Salads

Watermelon, Herb & Cucumber Salad

Aug 6, 2019 · Leave a Comment

We’ve taken two popular salad ingredients; fresh watermelon and salty feta, added luscious herbs, crisp cucumber, fresh cherries, pistachios, a sprinkle of Aleppo pepper and created my son’s new favourite salad: Watermelon, Herb & Cucumber Salad.

Lost of great flavours in our Watermelon, Herb and Cucumber Salad — Watermelon, Herb and Cucumber Salad

This fresh salad comes together quickly and is best eaten when watermelon, cucumbers and cherries are in season. It’s a simple salad that shines because of the ingredients. Oh and those fresh herbs!

Related: Watermelon, Blueberry, Mint and Feta Salad

A delicioius combination of flavours in this watermelon, herb and cucumber salad. — Watermelon, Herb and Cucumber Salad

The first time I made this salad it didn’t have cherries. But I had cherries on the table to enjoy with our dinner.

We cut a few up, added them to our watermelon, herb and cucumber salad and decided they should permanently be in this salad!

This version of our Watermelon Herb Cucumber Salad has no cherries — Watermelon Herb Cucumber Salad without cherries

What’s with all the Fresh Herbs

Fresh herbs are totally my jam these days. I’ve made many recipes the last couple of years from the Middle East and Eastern Europe cookbooks that incorporate fresh herbs. They really do add so much pizazz to a dish.

I chose Basil as it pairs nicely with these fruits and vegetables, Dill, Mint and Cilantro to elevate the flavour. Believe it or note, these herbs all work together and do not over power.

A refreshing salad for summer includes watermelon herbs and cucumber — Watermelon Herbs and Cucumber Salad

PRO TIPS:

Keep your watermelon and cucumber slices on the thin side
Perfect watermelon shapes are not necessary
Crumble the Feta on the salad
Use as much or as little pistachio dust as you want.
Use fresh cherries, not frozen
Don’t like cilantro, don’t add cilantro!

What is Pistachio Dust

Simply put – ground up pistachios. Whenever I buy and shell them I tend to eat more than I should.

One day I used my mortar and pestle to grind up a few and created pistachio dust. Good on yogurt, dips, burgers, grilled fish, desserts, all the things. Keep in a storage container in your refrigerator if you have room.

What to serve with this salad

We served this salad with grilled chicken. It would be perfect along side any grilled meat, burgers, at a potluck or any kind of gathering.

Chicken Taco Salad

Jul 1, 2019 · Leave a Comment

Here’s another great recipe idea for leftover roast chicken – our Chicken Taco Salad!

This remains one of those recipes we have made regularly in our house. We have decided documenting all the recipes we make on the fly will help the kids down the road and myself for when I go senile and can no longer easily remember recipes easily!

Use leftover cooked chicken in this Chicken Taco Salad — Chicken Taco Salad

Here’s the deal – whether you are buying already roasted rotisserie chicken which I like to do since it’s a time saver, or roasting at home, buy or cook two at a time.

This allows for roast chicken leftovers which are one of my favourites and the perfect canvas for many leftover chicken recipes.

Assemble all your salad ingredients for this Chicken Taco Salad — Chicken Taco Salad Ingredients

Since we are definitely experts at using up leftover roast chicken, here’s a few tips to remember.

PRO TIPS

As soon as chicken is cool enough to handle remove legs, wings and all meat from carcass.
Save carcass and make stock, freeze for later or break down and compost.
Separate legs and wings from loose boneless breast meat and refrigerate or freeze in separate packages.
Legs and wings can be used in soups or taken on picnics.
Use boneless meat in salads, soups, sandwiches, casseroles, Mexican food and more.

The nice thing about a chicken taco salad is you can add whatever you like. Like red onion, add it. Want pico de gallo, guacamole, sour cream or salsa on your taco salad – go for it. Jalapenos? Now your talking.

This is why we serve our chicken taco salad family style. Everyone gets to make their own variation.

I had some leftover corn tacos in the refrigerator so I cut them into thin strips and fried them. These are the fried strips on the salad.

If you do not feel like cutting up corn tortillas and frying them, use broken tortilla chips, Doritos, Fritos, whatever crunchy taco chip floats your boat.

Like this recipe? Check out our other Taco Recipes:

Instant Pot: Instant Pot Chicken Tacos

Vegetarian: Lentil, Roasted Butternut Squash and Black bean Tacos

Pasta: Taco Pasta

Roasted Chickpea and Asparagus Salad

May 24, 2019 · 9 Comments

Delicious as a main, lunch or side, this Roasted Chickpea and Asparagus Salad will soon become your new favourite summer salad.

Roasted chick peas are a versatile and healthy snack to have on hand if you are trying to eat healthier. When I am organized I roast a couple cans on the weekend, changing the spices with each batch offering a new flavour every week.

