I served this salad twice this past weekend.  Two times when Crissie from Design Eat Play was at my house. Once for Easter and once for a bachelorette party for my friend Julie.  Here she is prior to our cowgirl extravaganza:

 More on her wild party in a later post.

Crissie will not leave me alone until I post the recipe.  Apparently she liked it. She even shot and edited the pics for me in hopes that I would post it.

She sent me this message yesterday:                 

 Dear Cordon Pink,

I was thinking of making your salad as a main dish with steak. Wouldn’t that
be yummy? Like a big, fat steak salad. Or actually I have pork in the crock
pot today…that could be good.

Ah hem. Recipe?

Give it to me or you will never see your dog again…(this part may have been exaggerated)

This salad is wonderful for entertaining because you can make the two parts in advance and just combine them when you are ready to serve.  No worries about your salad getting soggy prior to your main dish being ready etc.  Plus, it is very refreshing and light for spring.

Avocado, Orange and Fennel Salad with Citrus Vinaigrette

2 Avocados Diced

3 Oranges Cut into segments with white pith removed

½ Fennel Bulb chopped into small pieces

Citrus Vinaigrette (Recipe below)

2 Heads of romaine or any mixed greens washed and cut into bite size pieces

Add avocados, oranges and fennel to a small container with a lid.  Pour dressing over fruit and fennel.  Let marinate in the fridge for 2-3 hours.

  When ready to serve, remove from fridge and pour entire mixture over the mixed greens.  Mix well and eat!

Citrus Vinaigrette

Zest of one lemon

Juice of one lemon

1 Tablespoon Red Wine Vinegar

1 Teaspoon Dijon Mustard

1 Tablespoon White Sugar

1 Clove Garlic Minced

Lawry’s seasoning salt to taste (or any seasoning salt)

¼ Cup Olive Oil

Add zest, lemon juice, red wine, mustard, sugar, garlic and seasoning salt to a small mixing bowl. 

Mix well. 

 Slowly drizzle in olive oil whisking well to combine until it emulsifies. 

Enjoy!

Love,

Lindzee

What is it about Kale? Everywhere I turn it seems I hear about Kale.  Kale is all over the place!  It is on all the food trend lists and it seems every food blogger is coming up with their own version of kale chips.   The fact that I am talking about Kale being trendy probably means that it has reached its tipping point and it is no longer cool to cook with Kale.  Oh well.  I still thought this recipe was pretty good and thought I would share. 

Awhile back, some girlfriends and I went to a super duper Boise restaurant called Red Feather for dinner.  It is a very cute place with great food.  I ordered the grilled Kale Caesar to start and it was AMAZING.  At least, I thought it was amazing.  Some of the other girls thought it tasted like burnt lettuce, but I thought the smokey greens were fantastic.  Of course, I went home and tried to copy the recipe.  I hope you like the result!

Grilled Kale Caesar

Printable recipe here

1 or 2 bunches of Kale (don’t cut into bite sizes pieces until after grilling)

Shaved Parmesan

Garlic Croutons – Recipe below

Caesar Dressing – Recipe below

Pre-heat grill to medium heat.  Grill Kale over medium for 30 seconds – 1 minute each side. 

 Watch carefully, because it will burn and not be edible.  A few of the edges should be crispy and a little burnt, but the leaves should mostly be green.  Remove from heat and toss with dressing, croutons, Caesar and parmesan shavings.  Enjoy!

Caesar Dressing

2 Cloves Garlic

2 Tablespoons Mayo (I use this in place of a raw egg)

½ Teaspoon Dijon Mustard

3 Tablespoons Fresh Lemon Juice

1 Teaspoon Worcestershire Sauce

1 Teaspoon Anchovy Paste (this won’t make it fishy.  At least I don’t think it does.)

5 Tablespoons Olive Oil

¼ Cup Freshly Grated Parmesan plus another ¼ cup for top of salad.

Salt and Pepper to taste

In a food processor grind up garlic, mayo, Dijon, lemon juice, Worcestershire and anchovy paste. Salt and pepper to taste, but it won’t need much due to the cheese and anchovy paste.    Pour over Kale.

