Kale Salad with Man Candy and Roasted Tomato Bruschetta

Posted in extras, salads, side dishes, things we like to eat by mydaughterandiblog

Hey there,
Well we’ve been a bit distracted around here by fires burning all around us. It’s hard to get anything done when you’re constantly checking the news, Ham radio, responding to sweet phone calls and texts etc. So I completely forgot to do Monday’s post. Here it is a bit late-

Several weeks back, after dropping Travis off at school, Jordan and I had an epic food afternoon. First we stopped at this amazing bakery called SweetItaly (their website must be brand new, but the address and phone number are at the bottom) and had a cannoli and an eclair. They were both delicious and worth the drive to Point Loma. Not only were the desserts delicious, but the atmosphere was great – we felt like we had been transported to Italy. Needless to say, we plan to visit that bakery again.

So onto the main course. We headed to Liberty Station to see if we could find some dinner. I know weird – we ate dessert first. Ok, really it’s not that weird for us! We found this cute place called The Fig Tree Cafe. It was adorable. We both loved the interesting decor. We were there a bit early so we had the inside to ourselves. Several people were outside enjoying the patio. We decided to split the kale salad and split the bruschetta- it was the perfect amount of food. The kale salad had something called man candy on it. It is bacon that is cooked with brown sugar and cayenne pepper. I knew we had to try this at home (if nothing else because of the name. I mean, come on- how could you not want to know more?? ;)) It also had a light vinaigrette dressing on it that was just delicious and perfect with the other flavors. The roasted tomatoes on the bruschetta were so sweet and flavorful – it was just an amazing meal. Normally I don’t dream of salads and roasted tomatoes, but have been dreaming of this meal and was excited to recreate it at home. So below is my version of that incredible meal. I hope you enjoy it as much as we did. This recipe was enough for two of us for lunch. We gobbled up the leftover man candy after we finished our salads.

Kale Salad with Man Candy Bacon
Kale, washed and torn into bite sized pieces – approximately 4 cups
4 to 6 slices of man candy, recipe below
1 green apple, thinly sliced
1/8 -1/4 cup Manchego cheese, thinly sliced. Manchego is a slightly sharp sheep’s milk cheese. If you can’t find it, I would substitute fresh Parmesan, sliced.
Citrus vinaigrette dressing, recipe below.

Wash and tear kale and put into a medium sized bowl.

Start cooking bacon. Put slices into skillet and cook over medium heat until one side is completely cooked. Flip bacon over and top with brown sugar, cayenne pepper combo. I just mixed 1/4 cup brown sugar with 1/4 to 1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper. Using a teaspoon I carefully coated the top/cooked side of the bacon. I continued to cook the bacon, not turning it again. Remove from pan and place on a plate until you’re ready to use it.

While bacon is cooking, slice apple and cheese. Prepare citrus vinaigrette dressing. Once all the elements are ready, toss kale with dressing and serve onto two plates or in two bowls. Top with chopped man candy, sliced apples, sliced cheese. Enjoy!

Citrus vinaigrette dressing
2 tablespoons fresh squeezed orange juice
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
2 tablespoons honey
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
Salt & pepper to taste

Mix all ingredients together in a jar and shake to mix.

So the second part of our delicious meal was the roasted tomato bruschetta. When you roast tomatoes they get so sweet and wonderful, but I don’t like to overcook them. They tend to get sort of mushy. With the toasted french bread this was a wonderful addition to our salad lunch.

Roasted tomato bruschetta
4 slices French bread
1 pint grape tomatoes
1 T olive oil
1 tsp. minced garlic
A bit of salt
Basil
Balsamic vinegar

Wash and slice tomatoes. Put into oven safe pan. Add olive oil, garlic and salt and mix well. Cook at 450* for about 10 to 15 minutes until tomatoes soften and sort of pop. Stir and check frequently.

Remove from oven and add about 1 -2 T fresh chopped basil and about 1 T balsamic vinegar. Give it one more quick stir. Serve immediately over freshly toasted, warm fresh bread.

