Thai Noodle Salad with Peanut Dressing

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Your grocery list is about to get a whole lot longer!

This has been our favourite salad this summer.  It's a bowl of goodness.  I love that this is even considered a salad.  Also, it's gluten-free, dairy-free, and vegetarian, but you could totally make it into a complete meal by adding grilled chicken or another protein.

The recipe is from the Whitewater Cooks with Friends cookbook, which if you haven't flipped through before is just chock full of beautiful, unique recipes.  There are four books in the cookbook series, and if you have ever been to my house for dinner then you have probably tried something from at least one of them.  The series is definitely in my Top 5 cookbooks.

This recipe makes a large salad, so it's perfect for a gathering.  I can't even explain to you how good the dressing is.  It's like delicious peanut sauce had babies with a super fresh salad dressing.  Its by far the best Thai salad that the Hubby and I have ever eaten.  The ingredients are a bit of an investment, but once you have them in your pantry you are all set for the second, third, fourth time that you re-make the salad (because you will!).

This summer has been soooo beautiful in B.C., and it's been hard to find time to post.  Also I don't cook dinner ever anymore (just kidding, kinda).  I hope all of you have had a hard time staying indoors this summer too!



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One Year Ago:  Mango and Black Bean Quinoa Salad
Two Years Ago:  Watermelon Salad with Feta and Fresh Mint
Three Years Ago:  Pesto Edamame Salad

Thai Noodle Salad with Peanut Dressing

Recipe Source:  Whitewater Cooks with Friends

Serves: 8



Ingredients

Dressing:

• 1/2 cup peanut butter
• 1 lime, juice and zest of
• 2 teaspoons sesame oil
• 4 tablespoons Thai sweet chili sauce
• 4 tablespoons rice vinegar
• 4 tablespoons soy sauce or tamari
• 1 tablespoon maple syrup
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 tablespoons fresh ginger, peeled and grated
• 1/2 bunch cilantro, chopped
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil

Salad:

• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 cup slivered almonds
• 3 tablespoons sesame seeds, toasted
• 1/4 teaspoon Chinese five-spice
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 16-ounce package pad thai rice noodles
• 1 kettle full of boiling water
• 2 tablespoons sesame oil
• 2 carrots, julienned
• 1/2 long English cucumber, seeded and julienned
• 1 red pepper, seeded and julienned
• 2 cups bean sprouts (washed well)
• 1 bunch green onions, sliced diagonally

Directions
Blenderize all Dressing ingredients except cilantro and vegetable oil, using an immersion blender or a food processor, until just mixed.  Then, while still mixing, add vegetable oil in a slow steady stream.  stir in half of the cilantro, setting the rest aside.

Heat butter in a pan, then add the slivered almonds, sesame seeds, five-spice, and salt, stirring until golden brown, about 3-4 minutes.  Add sugar and cook, while stirring, for another 30 seconds.  Remove from heat and allow to cool completely.

Place rice noodles into a large bowl, and pour the boiling hot water over top until covered completely.  Soak for 10 minutes, or until just tender.  To avoid the noodles sticking together, give them a store every couple of minutes.  Once cooked, drain the noodles, rinse with cold water, put back into the bowl, and toss with sesame oil.

Add the julienned carrots, julienned cucumber, julienned red pepper, bean sprouts, and green onions to the noodles.  Add the dressing.  Toss to combine all ingredients (you may need to use your hands - I do!).

Garnish with the remaining cilantro, and the toasted almonds and sesame seeds.

Enjoy!

Brussels Sprouts Caesar Salad

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The Hubby and I got a little bit obsessed with the Brussels Sprouts and Bacon Salad that we were hitting pretty hard around Christmas-time.  So I decided to take the peeled Brussels Sprouts idea and turn it into a Caesar Salad peeled Brussels Sprouts idea.  And it was a good idea!  Mmm.

Warning - the Caesar dressing recipe is super garlicky, which I love.  Yum.  Regarding the Brussels sprouts themselves, we have found that the smaller ones are better because the leaves are thinner.  But make sure to remove the looser outer leaf (it's not good in the salad), as well as any other scruffy looking leaves.  

