Black Bean Salad with Avocado, Tomatoes, Red Onion, and Cilantro
April 29, 2008 | Filed Under Kalyn's Kitchen, Salads | 15 Comments
I love salads. I may have already told you this. I’m not sure but I’ll tell you again. I love salads — all kinds of salads, not just your regular leafy green type.
Kalyn made a Pinto Bean Salad with Avocado, Tomatoes, Red Onion, and Cilantro that screamed at me to make it immediately. I liked all the ingredients but my favorite (and if you’re a regular reader, you’ll already know) is cilantro. It makes me do my happy dance in the kitchen when I chop it for use and sprinkle it on my food. This is a super easy salad to prepare and the best thing about it is that you can use any type of beans you want. Instead of pinto beans, I used black beans. I’m going to experiment with different beans. Awesome salad, Kalyn. Thanks!
Paz
Pinto Bean Salad with Avocado, Tomatoes, Red Onion, and Cilantro
(Makes 4 side-dish servings, recipe created by Kalyn)
1 can pinto beans, rinse and drain very well
4-5 tsp. white balsamic vinegar or champagne vinegar
1 avocado, diced into pieces 1/2 inch square
2 tsp. fresh lime juice
1 cup chopped tomatoes (cherry tomatoes cut in half would be great too, but I had medium tomatoes which I cut in eighths)
1/2 cup finely chopped red onion
1/2 cup finely chopped cilantro
1-2 T olive oil, or a bit more
fresh ground black pepper and sea salt to taste
Pour beans into a colander placed in the sink and rinse well until no more foam appears. Let beans drain well for at least 15 minutes. Then blot beans dry with paper towel, place in plastic bowl, and toss with white balsamic vinegar. Let beans marinate in the vinegar while you prep other ingredients.
Cut avocado into 1/2 inch pieces and place in small bowl. Toss with lime juice. Chop tomatoes, or if using cherry tomatoes, cut in half.
Chop red onion and cilantro. (I like to chop with a chef’s knife, but you could use a mini-chopper or food processor for this.) Mix onions and cilantro into marinating beans. Then use a large spoon to gently fold in avocado and tomato. Drizzle olive oil over salad and season to taste with fresh ground black pepper and sea salt, and gently toss again. Serve immediately, at room temperature.
Variations: I think other varieties of beans would also be tasty in this combination.
Tepid Chickpea and Chicken Salad with Zucchini and Sundried Tomatoes or Insalata Tiepida di Ceci e Pollo con Zucchine e Pomodori Secchi
April 21, 2008 | Filed Under Lucullian Delights, Salads | 11 Comments
Ilva’s salads are always sure winners for me. And here’s another one that recently caught my eye — Tepid Chickpea and Chicken Salad with Zucchini and Sundried Tomatoes. I loved this one. I loved that the ingredients are simple and delicious. Everything went well together — the chicken, chickpeas, sundried tomatoes, parsley and garlic. Mixed with lemon juice, olive oil, salt and pepper, I had a lip-smacking time eating this salad. Oh! and it’s preparation time is fast, so that I didn’t have to spend a great deal of time in the kitchen. Grazie, Ilva!
TEPID CHICKPEA AND CHICKEN SALAD WITH ZUCCHINI AND SUNDRIED TOMATOES or INSALATA TIEPIDA DI CECI E POLLO CON ZUCCHINE E POMODORI SECCHI
3-4 servings
1 chicken breast
400 ml/1,7 cup cooked chickpeas
2 medium zucchini
2 whole sundried tomatoes on the large side
1-2 tblsp chopped parsley
1 clove of garlic
Black pepper
Salt
Mild vinegar or lemon/lime juice
Extra-virgin olive oil
- Mix vinegar, salt, parsley and olive oil and pour it over the chickpeas. Leave them to marinate while you proceed with the recipe.
- Put the sundried tomatoes in some tepid water to soak.
- Chop the garlic, cut or slice the zucchini into pieces and start braising them in a pan with some olive oil.
- Cut the chicken breast into small pieces and then salt and pepper them well, especially the last. Chop the sundried tomatoes finely.
- When the zucchini begins to be golden, add chicken and the chopped tomatoes and sautè for 4-5 minutes, it depends on how big the chicken pieces are.