Croutons

1 Loaf of Fresh Sourdough bread chopped into small crouton sized cubes. (I like sourdough, but you can use any kind you want.)

¼ Cup Olive Oil

2 Cloves Garlic Crushed

Lawry’s Seasoning Salt to taste

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Mix olive oil, garlic and seasoning salt together in a small bowl.  Put 1/3 of the bread cubes in a large bowl and pour 1/3 of oil mixture over the bread. Mix well. Continue this process until all the oil and bread cubes are used.  Add to a cookie or baking sheet and bake for 15-20 minutes until hard and toasty brown.  Watch carefully or you might burn.

Happy St. Patrick’s day!  And happy birthday to my dad! He would have been 66 this year.  As many of you know, my dad passed away about two months ago after a relatively short battle with cancer.  I miss him so much.  I was very lucky to have him for a dad for the amount of time I did.  In order to celebrate his birthday and St. Patty’s day, my fabulous friend and wonderful cook Cristopher Wobbin hosted a little shindig at her house.  She is on the left, Katie is in the middle, and Cortnay is on the right.

She made these fantastically good pizzas.  Here is the fig, pistachio and goat cheese. This was my favorite. So creative.

Also, a blue cheese, fresh mozzarella, beef filet and onion pizza. Holy lord.

Everyone ate a lot.  In fact, I ate way too much and almost had to be carried home by Jav.

Michelle brought her cute little puppy Charlie.

Maverick got scared with Crissie’s huge chocolate lab Gus and Charlie running around, so he got on the table.

He then needed a Guinness to recover.

My contribution to the meal was my dad’s favorite meal ever.  The Caesar salad. Everywhere we went, no matter the restaurant, he would order a Caesar salad.  He judged every restaurant by the quality of their dressing and usually ordered an extra side of dressing.   It was also the first thing I learned to make at my dad’s restaurant when I was 15.  I was also in charge of cooking the chicken on the grill and served many raw in the middle chicken breasts.  I am not kidding.  My dad was always so complimentary of my cooking and really enjoyed my Caesar, which is fairly lemony. I hope you enjoy it too!

The secret is the homemade garlic croutons. Store bought croutons suck.  You can quote me on that.   If you do one thing while making salad, please don’t ever buy store bought croutons.  They taste like cardboard bits of toasted cardboard.  Homemade croutons are very quick and inexpensive to make and keep well in a sealed container.    Thank you for your cooperation in advance of this matter.

Caesar Salad with Homemade Garlic Croutons
Printable recipe here

Salad and Dressing

1 Head of Romaine Lettuce washed and torn into bite size pieces

Croutons (recipe below)

2 Cloves Garlic

2 Tablespoons Mayo (I use this in place of a raw egg)

½ Teaspoon Dijon Mustard

3 Tablespoons Fresh Lemon Juice

1 Teaspoon Worcestershire Sauce

1 Teaspoon Anchovy Paste (this won’t make it fishy.  At least I don’t think it does.)

5 Tablespoons Olive Oil

¼ Cup Freshly Grated Parmesan plus another ¼ cup for top of salad.

Salt and Pepper to taste

In a food processor grind up garlic, mayo, dijon, lemon juice, Worcestershire and anchovy paste.

Slowly drizzle and mix in olive oil.  Turn off processor and stir in ¼ cup parmesan. 

 Salt and pepper to taste, but it won’t need much due to the cheese and anchovy paste.    Pour a little over romaine and mix up with croutons and extra parmesan.  Taste for flavor and if needed add more dressing.  You can always add more, but you can’t remove dressing.  Made this mistake a few times . 

Croutons

1 Loaf of Fresh Sourdough bread chopped into small crouton sized cubes. (I like sourdough, but you can use any kind you want.)

¼ Cup Olive Oil

2 Cloves Garlic Crushed

Lawry’s Seasoning Salt to taste

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Mix olive oil, garlic and seasoning salt together in a small bowl.  Put 1/3 of the bread cubes in a large bowl and pour 1/3 of oil mixture over the bread. Mix well. Continue this process until all the oil and bread cubes are used.  Add to a cookie or baking sheet and bake for 15-20 minutes until hard and toasty brown.  Watch carefully or you might burn.

Love,

Lindzee

.