I'm off to San Francisco to visit my friend Ariana, and I can't wait!  Lots of girl time and wine (a bit of a redundant statement), including an overnighter in Napa. Woo!  I've packed my suitcase with some gifts for her in the form of Canadian delicacies not sold in the United States, such as ketchup-flavoured potato chips, all-dressed flavoured potato chips, Hawkins Cheezies, Kit Kats, Coffee Crisps, Smarties, and Aero.  Oh, and I can't forget le piece de résistance...a few packets of McChicken Sauce straight from McDonalds.  Apparently McChickens don't come with McChicken Sauce on them in the good old US of A, and that just doesn't work for her.  And, you don't know Ariana, but she will love this care package of Canadian junk food.

Have a great weekend everyone!

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One Year Ago:  Spring Salad with Roasted Beets, Goat Cheese, and Pecans
Two Years Ago:  Classic Beef Stew
Three Years Ago:  Very Berry Muffins

Peeled Brussels Sprouts Caesar Salad

Serves: 4

Ingredients

• 5 pounds Brussels Sprouts, trimmed, with outer layer and any scruffy leaves discarded
• 1 garlic clove, minced 
• 1/3 cup olive oil 
• salt and fresh ground pepper, to taste 
• 1/4 tsp. dry mustard 
• 1 1/2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce 
• 1 1/2 tsp. anchovy paste
• 1 egg 
• 1 - 2 tbsp. fresh lemon juice 
• Freshly grated parmesan cheese 
• Croutons

Directions
Blenderize the garlic, oil, salt, pepper, dry mustard, Worcestershire sauce, anchovy paste, egg, and lemon juice until smooth.  Refrigerate until ready to use.

Slice off the hard end of each Brussels sprout, pulling off the leaves one by one, and placing the leaves into a medium-sized salad bowl.  Once you are done, give yourself a pat on the back.  

Toss Brussels sprouts with dressing.  Sprinkle on parmesan cheese and croutons, and toss again.  Enjoy!

Recipe Source:  Caesar Salad Recipe from Playing With My Food

Alex's Brussels Sprouts Salad with Bacon, Avocado, and Lemony Dijon Dressing

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I dare you to try this salad and still tell me that Brussels sprouts are not your thing...

I remember when Brussels sprouts were the reject side dish at my family's holiday dinner.  That is for everyone except for my younger brother who would always request them for some unknown reason, probably just because he knew I would dread having to eat my requisite one sprout, and making things a little annoying for me was his duty as younger brother.  Or maybe he actually liked them, but probably not.  My granny used to make them with a delicious cheesy sauce on them, and that was my favourite way to eat them because I could smother my requisite one sprout with five servings of delicious cheese sauce to mask the flavour.  It barely worked.  But my love for cheese sauce grew stronger and still grows every day.

Nowadays Brussels sprouts are cool again, and I don't know if it's that my tastes have changed, or more likely if it's the bacon that always seems to get thrown in with them, but I love like them!  Back in 2012 I posted this Brussels Sprouts with Bacon and Shallots recipe that I made as a side dish to a bacon themed dinner party that we hosted at our house.  Since then I can't get enough bacon and sprouts, which is where this salad comes in.  

The recipe is adapted from one found on my brother's girlfriend Alex's blog, The Bookish Cook, and it is bright, crisp, and packed with flavour.  Alex is a total natural in the kitchen, and ALL OF HER recipes come from her own head, which is something I am insanely jealous of.  She makes this salad at home because it's my brother's favourite (you can see he is still keeping up the charade that he likes Brussels sprouts!), or in his words it's, 'sick.'  Well frick, I agree, this salad is downright flu-like!  I'm feeling chills coming on.  I may need to take a day off of work.  I...ok, ok, that's more than enough.

This salad takes a little while to prepare because you have to peel each little Brussels sprout 'head' (well, that's what they look like!) one by one to make the leaves for the salad.  The Hubby stood at the counter and peeled for about 30 minutes, with only about four or five curse words...so all in all pretty good!