- Pour away the excess oil and mix with the chickpeas.
- Let it cool down a little before serving.
LiveSTRONG with a Taste of Yellow 2008: Corn Salad
April 14, 2008 | Filed Under Winos and Foodies, A Taste of Yellow, Salads, Food Blogging Events | 20 Comments
The Lance Armstrong Foundation provides the practical tools and information that people with cancer need to to live strong.
May 13, 2008 is LIVESTRONG Day, where different events are held worldwide to raise awareness and funds for the fight against cancer.
Barbara of Winos and Foodies is hosting LIVESTRONG Day event again this year. It’s a way for food and wine bloggers to show support for those battling cancer. Last year she organized the event and 149 bloggers participated. Wow! Wow! Wow! This is what I made last year for the event. Here is the roundup of 2007 entries. Check it out when you can, there are a lot of creative and delicious dishes.
Participants are asked to prepare foods in the color yellow. This year, I put together a corn salad. I love corn and I love bright food colors. Needless to say, I like yellow. For this salad, I mixed corn kernels, red bell peppers, scallions, and cilantro (my favorite! but you can use parsely). Then I added olive oil, white pepper, Kosher salt and some red pepper flakes (gotta add a little heat!). Oh, and some fresh lemon juice, I added lemon juice, too. I love my corn salad — healthy, tasty and colorful yellow. LIVESTRONG Yellow!
If you’re interested in participating in this event, it’s not too late. Please join us. April 19 is the deadline to submit your entry to Barbara. Go here for the guidelines.
I have two extra LIVESTRONG wristbands, which I’d be happy to send to anyone who’d like one. E-mail me if you’re interested. You can find my addy in the ABOUT section.
Thanks, Barbara, for putting this wonderfully supportive event together. If you visit Winos and Foodies on May 13, you can see the list of fantastic enteries that Barbara will put together.
Paz
Weekend Herb Blogging #103: Feta, Walnut and Herb Salad
October 7, 2007 | Filed Under Salads, Weekend Herb Blogging | 8 Comments
Parsley, Mint, Basil
Lately, my schedule has neither allowed me much time to cook, bake, blog or read other blogs as before. As a result, I’ve missed out on participating in one of my favorite food blogging events — Weekend Herb Blogging, started by Kalyn of Kalyn’s Kitchen. Basically, you can post about any herb, plant, fruit, vegetable or flower. Include a recipe or provide information about your subject. Here are the guidelines to participate.
On the eve of the event’s second year anniversary, Haalo of Cook (almost) Anything at Least Once will host it live from Florence, Italy. Exciting!
I can’t believe that WHB has been going on for nearly two years. Not only has it been fun for me to come up with something to blog about, but it’s been even more fun to see what others prepare.
I didn’t want the second year anniversary to pass without participating. So here I am with my contribtion. The herbs involved in the recipe I chose include parsley, mint and basil — all herbs I like. I like when more than one herb is included in a dish. I think it adds an extra special bang.
Here are a few known special facts about these herbs:
Parsley: It makes an excellent breath freshener. It is high in vitamin A and C. It contains iron, iodine and cooper.
Mint: There are 25 species of mint. Common mints to grow are peppermint, spearmint and pineapple mint.
Basil: Originally native to India and other parts of Asia. Considered ‘King of Herbs’ by many.
Go here, here and here for more info about these herbs.
This Feta, Walnut and Herb salad I made is loosely based on a recipe by Nigella Lawson. Interestingly enough, she calls it a salad but it’s really supposed to be a grainy sort of paste, which you serve with crudités, like chunks of raw vegetable.
I didn’t want a paste. I wanted to be able to bite into something that reminded me of a real salad. So, I roughly chopped the herbs and the rest of the ingredients and served it as is, without processing them. I ate my "salad" with bread and it wasn’t bad at all. I also added a tad bit more olive oil to my salad and I was good to go! Best thing about the dish was the sharp taste of the fresh herbs mixed with the other ingredients. I could taste the mint, parsley and basil and they sure tasted good along with the feta cheese and walnuts.
Oh, and yes, I did do my happy dance (read #9 — the dance that comes upon me when I smell something wonderful in the kitchen when I prepare a meal) as I chopped the herbs and their tantalizing scents released into the air. Loved it!