I would like to tell you a little about one of my favorite restaurants in Boise, Flatbread Community Oven. Have you ever been? If not, GO NOW. It is amazing. I am truly obsessed. Fantastic wood-fired pizza (I prefer the sundried tomato, artichoke, goat cheese concoction), great wine flights for under $10, salads and the best part is that you can finish off your meal with warm homemade chocolate chip cookies and cold milk.

They also make this unbelievably good salad with chicken, apples, grapes, blue cheese and candied walnuts. Of course, the first time I ordered it, I immediately went home and tried to copy it minus the chicken. The result is this recipe, not quite Flatbread status, but it is pretty darn good. Flatbread makes theirs with mixed greens, which Jav hates, so I substituted romaine. BTW, for all you Boise peeps, I heard there is a new Flatbread going in downtown Boise on 6th and Main. Holla!

Apple, Grape and Blue Cheese Salad with Candied Walnuts

1 Cup Seedless Red Grapes Halved

1 Apple Chopped

1 Cup Candied Walnuts Chopped (Recipe Below)

 ½ Cup Blue Cheese Crumbles

 5-6 Cups Romaine Lettuce (washed, dried and Cut into bite size pieces)

Apple Cider Vinaigrette (Recipe Below)

 Mix all ingredients together.

 Pour dressing over salad just prior to serving.

 Candied Walnuts

1/4 Cup Sugar

1 Cup Walnuts

Heat sugar over medium heat in a medium skillet until it just starts to melt. You must be super careful and diligent at this point. I have destroyed many of expensive nuts at this point by burning them. Throw in walnuts and let sugar melt, but as soon as you see the sugar turning brown turn down the heat to low. Cook until all sugar is melted and walnuts are evenly coated. Remove from heat and set aside on foil. Set in fridge for 15 minutes. Serve cool.

Apple Cider Vinaigrette

3 Tablespoons Apple Cider Vinegar

¼ Teaspoon Dijon Mustard

¼ Cup Olive Oil

Salt and Pepper to Taste

Mix ACV and mustard together with wire whisk. Slowly whisk in Olive Oil. Season to taste. Enjoy!

Love,

Lindzee

It also may seem like a strange combination of flavors, but this recipe has been a holiday tradition in my house since I can remember.  We serve it with our holiday meals, but it is almost like dessert.  My mom makes this dish every year on Thanksgiving and Christmas. And every year it is the dish that gets the most rave reviews.

Here is my amazing mom pulling a dish out of the oven:

The combination of sweet, creamy and salty flavors in this dish can’t be beat.  It is a fairly inexpensive dish to make for a large crowd or potluck.

Additionally, I wanted to post this picture of my two roommates in their snuggies just for fun:

My Mom’s Pretzel Raspberry Jell-O Salad

Step 1:

2 Cups Pretzels Crushed

3/4 Cup butter, melted

4 Tablespoons Sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Mix together all ingredients and spread in thin layer in a 9 x 13 baking dish. Bake 10 minutes at 350 degrees. Cool. I am serious when I say this.  Please make sure it is cool. Not a place for a shortcut.

Step 2:

1 Large Package Raspberry Jell-O

2 Cups boiling water

2 (10 oz.) bags of frozen raspberries

Dissolve Jell-O in 2 cups boiling water. Add frozen raspberries.

 Set aside for 15-20 minutes until lightly set.  Not too set but a little firmish.

Step 3:

8 oz. cream cheese softened – room temp.

1 Cup sugar

1 (8 oz.) Cool Whip

Mix together until smooth.

Spread this mixture over the cooled pretzel mixture.  Top with Jell-O mixture. Refrigerate overnight.

Enjoy!

Love,

Lindzee

My mom and I have recently researching cancer fighting foods to help aid my dad in his battle.  I am not a doctor, but I personally believe a combination of traditional medicine, diet and supplements is the best way to treat cancer. Since cancer is an epidemic in this country, it is important to not only eat well after you are diagnosed with cancer, it is also imperative to eat well for preventative measures.  Based on secondary research, I came up with a chopped salad that incorporates many ingredients that may prevent and smash cancer – It is also yumtastic too!

