Pip's Plate

This salad recipe is really simple and quite tasty. It takes less than 5 minutes to make and it packs in the flavor. Serve this alongside Roasted Chicken with Mustard-Thyme Sauce and Mediterranean Roasted Potatoes for a complete meal.

Green Salad with Olives
Serves 6

Ingredients
8 oz salad greens
1/2 cup mixed pitted olives
1/2 bulb fennel, sliced
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar

Directions
1. In a salad bowl, place salad greens, olives and fennel.

2. To make the dressing, whisk together 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil and 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar.

3. Pour dressing over salad and mix to dress.

recipe from epicurious

Today is my boyfriend’s birthday. And for such a celebration of him turning the ripe old age of 26 (a youngin, I know!) we’ve taken the day off from work. We’re having a couple friends over tonight for some Korean/Japanese food.

Keldon is from Hawaii, so we *must* have Spam! Did you know Hawaii is the largest consumers of Spam? Thank you, WW2 & Hormel.

Plus, with this menu we can use a lot of the great produce we got at the Kingfield Farmer’s Market this Sunday: cucumbers, zucchini, green onions.

This is what we’re planning:

Korean Beef Bulgogi rolled up maki style

Chicken Katsu rolled up maki style

Spam Musubi (hooray! it’s Spam!)

Kim Chee

Green Onion Salad

Zucchini Ribbon Salad with this Asian Dressing

Cucumber Salad

I suppose I’ll be making some sort of guava or passion fruit martini to go along with this, but I have yet to come up with something. Stay tuned.

And of course, I have to rival the Spam cake I made last year…. so there will be a surprise revealed later.

Here is another recipe included in the menu for my friend’s baby shower last week. It’s refreshing, but make sure you are making this when watermelon is in season – the success of this recipe is heavily dependent upon a great tasting watermelon.

We served this along side the Thai Chicken Lettuce Wraps as part of the first course.

served in ramekins so the juice wouldn't run into the lettuce wraps

Watermelon, Feta and Mint Salad

makes: 12 servings (about 1 cup each)

3 cups 2-inch chunks fresh watermelon

1 cup crumbled feta cheese

1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 teaspoon crushed red pepper

2 T chopped fresh mint

Directions

1. Combine all ingredients together in a bowl then serve. It’s that easy.

recipe adapted from epicurious

Here is another recipe included on the menu for my friend’s baby shower last week. Something else she loves other than grilled turkey and bacon sandwiches? Thai Chicken Lettuce Wraps. We wanted to make something with a peanut dressing, so we ended up at this one.

We served this with the Watermelon Feta and Mint Salad in a little ramekin side bowl.

This is a great summer salad recipe, too. You don’t have to put it in the lettuce wraps – instead, you can just mix it up, leave it in the fridge and have it around for a satisfying and pretty healthy snack.

Thai Chicken Lettuce Wraps

makes: 36 lettuce wraps (plus some leftover salad for later)

Peanut Dressing

8 large garlic cloves

1/2 cup soy sauce

2/3 cup fresh lime juice

4 Tablespoons sugar

2 Tablespoons peanut butter (smooth or chunky – it doesn’t matter)

4 teaspoons chopped peeled fresh ginger root

1 Tablespoon chili garlic sauce

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper

1/2 cup vegetable oil

Salad

9 oz rice stick noodles (vermicelli size – very thin)

2 pounds boneless, skinless hormone-free chicken breasts

3 medium carrots, peeled and julienned (cut into about 3-inch long pieces)

3 medium cucumbers, peeled seeded and julienned (cut into about 3-inch long pieces)

1 cup shelled edamame (soy beans)

1/3 cup coarsely chopped roasted salted peanuts

2 heads Boston or Bibb lettuce, washed

Directions

1. To make the dressing, combine garlic through pepper in a food processor. Process until smooth, then add oil to combine all ingredients. Put half aside for the salad dressing, and use the remaining half to marinate the chicken breasts.

2. Cook rice noodles according to package. When drained, cut the noodles into 3-4 inch pieces using a scissors then add to a large mixing bowl.

3. Cook the chicken. You may grill or roast the chicken. We grilled the chicken since it was such a beautiful day and we didn’t want to heat the house too much before the guests came over.

• To Grill: Heat grill to medium-high heat. Cook chicken for about 10-12 minutes, turning once.
• To Roast: Heat oven to 375 degrees. Place chicken in a roasting pan and roast for about 12-15 minutes.

When chicken is cooked through, move to a cutting board and slice. Add chicken to the noodle bowl.

4. Add carrots, cucumbers and edamame to the noodle and chicken bowl. Toss with the reserved peanut dressing.

5. To assemble, put about 1/2 cup of the noodle salad into one leave of lettuce. Serve with crushed peanuts as a garnish.

recipe adapted from epicurious

The latest issue of Bon Appetit magazine has a ton of great recipes in it, and this Strawberry Citrus Salad caught my eye and I just had to try it. It…is…AMAZING.

Talk about simple food being the best: this recipe has only 4 ingredients and it is packed with flavor. I think this would be pretty good over ice cream too…but I’m just sayin. Plus – it’s a super healthy salad.

Strawberry Citrus Salad

from Bon Appetit May 2009

Makes: enough for a small gathering (8-10 servings or so)

Time: 15 minutes prep + 30 minutes to marinade

Ingredients

2 packages strawberries, washed, cored and quartered

3 large navel oranges, segmented and cut into large chunks

3 T fresh chopped mint

1 T brown sugar

Combine everything together in a bowl, and let it sit for about 30 minutes to marinate and get mascerated goodness. I enjoy this salad by itself or as a simple dessert. In fact, it’s really good after a plate of fried eggs and turkey bacon.

This is a perfect side dish to Garlicky Green Turkey Burgers and Chili Lime Grilled Corn on the Cob for a complete quick and easy grilling meal.

I feel like I’ve made this salad a hundred times. It’s fast, easy, and delicious. It’s perfect for backyard BBQs, baby showers, bridal showers, brunch, etc. This is another recipe from the weekend menu for our Creative Retreat.

Greek Salad

serves 8

2 bags organic mixed greens

8 oz feta, crumbled

1 seedless cucumber, peeled, seeded, halved lengthwise and cut into 1/4″ half moons

1 pint cherry or grape tomatoes

1/2 cup kalamata olives

1 T herbes de provence

1 1/2 T fresh lemon juice

3 T olive oil

To make the dressing, whisk together herbes de provence, lemon juice and olive oil. Combine all salad ingredients in a large bowl and toss in the dressing.

I’m not quite sure what to call this salad other than the ingredients in it. It was inspired by a salad on the menu at Bovolo in Healdsburg, CA.

1 small watermelon, cubed

1/2 cup pistachios

1 bag arugula

8 oz sheep’s or goat’s milk feta, crumbled

6 slices proscuitto, torn

Balsamic vinegar

Combine the first 5 ingredients in a salad bowl and drizzle balsamic vinegar over it. Enjoy- this is a perfect summer salad and excellent for picnics or a backyard get-together.