Delicious Greens from our Garden

Mixed Speckled Lettuce, Rainbow Swiss Chard, Arugula, Green Curly Kale

These are all growing in various pots in the back yard. It's nice and cool in So Cal at this time of year, the perfect time to grow greens. 

Garden Greens in our edible landscape. Purple Kale, Rainbow Swiss Chard, Red Romaine, and Radicchio. Happy Spring!

Red Romaine and Green Leaf lettuces in our back raised garden.

Fancy Schmancy Beet and Mango Salad

Um, yeah I always prepare everything this way. Who doesn't? 

I made this beet salad after being inspired by a photo on Epicurious. I had a bunch of beets from the farmers market, and 1/2 a mango leftover from yesterdays breakfast, so why not try my own version?  

By cutting the beets into small dice, they seemed to have more flavor than beet salads I've made which were simply cut into slices. Could it be that each one of those pretty little cubes is covered on 6 sides by the lemony garlic dressing, allowing more flavor per square inch? huh? I don't know, but, the small size makes them just about melt in your mouth. If you don't feel like chopping all these tiny cubes, beet salad is still good cut into slices. 

Set oven to 400. Place some red & gold beets in an oven proof dish, seasoned with salt and pepper, lightly drizzled with olive oil, & covered with foil. Cook for about an hour, depending on their size, till tender. Let them cool completely or in the fridge overnight.

Peel and chop your beets into small squares about 1/4 inch or so, (red & gold separately, if you're going to do the fancy mold thing). Cut the mango and mix it with the gold beets. Drizzle 1 tblsp of the dressing into each of the beet dishes and toss.

For the dressing, mix together the juice of 1 Meyer Lemon, (or any lemon), 2 tblsp rice vinegar, 1 smashed open garlic clove, salt & pepper, 1 tblsp honey. Whisk in 3 tblsp olive oil slowly to form an emulsion.

On a bed of lettuce, press the red beets, then the gold beets & mangoes, into any mold that is tallish. Mine is a crescent moon cookie cutter, and it's about 1 3/4 inches high.  

Garnish with any pretty green you have. I used a bit of fennel. yum.

"Go fancy or go cry, bitches!" That's a quote from Mrs. Edina Sweary, my neighbor, upon seeing my pretty salad. Then she covered, "I don't mean that personally. It's just a figure of speech."  Whatever, Edina.

Salad for Breakfast

Mixed Green Salad with Meyer Lemon Dressing and Home Made Garlic Croutons. 

I was out in my garden this morning. The longer I worked out there, the more I got a hankering for a nice crunchy salad with citrus dressing and garlic. Sometimes you just have to go with whatever you're craving, especially if it's something really good for you.

The dressing is simple. In a bowl, smash one garlic clove, add to that 1 tsp rice wine vinegar, 1 tblsp honey, salt and pepper & the juice of 1 Meyer lemon (or any lemon you have on hand) This is also good with fresh orange or tangerine juice.

For the homemade croutons, cube any bread you have on hand, (stale bagels make great croutons.) These were made from Trader Joes cracked wheat sourdough. Add them to a cast iron skillet on medium low heat, toss with olive oil and salt and pepper. Toss and cook till the bread cubes toast on all sides. At the halfway point, add 2 crushed garlic cloves and lower the heat.  Continue to toss and cook till its all nice and crunchy. Be careful not to burn the garlic or it will taste bitter. These are great in soup, on salad, and I really like to enjoy them right out of the pan while they cool off. 

Yum yum! 

Smoked Gouda, Sun Dried Tomato & Turkey Bacon BLT 

I split this huge sandwich with my hubby for lunch today. It was completely delicious! So delicious in fact, that we made another half of one for dessert.

Here's how we make this yum-a-rific sandwich.

For the dressing:  Mix 1 tsp chopped sun dried tomatoes, (thie kind packed in olive oil) with a little mayo.  Set aside.

Cook until crispy 4 pieces turkey bacon, regular bacon, or Morningstar bacon (for a vegetarian version).

Slice tomato, wash lettuce, peel and slice avocado

Toast some crusty sourdough bread. Spread the toast with the sun dried tomato mayo, layer on the bacon, tomato, lettuce, avocado, some sliced smoked gouda and top with a bit of salt and pepper. 

Cut in half and enjoy!

Organic Chicken & Veggie Lettuce Wraps

These wraps are so yum-a-riffic! I love the wraps they serve at restaurants, but they're usually so salty and I'm pretty sure they're full of fat calories.

These homemade ones taste just as great, but are much healthier because of all the fresh, organic veggies added to the mix. I also used low sodium soy, just a touch of honey (instead of sugar) and organic chicken.

This is the first time I've ground chicken breast in the food processor and it wasn't as complicated or messy as I thought it would be.

Ingredients:

2 organic boneless skinless chicken breasts

1 small onion

1/2 cup shredded cabbage

1/2 cup shredded carrot

1/4 cup or about 10 green beans finely chopped

2 cloves garlic

2 tablespoons finely chopped or grated ginger

1 tablespoon light soy sauce

1 tablespoon oyster sauce

1 tablespoon honey

1 tablespoon sesame oil

canola oil spray

fresh lettuce leaves

cooked rice

First thing I do is process the veggies in the food processor, onions first since you start them before the other stuff.  In a skillet, saute the onion in 1 tablespoon canola oil till translucent and fragrant. Add the chopped veggies and ginger and saute for a few more minutes till softened, but still crisp.

Season with a bit of soy sauce, a couple shakes of sesame oil, 1 tsp oyster sauce and a drizzle of honey and set aside in a dish. Keep the same skillet on the stove.

Grind up the raw chicken breasts in the food processor. Add a spray of the canola oil to the skillet and add the meat. Season with fresh ground pepper and let the meat sear before you crumble it around. The little bit of color will add a lot of flavor. Once the chicken is cooked through, (no more pink) add back the veggies to the skillet and combine. Let the two cook together for a few minutes to combine the flavors.

If it doesn't taste just right at this point, add a tiny bit more soy sauce and sesame oil.

Serve with fresh lettuce leaves and rice.

Yum!