Cilantro Rice Salad

 

 I have to say that making summer-time salads has become my new obsession happiness.  I still adore baking sweets and treats but I honestly think that my next favorite category in the kitchen has become making those special salads that can be added to bbq's, picnics and warm weather celebrations. 

 

I love that you can take a grain or pasta and create a cold salad packed with veggies and herbs and then tossed with a simple vinaigrette.  Viola perfection of delicious-ness!

 

Recently, I was browsing through the recipe index on Mom's Test Kitchen's to find a recipe to make for my June's assignment for the Secret Recipe Club.  First of all let me tell you Jaime has a FANTABULOUS collection of recipes on her blog! Apple Cinnamon Pancakes first caught my attention until I spotted her Craisin Cinnamon Roll Coffee Cake.  But then, like I have mentioned above,  summer-time salads have been really grabbing hold of my taste buds lately so when I noticed Jaime had a recipe for Corn, Tomato and Asparagus Salad I had a feeling I was going to sway towards the savory side of my taste buds instead of my usually SWEET side.  Well, then all bets were off.  I discovered a recipe for Cilantro Rice Salad and knew I had picked a winner!  I was SO right. SO right I say!  This lovely little treasure of a summer-time salad is completely and insanely delicious. And it is made with very little effort, simple ingredients and a versatile recipe on top of all that.  Jaime's original recipe called for serveral ingredients that I didn't have on hand (a red pepper, limes and green onions) so I substituted in a couple different veggies for those that I didn't have and the salad came out completely fine.  I also added in some cherry tomatoes for color and taste. Although I used the juice of one lemon and was happy with my substitution for the missing limes called for in the recipe, next time I will definitely use fresh lime juice as I believe that lime and cilantro are meant to be together always and forever. 

 

 

 

 

 

Find an excuse to make this salad.  Crash a BBQ, invite your favorite people over to your own party or make it just because you deserve a yummy treat.  Just make this gosh-darn-delicious salad!! Do. It.

 

 

Cilantro Rice Salad

(recipe slightly adapted from Mom's Test Kitchen)

 

Salad base ingredients:

2 cups chicken broth

1 cup rice (I used long grain white)

1/2 chopped fresh cilantro

1 green or red pepper, chopped (my addition)

1/2 cup green onions, chopped (I used regular onion as I didn't have the green onions on hand)

1 cup cherry tomatoes, cut in half (my addition)

juice of 3 limes (I used juice of 1 lemon instead...it was yummy)

 

Dressing ingredients:

1/3 cup canola oil

1 Tbsp red wine vinegar

1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce

1 Tbsp cumin

1 tsp garlic salt (my addition)

ground pepper to taste

 

Directions:

 

1.  Bring chicken broth and rice to a boil in a medium/large sauce pan.  Once broth comes to boil, cover pan tightly and turn heat down to a simmer.  Simmer rice for 15-20 minutes until liquid is gone and rice is fluffy.  Cool rice at room temperature or in fridge.

 

2. Make dressing for salad while rice cools.  In a large bowl whisk together lime (or lemon juice), oil, red wine vinegar, Worcestershire sauce and cumin.  Add in cooled rice and chopped veggies to the dressing. Toss all together.  Refrigerate until desired time to eat and ENJOY!!  

 

 

Happy, Happy Cilantro Rice Salad Making!

 

 

 

Cauliflower and Broccoli Salad

Ahhh the beauty of summer has arrived.  HOT days filled with trips to a near by beach, ice cream cones, the smell of sunscreen (and bug spray) along with BBQ's with good friends all make summer-time so special.

Yes, I am a lover of summer.  Another thing I love to do (as many of my friends know) is talk about food.  I LOVE to discover new recipes that friends have made.  And I especially LOVE it when they pass on those recipes to me.  There are some people out there that do not like to share their recipes...which I feel is a crime! - but that's just my feeling on that issue.  I honestly think that it is one of the highest forms of a compliment when someone requests a recipe of mine.  I always feel flattered that someone enjoyed the dish or baked goodie that I made and shared with them enough to want to eat it again AND to make it themselves.  Enough said.  I think you get my point. 

Needless to say whenever my friend Diane and I see each other (especially just after the weekend) we most often chat about food and what we have made over the weekend or in the past.  Diane always surprises me with something wonderful.  Recently she passed along a lovely recipe for Cauliflower and Broccoli Salad.  As soon as she started listing off all the yummy ingredients of this salad I knew I had to make it.  Fresh broccoli and cauliflower...YES....chopped red onion...oh yeah!...crumbled feta cheese...for sure!...diced grape tomatoes...absolutely!....all tossed with a lovely dressing (that I thought I had ALL the ingredients for...not so much).  With all those yummy characters in mind I would like to share with you today my version of Diane's Cauliflower and Broccoli Salad.  I will also provide you with the original ingredients that are in Diane's salad...you know the ingredients that I didn't have on hand....;-)

Cauliflower and Broccoli Salad

(many thanks Diane for passing along this recipe to me)

1/2 head of cauliflower - chopped up into bite size pieces

1-2 good size bunches of broccoli - chopped up into bite size pieces

1/2 red onion - chopped

1 heaping cup grape tomatoes - cut into quarters

2-4 oz. feta cheese - crumbled

1 dry packet of Italian dressing (this is where I changed up Diane's recipe for lack of dry RANCH dressing on hand)

2 Tbsp water

1/3 cup balsamic vinegar (Diane's recipe called for red rice vinegar)

1/2 cup olive oil (canola oil could be used in substitution)

Directions:

1. Place cut up cauliflower and broccoli into a large bowl.  Add in chopped red onion and quartered tomatoes.  Set aside.

