Posts Tagged ‘salad’

February 2, 2011 6

mixed salad with tahini dressing

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al-Husayn and Townhouse Art Gallery

Egypt has been on my mind constantly. It all started when I finally got Cory to watch one of my favorite movies, The Band’s Visit, just after the New Year. Then a couple weeks later, we watched Dr. Zhivago (seeing it made me even more proud to have been an extra in a film that starred Omar Sharif). Now in the wake of the protests in Egypt, I’ve been glued to Al-Jazeera English’s live stream everyday and find myself constantly refreshing certain blogs for live updates.

I miss Egypt. A lot. I spent almost a year there, over the course of three separate visits. Egypt will always have a special place in my heart. It was a place of firsts – first international flight, first time living on my own, first roommates, and the place where I first took an interest in food and cooking. Although I had a lot of frustrating experiences in Cairo (as any woman will tell you), I long for the day I can return and introduce Cory to my favorite bookstores, restaurants, and neighborhoods.

I especially miss the cats. Don’t even get me started on the cats. I have more pictures of cats than pyramids (which is easy, since cats are everywhere).

I loved all of the cats, even the ones that tried escaping my loving embrace. I could totally do without the geckos (bors), though.

And, of course, there’s the food.

I arrived in Egypt a very picky eater and returned to the States with a new love for food and cooking (lentils, fava beans, and chickpeas… where had they been all my life?). With Egypt so much on my mind lately, I started off the week with plans to only make Egyptian and Egyptian-inspired foods. So expect to see lots of Egyptian recipes here in the near future. My produce market was overflowing lots of interesting greens – butter lettuce, dinosaur kale, and brilliantly purple escarole. Once I got home, I wanted to put them all together in salad. For the record, I was never served anything quite like this salad in Egypt. It’s Egyptian-inspired, with a tahini based sauce laced with cumin and coriander. You see, I can’t help but put a somewhat foofy California cuisine spin on the dishes I make.

By the way, if you subscribe via email or RSS take a look at avocado & bravado’s new look. I planned on coding my own WordPress theme from scratch, buuut… I never quite got around to it. Instead, I found a nice minimalist theme to use as a base and customized it myself. I’m still smoothing a few things out, but the blog is finally looking the way I’ve always wanted it to. I love it.

Mixed Green Salad with Tahini Dressing
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For the dressing:

3 garlic cloves, chopped finely
2/3 cup tahini
1/3 cup plain yogurt (you could leave this out and add more tahini, but sometimes I find that tahini can be too strong)
2-4 tablespoons water (depending on the thickness of your yogurt. I used full fat Greek yogurt, so I used about 4 tablespoons of water)
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon coriander
salt

Chop the garlic and toss into a blender, along with the remaining the tahini, yogurt, 2 tablespoons water, lemon juice, cumin, coriander and salt. Blend until smooth. If the dressing is too thick, add more water, a tablespoon at a time until you’ve reached your desired consistency.

For the salad:

3 cups mildly tart greens (any of the following: endive, escarole, dandelion greens, kale, purslane, watercress), washed and chopped into bite-sized pieces
2 cups mild greens (any of the following: butter lettuce, loose leaf lettuce, Romaine lettuce), washed and chopped into bite-sized pieces
1 onion, diced
1 cucumber diced
1 cup walnuts, chopped
1 15-oz can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
black pepper, for serving

Toss together the the greens and add to individual bowls. Drizzle the dressing over the greens and add the onions, cucumber, walnuts, and chickpeas. Grind some black pepper over the salad and serve.

Serves 6-8

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September 10, 2010 5

israeli couscous with chickpeas and herbs

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Oh, hello there my dear neglected blog.  I’ve been crazy busy the last couple weeks and haven’t had much time to update or spend as much time as I’d like experimenting in the kitchen.  I’ve been making lots of old favorites that I can whip up with my eyes closed (like basic red curry sauce and mujaddara), in addition to lots of green and bean-based salads.  But I have been rediscovering my love for dill, which was the primary herb I used in this dish.  I love the sweet and aromatic grassy taste of dill.  I used to only really be familiar with dill in lemon and butter based sauces used for fish, but I’ve been using dill in almost everything lately.  I loved this dish so much I’ve made it twice in the last week.

I used Israeli couscous, but it can be a bit harder to find.  Regular couscous and orzo would also make good substitutes.

israeli couscous salad with chickpeas

Israeli Couscous and Chickpeas with Fresh Herbs
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2 teaspoons cooking oil (I used about a teaspoon of peanut oil and a teaspoon of butter)
1 shallot, diced
1 carrot, diced
1 garlic clove, minced
1 1/4 cups water or broth (vegetable or chicken)
1 bay leaf
1 1″ cinnamon stick
1 cup of Israeli couscous
salt & pepper, to taste
red pepper flakes, to taste (optional)
1 15-oz can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1/2 cup fresh herbs, chopped (I used dill and parsley, but mint would be a great addition)
1/4 cup almonds, chopped
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

Heat oil in a medium-sized saucepan over medium heat. When hot, add the shallot and cook until softened, or about 5-7 minutes.  Add the carrots, garlic, bay leaf, and cinnamon stick and cook for an additional 3-5 minutes.  Add the water or broth to the pan and season with salt and pepper.  Bring the broth or water to a boil and lower the heat.  Stir in the couscous, letting it simmer uncovered for 6-7 minutes.   Remove from heat and cover the saucepan.

Meanwhile, rinse and drain the chickpeas, chop up the herbs, and almonds.  Gently stir in the chickpeas, herbs, and almonds, along with a tablespoon of olive oil.  Season to taste, adding more salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes, if necessary.  Serve immediately.

