Spinach Salad with Fruit

I adapted this salad and its dressing from one served by my friend LoLo:

• 5 oz fresh spinach, washed and dried
• 1 orange, peeled and cut in small pieces
• 1 c fresh raspberries or sliced fresh strawberries
• 1/2 c chopped nuts
• 1/2 c crumbled feta cheese
• Judy's Raspberry Vinaigrette dressing

Layer in bowl: spinach, fruit, nuts & feta. When ready to serve, add desired amount of dressing, toss, and serve.

Tabouli, Fresh from the Garden

I love to make this salad / appetizer when the tomatoes, scallions, and herbs are fresh from my garden. Tabouli (aka tabbouli, tabouleh, tabbouleh) is a traditional Middle Eastern salad. Bulgur is a quick-cooking version of whole wheat kernels which have been soaked, boiled, dried, and cracked after the bran is removed. For a whole grain variation, I sometime use 2-1/2 cups of cooked quinoa in place of the bulgur.

• 1 c bulgur wheat
• 1 t salt
• 1-1/4 c boiling water

Mix the bulgur and salt in a heat-proof bowl. Pour the boiling water on top and stir. Cover loosely with a towel and let stand for 30 minutes. Drain if necessary.

• 1 c chopped parsley, packed
• 1/2 c chopped scallions
• 2 T chopped fresh mint
• 1 c peeled tomato
• 1/4 c olive oil
• 1/4 c fresh lemon juice
• salt & pepper to taste 

Mix the above ingredients with the bulgur and chill until serving time. Traditionally served with pita bread, and Scoops work well too.

Strawberry Time

'Haven't posted since before the tornado hit our place two weeks ago today… much of my normally busy discretionary time has been reassigned to clean-up after about 200 old hardwoods and pines were twisted, broken, uprooted, bent and downed by the winds.

In more pleasant news, my gardens miraculously escaped harm, and continue to flourish - despite my lack of attention. I've been picking my own delicious big sweet strawberries steadily for the past 3 weeks, a "June-bearing" variety called Tennessee Beauty. The bed I had started two years ago got wiped out by a fungus which I think formed because I had attempted to cut down on weeding by mulching the bed with black landscape fabric, covered with straw. At one end of the black mulch, lots of strawberry baby plants escaped the bed and planted themselves in my bare garden soil, and these survived. I let them grow and prosper, and then harvested lots of rooted babies in the fall. These allowed me to replant the original beds, adding compost to the soil, spacing plants about 12" apart in staggered rows, and not using any mulch. When the flowers began to turn into berries earlier this spring, I put a thin layer of straw around each plant, to keep the ripening berries from sitting in the dirt… makes them nice and clean when picked. I plan to remove the straw after the harvest. Incidentally, note that I said straw, not hay - straw is supposed to be without seeds, while hay will fill your soil with weeds from its seeds. I'll be doing more weeding this year, but hopefully will avoid the fungus problem.

The 4' x 4' bed of "baby" strawberry plants was a thick mass of plants, but I decided to leave it until it finishes bearing fruit this spring. From my side-by-side comparison, I am now convinced that strawberries should be kept in manicured beds, removing the babies, and keeping them spaced out. I've observed the following:

• the neat bed ripens earlier (more sunshine?)
• the neat bed is easier to harvest - vs. hunting among tangled leaves and stems to uncover ripe berries
• the neat bed honestly produces sweeter tasting berries 
• the neat bed produces much fewer berries which show critter damage
• we've had relatively dry weather during this harvest time, but I think the mass bed would have had more berries rot from moisture than the neat bed if it had been damp

I've also learned how wonderful it is to pick strawberries from my own gardens rather than go to a u-pick strawberry farm. I know mine are organic, I can pick at my convenience, and my harvest is stretched out over many weeks rather than dealing with 3 gallons all at once. On four separate days I have filled the gallon bucket, with lots of smaller harvests in between. We've been eating loads of fresh strawberries: in a salad with my homemade raspberry vinaigrette and feta cheese, chopped and mixed into yogurt or a smoothie, sitting on our breakfast granola, or just "naked," still warm from the sun. I also substituted strawberries for the cranberries in my pumpkin bread recipe, and it now ranks as one of my favorite breakfast breads ever. I have frozen 12 bags of chopped strawberries, and just finished making 8 half-pints of strawberry jam. The strawberry season is winding down, but we'll be enjoying the harvest for months.