If two cans seems like a lot to roast, there are other ways to incorporate chickpeas into your diet. Try on top of soups, salads, curries – even stews. Any salad that calls for chick peas becomes a whole new salad when you add the roasted variation.

If you have never tried raw asparagus, you should. It offers up a fresh, earthy and clean taste making it one of our favourite snacks when it is in season. Raw asparagus that is bitter or sour is old and should be discarded, not eaten.

Combing these two ingredients with fresh herbs, spicy chili pepper and a salty, sharp cheese brings a unique and tasty salad perfect anytime asparagus is in season.

Another way to enjoy this salad – pile it on top of your grilled chicken breast or steak.

Fall Harvest Salad with Elderberry Syrup Dressing

Oct 30, 2018 · Leave a Comment

This Fall Harvest Salad with Elderberry Syrup Dressing can be enjoyed any time of the year as long as you have pomegranates and elderberry syrup.

Salads are one of those meals you can enjoy any time of the year. A versatile dish you can change up with the seasons featuring fresh produce or ingredients, proteins, beans, lentils, pasta, rice, nuts, seeds, dried fruit, fresh herbs – really whatever floats your boat for the most part can go into your salad as long as you create a balance.

Loads of flavour in this Fall Harvest Salad — Fall Harvest Salad

We’ve created a Fall harvest salad that includes lots of tasty ingredients and a healthy dose of Elderberry Syrup.

How Do You Make A Salad Dresssing

Our salad dressing uses the four main elements of a dressing: extra virgin olive oil (oil), white balsamic vinegar (acid), Elderberry Syrup (sweet) and salt + pepper (salt). While elderberry syrup is not that sweet, it definitely brings the sweet element and is as healthy as using maple syrup or honey.

Lots of benefits in the elderberry syrup in this Fall Harvest Salad with Elderberry Syrup Dressing — Fall Harvest Salad with Elderberry Syrup Dressing

A fifth element involved in making salad dressings, (aromatic) can include shallots, chives and herbs. It really comes down to personal preference.

Our salad ingredients are a combination of Autumn ingredients like squash and pomegranates, smokey gorgonzola cheese, slightly bitter escarole & arugula and salty prosciutto. Believe me when I tell you this all came together beautifully!

Squash and Bacon in this Fall Harvest Salad with Elderberry Syrup Dressing — Fall Harvest Salad with Elderberry Syrup Dressing

What About Elderberry Syrup

With colds and flu’s already circulating through schools, offices and our house (tis the season), we have been taking the syrup regularly to keep our immune systems healthy, boosted and ready for travel to Indonesia next month.

Elderberries are a natural anti-inflammatory and high in flavonoids (plant-based antioxidants). It’s these flavonoids that help prevent damage to the body’s cells and boost the immune system. That’s why studies show elderberries are known to be effective in treating colds and flu! Having Feel Good Syrup on hand is an easy go to for whatever ails you.

Use fresh pomegranate seeds and eldberry syrup in this Fall Harvest Salad with Elderberry Syrup Dressing — Fall Harvest Salad with Elderberry Syrup Dressing

Feel Good Syrup continues to expand their syrup offering throughout Western Canada making it easier to find and purchase the product. Just this month Feel Good Elderberry Syrup became available to purchase at Blush Lane Organic Market in Alberta.

In addition look for it at Amaranth Foods, and via Spud.ca. Be sure to follow the Feel Good Syrup website for updates on new retail locations as they come on board and company news, plus recipes!

Seasonal Salads You Might Enjoy

Winter Brussels Sprout Slaw with Pancetta includes thinly sliced brussels sprouts and pears.

Blueberry & Halloumi Quinoa Salad with Charred Corn incorporates fresh summer blueberries and local fresh corn for a Summer Salad

We are working in collaboration with Feel Good Syrup on this post. All opinions, views expressed and recipe development are, as always, my own.

Blueberry & Halloumi Quinoa Salad with Charred Corn

Aug 2, 2018 · Leave a Comment

Grilled summer corn, fresh blueberries, and halloumi cheese all come together to create this Blueberry & Halloumi Quinoa Salad with Charred Corn. A flavourful salad you will want to bring to your next potluck!

When my parents bought property and built a house, they planted fruit trees, berry bushes, constructed a greenhouse and planted rows and rows of potatoes, beans, corn and any vegetable they could fit in and on their 1/4 acre piece of land. If they could grow it in Northern British Columbia they would, or they would sure try.

Since most of this happened in my teen years I was only able to experience a small amount of the bounty since I left home as soon as I graduated, around the age of 17. I moved home for the summer before I departed for Vancouver to try and save a little extra money for University.

Mom would can a lot of the berries and then she got into making home made wine with her large haul of fruit. She was gifted when it came to wine making, quite possibly learned from some of her Portuguese friends and every so often would some to me in Vancouver. Blueberries was one of those berries she used creatively therefore it’s not surprising I like to get creative with berries and fruit when they are in season.

