Quinoa and Black Bean Salad

I got the original recipe off of The Girl Who Ate Everything and made a some changes.  When Calvin came into the kitchen and asked what was for dinner and I told him Quinoa he asked me what that was.  I said it's seeds that are kind of like rice.  He laughed and told Anna Elise that was I making up words.  When he realized I was serious he got VERY upset and informed me that seeds were not dinner!  I could sense an uprising as the kids all ran for the kitchen.  So I told them it was a salad that we were going to eat as salsa with tortilla chips.  Adding a few tortilla chips to the dinner seemed to make it ok!  Everyone ate it and most of them even liked it!  I thought it was delicious - but then I'd eat almost anything with avacados in it!  This fed my family of 7 (although my kids are young so it's probably more like a family of 5) as a main dish and we had some left over.  The quinoa is very filling.  I loved it!

• 1 teaspoon vegetable oil
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 1/2 teaspoons minced garlic
• 1 cup uncooked quinoa
• 2 cups vegetable broth
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1 Tablespoon lime juice
• 1 1/2 cups frozen corn
• 2 (15 ounce) cans of black beans, drained and rinsed 
• 1/2 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
• 2 ripe avocado, diced
• 2 small fresh tomatoes, diced
• salt and pepper to taste

Directions

1. Rinse the quinoa in a strainer. Sometimes it can have a bitter taste on the outside so rinsing gets rid of this.
2. Heat the oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Stir in the onion and garlic, and cook for a couple of minutes or until onion is soft.
3. Add the quinoa and vegetable broth to the pan. Add the cayenne pepper, salt, and pepper. Bring mixture to a boil and then cover, reduce heat, and simmer for 20 minutes.
4. Stir in lime juice and frozen corn into the pan and simmer for 5 minutes or until corn is heated through.
5. Finally, mix in the black beans, cilantro, avacado and tomotoes.

Sugar Glazed Walnuts

I am always making a lettuce salad with craisins, sugared walnuts, feta cheese with poppyseed dressing.  It is so quick and easy and yummy.  I have been searching the easiest way to toast my walnuts and sugar them.  I finally found this recipe and I love it because it is so easy and you can't burn your nuts.  I found it at allrecipes.com but I have adjusted it some so I will just put it the way I make it.

3 cups walnut halves (mine are straight from the freezer where I store my nuts)
3\4 cup white sugar
1/4 cup water

In a 2 quart glass bowl combine walnut halves, sugar and water.  Cook in microwave oven on high for about 6 minutes.  Stir several times during the cooking.  Cook until the sugar has caramelized.  Pour out onto a piece of parchment paper and let cool.  Chop them up and you are ready to go.  This will make more than one salad.

Tropical Chicken Salad Wrap

It was summer here today with a high in the upper 80's.  We needed something light and cool for dinner and I found this from the website www.delish.com   I had to make a few changes, they are noted below.  This was very good and 'refreshing'.

• 2 cup(s) cooked skinless chicken, shredded
• 1 can(s) (1-ounce) mandarin oranges , drained (I used 3 fresh cuties, cut into pieces)
• 1/2 cup(s) shredded coconut, toasted
• 1/2 cup(s) roasted cashews (any nut would work, I used chopped almonds)
• 1 bunch(es) scallions, chopped
• Juice of 1 lime  (about 2 Tbls of lime juice)
• 1/4 teaspoon(s) salt
• 1/4 teaspoon(s) pepper
• 1/3 cup(s) mayonnaise
• lettuce leaves 
• tortillas                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         Mix everything except the lettuce and tortillas together.  Lay the leaves on the tortillas and spread the salad on top, roll it up and enjoy!  

Black Bean and Corn Salsa

I have had this recipe for years, it is one of my favorite summer time snacks. It is effortless to make and stays deliciously fresh for days! (well minus the avocado) Enjoy the last few days of sunny weather, grab some chips and dig in!

Black Bean and Corn Salsa

2 15oz. cans of black beans
1 avocado, diced
1/3 c. lime juice
1 sm. Red pepper, diced
1/4 c. olive oil
2 med. Tomatoes, diced
1 garlic clove, minced
6 green onions, finely chopped
1 tsp. sea salt
1 hot chili pepper, minced (optional)
1/8 tsp. cayenne pepper
½ c. coarsely chopped fresh cilantro
1 ½ c. corn

Combine lime juice, oil, garlic, salt and pepper. Set aside

Combine all other ingredients and pour sauce over until well coated.  If making ahead, do not add avocado until ready to serve.

Beef and Mushroom Tacos with Avocados

1 lb. ground beef (I used ground turkey)

1 onion, thinly sliced or chopped

1 jalapeno pepper, stemmed, seeded and finely chopped (you can use more if you want)

Salt and pepper

2 avocados, cubed

1/4 cup fresh lime juice

8 ounces sliced mushrooms

1 clove garlic, sliced or pressed

8 small flour tortillas

In a large skillet cook beef, onions, jalapenos. Season with salt and pepper. When done remove from pan. In same skillet cook mushrooms and garlic with a little bit of butter or olive oil if needed. When done put meat mixture back into pan and combine.

In a bowl combine the avocado with the lime juice.

Brown the tortillas or warm them up.

This is a super quick supper and really good. Besides layering the meat mixture and the avocados we put sour cream, cheese and salsa on ours. They are yummy! I got the recipe out of the Everyday with Rachael Ray Magazine and changed it up a little bit.

