Soba Noodle Salad with Salmon and Asparagus

Asparagus season is here! I see fresh asparagus on sale every where. Here is a great dish you can make with it!

Ingredients:
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons unseasoned rice vinegar
1 tablespoon honey
1 teaspoon finely grated peeled fresh ginger
Fine sea salt
5 1/2 ounces soba (Japanese-style noodles)
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
12 ounces wild salmon fillet, skinned
9 ounces thick asparagus spears, trimmed, cut on diagonal into 1-inch pieces
3 1/2 ounces baby spinach leaves (5 to 6 cups)
1 avocado, peeled, pitted, coarsely chopped
1 teaspoon sesame seeds

Directions:
1. Soba noodles can be found in the Asian foods section of most supermarkets and at Asian markets.
Preparation
2. Whisk first 5 ingredients in small bowl. Season dressing to taste with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.
3. Cook soba noodles in large saucepan of boiling salted water until tender but still firm to bite, stirring occasionally. Drain. Transfer to bowl of ice water to cool. Drain well; transfer to large bowl. Pour dressing over; toss to coat.
4. Heat vegetable oil in heavy medium nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Sprinkle salmon with sea salt and pepper. Cook until browned but still deep pink in center, about 3 minutes per side. Transfer salmon to plate; cool slightly. Wipe skillet clean. Add enough water to skillet to reach depth of 1 inch. Bring to boil. Sprinkle sea salt over and add asparagus. Simmer until crisp-tender, 3 to 4 minutes. Drain. Add spinach and asparagus to noodles; toss to incorporate evenly. Season to taste with sea salt and pepper. Divide noodle salad among plates. Break salmon into bite-size pieces. Tuck salmon and avocado into noodles on plates. Sprinkle sesame seeds over and serve

Mixed Lettuce, Pear, and Goat Cheese Salad with Citrus Dressing

This is my fist post in a while. I been trying out new recipes but I haven't post them on here. I going to try to post all of my back logged recipes this month.

I found a great salad recipe this month. I just love the light citrus dressing and the sweetness of the pear. I make it all the time for lunch. 

Ingredients:

Dressing:

1  tablespoon  finely chopped shallots

1  teaspoon  Dijon mustard

1/4  cup orange juice

4  teaspoons lemon juice

1/4  teaspoon  kosher salt

1/8  teaspoon  freshly ground black pepper

4  teaspoons  extra-virgin olive oil

Salad:

2  tablespoons  fresh orange juice

2  firm ripe Bosc pears, cored and thinly sliced

6  cups  mixed baby lettuces

3/4  cup  (3 ounces) crumbled goat cheese

Directions:

1. To prepare dressing, combine shallots and mustard in a medium bowl, stirring with a whisk. Stir in 1/4 cup orange juice and next 3 ingredients (through pepper). Gradually add oil, stirring constantly with a whisk.

2. To prepare salad, combine 2 tablespoons orange juice and pears, tossing to coat. Combine lettuces in a large bowl. Drizzle with dressing; toss gently to coat. Arrange about 1 cup lettuce mixture on each of 8 salad plates. Top each serving with about 1/4 cup pear and 1 1/2 tablespoons cheese. 

Teriyaki Mushroom, Spinach, and Chicken Salad

This recipe was from the September issue of Cooking Light magazine. The salad is quick and easy with a nice medium sauce. I love that the spinach is soften and retains a little bite.

Ingredients:
2 tablespoons oil
8 ounces skinless, boneless chicken breast, cut into small pieces
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 cup sliced mushroom caps
2 tablespoons minced peeled fresh ginger
1 tablespoon minced garlic
3 tablespoons lower-sodium soy sauce
3 tablespoons mirin (sweet rice wine) or 2 tablespoons water plus 1 tablespoon honey
1 teaspoon rice vinegar
5 cups baby spinach

Directions:
1. Heat a large skillet over high heat. Add 1 tablespoon oil to pan; swirl to coat. Add chicken; sprinkle with 1/4 teaspoon pepper and 1/8 teaspoon salt. Cook 3 minutes or until chicken is just done, stirring occasionally. Remove chicken from pan.
2. Add mushrooms, 1/4 teaspoon pepper, and 1/8 teaspoon salt to pan; stir-fry 6 minutes or until mushrooms brown and most of liquid evaporates. Add 1 tablespoon oil, ginger, and garlic; cook 30 seconds, stirring constantly. Return chicken to pan; add soy sauce, mirin, and vinegar. Cook 2 minutes, scraping pan to loosen browned bits. Remove pan from heat; stir in spinach and onions.

