Mexican Caviar (Cowboy Salad)

Credit for this dish goes to Maricruz Avalos Flores at M.A. Kitchen

This Mexican Caviar recipe is a vibrant mix of beans, corn, and fresh veggies, all tossed in a tangy vinaigrette. It is a crowd-pleaser and makes the perfect dip or side dish for gatherings, potlucks, and barbecues!

Ingredients:

• 1.5 cups corn kernels - canned or fresh

• 1.5 cups black beans - drained and rinsed

• 1 cup black-eyed peas - drained and rinsed

• 1.5 cups cherry tomatoes - quartered

• 1 medium ripe avocado - diced

• 1 cup green bell peppers - diced

• 1 cup red bell peppers - diced

• 2/3 cup red onion - diced

• 1/4 cup jalapeño peppers - chopped

• 1 small bunch cilantro - chopped (Optional)

Dressing:

• 3 Tablespoons olive oil

• 2 Tablespoons white vinegar

• 1 lime (juiced, about 2 Tablespoons)

• 1 ½ teaspoons honey (or sugar)

• 1 teaspoon chili powder or hot paprika

• ½ teaspoon ground cumin

• ¼ teaspoons garlic powder

• salt & pepper (to taste)

Preparation:

Place all diced vegetables, beans, and chopped cilantro in a large mixing bowl.

Add all ingredients for the dressing in a jar and close it with a tight lid.

Shake the jar until all ingredients are nicely emulsified.

Pour the dressing into the bowl with vegetables and toss everything until nicely coated.

Taste and adjust seasonings if needed.

Chill the salad in the fridge for 20-30 minutes then serve with chips.

Blessed be… and happy cooking!

Zucchini, Feta & Pine Nut Salad

Here's another great salad from Diabetes Australia.

This refreshing zucchini, feta and pine nut salad is perfect for a summer barbeque or weekend family gathering. Drizzle with olive oil, garnish with rocket and enjoy!

Ingredients:

• 5 medium zucchini
• 1/2 cup toasted pine nuts
• 50g crumbled feta cheese
• Sprinkle of chives
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
• 2 cups rocket (arugula)
• 6 Kalamata olives quartered (optional)

Preparation:

Shave zucchini into thin strips using a vegetable peeler and lightly grill. Cook for about a minute on each side and set aside to cool.

In a non-stick fry pan, toast the pine nuts until lightly golden.

Toss shaved zucchini, chives, pine nuts, cheese, olives, salt and pepper together.

Drizzle olive oil, garnish with rocket and enjoy!

Blessed be... and happy cooking!

White Bean Salad - Signature Collection

This fresh and bright white bean salad is another example of a restaurant cook not willing to share a recipe back in 2013. After finishing the bacon wrapped scallops that included this tasty treat I could not stop thinking about it all through dinner. Instead of dessert I ordered a second appetizer and we deconstructed right there at the table.

What follows is my version of a white bean salad inspired by the chef at S&P Oyster Company in Mystic Seaport, CT. I hope you enjoy this as much as Carolyn and I do. :-)

I never did write up the recipe back then, but fortunately I was smart enough to take a group shot of the ingredients I used, so that gave me a place to start.

After studying the old pic it was time to get to work cutting up the ingredients using sizes best I could see in the decade old images and guessing at quantities.

This looked like a pretty good balance so I just put it all together, taking really bad notes along the way. LOL Hey... creativity is not always pretty! :-)

Now that I had my salad it was time to create a proper dressing. I could see from the old picture that lime juice was included, so I immediately went to my Luscious Lemon Vinaigrette recipe for guidance. Trial and error came up with this mix.

My mix really brought it all together to create a fresh, vibrant, flavorful salad than can actually stand alone. And finally, here is the ingredient list I can call my own... Enjoy!

Salad Ingredients:

• +/-3 cups baby spinach - should yield 1.5 cups chopped
• 2 15oz cans white beans - drained and rinsed
• 1 orange bell pepper - diced
• 1 shallot - minced
• 2 medium tomatoes - seeded and then diced
• 1/2 English cucumber - peeled, quartered, seeded and diced - should yield 1 cup

Dressing Ingredients:

• 1/8 cup red wine vinegar
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1/8 cup fresh squeezed lime juice
• 1/4 tsp table salt
• 1/8 tsp black pepper

Blessed be... and happy cooking!

Southwestern Black Bean, Quinoa and Mango Salad

Credit for this delicious salad goes to Gina Homolka at Skinnytaste.com

This healthy Southwestern Black Bean, Quinoa and Mango Salad is a delicious and nutritious way to get more vegetables and plant-based foods into your diet.

Ingredients:

• 15- ounce can black beans - rinsed and drained
• 1 cup cooked quinoa - red or tri-color
• 1 cup fresh or frozen corn -cooked
• 1 small red bell pepper - chopped
• 1 cup fresh mango - chopped
• 1/4 cup red onion - finely chopped 
• 1/2 cup fresh cilantro - chopped 
• 1 small jalapeño pepper - seeded and finely diced
• juice from 1 medium lemon or lime
• 1 1/2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 2 garlic cloves - minced
• 1/2 tsp ground cumin
• 1/2 tsp chili powder
• 1/4 tsp ground turmeric

Preparation:

Mix together the beans, quinoa, corn, bell pepper, mango, onion, cilantro, and jalapeño in a mixing bowl.