Garden Dressing

I've always loved the salad at Olive Garden restaurants, and it has much to do with their dressing. When I purchased a bottle at the restaurant to take home, I wasn't surprised to see sugar as an ingredient. I looked for "clone" recipes online, and eventually developed my own, more healthy, variation from the ones I liked best. This will likely taste different in a side-by-side test with Olive Garden dressing, but I like how it ended up and I've been asked to post it by those who have tried it.

• 1/2 c olive oil
• 1/4 c white vinegar
• 2 T lemon juice
• 1/3 c light mayonnaise
• 4 T grated romano cheese
• 1 t salt
• 1/2 t garlic powder
• 1 t Italian herb seasoning
• 1/2 t dry mustard powder
• 1 t honey

Mix all ingredients thoroughly in a food processor or blender. Makes about 1 cup.

Serve the desired amount of dressing on a salad made with romaine, thin sliced onions, sliced sweet peppers, sliced carrots, black olives, pepperoncini, and any other fresh veggies you desire.

Storing Fresh Greens, Herbs, and Sprouts

A few years ago my friend Chris taught me a great way to keep leafy vegetables fresh. Take a piece of paper towel (I buy the "select-a-size" type so I can tear off half-sheets) and a plastic bag. After you've washed the lettuce, spinach, kale, basil or other greens - preferably picked fresh from your garden - spin, drain or pat them to dry. Place in the bag with the paper towel, seal, and store in the refrigerator. A small zipper bag works well for basil, and a larger wastebasket bag stores a head of romaine, with a few pieces of paper towel layered with the leaves. The vegetables stay fresh and crisp for a long time this way. I also use this method for the sprouts I grow, when they are ready to move from the countertop sprout jar into the fridge.

Judy's Caesar Dressing

• 1/2 c  safflower oil
• 2 T  fresh lemon juice
• 4 tsp  minced fresh garlic
• 1 tsp  dijon mustard
• 1 tsp  salt
• 1/2 tsp  pepper
• 4 T grated parmesan cheese

Mix all ingredients except parmesan cheese in a jar. Cover and shake well. When ready to serve, add the parmesan cheese to enough romaine lettuce to serve about 8 people. Pour desired amount of dressing over salad and toss. Dressing stores well in refrigerator, but if you add the parmesan to the rest of the ingredients it absorbs the liquid and makes the dressing thicken.

HINTS:  If you don't want to squeeze the lemon juice, use Minute Maid frozen 100% lemon juice, thawed. The only decent substitute for mincing your own garlic is to buy the chopped garlic in oil.

Oriental Sesame Noodle Salad

• 1 16-oz package Soba noodles or linguine pasta

DRESSING:

• 6 cloves garlic, minced
• 6 T olive oil
• 6 T rice vinegar (buy one with no added sweetener)
• 6 T soy sauce
• 2 T sesame oil
• 1 tsp hot pepper powder
• 1/4 c chopped peanuts or 1/4 c peanut butter, softened in microwave

TOPPINGS:

• 6 green onions, sliced
• 1 tsp sesame seeds, toasted

Add 2-3 cups of any chopped veggies, tofu, sprouts, etc. you desire.

Cook noodles al dente, according to package instructions. Run under cold water, drain, and transfer to a serving bowl. Mix dressing ingredients. Pour sauce over linguine, add other vegetables, and toss to coat. Garnish with green onions and sesame seeds. Serve chilled.

Judy's Raspberry Vinaigrette

All the bottled Raspberry Vinaigrettes I checked contained added sweeteners, which I don't find necessary in a salad dressing. So I came up with my own recipe. This makes nearly 2 cups, so it can dress several salads:

• 1/2 c white vinegar
• 1 raspberry herbal tea bag
• 1/2 c 100% fruit juice (raspberry, cherry, pomegranate or other red juice)
• 3/4 c light oil
• 1-1/2 tsp dijon mustard
• 1 tsp dried tarragon or Italian herbs
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp balsamic vinegar
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp pepper

Heat white vinegar to boiling and steep tea bag in it for 30 minutes, then remove and discard tea bag. Mix flavored vinegar with all other ingredients in a jar. Shake. Refrigerate until ready to use.