Cancer Fighting Chopped Salad with Blueberry Balsamic Vinaigrette

Serves 2-3

Chicken

What you’ll need:

2 Skinless Boneless Chicken Breast (If possible, organic and free range)

1 Tablespoon Turmeric – Studies have show this spice slows the growth of some cancer cells

Salt and Pepper

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Rub chicken with turmeric and salt and pepper and add to small baking dish.  Bake for 30 to 35 minutes until cooked through and golden.  Set aside to cool.  Once cool chop up chicken into small pieces.

Chopped Salad

What you’ll need:

Cooked roasted chicken from above

5 Cups Romaine Lettuce Chopped – Like other dark leafy greens, romaine lettuce is believed to fight cancer.

2 Apples Chopped – Apples have a lot of  phytochemicals and because they are inexpensive and available all year long, it’s easy to add them to a cancer fighting diet.

1 Avocado Chopped – Not just for heart health! Plus my 85-year-old grandma swears she is healthy due to eating ½ Avocado a day for the last 20 years.

½ Cup Dried Craisins – Studies show this superstar fruit battles cancer.

1 Tomato Chopped – Lycopene, which is naturally occurring in tomatoes, has long shown to lower risk of some cancers.

¼ Cup of Feta or Blue Cheese Crumbles

1 Recipe of Blueberry Balsamic Vinaigrette (see below)

Directions:

Toss all ingredients together in a large bowl. Enjoy!

Blueberry Balsamic Vinaigrette

¼ Cup Blueberries (I used thawed frozen) – Blueberries are high in antioxidants which act as a tonic for your cells.

¼ Cup Balsamic Vinegar – Since good Balsamic is made from grape pressings it is also high in antioxidants.

1 Tablespoon Garlic Chopped – Garlic contains allium compounds, which have been found to prevent several different types of cancer.

1 Teaspoon Dijon Mustard

½ Cup Olive Oil

Salt and Pepper to taste

Directions:

Blend up all ingredients in the blender. 

Pour over salad.

Hope this recipe helps add to your cancer arsenal!

Love,

Lindzee

 Iceberg has been a staple in my life for a really long time. I first remember enjoying the company of old Iceberg on my elementary school lunch tray, smothered in ranch dressing with shredded rusty tasting carrots. Iceberg has recently received a poor reputation for lacking nutrients, flavor, color ect. Foodies scoff at Iceberg and tend to cast the pretentious bitter microgreens or the pompous mixed greens as the shining stars of their salads today.

I, however, still have a special place in my heart for Iceberg. I love its crunchy texture, crisp, cold and clean flavor and its ability to play a secondary role to any creamy salad dressing. This is why I am posting my recipe for a Wedge Salad with Creamy Homemade Buttermilk Ranch Dressing – a salad that cannot be made with any other lettuce but Iceberg. At least in my mind. So cheers to you, Iceberg, not ever flashy but always dependable and sturdy.

Wedge Salad with Creamy Homemade Buttermilk Ranch Dressing

Serves 3-4 with extra dressing for your pizza

 1 Head of Iceberg lettuce
5 Strips of good bacon cooked and chopped into bits
1-2 Roma Tomatoes Chopped
2 Green Onions Chopped
Handful of Blue Cheese (optional)

Wash the outside of the Iceberg and pat dry gently. Chop entire head into 3-4 wedges depending on the size. Sprinkle bacon, tomato, onions and blue cheese evenly on each wedge.

Buttermilk Ranch Dressing

1 Cup Real Mayo
½ Cup Sour Cream
½ Cup Buttermilk
2 Tablespoons minced Basil
½ Clove garlic minced very fine
1 Tablespoon minced Chives
1 Teaspoon of Dill
1 Tablespoons minced Parsley
1 Tablespoon A-1 Sauce (optional)
1 Teaspoon Apple Cider Vinegar
1/2 Teaspoon Smoked Paprika
Dash of Cayenne pepper or Tabasco
Salt to taste
Peper

Mix all ingredients in a medium sized bowl. I blend it in the Kitchen Aid on speed 3 for 3-4 minutes. It gets fluffier this way. Add fresh ground pepper. Poor over the lovely Iceberg and enjoy with a fork and knife. 

Love, Lindzee