Blueberry Halloumi Quinoa Salad ingredients minus the corn (it was being charred)

Quinoa is a grain we like to eat and creating a new quinoa salad to love is almost a part time hobby here. If you are looking to add more quinoa into your diet check out some of our other recipes like the Moroccan Quinoa Salad, Quinoa Burgers or Quinoa Stuffed Peppers.

This recipe came to be one summer following the arrival of BC blueberries and our love for quinoa. Charring the corn and the orange for the dressing adds a smokey touch. It’s a good salad to take camping or to potlucks, just double the batch if needed. People loved it during our camping potlucks.

Pork Schnitzel with Israeli Salad & Halloumi

Jun 26, 2018 · Leave a Comment

Alberta has declared June to be pork month promoting Alberta Pork and we are celebrating by making Pork Schnitzel with Israeli Salad & Halloumi using pork from Sunterra Market’s own pork farms.

Sunterra Market is a grocery store offering everything you need to pull together a delicious meal. In the Sunterra Market meat department they offer several options for those who prefer to pick up something to eat and be on their way.

If you like to cook but are short on time, Sunterra offers pick up and cook at home meal solutions like their ready to go pork schnitzel.

If you love to cook you will find every thing you need to make a fabulous and easy meal at Sunterra Market like our Pork Souvlaki with Cucumber Pineapple Salsa and Vietnamese Pork Meatball Banh Mi recipes.

Quick and easy Pork Schnitzel using Sunterra Farms Pork — Quick and easy pre-made Pork Schnitzel using Sunterra Farms Pork

Need a meal idea? Browse the Sunterra Market website for inspiration. It’s as easy as locating and visiting the store closest to you, or doing your shopping online right on their website.

Earlier this year we made a chicken schnitzel recipe with an Israeli style salad. A quick protein and half your plate of vegetables is exactly how I like to eat, and this became my inspiration for making our Israeli Salad to accompany the pork schnitzel.

Our Israeli salad features all the traditional items like tomato, onion, cucumber and fresh herbs purchased from the market side of Sunterra. Plus we added grilled halloumi cheese.

You won’t find any bell peppers in this salad, we serve them in a bowl on the side. In this instance of an allergy or dislike of a particular ingredient, you can keep a bowl of chopped bell peppers on the table for those who like them in their salads.

PRO TIPS:

Chop your vegetables the night before to save time on preparations
Local, fresh produce has the best flavour
Know where your meat comes from and support local suppliers
If you can’t find what you want in the meat department, ask the butcher as they are very helpful

We like to serve our meals family style on a platter with a sprinkle of chopped toasted pistachios adding a little extra crunch.

Sunterra Farm Facts:

Sunterra Farms started in Acme in 1970 by Stan and Flo Price and their eldest son Dave.
All three Sunterra companies are still owned and operated by the Price family.

Sunterra Market has seven locations in Calgary and two in Edmonton. Each location may offer a slightly different set up, but they all have the same great local products, good quality and awesome selection.

We are working in collaboration with Sunterra Market and they have provided the ingredients for this recipe. All opinions, views expressed and recipe development are, as always, my own.

Greek Wedge Salad

Mar 3, 2018 · Leave a Comment

As we all know by now the wedge salad went into hiding for awhile before resurfacing. In this installment of our wedge salad series we share a Greek Wedge Salad recipe using all the ingredients you love in a typical Greek Salad.

We’ve shared the history of a wedge salad in our Iceberg Wedge Salad with Bacon post, how to eat a wedge salad in our BLT Wedge Salad post and today let’s talk about dressings and other types of wedge salads you could make.

The Salad Dressing

While not exactly the star of a salad, the salad dressing is a close second. Making your own salad dressing can save time and money once you have invested in all the ingredients you need which could be as simple as extra virgin olive oil, Dijon mustard and a few vinegars.

Store bought dressings are fine, especially these days when you can find dressings that are fairly healthy, however they can still contain extra unwanted sugars, calories and additives you can’t spell so be leary when going the store bought route and read your labels.

If you already have extra virgin olive oil and vinegars try adding some new flavours to your pantry. Walnut or pistachio oil is exceptionally tasty and a little goes a long way. White Balsamic Vinegar or Champagne vinegar changes up your vinegar game. Spanish onion, shallots, garlic and fresh herbs all chopped fine or blended add depth to any home made dressing. Of course you can use buttermilk, mayo, sour cream and Greek Yogurt if you please.

Other Ways to eat your Wedge

We are not referring to a blender wedge salad turned smoothie, but rather more wedge salad ideas to try.

Waldorf Wedge Salad: grapes, apple, celery, toasted walnuts, mayo dressing
Caesar Wedge Salad: pancetta, croutons, shaved parmesan, Caesar salad dressing
Cobb Wedge Salad: tomato, bacon, cooked chicken breast, hard boiled egg, avocado, onion, strong cheese like a blue, red wine vinegar dressing
Italian or Antipasto Wedge Salad: chick peas, beans, salami, tomato, provolone, artichokes, sun-dried tomatoes, Italian dressing with herbs

Have you ever tried a wedge salad?! If not, what’s stopping you?!

