‘Salad’ Articles at Sweetnicks, Page 2

Recipe: Endive Salad with Avocado Buttermilk Dressing

August 20, 2012 · Narrative

One day last week, I arrived home to find six pounds of endive waiting for me on the front stoop. After a little bit of ~~sleuthing~~ Twitter activity, I was able to find out who sent us the delicious package.

Now, what to do with it? One or two endives I can handle, but six pounds…? Again to the Twitter masses, I went.

One of the first recipe suggestions that came through was for endives with an avocado buttermilk dressing.

Intriguing.

I mean, to be honest, I just heard the word avocado and started writing down a grocery list for the rest of the ingredients.

We arrived home from a quick trip down the shore on Friday, and I had just an hour to pull together two recipes before we hurried off to a friend’s party. This salad would be perfect.

Mostly because it beautifully offset the other, not as healthy, dish I was bringing.

And because I had all the other ingredients on hand already.

Load up a handful of ingredients into your food processor, whirr them around, and drizzle the dressing over chopped endive.

It is light, creamy, super simple to make, and best yet, pretty guilt-free.

Nick first discovered that he loved endive while enjoying a dish my mom made a few months back. It’s from the chicory family, and is loaded with vitamins and fiber, so I am all for him eating more endive.

Now if YOU have a favorite endive recipe to share, I have about four pounds left to go (although I have earmarked a few more recipes to work through this week), so start sharing.

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Recipe: Buttered Crouton Salad with Avocado and Smoked Salmon {Joy the Baker}

April 30, 2012 · Narrative

Mystic and I were talking about weeknight meal planning last night. One of his kids is on two different baseballs teams, which means a lot of weeknight practices and games.

And late nights.

Which really gets in the way of family dinners. Let alone healthy ones.

Last week, it was nearly 10 pm when they got home after a game that ran late.

Which is crazy for middle schoolers on a school night.

Let alone for Mystic who leaves at 6 am to start his day.

The motivation to go through a drive-thru and get take-out on those kind of nights is strong.

With Nick and Madeline both in soccer, and both having weeknight practices, it’s tough.

Usually on those nights I plan for leftovers.

Or breakfast for dinner.

Concentrating on something I can get on the table within 30 minutes of walking through the door.

And not feeling guilty about it.

Some days are better than others. For sure.

Last Thursday night was Nick’s soccer practice.

It was cold.

And wet.

Drizzling.

Right up until five minutes before we left, I was checking the web site.

Hoping to see the “fields are closed” designation.

Hoping.

No such luck.

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Recipes: Crock Pot Teriyaki Sandwiches and Olive Garden Salad

November 14, 2011 · Narrative

So I promised you a recipe for amazing teriyaki steak sandwiches… what the heck is that picture of the salad doing there? Well, here’s the thing. I haven’t quite gotten my schedule used to the whole losing-light-at-430-pm routine. Winter is so going to suck in that respect. I usually take my food photo shots right before dinner. I can’t always get my act together enough to do it earlier. So no steak picture today, but still the recipe and fancy lead-in. Swear. Luckily I did, however, have a picture of this mighty fine salad, so it’s a two-fer day.One post, two recipes.

And that salad picture? Although not up to my usual standards, I hope you’re suitably impressed that it was taken with absolutely zero light. This was the only part of dinner that we could actually eat on Friday after the power went out for hours. So that’s good, right? Now onto the details.

The salad is a copycat of Olive Garden’s famous house salad. I thought it was a pretty good copy of it. Mystic thought it was good, but that it didn’t taste like theirs. But he also knew the dressing had mayonnaise in it, and he hates mayonnaise so that could have totally colored his opinion of it. He did eat all of his portion, and by the time we had decided the power wasn’t coming back on, the whole bowl of salad had been scoffed up. Methinks that’s excellent. Three adults, two kids. Crazy simple to make … chop up salad ingredients, whisk the dressing ingredients together, and serve. (I didn’t make the croutons) I personally don’t think you’ll scream out “there’s mayonnaise in this dressing!” but mayonnaise doesn’t particularly offend me either.

Now the crockpot teriyaki stead sandwiches. OMG. Like seriously oh-m-gee. I first made it on Thursday, completely proud of myself that as I was at work, dinner was making itself at home in the crock pot. Until I got home and realized that I had put the crock pot on low for 3-4 hours, instead of high. Which meant if I wanted it for dinner that night, it would be at around 8 pm. Oops. So I went to Plan B for dinner, and decided on the teriyaki steak sandwiches for Friday night. And that’s, of course, when the power blew. Awesome, right? By the time Sunday night rolled around, our dinner guest list had grown, so I made a second batch and combined the two. The recipe could not be easier to make, and aside from the meat, I bet you have everything you need in your cupboards already. THIS IS A RECIPE YOU NEED IN YOUR REPERTOIRE. Yes, I’m emphasizing that. Because I want to make sure you make it. The meat is tender, ridiculously moist, and seriously well seasoned. Since it takes all of five minutes of prep time, it’s a perfect go-to recipe when you just can’t think past “what’s for dinner.” A great hearty meal for Fall appetites, and perfect in the summer when you don’t want to heat up your kitchen any more than necessary.

I served the steak in small sandwich rolls, and everyone accessorized it the way they liked it… some with cheddar and pickles, some with sliced red onions and tomatoes, some with fresh salsa and ketchup. The boys at the table plowed through four or five sandwiches each and barely came up for air. Six out of seven loved the steak. The seventh doesn’t count because not only did she not taste it, she just wasn’t doing dinner. Period. End of story.

Oh, one caveat. The recipe indicates that it serves 8. I totally don’t believe that. Maybe five. Definitely not 8. Especially if the 8 includes growing teenagers or men with a normal appetite.

Have I convinced you yet to make it? Hope so. You won’t be sorry.

November 14, 2011 – Bonus Photo

This is the before shot of the master bedroom. I bought the new paint color, oh, some five or six weeks ago, and even though this week is crazybusy with a vendor show on Saturday, I’m determined to at least get SOME paint up on the wall. Just need to find my “get up and go,” because for now, it has gotten up and gone.

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