salad

Caprese Salad

| mrscheryllacy

OK, so it’s November and in most of the country you no longer have the luxury of fresh vegetables from your garden. I know, but… I woke up this morning to just a small amount of rain and was nostalgic for my Summer garden. While I live in Southern California and still have fresh basil and a few tomatoes in my garden, it’s not enough to make this dish without supplementing from the farmers market or the organic section of the grocery store, I still had to have some caprese salad. Sometimes we have to go out of our way to remind ourselves that Summer will be back and we will be wondering what to do with all of those tomatoes then anyway. And, of course, if you didn’t come across this post outside of fresh vegetable season where you live, then great. Ignore my earlier ramble.  Happy Eating!

Ingredients

  • 3-5 tomatoes20150728_185244
  • 1 small red onion
  • mozzarella cheese
  • 1.2 – 2/3 cup of fresh basil
  • balsamic vinegar
  • olive oil
  • orange juice
  • salt
  • pepper

Instructions

  • Wash tomatoes, remove the greens/core, and slice into 1/4″ thick pieces.
  • Arrange slices in a layer on a large plate.
  • Slice mozzarella cheese into 1/4″ thick pieces and arrange on top of tomatoes.

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  • Cut red onion into small, bite size slices and place around tomatoes.
  • Wash and press dry (with a paper towel) the basil. Separate pieces and arrange around the tomatoes and onions.
  • In a separate bowl, make approximately 1/3 cup of dressing.
    • Fill glass measuring cup to a little below 1/3 cup line with about 1/2 of this height coming from olive oil and half from balsamic vinegar.
    • Add 3 T of orange juice.
    • Add salt and pepper amounts to your preference. About 1/2 tsp each minimum.
    • Mix well.
  • Pour dressing over plate with tomatoes, cheese, onions and basil.
  • Serve now or chill in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes

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And your final plate should look something like:

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Ideas

  • Orange juice – If you have fresh oranges, this is even tastier when you squeeze them for your juice. You could (and should) add some orange zest (up to 1 T) to the dressing mix.
  • Tomatoes – for an even more beautiful display and extra flavor, use different colored tomatoes like yellow and orange or heirloom tomatoes.
  • Salt and Pepper – if you have them, always grind fresh. I use at least 12 revolutions of ground pepper and salt in my dressing.
  • If you chill the plate before serving, the flavors are more pronounced and the tomatoes have had time to absorb more of the dressing… additional flavor. Yum!

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Roasted Butternut Squash Salad

| mrscheryllacy

And the winner of last weeks poll was this Roasted Butternut Squash Salad. This is one of those recipes that I saw on Pinterest and thought looked rather yummy. In my usual fashion, I’ve made quite a few changes to it and have taste-tested this on my very willing coworkers. They believe I’ve perfected this and always hope I will bring some leftovers into the office for them.

This salad is excellent as a side dish or even as a main course. My preference is as a side dish with a good serving of protein (chicken breast, pork loin, steak) to go with it. As always, make changes to this to suit your own tastes, but try it my way first just in case I got it right for you too!

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Dressing

  • 4 T apple cider vinegar
  • 4 T extra-virgin olive oil
  • 1 T honey
  • 1 T dijon mustard (or your favorite mustard, just not yellow mustard)
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1/8 tsp pepper

Salad

  • 1 butternut squash (between 1.5-2 lbs) peeled, de-seeded and cubed into 1/2″ pieces (Costco usually has a nice peeled, cut butternut squash you can purchase, but like today, not always)
  • 2 T olive oil
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/8 tsp pepper
  • Flavored pearled couscous (my favorite is Basil and Herb) – follow cooking directions on the box and add 1 tsp of Lawry’s seasoning salt to it when you add the spice mix
  • 1/2 large sweet onion, diced
  • 5 oz (or as I use, 2 large handfuls) of kale or mixed greens, washed, de-stemmed and finely chopped
  • 1 can (15.5 oz) chickpeas/garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained

Instructions

  • Whisk together all the dressing ingredients in a small bowl and set aside.20150730_203831
  • Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Toss the cubed squash in a ziplock bag with the olive oil (less is more on the oil – I use less than the 2T above). Spread the squash in a single layer on an aluminum foil covered baking sheet. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roast the squash until tender and golden about 20 minutes. Toss halfway through. Cool.20150730_201650
  • Cook the couscous per directions on the box. Remove from heat and cool.
  • Put the onion in a small bowl and cook on high in the microwave for 30 seconds. This is just enough to make the onion a bit “milder” but not too long that the onion will lose its crunch. 20150730_202538
  • Start adding ingredients to a large bowl. My usual order is:
    1. Add onions
    2. Add couscous, mix
    3. Add garbanzo beans, mix
    4. Add kale/greens, mix
    5. Add squash and dressing, mix
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1. Add onions
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2. Add couscous
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3. Add garbanzo beans
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chop up the greens for 4
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4. Add greens
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Mix well
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5. Add butternut squash and dressing

You can serve this now, if you want. I prefer to make this the night before I plan to eat it as I like it cool from the refrigerator. It can keep in the frig up to 2 days.

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Enjoy!

Ideas

  • When picking a butternut squash, choose one just over 2 lbs. Better to have more than less. And really, roasted butternut squash is super delicious (and healthy), so why not have a bit more in your salad?
  • You can use whichever greens you prefer. Kale is recommended, but I love the Power Greens Blend from Costco.
  • Also, if you are missing any of these ingredients, the one I’d miss the least is the greens. Had to make it without then once and the salad was just as delicious, just not as colorful.

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