BLT Wedge Salad

Feb 28, 2018 · Leave a Comment

If you followed my pro tips in our Iceberg Wedge Salad with Bacon recipe and wrapped your iceberg lettuce in plastic wrap with a tiny splash of water, your lettuce wedge should be fresh and ready to make our next wedge salad: the BLT Wedge Salad.

Infatuated with Iceberg lettuce

As a youngish child we always had iceberg lettuce in the refrigerator and one of my guilty pleasures back in the day was to cut myself a chunk of lettuce and poor white distilled vinegar all over it eating it exactly as is or perhaps with a little salt on top. Don’t judge, I was a kid testing out my palate and always have been drawn to vinegar.

I was also infatuated with the crunch iceberg lettuce offers and I still am to this day. I have been known to go heavy on the vinegar in my salad dressing offering a more tangy dressing, so to those I may offend with over vinegar-ed salad dressings, I apologize.

Toss that salad, maybe

In a world full of radicchio, kale and arugula, iceberg in a wedge salad is like the steak of salads. It can be big, or small. You can dress it up, dress it down, or stick with the traditional classic. The wedge can be eaten as is, or once served, cut into smaller pieces and tossed right on your plate with all the other ingredients, giving those who prefer “tossed” salads, well, their tossed salad.

Our wedge salad today takes a look at ingredients we had kicking around. Leftover bacon, always tomatoes, home made croutons and hard boiled eggs. We used up basil and buttermilk to make a basil infused buttermilk dressing with a little bit of mayonnaise added since all BLT’s have mayo don’t they? The hard boiled egg is our ode to the BLT sandwich.

Pro Tips:

If you do not have time to make your own salad dressing, buy one. Your favourite, any will do. Really.
Pour a little dressing on and serve the rest on the side. Or just serve it on the side and use as much or less as you and/or your guests prefer.

Be sure to check out our Greek Wedge Salad where we talk about dressings and other wedge salad options.

People who love to eat are always the best people. – Julia

Iceberg Wedge Salad with Bacon

Feb 26, 2018 · Leave a Comment

A salad needs only a few ingredients and a fantastic dressing to make it a salad and this Iceberg Wedge Salad with Bacon offers all those things and more.

Wedge Salad History

The history of the Wedge Salad has been found to date back to 1916 in a book called “Salads, Sandwiches & Chafing Dish Recipes” by Marion Harris Neil. Iceberg lettuce was a very popular item in those days, most likely super cheap and a good canvas for adding flavours. With fewer ingredients to cook with in those days Marion’s recipe is simply Roquefort cheese and hard boiled eggs with a light dressing. In the decades to follow the wedge salad became a delightful and popular starter course to order when dining out.

The traditional classic wedge salad of the 1970s could be found in many steakhouses and would always be laden with blue cheese dressing, crispy bacon, and hard boiled egg all on top of an iceberg lettuce wedge.

In the last ten years the wedge salad has begun to make a comeback popping up on menus all over the country. Many recipes stick true to the traditional wedge salad ingredients, however at Bakersbeans we see no point in following tradition and as always love to put our own spin on recipes.

A wedge salad, like any bright green salad can be dressed up or dressed down however you choose. Adding beans, nuts, chopped vegetables or fruit, different cheese, salad dressings, even protein changes the game and gives you a new fresh salad every time you make it.

I’ve been playing with my food aka wedge salads for the past month. We decided this week will be wedge salad week in our house. One head of iceberg lettuce can make four meal sized wedge salads, therefore stay tuned for three more wedge salads this week!

Pro Tips:

Leave the stem on, slice a thin piece off the bottom and eat around it. Keeping the stem on helps hold the wedge together.
This recipe makes enough for one wedge. Double ingredients for more wedge salads.
Sprinkle a little water on your leftover lettuce head and use plastic wrap pressed against the cut side of the lettuce head and wrapped around it to stop it from turning brown.
If you do not like to cut into your salad, simply cut up the salad, toss everything currently on your plate and boom you have a regular plated salad.

This salad is a knife and forker and currently one of our favourites. Be sure to check out our other wedge salads: BLT Wedge Salad and Greek Wedge Salad.

What is your favourite salad?

Orange and Fennel Salad with Sicilian Olives

Jan 15, 2018 · 10 Comments

Inspired by a trip recently to our local Italian Store and an abundance of bright fresh smelling citrus, plus healthier eating, I picked up some ingredients to make this orange and fennel salad with Sicilian olives. Adding olives to the salad was a last minute decision as I browsed the olive section in the deli of the store. Wanting to purchase some olives for munching, a conversation ensued about olives and oranges. The Silician olives were recommended in the salad. I sampled these olives and immediately fell in love. With Sicilian olives.

