

1 1/4 cups dried lentils
3 Tbsp lemon juice
1 1/2 Tbsp olive oil
1/2 tsp dried thyme
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp coarsely ground pepper
1 garlic clove crushed
1 1/2 cups quartered cherry tomatoes
1 cup diced cucumber
1/2 cup (2oz.) crumbled feta cheese
1/2 cup diced celery

Place lentils in a large saucepan; cover with water to 2 inches above lentils, and bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 20 minutes or until tender. Drain well, and set aside.

Combine lemon juice, olive oil, thyme, salt, pepper, and garlic in a medium bowl; stir with a wire whisk until blended. Add lentils, tomatoes, cucumber, cheese, and celery to lemon juice mixture; toss gently to coat.

The fish is just seasoned with salt pepper and paprika and put in a 350 degree F. oven until it's white and flaky.