Summer Panzanella

I really don't know why it took me so long to try this recipe. I had bookmarked it last summer, but it fell through the cracks. Since the tomatoes are starting to get ripe now, I figured it would be a perfect time to finally make this dish. After all, fresh veggies and carbs are two of my favorite things :)

It was very easy and filling, and the flavors were just incredible! The vegetables and the bread really soak the flavor up. It is a great side for a picnic, or as a light week-day meal. Just make sure to keep the croutons separate from the salad until you serve it. Otherwise, they'll get soggy!

Summer Panzanella
(serves 4 as a main course, 6-8 as a side)

For the dressing:
3 Tablespoons of capers
4 Tablespoons of olive oil
3 Tablespoons of apple cider vinegar
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon of Dijon mustard
1/2 teaspoon of Kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon of black pepper

For the salad:
3 bell peppers of different colors, sliced
1 medium red onion, sliced

2 large ripe tomatoes, cut into 1" chunks
1 large cucumber, peeled and sliced
20 leaves of basil, sliced

1 Tablespoon of olive oil
10 medium slices of Italian bread

Directions: Combine 1 Tablespoon of the olive oil for the dressing with the capers in a food processor. Pulse until they are a paste-like texture, and scoop into a bowl or dressing bottle. Add the other 3 Tablespoons of olive oil and the rest of the ingredients for the dressing and set aside. 

Place the chopped tomatoes and cucumber in a large bowl. Heat a little olive oil in a large saucepan, and add the pepper and onion slices. Sauté until they start to get a little soft, and then add them to the bowl with the cucumbers and tomatoes. Top with the torn basil. Pour the dressing on the salad, and allow it to marinate for at least 30 minutes. (Don't refrigerate, keep it at room temperature)

Preheat oven to 300. Grease a baking ban with the olive oil, and place slices of Italian bread on the pan. Bake for 7 minutes, remove, flip slices over, and bake for another 5 minutes. Slice bread into croutons. Set aside.

When ready to serve salad, combine with croutons in individual servings. (If you mix all the croutons with the salad and then happen to have left overs, the croutons will get soggy.) Enjoy!


Adapted from Ina Garten for foodnetwork.com, original recipe here.

Watermelon and Feta Salad with Roasted Green Beans

Some summer nights, I really just want a salad for dinner. They're light, cool, refreshing, and (usually) you don't even have to turn the oven on. This recipe doesn't meet ALL of that criteria since you do have to roast the beans, but it is still a wonderful and easy summer recipe. And bonus- the roasted green bean recipe within the salad recipe are my absolutely favorite way to eat green beans as it is, and a great side dish for anytime of year.

I love the sweet and salty combination of the watermelon and feta, and the green beans give it a nice sensory kick.

Watermelon and Feta Salad with Roasted Green Beans
(serves 2)

for the salad:
1/2 pound of raw green beans, washed and trimmed
1 Tablespoon of olive oil
1 teaspoon of Kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon of black pepper

4 cups of baby spinach
1/8th of a seedless watermelon, cut into small cubes
1/2 cup of crumbled feta cheese

for the dressing:
1 lime, juiced
2 Tablespoons of olive oil
1 Tablespoon of chopped, fresh basil
1/4 teaspoon of Kosher salt
dash of black pepper

Directions: Preheat oven to 375. Grease a metal baking sheet with 1 Tablespoon of olive oil. Place beans on the baking sheet, and toss with a spatula to coat with the oil. Sprinkle the Kosher salt and black pepper on the beans, and cover the baking sheet with foil. Place in the oven for 10 minutes, remove foil, and return to oven for 8-10 minutes more.

Meanwhile, combine all ingredients for the dressing in a bottle, and shake well. Place spinach on plates, and when green beans are done, place them on the spinach. Top with the watermelon and feta, and drizzle on the dressing. Enjoy!


Adapted from Ina Garten, for foodnetwork.com, original recipe here.

Romaine and Purslane Salad with Tomatoes

I was searching for a different way to prepare the purslane that we had in our produce basket this week. I knew I wanted to saute it, to see what kind of flavor that gave it. When I found the recipe for this salad and saw that it also used zucchini, I knew it was going on the list to make!  

I loved the flavor in this salad, and the combination of the warm vegetables over the cold lettuce! It was very filling, and would even be perfect for a light, summer meal.

Spinach and Purslane Salad with Tomatoes and Zucchini

1/2 of a medium white onion, diced finely
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1/3 cup of olive oil, plus extra for greasing pan
3 Tablespoons of lemon juice

1 teaspoon of Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon of parsely
pinch of salt and black pepper

1 large zucchini, sliced
6 plum tomatoes, chopped
1 bunch of purslane, washed and thick stems removed
1 large head of romaine, washed and chopped

Directions: Pour a little bit of the olive oil into a saucepan, and heat to medium. Saute onions until mostly soft, stirring occasionally. Add garlic, and saute for about another 1 minute. Remove from heat.

Combine lemon juice, Dijon mustard, olive oil, salt, pepper, and parsley in a salad dressing bottle. Shake well to combine. Add onions and garlic from pan, and shake again.

Heat a bit more olive oil in the pan, add zucchini, cover, and cook until soft and slightly browned (about 5-7 minutes) and when it's done, place it in a large bowl.

Add purslane and chopped tomatoes to the pan vacated by the zucchini, and saute for about 1-2 minutes, or until purslane is slightly wilted. Then add to the bowl with the zucchini and stir to combine. Spoon tomato/zucchini/purslane mixture on top of romaine, and drizzle with the lemon Dijon dressing. Serve immediately. Enjoy!