Whisk together the lemon juice, olive oil, garlic, cumin, chili powder, and turmeric in a small bowl.

Drizzle over the mixture and toss.

Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Blessed be... and happy cooking!

Mediterranean Eggplant Salad

This dish is an absolute summer delight and pairs really well with just about anything barbecued. 

The recipe was adapted from the original found at A Cedar Spoon by Julia. Julia features many wonderful recipes on her site... Be sure to check them out!

Ingredients:

• 1-2 eggplant - about 3 lbs
• olive oil
• salt & pepper – for eggplant
• 3 cups tomatoes - diced
• 1 orange bell pepper - chopped
• 1 cup scallions - green parts chopped
• 1/4 cup fresh mint - chopped
• 1 cup fresh parsley - chopped
• 1 lemon - juiced
• salt & pepper to taste
• 1/4 tsp crushed Aleppo pepper

Preparation:

Slice the eggplant into rounds about 1/2 - 5/8" thick. Rub salt on each side of the eggplant and lay on a baking sheet for an hour. Use a paper towel to pat the eggplant dry and then brush each side of the eggplant generously with olive oil. Sprinkle each side of the eggplant with salt & pepper.

Heat the grill to medium heat. Place the eggplant on the grill and cook for 5 minutes. Flip eggplant and grill until browned on bottom and soft. Let the eggplant cool and then chop into bite sized pieces.

In a large bowl mix the eggplant with the remaining ingredients and toss lightly to combine. Add more olive oil if needed to create a consistency you like.

Shown here as a side with Quick & Easy Calamari and a traditional tomato salad.

Blessed be... and happy cooking!

Shirazi Salad - Signature Collection

After seeing my friend Ely’s Shirazi Salad video I did a little research as the name intrigued me. It turns out this dish is named after the city of Shiraz in southern Iran. Apparently it comes in many regional flavor pallets with varied ingredients and spices and has been a staple item there with many many meals since.... forever. After kicking around a number of flavor combos I settled on something I can call my own. I paired it tonight with my recipe for Grandma Inspired Fried Meatballs, and omg what a winner. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

3 plump tomatoes - diced

1 English cucumber - peeled and diced

½ cup finely chopped red onion

1 orange or yellow bell pepper - chopped

3 tbsp EACH chopped fresh parsley, basil and scallion

½ cup chopped fresh mint - or 1 tbsp dried

Salt and pepper to taste

Sumac to taste (very optional as it's not everyone's choice)

4 tbsp lime or lemon juice - chef's choice

3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil - remember quality counts :-)

Preparation:

Cut up the tomatoes first and place in a colander to drain some of the juice.

Cut up all the other ingredients and toss together in a large bowl. Add oil, lemon/lime juice and season with salt & pepper to taste. Blend well.

Blend well and add the dressing.

Chill this salad for about an hour and toss again before serving with something like my Grandma Inspired Fried "Meatballs" or BBQed chicken.

Blessed be... and happy cooking!

Lemon Pepper Halibut & White Bean Salad

This is another recipe that was inspired by a restaurant chef who refused to share way back in 2013... The appetizer of bacon wrapped grilled scallops served over a white bean salad topped with micro-greens was so incredibly good that we had to order a second portion for deconstruction... something I absolutely love to do. :-) So here's what I started with:

Fantastic appetizer... really... and back then I was all about the bacon! LOL What follows is a mystery to me a decade later, as I found a bunch of pics I took of recreating the dish at home ten years ago, but no recipe. Fortunately I was smart enough to take a group shot of the ingredients I used, so that gave me a place to start.

After studying the old pic it was time to get to work cutting up the ingredients using sizes best I could see in the decade old images and guessing at quantities.

This looked like a pretty good balance so I just put it all together, taking really bad notes along the way. LOL Hey... creativity is not always pretty! :-)

Now that I had my salad it was time to create a proper dressing. I could see from the old picture that lime juice was included, so I immediately went to my Luscious Lemon Vinaigrette recipe for guidance. Trial and error came up with this mix.

My mix really brought it all together to create a fresh, vibrant, flavorful salad than can actually stand alone. Fish lover that I am, though, I was itching to try the halibut bites I had recently received as part of a fish order. Seasoned with my favorite lemon pepper blend from FreshJax Organic Spices and a little olive oil, they were given a quick fry and then added on top of the white bean salad.

You didn't think this was just a story, did you? *smirks* The process is pretty obvious above, but here is the ingredient list. Enjoy!

Fish:

• 12 oz cubed halibut - any other white fish or scallops will work well, also.
• olive oil
• 1+ tbsp FreshJax lemon pepper blend

Salad:

• +/-3 cups baby spinach - should yield 1.5 cups chopped
• 2 15oz cans white beans - drained and rinsed
• 1 orange bell pepper - diced
• 1 shallot - minced
• 2 medium tomatoes - seeded and then diced
• 1/2 English cucumber - peeled, quartered, seeded and diced - should yield 1 cup

Dressing:

• 1/8 cup red wine vinegar
• 1/8 cup lime juice
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1/4 tsp table salt
• 1/8 black pepper

Enjoy!

Blessed be... and happy cooking!