Strawberry Spinach Salad (June 10, 2011)

found this one online; a really delicious little summer salad. it feels like cheating to add strawberries to a green salad, but it turns out fruit is actually good for you too, and so this one was a pretty simple double winner.

via allrecipes dot com

Ingredients

* 2 tablespoons sesame seeds
* 1 tablespoon poppy seeds
* 1/2 cup white sugar
* 1/2 cup olive oil
* 1/4 cup distilled white vinegar
* 1/4 teaspoon paprika
* 1/4 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
* 1 tablespoon minced onion
* 10 ounces fresh spinach – rinsed, dried and torn into bite-size pieces
* 1 quart strawberries – cleaned, hulled and sliced
* 1/4 cup almonds, blanched and slivered

Directions

1. In a medium bowl, whisk together the sesame seeds, poppy seeds, sugar, olive oil, vinegar, paprika, Worcestershire sauce and onion. Cover, and chill for one hour.
2. In a large bowl, combine the spinach, strawberries and almonds. Pour dressing over salad, and toss. Refrigerate 10 to 15 minutes before serving.

it’s very simple, with greens, strawberries and almonds and an oil and poppyseed dressing. we used half the sugar in the dressing, but about a third of the oil we used was our fantastic blood orange oil from artisano’s in indianapolis. it really was the crowning touch.

a fantastic summer salad, while the strawberries are fresh and plentiful.

Quinoa and Tomato Salad (September 6, 2010)

I really like this salad. It is a Weight Watcher’s recipe, but it makes the right amount for one person to have for four days out of five for lunch. I usually put the cold salad on a bed of baby greens or spinach and have a piece of bread. The protein in the quinoa usually helps me to stay full through till dinner.

1 cup quinoa
2 cups grape tomatoes or cherry, red or yellow
1 Tbs olive oil
1Tbs white wine vinegar or to taste
1/2 tsp salt, or to taste
1/4 tsp black pepper
2 Tbs Chives (I usually leave these out because they are expensive and I think only moderately add to the dish)

Instructions

• Put quinoa in a fine-mesh sieve or fine strainer. Place under cold running water until water runs clear (this eliminates the bitter taste contained in quinoa’s coating); drain well. (Or you can buy certain brands of quinoa that are pre-rinsed.)
• Place rinsed quinoa in a medium saucepan and cover with 2 cups of cold water; bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer until the grains are translucent and the germ has come out of each grain, about 15 minutes. Cover and remove from heat; let sit for 5 minutes.
• Spoon quinoa into a large bowl and set aside to cool. Meanwhile, finely chop tomatoes, reserving 2 tablespoons of the tomato juice; set tomatoes aside.
• In a cup, combine tomato juice, oil, vinegar, salt, pepper and chives; stir well.
• When quinoa is at room temperature, stir in chopped tomatoes; add tomato vinaigrette and toss again. Yields about 1 1/4 cups per serving.