There is absolutely no Italian in me and so beyond chatting with the ladies in the store, I had never heard about an Italian or Sicilian orange salad before. Citrus fruits are extremely popular in Italy in January and that explained why there was an abundance of oranges in the store.

We host International students and for the most part its a great experience. Not always but some times. One thing we love to learn from the International students we host is about their food. How it’s prepared, what goes into it, what’s common and popular in their culture and more. All the things! For example everyone in North America screams if you cook with olive oil at high temperatures. According to our Spanish student his generations of family have always cooked with Spanish olive oil at high temperatures and never any issues health wise or other. It’s so interesting and I get extremely excited when our students are motivated to cook and share recipes.

Orange and Fennel Salad — orange and fennel salad ingredients

Tips: When making this salad use a good extra virgin olive oil and whatever oranges you can find in your market. We used a mandolin to slice our fennel, but if you do not have one it’s perfectly fine. Try to slice the fennel and the red onion as thinly as possible. Fresh basil is a must. If you do not like olives, leave them out or substitute your favourite olives. The Sicilian ones have a hint of spice to them and to replicate this you could sprinkle on a few hot pepper flakes.

There’s many ways to change up this simple recipe so if you try it and add your own spin, let us know in the comments what you did!

Blueberry Caprese Salad

Jul 16, 2017 · 4 Comments

Fresh bocconcini balls, plump blueberries and ripe summer tomatoes come together to create this fresh, sweet Blueberry Caprese Salad.

Blueberry Caprese Salad is a blueberry twist on a traditional caprese salad — Blueberry Caprese Salad

What is a Caprese Salad

A traditional Italian Insalata Caprese consists of tomatoes, fresh mozzarella or bocconcini and fresh basil. It is named after the island of Capri in Italy. Italian’s love it for it’s simplicity, freshness and colours that represent the Italian flag.

A Twist on a Classic

We’ve opted to add in some fresh blueberries from British Columbia and sprinkle with a pistachios for a little texture and crunch.

Our salad is lightly dressed with simple flavours including extra virgin olive oil and a little sea salt.

Blueberry Caprese Salad is a twist on a traditiona caprese salad — Blueberry Caprese Salad

What to eat with this Salad

While we could seriously eat it all by itself, this salad will compliment any summer grilling meat or vegetarian dish. It’s a standout at potlucks and pairs nicely with a light, crisp Sauvignon Blanc or Pinot Grigio.

A few things to consider when making this salad:

PRO TIPS

Use fresh blueberries, not frozen
Add a splash of balsamic vinegar if you love it, but it’s not needed
Have a nut allergy, replace pistachios with pepitas

Love blueberries?! Check out a few of our other blueberry recipes:

Pin this recipe to your Salads Board and be sure to follow me on Pinterest.

Moroccan Steak with Couscous

Jan 30, 2017 · Leave a Comment

Couscous, a North African dish of small steamed balls of semolina is considered to be a pasta. It’s also a grain my mom introduced to me back in the 90’s and one we eat as a side dish regularly. We grew up taught to always have a carb on our plate with our meal. This was either pasta, rice or potatoes. But is it really necessary? Not really, as long as you are eating enough of each food group throughout the day.

For dinners I love to cook a protein and have a great side, salad or grain to go with it. We always put fresh veggies of some sort of the table for the kids to munch on before and during our meals ensuring they get lots of veggies in them.

If the thought of meat on the couscous doesn’t appeal to you, try a couscous salad on the side. The first one I ever had was made by my mom and full of artichokes, sun dried tomatoes and more. We made a yogurt drizzle using a little Greek Yogurt mixed with a splash of water, juice of one lemon and a pinch of salt.

Sweet Red Chili Glazed Chicken with Salad

Aug 12, 2016 · Leave a Comment

Summer days can be hot leaving us with no interest in cooking a big meal. Simple, light and easy meals like our Sweet Red Chili Glazed Chicken with Salad are how we get through summer!

Leftover sweet red chili sauce, grilled local corn and fresh in season asparagus become the canvas for this salad. We whipped up a cilantro dressing which complemented the salad nicely. If you do not like cilantro, use basil instead.

This meal may seem labour intensive but it’s really not. First thing get your lettuce cleaned and corn/asparagus ready for the grill and BBQ them. Grill chicken next. While it’s cooling a bit get your dressing ready. Finally finish off the chicken and assemble. The first time I made this dish I admittedly kept two of the chicken thighs out of the glaze as I thought the kids would like it. Boy was I wrong. They devoured all the glazed chicken and LOVED it!

Here’s how we did it.

Italian Sausage, Zucchini and Bocconcini Pasta Salad

Jul 20, 2016 · Leave a Comment

Summer fresh grilled veggies with fresh basil and bocconcini is favourite dish around here when it gets to hot to cook. Leftover veggies are an easy addition the next day to any dish, like these Grilled Veggie, Pesto & Bocconcini Pizzas.

