Asian Style Brown Rice "Salad"

 We enjoyed this salad for dinner.  And by we, I mean, Geoff and I.  Isaac fed his portion to Tina.  Isaac doesn't like rice - problematic since we eat rice at least once a week.

3/4 C brown rice
2 C water

1 C edamame, cooked and shelled
1 C carrots, finely diced
2 green onions, finely chopped
1/2 C toasted slivered almonds
3 Tbsp cilantro, chopped
1/2 C Black beans, cooked (1 can)

Combine rice and water in a saucepan.  Bring to boil.  Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer for 30 minutes.  Turn off heat, let stand covered for 10 minutes.

Add dressing, edamame, carrots, green onions, almonds, cilantro, and black beans to the rice.  Serve at room temperature.

Dressing - Whisk together the following:
1 garlic clove, minced
1 tsp fresh ginger, minced
2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
1 Tbsp soy sauce
1 Tbsp honey
1 Tbsp sesame oil, toasted
pinch of red chili flakes

This weekend we took little boy and little dog down to the creek with some friends of ours.  Isaac LOVED it!  The world was literally his sandbox.  We got there and he promptly started filling things with sand - the wagon, the bag of coals, the box of muffins. . . Then he discovered the creek.  He sat there in little boy heaven throwing sand into the creek, onto Dada's pants, and occasionally at Tina.  After running out of new places to put sand, he decided it was time to go into the creek.  He occasionally got his feet in, but it was a bit chilly and so we tried to keep him dry.

Chicken and Blue Cheese Spinach Salad

Another delicious salad.  Geoff and I aren't always the biggest blue cheese fans, but this salad was quite tasty.

Chicken breast(s) (One breast should be enough for 2-3 people)
Flour
1 egg
Italian breadcrumbs
oil

Dredge chicken in flour, dip in egg, and then dredge in breadcrumbs.  Heat olive oil in skillet.  Cook chicken for 4-6 minutes per side or until done.  Let sit for a few minutes, then slice against the grain.  Serve on salad

Salad:
Spinach
Apple slices
Craisins
Blue Cheese
Walnuts, chopped
Poppy Seed dressing

Little Boy is as wild as ever.  He loves whacking Jenga blocks on things to hear what sound they make.  What a good little music major's son.  He particularly loves whacking them in the bottom of the built in bookcase.  I think he must like the echo in there.  And then, much to his delight, he figured out how to climb into the bookcase.  Brilliant.  (Yes I am aware of the non-baby proofed cord in the back of the bookcase.  We bought a cover for it since taking this picture.)

And, in adding to our baby food collection, baby has been eating Peaches for sometime now.  Just like pears, we cook the peaches in just a little water until tender (8 minutes or so) and then blend them up with some of the cooking water.  Delicious.  Though, now that he's older, we've given him pear chunks, which he likes just fine.

Grilled Romaine

This is one of those times where I'm not sure I can take any credit for this delicious "salad".  Geoff is the grill master and while I can usually at least boast cutting up things to put on the grill, I didn't even do that because I was on some really exciting medication that made my whole body shake and jitter.  Brand new fancy-dancy sharp knife and shaking and jittering didn't seem like a good combination so Geoff even cut the lettuce in half.  I at least brushed it with olive oil and salt and pepper.  Does that count for anything?

Grilled Romaine:
Cut a romaine heart in half.  Leave the bottom stump (or whatever it's called) in tact for both halves.  Brush the cut sides with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Grill cut side down for a few minutes until starting to get lightly charred in places (just a few minutes).  Remove from grill.  We served with croutons, asiago caesar dressing, and a little parmesan cheese.

Absolutely delicious.  If you don't own a grill (mom!) it's worth buying one just for this.

Poppy Seed Pasta Salad

12 oz Pasta, cooked and rinsed with cold water
10 oz can Chicken (if canned chicken creeps you out, leave out the meat or cook some chicken)
8 oz can Pineapple tidbits, drained
11 oz Mandarin oranges, drained
2 avocados, diced
Poppy Seed Dressing
Rice Wine Vinegar
Salt

Add fruit, chicken, and avocados to the pasta (don't toss together yet - you don't want to over toss the salad or the fruit and chicken start breaking into tiny pieces).  Pour poppy seed dressing and vinegar over salad to taste.  I don't know how much of either dressing I use, but if I had to guess, I'd say at least 1/4 C vinegar and almost the same amount poppy seed dressing.  Maybe more of both.  I don't know, I just dump.  Salt to taste.

And:  Thanks Rob and Anna for a fantastic weekend!

Potato, Corn, and Fresh Basil Salad

This is absolutely amazing.  If you have ignored all the other recipes, it is time to actually try one.  THIS one.

Combine boiled potatoes (boil til tender), 2-3 C corn, 2 C tomatoes, and a red bell pepper in a large bowl.

Combine 1/4 C minced shallots (I used one little shallot and then some green onion I needed to use up), 1/4 C balsamic vinegar, 1 Tbsp Dijon mustard, some freshly ground salt and pepper.  Whisk.  While whisking continuously, slowly pour 3 Tbsp olive oil into mixture.  Drizzle over potato mixture.  Add several handfuls of spinach and ~1/2 C fresh basil.  Garnish with feta.

Original Recipe from Cooking Light Sep 2010 magazine.

Cucumber-Tomato Salad

Here's the Cucumber-Tomato Salad mentioned in the Chicken Spinach Salad post.  Geoff used to say he didn't like cucumbers or tomatos but he likes this salad well enough.  Moral of the story: feta cheese makes everything better.

Toss chopped cucumbers and tomatoes with salt, pepper, and rice vinegar.  Garnish with feta.  This turned out best when I used sun-dried tomato and basil feta (which was amazing feta, btw).  When using plain feta (like I did this time) you can mix in fresh basil or a nice Italian seasoning mix.

Chicken Spinach Salad

Spinach, chicken, and feta cheese served with a sun-dried tomato vinaigrette.  Delish!

Geoff cooked the chicken - he has to or else it is inedible.  (In my fear of dying by evil raw chicken, I always overcook it.  I'm fine with baking chicken, but when there is a skillet involved I become paranoid that we'll all get sick.)  He poured some Italian breadcrumbs, parmigiana cheese, and garlic into a bowl; dipped the chicken into beaten eggs, and then into the crumbs.  Tips: Make sure the skillet (and olive oil inside the skillet) are nice and hot before putting in the chicken so that it browns nicely.  Also, don't crowd the pan!  Cook in small batches rather than crowd the pan.

We had croissants and a cucumber-tomato salad with this.  Very tasty meal!