Perhaps, I’ll try the paste another time.
Paz
My version of Nigella’s Feta, Walnut and Herb Salad
Feta, Walnut and Herb Salad
Forever Summer by Nigella Lawson
2 tablespoons each of fresh mint, parsley and basil
7 ounces feta cheese
7 ounces shelled walnuts, chopped
6 scallions
1 clove garlic
half teaspoon salt
pepper
1 tablespoon lime juice
1/4 cup olive oil
Process all of the above to make a grainy paste. That’s it. What are you waiting for?
Serves 4-6 with crudités
Couscous Salad with Chickpeas and Goat’s Cheese
June 28, 2007 | Filed Under Salads | 12 Comments
Mmmm! I loved this salad! This Moroccan recipe comes from Valentina. It’s another easy recipe. I think the magic ingredients here are the tumeric and cinnamon.
Instead of chicken or vegetable stock mentioned in the recipe, I used beef stock because that’s all I had. Still tasted good. I left out the preserved lemon cause I didn’t have any but I have made it before (look here). I’ll have to make the preserved lemon again. Very delicious, very flavorable. Thanks, Valentina!
Paz
Couscous Salad with Chickpeas and Goat’s Cheese
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 large onion, peeled and chopped
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 teaspoon turmeric
½ teaspoon cinnamon
1 ½ cups chicken stock ( or vegetable stock for a vegetarian version)
1 ½ cups couscous
420g chickpeas, cooked and peeled
150g goat’s cheese, crumbled
2 red peppers, seeds removed and roasted in the oven
Juice of 1 lemon
3 tablespoons each chopped mint and parsley
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 preserved lemon
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Heat the oil in a large saucepan, add onion and cook over a medium heat for 5 minutes to light brown. Add crushed garlic, tumeric, and cinnamon, and cook for another 30 seconds, then add stock and bring to the boil
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Stir in the couscous, then remove pan from the heat, cover and leave to steam for 10 minutes to soften. Remove covering and fluff up couscous with a fork. Set it aside to cool
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Toss through the remaining salad ingredients, except preserved lemon, and season well with salt and pepper to taste
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Remove flesh from preserved lemon and discard. Rinse the rind with cold water. Finely slice rind and scatter over finished salad to garnish
Hot Meatball Salad
June 22, 2007 | Filed Under Salads | 17 Comments
The weather’s been hot, but not too hot to make these easy and delicious meatballs to go with salad, a recipe from Ilva. By the way, Ilva, I did wash my apron and am wearing it again. 
The recipe calls for rucola or argula salad but I couldn’t find it in the store. Instead, I used baby greens, which worked just as well for me. Ilva uses a simple dressing of olive oil but I decided to add some balsamic vinegar. I was in the mood for that. This is another salad I’ll continue to make this summer. Thanks, Ilva!
Paz
Hot Meatball Salad
500g/17.6oz minced meat
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 egg
2 tsp or more of sambal oelek
Rucola or Argula salad
Cucumber, diced
Small cherry tomatoes
Salt
Olive Oil, extra virgin
- Mix the minced meat with the chopped onion, the egg, sambal oelek and some salt. Mix very well and then make small meatballs the size of a hazelnut and fry them in some butter and olive oil until brown and nice.
- Put rucola, tomatoes and cucumber in a bowl and toss them together before drizzling a litttle extra virgin olive oil over. Add the meatballs, mix quickly and serve!
Garbanzo and Tuna Salad Recipe with Parsley and Red Pepper
June 13, 2007 | Filed Under Salads | 20 Comments
Kalyn recently posted the above titled recipe for Weekend Herb Blogging. One look at it and I knew what I’d be having for dinner. After a long, hot day, it was the perfect recipe for me because it involved no cooking — practically no work at all. In addition to the ingredients that Kalyn lists, I added some red pepper flakes. The salad is light yet filling. According to Kalyn, the salad can last for two days in the fridge, however in her home it never lasts that long. She’s right. the salad was gone in my home within 30 minutes. No joke! They had firsts, seconds, and thirds. Thanks for the recipe, Kalyn. I plan on making it several more times this summer.
