Strawberry Feta Salad with Baby Kale

With unusually warm weather here lately, the garden is sprouting and some plants are producing already. Our kale tripled in size this week, so I decided to harvest some of the leaves while they were still unbelievably tender. Baby kale is also often available in the produce section of local grocery stores. This poppy seed dressing takes less than 2 minutes to make and it tastes much better and much fresher than the store-bought varieties. You can substitute any kind of nuts for the walnuts–sliced almonds, chopped hazelnuts, or pumpkin seeds would be good too.

Serves 4
Salad Ingredients
4 cups chopped gently torn baby kale, stems removed
Pinch of sea salt
1 cup sliced organic strawberries
1 avocado, chopped
1/3 cup roughly chopped walnuts
1/4 cup feta cheese

Lemon Poppy Seed Dressing
2 Tbsp. olive oil
2 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice
1 tsp. honey
1/2 tsp. poppy seeds
1/8 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. freshly ground black pepper

Directions
1. Put the kale in a large salad bowl and sprinkle with a pinch of sea salt. Toss.
2. Add the strawberries, avocado, walnuts, and feta cheese. Toss gently.
3. Combine the olive oil, lemon juice, honey, poppy seeds, salt, and pepper. Whisk until mixed well.
4. Pour the dressing over the salad and toss to coat. Serve.

Adapted slightly from Two Peas & Their Pod

Gin Gingered Spot Prawns

Where do you usually get YOUR ideas for meals? Cookbooks? Food blogs? Pinterest?
All of the above?

Me too.

But today, my idea for dinner came from an unlikely source: a quick chat before a meeting. Even before a fellow foodie was finished enthusiastically describing this dish to me, I had already planned my trip to the store to get the necessary ingredients. I knew from her description that this one was a “keeper”.

The recipe is credited to Diane Clement, author of Diane Clement at the Tomato

She advises: “Prepare this dish at the last minute in front of your guests so the aroma of the ginger, gin and onion tantalizes their taste buds.”

Ingredients:

• 4 to 5 tbsps. unsalted butter
• 2/3 cup finely chopped green onion
• 30 medium-sized raw prawns, peeled (see note below*)
• 1 to 2 tbsps. pickled Japanese gingers, well drained
• 3 tbsps. gin, or a couple of splashes
• 1 loaf baguette bread, thinly sliced and warmed

Directions:
Just before serving: Melt butter in large fry pan. Add onions and sauté briefly. Add prawns and sauté only until lightly opaque. Add ginger and gin and continue to cook for a minute or two longer, just until prawns are opaque. Do not overcook. Serve with toothpicks or in scallop shells (or in my case, with lots of napkins!) Pass warm bread for dipping into the sauce.

Notes:

1. For more people, if you increase the number of prawns, you must also increase the amount of sauce. There must be plenty for dipping.
2. We always serve our prawns peeled. Always. Except for tonight apparently.
I was so anxious to get this dish started, that I only gave the recipe a cursory glance and later read that the prawns should be peeled. Oh well.
3. Drizzling in a little of the pickled ginger juice for extra flavour was also recommended to me. Good idea. It really gave it more of a punch.
4. I used our local artisanal Victoria Gin, made in Victoria, BC. You really must taste it to believe it.

The greatest reward of creating in the kitchen is being able to gather with friends and family around the table to share my offerings. Sharing ideas for serving food is simply something I enjoy. Today I discovered that someone who is as passionate about teaching young children as I am also shares my passion for cooking. Thanks for sharing this dish, Maureen!

Shaved Asparagus Salad

Guess what’s open?

Eating fresh-picked asparagus from the farm is a completely different experience than eating asparagus imported from Mexico. While I usually serve it cooked: steamed, sautéed, roasted or stir-fried, tonight we had it raw. This shaved asparagus salad has a great balance of creamy and crispy textures.
Use the thicker spears for this salad. They are easier to shave with a vegetable peeler and generally have more flavour.