The Hubby's Peeling Efforts

The effort was worth it in the end. Once you have your sprouts peeled, you throw them in their raw form into a bowl with some toasted pumpkin seeds, some fresh sliced avocado, some crispy bacon, some dried cranberries, and some lemony dijon dressing, then toss and serve.  This salad is a nutritional powerhouse.  If you have leftovers, the salad will stay fresh and not wilt if you want to eat the rest the next night.  The Hubby must have been ok with all the peeling because he suggested we quadruple the recipe and bring it to Boxing Day dinner this year...that's 4 pounds of sprout peeling in our future!

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays everyone!
-Megan

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One Year Ago:  Amy's Lentil Soup Copycat Recipe
Two Years Ago:  The Best Mashed Potatoes I've Ever Eaten
Three Years Ago:  Chicken Cacciatore

Brussels Sprouts Salad with Bacon, Avocado, and Lemony Dressing

Serves: 6 - 8 side dishes

Ingredients

• 1 pound Brussels sprouts, trimmed
• 3 sliced cooked bacon, chopped into small pieces
• 2 tablespoons pumpkin seeds or pepitas, toasted (I put into oven at 325F for 10 minutes, monitoring closely, then cool for 10 minutes)
• 1/4 cup dried cranberries, chopped into small pieces
• 1 avocado, cut into bite-sized pieces
• 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 & 1/2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
• 1 teaspoon lemon zest
• Freshly grated black pepper

Directions
Start by slicing off the hard end of each Brussels sprout, pulling off the leaves one by one, and placing the leaves into a medium-sized salad bowl.  Once you are done, give yourself a pat on the back.  Next, add the bacon, pumpkin seeds (or pepitas), dried cranberries, and avocado to the bowl.

To make your dressing, add olive oil, lemon juice, Dijon mustard, lemon zest, and pepper to a container with a lid.  Close lid and shake for 10 seconds until well-combined.  Add dressing to salad and lightly toss.  Enjoy!

Recipe Source:  The Bookish Cook - Dijon Brussels Sprouts Salad with Bacon

Mango and Black Bean Quinoa Salad

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"You can't have the Mango!" - Mango, SNL

I feel like I already know the answer to this question, but does anyone else think of Mango, the short-lived mid-90's Chris Kattan character from SNL, whenever they see a mango?  Just me again?  Wow - every time!  Well, here are some classic Mango quotes anyway:

"Can you catch a falling star without burning your hand?  Can you put the sky in your mouth?  Can you say to an earthquake, 'Hey, hold still for a second?'  No!  Such is Mango." - Mango

"Can you know the mighty ocean?  Can you lasso a star from the sky?  Can you say to a rainbow, 'Hey, stop being a rainbow for a second?'  No!  Such is Mango" - Mango

"No Mango for you!  Why must I be Mango?  Why I ask?  Why God, why?  Why can't I be someone normal like John Ritter?  Mango is like a drug.  You must have more and more and more of the Mango until there is no Mango left.  Not even for Mango!" - Mango

So those are the quotes that I think of when I look at or taste a mango, every time!!  I just look at a mango and I have a little chuckle to myself.

'Mini' Greek Salad (Humour Me!)

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This salad is perfect for the heat wave (mid-30 C / high 90-F!) that we are currently simultaneously loving and complaining about at the same time.  It's fresh, refreshing, healthy, and cool.

It's also obviously not brain science or rocket surgery!  I'm not re-inventing the wheel here...essentially this salad is the exact same concept as a regular sized Greek Salad except with baby, pint-sized, itsy-bitsy, minikin vegetables (I know - tomatoes aren't vegetables, and Pluto isn't a planet, but I'm still going to pretend that they are!).  Also, it's hot and hard for me to care about cooking or picking up my camera to take a picture while cooking or using my insanely hot laptop (seriously, why is it so hot!?) to talk about my cooking.  I made a really, really, really delicious pasta the other night and The Hubby kept asking why I wasn't taking pictures.  Answer - I was too hot and too lazy, and all I cared about was watching Big Brother, and am now way full of regret because I don't remember all of the steps for that pasta to be able to recreate it!  Sigh, sigh, sigh!