To prepare the French bread, slice 4 thick hunks of french bread from a loaf. I just picked mine up at Walmart, nothing fancy. Mist with a bit of olive oil and put in oven or toaster over until just slightly crisp. You don’t want this to be hard and crunchy- it will be too difficult to eat. Just watch carefully as it is toasting.

Top with the fresh tomato bruschetta mixture along with additional fresh basil if desired and a bit of fresh Parmesan shavings.

This was wonderful with our salad, but would have been a great appetizer on its own.

Cindy & Jordan

7May2014

Colorful Stuffed Bell Peppers

Posted in main dishes, side dishes, things we like to eat by mydaughterandiblog

Hey! I made this delicious and simple recipe to celebrate Cinco de Mayo. Not a holiday I normally celebrate, but really, if there is a holiday that encourages the consumption of beer, chips, salsa and guacamole – count me in!

I had just bought a bag of red, yellow and orange peppers from Costco and thought this would be a delicious meal. The meat filling I used was basically the same filling you would use for tacos or burritos, but I added some cooked brown rice. Jordan said that she thought it was a great alternative to burritos. Donald loved it and said how much he enjoyed the peppers. He remembers when he was a kid his mom would make stuffed peppers using green bell peppers and how bitter they were. These were delicious and sweet and I ate the whole pepper.

Served with a salad and some fruit, it was delicious, hearty and colorful.

Stuffed Bell Peppers
1 pound ground beef
2 cups brown rice, cooked
1 onion, chopped
1 can beans. I used chili beans, so I didn’t drain them. If using black beans, I would drain and rinse.
1 T Taco seasoning
1 can Ro-tel tomatoes
6 – 8 bell peppers. I would highly recommend not using green
1/3 cup shredded cheese
Avocado slices for garnish

Cook ground beef and drain fat if necessary. Put ground beef back into skillet and add in chopped onion and cook until soft. Add cooked rice, taco seasoning canned beans and Ro-tel tomatoes. If the meat mixture is too dry add a bit more prepared salsa. You want the mixture nice and moist since you will be baking it for about 30 minutes.

While meat mixture is simmering start working on your peppers. Wash and cut each pepper in half and clean out the seeds and stuff, so you have a colorful little bowl. Place on a baking pan. Stuff with the meat filling and bake at 350* for about 20 minutes. I wanted the peppers to soften a bit, but I wanted them to stay a bit crunchy. After about 20 minutes, sprinkle with a small amount of cheese and continue baking for another 5 or so minutes. Remove from oven a serve immediately. We garnished ours with sliced avocado and Cotija cheese. Mmmm, delicious!

Cindy

9Apr2014

Rainbow Peanut Noodles

Posted in extras, main dishes, salads, side dishes, things we like to eat by mydaughterandiblog

I made this dish on Monday night and it was a hit! It has been HOT here – summer-like weather, so we are definitely onto our summer recipes! There definitely aren’t any soups, stews or roasts happening around this house!

When I saw this recipe on Gimme Some Oven I knew I would love it! I love peanut sauce – I think I could actually eat it with a spoon. I also love pasta – and really I love veggies — so this dish was made for me. This will be a great staple meal for us- especially when we have a bunch of veggies coming out of the garden. I made a few minor changes, just to suit our tastes, or what we had on hand. We had some asparagus so I used that instead of the edamame. The colors were beautiful! It was great for dinner and then I ate it the next day, cold, for lunch and it was delicious.

Ours turned out a bit dry- next time I would follow the recipe a bit better and add the pasta water. I also doubled the recipe, so it was a bit difficult to get everything stirred around. The peanut sauce called for fresh ginger, which I had never used before. I loved it. The smell was incredible and fresh smelling, but when you tasted it – it was refreshing and a bit spicy. It was a wonderful addition to the recipe and I would use the fresh ginger again. I was thinking about trying it in my morning smoothie! Weird? Maybe!