Paz (Still wearing her Mischief Mari designed apron)
Garbanzo and Tuna Salad with Red Peppers and Parsley
(Makes about 4 servings, recipe created by Kalyn)
1 can garbanzo beans (also called chickpeas)
1/2 cup chopped red bell pepper
1/4 cup chopped red onion
1 cup chopped parsley (I prefer curly parsley for this) Dressing:
3 T extra virgin olive oil
2 T fresh lemon juice
salt and pepper to taste
Put garbanzo beans in colander and rinse well with cold water, until no more foam appears. Let drain, then pat dry with paper towels.
In small bowl, wisk together olive oil and lemon juice. Gently mix dressing into salad. If you prefer your salads on the dry side, you may not want all the dressing. Season to taste with fresh ground black pepper and sea salt and serve. This will stay good in the refrigerator for at least a day or two, but at my house it would never last that long.
Cauliflower, Walnuts and Parsley Salad
May 24, 2007 | Filed Under Salads, Vegetables | 16 Comments
A few things I love: Simple recipes, Ilva’s recipes; Cauliflower, Walnuts and Parsley.
Are there some foods that you sometimes crave? When I first saw this recipe on Ilva’s blog, my body immediately craved cauliflower, walnuts, and parsley. After my first taste, I couldn’t get enough. So far, I’ve made this recipe three times — in one week — once for dinner and twice for lunch.
Ilva prepared her special salad with uncooked cauliflower. However, I wasn’t sure I’d like the uncooked version, so I steamed my cauliflower. The last time I made the salad, I didn’t have time to cook the cauliflower and ended up eating it uncooked. Well, well! Turns out that I liked it. I really liked the uncooked version, too.
Oh! I almost forgot the highlight of preparing the salad was making the herb salt. I was so excited about my herb salt. Yeah, I know. It takes so little to excite me. ;-) My herb salt smelled and tasted divine, it had me doing my happy dance. For the herbs, I used rosemary and thyme. Loved it! Just the thought of my herb salt brings the feelings of a happy dance stiring through my body. Thanks, Ilva!
By the way, Rosa of Rosa’s Yummy Yum Yums is hosting a Sunday Brunch Meme and Event, where participants are asked to blog about the typical meal they have for Sunday Brunch (or your holiday or free day.). The deadline is June 30. If you’re interested in participating, look here for the guidelines.
Paz
Cauliflower, Walnut and Parsley Salad or Insalata di Cavolfiore con Noci e Prezzemolo
A small cauliflower
Walnuts, chopped
Parsle, chopped
Lemon juice
Salt, preferably herb salt
Extra virgin olive oil
- Clean the cauliflower carefully and divide it into quarters.
- Slice the cauliflower finely on a mandolin, slice the’flowery’ part and save the woodier part of the trunk for a soup or something else.
- Put the cauliflower in a bowl, quickly whisk salt, chopped parsley, lemon juice and oil together before adding it to the cauliflower.
- Top with a generous sprinkling of chopped walnuts and serve.
Herb Salt
Fresh herbs, whatever you like, you can make it with different ones or just one.
Coarse salt
- Take a bunch of fresh herbs and remove the woody parts if there are any. Put them in a blender together with a fistful of coarse salt.
- Turn the blender on and let it run until it has become like fine salt. Add more herbs if you want.
- Put it in a jar and use it. Often.
Aubergine Salad
November 21, 2006 | Filed Under Salads, Vegetables | Leave a Comment
Click on photo for larger image
Aubergine… Eggplant… Eggplant… Aubergine. Until recently, I didn’t know that eggplants were called aubergines elsewhere. Aubergine. It has a nice melodic sound to it. I like the word.
I’ve discovered I like Aubergine salad – a recipe from Domestic Cat. I’ve made it three times this month. Each time, I’ve been too hungry and tired to take out my camera for a photo for my blog. Instead, I’d gobble up the food very quickly. Until now. This time, I was able to spare a few seconds to take a picture.
In addition to the aubergines, the salad includes onions, green peppers, garlic, parsley, and tomatoes. Very simple, don’t you think? The third time I made this salad, I made a less sophisticated version of the recipe but it still tasted really good.