Back to the salad.  In this version, I have traded in full-sized cucumbers, bell peppers, and tomatoes for their ridiculously cute baby versions.  The other ingredients aren't tiny...I was considering using shallot or pearl onions in place of the red onion, but chose not to because who knows what that might have been like.  The olives I had no teeny substitute for other than capers, and that seemed weird.  The feta is also not mini...in fact, the the less mini you get with cheese in any recipe the better/tastier/merrier, amiright?

Spring Equinox Salad with Roasted Beets, Goat Cheese, and Pecans

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Here's a little salad that's perfect for late winter / early spring, and / or for when you have only four days left before you (well, me actually) have to squeeze into a bikini.

I mentioned in my last post that Hubs and I had just been in New Orleans for 10 days, and now we are off to Mazatlan on Friday.  We are officially on a salad-only dinner regime until we leave. New Orleans is one of our favourite cities in the whole world, but low-cal it is not...from all of the deep fried food to the massive portions to the sweet alcoholic drinks, it's hard to come back without a few extra pounds to call your own.

For instance here's The Hubby looking unimpressed by the size of his dinner order, 'Catfish Dinner with a side of fries and onion rings.'

Weeknight No-Brainer BBQ Chicken Salad

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The Hubby and I were recently in New Orleans for ten days for a combination of work and pleasure, and so it's pretty much been deep-fried catfish, and deep-fried shrimp po'boys, and deep-fried french fries and deep-fried chicken, and deep-fried crawfish, and deep-fried bacon (didn't even know this was a thing!), and deep fried chicken wings, and deep fried boudin, and deep-friend beignets, and even deep-fried pickles, jalapeños, and mushrooms.

One time I tried to be healthy and ordered a salad, and the only vegetable on my plate was 11 sprigs of arugula topped with fried green tomatoes, huge croutons, bacon, and a creamy dressing.  Another time The Hubby ordered a 1/2 sandwich, and what arrived was the biggest sandwich I've ever seen in my life.  I told the waitress that there was an error because we only ordered the half-size, to which she laughed and told me that was the half-size.  Makes sense, since it was the size of a small baby.  We were doomed a delicious, delicious fate.  Which leaves my waist-line in a bit of a predicament because The Hubby and I are off to our friend April's wedding at an all-inclusive in Mazatlan in just a little over a week, and I'm pretty sure that appropriate sun-bathing attire isn't my most comfortable pair of extra-large pyjamas.

Jill's Fresh Cut Mango Salsa

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Every year The Hubby and I go to our friend Jill's family's cabin for a weekend at the lake, and every year I request that Jill make her mango salsa while we're there.  And every year she does.  And this is it.

 

And this is her making the salsa.

Heirloom Tomato Caesar Salad with Parmesan-Bacon Crisps

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Have you noticed that Heirloom Tomatoes are starting to 'crop up' everywhere these days?

Well, not everywhere as in at the gas station or library, but almost every produce store and supermarket seems to carry these beautiful fruits at a reasonable price, whereas in the past they seemed like something you would have to seek out at Whole Foods.  They come in all colours of the stoplight rainbow - bright yellow, striped red, lime green - and look absolutely mouth-wateringly beautiful in a salad.  The coolest thing about them is that all of the various types are so different from one another in terms of acidity, texture, sweetness, crunchiness, and of course, attractiveness, which makes a salad like this one so interesting.