Golden Corn Salad with Potatoes and Cherry Tomatoes

This salad is sooo easy to make- and tastes amazing. I made it for dinner tonight night and severed it with Cod. Pete LOVED it! We will make it again next week, for sure. This is a great way to use your fresh veggies. It's light but filling. We had plenty left over, even after Pete had 3 servings!

Ingredients:
8 ounces small yellow Finnish potatoes or small red potatoes
2 cups fresh corn kernels
1 cups assorted tear-drop cherry tomatoes (pear-shaped), halved
1 1/2 cups chopped red bell pepper
1/4 cup minced shallots
3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
3 cups arugula, trimmed

Directions:
1. Place potatoes in a small saucepan; cover with water. Bring to a boil; cook 11 minutes or until tender. Drain and chill. Cut potatoes in half lengthwise. Combine potatoes, corn, tomatoes, and bell pepper in a large bowl.
2. Combine shallots and next 4 ingredients (through black pepper) in a small bowl, stirring with a whisk. Slowly pour oil into shallot mixture, stirring constantly with a whisk. Drizzle over corn mixture; toss well. Add arugula; toss.

Vietnamese BBQ Beef Vermicelli

This dish takes some work to prep but taste so refreshing on a hot summer night. I often make a large batch of the Fish Sauce Dip (Nuoc Cham) and store it in the fridge for making this dish a few times a week in the summer time. You can substitute the meat with firm tofu. This is such a healthy dish with lots of fresh veggies.

Ingredients:
1 lb beef sirloin flank steak sliced into thin strips
1/2 lb shrimp
1 package of fish ball
12 bamboo skewers
1 tablespoon oil, for brushing
7 oz rice vermicelli noodle (cooked as package direction)
1/2 head lettuce, leaves washed and separated
1 medium cucumber cut into matchsticks
1 small carrot cut into matchsticks
1/4 cup basil
1/4 cup cilantro
1/2 cup unsalted peanuts

Marinade:
1 medium onion, sliced
3 cloves garlic
2 stalks lemongrass, thick bottom part only, outer layers discarded, inner part sliced
1 teaspoon slat
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1 tablespoon fish sauce

Fish Sauce Dip (Nuoc Cham):
2 finger-length chilies, deseeded and sliced
3 cloves garlic
3 tablespoons lime juice
3 tablespoons fish sauce
1/2 cup water
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup sugar
1 tablespoon vinegar

Directions:
1. Make the marinade first by grinding the onion, garlic and lemongress to a smooth paste in a blender. Add salt, black pepper and fish sauce into mix until well blended. Transfer the marinade to a large bowl, place the beef in the marinade and mix until well coated. Allow to marinate for 1 hour.
2. Prepare the Fish Sauce Dip by grind the chilies and garlic to a coarse paste in a blender, then combine with lime juice, fish sauce, vinegar, salt, water and sugar. Mix until the sugar is dissolved.
3. Thread the marinated beef strips onto the bamboo skewers and brush with a little oil, then grill it with the shrimp and fish ball.
4. To serve, place the rice vermicelli into the individual serving bowls and top with the grilled beef, shrimps, fish balls, lettuce leaves, cucumber, cilantro, and carrot. Sprinkle with peanuts and serve immediately with a bowl of Fish Sauce Dip on the side.

Sesame Chicken Salad

This a great recipe from Real Simple Meals Made Easy. Such a simple but super tasty salad. I didn't use a whole rotisserie chicken in my salad. I used frozen grilled chicken breast from Costco.

