Not only does summer mean BBQ's are back, it also means summer salads with roasted corn and crispy radishes. . .don't skip the radishes as they are at their peak right now.
we bulked up the salad from this recipe (adding almonds, dried cranberries, cucumbers, and peppers) and could't stop eating the avocado herb dressing which was creamy, tangy and refreshing. .
add some grilled fish or chicken you'll have a perfect warm summer evening meal.
A friend of ours came over for dinner last weekend- we used it as an excuse to make chicken sofrito . . . it had been a long time and it is still a favorite of ours- moist and tasty rice with a nutty flavor and crispy chicken.
We were looking for a green side or salad to have with the chicken and chose this Cuban salad Steven found online-
http://www.chow.com/recipes/10615
The salad was very satisfying with a mellow vinagerette and a healthy way to get in some good fat from the avocado and protein from the beans. . and carmelized onions are wonderful in pretty much everything. . . .it would also work great as a meal if topped with sliced grilled chicken, fish or skirt steak . . .next time. . .
Unfortunately, in our rush to finish everything we forgot to take pictures, i can tell you that ours was a way messier version of this picture, which is the one posted with the recipe. . .
I was super lucky this year to receive the entire collection dvd set of Julia Child's, The French Chef, for my birthday . . . watching the show has been an absolute delight. Last weekend, we watched the Salad Nicoise episode and I was inspired to attempt it for lunch- (however, we we were hungry, and too lazy to go outside, so a couple of ingredients got tweeked- like we had to use baby spinach instead of lettuce and we added cucumber b/c we had some that needed to be eaten. . . and we left out the anchovies)- ok, so i guess it was loosely based on Child's salad nicoise, yet still hearty, fresh and delicious. . . .and a great weekend lunch option.
here is a link to Child's recipe:
and a peek at our version:
And btw- if you need a gift for someone obsessed with cooking, the dvds were a fantastic present (shout out to my husband Steven).
and a few other things such as onion, advocado, mint and lime. Summer salad season is upon us (check out the Minimalist's 101 Simple Salads for the Season)
For this one, I improvised with what we had in the house and suprisingly, it worked pretty well. . . (we did not have any feta cheese which i've learned from a quick internet search of summer salad recipes many people believe is essential to a watermelon salad. . .i didn't really miss it too much but i'm not a huge feta fan-you'll have to decide feta or no feta on your own).
Here is a rough summary:
Watermelon chunks, sliced cherry tomatoes, thinly sliced kirby cucumber, advocado slices and chopped onion (use red if you have it). Then dress with a squeeze or two of fresh lime juice, a drizzle of olive oil, and chopped mint and salt to taste and there ya go. . . .
i'm looking for many more summer salads coming my way. . .but for this coming week we will be in cape cod on vacation. . there is a lot of corn (you know how i feel about corn) and ice cream in my future. See you in a week.
Please excuse my slow posting these days- June has been a work nightmare but the summer is here and we are back on to the recipe clipping madness.
This salad was light and refreshing although a bit vinegary for me. . . next time i'd add more yogurt and less white wine vinegar. honestly, not too much to say about this salad so i won't bore you with rambling except it is easy and quick and a cucumber salad always feels good.
man, did the color of this picture turn out weird. . . anyway, you get the point- cucumber, celery, parsley and yogurt (and how nice looking are our new countertops).