Watermelon Salad with Feta and Fresh Mint

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I'm back baby! (said me, not the watermelon salad)

I know, I know -  I should have called, I should have written.  But it's rare that we get a summer this outstanding where I live, and so I let myself downward spiral away from this blog and cartwheel (imaginary cartwheel because I never learned how to do a real one) towards BBQs, beer, golf, friends, family, weekend trips, backyard parties, important celebrations, one very productive closet overhaul where I offloaded four garbage bags of old clothes, and one extremely shockingly productive weekend gardening-o-rama where The Hubby, my mom, and I did all of the sprucing up to my house's back and front yard that we have been meaning to do since we moved in four years ago.  Please excuse my run-on sentence, but that was a lot of stuff.

Warm Potato Salad (Earls Restaurant Copycat Recipe)

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You know the Warm Potato Salad from Earls Restaurant?  The one that I sometimes dream about?

 

I think this is it.

To figure out how to make the Warm Potato Salad, I had to go to Earls Restaurant (twice, or maybe three times) to do a little 'research.'  While doing the recon (more than once, just to be sure), I got to hang out with friends and drink wine and eat delicious potato salad.  It was a very labour intensive education process, as you can imagine.  Here is what I learned:

1)  Huge pieces of bacon are necessary.  You can't just have little bits of bacon in this salad, you need a large mouthful of bacon.  Also, if a little bit of bacon grease happens to accidentally spill into the dressing, that is not a problem and people will like this salad and you more.

2)  Roast that *#@$!  Roasted corn and roasted baby potatoes and roasted garlic are key.  Flavour central.

3) Dill is such a great herb.  Sour cream is such a great dairy product.

  

4) This is really not a salad at all.

Quinoa Salad with Chickpeas, Avocado, and Feta Cheese

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Quinoa - we can't get enough of the stuff in this house!

 

I've also discovered that 'Quinoa Salad' is by far the most common search item typed into Google to direct people to my blog.  But, I've only got two quinoa salad recipes on the website so far (here and here), so the people have spoken and why not give them more of what they want, right?!

Spinach Quinoa Salad with Grapefruit and Avocado

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I absolutely love quinoa, and in a salad is my favourite way to eat it.

 

This was a quick and easy weeknight dinner for me this past week on a night when The Hubby wasn't home.  It took me about 25 minutes to prepare, start to finish, and then about 1.5 minutes to eat it.  

Bacon Night!

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Friday night was intense.  Saturday I had a major bacon hangover.  Sunday I ate more bacon.

Here's the line-up from our bacon-themed Supper Club night.  And yes, even the dessert had to contain bacon:

• Bacon-infused vodka Caesars with bacon stir sticks and all of the other necessary Caesar accoutrement
• 
• Bacon and caramelized onion dip with veggies and tortilla chips
• 
• Spinach salad with bacon
• 
• Boursin and bacon stuffed chicken wrapped in prosciutto
• 
• Bacon hasselback potatoes
• 
• Brussels sprouts with bacon, garlic, and shallots
• 
• Gluten-free bacon brownies topped with chocolate sauce, walnuts, and vanilla ice cream.
• not pictured here because by this point it was wayyyy too late to care about taking pictures.    You can actually see the deterioration of the pictures as the night goes on in the series above.

Holy crap it was good.  I love Supper Club.

Spinach Salad with Bacon, Egg, and Mushrooms

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This is my favourite spinach salad.

I particularly love the garlicky dressing, which I've used on other salads in the past too...mmm.  It's a Best of Bridge recipe that my mom has been serving since I was a kid.  I hope she never stops.

This blog post comes from a previous post about a bacon-themed supper club night that The Hubby and I did with some friends.  I want it to be that night again right now.  If you want to read the full blog post about Bacon Night, click here to go back to that page.  Otherwise, enjoy...

Spinach Salad with Bacon, Egg, and Mushrooms

Makes:  4 - 6 servings

Ingredients
DRESSING

• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 2 tbsp. cider vinegar or red wine vinegar
• 1 tsp. sugar
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. dry mustard
• 1/2 tsp freshly ground pepper
• 1/4 cup salad oil

SALAD

• 8 cups baby spinach, stems removed
• 3 hard-cooked eggs, sliced or grated
• 8 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled
• 4 green onions, finely sliced
• fresh mushrooms, sliced

Directions
In a jar or other container with a lid, mix together all of the dressing ingredients, shake well, and refrigerate for an hour or longer (or use right away).  In a salad bowl, combine the spinach, eggs, bacon, green onions, and mushrooms, and toss with dressing.