2. Make dressing by combining dry salad dressing mix, oil, vinegar and water in a jar that can be covered tightly with a lid. Once lid is securely place on jar shake for a minute or two until well combined.  Pour dressing over veggies and toss gently to coat.  Fold in feta cheese.

3. Refrigerate salad for a good hour (if not longer if possible).  All the flavors of the dressing will melt into the veggies as it hangs out in the fridge.

Serve with happiness!

Of course you could always add in any of your favorite veggies to this refreshing summer salad.  Red peppers, cucumbers or black olives are a few additions that come to mind.  Go ahead be daring and toss in different veggies.

Happy Cauliflower and Broccoli Salad Making!

WINNER is announced and a LOVELY PD Gelatin Salad

OMHappiness!!!!  The WINNER has been chosen for the yummy True Nuts give-away! 

I'm delighted to announce that the #10 comment on my give-away post has been drawn from random.org.....YES, the lovely Ingrid of Baseball, Baking and Books has been chosen! Congrats Ingrid!  I will be contacting you soon to get your home address to mail away your yummy nuts.  :-)

Along with my happiness over Ingrid winning The True Nut give-away I'm delighted to share with you a very special recipe.  Special in what way you ask? Well, let's just say that I have finally come across a PD (Paula Deen) recipe that does NOT contain butter.  That's right NO butter exists in this recipe from the sweet southern gal we all love.  I know, I know this may not really be fair because the recipe I'm about to share with you is a gelatin mold salad so why would it even be possible for butter to be an ingredient in it?  Just wondering....have you ever heard of a gelatin mold that has butter in it?  Me neither (so far).  But the reality of this d'lish gelatin salad mold that PD created is that it has a lovely nutty cream cheese filling that could easily have a little butter added to it......but PD held herself back and didn't do it!  I'm proud of you girl! ;-)

I made this gelatin salad for Turkey Day.  It was a BIG hit and it was easy to put together along with wonderful flavors from the combination of pineapple, cranberry and raspberry.   I will definitely be making this recipe again....most likely for Christmas dinner.

Cranberry Pineapple Gelatin Salad

(recipe from Paula Deen)

Ingredients:

2 (3oz.) packages raspberry gelatin

1/2 envelope unflavored gelatin

1 cup boiling water

1/2 cup cold water

1 (8oz.) can crushed pineapple in its own juice

1 (15oz.) can whole cranberry sauce

1/4 cup finely chopped walnuts (optional....I didn't add these)

Filling Ingredients:

1 (8oz.) package cream cheese, softened

1/4 cup powdered sugar

2 Tbsp whipping or heavy cream

1/4 cup chopped walnuts

Directions:

1. Spray a 4 cup gelatin mold or a 9x9 square pan with non-stick spray.  Set aside.

2. Combine 2 boxes of raspberry jello and non-flavored gelatin in a glass bowl.  Add in 1 cup boiling water...

 and stir with a metal spoon until the gelatin is completely dissolved - about 2 minutes of continual stirring.

3. Stir in 1/2 cup of cold water.

4. Add the crushed pineapple (and it's juice) along with cranberry sauce and chopped nuts (if you wish).....

  Stir well with a metal spoon until all ingredients are completely incorporated.

5. Pour mixture into prepared mold....

  Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm - at least 4 hours (or overnight as I did).

6. Make filling by combining softened cream cheese, powdered sugar and whipping/heavy cream....

  Beat until smooth with a hand held mixer.  Add in chopped nuts and mix to combine. Set aside.

7. About an hour before serving gelatin salad remove from refrigerator and invert onto a serving platter.  Allow to sit at room temperature and the mold will release itself and come clean from the mold. 

8. Once gelatin has been removed from mold gently fill or top with filling....

Yummy!  What treat of a gelatin salad!

Happy Pineapple-Cranberry Gelatin Salad Making!

Warm Goat Cheese Salad

Happy St. Patrick's Day! 

Because it is St Patty's Day I thought I'd post something "green"....and can you believe it, it's NOT a dessert but rather a delicious salad.  Perfect to have on St. Pat's Day. This recipe makes a large serving for 1 person so do not hesitate to double it if you wish to serve more than one person.

Warm Goat Cheese Salad

Ingredients:

For the goat cheese toast:

1-2 pieces of good fresh bread (I choose a nice French Bread)

extra virgin olive oil

3 oz. of goat cheese

For the salad:

1/2 tsp red wine or sherry vinegar

2 tsp extra virgin olive oil

1/8 tsp Dijon mustard

a good pinch of coarse salt

2 cups of torn green lettuce leaves, washed and dried

FRESH ground pepper

1/4 cup walnut halves, toasted (optional)

Directions:

1. Preheat broiler and set oven rack in the middle of oven.

2. Brush bread with just enough olive oil to moisten it.  Gently spread goat cheese on bread (don't spread too thin).  Broil on a baking sheet in the oven until the cheese is soft, warmed through and lightly browned.  This doesn't take long (maybe 3-4 minutes) so don't walk too far away from the oven.

3. While the toasts are baking, make vinaigrette.  With a fork stir together vinegar, olive oil, mustard and salt all together.

4. Toss lettuce in with the vinaigrette and pile on a plate. Grind FRESH pepper over the top and then rest the warm goat cheese toast over salad.  Scatter walnuts on top, if using.

I discovered this fabulous little salad as I was reading David Lebovitz's book, The Sweet Life in Paris.  I suggest everyone who has gone to Paris, worships Paris, has family in Paris, dreams of going to Paris or has simply just flown over Paris to go out and treat themselves to this book.  It is full of wonderful humor, delicious recipes and a great out-look of what it means to live in Paris.  I am serious......go get this book!

Happy Warm Goat Cheese Salad making!

~avril :-)