Today we jazzed up our grilled veggies with bacon, grilled Italian Sausage and lots of fresh garlic. It was a hot one so making something easy and cool for dinner was right up our alley. If you have a side burner on your grill you could also cook the bacon and pasta right there to avoid your oven all together.

In our family we have some who don’t like peppers, some zucchini and some bocconcini cheese (insert gasp). Since I don’t cater to anyone’s likes or dislikes when I make a meal, I always tell them to pick out what they don’t like and eat what they do.

This would be an easy dish to partially prepare in advance and take camping. Make your dressing and store in a sealed jar. Cook all veggies and store in the fridge in a sealed container. Cook the rest when you are there and assemble.

Italian Sausage, Zucchini and Bocconcini Pasta Salad

Greek Pasta Salad

Jun 1, 2016 · Leave a Comment

A family favourite that has stood the test of time (almost 20 years) will soon be your new go to pasta salad. This Greek Pasta Salad combines Greek salad and a pasta salad for a winning combination!

Back in 2002 I used to play on a local softball slow-pitch team. I was fairly new to Calgary and looking to get out and meet people. The same year I also joined an indoor soccer team and billiards team. It was around then I met my husband, through work of all places, and life was forever changed.

During our ball season, our team did a few weekend tournament camping trips that included lots of beverages. Meals were potluck style and it was around this time someone from work introduced me to Club House Pasta Salad Dressing Mix.

So every camping trip that followed I would precook the pasta, store it in a zip lock bag, chop up a bunch of vegetables, store them in a plastic bag, mix up the dressing and keep it in a sealed jar and wrap up some feta as the finishing touches.

Greek Pasta Salad with cucumber water — Greek Pasta Salad

This pasta salad is also a hit at potlucks and barbecues. Here’s a few tips to help get you started.

PRO TIPS

Do not rinse pasta after cooking. This is an old wives tale. Drain pasta and spread pasta on a baking sheet to let cool down.
Do not add oil to the pasta water. Simply not needed. Make sure it’s salted however.
Pre-chop all veggies.
Pre-make your salad dressing.
Take this salad anywhere and be prepared to be asked for the recipe.

Like this salad idea, check out a few of our other favourites:

Grilled Bread & Tomato Salad

Apr 9, 2016 · Leave a Comment

Sunny days make me want to get outside and eat all the things and plant or harvest my garden and eat fresh grown tomatoes. Right? We’ve had an unusually warm start to 2016 which is great for us Calgarians but not so great for the farmers and producers who rely on the moisture to plant their seeds.

I am slightly addicted to bread so anything that involved bread makes me happy. Having to make up something for a BBQ I decided on a bread, tomato, parsley salad. Simple but delicious. I picked up some roasted garlic bread, gave it some lovely brown char marks and tossed it with the tomatoes. Don’t dress your salad or even add the bread until you are ready to serve it or the bread gets soggy. And serve it immediately for as it sits the bread soaks up the tomato and dressing goodness and it becomes soggy. A little added chunky salami or even cooked chicken would make this the perfect meal in one.

Since I’m using garlic bread I opted not to add garlic to my oil. This dish is beautiful served alongside grilled steak or chicken.

Watergate Salad Trifle

Mar 22, 2016 · Leave a Comment

Who remembers this popular green salad from the late 70’s and 80’s called Watergate Salad? It’s a salad known by names such as pistachio delight, shut the gate salad, green goop, green fluff and green stuff and these days can be found on the table during Thanksgiving or Easter celebrations.

According to research efforts, the origin of the name “Watergate salad” is obscure: Kraft Corporate Affairs (who makes the pistachio pudding) says “There are several urban myths regarding the name change, but we can’t substantiate any of them. We developed the recipe for Pistachio Pineapple Delight.” It was in 1975, the same year that pistachio pudding mix came out. According to Kraft Kitchens, when the recipe for Pistachio Pineapple Delight was sent out, an unnamed Chicago food editor renamed it Watergate Salad to promote interest in the recipe when she printed it in her column. Neither the article nor editor has been tracked down, however.

Further to this in in 1922 Helen Keller published a similar recipe, calling for canned diced pineapple, nuts, marshmallows, whipped cream and other ingredients. “I ate it first in California, so I call it Golden Gate Salad”. Similar “fruit salad” and “pineapple salad” recipes had been published in the 1910s, and “Golden Gate Salad” was served in some US hotels. The question still begs to be answered, who came up with this recipe or was it an accumulation of recipes as we see so often these days.

Watergate salad wasn’t something we ate regularly in our house, in fact more of an experience we had when we were at gatherings with friends or family. I never did understand (even though I grew up in the era of jelly salads), how a bowl of pudding with fruit, nuts and marshmallows could be a side to a dinner. Inspiration hit and I decided to make this retro recipe into a trifle with real whipping cream.