Recipe Source:  The Best of Bridge (and my mom)

Arugula, Tomato, and Fresh Mozzarella Salad w/ Basil Dressing

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I like when a recipe lists all of the ingredients in just the title.  Baby Arugula, Grape Tomatoes, and Fresh Mozzarella, all topped with Basil Dressing.  You may have figured out that this is just a Caprese Salad in disguise.  What can I say?  I love this flavour combination!

Forget about food for a minute, because I want to talk about me.  I want sympathy please, because I have been at home with shingles all week.  That's right, shingles.  Shingles!  Not the roof kind.  When the doctor told me I had shingles, I didn't even know what it was.  It seems like such an archaic illness.

And let me be the first to say that shingles is flipping painful.  I feel like I have been bludgeoned in the head (repeatedly), like I have a burning pain all across my skin, like I have bugs crawling through my hair, like I am getting an electric shock every 20 - 30 seconds, and like any time my skin comes into contact with anything (at all) that my skin has been lit on fire.  I've also been working at home for four days, and I'm going a little out of my mind with cabin fever.  I know there are many, many, worse conditions out there than shingles, and so this week I've been trying to perk myself up by singing lyrics to songs like, "All the Shingle Ladies, All The Shingle Ladies."  The Hubby says that I'm going to have to start going to Shingles Bars if I keep this up.

Pesto Edamame Salad

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It's officially Day 20 of being gluten-free, and I am even starting to annoy myself with how many times per day I say the words, 'gluten-free.'  Sometimes, in an effort to be less annoying, I shorten it to just 'GF,' but I think it's had a reverse effect.  But on here, my food blog, I am uninhibited, unencumbered, and I can say the words again and again!!!  Gluten-free, gluten-free, GF!!!

So far, so good with the diet.  There are so many great GF products out there these days, that I'm really not finding it so hard to cut it out.  

In case you are wondering, the migraines went like this over the past 19 days:  

Easy Caprese Salad

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My mouth is watering from looking at these pictures.  Five ingredients.  Taste perfection.

Fresh juicy tomatoes, crisp fresh basil, chewy fresh mozzarella, all sliced and topped with balsamic vinegar and olive oil.  Fresh, fresh, fresh.

When I was in Italy earlier this year, The Hubby and I ate Caprese Salad every day.  I loved Caprese Salad so much there that it hurt (my waistline, but what else is new).  Arriving back in Canada, I worried that when I made it at home it wouldn't be the same.  But it was.  Thanks to the two-pack containers of fresh mozzarella at Costco for less than $10, I can make amazing Caprese Salads at home that taste just like someone's mama used to make me back in Italy.

Greek Quinoa Salad

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"Kwin-noah?"  - Me

I think I may officially be the last person to join in the craze, and so all I have to say is, "Is this bandwagon headed to the quinoa store please?"  Whole grain, healthy, gluten free, and it has been named one of the most complete foods in existence...no big deal!

And, did you know that this supergrain is actually not a grain at all, but a seed that is part of the spinach family?  I know that because I looked it up.

It's light, it's fluffy, it's fun (ok, maybe I'm pushing it?!), and it's my new favourite thing to cook with.  Keen-wah.

I threw this Greek Quinoa Salad together for dinner for The Hubby and me last week, and served it alongside a sundried tomato and basil marinated chicken breast.  The salad kept in the fridge for 4-5 days, and was awesome for lunches at work last week.  My hatred of leftovers is passionate, but this salad actually seemed to improve as the days passed.

Caesar Salad

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This is my go-to Caesar salad recipe, to be enjoyed with everything from burgers to lasagna to steak. Tonight we ate it as an accompaniment to Chicken Parmesan. I tend to go a little crazy on the garlic in my Caesar salads, but the actual recipe calls for 1 clove...free free to add an extra clove like I do!