Adapted from Epicurious.com, original recipe here.

Tomato and Cucumber Salad

It's that time of year again, time to get out of the kitchen and outside grilling! I am always looking for new, lighter sides to bring to a big barbeque or just to make with an easy weeknight meal.

This one tastes great, is very healthy, and so easy to prepare. I can see us having it many times this summer, especially after tomato season is in full swing!

Tomato and Cucumber Salad
(serves 8)

10 italian tomatoes, quartered
2 cucumbers- skins left on, sliced thinly
1 medium red onion, sliced thinly

2 Tablespoons of olive oil
2 Tablespoons of red wine vinegar
1/2 teaspoon of Kosher salt
dash of fresh ground pepper

Directions: Mix cut veggies together in a large bowl. In a separate small bowl, prepare the dressing (olive oil, red wine vinegar, salt, and pepper). Drizzle dressing over vegetables, and stir to combine. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes before serving cold. Enjoy!

Adapted from Rachael Ray for foodnetwork.com, original recipe here.

Five Bean Salad

I've been feeling a bit groggy in the afternoons recently.

My go-to fix is a second (or third) cup of coffee, which I know isn't the greatest choice. It rarely gets me out of my fog and more often than not, it just gives me a bad case of jitters. I did a bit of research (aka Googling), and it finally dawned on me that the high number of carbs in the sandwich and fruit that I usually eat for lunch may be contributing to that sleepiness later. Maybe steering more towards a high-protein lunch could be the solution I need.

So I started looking for lunch ideas of the high-protein variety, and found this one. I love that it's so versatile. You can certainly switch up the varieties of bean you use, or skip any if you don't like them. Definitely tasty, and definitely healthy!

Five Bean Salad

2 cups of black beans
2 cups of pinto beans
2 cups of navy beans
2 cups of garbanzo beans (chickpeas)
2 cups of kidney beans

1 package of frozen white corn
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1 medium white onion, chopped
1 Tablespoon of minced garlic

3 Tablespoons of olive oil
3 Tablespoons of red wine vinegar (I ended up using a bit more)

salt and ground pepper to taste

Directions: Cook frozen corn, and then mix all of the beans and vegetables. Drizzle with olive oil and vinegar topping, salt and pepper to taste, and stir to combine. Enjoy!

(This is a great base recipe, and I've been adding lots of different things for more flavor- I've tried feta cheese, cilantro, cooked shredded chicken breast, and a can of tuna. All of those mix-ins have turned out well. I also love the extra boost of protein some meat or cheese brings in.) 

Adapted from SparkPeople, original recipe here.

Peach and Prosciutto Salad

Sometimes I have recipes bookmarked for a long time, waiting for the perfect opportunity to try them. And sometimes, you could say I just happen to stumble upon them. This would be one such such recipe.

I am signed up for a number of different recipe mailing lists that email you a different recipe each day. One of them is Cooking Light, who sent me an email of "13 No Cook Meals" the other day. Being as hot as it's been lately, I was all for some "no cook" ideas. I opened it and the first thing I saw was a peach and prosciutto salad. We still had peaches from the cobbler, and prosciutto from the gratins lying around, so I took it as a sign that this needed to be made immediately.

Peach and Prosciutto Salad

4 cups mixed spring greens
2 large, ripe peaches
3 slices prosciutto, torn into strips
1/2 cup feta cheese
1/4 sunflower seeds (shells removed)
2 Tablespoons olive oil
2 Tablespoons balsamic vinegar
Fresh ground black pepper

Wash spring greens and divide onto 2 large plates. Pit and slice peaches, leaving skin intact for texture. Arrange over spring greens. Top with strips of prosciutto. Sprinkle with feta cheese, sunflower seeds, and black pepper to taste. Drizzle with balsamic vinegar and olive oil, and serve immediately.

Adapted from Cooking Light, original recipe here.

New Recipe Review- Cherry Tomato Salad and Turkey Cheddar Burgers

It's been so hot lately (we've had 3 days straight of highs in the lower 100's), that I haven't been in the mood to do a whole lot of cooking this week. We have mostly been grilling outside as to not heat up the house, and I think my brain may be quite fried as well. So what to do for my new recipe this week? Well, the answer is to kind of take the easy way out...

I made both of these dishes before, so I'm not sure if this is cheating, but I have never used these recipes before, so I'll say it's not. Well... that and I'm the one who makes up the rules!

The recipe for Turkey Cheddar Burgers is from Epicurious and can be found here. I usually make turkey burgers with a bit more add-in's- egg, breadcrumbs, ketchup, garlic, Worcestershire, etc. in addition to the salt, pepper, and onion (shallot in this case)- so I admit I was a little nervous about a possible lack of flavor. I also forgot to make the sun-dried tomato mayo with this (told you my brain is fried), so instead we used ranch dressing as a spread, and topped them with more cheddar cheese, lettuce, tomato, and slices of avocado.

They were good, especially on the grill! Probably not what the recipe intended, as I turned them into somewhat of a Southwestern burger, but I liked them. The cheddar melted inside the burgers, so that definitely gave them the flavor I was hoping for. And the extra sliced cheddar on top gave them the cheesiness I need in a burger. I would probably add Worcestershire sauce next time though... or make them with beef, not sure if turkey was as "meaty" as I felt these should be.

The recipe for Cherry Tomato Salad is from Annie at Annie's Eats can be found here. It was a couple more steps (for me anyway) than the usual tomato-cucumber-feta salad, but it was well worth it! Letting the tomatoes sit in the salt and sugar definitely brought out their flavor, in addition to the juices. The salad was so light and flavorful, definitely a perfect summer side dish.