Recently we dropped into Cococo Chocolatiers to try their hot chocolate for YYC Hot Chocolate Fest and I noticed they carry baking chocolate. They asked if I would like to sample some and I graciously said yes. Chocolate shavings was one of the items I received and was excited to use. While making the individual trifles, I added toasted pecan bits to the layers of the trifle along with the Cococo Chocolate Shavings.

If you are having a friends over make this in a trifle bowl and double it for a crowd. This was the perfect amount for four or you could easily stretch it into 6-8 individual servings.

Wategate Salad Trifle — Watergate Salad Trifle

Israeli Couscous with Butternut Squash and Cranberries

Dec 14, 2015 · 2 Comments

This dish was an easy sell to the kids. They love pasta and Israeli couscous are small, round, pasta-like granules made from semolina and wheat flour. Once they heard the word pasta they were happy to try it and pick out what foreign objects (in their minds it’s squash and red onion) didn’t belong. You even cook this couscous like you would pasta by boiling it in a pot of salted water.

We grew up with the Canada Food Guide with dinners having a serving of carbs (rice, pasta or potato), fruits & veggies, dairy and protein. You kind of carry this mentality with you when you have your own kids. Fortunately those carbs translate into so many other things. Like this couscous salad for example. It counts as a serving of both carbs and you’ve got some veggies in there. We grilled up (yes it was -6 outside but those are minor details) sausage, pita bread and I made some home made tomato soup to serve with dinner. It was a delicious and filling meal. My husband who doesn’t love pasta but tolerates it for the kids sake, said he loved it – even the fresh red onions (which he also does not care for).

This recipe was made using several local ingredients. In fact the only ingredient not local would be the Israeli Couscous and the orange. The couscous was cooked in advance and cooled down in the refrigerator. It served four and there were leftovers so I know what my lunch will be today!

Israeli Couscous with Butternut Squash and Cranberries

Green Apple & Cranberry Quinoa Salad

Nov 26, 2015 · 2 Comments

Meals during the week have to be quick since the kids have activities. These are the days they come home from school, play with the dog, check their emails, do their homework, eat and go to activities, so dinner has to be easy and fast. By the time they get home it’s bed time. Last night was one of those nights, and unfortunately I had not done any meal prep in advance. Off to the store I went to pick up some quick grill sausages and a few ingredients to make a Quinoa Salad.

I tend to make my quinoa a day or two in advance. I like it cool or right out of the fridge vs hot off the stove. I find it fluffs up when it has time to sit and cool off plus it’s available for a quick meal solution. This salad is Gluten Free and can be made dairy free by not adding the cheese.

I’m happy my whole family enjoys quinoa and I no longer feel like I have to put a carb on the table (rice, pasta, potato). Grains are a beautiful & filling thing.

Grain Salad with Edamame

Aug 23, 2015 · Leave a Comment

Several big family gatherings in July called for lots of great potluck, and easy to assemble type food. We had Manitoba, Alberta and Saskatchewan represented in our house over the course of several days, leaving many mouths to feed. So I made big salads and big food. This super grain salad with quinoa was one of them. So delicious and serves 10-12 with the possibility of leftovers. It’s one of my new favourite salads loaded with goodness and easy to take camping or to a BBQ.

I first discovered the PC grain blends a couple years ago when they launched them. Always loved them but it seems they’ve changed the packaging and keep relocating them in their stores. This makes it a challenge every time we go to find the item on the shelves. I love the 5 grains that are in this mix [spelt, barley, rice, wheat berries & oats] which really is a powerhouse in itself, but being a confessed quinoa addict, um fan, I have to be different and add a handful of quinoa into the mix as well. Just because. It’s one of those salads you could change up entirely based on your likes. This one was a hit at our potluck, and a keeper.

Panzanella Salad with Summer Cherries

Aug 13, 2015 · Leave a Comment

I enjoyed a childhood filled with an abundance of tree fruits. Cherry, apple, prune plums and crab apple trees adorned the front yard. I often wonder if the people who live in that house now enjoy the fruit trees as much as we did. I have fond memories of the battles my father would have with the birds (Robins mostly) eating his cherries. Sometimes when I think back to those battles, he reminds me of Mr. McGregor in The Tale of Peter Rabbit.

There are many variations of panzanella salads and I love how versatile this salad is especially in the summer months. Summer cherries just seems to work in this salad. It’s a salad that’s actually been around a very long time. Did you know Panzanella was based on onions, not tomatoes until the 20th century? And modern panzanella is generally made of stale bread soaked in water and squeezed dry? I’m not much on eating stale bread soaked & squeezed…I prefer my crunchy croutons!

It’s easy to toss the bread on the grill, chop up some veggies, mix up a dressing, pick your favourite cheese to add and you have a delicious dinner ready to go. Firmer veggies are best for this salad. It’s perfect for a potluck or to take camping. Days like today when it’s to hot to cook, we like to pick up a cooked roasted chicken, whip up an easy salad and dinner is done. Toss some firm fruit or berries into your salad and change it up again.

