Grilled Salad For Memorial Day

Having a holiday weekend has placed my blog posting into a little bit of a holiday. Memorial Day seems to bring about the beginning and ending of many seasonal things, but most of all we tend to memorialize with the help of the barbecue.
What better way to celebrate with family and friends than to barbecue along with some veggies. A few weeks ago in the L.A. Times there was a recipe for a grilled kale salad with a yogurt dressing and hazelnuts. Upon seeing this recipe I knew a time would come when I would make it, and nothing says Memorial Day to me like grilled kale.

This turns into....

There were about ten of us and I realized that I didn't have enough kale for all so I decided to grill the romaine as well.  Making sure both the kale and the lettuce had a nice coating of olive oil and grilling them for a few minutes it comes out with a nice charred flavor.

This.

The dressing is really easy and somewhat healthy being yogurt based. For some reason I was convinced that there was lemon in the dressing and added a little to the dressing anyways. I also used a spring onion instead of a shallot. This salad has to be served right away after grilling so make sure the dressing and hazelnuts are toasted before the greens are grilled.

Everyone loved this salad. It was crunchy, light, had a nice barbecued flavor but also had a freshness due to the mint included in the dressing. While the kale (and lettuce) are still appearing I plan to enjoy them in a new way that evokes warm summer nights

And while I'm at it here is the newest delivery. That bag of white things are dried lima beans which are a new adventure for me. What would you do with them?

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Salad Week #3 Egg Salad With Kale And Spring Onion

Salad With A Little Bit Of Everything Including Radish

An All Season Minestrone

This is the latest shipment from South Central Farms. There is such a varying assortment of food including a couple of grapefruit. Another huge head of romaine has appeared as well, so salad has not disappeared from my diet. One new item that has appeared was a nice bunch of Italian parsley.

While searching for dishes to make that would include parsley, I found this contest winning recipe on Food52 and was sold. Not only did it use the parsley but it used all sorts of of other veggies that I had.

When I think of minestrone, I think of cold brisk air and the hearty tomato based soup warming me up. I decided that making one last wintry soup, before it gets really warm, was called for, especially since we've had a little bit of rain.
The following recipe is a modified version of the Food52 version. I will say that there are endless possibilities of changing this recipe and would all still end up with the same delicious result. I named it the All Season Minestrone because it uses vegetables from all four seasons.

Smoky Minestrone with Tortellini and Parsley Pesto

3 tablespoons of olive oil

2 slices of bacon chopped into small pieces 

5 spring onions peeled and chopped

2 large cloves of garlic minced

8 medium sized carrots (I used the whole bunch)

1 zucchini + 1 little zucchini chopped

1 potato peeled and chopped

4 cups vegetable or chicken stock

1 15oz can of cooked chickpeas

1 28oz can of peeled tomatoes with juice

salt

one bunch of kale chopped fine (this is maybe about 3 cups)

9 oz of dried tortellini

1. Heat 1 tablespoon of the olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the bacon pieces and cook for a couple of minutes, until they start to brown.
2. Add 2 more tablespoons of oil along with the onions and garlic. Continue to cook stirring occasionally, over medium heat until softened. 
3. Add the chopped carrots, zucchini, potato and stir around for a minute or two.
4.  Add the stock, the chickpeas, and then the tomatoes, crushing them with your hands as you go. Add a little salt if needed. Bring the soup to a boil then reduce heat to a simmer and cook 30-40 minutes until the potatoes are just tender.
5. Add the kale and the tortellini and continue to cook over a simmer until both are tender and cooked through. Serve garnished with a spoonful of pesto, a few drops of aged balsamic vinegar, and some Parmesan cheese.

Parsley Pesto
whole bunch of parsley
1 tablespoon of almonds
1 tablespoon of pepitas
3 garlic cloves
2 tablespoons of Parmesan
3ish tablespoons of olive oil

1.  Everything was thrown into a food processor and blended together. 

 No wonder this won a prize, this is so good. This smelled so good from the start that I could have just eaten the cooked onions and garlic with the semi raw veggies as it was. It was easy to make, used a ton of vegetables, and I cannot stress enough how good this tasted. Especially with the parsley pesto, it added just a little bit of extra freshness to all the other wonderful flavors. And I don't know if you've ever added balsamic vinegar to minestrone but it is delicious and gives a nice acidic flavor.

Minestrone with parsley pesto

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Salad Week # 3 - Egg Salad with Kale and Spring Onion

Egg Salad Sandwich

This is just a fast little post to continue with the salad week theme. Perhaps it was all the talk about the royal wedding, but I have been craving egg salad. I find egg salad comforting and it really is easy to make, the most laborious task is hard boiling the eggs. I thought kale would work well replacing the often used celery. I've also been using the spring onions in just about everything I can think of. A spring onion, looks a little bit like a scallion but is sweeter than a regular onion, and are great in just about anything.

I know I have two onions pictured here but I actually just used one

This was a great mix of flavors, it was crunchy, and kind of tasted like spring. I don't know if food can taste like a season but this tasted like spring to me. Mixing six hard boiled eggs, a large handful of destemmed, washed, and thinly chopped Blue Kale, and one spring onion. Then add mayonnaise, salt and pepper at your own discretion. Spread on some wonderful bread and enjoy

The bowl of egg salad mixed.

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