The recipe calls for grilling the vegetables, but I simply put them in the oven after covering them with a little olive oil. The recipe also calls for peeling the vegetables after they’ve been grilled and scooping out the eggplant flesh. I left the skin on and I left the vegetables alone. Also, I included feta cheese – an idea I got from another Domestic Cat recipe called Aubergine Gondolas. I added extra virgin olive oil, lemon juice, vinegar, salt and pepper. Delicious! I was in heaven! Thanks, Tülin!
To those celebrating Thanksgiving, I wish you a happy holiday!
Paz
Ed. Note: This gets better and better! More names for eggplant/aubergines: Brinjal, Badanekai, Mullugai. Thanks for the info. I love to learn something new everyday!
Aubergine Salad
Domestic Cat
Another classic dish, which can be found under different names across Mediterranean. Some versions includes tahini while excluding tomatoes and other colourful ingredients. Some gives the priority to onion and garlic, and some consists only aubergines, olive oil and salt. Even the most primitive version is delicious. The recipe you will find below is how we make it in our family.
For four persons:
3 medium aubergines
1 medium onion (sliced in rounds, thinly)
3-4 green peppers
1-2 cloves garlic (mashed)
2 ripe tomatoes (peeled and diced)
Half a bunch of parsley (chopped)
Extra virgin olive oil
Salt, freshly ground black pepper
1-2 tbsp wine vinegar
1 tbsp lemon juice
The amount of the ingredients are subject to change according to your preferences. You can omit garlic or the vinegar. But I should say that these are giving the real taste. Start by washing and drying all the vegetables. If you have an outdoor grill, or a stove-top one, that would be best for the smoked flavour. In case you do not have either one, just lay parchment paper on a baking sheet and cook the vegetables under broiler, starting with the aubergines. You can use a preheated oven at 200 C but be careful with peppers, if they get charred too deeply, it will be pretty difficult to peel them. Place grilled vegetables in a container with a tight lid, while they are still hot. Wait 10 minutes. This will make it much easier to peel them. Peel aubergines or cut them lengthwise and scoop out the flesh. Immediately drizzle with lemon juice to prevent browning. Mash them well with a fork. Peel peppers and slice them thinly on a cutting board. Add garlic, parsley and tomatoes. Drizzle with vinegar, sprinkle with salt and blackpepper. Generously drizzle with extra virgin olive oil. Serve warm or cold with a crusty bread. Keep leftovers in the fridge, in tightly closed containers. Enjoy!
Click on photo for larger image
Three Bean Salad
June 13, 2006 | Filed Under Salads, Vegetables | Leave a Comment
I love salads and always look for the opportunity to make a good and different one. I came across this Three Bean Salad from Elise’s Simply Recipes.
I loved the combination of the cannelli, garbanzo, and red kidney beans. Very filling.
I loved the little bit of a crunch that the celery and red onions provided.
I loved how the dressing combination of apple cider vinegar, sugar, and olive oil added to the enhancement of the salad’s taste. Elise mentioned that she tried to prepare this salad without the sugar in the dressing, but it just didn’t work. With that in mind, I wholeheartedly included the sugar.
After leaving the salad in the fridge for some time to marinate in the dressing, I served it for dinner. Delicious! Everyone loved it. No one had a complaint. That’s the way I like it!
Try it! I think you’ll like it. If you serve it to others, I don’t think you’ll get any complaints, either.
Paz
Ed. Note: For those concerned about using sugar in this menu, Kim notes in the comments section that instead of the granulated sugar, she used organic apple juice. It worked out very well in the meal. Thanks for the tip, Kim!
Three Bean Salad
1 15-oz can cannellini beans, rinsed and drained
1 15-oz can kidney beans, rinsed and drained
1 15-oz can garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained
2 celery stalks, chopped fine
1/2 red onion, chopped fine
1 cup fresh, finely chopped flat-leaf parsley
1 Tbsp fresh finely chopped rosemary
1/3 cup apple cider vinegar
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup olive oil
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1- In a large bowl, mix the beans, celery, onion, parsley and rosemary.
2- In a separate small bowl, whisk together the vinegar, sugar, olive oil, salt, and pepper. Add the dressing to the beans. Toss to coat.
3- Chill beans in the refrigerator for several hours, to allow the beans to soak up the flavor of the dressing.
Serves 4 to 8.