Better photo coming soon!

Crispy Molasses Coleslaw

Jul 21, 2015 · Leave a Comment

We had an International German student living with us for almost a year. She had a few food allergies and one of them was carrots. So I got used to cooking without carrots. Although the allergy was mainly to raw carrots, I just stopped using them so as to not “forget”. With my coleslaw’s I always experiment. Sometimes I’d add apple or pear, other times it’s nuts or seeds. But the basics of my coleslaw are always the same; cabbage, onions, cilantro with a mayo/sour cream/vinegar dressing.

As I was making the dressing to go with our Beef on a Bun, I asked my father in laws girlfriend/partner what she thought about me adding molasses into my dressing. She wasn’t sure at first so I pulled a little out & mixed in some molasses. Let her try it to get her opinion and Bam she liked it. I know some people add sugar to their dressings, so the molasses could add the sweet factor. And since I’m more of a salty person to begin with I needed feedback and second opinions. It was well received that evening by everyone. And so the Crispy Molasses Coleslaw recipe was born.

This recipe feeds a crowd so if you are cooking for a smaller family you may want to half it. And yes I put cilantro in my slaw. You can always replace it with flat leaf parsley.

Brussels Sprouts Brown Rice Bowl with Cilantro Lime Drizzle

May 4, 2015 · 2 Comments

I love bowl food. It’s hearty, filling and mostly healthy depending on ingredients. When I make it at home, it’s always healthy. When I have it out it’s full of inspiration and for the most part a bowl full of good stuff.

I’ve had a love affair with brown rice going on for over 20 years thanks to my mom and since it’s part of the rotation, my husband even likes it. We top it with salty feta cheese & fresh herbs. If brown rice is not your thing try making this bowl with white rice or even quinoa.

I finished it with a Cilantro Lime Drizzle but you can use your favourite dressing if cilantro is not your thing or use a different herb like basil or parsley. If you are on the Wild Rose Detox you have to keep your dressing simple (olive oil, citrus, herbs, s&p). I called this a drizzle as it doesn’t contain vinegar and technically a vinaigrette does.

As always recipes can be changed up to suit your tastes. Add chicken or protein if you want some meat, omit the jalapenos if you don’t like the extra heat!

Chilled Noodle Salad with Ginger Wasabi Dressing – Cooking with Catelli

Apr 1, 2015 · 2 Comments

What’s old is new again – at least when it comes to eating grains. Catelli Foods Corporation shared this message with us at a recent event here in Calgary. Several bloggers & food writers were invited to attend a one on one cooking demo with Canadian Celebrity Chef Lynn Crawford and Catelli Foods. The evening started with us sampling some tasty snacks from the SAIT Culinary Campus and watching Chef Crawford whip up two pasta dishes. Each pasta dish was passed around for us to sample. The demo was fun, entertaining, and we quickly learned Chef Crawford has quite the sense of humour. While we ate, Chef Crawford moved into making a delicious Chilled Noodle Salad with Ginger Wasabi Dressing. Once she was finished her demo we all donned chef hats and aprons, and picked a cooking station to get started making our own delicious salad. The evening concluded with photos and swag bags.

Catelli^® Healthy Harvest^®Ancient Grains pasta blends 100 per cent Canadian whole wheat with five wholesome ancient grains: quinoa, teff, amaranth, millet and sorghum. Certified GMO-free (NON GMO Project Verified), Catelli^® Healthy Harvest^®Ancient Grains pasta is available in three cuts – Spaghetti, Spaghettini and Rotini.

The health benefits of eating 100 per cent whole grain wheat have been touted for years, but what makes the other grains so healthy? Here’s the ancient secret:

Quinoa: Dating back to the 13^th century South American Inca Empire, quinoa is high in fibre, protein and minerals – including magnesium, potassium, zinc and iron – and low on the glycemic index.

Amaranth: Native to the Americas and prized by Aztec civilization, amaranth is rich in protein, containing all the essential amino acids, key vitamins, and minerals such as calcium, magnesium, potassium, phosphorus and iron.

Teff: Originating in Ethiopia and Eritrea between 4,000 BCE and 1,000 BCE, this poppy seed-sized grain is high in protein, fibre, calcium, thiamin and iron.

Sorghum: Domesticated in Northeastern Africa more than 5,000 years ago, sorghum – a good source of vitamin B6, riboflavin, thiamin and magnesium – is known to support digestive health, help fight cardiovascular disease and help control blood sugar levels.

Millet: Cultivated 4,000 years ago from wild West African grass, this nutty-flavoured grain is known to be heart healthy, containing a high level of protein, magnesium and niacin. Alkalizing to the body, millet is considered one of the most digestible and non-allergenic grains available.

Catelli® Healthy Harvest® Ancient Grains pasta retails for $3.29 and is available at major retailers in Western Canada.

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