Serves 3-4

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August 27, 2010 4

lentil salad with feta and sun-dried tomatoes

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I adore lentils.  Recently, I feel like I’ve seen a lot of food bloggers bemoaning how ugly lentils are, but I’m so blinded by my love for lentils it doesn’t matter to me what they look like.  A touch of pomegranate molasses is the secret ingredient to this salad, as it adds a wonderfully sweet and tart kick.  Pomegranate molasses can easily be found at Middle Eastern groceries, co-ops, and gourmet groceries like Whole Foods.  There’s always the option of making your own pomegranate molasses.  In fact, it’s not even molasses at all, but a syrup made from pomegranate juice and sugar.  Elise of Simply Recipes has a recipe for it here.  Also, I found that this salad needed very little salt, since feta cheese is so salty.

Lentil Salad with Feta and Sun-Dried Tomatoes
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1 cup black beluga lentils (brown lentils and French green lentils can be used as substitutes)
1 small red onion, chopped
water, for soaking (optional)
1/4 cup sun-dried tomatoes, chopped
1/4 cup freshly chopped herbs (one or more of the following: parsley, mint, basil)
1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese
2 teaspoons pomegranate molasses
2 tablespoons olive oil
salt & pepper, to taste

Give the lentils a quick rinse and add them to a stockpot with three cups of salted water.  Bring the water to a gentle boil and simmer the lentils for 15-20 minutes, or until ‘al dente’.

Meanwhile, chop the onions, place them in a colander, and give them a quick rinse in cold water. This step is completely optional, but doing this helps take off the edge from eating the onions raw.  Transfer the onions to a large mixing bowl.

Now, chop the tomatoes and the herbs and toss them in the large bowl, along with the feta cheese. Once the lentils are ready, drain them in a colander and gently fold them into the mixing bowl.  Gently stir in the pomegranate molasses, olive oil, salt, and pepper until everything is coated.  Season to taste, adding a little more oil or salt, if needed.  Serve warm or cold.

Serves 4-6

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August 24, 2010 3

kale salad with honey dressing and pine nuts

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kale salad with honey dressing and pine nuts

A couple weekends ago, Cory and I made the trek to the Mission to pay a visit to Rainbow Grocery, a food co-op.  We only make a few trips to Rainbow a year, so whenever we’re there we stock up on stock up on pantry staples such as lentils, quinoa, couscous, oats, wheat berry, coconut flakes, coconut oil, honey and sweet treats like dried fruits.  I rarely ever stray outside of the bulk section (which by the way, is massive), but I was lured into the produce section and quickly laid my eyes on a beautiful bunch of red Russian kale and tossed it in my shopping basket.  By the time we arrived home, we were hungry and I quickly prepared this salad to serve with leftover chicken and roasted broccoli.  I loved the salad so much that it became a recurring side dish for the rest of the week.  It almost feels like a cheat to post this here since it’s so simple, but it was such a delicious and no fuss salad.  And of course, I don’t need to tell you how good kale is for you.  We quickly ran out of red Russian kale over the course of a few days, so I bought green kale to make even more of this salad and that worked just as well.

Kale Salad with Honey Dressing and Pine Nuts
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For the salad
1 bunch kale (green or red Russian)
1/4 cup pine nuts

For the dressing
1 tablespoon honey
2 teaspoons red wine vinegar
salt & pepper, to taste
red pepper flakes (optional), to taste
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

Chop the kale by folding the leaves in half and slicing off the ribs. Cut the kale into small pieces and transfer to a large bowl.

In a small bowl, whisk together the honey, red wine vinegar, salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes (if using). Slowly drizzle in the olive oil, whisking constantly. Take a taste and adjust the flavors, if necessary.

Heat a skillet over medium-low heat (there’s no need to add any extra oils). When hot, add the pine nuts. Stir them constantly for 3-5 minutes, or until lightly browned. Remove from heat.

Toss the dressing to into the kale. Serve on individual plates and garnish with pine nuts.

Serves 6-8, as a side dish

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June 30, 2010 1

salad with carrot ginger dressing

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This recipe has come a long way before making its way here and like the school game of “telephone” there have been some changes along the way. I adapted it from Tastespace who found it from Smitten Kitchen who adapted it from Gwyneth Paltrow’s newsletter GOOP.com – which features meal plans and recipes of the celebrity’s strict detox diet. Whenever I see the words “master cleanse”, “detox”, and “toxins” my immediate reaction is an eyeroll. Sigh. Of course you’re going to lose weight if you consume only 1,000 calories a day. I digress, though. I’ll save all my rage for Kevin Trudeau. In any case, the salad dressing is wonderful. It’s light, slightly spicy, and the ginger lends a sweet, warm medicinal taste. The original recipe called for white miso, which I left out. I don’t cook Japanese food very often and couldn’t justify purchasing something I’d only use once or twice. Serve with any greens of your choice.

Salad with Carrot Ginger Dressing
(adapted from Tastespace)
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For the salad:
Greens of your choice (head of romaine, green leaf, red leaf, spinach)
1 cup walnuts, chopped
croutons

For the dressing:
1 large carrot, peeled and chopped
1 small shallot or 1/4 of a red onion, chopped
1 tablespoon white miso (I left this out)
2 tablespoons fresh ginger, chopped
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
2 tablespoons toasted sesame oil
pinch of cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon sugar
1/4 cup oil (grapeseed, safflower, canola, olive oil)
2 tablespoons water

Pulse the carrot, shallot or onion, and ginger in a blender until finely chopped. Add the white miso, rice vinegar, sesame oil, cayenne pepper, and sugar and pulse until blended. Transfer the dressing to a large bowl and slowly drizzle in the oil, stirring constantly. Stir in the water.

Arrange the lettuce into individual bowls, top with the dressing, chopped walnuts, and croutons.

Serves 4-5

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