Spinach Salad with Roasted Golden and Red Beets, Walnuts and Goat Cheese

Ingredients

Salad:

Spinach or baby spinach

1/2 red onion, minced

Red wine or white wine vinegar

Toasted Walnuts

Goat Cheese

3 beets, cooked, skinned, cooled and cut crosswise into thin medallions.  Golden + Red makes for a very pretty salad.

Dressing:

1/4 cup good balsamic

1/2 cup + a few tbs good extra virgin olive oil

2 tsp whole grain prepared mustard

1 tsp maple syrup

2 cloves garlic, smashed with a back on knife

salt and pepper to taste

Directions

At least 2 hours and up to one day ahead, add minced onions to vinegar, enough to almost cover.  Keep refrigerated until ready to use.  

For the dressing, mix all the ingredients together except for the oil.  Drizzle oil in slowly while whisking rapidly to make a nice, thick dressing.  Season to taste, add smashed garlic cloves.  Let sit out for a few hours until ready to serve, or refrigerate for later use.  Discard garlic cloves.

Compose salad, adding as much of the toppings and dressing as you'd like (including onions). 

Radish Salad or what to do with all the radishes you planted!

Ingredients
8 small radishes
2 Granny Smith apples
2 medium cucumbers
Salt to taste
Pepper to taste
Extra virgin Olive oil or Sunflower oil
1 tsp sugar
2 Tbs vinegar (apple cider or champagne)

Directions
Grate radish, apple, and cucumber
Add salt & pepper to taste
Add Olive Oil (2 Tbp Oil per 2 cups grated veggies)
Add vinegar (2 Tbp Vinegar per 2 cups grated veggies)
Add sugar

Implements
grater

Comments
This is very refreshing in the summer!

courtesy of Rubaiya Amin, member of the Deb & Phil household

Chinese Coleslaw (Diana and Hanne)

Ingredients
2/3 cups toasted almonds
1 cup roasted sunflower seeds
4 sliced scallions
1 bag Coleslaw mix

Dressing:
1/3 cups sugar
1/3 cups rice vinegar
¼ cup canola oil
1/4 cup sesame oil

1 bag Raman noodle soup noodles

Directions
Mix first 4 ingredients
Mix dressing up and add
Break up noodles and add

Implements
bowl

Comments
Several family members suggested that this should go in the Galson cookbook

Warm Pumpkin (or Squash) and Chickpea Salad with Tahini (Jessie and Steven)

Ingredients
1 kg pumpkin or squash (eg, butternut), peeled, seeded, and cut up into 3 cm cubes
1 garlic clove, crushed
½ Tsp ground allspice
2 Tbs olive oil
1 small can chickpeas (drained) (or home cooked)
½ small red onion, chopped
4 Tbs chopped fresh coriander (or smaller amount fresh cilantro plus parsley)
Sea salt and pepper to taste

Tahini Sauce
1 garlic clove, crushed to a paste with sea salt
31/2 Tbs fresh lemon juice
3 Tbs tahini paste
2 Tbs water
2 Tbs olive oil

Directions
Preheat oven to 425oF. Toss the pumpkin (or squash) with garlic, allspice, olive oil and salt and pepper. Place on a tray in the oven for about 15-25 minutes until soft. Remove and cool.

For the tahini sauce, mix the crushed garlic with the lemon juice and add the tahini. Thin with water and olive oil. To assemble, place the pumpkin, chickpeas, red onion and coriander in a mixing bowl. Pour on the tahini sauce and remaining oil and toss carefully. Season with salt and pepper.

Implements
Roasting pan and serving bowl

Comments
From Casa Moro by Sam and Sam Clark (wonderful Mediterranean cookbook!)

Tzatziki (Greek Cucumber Yogurt Salad) (Ed and Eva)

Ingredients
1quart of Greek Yogurt (see directions)
1 cucumber
5 cloves of garlic
1 tsp salt
¼ tsp pepper
3 Tbs vinegar
2Tbs corn oil

Directions
Instead of Greek yogurt, you can use low fat regular yogurt drained through a paper towel lined colander for about an hour.
Grate cucumber with skin on
Squeeze garlic through garlic press

Mix all ingredients
Chill before serving

Implements
Colander for draining yogurt
Grater
Garlic Press

Comments
This is a refreshing side dish served with many meals in Greece.
All ingredients can be varied in quantity to suit taste.