Ingredients:
1 carrot, peeled
1 5-ounce bags baby spinach
1 small red onion, sliced into thin circles
3 tablespoons sesame seeds, toasted
boneless, skinless meat from 1 rotisserie chicken, shredded
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
1 tablespoon sesame oil

Directions:
1.Using a vegetable peeler, shave the carrots into long, thin ribbons.
2.In a large bowl, combine the carrots, spinach, onion, sesame seeds, and chicken.
3.In a separate bowl, whisk together the ginger, soy sauce, vinegar, and oil. Pour the dressing over the salad, toss, and serve.

Tangy Red Cabbage Slaw

Spring is here! I can't wait for the Lake City Farmer's Market to open in June. It's right down the street from our house. I can walk over with Kobe and pick up some fresh vegetables. This recipe is perfect for spring.

Ingredients:
1/2 cup orange juice
1/4 cup lime juice
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons brown sugar
kosher salt and black pepper
1/2 medium red cabbage cored and shredded
2 large carrots grated
3/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

Directions:
1. In a large bowl, whisk together the orange and lime juices, oil, brown sugar, 1 teaspoon salt, and ½ teaspoon pepper.
2. Add the cabbage and carrots and toss to combine. Let sit, tossing occasionally, for at least 45 minutes. Fold in the cilantro before serving

Asparagus Pasta Salad

I'm taking this dish to a Chinese dumpling making party tonight. My friend Linda invited us over to make Chinese dumplings at her house. We always talk about how we miss our mom's home made dumplings. This dish will be something we can snack on while making dumplings. It was very easy to make and tasted light and refreshing.

Ingredients:
1 small shallot finely chopped
1/3 cup olive oil
1 pound asparagus
1 small red bell pepper chopped
1/2 pound bow tie pasta, farfalle, cooked to al dente and cooled
1 cup frozen green peas
1/4 cup chopped fla- leaf parsley, a couple of handfuls
3 tablespoons white wine vinegar
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Directions:
1. Heat olive oil nn a small pan on the stovetop over medium low heat. Place the shallot in the oil and let it cook for 5 minutes. Allow oil to cool back to room temperature.
2. Cut off the touch bottoms of the asparagus. Par boil the asparagusin 1 inch simmering water covered for 3 to 5 minutes. Cool under cold running water and drain. Cut asparagus into 1-inch pieces on an angle and add to a bowl.
3. Combine chopped, cooked asparagus with red bell pepper, cooked pasta, green peas and chopped parsley. The peas will defrost as you toss salad. Pour vinegar into a small bowl and whisk in cooled shallot oil. Pour dressing over salad and toss. Season salad with salt and pepper, to your taste and toss again.

Pineapple and Red Bell Pepper Salad

This is a super simple and super tasty salad. It goes really well with pork or chicken dishes.

Ingredients:
1/2 pineapple cut into strips
1 Red bell pepper cut into strips
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

Directions:
1. Place pineapple, bell pepper and cilantro in a bowl.
2. Add lemon juice, olive oil, salt and black pepper into the salad and mix well.

Vietnamese Chicken Salad

Last Nov. Pete and I traveled to Vietnam and Thailand for 2 weeks. We just love all the amazing food we had on our trip. After coming back from our trip I developed an interest in trying to make Vietnamese and Thai dishes.

Vietnamese Chicken Salad is a very simple and healthy salad with bold flavors. You can serve this salad as a side dish or just have it alone. The salad can be refrigerated overnight and still taste great the next day.

Ingredients

For Salad:  
2 chicken breasts cooked, roughly shredded
1/2 head green cabbage thinly sliced
1 carrot matchstick-cut
1/3 onion finely chopped
1/3 cup finely chopped dry roasted peanuts
1/3 cup chopped fresh cilantro

For dressing:
1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh chiles
1 tablespoon rice vinegar
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
3 tablespoons Asian fish sauce
3 garlic clove, peeled, minced
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon sesame oil
2 tablespoons oil
1 teaspoon black pepper

Directions
1.In a medium bowl, stirring with spoon, combine the chile, garlic, sugar, rice vinegar, lime juice, fish sauce, oil, and black pepper. Mix it really well until the sugar dissolves.
2.In a large bowl combine chicken, cabbage, carrot, onion, dry roasted peanuts and cilantro, tossing with tongs. Add the dressing the the salad mix and toss until everything is coated with the dressing.