Ingredients

• 12 large asparagus spears, trimmed and peeled
• 1/4 cup finely grated Parmesan plus a few shaved pieces for garnish
• 1 1/2 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice
• 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• Coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper

Directions
Use a vegetable peeler to shave asparagus spears into long, thin shavings. Transfer to a medium bowl along with the tips. Combine grated Parmesan and lemon juice in a small bowl and slowly whisk in oil until well blended. Season with salt and pepper. Drizzle vinaigrette over shaved asparagus and toss to coat. Divide asparagus salad among serving dishes. Shave more fresh parmesan over salad and serve.

Rhubarb Mint Mohito

What to do with all that rhubarb growing like crazy in the garden?

Sip it!
Here’s to Spring!

makes 1 small cocktail
Ingredients
1 oz white rum
2 oz rhubarb syrup (recipe below)
5-6 mint leaves
1 Tablespoon lime juice
lime zest
nutmeg

In the bottom of a glass add a bit of nutmeg, lime zest, mint leaves and the lime juice. Muddle the ingredients with a muddler or the end of a wooden spoon, being sure to severely bruise the mint leaves to release their flavour. Add the rum and syrup, stir gently, then top with ice. Garnish with mint and serve with a slender stalk of fresh rhubarb. Oh yeah.
Pretty.

Rhubarb Syrup
The recipe below will make several drinks.

8 oz chopped rhubarb (2-3 small stalks)
1 cup sugar
2 cups water
¼ teaspoon cinnamon
¼ teaspoon nutmeg

Combine all the ingredients in a small pot. Bring to a boil then reduce to a simmer. Simmer for 5-7 minutes. Let cool completely.
Strain the ingredients. The syrup will keep covered in the fridge for two weeks.
You can easily make it non-alcoholic by adding a couple of ounces of this syrup to ginger ale or sparkling water, serve over ice and top it with a squeeze and a slice of lime.

I can’t take credit for this myself. I found it over at Not Without Salt and adapted it only slightly.

Dungeness Crab Salad with Grapefruit and Goat Cheese

If you’re lucky enough to live in the Pacific Northwest, as I do, you likely have ready access to fresh crab. It’s always a good idea to check to see where your crab spent his last days of freedom, however.

According to SeaChoice.org, Dungeness crab is a “Best Choice” when trap-caught from Canada or the US (CA, OR, WA). “This green-listed seafood choice is ocean-friendly as Dungeness crab are relatively fast-growing and they mature at a young age. And by using traps or pots as fishing gear, there is little habitat damage or bycatch with this fishery.” Dungeness crab from Alaska, however, is listed as yellow, with some concerns about its sustainability.

This salad has great contrasts in flavours and textures. Just make sure to get those goat cheese medallions popped on the top quickly and serve it right away. The grapefruit vinaigrette was an experiment, but I thought it turned out well and the leftovers were even better the next day.

Serves 6

Ingredients

Grapefruit Vinaigrette

• 1 small shallot, finely chopped
• 3/4 cup olive oil
• 1/4 cup Champagne vinegar or white wine vinegar
• 5 Tbsp. fresh squeezed grapefruit juice
• 1 tsp. finely grated grapefruit zest (from an organic grapefruit)
• salt, freshly ground pepper

Salad

• 6 cups mixed salad greens, washed and dried
• 2 cups fresh cleaned crab meat
• 2 pink grapefruit, peeled and sectioned
• 6 warm baked goat cheese medallions
• Micro greens for garnish

Goat Cheese Medallions
Makes 14 medallions (2 extra –for leftovers )

• 1  7-inch soft goat cheese log
• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1/4 cup fine bread crumbs or finely ground panko crumbs
• 1/4 cup toasted ground hazelnuts or almonds
• 1/2 tsp. ground pepper
• Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Cut the goat cheese into 1/2-inch slices. The easiest way to do this neatly is to use unwaxed, unflavoured dental floss. (It’s even easier to buy pre-formed medallions at Costco.) Put the olive oil in a small bowl and the crumbs and pepper mix in another. Dip the cheese slices into the oil, coating both sides, then into the crumb mixture, patting the mixture into the goat cheese slices so that they are completely covered. The medallions can be refrigerated at this point overnight.
• Place on a non-stick or lightly oiled baking sheet and bake for 5-6 minutes until the cheese has softened slightly and is warm.