Phil's Summer Sweet Potato Salad (approved by Wendy and Susan – submitted by Debby and Phil)

Ingredients
SALAD
4 medium sweet potatoes (about 2 pounds), peeled and cut into uniform large pieces
1/2 red bell pepper, seeded and diced small 1/2 green bell pepper, seeded and diced
small 1/2 large red onion, diced small
4 tablespoons finely chopped parsley. (Note, when available, use several different varieties of sweet potato for a more varied flavor and texture.)

DRESSING
3 tablespoons Dijon mustard
3 tablespoons ketchup
1 teaspoon minced garlic
3/4 cup olive oil
4 tablespoons cider vinegar (or Balsamic Vinegar)
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
2 tablespoons lime juice (about 1 lime)
Salt and freshly cracked black pepper to taste
fresh coriander seed
a touch of sugar

Directions
1. Plug up your sink and fill it with about 5 quarts of cold water and a couple of trays of ice cubes.
2. In 3 quarts of boiling salted water, cook the pieces of sweet potato until just done, 10 to 12 minutes. Be careful not to overcook. You should be able to pierce them with a fork, but you should still feel some resistance, and the pieces should not fall apart.
3. Remove the pieces of sweet potato from the heat, drain, and immediately plunge them into the ice-water bath. After 30 seconds, drain them again, and put them into a large stainless steel bowl. Add the diced pepper, onion, and parsley.
4. Make the dressing: Place the mustard, ketchup, and garlic in a medium-sized bowl. Whisking constantly, add the olive oil in a slow, steady stream. Add the vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, and lime juice, and mix well. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
5. Pour the dressing over the sweet potato mixture, and toss gently. Serve immediately, or it will keep, covered and refrigerated, for up to 5 days.

Implements
1 sink
large pot
large bowl
Knife/chopping board
Medium size bowl
Whisk
Spoons for tossing
Measuring utensils

Comments
SERVES 6 AS A SIDE DISH

This recipe can be found in The Thrill of the Grill, by Chris Schlesinger and John Willoughby.

Really Yummy Vinaigrette (Diana and Hanne)

Ingredients
1/3 cup olive oil
1/3 cup wine vinegar
1 crushed garlic
½ teaspoon dijon mustard
Basil (fresh is best)
Anchovies or anchovy paste

Directions
Combine all ingredients
Stir vigorously until smooth

Implements
Closed container

Comments
wine vinegar and anchovies add a nice flavor

Cucumber Salad (Allen and Nirelle)

Ingredients
Cucumber
Yogurt
Mint
Sugar
Salt

Directions
Grate peeled cucumber and squeeze out the water. Add yogurt, mint, a bit of sugar, and salt to taste. Serve chilled. Instead of grating the cucumber you can quarter it and slice thinly.

There are many variations on this theme. For example in Cyprus the yogurt is first drained for about an hour to thicken it. And crushed garlic and olive oil are added ingredients. They call it Talattouri and use it as a sauce for fried fish or eat it with crusty bread, fried smelts and celery sticks.

Comments
Spicy Indian dishes such as curries are usually accompanied by this refreshing salad.

Asian Chicken Salad (Steven and Jessie)

Ingredients
About 4 chicken breasts (skinless and deboned)
2 oz Chinese rice sticks
1 head (small) shredded lettuce
4 stalks green onion chopped
2 Tbs chopped toasted almonds
2 Tbs toasted sesame seeds

Teriyaki marinade:
¾ cup soy sauce
½ cup sugar
¼ cup sweet rice wine
1 clove chopped or crushed garlic
Small amount of chopped fresh ginger
2 Tbs lemon juice

Salad Dressing:
2 Tbs sugar
½ tsp pepper
¼ cup salad oil
1 Tbs sesame oil
3 Tbs rice vinegar

Directions
Marinate chicken for a few hours in Teriyaki sauce (or even better overnight). Remove chicken from marinade and bake at 375o for about 40 minutes until chicken is done. While chicken is cooking, fry rice sticks in hot oil until crispy and set aside.

Place lettuce in large bowl and top with cubed chicken, green onion, almonds, and sesame seeds.

To prepare dressing, stir dry ingredients and vinegar well. Add oils last so sugar will dissolve better.

Add dressing to salad and top with rice sticks.