Rainbow Peanut Noodles

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 10 minutes

Total Time: 30 minutes

Yield: About 4-6 servings

Ingredients

12 ounces whole-wheat pasta – since I doubled the recipe, I did half whole wheat, half regular pasta
1 Tbsp. peanut oil (or olive oil)
1 red bell pepper, cored and julienned (thinly sliced)
1 yellow bell pepper, cored and julienned
1 large carrot, peeled and julienned
1 cup shredded red cabbage
1 cup shelled edamame or asparagus or green beans — whatever you have!
topping: thinly-sliced scallions (green onions), toasted sesame seeds and chopped peanuts

Peanut Sauce Ingredients:

1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
1/4 cup soy sauce
3 Tbsp. water
2 Tbsp. honey
2 Tbsp. rice vinegar
1 Tbsp. grated fresh ginger
2 tsp. sesame oil
1 clove garlic, peeled
(optional) 1 tsp. sriracha hot chili sauce, or more to taste

Cook pasta al dente according to package directions.

Meanwhile, heat oil in a large saute pan over medium-high heat. Add bell peppers, carrots, cabbage, and edamame, and saute for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Once the pasta is cooked, drain it, but reserve 1/4 cup pasta water on the side. Add the pasta and peanut sauce to the saute pan of veggies and toss to combine. If the sauce is too thick, add a tablespoon or two of the pasta water until the sauce reaches your desired consistency.

Serve immediately, topped with scallions, sesame seeds and peanuts if desired.

How To Make The Peanut Sauce:

Pulse all ingredients together in blender or food processor. I tried to mix by hand in a bowl and I couldn’t get it to mix together. I finally poured it into a saucepan and heated it a bit and that worked.

Cindy

17Mar2014

Cilantro Lime Pasta Salad

Posted in main dishes, side dishes, things we like to eat by mydaughterandiblog

The other day I was in yoga and it was the end of the class where we were supposed to relax and clear our mind. I tried to clear my mind, but I kept thinking about food. More specifically, pasta salad. We had just harvested a bunch of cilantro, so I think that was on my mind too. While relaxing, I came up with the concept for this delicious pasta salad. It is perfect as a main dish – especially with a bit of grilled chicken or avocado hunks in it. We also served it the other night as a side dish with burgers. It’s amazing!

Cilantro Lime Pasta Salad
1 lb. pasta, any variety, cooked
1 can black beans, drained a rinsed
1 cup frozen corn, just throw into the strainer with the black beans
1 cup chopped bell peppers, any color
4 or 5 green onions, chopped
Cilantro lime dressing, see below
1/2 cup crumbled Cotija cheese, or Feta

Cilantro lime dressing
1 cup of fresh cilantro, washed
1 to 2 tsp. of minced garlic
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt or light sour cream
2 T lime juice
1 tsp. red wine vinegar
1/8 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. cumin
1/4 to 1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper
Purée in food processor, taste sauce and see if it needs a bit more spice. Pour over cooked pasta and veggies, mix well. Add Cotija cheese and mix it again and refrigerate until ready to serve.

Cindy

31Jan2014

Are You Ready For Some Football?

Posted in extras, main dishes, salads, side dishes, sweets, the important stuff, things we like to eat by mydaughterandiblog

Unless you have been living in a cave, you probably know that the Super Bowl is this Sunday. The Denver Broncos are playing the Seattle Seahawks. Exciting times! It is also the day we celebrate my husband’s birthday and this year he is turning 50! Wow – he is old! 🙂

Is it just me or does it seem like the Super Bowl people are leaning a bit more toward a feminine audience this year? I heard that they are having an opera singer do the national anthem and Bruno Mars is doing the halftime show. Also I heard that they are having two different Greek yogurt commercials. Seriously, is yogurt that big of a market? Who knew? Oh and I heard a rumor that David Beckham will be making another appearance in his underwear. In Jordan’s words: “Most guys really do not want to see David Beckham in his underwear. Girls on the other hand….”

I personally “watch” the Super Bowl just to eat the food. So here are a few of our past recipes that we think would be great additions to your Super Bowl line up. GO BRONCOS!

Kalua Pork