Enjoy!

Fruit Salad with Honey Lime Syrup

I got this recipe from The cook next door. For this recipe you can use any fruit you like.

1 cup blackberries

1 cup strawberries

1 mango

zest of 1/2 lime

1 lime, juiced

3 Tbs honey

pinch of salt

Mix it all together and enjoy.

Broccoli Tomato Salad

So, this is an old family favorite. My mom made it for me as a kid and I have made it for my family for years. It is a real favorite. I usually triple the recipe when I make it so that is how I am going to post it here.

3 lb. broccoli, blanched (I buy the 3 lb. bag at Costco and use that, I usually cut it into bite size pieces)
2-3 tomatoes, diced
1/3 - 1/2 cup finely chopped onion
1 1/2 cup mayonnaise
1 1/2 tsp. salt
3/4 tsp. pepper
3 Tbsp. lemon juice

Blanch the broccoli until you reach your desired doneness. Drain and run cold water over it until its cooled down. I run it through my salad spinner to get all the water out of it. Mix the mayonnaise, salt, pepper, onion and lemon juice together. Pour over the broccoli and mix well. Refrigerate until cold. Add tomatoes before serving.

Chicken & Pear Salad

We've had this salad for dinner several times and I LOVE it.  My kids eat it (but they eat salad).  We finally took a picture that we didn't lose so I can finally post it!

I found the recipe in my February All You Magazine and I modified it just a little bit and I tend to make salad with whatever I have so I'm a little unsure of the amounts, just make as much as your family will eat.  I always serve this with some kind of bread or my kids will complain that salad isn't dinner!

Lettuce (calls for Arugula, I always use either green leaf or romaine and mix with baby spinach)
2 pears (calls for sliced, but I find diced is better for my kids)
2 large chicken breasts cooked however you prefer (I threw them in the frying pan with a little oil and then diced them)
nuts (Mike prefers pecans but it calls for walnuts)
craisins (Mike doesn't like these so I left them out, I think they would be really good)
dressing below:

3 Tablespoons olive oil
2 Tablespoons apple cider vinegar
2 teaspoons grainy mustard (I used spicey brown, any would work)
mix well and toss onto salad

Enjoy!

Asian Noodle Salad

This summer my sister-in-law made us a really yummy salad.  I loved it!  She said it was from Pioneer Woman so I went looking for it.  I changed quite a few things, but it's all good!

 I'm not quite as adventuresome as Jana or the Pioneer Woman - here's what I used:
1 pound linguine noodles (cooked)
 purple cabbage
lettuce
baby spinach
carrots
various colors of bell peppers
cilantro


The amount of vegetables depends on how many veggies you use.  Really, whatever you like and is in your fridge is good!

The Dressing:

Juice from 1 Lime
8 Tablespoons Olive Oil
8 Tablespoons Soy Sauce
2 Tablespoons Sesame Oil
⅓ cups Brown Sugar
2 Tablespoons Fresh Ginger Chopped
2 cloves Garlic Chopped
Chopped Cilantro

I know Jana added chicken to hers and made it more filling.  The secret is to add the dressing to each serving so everyone gets as much as they like and then the salad saves well if you don't eat it all.  We loved it!

Italian Brown Rice Pasta Salad

I was so excited to find brown rice pasta at Trader Joes. I also found a very healthy Braggs Organic Vinagrette made with olive oil at Whole Foods recently. We had friends over for a BBQ I made a pasta salad. It was delicious and you couldn't even tell it was a different pasta. The dressing was lighter tasting but it really brought out the taste of vegetables and cheese. It's gluten free and low in sodium! You could make a main dish by adding diced chicken.

1 lb. package of brown rice spiral pasta
2-3 small cans of sliced olives drained
3 tomatoes diced
1 -2 green or red pepper diced
1 bunch green onion chopped
3/4 cups fresh grated parmesan
1 cup Braggs Organic Italian Vinagrette
salt and pepper to taste

Cook pasta according to directions on package. Rinse in cold water. Mix in large bowl with vegetables and dressing. Add cheese right before serving and add more dressing if needed.

Summer Salad with Lemon Vinaigrette

So it Jana's turn to post today and her internet is down so I am posting for her. This recipe won't be as good as hers but at least there is a post for today. I went to a lunch bunch today and have had this salad recipe all summer. I haven't made it because most of my family wouldn't like it so today was the perfect opportunity. It was delicious and the dressing and the raspberries were my favorite part. I know that it is fall and this is a summer salad but I live in California and so it still feels like summer except that the kids are in school. Maybe if you make the sald it will feel like summer to you also. I got this recipe from a Taste of Home magazine. It is one of my favorite magazines.

1/4 cup lemon juice
1/4 cup olive oil
2 Tbsp. balsamic vinegar
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. grated lemon peel
1 tsp. Dijon mustard
1/2 tsp pepper
2 pkg. (5 1/2 oz. each) torn mixed salad greens
2 cups sliced fresh mushrooms
2 cups fresh raspberries
2 cups diced cucumbers
1 medium red onion, sliced
1 cup sliced almonds

In a small bowl, whisk the first eight ingredients. Refrigerate until serving.

In a salad bowl, combine the salad greens, onion, mushrooms, raspberries, cucumbers and almonds. Drizzle with dressing; toss to coat. Serve immediately.