Directions

• Mix all vinaigrette ingredients with a whisk or immersion blender and let stand to allow flavours to blend while assembling the salad.
• Prepare goat cheese medallions (see above) and heat in the oven.
• Arrange salad greens on individual plates, top with crab meat, grapefruit sections, warm goat cheese medallions and garnish with micro greens. Serve immediately while cheese is still warm.

Like crab? You may also like these:
Dungeness Crab Mac ‘n Cheese
Crab and Lime Avocado Crisps
Crab, Mango and Avocado Salad
Crab Cakes with Lemon Dill Sauce

(I’m no) Spring Chicken

. . . but this sure is.
While searching for a new idea for using chicken thighs, every recipe I found seemed so, well, wintery. When the sun is shining on the just-unfurled maple leaves and I’m harvesting the first greens from my garden, slow-cooker dishes or those with heavy sauces just have no appeal.

But this one caught my eye. It seemed light and fresh and spring-like to me. An added bonus was that I had all the ingredients on hand. It was quick and easy to prepare. I served it with asparagus and a salad made with fresh greens harvested from yesterday’s hike up the mountain.

Serves 4, depending on the size of your thighs .
Ingredients

• 8 bone-in chicken thighs, skin removed, trimmed of all visible fat
• 1 tablespoon fresh-squeezed lemon juice
• 1 cup low-fat plain yogurt
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger
• 2 teaspoons hot paprika
• 1 heaping Tbsp. fresh mint leaves, chopped finely (or 1 1/2 teaspoons dried mint)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

Directions

• Place chicken thighs in a large glass bowl. Add lemon juice and toss to coat. Whisk yogurt, garlic, ginger, hot paprika, mint and salt in a separate bowl. Don’t substitute regular paprika, or if you must, add a generous teaspoon of chili powder as well. Pour the yogurt mixture over the chicken and stir to coat. Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour or up to 24 hours.
• Position rack in upper third of oven; preheat broiler. Remove the chicken from the marinade (discard marinade). Place the chicken on a broiler rack and broil until browned on top, about 15 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 400°F and bake until the chicken is juicy and just cooked through, about 20 minutes longer. Serve immediately.

Non-Paleo, Full of Gluten, Refined Sugar Blubarb Crumble

This one won’t meet the criteria of the paleo, gluten-free, sugar-free, vegan Pinterest boards, but it sure tastes good.

I’m a firm believer that you are what you eat. I’m careful about what goes in my mouth. I do my best to eat nutritious organic food that is grown or produced locally. Sometimes, however, it’s comforting to “take a food vacation” and simply enjoy an old-fashioned dessert.

It’s also good to clean out the freezer to make room for this year’s fruit and vegetables. Am I the only one who forgets about things I so carefully froze a year ago? A bag of diced rhubarb and one of blueberries found hiding at the bottom of my deep freeze became unlikely partners in this dessert. Sweet berries and tart rhubarb cooperated nicely and produced a great crumble that complemented our Spring Chicken meal.

Filling Ingredients
3 cups blueberries
3 cups diced rhubarb
1/2 cup sugar
1 Tbsp. corn starch
1 tsp. lemon juice
1/2 tsp. salt

Topping Ingredients
3/4 cup flour
1/2 cup rolled oats
1/2 tsp. baking soda
6 Tbsp. unsalted butter
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. salt

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Make the filling by mixing the blueberries, rhubarb, sugar, cornstarch, lemon juice, and salt in a bowl. Transfer to an 8-inch square baking dish.

Prepare the topping by stirring together flour, oats, baking powder, cinnamon and salt. Cream butter and sugar in a mixer until pale and fluffy. Stir dry ingredients into butter. Using your hands, squeeze topping pieces together into clumps.

Sprinkle topping evenly over filling. Bake until bubbling in center and brown on top, about 1 hour. Transfer to a wire rack, and let cool for 30 minutes before serving.